THE E Y R A. 
Felts eyra. 
Plate "VI. 
1 ms rare and interesting little Cat was discovered by the well-known Spanish Naturalist, Don Felix Azara, 
in 1 araguay. The first recorded example brought to Europe alive afforded the opportunity of securing the 
portrait here given, which represents an animal of this species that was received by the Zoological Society in 
1850. A second specimen was subsequently obtained in the past summer, and is now living in the Society’s 
Menagerie. 
In size the Eyra is not much larger than the Polecat, and in form exhibits a remarkable tendency to 
transition from the true Cats ( Felidce ) towards the Musteline Group of Carnivora, of which the AVeazel and 
Polecat are familiar examples. It is one of the most attractive objects among the smaller species of Cats, 
in consequence of the extreme grace of its actions and the gentleness of its manners. Its conduct in 
confinement does not indicate any disposition towards the arboreal life which characterises so many of its 
congeners in South America, but the contrary. Its habitual attitude of repose is admirably given in the 
more distinct figure, while its peculiarly low and lengthened form is thoroughly explained by the other. The 
contour of the head closely resembles that of the Puma (Felts concolor). 
The Eyra Cat, as it is now pretty satisfactorily ascertained, has a wide range in the New AVorld. From 
Paraguay it extends throughout Brazil and Guiana, and, crossing the Isthmus of Panama, is found again in 
the upper parts of Mexico, as far north as Tamaulipas. In Brazil, as Dr. Burmeister informs us, it is more 
frequent in the inner wooded provinces than in the coast-region. Its existence so far north as the Bio 
Grande, and the consequent introduction of the species into the Fauna of North America, is due to the 
researches of Dr. Berlandiere, who has collected long and laboriously in those regions. A skull in Dr. 
Berlandiere’s collection, together with a short description and figure of the animal, enabled Professor Baird 
to identify it with tolerable certainty.* Dr. Berlandiere’s notice of the species, as given by Professor Baird, is 
as follows: — 
“ This animal ( b y some called Onza, by others Apache) is extremely rare in Alexico, where I have only seen 
it in the interior States of the East. In the State of Tamaulipas it is found in the shrubbery which grows on 
the shores of the Rio Grande del Norte. The specimen which I have described is a female, and was given to 
me when very young. I tamed it, without its losing altogether the habits of its kind, especially when in sight 
of some prey. It had attained the size of a Cat, but was more elongated and slender. In every movement it 
exhibited great lightness and activity, of which we had many proofs. This digitigrade was in the habit of 
purring like a Cat.” 
* See “ Report on the Mammals of the United States and Mexican Boundary.” By Spencer It Baird. Washington, 1859. 
