FELIS CONCOLOR. 
29 
The longer the sleep continues the less frequent do the respirations 
become and the lower does the temperature fall, till finally the con- 
dition of deep and continued sleep — the true lethargy of hiberna- 
tion — is attained. This apparent phenomenon, then, is a genuine 
physiological process, dififering in degree only from ordinary sleep. 
It is the result of conditions of environment, and has become an 
hereditary habit, enabling certain mammals to exist during a pe- 
riod when their usual food supply is cut off. The dormant state is 
sometimes brought on by extremes of temperature, but this is not 
often the case. 
Few mammals are commonly seen by those who traverse the 
forests of the Adirondacks, and it is a fact that the average sportsman, 
during his annual “trip to the North Woods,” rarely sees any save 
Red Squirrels, Chipmunks, a few Mice, and perhaps a Deer or Por- 
cupine. This is in part due to the nature of their haunts, partly be- 
cause they do not roam about much in broad daylight, but chiefly 
because of their shy dispositions and wary habits. The experienced 
hunter, more familiar with their haunts and ways, falls in with a 
larger number ; still, by far the greater portion go unobserved. Of 
the forty-two kinds found here I have myself seen living, and in the 
wild state, all but three; therefore the remarks upon their habits, in 
the following biographies, are, when the contrary is not stated, drawn 
largely from the results of personal observation. 
Order FER/E. FissiPEDlA. Family FELIDiE. 
FELIS CONCOLOR Limbus. 
Cougar; Panther; Mountain Lion (of the West); Puma (of South Am.). 
It is not many years since the Cougar or Panther, second largest 
of American Felicia , was a common inhabitant of the primeval forests 
of the Adirondacks; but, since the State offered a bounty* for their 
* The law granting this bounty was passed April 26, 1871. It reads as follows: “ A State bounty 
of thirty dollars for a grown wolf, fifteen dollars for a pup wolf, and twenty dollars for a panther, 
