Habitat, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (May.)

“This cat was given me by an old Portuguese priest, who had hunted it down in a thick forest with a small pack of dogs, after a severe chase. It was killed near the Gavia mountain, at the distance of a few miles only from Rio de Janeiro, where it was considered uncommon.” D. Although small, compared with the Puma, (Felis concolor, Auct.), this cat, in its slender lengthened body, small head, long tail, and stout limbs, decidedly evinces an affinity to that species. According to the dimensions of the Yagouaroundi given by Azara, Desmarest, and Temminck, it appears that the tail is considerably shorter in proportion in the specimens examined by those naturalists, than in the present individual, and the difference was such, as to induce Mr. Martin to believe that the latter was a distinct species; he accordingly proposed for it the specific name of Darwinii. At the time that Mr. Martin described the specimen alluded to, I was also inclined to believe it was a distinct species. I mention this because I am afraid my opinion had a slight share in influencing Mr. Martin’s determination. I have since seen many specimens, and upon comparing their dimensions, I find that the proportionate length of the tail varies more than is usual in other species of cats, and that the difference in the length in this member is not combined with any other distinguishing character. In colouring there is also a considerable variation, some specimens being almost black, and having the hairs but obscurely annulated with white; in others, the hairs are more distinctly annulated, and the head assumes a grayish hue. Others again, are brown, or black brown, having the hairs annulated with yellow. The following are the dimensions of two specimens in the Paris museum, and those given by the authors above alluded to.[[11]]

Paris M. Paris M. Desmarest. Temminck. Azara.
In. Lines. In. Lines. In. Lines. In. Lines. In. Lines.
Length from nose to root of tail 30 6 28 0 23 0 30 0 36 9
of tail 24 0 17 0 13 9 22 0 13 9

2. Felis Pajeros.
Plate IX.

Chat Pampa, Azara, Essais sur l’histoire Naturelle des Quadrupèdes du Paraguay. Traduct. Franç. tom. 1. p. 179.

Felis Pajeros, Desmarest, Mammologie, p. 231.

F. vellere longissimo, flavescenti-griseo, fasciis flavescenti-fuscis indistinctè et sublongitudinalitèr notato; pedibus annulis latis nigris; abdomine maculis magnis nigris; mento albo; caudâ brevi; auribus mediocribus, ad apicem externum nigris.

Description.—The Pampas cat is about equal in size to the common wild cat of Europe (Felis Catus, Linn.). It is however of a stouter form than that animal, the head is smaller, and the tail is shorter.

The most remarkable character in this species consists in the great length of the fur,—the longer hairs on the back measuring upwards of three inches, and those on the hinder part of the back, are from four and a half, to four and three quarter inches in length. The general colour of the fur is pale yellow-gray. Numerous irregular yellow, or sometimes brown stripes run in an oblique manner from the back along the sides of the body. On each side of the face there are two stripes of a yellowish or cinnamon colour: these stripes commence near the eye, extend backwards and downwards over the cheeks, on the hinder part of which they join and form a single line, which encircles the lower part of the throat. The tip of the muzzle and the chin are white, and there is a spot in front of the eye, and a line beneath the eye, of the same colour: the belly and the inner side and hinder part of the fore legs are also white. An irregular black line runs across the lower part of the chest and extends over the base of the fore legs externally, and above this line there are two other transverse dark markings on the chest, which are more or less defined. On the fore legs there are three broad black bands, two of which encircle the leg, and on the posterior legs there are about five black bands externally, and some irregular dark spots internally. The feet are yellowish, and the underside of the tarsus is of a slightly deeper hue. On the belly there are numerous large irregular black spots. The ears are of moderate size, furnished internally with long white hairs; externally, the ears are of the same colour as the head, excepting at the apex where the hairs are black and form a slight tuft. The tail is short, somewhat bushy, and devoid of dark rings or spots—the hairs are in fact coloured as those of the back of the animal. On the upper part of the body each hair is brown at the base, then yellow, and at the apex, black. On the hinder part of the back the hairs are almost black at the base, and on the sides of the body each hair is gray at the base; there is then a considerable space of yellowish white colour; towards the apex they are white, and at the apex black. The greater number of the hairs of the moustaches are white.

In.Lines.
Lengthfrom nose to root of tail260
to base of ear36
of tail (fur included)110
of ear111
Heightof body at shoulders130