A hand-book to the carnivora. Pt. I, Cats, civets, and mungooses / by Richard Lydekker.

  • Lyddeker, Richard, 1849-1915.
Date:
[1894]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A hand-book to the carnivora. Pt. I, Cats, civets, and mungooses / by Richard Lydekker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    portance, the comparatively small number of skins sold realis- ing small prices. XXXI. THE WILD CAT. FELIS CATUS. Felis cat us, Linn., Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 62 (1766); Elliot, Monograph of Felidae, pi. xxx. (1878-83). Felis sylvestris, Schreber, Siiugethiere, vol. iii. p. 397 (1778). (.Plate XX.) Characters.*—General colour yellowish-grey, with an inter- rupted longitudinal dark stripe down the back, two dusky bands on the cheeks, and numerous obscure transverse stripes of the same colour on the body and limbs ; tail of equal thick- ness throughout, less than half the head and body in length, and ringed and tipped with black. Length of head and body of male, about 34 inches; of tail, inches. In general aspect, form, and coloration, the Wild Cat re- sembles large “Tabbies” of the domestic breed; from which it differs in the proportionately longer body and limbs, and the shorter and thicker tail; the fur being also more abundant than in the original English breed. Conforming in its general external configuration and appearance to the type characteristic of the great majority of the members of the family to which it belongs, the Wild Cat has the general ground-colour of its soft and long fur yellowish-grey, tending in some individuals to pale reddish-brown. In addition to some black spots near the muzzle, the face is marked with two black stripes, commencing between the eyes, and gradually increasing in width, and diverging as they pass backwards between the ears to the hinder part of the neck. Commencing between the shoulder- blades, a broad irregular black or blackish longitudinal stripe traverses the whole length of the back, from which diverge numerous paler transverse bands, gradually becoming lighter in * Our account of the Wild Cat is abbreviated from the one already pub- lished in “British Mammals.”