THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES , A/7 THE FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA, CEYLON AND BURMA. PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA IN COUNCIL. EMTEl>V^A^y&MAL SCHOOL LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. MAMMALIA. BY W. T. BLANFORD, F.R.S. LONDON: TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. CALCUTTA: I BOMBAY: THACKER, SPINK, & CO. THACKER & CO., LIMITED. BEELIN : 11. FRIEDLANDER & SOHN, 11 CARLSTRASSE. 1888-91. PRINTED BT TAYLOR AND FRANCJS, KKD LION COURT, FLEET STREET. Ptl I PREFACE. THE first part of this volume, containing the Introduction, Primates, Carnivora, and Insectivora, was published at the end of June 1888. The delay of more than three years in completing the work has been caused by the necessity of devoting a large portion of my time to the editing of the five volumes belonging to. the same series that have appeared since the first part of the present work was issued. The Mammalia of British India, inclusive of Ceylon and Burma, here enumerated and described, just exceed 400 in number. Jerdon' s ' Mammals of India/ published in 1867, contained descriptions of 242 species ; but the area as now defined considerably exceeds the limits adopted by Jerdon, who excluded from his work all forms peculiar to Ceylon or Burma, and to all countries north of the main Himalayan range, west of the Indus, or east of the Bay of Bengal and of a line drawn northwards from the head of it. The greatest advance since Jerdon wrote, in our knowledge of Indian Mammals, has been in the orders of Chiroptera, Insectivora, and Rodentia, whilst the order with which, at the present time, our acquaintance is most imperfect is that of Cetacea. In Sterndale's ' Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon/ published in 1884, the number of species is 482 ; but some of these are not found in British Territory, and IV PREFACE. several of the forms enumerated, now that better series of specimens have been collected, are no longer regarded as distinct. Some acknowledgment of the assistance afforded to me in the preparation of the present work will be found in the Introduction. To the list of those who have aided in the publication should be added the Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, to whom I am indebted for the use of the cuts prepared for Dobson's ' Monograph of Asiatic Chiroptera/ and for the opportunity of comparing in London some specimens belonging to the Indian Museum. I must also express my particular obligation to Prof. W. H. Flower, Director of the Natural History Collection in the British Museum, for advice and information with regard to the Cetacea ; to Mr. R. Lydekker for aid in preparing the account of the Ungulata ; to Mr. W. L. Sclater for advance sheets of his Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum, and for notes on specimens in the Calcutta Collections ; and to Mr. Oldfield Thomas, of the British Museum, for assistance and information of every kind, most freely afforded throughout the progress of the work, in connection with the Mammalian Collections under his supervision. There is another acknowledgment that should perhaps have been made before, but for which the present affords a good occasion. If, as I hope, the present series of works is found useful by Indian naturalists, they will I am sure wish that the names of those who took the first steps in bringing the want of new Handbooks of Indian Zoology to the notice of the Government of India should not remain unrecorded. The need for new and revised descriptive works had, for some years before 1881, been felt and discussed amongst naturalists in India, but the attention of the Government was, I believe, first called to the matter by a memorial dated Sept. 15th of that year, prepared by Mr. P. L. Sclater, the well-known Secretary of the Zoological Society, signed by PREFACE. V Mr. Charles Darwin, Sir J. Hooker, Professor Huxley, Sir J. Lubbock, Prof. W. H. Flower, and by Mr. Sclater him- self, and presented to the Secretary of State for India. This memorial recommended the preparation of a series of Hand- books of Indian Zoology and my appointment as Editor. It is scarcely necessary to add that to the recommendation of men so highly respected and so well known in the world of Science the publication of the present ' Fauna of British India ' is greatly due, and that Mr. Sclater is entitled to the thanks of all interested in the Zoology of India for the im- portant part he took in the transaction. I can only express a hope that the present series as a whole may be worthy of the distinguished support to which, in so great a degree, it owes its origin. With the publication of this part six out of the seven volumes in which it was originally proposed to describe the Vertebrata of British India have been completed. The remaining volume of Birds will be undertaken at once. I am glad to be able to announce that the ' Fauna of British India ' will not be confined to Vertebrata, the preparation of three volumes