it as a distinct species; and Temminck has again, under the name of Fells
borealis, described the species as the same in both hemispheres.
D E S C R I P T IO N .
The head is round, the nose obtuse, and the face has much of the form of that of the
domestic cat; but the facial line is more, convex between the eyes. The ears are erect,
triangular, and tipped by an upright, slender tuft of coarse, black hairs; they are placed about
their own breadth apart, and on their posterior surface they have a dark mark beneath the tip,
which is continued- near both margins downwards towards their bases. On- the body and
extremities the fur is hoary, most of the hairs being tipped with white ; on the crown of the
head, and for a broad space down the middle .of the back, there is a considerable intermixture
of blackish-brown, and on the sides and legs, of pale wood-brown. In some specimens these
colours produce an indistinct mottling, but in general there are no defined markings. A rufous
tinge is also occasionally present about the nape of the neck, and on the posterior part of the
thigh. The tail is coloured like the back, except the tip, which is black. The fu r is close
and fine on the back ; longer and paler on the belly. When blown aside, it shews, on the
middle of the back, a dark liver-brown colour from the roots to near the tips ; but on the sides,
it is, for the greatest part of its length, of a pale yellowish-brown, being merely a little darker
near the roots. Hie legs are thick; the toes very thick and furry, and are armed with very
sharp, curved, awl-shaped, white claws, shorter than the fur. There are four toes on each foot,
those on the hind feet being rather the largest, but both feet have much spread.
Dimension's
Of a prepared specimen.
F e e t Inche s.
Length of the head and body . 3 1
Height of the back . 1 41
Length of the tail (vertebrae) . » . 0 4
,, tail, with the fur . 0 4£
„ black tuft on the ear . . 0 n
Height of the ear without the tuft measured
behind . . . .
Distance from the tip of the nose to the
fore-part of the ear . ,
F e e t.
0
0
[31.] 2, F e l is r u p a . (Guldensted ?) Bay Lynx?
Bay Lynx. Pennant, Hist. Q u a d rNo. 171? Arctic Zool,, vol. i., p. 51 ?
Felis rufa. Guldensted, Act. Petr op., 20. p. 449 ?
Mr. Douglas brought a specimen of a Lynx from the Columbia River, that is
reported to have the same habits with the Canada Lynx, which it much resembles
in size and form. No variety, however, of the latter inhabiting the fur countries
to the eastward of the Rocky Mountains, presents the dark colour of the back, and
the bright wood-brown on the sides, with the black spots on the belly, and the
transverse black marks on the legs, exhibited by this one. The hunters consider
it to be quite distinct from the Canada Lynx. Neither does it correspond entirely
with the descriptions given by authors of the Bay Lynx, although it much resembles
that animal in the markings about the face. Mr. Douglas thinks that there
are more than one non-deseript animal of this genus, which inhabit the countries
bordering on the Columbia. The skins procured in that quarter are generally
carried to the China market, without passing through the hands of European
furriers ; hence, they are not likely to have come under the inspection of M.
Temminck, who has so well described the Atlantic species.
D E S C R I P T IO N .
Size and general aspect, exclusive of colour, that of a small Canada Lynx. The colour of
the hind head and of a broad dorsal stripe is blackish-brown, a little grizzled by a considerable
number of the tips of the hairs being of a pale wood-brown. On these parts the fur
is hair-brown at its roots, and blackish-brown for the greater part of its length. On the
dorsal aspect of the neck the fur is reddish-brown from the base to near the tips, where the
longer hairs are ringed with wood-brown and black ; the colour of the surface is produced by
an intimate mixture of the two latter, but, as on the back, there are neither spots nor streaks.
The forehead has a hoary brown colour, with dark brownish markings. The eyelashes are
black, the upper and under eyelids, most of the whiskers, and part of the upper lip, are white.
The fur on the cheeks is yellowish-brown, with white tips, and there is a dark stripe under
the eye, another on the back part of the cheek, and a third at the angle of the mouth. The
ears are lined interiorly with pale hairs, and are covered posteriorly with blackish-brown fur.
The tufts on their tips, if any existed, have fallen off. The sides of the neck and the flanks
are pale chestnut, brown, rendered hoary by white tips equably but sparingly diffused. The
same colour prevails on the shoulders, and outer aspects of the fore and hind extremities