THE NORWEGIAN LYNX. 
Felis lynx. 
Plate VI. 
1 he Lynxes form a distinct section of the genus Felis, characterized by their short tails and pencilled ears. 
They are only found in the northern parts of the Old and New Worlds. The Caracal of India and Africa, 
figured in the first series of these sketches, is a nearly allied form. 
1 he Norwegian Lynx, which was well known to Pliny under its present classical name, is found 
throughout the wooded districts of temperate and northern Europe. As is the case with most other of the 
larger European carnivores, it was formerly much more plentiful than it now is, having been extirpated 
altogether in many localities by the advancing tide of cultivation. But in Scandinavia and in Northern 
Russia, it is still frequently to be met with, and in some parts of Siberia, where it is widely distributed and 
much sought after on account of its valuable fur, is even abundant. The Russian Naturalists Von 
Schrenck and Radde inform us that the natives of Amoorland esteem the flesh of this animal as a great 
delicacy, and that the furs which are obtained by the hunters in this part of Asia mostly pass into Clitnese 
hands, being much treasured by the high officials of the Celestial empire. 
Like the rest of the Cat-tribe, the Lynx is very active and agile in its habits, climbing trees with the 
utmost facility, and particularly affecting forests where the timber is large. It feeds on herbivorous 
Mammals and the larger birds, often killing more than it can use for immediate sustenance. 
The Lynx does not thrive in captivity, and few of the specimens that have been from time to time in 
the Society’s. Collection have been long-lived. 
1“ S P a ™> and otller Parts of Southern Europe, a second species of Lynx is said to occur-the Felis pardim 
of Temminck—which, however, is not very well known to Naturalists. 
