PULTUSK, pnlqusk. A town of Russian Poland, in the Government of Warsaw, situ ated on the Narev about 34 miles north of Warsaw (Map: Russia, B 4). It is a well-built town with an old castle, the former residence of the bishops of Plotzk. It is noted as the scene of an engagement between the Rus sians and the French in 1306. Population, in 1397, 15,900.
PUMA (Peruvian name), COUGAR, or Mot's TAIN LION. A large American cat (Felis con color), originally native from the watershed of Hudson Bay to the Straits of Magellan, and still present except in the most civilized parts of the country. It is of slender build, with a rather small head and long limbs, and usually measures about 40 inches from the snout to the root of the tail, which usually is about 26 inches in length, and of nearly the same thickness through out. Unlike the other American cat, the jaguar (q.v.), which is dnsely spotted, the adult puma has no spots, except that the lips and the outer rim of the ear are black, there is a patch of white on each side of the muzzle, and the tip of the tail usually is blackish. The upper parts are uniform dull fox-red, appearing gray in cer tain lights, owinr, to the fact that each hair is fawn-gray, red only at the tip; the throat, belly, and inside of the legs are reddish-white. This unspotted, tawny coat led the earliest explorers on the Atlantic coast to regard the animal as a lion, and the name survives in the West. The early settlers in the States called it a panther (usually pronounced 'painter'). 'Cougar' is de rived from a Brazilian language, but involves an error. (See CoucAn.) 'Puma' was its native name in Peru. Considering that the species is distributed over so great a range of territory, its variations in form and color are surprisingly small.
In the Eastern United States it has been great ly dreaded as a fierce and treaeherous beast, par ticularly dangerous because of its alleged habit of springing upon travelers from branches of trees or rocky ledges. When attacked it was coura geous in resistance, and the killing of one was justly considered evidence of skill and courage. In the West. on the other hand, the mountain lion, although more numerous in the Rocky Moun tains than the panther ever appears to have been in the East, has always been regarded as a shy and cowardly beast, little to be feared, except when cornered. The truth seems to be that this animal has less ferocity than any other of the great cats, and under ordinary circumstances is inclined to avoid rather than to attack men, and often seems to seek their company in a friendly way. This timidity and confidence aided the
easy extinction of these animal throughout the eastern part of the country, but they are still abundant in the Rocky :Mountains. and westward, where the ranching industries 61.I pply them with abundant food in the young cattle and horses. The principal food of the puma in North America was deer, but it seized any smaller prey which came in its way. The mode of hunting was by lying in wait for or creeping within leaping distance of the victim and then springing upon it. In the case of sheep, to which in the South western United States it is especially destruc tive, the puma rarely contents itself with taking a single one, which would satisfy its hunger, but, having once entered a fold or flock. it kills right and left, so that in many cases a hundred sheep have been killed out of a flock in one night by a single puma. Their silence when hunting or when attacked is a notable characteristic; yet on rare occasions, in winter nights, they make the woods resound with terrifying screams. The young are born in the early spring, and are usually two or three in number; and it is be lieved that under natural conditions most pairs breed only once in two years. The kittens at first are covered with black spots and stripes, and their tails are ringed. These markingi disappear at the end of about six months, after which they become of the uniform color of their parents. Full size is not attained before the end of the second year, and during all this time they asso ciate with the mother, while the father of the family seems to lead a solitary existence. Like other eats, their hunting is entirely at night.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. True, "The Puma," an illusBibliography. True, "The Puma," an illus- trated monograph with full bibliography, in An nual Report Smithsonian Institution (Washing ton, 1859) ; Merriam, Vertebrates of the Adiron darks (New York, 1893) ; Porter, Wild Beasts ( New York, 1S94) ; Ba ie-Grohma n, Fifteen Years . . . in the Hunting Grounds of West ern. America (London, 1900) ; Alston, Biologia Centrali-Americana (London, 1879-82) ; Hudson, The Naturalist in La Plata (London, 1892). See Colored Plate of CAT FAMILY, accompanying article Lnix.