The Common Lynx is found chiefly in Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Northern Asia, and in the mountainous districts of Central Europe. In other parts of the Continent it is nearly or quite extinct. The animal attains a much greater size than any of the ordinary Wild Cats, being as much as forty or fifty inches long, from the tip of its snout to the root of its tail. It is also readily distinguished from the Cats proper by the shortness of its tail, which does not exceed six to nine inches, or about one-fifth the length of the body, and by the length of its legs, which gives it a decidedly un-Cat-like look, and brings its height at the shoulder up to twenty-five inches. Another distinguishing feature is to be found in the long pointed ears, each with a tuft of long stiff hair on its tip; and still another is the length of the fur on the cheeks, whereby a pair of capital whiskers of almost Dundreary length is produced. These, it must be understood, are quite distinct from the true “whiskers,” or tactile vibrissæ, with which the upper lip of the Lynx, like that of all _Felidæ_, is provided. The tufted ears and bearded cheeks, together with the fierce brightness of the eye, give the Lynx an altogether peculiar and somewhat weird expression. When we have added that the pads of the feet are overgrown with hair, we have mentioned all the obvious differences between a Lynx and a true Cat. In everything else, its teeth, its bones, its sheathed claws, its manner of killing its prey, its habit of swearing and spitting when angry, it is a Cat all over. Still, the differences between it and the ordinary Cats are considerable, and some naturalists prefer to look upon the Lynxes as a distinct genus (_Lyncus_); but, on the whole, especially when we consider how the chasm is bridged over by the Jungle Cat, it is more convenient to keep the two together, and consider the Lynxes as simply a section of the great genus _Felis_. The skin of the Common Lynx is of a reddish-grey colour, more or less spotted with red or dark grey; but the variations in marking are very great in different individuals, and in the same individual at different ages. The fur, also, is longer in winter than in summer. [Illustration: COMMON LYNX.] [Illustration: CANADIAN LYNX.] The Lynx is undoubtedly the most dangerous and destructive beast of prey now left in Europe; at any rate, a single Lynx will do more damage than an individual of any other wild species. The Russian Wolves may be, on the whole, worse enemies, but they hunt in packs, and are only dangerous in numbers, a single Wolf being a sorry coward, while a Lynx is a truly redoubtable antagonist, as the following excellent account of his habits will show:--