Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo18amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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374 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURXAL close range, Init as he was anned with only a shotgun it, would have been use- less to shoot. His second view of the beast was a few weeks later and in the same place. I will give the story in his own words: I selected a spot upon a hilltop and cleared away the grass and ferns with a jackknife for a place to tie the goat. I concealed myself in the bushes ten feet away to await the attack, but the unexpected hap- pened and the tiger approached from the rear. huge cat, crouched for a spring, drew liack, wavered uncertainly for a moment, and then slowly slipped away into the grass. The boys were saved but I had lost the oppor- tunity I had sought for more than a year. I had again seen the animal, however, aliout which so many strange tales had been told. The markings of the beast are strik- ingly beautiful. The ground color is of a delicate shade of maltese, changing into light gray-blue on the underparts. The stripes are well defined and like those of the ordinary yellow tiger.
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I'.iiirtesy of Marry R. Caldwell In the "Big Ravine" at Lungtao, where we hunted the blue tiger, the Reverend H. R. Caldwell killed this four-hundred-pound animal with one shot from his .22 caliber high-power Savage rifle When I first saw the beast he was moving stealthily along a little trail just across a shallow ravine. I supposed, of course, that he was trying to locate the goat, which was bleating loudly, but to my horror I saw that he was creeping upon two boys who had en- tered the ravine to cut grass. The huge brute moved along lizard-fashion for a few yards and then cautiously lifted his head above the grass. He was within easy spring- ing distance when I raised my rifle, but instantly I realized that if I wounded the animal the boys would certainly meet a hor- rible death. Tigers are usually afraid of the human voice, so instead of firing I stepped from the bushes yelling and waving my arms. The Before I left ^ew York Mr. Cald- well had written repeatedly urging me to stop at Fu-tsing on the way to Yunnan to try with him for the blue tiger which was still in the neighbor- hood. I Avas decidedly skeptical as to its being a distinct species, but never- theless, it was a most interesting animal and would certainly be well worth get- ting. I believed then, and my opinion has since been strengthened, that it is a partly melanistic phase of the ordi- nary yellow tiger. Black leopards are common in India and the Malay Penin- sula, and as only a single individual

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