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Show 874 UK. j. E. GRAY ON THE FELIDAE. [NOV. 14, Charaxes calydonia, Butler, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 638. Hab. Malacca (Colls. Wallace, Roberts, and Hewitson). The specimen of this butterfly lent to me by Mr. Roberts differs from that figured by Mr. Hewitson in its greater size, and in having the upperside of the hind wing more suffused with greenish : on the underside the markings are slightly different, the basal red bands being broader, the central band whiter, the discal red band narrower, darker, and rather more irregular, the submarginal green band duller, and the blue lunulate line more irregular and not so deeply margined with black ; the large black caudal spot is, of course, wanting in the original figure. 8. Additional Observations on the Species of Cats (Felida?) in the British Museum. By Dr. J. E . G R A Y , F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., F.L.S., &c. The following memoranda were accidentally omitted from my former paper on the Cats in the British Museum (see P. Z. S. 1807, p. 258). To the species of the restricted genus Felis mentioned in the former paper I may add the Manul (Felis manul of Pallas). This was regarded as a new species by Mr. Hodgson under the name of Felis nigropedus, and is beautifully illustrated in the drawing of his Nepalese animal in the British Museum. In the British Museum also is a fine specimen of this Cat, presented by Mr. Hodgson, under the latter name. It has many characters in common with the other wild species of the restricted genus Felis; but it is at once known by its very long, soft hair, the pale whitish colour only varied by a slight black wash on the upper part of the legs and the black on the chest. Fischer, who only worked from books, considers it a variety of Felis domestica ; but it is a very distinct and well-marked species. The Wild Cat of Europe (Felis catus) is distinct from the African and Asiatic species of the restricted genus Felis in the British Museum. It is at once known by its thick cylindrical truncated tail; but it is so well known, and has been so often described, that I need not add any further observations respecting it. It is said that it breeds with the domestic Cat, and that the skull of the hybrid, as well as the coloration of the fur, is more or less modified by the interbreeding. Having confidence in the declaration of M . F. Cuvier, that the skins he had received from Malabar were exactly like those of the animal named by M . Geoffroy in the Museum Catalogue F. chaus which came from Egypt, and with those that M . F. Cuvier figured and described under the same name that were received from North Africa, and also in Mr. Edward Blyth's observation (see P. Z. S. 1863, p. 181), that "the Egyptian specimen (of F. chaus) now living in the Society's Gardens is absolutely similar to the common animal of Bengal," I was misled and adopted their conclusion. |
