108 
ZOOLOGY. 
CONDYLURA? 
Star-nosed Mole. 
In 1852 I saw a very large star-nosed mole, which had been killed at Orleans bar, on 
Klamath river.—G. 
Dr. Cooper saw at Vancouver, W. T., in 1853, a decayed specimen, which had the appear¬ 
ance of having a radiated excrescence on the nose; but being crushed and nearly destroyed, 
the specimen was unfit for preservation. 
FELIS CONCOLOR, Linn. 
The American Panther; Cougar; California Lion. 
Felis concolor, Linn. Mantissa, 1771, 522 ; pi. II. 
Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 83. 
[For Sp. Ch. see chap. 2, p. 88.] 
The cougar, or, as it is frequently called, “California lion,” is common in Oregon and 
Washington Territories. They are quite abundant in the mountains of the Klamath. The 
Indians there sew two skins together, and wear the robe thus formed as a blanket, the tails 
trailing behind. Two skins of the young panther were obtained by me from a man at Steila- 
coom. They are marked much like the wild cat, but have a longer tail. The living animals 
were about the size of weaned kittens.—G. 
Note. —I have several times heard of some large animal of the cat kind said to differ from 
the cougar. One was reported to have been seen in California by some mining acquaintances 
I made there. It was described as stouter than the cougar, deep chested , with a dark tawny 
mane! Lately a very intelligent man, Mr. Samuel Woodward, of Shoalwater bay, W. T., 
informed me that he had seen in that neighborhood an animal standing higher upon its legs 
than a cougar, with erect ears and a short tail. The Indians of the Willamette have a story of 
some terrible animal inhabiting the woods bordering the Columbia on the south, which is not 
a cougar. It may be that there are imaginary differences, but the subject deserves investiga¬ 
tion. Perhaps these animals are straggling specimens of the northern lynx.—G. 
The cougar is quite abundant in the thickly wooded sections of Washington Territory, near 
the coast, being especially abundant on some of the heavily timbered river valleys, such as 
that of the Cowlitz, Chehalis, Nisqually, and others. Near Fort Steilacoom a few are killed 
every year, occasionally quite near the garrison. There have not, as yet, been any instances 
in that vicinity of human beings having been attacked by them. They are, however, destruc¬ 
tive to young calves and other small animals. They are said to utter shrill screams, and at 
times loud ivhistling sounds, at night. Perhaps these, when much heard proceed from the 
amatory conflicts and spiteful sanguinary courtships which, it is fair to suppose, exist as much 
among them as with their cousins, our domestic dependants. 
I am indebted to Major James Tilton, United States surveyor general of Washington Terri¬ 
tory, for the present of the finest and most complete skin of this species I have ever seen from 
the northwest coast. It is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. 
Townshend speaks of the indication of a second and nearly allied species on the Columbia. 
His opinion is based upon a peculiar skull and one foot of an animal he there obtained. 
Perhaps this may have belonged to the “terrible animal” to which Mr. Gibbs alludes. The 