on Moths by Mr. G. F. Hampson having been commenced. W. T. BLANFORD. November 30th, 1891. INTRODUCTION, 2- 34* t> 7 THE present is the first part of a general work, compiled for the Government, and published under its authority, on the Fauna of British India and its dependencies. A few details respecting this larger work may serve as a preface to the introductory observations on the Mammalia. The large additions made to our knowledge of Indian Zoology during the period, now about a quarter of a century, that has elapsed since the appearance of Jerdon's ' Birds ' and ' Mammals ' and Giinther's ' Reptiles ' have for some time rendered it desirable that a new series of descriptive manuals should be prepared. The Secretary of State for India in Council, upon the recommendation of the Government of India, gave his sanction, in 1883, to a plan for" the preparation of the works most urgently required, and en- trusted the editorship of the series to the present writer. From various causes the appearance of the work has been delayed, but it is hoped that the principal difficulties have now been overcome. For the present, it is proposed to restrict the publication to the Vertebrata, and to complete the work in seven volumes of about 500 pages each. One of these volumes will contain the Mammals (the present issue is only a half-volume), three will be required for the Birds, one for Eeptiles and Batrachians, and two for Fishes. - The authorship of the volumes on Fishes has been undertaken by Mr. F. Day, C.I.E., Deputy Surgeon-General, author of the ' Fishes of India ' ; the Eeptilia and Batrachia will be described by Mr. G. A. Boulenger, author of the recently published British- Museum Catalogues of Batrachia and Lizards ; whilst the Birds will, it is hoped, be taken in hand by Mr. E. W. Gates, author of the ' Birds of British Burrnah.' The Mammals remain to be IV INTRODUCTION. described by the Editor. The greater part of the second half-volume on Mammalia is written, and much- progress has been made with all other parts of the work, so that there is every prospect of the whole being issued in the course of the next few years. The limits adopted for the fauna are those of the dependencies of India, with the addition of Ceylon, which, although British, is not under the Indian Government. Within the limits thus de- fined are comprised all India proper and the Himalayas, the Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan, all the Kashmir territories, with Gilgit, Ladak, &c., Nepal, Sikhira, Bhutan, and other Cis-Himalayan States, Assam, the countries between Assam and Burma, such as the Khasi and Naga hills and Manipur, the whole of Burma, with Karennee and, of course, Tenasserim and the Mergui Archipelago, and, lastly, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Afghanistan, Kashgaria, Tibet, Yunnan, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula south of Tenasserim are excluded. A few States, such as Nepal and Bhutan, at present not accessible to Europeans, are comprised, because it would be difficult to leave them out ; scarcely art animal occurs in either not found also in British territories or in protected States,, such LS Sil^him. The whole of India and its dependencies, with the exception of the higher Himalayas and Trans-Himalayan tracts, is included in the Oriental Region, one of the six great zoological regions* into \\hich the terrestrial surface of the globe was divided by Sclater, whose views have been adopted by Wallace and others. Several Ethiopian and Palaearctic genera are intermixed with forms characteristic of the Oriental Region in North-western India, and some of these forms range throughout the Peninsula, but not further to the eastward. The division of the area into zoological subregions is somewhat difficult, the affinities of the different subdivisions being compli- * These six zoological regions are the following : I. Palceardic : Europe, Africa north of tbe Sahara, and Asia north of the Himalayas. II. Ethiopian : Africa south of the Sahara. III. Oriental: India and South-eastern Asia, with the Malay Archipelago, as far east as Java, Bali, Borneo, and the Philippines. IV. Australian: Australia, Celebes, New Guinea, New Zealand, and the islands of the Pacific. V. Nearctic : America north of the Tropic of Cancer. VI. Neotropical: Central and Sduth America. For further particulars, see Wallace's ' Geographical Distribution of Animal.