CAT-BIRD

name applied to two distinct Pa erine birds—to the Amer. aleoscoptes carol in ens is, one of the _ Amer, mocking-birds, a member of the ' thrush family, and to Australian Aelu_ red us virdis, one of the birds of paradise., _ CATERPILLAR. See Lermorrpra. FP / car rAMILY (retidac), a family of about 85 species scattered all over the _ world, except in Australia, New Zealand, _ and Madagascar. They are charactertized b Humber four in the upper and three in the lower jaw. Among the cats the best known is the lion, Felis leo, characterized by its uniform tawny color, and by the shaggy mane that ornaments the head and neck of the male. The lion sleeps by day in thickets or in dense reeds, and prowls at night in search of the large animals — antelopes, giraffes, camels, buffaloes, and such-like—that form its prey. Although now confined to Africa, Persia, and N.W. India, lions were formerly found, in historic _ times, throughout S. Asia and S.E, Europe, and fo il remains, Pleistocene, have been found even in Britain. Closely related to the lion, but differing in its striped coat and lack of mane, is the tiger (Ff. tigerts), which is found only in Asia, but there from the snows: of Manchuria to the south of India. The individuals inhabiting the colder regions have long, thick coats, very different from those of their tropical brethren. The leopard, F. pard us, also known as pard and panther, is le numerous than the preceding species, and is spotted with dark brown and black, the spots often arranged in circles. It occurs throughout Africa and the greater part of Asia, and its bones have been found in Brit. caves. The snow leopard or ounce, F. unica, with longer and paler fur than the last, inhabits the lofty plateaus and mountains of Central Asia, 9,000 to 18,000 ft, above sea level. Le important and le imposing Old World cats are the smaller tiger cats of tropical Asia and Africa; the S. African serval, F. serval, short tailed, large eared, black spotted; the clouded leopard, hunting leopard, or cheetah, and common wild cat; the caracal or Persian lynx, Lynx caracal, with bright yellow-brown unspotted fur and black tipped tail, found in W. Asia and Africa; ‘and the true lynxes, Lynx, with long limbs, short tail, and ears with a tuft of hairs at the tip, some of which occur both in Europe and in Asia, The New World fauna also includes true lynxes, confined to N.America; but its most important members are the leopard-like jaguar, F’. onca, fond of climbing and feeding upon monkeys, and the known to Americans as the ‘panther.; Both occur from Pategonia to the U.S. but while the northern boundary of the former is limited by N. Mexico, the latter extends to New England. Smaller arboreal species roam the woods of tropical America, pa ing, on account of their spotted fur, under the name of ocelot cats, or sometimes ‘tiger cats; examples are F. jaguar und: and F. eyra, respectively, rather larger and rather smaller than the domestic cat. The remains of more than 80 species | of the cat family have been found as fo ils in Tertiary deposits. The most interesting is the extinct | sabre-toothed tiger, Machaerodus, which had compre ed, saw-edged teeth, 7 in. in length, pice as been traced in the Argentine and razil, 1’ W ) sland, Mi i ippi. (2) (24° 30’ N., 75° 30’ W.) island, one of the Bahamas, W. Indies. Once wrongly super a to be first landing place of Columus in America,