Part 13

Both in Asia and north-eastern and East Africa black leopards are not uncommon; but these are merely a dark (melanistic) phase of the ordinary leopard. Nevertheless, it appears, so far as can be judged from a single authenticated instance, that black leopards when mated together will breed true, although, if paired with spotted individuals, the progeny may be of either type.

With regard to the general habits of leopards, space permits only of reference to their remarkable partiality for the flesh of dogs, which is so strong as to render it difficult to keep these animals in leopard-infested districts.

THE LYNX

(Felis (Lynx) lynx)

Whether the lynx is more keen of vision than other animals is more than problematical; but, nevertheless, it takes its name from the Greek word (luké) for light, and lynx-eyed has become a proverbial expression. Moreover, as if to set a seal of endorsement upon the proverb, the oldest and most renowned scientific society in Italy bears the title of Regia Lynceorum Academia (the “Royal Academy of Lynxes”).

Be all this as it may, the lynx is an aberrant and well-marked member of the Felidæ, distinguished, together with its immediate relatives, from other members of the cat tribe by its short, stumpy tail, the long tufts of hair at the tips of the ears, and the bushy whitish whiskers fringing the face, as well as by the large size of the feet, and a generally stout appearance, due to the thickness of the coat.

The beautiful fur of the lynx, which commands a high price in the market, has also a character all its own, being long, soft, and silky, with a greyish or reddish tawny colour, and in most cases a number of more or less dark markings, which take the form of longitudinal streaks along the back, of flecks on the sides, and roundish spots on the limbs; the greater portion of the absurd apology for a tail, together with the backs and tufts of the ears, and a conspicuous streak on each side of the face, being black. Many lynx-skins are, however, more or less completely devoid of the dark markings; and it does not yet appear to be ascertained whether the difference in this respect is individual or seasonal.

When the markings are fully developed, they so completely break up the outline of the body as to render the animal almost invisible at a short distance; this being noticeable even within the cramped confines of a cage.

The lynx is the second and largest species of the cat tribe inhabiting northern Europe, where it is common in Scandinavia and Russia, while to the south it is found in mountainous districts as far as Spain. Eastwards it extends across Asia, from the Caucasus and northern Persia, to the northward of the Himalaya to the island of Saghalin. Its fossil remains prove that it was formerly a native of the British Isles.

The Tibetan lynx, on account of its generally paler colour, has been separated as F. lynx isabellina, while the one from the Urals, Caucasus, and northern Persia is distinguished as F. l. cervaria. The Altai lynx, characterised by its unusually long coat, the, at least frequent, absence of spots, except on the limbs, and its extremely pale colouring, approximating in many parts to white, has likewise received a separate racial name, F. l. wardi.

In North America the so-called Canada lynx, although often regarded as a distinct species, differs, in the opinion of a well-known American naturalist, from the lynx of northern Asia and Europe merely by features which may with safety be ascribed to local environment, and should therefore be reckoned as yet another geographical race, under the name of F. l. canadensis. Its range extended in former days from Arctic America to the mountains of Pennsylvania; the lynxes of Alaska and Newfoundland respectively forming two minor races.

Lynxes are extremely savage animals with immensely powerful limbs, which appear out of proportion to the lean body. They are inhabitants of forest, where they pass much of their time reposing on the horizontal boughs of trees, whence they can launch themselves with unerring spring on any unsuspecting animal that may be passing below, or from which they may ascend higher in search of squirrels or birds and their nests. They by no means, however, confine their attention to such arboreal game, but are relentless pursuers of hares and still smaller terrestrial mammals of all kinds, while their agility is such that a half-tamed individual has been repeatedly seen to catch pigeons out of a flock feeding on the ground as they rose on the wing. In pursuit of ground-game they advance in long silent leaps, and in winter are prevented from sinking in the snow when progressing in this manner by the great size of their paws.

Tangled thickets or other kinds of dense undergrowth are selected by the lynx for its summer lair; and in such localities in Norway the fluffy cubs are born. In Tibet, however, these animals are compelled to exchange clefts in rocks for the forests of Scandinavia and Russia. Unlike bears, lynxes, in common with all members of the cat tribe, remain active throughout the winter, being sufficiently protected against cold by the thickness of their soft fur. At this time of year they are, however, frequently reduced to great straits by hunger; and their endurance must be simply marvellous to enable them when in this famishing condition to hunt and capture from time to time such prey as may be on the move.

THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS

(Rhinoceros unicornis)

Although formerly ranging a considerable way down the peninsula, the great Indian rhinoceros, as this species should properly be called, is more or less completely restricted to Nepal and the country east of the Tista valley, especially the plain of Assam and Kuch-Behar. Here the mighty beast, which stands over 5½ feet in height at the shoulder, dwells in the tall grass-jungles, where it is as completely concealed as is a rabbit in a meadow ready for mowing. The rhinoceroses, in fact, make for themselves in this giant grass, tunnels, or “runs,” in which they move from place to place perfectly secure from observation, and likewise protected from the direct rays of the sun; and it appears that, except to drink, they seldom leave this wonderful covert. To attempt to shoot such enormous beasts on foot in jungle of this description, where escape from the beaten track is well-nigh impossible, would be little short of madness; and the Indian rhinoceros is therefore always hunted on elephants.