-..' INTRODUCTION. V cated. The following subregions may be accepted as convenient and as approximately correct : I. Tibetan. The Upper Indus valley (Gilgit, Ladak, &c.) and the higher Himalaya above 12,000 or 14,000 feet. II. Himalayan. The southern slopes of the Himalaya, from the base to about the limit of trees. III. Indian. India from the base of the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, with the exception of the Malabar coast, but with the addition of Northern Ceylon. IV. Malabar or Ceylonese. The Malabar coast and the neigh- bouring hills as far north as the Tapti river, together with Southern Ceylon. V. Burmese. All Burma except South Tenasserim, and with the addition of Assam and the intervening countries. VI. South Tenasserim. This is the northern extremity of the great Indo-Malayan subregion, comprising the Malay Peninsula and several of the islands. Some of these may require further subdivision. Thus the fauna of the North-west Provinces and Punjab differs considerably from that of Southern India, and both areas exhibit zoological distinc- tions from the forest-clad tracts of South-western Bengal. There is also much difference between the animals of Pegu and Arakan, on the one hand, and those of the drier regions of Upper Burma on the other ; and even greater distinctions may be traced betw een those found in the subtropical and those inhabiting the temperate ivgions of the Himalaya. On the other hand, the subtropical Himalayas were united with the Burmese subregion by Wallace, and the two are, perhaps, zoologically more allied to each other than to any other subregion. It is well to notice that the Tibetan subregion is Palaearctic, whilst the other live subdivisions are included in the Oriental Region. The preceding remarks apply to the 'Fauna of British India' in general ; the following relate to the present volume. The classi- fication of Mammals here adopted was proposed by Professor Flower in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1883, pp. 178-186. The arrangement is but slightly modified from that employed by the same author in the last (ninth) edi- tion of the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica ' (Article " Mammalia "). Although this classification is, so far as I am able to judge, the best hitherto published, there are, as will be mentioned in the VI INTRODUCTION. proper places, several questions on which wide differences of opinion exist. Thus many excellent naturalists regard as of ordinal rank subdivisions such as, for instance, the Lemuroidea imd Proboscidea, classed by Professor Flower as suborders. The descriptions of the genera and species in the following pages have been taken from specimens, whenever any were acces- sible ; in the few cases in which, for want of available specimens, the characters are copied from descriptions by previous writers, the fact is stated. The measurements are taken from various sources, and, whenever possible, dimensions of freshly-killed animals, or, in the case of the smaller forms, of perfect examples preserved in spirit; have been selected. The length of the head and body from the tip of the nose to the insertion of the tail and the length of the tail are naturally of little value when taken from skins ; these two dimensions are given, when possible, in the following pages, the tail measurement being without the hair, if data are available. Other measurements often cited are those of the ear, usually from the crown of the head, sometimes from the external base or from the orifice, and of the pes or hind foot, including the tarsus, from the joint corresponding to the heel iu man and the hock in a horse to the end of the longest toe, the claws not being included, unless their inclusion is specified. In particular cases other dimen- sions are added, for instance the forearm in bats. Two measurements of the skull are generally given : the basal length, from the anterior or lower margin of the foramen magnum to the anterior border of the premaxillaries, the incisor teeth not being included ; and the zygomatic breadth, across the widest part of the zygomatic arches. The extreme length of the skull some- times recorded is either from the posterior surface or from the supraoccipital to the end of the premaxillaries, or, in some skulls, to the end of the nasals. The notes on distribution and hab^s are compiled from various writers, especially from the works of Jerdon, Blyth, Hodgson (in- clusive of the MS. notes on his drawings in the Zoological Society's library), Elliot, Kelaart, Tickell (also including his MS. notes), Sterndale, McMaster, Forsyth, Sanderson, and others, supplemented by my own observations during a residence of more than 20 years in India, in the course of which time, whilst employed in the Geo- logical Survey of the country, I visited many parts of India and Burma, and became acquainted with most of the wild animals in their native haunts. INTRODUCTION. ItfTBODUCTION. I.VTRODUCTIOX. The synonymy has been thoroughly revised, the original descrip- tions having been consulted in every case. A list of the principal \vorks quoted, with their abbreviated titles, is appended. The British-Museum catalogues by Dr. Gray are referred to as seldom as possible, because of their inaccuracy. A considerable proportion of the mistakes made by Indian naturalists, in nomenclature espe- cially, may be traced to these catalogues. Space does not permit the addition of a sketch of mammalian anatomy. The accompanying woodcuts of a lion's skeleton and of a dog's skull will suffice to show the names and position of the principal bones. For further details with regard to the skeleton the student will do well to consult