T H E F I S H IN G CAT.
BRAZILIAN TIGER, Pennant, Hist. Quad. pl. 31. fig. 1 ?
FELIS VIVERRINA, Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. (1 8 3 3 ) p. 68.—Less. Compl. Buff. (1839) vol. i. p. 409.—Id. Nouv. Tab. Regn. Anim. (1842)
p. 53. sp 530.—Fraser, Zool. Typ. (1 8 4 9 ) pl.—Horsf. Cat. Mamm. Mus. E.-Ind. Co. (1851) p. 49. sp. 8 3—Gerv. Nat. Hist. Mamm.
(1 8 5 5 ) p. 86.—Blyth, Proc. Z o o l. S og. (1 8 6 3 ) p. 184. sp. 10.—Swinh. Proc. Zool. (18 6 2 ) p. 353, and (1870) p. 628.—Jerd. Mamm.
Ind. (1 8 6 7 ) p. 103. sp. 108.—Sclat. Proc. Z oo l. Soc. (1 8 7 0 ) p. 797 —Blyth, Cat. Mamm. & Birds Burma (1875) p. 27. sp. 55.
FELIS VTVERRICEPS, Hodgs. Jöum. Asiat. Soc. Beng. (1836) vol. y . p. 232 (desc .), vol. x. p. 9 1 8—Id. Calc. Jöum. Nat. Hist. vol. iv. p. 286.
FELIS HIMALAYANA, Jard. Nat. Libr. vol. xvi. pl. 24, p. 230.
FELIS CELIDOGASTER, J. E. Gray, List o f Hodg. Coll. Brit. Mus. .
LEOPARDUS VIVERRINA, J. E. Gray, Cat. Mamm. Brit. Mus. (1 8 4 2 ) p. 43.
FELIS (ZIBETHAILURUS) VIVERRINA, Severtz. Rev. et Mag. Zool. (18 5 8 ) p. 387.
VTVERRICEPS BENNETTI, J. E. Gray, Proc. Z oo l. Söc. (1 8 6 7 ) p. 268, flg. 5.—Id. Cat. Cam. Mamm. (1869) p. 16. sp. 1.—Id. Ann. & Mag.
Nat. Hist. (18 7 4 ) vol. xiv. p. 93.
GALEOPARDUS VIVERRINUS, Fitzin. Sitzgsber. Akad. Wiss. Wien (1869) Hx. p. 644.
GALEOPARDUS HIMALAYANUS, id. ibid. p. 647.
Chittra Bilow o f th e Tarai ( F r a s e r ) .
H a b . India (with Ceylon); Burma, common in the Tenasserim Provinces. Found only in the lower valleys of the
Himalayas; Malacca, Camboja, South China (B l y t h ). Open lower regions of Nepal and Tarai (H o b s f i e l d ).
Formosa (Sw in h o e ).
T h i s animal, by some called a Tiger-cat, is pretty well distributed in th e Indian and Indo-Chinese subregions of the
Oriental Region. In the first of these it is fo u n d throughout Burma, according to Jerdon and Blyth, common in
Tennasserim, Travancore, and Ceylon, and extends up the Malabar coast as far as Mangalore. I t is also found in the
Terai and the marshy region at the foot of the Himalayas, but apparently goes no further west than Nepal. In the second
subregion it is a native of Southern China, Camboja, and the island of Formosa. Jerdon says that in Bengal this Cat
inhabits low watery situations, and that he has often met with it on the edge of swampy thickets. In the neighbourhood
of Calcutta, a c c o r d in g to Buchanan Hamilton, it is common, and frequents reeds near water, and besides fish and birds
preys upon Ampullarite and Uniones. As to its disposition in captivity, accounts vary, the last-named writer declaring it to be
fierce and untamable, while Blyth thinks quite the contrary, and says he has had several “ big toms quite tame.” Those
that I have seen appeared especially savage, and would allow no one to approach, growling, spitting, and striking at all
who drew near the cage in which they were confined. The one whose portrait is given on the accompanying Plate was
exceedingly fierce, and it was with difficulty that he could be kept in sight long enough for Mr. Wolf to make his sketch;
for he persisted in running into a box left in his cage, so as to escape observation, and his strength was . so great it was no
easy matter to dislodge him. At last, after he had been turned out of this box, the entrance was closed; and all the time
his likeness was being taken he kept up a constant growling and spitting, while his flashing eyes, ears laid back upon his
head, and quick uneasy jerking of the tail showed the furious rage he was in ; and yet this animal had been an inmate of
the Zoological Gardens for a considerable time, always well fed and kindly treated. I am inclined to think every thing
depends upon individual temperament, and that opinions formed as to the fierceness or docility of any species of this family
from one or two specimens are very apt to lead one astray from a correct judgment. The Rev. Mr. Baker, writing of the
habits of this creature in Malabar, as quoted by Jerdon, says that it often kills pariah dogs, and he has known instances of
slave c h ild r e n (infants) having been taken from the huts by this Cat. It also kills young calves. Swinhoe, who procured
this species in Formosa, and also saw its skins in South China, says that he had examined specimens from the Himalayas,