33 



WILD CAT IN LINCOLNSHIRE. 



By JOHN CORDEAUX, 

 Great Cotes, Ulceby, Lincolnshire; Meviber of the British 07'nithologists' Union; 

 and of the British Assnciatioji Migration Committee; cy^c. 



The subject of this notice was shot in the early part of March, in 

 1883, by Mr. Arthur Belton, a farmer living at Bullington, near 

 Wragby. Mr. Belton states that he was out with his gun in a small 

 plantation near Bullington Wood when his dog, a small terrier, started 

 the cat from beneath a bramble bush ; instead of bolting the cat at 

 once attacked the dog, which it severely mauled. Seeing his dog was 

 getting much the worst of it Mr. Belton went to the rescue, the cat 

 finally taking refuge in an oak tree, crouching between two branches 

 above the bole, and perceiving the creature apparently making pre- 

 parations to spring he at once fired at its face and brought it down. 

 Mr. Belton thinks it is the same cat which had been seen at intervals 

 for some years in that neighbourhood. 



It was received in the flesh by Mr. W. Barber, of Lincoln, and 

 set up by him, and remains still in his possession. Mr. Barber 

 informed me that on skinning it he found the muscles very strong, 

 red, and highly developed, and that the intestines were much shorter 

 than in the common cat. 



I have examined this cat in Mr. Barber's shop, also had a photo- 

 graph taken of it, and I have compared it with the best written 

 descriptions of the true wild cat, as well as with an example obtained 

 many years ago in the forest of Mar. There cannot be a doubt as 

 to its authenticity, and that it is the genuine animal. It appears to 

 agree exactly in size and coloration with the true Felis caius, and the 

 only slight difference that I -can point out is that the tail is not quite 

 so full at the end as in some Scotch examples. Scotch cats, 

 however, appear to vary in this respect, and Mr, Macgillivray states 

 (' British Quadrupeds,' page 191), speaking of the tail, 'generally as 

 broad to the end as the base, although often narrowed at the tip.' 



In the Lincolnshire example, which is a fine old ^ tom,' the fur is 

 very thick and close ; the general colour a yellowish-grey, but 

 browner or more tawny about the forehead and neck, the lateral 

 ^stripes on the body and limbs a darker grey. There is a broad dark 

 and irregular band down the centre of the back with two dark 

 stripes, one on each side, curving downwards from between the 

 scapulae. From the eyes and continued backwards between the ears 

 to the nape of the neck four narrow dark and broken hues ; a small 

 dark streak also from the interior angle of the eye downwards, 

 and another from the exterior angle which terminates on the cheek 



Sept. 1884. 