Flower's ' Introduction to the Osteology of the Mammalia,' from which, by permission of the author and publishers, the woodcuts of a dog's skull are taken. For the anatomy of the soft parts no similar compendium exists ; a sketch will be found in the article " Mammalia " in the ' Encyclo- paedia Britanuica,' but a general work on mammalian anatomy is still wanted. The teeth have been treated in separate works by Owen, Giebel, and others. Here it is only necessary to say that they are divided into incisors, canines, premolars, and molars; that the three first-named are, as a rule, preceded in the young mammal by milk or deciduous teeth ; that the upper canine is the tooth behind the premaxillary suture or in contact with it, and the lower canine the tooth that, when the jaws are closed, comes immediately in front of the upper canine ; the teeth in front of the canines are incisors, those behind premolars and molars. It will be difficult within the limited space available for me to acknowledge the assistance of all who have aided me in preparing the present work. I am indebted particularly to General R. Strachey and Col. Tule, and equally so to Professor Flower and Dr. Giinther for aid most liberally given on all occasions, also to Mr. P. L. Sclater, Dr. J. Anderson, Sir J. Fayrer, Prof. A. Newton, Mr. A. Hume, Prof. Mivart, Mr. J. Scully, Sir 0. B. St. John, Col. J. Biddulph, Mr. Davison, Captain Bingham, Mr. W. Daly, Eev. S. Fan-bank, Mr. Wood Mason, Mr. W. L. Sclater, Mr. H. E. Watson, the late Mr. L. Mandelli, and Mr. J. Murray, for assistance of various kinds. Above all I am under obligations to Mr. G. E. Dobson and Mr. Oldfield Thomas, not merely for the great extent to which this work has been facilitated by their writings, but also for advice and information of many kinds and on numerous occasions. But for Mr. Dobson's researches amongst the Chiroptera and Insectivora, the labour of preparing a work on Indian Mammalia would have been greater by at least one third. b I have also to acknowledge with gratitude the permission liber- ally granted to me by the Trustees of the British Museum, the Zoological Society, Messrs. Macmillan and Co., and Messrs. Black and Co., of Edinburgh, to publish copies of woodcuts laken from their publications. The work from which the cut is taken is quoted in each case. Several of the illustrations are, by permis- sion of the Zoological Society, taken from drawings by the late Col. Tickell, and from the superb collection made by Mr. B. H. Hodgson, both of which series are now in the Society's Library. The majority of the cuts are copied, from drawings by Mr. E. E. Holding and Mr. P. J. Smit, by the Typographic Etching Company's process. LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS QUOTED IN THE SYNONYMY. A. M. N. H. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. London, 1838- 1 888. Anderson, An. Zool. Res. Anatomical and Zoological Eesearches, com- prising an account of the Zoological Results of the two Expeditions to Western Yunnan in 1868 and 1875, &c. By John Anderson, M.D. Edin. London, 1878. Anderson, Cat. Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. By John Anderson, M.D., F.R.S., &c. Calcutta, 1881. As. Res. Asiatic Researches. Calcutta, 1788-1836. Blyth, Cat. Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the Asiatic Society. By Edward Blyth. Curator. Calcutta, 1863. Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma. Catalogue of Mammals and Birds of Burma. By the late E. Blyth. Hertford. 1875. Extra Number to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol. xliv. Calc. Jour. N. H Calcutta Journal of Natural History. Calcutta, 1841- 1848. Dobson, Cat. Chir. B. M. Catalogue of the Chiroptera in the Collection of the British Museum By G. E. Dobson. London, 1878. Dobson, Mon. As. Chir. Monograph of the Asiatic Chiroptera. By G. E. Dobson, M.A., M.B., &c. London, 1876. Dobs on, Mon. Ins. A Monograph of the Insectivora, systematic and anatomical. By G. E. Dobson. London, Pt. I, 1882, Pt. II, 1883. Elliot, Mon. Fel. A Monograph of the Felida?, or family of the Cats. By Daniel Giraud Elliot London, 1883. Erxl. Syst. Reg. An. Io. Christ. Polyc. Erxleben. Systema Regni Animalis per classes, ordines, &c, Classis I. Mammalia. Lipsiaj, 1777. Fischer, Syn. Mam. Synopsis Mammalium. Auctore Johanne Baptista Fischer. Stuttgardtiae, 1829. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. Caroli A. Linne &c. Systema Naturae, editio decima tertia. Lipsiae, 1788. Gray &. Hardw. 111. Ind. Zool. Illustrations of Indian Zoology, chiefly selected from the collection of Major-General Hardwicke, by John Edward Gray. London, 1830. Hist. Nat. Mam. Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes, avec des figures originales, coloriees, dessinees d'apres des animaux vivans par M. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire et par M. Frederic Cuvier. Paris, 1819-1842. Horsfield, Cat. A Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the Hon. East India Company. By Thomas Horsfield. London, 1851. Horsfield, Res. Java. Zoological Researches in Java and the neighbouring islands. By Thomas llorsficld. London, 1824. xii WORKS QUOTED. Illiger, Prod. Caroli Illigeri D., Prodromus Systematis Mammalium ot Aviura. Berolini, 1811. J. A. S. B. