11. The Fishing Cat (F. Virerrina)

The Fishing Cat (F. virerrina), a heavily built cat, gray in color, very irregularly marked with dark-brown spots. The body is about thirty inches in length, and the tail about ten. It is an inhabitant of southern Asia and Ceylon. Alone among cats, it lives upon fish and freshwater mollusks, which it captures for itself.

12. The Bengalese Cat (F. Bengalensis)

The Bengalese Cat (F. bengalensis), a very beautiful species from northern India, of a tawny or fulvous gray, with the usual irregular dark markings. Specimens of this and the two preceding species are at present living in the collection of the Zoological Society of Philadelphia.

13. The Wagati (F. Wagati)

This is also a Bengalese cat, yellowish in color, and more or less spotted or striped.

14. The Marbled Tiger-Cat (F. Marmorata)

The Marbled Tiger-cat (F. marmorata), a spotted, yellowish-gray cat of medium size, inhabiting Burmah, Malacca, Java, and Borneo.

15. The Serval (F. Serval)

The Serval (F. serval), a moderately large African cat of rusty or tawny color, with black spots on the body and rings on the short tail, and with very long legs; an inhabitant of the whole of Africa.

16. The Golden-Haired Cat (F. Rutila)

The Golden-haired Cat (F. rutila), a reddish-brown cat with small dark spots, found on the west coast of Africa.

17. The Gray African Cat (F. Neglecta)

The Gray African Cat (F. neglecta), a small gray, spotted species inhabiting Gambia.

18. The Servaline Cat (F. Servalina)

The Servaline Cat (F. servalina), very similar to the last, but yellowish instead of gray, and found in Sierra Leone.

19. The Ocelot (F. Partialis)

The Ocelot (F. partialis), a beautiful and very variable eat, sometimes gray, often yellow, but always elegantly marked with spots, streaks, and blotches of dark and occasionally brownish gray. Full-grown specimens are sometimes four feet long, and the sexes are similar. The range of the species is about the same as that of the jaguar, but they are more common than the latter in the southwestern United States. These animals are said to be easily tamed, but in the experience of the writer they are usually savage, and less readily domesticated than many other members of the family.

20. The Margay (F. Tigrina)

The Margay (F. tigrina), a spotted, grayish cat found in the low woodlands of Central and South America.

21. Geoffroy's Cat (F. Guigna)

Geoffroy's Cat (F. guigna), a small spotted cat of South America.

22. The Ocelot-Like Cat (F. Pardinoides)

The Ocelot-like Cat (F. pardinoides), a small species from Bogota, South America.

23. The Yaguarundi (F. Yaguarundi)

This animal and the succeeding one are remarkably different from most cats in external appearance. The body is long and slender, the legs short, the neck long, and the head elongated and flattened, so that the animal at a first glance has the aspect of a large weasel, rather than one of the Felidœ. This species is of a dark gray, sometimes brownish, often almost black, and is of uniform color. The body is less than two feet long, and the tail is of equal length. It is found from the Rio Grande to Brazil.

24. The Eyra (F. Eyra)

The Eyra (F. eyra), similar in form to the last, but usually of a reddish-tan or brownish-yellow color, and considerably larger. Its range is about the same.

25. The Colocollo (F. Colocollo)

The Colocollo (F. colocollo), a whitish-gray species, about the size of the common cat, with black stripes on the back, sides, and side of the face; an inhabitant of Guiana and northwestern South America.

26. The Rusty-Spotted Cat (F. Rubiginosa)

The Rusty-spotted Cat (F. rubiginosa), a graceful, pretty little cat of a greenish gray, sometimes with a rusty tinge, with elongated, sparsely scattered black spots, which give it almost the color of the rich moss-colored bark of a tropical tree; an inhabitant of Ceylon and portions of continental India.

27. The Chinese Cat (F. Chinensis)

The Chinese Cat (F. chinensis), pale yellowish gray, with dark-brown spots, and white on the under surface of the throat and body; an inhabitant of Canton and the island of Formosa.

28. The Small Cat (F. Minuta)

The Small Cat (F. minuta), much like the Chinese Cat, but smaller and with spots rather more elongated; an inhabitant of the Indian Archipelago.

29. Jerdon's Cat (F. Jerdoni)

This cat is much like the last two species, but has a shorter tail, darker and more distinct spots.

