236 WILD-CATS AT THE ZOO 
showed the greatest delight when noticed, throwing 
themselves on their backs, and delighting in being 
tickled and rubbed. On board the ship there was 
a small Musi dog, who used to play round the cage 
with one of these animals, and it was amusing to see 
the playfulness and tenderness with which the latter 
came in contact with its inferior-sized companion. 
When fed with a fowl that had died, he seized the 
prey, and after sucking the blood and tearing it a 
little, he amused himself for hours in throwing it 
about, and jumping after it, in the manner that a cat 
plays with a mouse before it is quite dead. He never 
seemed to look on men or children as prey, but as 
companions. The natives assert that when wild they 
live principally on poultry, birds, and the smaller kind 
of deer. They are not found in numbers, and may 
be considered rather a rare animal, even in the southern 
part of Sumatra. Both specimens constantly amused 
themselves by jumping and clinging to the top of 
their cage, and throwing a somersault, and twisting 
themselves round in the manner of a squirrel when 
confined, the tail being extended, and showing to 
great advantage when so expanded.” 
It is obvious that so active and beautiful an animal 
could not be seen with advantage, or kept in good 
health in the cramped little cages of the present Cat 
House. But the Society still possess a good specimen 
of the finest of the “ self-coloured ” puma-cats, — the 
golden cat of Sumatra, an island in which every orna- 
mental species, whether bird or beast, seems endowed 