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta, 1831-1887. Jerdon, Mam. The Mammals of India. A natural history of the animals kuown to inhabit Continental India. By T. C. Jerdon, Surgeon-Major, &c. Roorkee, 1867. Kelaart, Prod. Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicse ; being Contributions to the Zoology of Ceylon. By E. F. Kelaart, M.D. Ceylon, 1852. Kerr, An. King. The Animal Kingdom or Zoological System of the celebrated Sir Charles Linnaeus. Class I. Mammali*. By Robert Kerr. London, 17U2. L. Syst. Nat. Caroli A. Linne, Systema Natunr, editio duodecima reforrnata. Holmiae, 1766. Mad. Jour. L. S. Madras Journal of Literature and Science. Madras, 1833-1864. M.-Edw. Rech. Mam. Recherches pour servir a 1'histoire naturelle des Mammiferes par H. Milne-Edwurds et Alphon^e Milne-Edwards. Paris, 1868-1874. Muller &> Schleg. Verhandl. Verhandelingen over de natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlndsche overseesche bezittingen. Salomon Muller and Hermann Schlegel. Leiden, 1839-1844. Pallas, Glires. Novae species Quadrupedum e Glirium ordine, auctore Petro Sim. Pallas. Erlangae, 1784. P. A. S; B. Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta, 1865- 1887. (Before 1805, the Proceedings were incorporated in the Journal.) P. Z. S. -Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. London, 1830- Schreb. Saugeth. Die Saugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibuugen von Dr. Johann Christian Daniel Schreber. Erlangen, 1775-1792. Vols. V. and VI., by Dr. Johann Andreas Wagner, 1835 and 1836. Temminck, Mon. Mam. Monographies de Mammalogie. Par C. J. Temminck. Paris, 1827-1841. Tr. Z. S. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. London, 1833- 1888. "Wagner, Schreb. Saugeth. Supp. Die Siiugethiere in Abbildungen &c. von Dr. J. C. D. von Schreber fortgesetzt von Dr. Johann Andreas Wagner. Erlangen, 1840-1855. Yark. Miss., Mam. Scientific Results of the Second Yarkand Mission, based upon the Collections and Notes of the late Ferdinand Stoliczka. Mammals. By W. T. Blanford. Calcutta, 1879. Zixnm. Geog. Gesch. Geographische Geschichte der Mensehen und der allgemein verbreiteten vierliissigen Thiere, von E. A. W. Zininjeruiaun. Leipzig, 1778. SYSTEMATIC INDEX. Class MAMMALIA Page 2 3 3 4 5 5 7 10 10 11 13 15 16 17 18 20 21 23 24 25 25 27 30 31 33 as 6. cephalopterus (Zimm.) 7. senex (Erxl.) 35 36 37 38 39 39 41 42 43 43 44 44 47 47 49 50 53 53 55 56 58 67 71 72 74 75 76 78 Subclass EUTHERIA .... Order I. PEIMATES Suborder ANTHROPOIDEA Fam SIMIIDJE 8. ursinus (Blyth) . . . 9. pileatus, Blyth 10. chrysogaster, Licht. . . 11. barbel (Blyth) 12. pbayrei (Blyth) 13. obscurus, Reid 14. femoralis, Horsf. .... Suborder LEMUBOIDEA .. 1. Hylobates, ///. . . 1. hoolock (Harl.) 2. lar (Linn.) Fam. CERCOPITHECIDJ3 Subfam. Cercopithecince .... 1 Macacus Lacep. 1. Nycticebus, Geoffr 1. tardigradus (Linn.) . . 2. Loris, Geoffr 1. gracilis, Geoffr. Order II. OARNIVORA .. Suborder FISSIPEDIA.... jEluroidea 1. rhesus (Attdeb.) 2. assamensis, McClell.. . 3. silenus (Schreb.) .... 4. arctoides, Is. Geoffr. . . 5. leoninus (Blyth) .... 6. nemestrinus (Linn.) . . 7. cynomolgus (Schreb.) . 8. sinicus (Linn.) Fam. FELIDJE 1. Fells, Linn Subfam. Semnopithecinee .... 1. Semnopithecus, jP. Cuv.. 1. entellus (Dufr.) . . . 2. schistaceus, Hodgs. . 3. priamus, Elliot 4. hypoleucus, Blyth. .. 5. johni (Fisch.) 1. leo, Linn 2. tigris, Linn 3. pardus, Linn 4. uncia, Schreb 5. nebulosa, Griffith .... 6. marmorata, Martin . . 7. temmincki, Viy. $ Horsf 8. viverrina, Bonn 9. bengalensis, Kerr .... c SYSTEMATIC INDEX. Page Cynoidea . . Page 134 11. manul, Pall. 12. ornata, Gray 83 84 Fam CANIDJE 134 13. torquata, F. Cuv 14 chaus, Gil Id 85 86 15. caracal Giild 88 135 16. lynx, Linn. 89 137 2. Cynselurus, Wac/l 90 140 1. jubatus (Schreb) .... Fam VIVEBBIDJE 91 94 2. Cyon, Hodgs 1. dukhunensis (Sykes) . . 2. rutilans (S. Miill) . . 3. Vulpes, Briss 142 143 147 147 95 2. cana, Blanf. 3. leucopus, Blyth 150 151 1 . Viverra, Linn 95 4. alopex (Linn) 5 ferrilatus, Hodgs 153 155 1. zibetha, Linn 2. civettina, Blyth 3. megaspila, Blyth .... 96 98 99 Arctoidea Ti6 2. Viverricula, Hodgs 1. malaccensis (Gmel) . . 100 100 10 9 Fam. AlusxELiD^; 156 1. pardicolor, Hodgs. . . 2. maculosus, Blanf. .... 4. Paradoxurus, F. Cuv. . . 1. ni^er (Desm.) . . 103 104 105 106 Subfam. Mustelince 1. Mustela, Linn. . ... 157 157 2. hermaphroditus (Pall.) 108 1. flavigula, Bodd. 158 3. aureus, F. Cuv no 2. foina, Erxl. 159 111 2 Putorius Cuv 5. grayi, Benn m 1. larvatus, Hodgs 163 5 Arctoule Pet 114 2 sarrnaticus (Pall) 1. leucotis (Blyth) G. Arctictis, Temm 1. binturong (Eaffl). . . . Subfam. Herpestinee 1. Herpestes ///. 115 117 118 119 119 3. erminea (Linn) .... 4. subhemachalanus (Hodgs) 5. canigula (Hodgs) 6. alpinus (Gebl) 7. cathia (Hodgs.) 8. strigidorsus (Hcdys) . 