The real wild cats differ in their markings on the body, some being more clearly striped, while others are only brindled. But they are all alike in the squareness and thickness of head and body, and in the short tail, ringed with black, and growing larger at the tip, which ends off like a shaving-brush. is the It may well be asked, Which of the many species of wild cats mentioned above ancestor of our domestic cats? Probably different species in different countries. The African Kaffir cat, the Indian leopard-cat, the rusty-spotted cat of India, and the European wild cat all breed with tame cats. It is therefore probable that the spotted, striped, and brindled varieties of tame cats are descended from wild species which had those markings. The is aso-called red tame cats are doubtless descended from the tiger-coloured wild cats. But it curious fact that, though the spotted grey-tabby wild varieties are the least common, that colour is most frequent in the tame species.

THE LYNXES.

IN THE LYNXES we seem to have a less specially cat-like form. They are short-tailed, high in the leg, and broad-faced. Less active than the leopards and tiger-cats, and able to live either in very hot or very cold countries, they are found from the Persian deserts to the far north of Siberia and Canada.

The CARACAL 'is a southern, hot- country lynx. It has a longer tail than the others, but the same tufted ears. It seems a link between the lynxes and the jungle -cats. It is found in India, Palestine, Persia, and Mesopotamia. In India it was trained, like the cheeta, to

By permission of Percy Leigh Pemberton, Esq.

The Cat Tribe

catch birds, gazelles, and hares. The COMMON LYNX is probably the same animal, whether found in Norway, Kussia, the Carpathians, Turkestan, China, or Tibet. The CANADIAN LYNX is also very probably the same, with local differences of colour. The NORTHERN LYNX is the largest feline animal left in Europe, and kills sheep and goats equally with hares and squirrels. The beautiful fur, of pale cinnamon and light grey, is much admired. In some southern districts of America we have the RED LYNX, or so-called " wild cat," which is distinct from the lynx of Canada. The MEDITERRANEAN or SPANISH LYNX seems likewise entitled to rank as a distinct species.

Of the lynxes the CARACALS are perhaps the most interesting, from their capacity for domestication. They are found in Africa in the open desert country, whereas the SERVAL is found in the thick bush. In Africa it is believed to be the most savage and untamable of the Cats. That is probably because the Negro and the Kaffir never possessed the art of training animals, from the elephant downwards. In India the caracal's natural prey are the fawns of deer and antelope, pea-fowl, hares, and floricans. The caracal is the quickest with its feet of any of the Cats. One of its best-known feats is to spring up and catch birds passing over on the in the Naturalist'swing at a height of six or eight feet from the ground. A writer, Library, notes that, besides being tamed to catch deer, pea-fowl, and cranes, the caracal was kill pigeons.used in ''pigeon matches." Two caracals were backed one against the other to The birds were fed on the ground, and the caracals suddenly let loose among them, to strike down as many as each could before the birds escaped. Each would sometimes strike down in Turkish " Black Ear," in allusionwith its fore paws ten or a dozen pigeons. " Caracal " means to the colour of the animal's organ of hearing.

The COMMON LYNX is a thick-set animal, high in the leg, with a square head and very strong paws and forearms. It is found across the whole northern region of Europe and Asia. still occasionally seen in parts of theAlthough never known in Britain in historic times, it is It is mainly a forest animal,Alps and in the Carpathians; it is also common in the Caucasus. and very largely nocturnal; therefore it is seldom seen, and not often hunted. If any enemy approaches, the lynx lies perfectly still on some branch or rock, and generally succeeds in avoiding notice. The lynx is extremely active; it can leap great distances, and makes its

[Berlin. LYNX, This animal is a uniformly coloured specie common to India and Africa.

The Living Animals of the World

attack usually in that way. "SVlien travelling, it trots or gallops in a very dog-like fashion. Where sheep graze at large on mountains, as in the Balkans and in Greece, the lynx is a great enemy of the flocks. In Norway, where the animal is now very rare, there is a tradition that it is more mischievous than the wolf, and a high price is set on its head. In Siberia and North Russia most of the lynx-skins taken are sold to the Chinese. The lynx-skins brought to London are mainly those of the Canadian species. The fur is dyed, and used for the busbies of the officers in our hussar regiments. These skins vary much in colour, and

Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sow. in length and quality of fur. The EUROPEAN LYNX. price varies correspondingly. The The largest of the cat tribe left in Europe. Canadian lynx lives mainly on the wood-hares and on the wood-grouse of the North American forests. The flesh of the lynx is said to be good and tender. : " It is a forest animal in the strictest sense of the Brehm says of the Siberian lynx is in theword. But in Siberia it occurs only singly, and is rarely captured. Its true home thickest parts in the interior of the woods, and these it probably never leaves except when scarcity of food or the calls of love tempt it to wander to the outskirts. Both immigrants and natives hold the hunting of the lynx in high esteem. This proud cat's activity, caution and agility, and powers of defence arouse the enthusiasm of every sportsman, and both skin and flesh are valued, the latter not only by the Mongolian tribes, but also by the Russian hunters. is seldom capturedThe lynx in fall-traps; he often rendeis them useless by walking along the beam and stepping on the lever, and he usually leaps over the spring-traps in his path. So only the rifle and dogs are left." The RED LYNX is a small American variety, the coat of which turns tawny in summer, when it much resembles a large cat. It is called in some parts of the United States the Mountain-cat. This lynx is 30 inches long in the body. with a tail 6 inches long. It is found on the eastern or Atlantic side of the continent, By permission of Mr. S. B. Gundy] [Toronto. and by no means shuns the CANADIAN LYNX. neighbourhood of settlements. Great numbers of these are trapped every year for the sake of their fur.

Phnta by Ottomar AnschUte, Berlin.

WOLF FROM CENTRAL EUROPE.

The last persons recorded as killed by these animals were an artist and his wife travelling in Hungary.

UNIV. OF

CALIFORNIA

Photo by Ottomar Anschütz] [Berlin.

CHEETAS.

Cheetas can be distinguished at a glance from ordinary leopards by the solid black spots on the back instead of the “rosettes.”

THE CHEETA.

THE NON-RETRACTILE-CLAWED CAT.

THE CHEETA, or Hunting-leopard, is the only example of this particular group, though there was an extinct form, whose remains are found in the Siwalik Hills, ir the north of India. It is a very widely dispersed animal, found in Persia, Turkestan, and the countries east of the Caspian, and in India so far as the lower part of the centre of the peninsula. It is also common in Africa, where until recent years it was found in Cape Colony and Natal. Now it is banished to the Kalahari Desert, the Northern Transvaal, and Bechuanaland. The cheeta is more dog-like than any other cat. It stands high on the leg, and has a short, rounded head. Its fur is short and rather woolly, its feet rounded, and its claws, instead of slipping back into sheaths like a lion's, are only partly retractile. Mr. Lockwood Kipling gives the follow-

: ing account of the cheeta and its keepers " The only point where real skill comes into [Notting Rill. Photo ly York & Son] play in dealing with the hunting-leopard A CHEETA HOODED. The cheeta is not unheeded until fairly near his quarry, when he is given is in catching the adult animal when it a sight of the game, and a splendid race ensues. has already learnt the swift, bounding onset, ' is not worth catching, for it has not yet learntits one accomplishment. The young cheeta its trade, nor can it be taught in captivity.... There are certain trees where these great dog-cats (for they have some oddly canine characteristics) come to play and whet their claws. The hunters find such a tree, and arrange nooses of deer-sinew round it, and wait the event. it is at this point that the trouble begins.The animal comes and is caught by the leg, and It is no small achievement. for two or three naked, ill-fed men to secure so fierce a capture is tied in all directions,and carry it home tied on a cart. Then his training begins. He principally from a thick rope round his loins, while a hood fitted over his head effectually blinds him. He is fastened on a strong cot-bedstead, and the keepers and their wives and is madefamilies reduce him to submission by starving him and keeping him awake. His head to face the village street, and for an hour at a time, several times a day, his keepers make pretended rushes at him, and wave clothes, staves, and other articles in his face. He is talked to continually, and the women's tongues are believed to be the most effective of things effects of hunger, want of sleep,to keep him awake. No created being could withstand the is takenand feminine scolding; and the poor cheeta becomes piteously, abjectly tame. He out for a walk occasionally if a slow crawl between four attendants, all holding hard, can be called a walk and his promenades are always through the crowded streets and bazaars, where the keepers' friends are to be found; but the people are rather pleased than otherwise to see the " the cheeta's bedstead is tamed, raja's cheetas amongst them." Later, when the creature

! is like that of the keeper, and leopard and man are often curled up under the same blanket his end of the colWhen his bedfellow is restless, the keeper lazily stretches out an arm from and dangles a tassel over the animal's head, which seems to soothe him. In the early morning I have seen a cheeta sitting up on his couch, a red blanket half covering him, and his tasselled red hood awry, looking exactly like an elderly gentleman in a nightcap, as he yawns with the irresolute air of one who is in doubt whether to rise or to turn in for another nap."

Page 16 of 89