In old books on Indian sports the rhinoceros is depicted as charging the elephants, and attempting to spear them with its horn, if not in the act of goring their bodies. This is, however, erroneous, as none of the three named species of Asiatic rhinoceros use their horns in this manner, but employ for offence their sharp, triangular lower tusks, with which they make lateral thrusts and lunges after the manner of a wild boar. African rhinoceroses, on the other hand, have no tusks, and consequently have to rely on their horns--always two in number--for both attack and defence.

It must not, however, be assumed from this that the absence of tusks is compensated by the development of two horns, for there is one Asiatic species, commonly known as the Sumatran rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sumatrensis), which has two horns combined with lower tusks; this species thus being the most formidably armed member of the whole group. This so-called Sumatran rhinoceros also occurs in some of the eastern districts of India, as does likewise the third Asiatic species, commonly known as the Javan rhinoceros (R. sondaicus), which resembles the great Indian species in carrying but one horn.

A satisfactory and easily recognised distinction between the rhinoceroses of south-eastern Asia and the two African species is afforded by the circumstance that while in the former the hide is thrown into a number of deep folds dividing it into separate areas, in the latter these folds are more or less lacking, so that the skin is comparatively smooth like that of a pig. The shape of the skin-folds serves to distinguish the species forming the subject of the plate from the other one-horned Asiatic species. Among the distinctive features of the present animal may be noted the coif-like expansions of skin at the sides of the head, the large tubercles, recalling the heads of the rivets in an iron boiler, on the shoulders and hind-quarters, and the somewhat triangular shape of the great shield on each shoulder, the fold forming the upper border of which does not extend across the back.

By the older naturalists, rhinoceroses, elephants, and hippopotamuses were grouped together under the title of pachyderms,--a name which has completely dropped out of use in natural history. And very rightly, since the three groups of animals brigaded together under that designation have but little in common with one another. Elephants, for instance, form a group by themselves; hippopotamuses are cousins of the pigs, and thus related to deer and cattle; while rhinoceroses, together with tapirs and horses, form a third group by themselves.

There may seem to the man in the street little in common between a great lumbering brute like a rhinoceros and a Derby winner; but the difference is due solely to the one being a modern specialised type cut out solely for speed, and the other an old-fashioned creature suited for wallowing in marshes or wandering on open plains where it is sufficiently protected by its size and ferocity. Take away the two side-toes from each foot of a rhinoceros, lengthen its limbs, lighten its head and body, modify to a comparatively slight degree its cheek-teeth, and replace its bare “pachydermatous” covering by a thinner, hairy skin, and we should have a horse. Fortunate it is for the naturalist that such primitive creatures as rhinoceroses and tapirs have survived to the present day to afford us an adequate idea of what their numerous extinct relatives looked like in life.

Rhinoceroses are purely herbivorous animals, but whereas the great Indian species subsists chiefly on bamboo-leaves and other grasses, its two Asiatic relatives depend more upon boughs and roots; this difference being correlated with the structure of their teeth. Producing but one offspring at a time, and that at long intervals, these animals apparently live to a very great age, although by no means so long as elephants. The idea that the hide of the Indian species is bullet proof is altogether erroneous.

THE BISON

(Bos [Bison] bonasus)

Although the name bison indisputably belongs to the single species of wild cattle now surviving in Europe, it came to be applied almost exclusively to its American cousin, while the bison itself, till comparatively few years ago, was generally known in this country as the aurochs. The aurochs was, however, the ancient wild ox of Europe, the ancestor of many of our domesticated cattle; and on its extermination, which took place in Poland during the seventeenth century, its name became transferred to the bison, or zubr as it is called in Russia and Poland. Of late years, however, matters have been put right in this respect, and the bison has once more come into its own.

The European bison, although lacking the enormous mass of long hair on the head and fore-quarters which gives to the bulls of its American cousin such a magnificent appearance, is a far better built animal than the latter, as the hind-quarters do not fall away in the same manner. The bulls are considerably larger than the cows, and it is in that sex alone that the beard and throat-fringe, as well as the long hair on the fore-quarters, attain their full development. In summer a short and sleek coat is donned; the old winter coat falling off in spring in large, blanket-like masses.

The bison, apart from a certain number which have been introduced into private parks, now survives only in the forest of Bielowitza, in Lithuanian Poland, now the Russian province of Grodno, and in the Caucasus. In Bielowitza the bison exist in a partially protected condition, and are regularly fed during winter; their number diminished from nearly two thousand in 1857 to three hundred and seventy-five in 1892, and a few years previously had been just over a hundred less. At the present time the herd, which forms an imperial preserve, appears to be suffering from the effects of inbreeding, so that an abnormally large number of the calves are males.

On the other hand, the bison of the Caucasus, which has been separated as a distinct race under the name Bos bonasus caucasicus, exists in a purely wild state, although very little information with regard to its numbers, distribution, and habits is available. In former times bison, as we know from historical evidence, as well as from rude although often spirited sketches, believed to be the work of prehistoric man, on the walls of caverns, as well as from their actual fossil remains, were distributed over the greater part of Europe, including Spain.