165 166 167 168 169 170 1. auropunctatus (Hodgs) '. . 2 birmanicus Blanf. 121 199 Subfam. Melints 1. Helictis, Gray 172 179 3. mun^o ( Gmel) 1"3 1. orientalis (Horsf.) . . 173 4. smithi, Gray 5. fuscus, Waterh 126 ]27 127 2. personata (Geoff.) .... 2. Mellivora, Storr 1. iudica (Kei'r) 174 175 176 7 yitticollis Benn 128 3. Arctonyx, F. Cur. . 178 8. urva (Hodgs) 1. collaris, F. Cuv 178 131 2. taxoidea, Blyth Subfam. Lutrin(& 180 181 131 1. Lutra, Erxl 181 1. striata. Zimm. . 1. vulffaris. Erxl. . . 18? SYSTEMATIC INDEX. XV 2. ellioti, Anders 186 187 189 189 190 192 193 194 197 199 200 201 206 207 207 208 209 210 212 212 213 213 215 216 216 217 218 219 219 220 221 222 223 224 2. micrura, Hodgs > H ->.1 3. aureobrunnea, Hodgs. 4. leptonyx, Horsf. .... Fam. PBOCYONIDJE 3. leucura, Blytk ... . 227 228 229 230 231 231 233 236 237 238 239 239 240 240 241 242 242 243 243 244 244 245 245 246 247 248 248 248 249 251 255 255 255 257 25! 260 261 261 Fam. SOBICIDJE 1. Soriculus, Blytk 1. ^Elurus F Cuv. 1. nigrescens (Gray). . . . 2. caudatus (Hodgs.) 3. macrurus (Hodgs.) . . 2. Crocidura Wagl. 1. fulgens, F. Cuv 1. Ursus, Linn 1. arctus, Linn 2. torquatus, Wagn 3. malayanus Raffl . . 1. murina (Linn.) 2. caerulea (Kerr) 3. macropus (Blyth) .... 4. bidiana, Anders 5. rubicuuda, Anders. . . 6. leucoo'envs, Dobs. 2. Melursus, Meyer 1. ursinus (Shaw) .... 7 . dayi, Dobs. Order HI. INSECTIVORA. Suborder INSECTIVOBA VEB A 8. hodgsoni (Blyth) 9. perrotteti (Duvern.) . . 10. fuliginosa (Blyth) 11. horsfieldi (Tomes). . . . 12. fumigata (De Fil.) . . 13. aranea (Linn.) 3. Anurosorex, A. M.-Edw. . 1. assamensis, Anders. . . 4. ChimaiTogale, Anders. . . 1. himalayica (Gray) . . 5. Nectogale, A. M.-Edw. . . 1. elegans, A. M.-Edw. . Suborder D E B M o P x E E A . Fain. GALEOPITHECIIKE 1. Galeopithecus, Pall 1. volans (Linn.) Fam. TUPAIIDJE 1. Tupaia, Raffl 1. ellioti, Waterh 2. ferruginea, Raffl 3. nicobarica (Zel.) Fam EBIN -vc EID./E Subfam. Erinaceince 1. collaris, Gray $ Hardw Order IV. CHIROPTERA . . Suborder MEGACHIBO- P T E B A 2. megalotis, Blyth .... 3. jerdoni, Anders 4. pictus, Stol. 5. micropus, Blyth .... Subfam. Gymnurines 1. Gymnura, Horsf, 8f Vig. 1. rafflesi, Horsf. $ Vig. 2. suffla (Mull. $ Schleg.) Fam. TAXPID.S: Fain. PTEBOPODID^E 1 Pteropus, Briss. . . 1. medius, Temm 2. edulis, Geoff. 3. nicobaricus, l''it~ 2. Xantharpyia, Gray 1. amplexicaudata (Geoff.) 1 Talpa, Linn 1. europsea. Linn. . , SYSTEMATIC INDEX. 3. Cynopterus, Cuv 262 1. marginatus (Geoff.) . . 263 2. brachyotus, MiiU 264 3. scherzeri (Fitz.) .... 264 4. bracbysoma, Dobs .... 264 5. blanfordi, Thorn 265 4. Carponycteris, Lydck. . . 265 1. minima (Geoff.) 265 5. Eonycteris, Dobs 266 1. spetea (Dobs.) 266 Suborder MICBOCHIRO- PTERA 267 Fain. RHINOLOPHID^: 267 Subi'am. Rhinolophina 268 1. Rbinolopbus, Desm 268 1. luctus, Temm 270 2. coelophyllus, Pet 272 3. trifohatus, Temm 272 4. mitratus, Blyth 273 5. pearsoni, Horsf 273 6. affinis, Horsf. 274 7. andamanensis, Dobs. . . 275 8. petersi, Dobs 275 9. macrotis, Hodgs 276 10. minor, Horsf. 276 11. bipposiderus (Bechst.) 277 12. ferrum-equinum (Schreb.) 278 13. tragatus, Hodgs 279 Subfarn. Hipposideri .. 280 1. Hipposiderus, Gray .... 281 1. tridens (Geoff.) 282 2. armiger (Hodgs.) 283 3. leptophyUum (Dobs.) 284 4. diadema (6 4. cyclotis (Dobs.) ..... 5. leucogaster (A. M.- Edw.) ............ 327 Vespertilio, Linn ....... 328 1. hasselti, Temm 2. longipes, Dobs 3. daubentoni, Leisl 4. megalopus, Dobs 5. nipalensis, Dobs 6. murinus, Linn 7. dobsoni, Trouessart 330 331 331 332 333 334 335 8. formosus, Hodgs ..... 335 9. mystacinus, Leisl ____ 336 10. niuricola, Hodgs ..... 337 SYSTEMATIC INDEX. XV11 33 K 8 e 5. fuscicapillus, Jerdon Page 368 1. picta (Pall.) 2. hardwickii (Horsf.) . . 3. papillosa (Temm.) .... 9. Miniopterus, Bon 1. schreibersi (Ruhl) 339 340 341 341 342 6. pearsoni, Gray 4. Sciurus, Linn 1. indicus, Erxl 2. bicolor, Sparrm 3. macrurus, Penn 4. ferrugineus, F. Cuv. . . 5. locria, Hodgs. 369 369 371 373 374 375 S76 Fam. EMBALLONURID.E .... Subfam. EmbaUonunnce .... 343 344 6. rufigenis, Blanf. .... 7. erythrseus, Pall 8. quinquestriatus, Anders 376 377 378 1. Eniballonura, Temm 344 9. phayrei, Blyth 379 1. semicaudata (Peale).. 2. Tapnozous, Geoff. 1. inelanopogon, Temm. . 2. theobaldi, Dobs 345 345 347 348 10. pygerythrus, Geoff. . . 11. caniceps, Gray 12. griseimanus, A. M.- Edw 379 380 381 3. longimanus, Hardw. . . 4. cachhensis, Dobs. 5. saccolsemus, Temm. . . 3. Rhinopoma, Geoff". 1. microphyllum, Geoff". . 348 349 350 350 351 13. locroides, Hodgs 14. atridorsalis, Gray .... 15. palmarurn, Linn 16. tristriatus, Waterh. . . 17. layardi, Blyth 381 382 383 384 385 Subfam. Molossince 1 Nyctinomus, Geoff. . . 352 353 18. sublineatus, Waterh. . 19. macclellandi, Horsf.. . 20. berdmorei, Blyth '. ... 385 386 387 1. tragatus, Dobs 353 Subfam. Arctomyinca 388 2. plicatus (Buch.) .... Order V RODENTIA 356' 1. Arctomys, Schreb 1. himalayanus, Hodys. . 2 hodgsoni Blanf 388 388 Suborder SIMPLICIDEN- T A T A 357 3. caudatus, Jacquem. . . Fam. DIPOBIDJE 390 391 1. Alactaga, Our 391 358 OQ.) Subfam. Sciwince 359 1. Eupetaums, Thorn 859 359 Fam. MURID.E Subfam. Platacanthomyince . . 