48 
ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
This tribe cannot, like most other of the Carnivora , subsist 
on vegetable food, but must either starve or possess them- 
selves of flesh. Sometimes they drop from a tree, or, lying 
in wait under cover, they spring upon and secure some unsus- 
pecting animal at a single bound. It is remarkable that some 
individuals of this tribe are found in nearly every region of 
the earth ; and though the same hinds are confined within 
certain limits, still most parts of the globe appear to be repre- 
sented by their own peculiar species ; thus, the lion and tiger 
are inhabitants of Africa and Asia, being found nowhere 
else. In America these are represented by the puma 
or jaguar, confined to that continent. The caracal is found 
only in Turkey and Persia ; the lynx in Northern America 
and Canada. 
The Cougar QFelis Concolor ), called also the Puma, Cata- 
mount, Panther or Painter (the last term evidently a corrup- 
tion), and American Lion, is the largest of our species. 
Description. — Ears short and distant ; no man$ ; tail long 
and slender ; fur soft and short ; color, dark reddish gray. 
A great deal of confusion has arisen as to the name panther? 
which, however, has been decided to be the Felis pardus of 
Linne, an Asiatic animal. The puma was called the American 
lion by the naturalists who first explored this country ; they 
contended it was a true lion, but degenerate in size , owing 
to the climate! Yanderdenck, in his history of the New 
Netherlands (now New York State), says: “Although the 
New Netherlands lie in a fierce climate, and the country in 
winter seems rather (?) cold, nevertheless lions are found 
there, but not by the Christians, who have traversed the 
land without seeing one. It is only known to us by the 
skins, which are sometimes brought in for sale by the natives. 
In reply to our enquiries, they say that the lions are found 
far to the southwest, fifteen to twenty days’ journey ; that 
they live in very high mountains, and that the males are too 
active and fierce to be taken.” 
