acquaintance.]

* * * * *

We now take up the last member of the Cat family; one differing so
much in certain respects as to have been classed by some authors as
a separate genus, to which Wagner gave the name of _Cynaelurus_, or
dog-cat, which, however, is not appropriate, as the animal, though
having the slender form of the greyhound, and in having the claws
of its middle front toes but imperfectly retractile, is, in its
anatomy and all osteological features, a true cat. As I have before
remarked it is to this animal alone that the name leopard should be
applied, the peculiar ruff or shagginess of hair on the neck having
given rise to the ancient superstition that this animal was a cross
between the lion and the pard, whence its name Leo-Pardus. There are
three varieties found in Africa and India--one, the maneless leopard,
is confined to Africa, where also is found in the south a woolly
variety with light brown spots. The maned leopard is found all over
South-West Asia, including India.

NO. 219. FELIS JUBATA.
_The Hunting Leopard_ (_Jerdon's No. 117_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Chita_, Hindi; _Yuz_ of the Chita-catchers;
_Kendua-bagh_, Bengali; _Laggar_ in some parts; _Chita Puli_,
Telegu; _Chircha_ and _Sivungi_, Canarese.

HABITAT.--Central or Southern India, and in the North-West from
Kandeish, through Scinde and Rajpootana, to the Punjab. It is also
found in all Africa, with Syria and Arabia, and throughout Asia Minor.
In India the places where it is most common are Jeypur in Upper India,
and Hyderabad in Southern India.

[Illustration: _Felis jubata_.]

DESCRIPTION.--A tall, slim animal, with body much drawn in at the
flanks like a greyhound; purely cat-like head with short round ears;
long tail, much compressed at the end; in colour a bright rufous fawn,
more or less deep, sometimes what Blyth calls a bright _nankeen_,
dotted with numerous small black spots which are single, and not in
rosettes, as in the pards; a black streak from the corner of the eye
down the face; ears black at base externally, the rest whitish; the
tail spotted, but having three or four black rings at the tip: the
extreme tip is always white; the hair of the belly is lengthened with
a shaggy fringe-like appearance; the fur generally is coarse; the
nozzle is black, whereas in the tiger it is pink, and in a pard dusky
pink; the pupils of the eye contract circularly.

[Illustration: Skull of _Felis jubata