393 394 2. Pteromvs, Cuv 1. oral; Tick 2. inornatus, Geoff. . . . 3. magniticus (Hodgs.) . . 4. yunnanensis, Anders. . 5. caniceps (Gray) . . . . 6. punctatus, Gray .... 360 361 363 364 364 365 365 1. Platacanthomys, Blyth . . 1 . lasiurus, Blyth Subfam. Gerbillince 1. Gerbillus, Desm 394 394 396 3% 3. Sciuropterus, F. Cuv 1. fimbriatus, Gray .... 2. alboniger, Hodgs 366 366 367 1. indicus (Hardw.) .... 2. hurrianfe, Jerd 3. erythrura, Gray 396 1 398 399 3. sagitta (Linn.) 367 4. nanus, Blanf. 39Q 4. spadiceus, Blyth .... 368 5. gleadowi, Murr 400 SYSTEMATIC INDEX. Subfam. Murina 1. Hapalomys, Blyth 1. longicaudatus, Blyth . 2. Vandeleuria, Gray 400 401 401 402 402 403 403 404 406 407 407 407 408 408 409 410 410 411 411 412 413 413 414 415 415 416 416 417 418 419 420 420 421 421 422 423 425 426 426 426 427 427 428 429 430 430 431 431 432 432 7. sikimensis (Hodgs.) . . 8. melanogaster (A. M.-Edw.) 2. Ellobius, Fisch 1. fuscicapillus (Blyth) . . 3 Crieetus Cuv. Page 433 434 434 435 436 436 437 437 437 438 438 439 439 4J1 441 442 444 444 445 446 447 447 448 449 450 451 451 452 452 453 454 455 455 456 457 457 458 458 1. oleracea (Benn.) . . . . 3. Chiropodomys, Pet 1. ghroides"(7?/yM) . . . . 4 Mus, Linn 1. phU8 (Po#.) 2. fulvus, Blanf. 3. isabellhms, DC Fit. . . Fam. SPALACIDJE \. rattus, Linn. var. alexandrinus, Geoff. var. nitidus, Hodys. . . var. rufescens, Blyth . . 2. concolor, Blyth 1 . Hhizomvs, Gray . . 1. badius, Hodys 2. pruinosus, Blyth . . . . 3. sumatrensis (Raffl.) . . Fam. HYSTKICIDJE 3. decumanus, Pall 4. fulvescens, Gray 5. bowers!, Anders 6. berdmorei, Blyth .... 7. blanfordi, Thorn 8. jerdoni (Blyth) 9. niveiventer, Hodys. . , 10. chiropus, Thorn 11. musculus, Linn. 1. Hystrix, Linn. . 1. leucura, Sykes 2. hodgsoni (Gray) 3. bengalensis, Blyth .... 2. Atherura, Cuv 12. bactrianus, Blyth .... 13. sublimis, Blanf. .... 14. nitidulus, Blyth 15. arianus, Blanf. 16. buduga (Gray) 17. cervicolor, Hodys 18. platytlmx, Benn. 1. macrura (Linn.) ...... Suborder DUPLICIDEN- TATA Fam. LiEPOBiDJi; 19. mettada (Gray) 20. gleadowi, Murr 21. erythrotis, Blyth 22. humei, Thorn o. Nesocia, Gray 1. hardwickei (Gray) . . 2. bengalensis (Gray $ Hardiv.) 1. nigricollis, F. Cur 2. ruticaudatus, Geoff. . . 3. dayanus, Blanf. 4. peguensis, Blyth .... 5. tibetanus, Waterh. . . 6. oiostolus, Hodgs 7. hypsibius, Blanf. .... 8. hispidus, Pears Fam. LAGOMYID^E . . 3. bandicota (Bechst.) . . 4. nemorivaga (HoJys.) . 6. Acornys, Is. Geoff. .... 1. dimidiatus (Riipp.) . . 7. Golunda, Gray 1. ellioti, Gray .... Subfam. Cricetince 1. Lagomys, Cuv 1 . Microtus, Schrank 1. roylei (Gray) 2. stoliczkanus (Blanf.) . 3. stracheyi (Thorn.). . . . 4. wynnei (Blanf.) .... 5. blanfordi (Scully) .... 6, blythi (Blanf.) 1. rovlei, Ogil. .,,... 2. curzoniae, Hodgs 3. macrotis, Gilnih 4. rufescens, Gray 5. ladacensis, Gilnth SYSTEMATIC INDEX. Order VI. UNGULATA .... SUBUNGULATA Suborder PBOBOSCIDEA . Fain. ELEPHANTIDJE 460 462 462 462 462 463 467 467 468 468 470 471 471 472 474 476 478 478 478 479 481 482 483 484 487 489 490 491 493 494 496 497 499 3. Capra, Linn. . . Page 501 502 503 505 508 509 511 512 513 514 516 516 517 517 519 519 521 521 524 524 525 526 528 529 530 531 531 532 534 534 535 538 541 543 546 549 551 551 552 554 554 554 555 556 557 1. JBgagrus Gmcl 2. sibirica, Mey 3. falconeri (Hiir/el) .... 4. Hemitragus, Hodgs 1. jemlaicus (Ham. Sm.) 2. hylocrius (Ogilb.) .... 5. Nemorhsedus, Ham. Sm. . 1. bubalinus (Hodgs.) . . "2. sumatrensis (Shaw) . . 6. Ceinas, Oyilby 1. Elephas, Linn 1. maxinius, Linn. . . , UNGULATA VERA 1. goral (Hardw.) 7. Boselaphus, Blainv 1. tragocamelus (Pall.) . . 8. Tetracerus, Leach 1. quadricornis (Blainv.) 9. Antilope, Pall. . . Suborder PEBISSODAC- T YL A. Fam. EQUID.E . . 1. cervicapra (Linn.) .... 10. Pantholops, Hodgs 1. hodgsoni (Abel) .... 1. Equus, Linn 1. hemionus, Pallas . , . Fam. RHINO CEBOTIDJE 1. bennetti (Sykes) .... 2. subgutturosa (Giild.) . 3. picticaudata (Hodgs.} . Fam CEBVID^E 1. Rhinoceros, Linn. ...... 1. unicornis, Linn 2. sondaicus, Guv 3. sumatrensis, Guv Subfam. Cervince 1. Cervulus, Blainv 1. Tapirus, Briss.. , 1. muntjac (Zimm.) .... 2. feee, Thorn, fy Dor. . . 2. Cervus. Linn 1. cashmirianus, Falc. . . 2. duvauceli, Guv . 1. indicus, Guv. Suborder ABTIODAC- T YL A 3. eldi, Gnthrie 4. unicolor, Bechst 5. axis, Erxl. . . . Pecora 6. porcinus, Zimm Subfam. Afoschince . . Fam. BOVIDJE 1. Bos, Linn. 1. Moschus, Linn 1. gaurus, Ham. Smith. . 2. frontalis, Lambert. . . . 3. sondaicus, Mull, fy Schl. . . 1. moschiferus, Linn. , . Tragulina Fam. TRAGULID.E 4. grunniens, Linn 5. bubalus, Linn. . , . Ovis, Lmn 1. hodgsoni, Blyth 2. poli, Blyth 3. vignei, Blyth . . . . 1. Tragulus, Briss 1. meminna (Erxl.) .... 2. ^'avanicus ( Omel.) .... 3. napu (F. Guv.} . . 4. nahura, Hodgs XX SYSTEMA1 Tvlopoda . . 658 10 INDEX. 5. Lagenorhynchus, Gray . . 579 580 Suina . . 559 559 559 560 562 563 564 665 565 566 567 568 569 57C 570 571 572 572 573 674 574 576 576 577 577 578 578 579 2. obscurum (Gray) . , . 