30. The Javan Cat (F. Javanensis)

The Javan Cat (F. javanensis), known only from a skin in the British Museum.

31. The Bushy-Tailed, Red-Spotted Cat (F. Euptilura)

The Bushy-tailed, Red-spotted Cat (F. euptilura), about the size of the house-cat; gray; spotted; from Shanghai, China.

32. The Small-Eared Cat

(F. microtis); Mongolia.

33. The Large-Eared Cat

(F. megalotis).

34. The Flat-Headed Cat (F. Planiceps)

The Flat-headed Cat (F. planiceps), a dark-brown cat with silvery tips to the hairs; from Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo.

35. The Bornean Bay Cat (F. Badia)

The Bornean Bay Cat (F. badia), another unspotted variety.

36. The Egyptian Cat (F. Caligata)

This species varies from a pale yellow to gray, with darkish bands on the legs and toward the end of the tail, and distinct horizontal bands on the sides of the face. This long-tailed cat is probably one of the main sources of origin of the domestic cat.

37. The Wildcat (F. Catus)

The Wildcat (F. catus) is found throughout Europe and western Asia, although it has become extinct in England. The color is dark gray, banded and spotted, and the tail is comparatively short.

38. The Indian Wildcat (F. Torquata)

This cat much resembles the European Wildcat, but is lighter in color, not so distinctly banded, and more graceful in its form.

39. The Common Jungle-Cat (F. Chaus)

The Common Jungle-cat (F. chaus), an inhabitant of India, of moderate size.

40. The Ornate Jungle-Cat (F. Ornata)

The Ornate Jungle-cat (F. ornata), from northwestern India; pale brown, with very small spots.

41. The Steppe Cat (F. Caudatus)

The Steppe Cat (F. caudatus), an inhabitant of Bokhara.

42. Shaw's Cat (F. Shawiana)

Shaw's Cat (F. shawiana), from Turkestan.

43. The Manul (F. Manul)

The Manul (F. manul), the beautiful wildcat of Thibet, Mongolia, and Siberia. It is smaller than the common cat, with long, soft hair, yellowish white in color, with some black markings on the legs and body.

44. The Straw Or Pampas Cat (F. Pajeros)

This cat represents in South America the Manul of Asia.

45. The Northern Lynx (F. Lyncus)

The Northern Lynx (F. lyncus), a moderate-sized cat, with a heavy body, powerful limbs, a very short tail, and sometimes with tufted ears, inhabits the northern portions of Asia, Europe, and America. The relationships existing between these cats are even yet somewhat obscure, but it seems best to regard them all as of one species, of which the Canada lynx and the red lynx, wildcat or catamount, of the United States may be well-marked varieties. The color ranges from gray to reddish brown, always more or less spotted and banded, and much lighter on the under side of the body.

Northern specimens are heavily furred and have very large feet, serving the purpose of snow-shoes during winter. There is much diversity in size, the southern form being smaller than the Canada one, which may reach three feet in length of body, the tail being about five inches. A mounted specimen from northern Europe, in the British Museum, is quite as large as an average leopard. They are extremely shy animals, and in captivity appear to suffer from the publicity which must needs surround them. In fact, they are among the most difficult of all cats to domesticate, and it is rare to see the slightest disposition to become tame.

46. The Pardine Lynx (F.pardina)

The Pardine Lynx (F.pardina), the lynx of southern Europe.

47. The Caracal (F. Caracal)

This is a lynx of slender form and very variable color, found from India and central Asia in to Africa.

48. The Cheetah (F. Jubata)

The skull of this cat is quite different in some details from that typical of Felis, and the claws cannot be drawn entirely back into a sheath; the legs are also very long. The species is usually, therefore, regarded as forming a distinct genus, Cynœlurus. The color is yellow, more or less pale, and the whole body is covered with small dark spots. The head is small, the neck somewhat arched, and in full-grown males a short mane is often developed. The long legs give this curious cat somewhat the form of the greyhound. It is of comparatively gentle disposition, and in India, as is well known, is very generally used for hunting or coursing antelope upon the open plains. The animal is a native of India, southwestern Asia, and a large portion of Africa. A not very well characterized species, known as the woolly cheetah, is said to exist in South Africa.

Many other supposed species of cat have been described; but most of them rest upon imperfect and insufficient material, while many of the others may be regarded as individual variations from some of the above better-known forms. With increased knowledge of portions of the earth which at present are little known, others will doubtless be added to the list.