Volume 4, Plate XXIX / Mammalia (Mammals)

Common Wild Cat

Felis Catus

The Common Wild Cat is the only member of this family ranging to the British isles, now nearly extirpated in southern England but abundant in the wild north of Scotland and in Ireland, where men make a living hunting it. Of greyish-yellow with dark dorsal stripes, banded legs, and a thick furry tail, it averages about three feet, inhabits broken wooded tracts, climbs well, and preys destructively on small animals, birds, and game.