“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.
Length from nose to root of tail 26 0
to base of ear 3 6
of tail (fur included) 11 0
of ear 1 11
Height of body at shoulders 13 0
Habitat, Santa Cruz, Patagonia, (_April_,) and Bahia Blanca,
(_August_).
The markings in this animal vary slightly in intensity; those on the
body are generally indistinct, but the black rings on the legs are
always very conspicuous.
“This animal takes its name from ‘paja,’ the Spanish word for straw,
from its habit of frequenting reeds. It is common over the whole of the
great plains, which compose the eastern side of the southern part of
America. According to Azara, it extends northward as far as latitude
30°, and to the south, I have reason to believe, from the accounts I
have received, that it is found near the Strait of Magellan, which would
give it a range of nearly 1400 miles, in a north and south line. One of
my specimens was obtained, in 50° south, at Santa Cruz: it was met with
in a valley, where a few thickets were growing. When disturbed, it did
not run away, but drew itself up, and hissed. My other specimen was
half-grown, and was killed in the end of August, at Bahia Blanca.”—D.