6. Tursiops, Gerv 1. tursio (Fabr.) . 580 . 581 . 581 Fam SUIDJ9E 1. Sus, Linn 1. cristatus, Wftffn 2. andamanensis, Blyth . . 3. salvanius (Hodas.) . . Order VII. CETACEA .... Suborder MYSTACOCCETI Fam. BAL.7ENID.33 1. Balaenoptera, Lacep 1. indica, Blyth 2. edeni, Anders Suborder ODONTOCOSTI . . Fam PHYSETERIDJE 7. Steno, Gray 1. frontatus (Cuv.) . . . 2. plumbeus (Duss.) . . . 3. perniger (Elliot) . . . 4. lentiginosus (Oiv.) . 5. maculiventer (Ow.) . 8 Delphinus, Linn . 582 . 583 . 583 . 584 . 585 . 586 587 2. dussumieri, Blanf. . 3. malayanus. Less. . . . Fam. PLATANISTIDJE 1 Platanista Wagl . 588 . 588 . 589 . 589 1. gangetica (Lebeck) . Order VIII. SIRENIA . . Fam. MANATIDJE 1. Halicore, III. 1. dugong (Erxl.) Order IX. EDENTATA . . . Suborder SQUAMATA ... Fam. MANIDJE 1 Alanis, Linn . 590 . 592 . 592 . 593 . 594 . 595 . 595 . 595 . 595 1. Physeter, Linn 1. macrocephalus, Linn. . I. breviceps (Blainv.) . . Fam DELPHIXID./E 1. phocaenoides (Cuv.) . . 2 Orca Wagl 1. ? 'gladiator (Linn.) . . 3. Globicephalus, Less 1 indicus Blyth 4 Orcella Gray ...... 1. pentadactyla, Linn. . 2. aurita, JLodgs 3. javanica, Desm . 597 . 599 . 599 1. brevirostris (Oiv.) 2. fluminalis, Anders. . . ERRATUM. Fig. 132, p. 418, has by mistake been printed upside down, and consequently fl represents the teeth of the lower jaw, b of the upper, the anterior extremity below, instead of above as in other figures. MAMMALIA. MAMMALS are warm-blooded Vertebrate animals that nourish their young with milk secreted by the females in glands situated in pairs on the under surface of the body. All, with a very few exceptions (chiefly Cetacect), are covered with hair. The great majority pos- sess teeth, and the higher forms are heterodont, or furnished with teeth of different kinds, and diphyodont, or bearing two sets the first, known as milk or deciduous teeth, generally coming into use at birth or soon after, and being subsequently replaced by a second or permanent set. Most mammals possess two pairs of limbs like other normal vertebrates, and the terminal extremities of these limbs, with but few exceptions, are furnished with nails, claws, or hoofs. The thoracic cavity, containing the lungs, is completely separated by the diaphragm from the abdomen. The class Mammalia is divided into the following subclasses : A. Oviparous, both gcnito-urinary passage and anus opening into a cloaca. I. PROTOTHERIA, Ornithodelphia or Monotremata. B. Viviparous, genito-urinary orifice external and distinct from anal *. a. No allantoid placenta f. II. METATHERIA, Didelphia or Marsupialia. b. An allantoid placenta. III. EUTHERIA, Monodelphia or Placentalia. Of the subclasses the Protofheria or Monotremata are peculiar to the Australian region, whilst the Metatheria or Marsupialia are only found in the same region and in America (chiefly in South America). The Eutheria or Placentalia comprise, according to Professor Flower's latest classification, nine orders, all represented in India. These orders may be distinguished (so far, at all events, as Indian genera are concerned) by the characters shown in the * The two Open on a common outlet in some genera of Insectivora. t For full details as to the significance of these characters in classification, consult Huxley's ' Introduction to the Classification of Animals,' p. 87, or Bal- four's ' Comparative Embryology,' vol. ii. p. 176, or ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' article "Mammalia," pp. 369, 371, &c. 2 MAMMALIA. following table : these characters are not always those of the greatest importance, but only those most easily recognized: Subclass EUTHEEIA. A. Posterior limbs present. a. Animal not modified for flight. a'. Incisors present in one or both jaws. a". Incisors in front of the upper and lower jaw, either not two in number or not chisel-shaped. d\ Feet terminating in distinct toes with claws or nails. a 4 . Hallux or pollex or both opposableto other digits . 1. PRIMATES. b 4 . Neither hallux nor pollex opposable. aa. Upper lip in general not projecting far beyond lower ; median pair smaller than other in- cisors , 2. CARNIVORA. bb. Snout very pointed ; ^**> upper lip projecting far be} 7 ond lower ; median pair of incisors generally larger than the others 3. INSEGTIVORA. 3 . Feet either not terminating in distinct toes or furnished with hoofs or hoof-shaped nails 6. UNGULATA. b". Two chisel-shaped incisors in front of each jaw 5. RODENT I A. b'. No incisors, except in certain Armadillos ; Indian forms tooth- less 9. EDENTATA. b. Animal modified for flight ; fingers enormously developed to support a y membranous wing 4. CHIROPTERA. B. No external posterior limbs ; body modified for swimming. a. Homodont or toothless : breathing- orifice generally on top of head ; a back fin in most genera ; mammae inguinal 7. CETACEA. b. Indian form heterodont : breathing- orifice at end of muzzle; no back fin ; mammae pectoral 8. SIRENIA. Order PRIMATES. This Order comprises Man, Monkeys, and Lemurs, and there- fore includes the most highly organized Mammalia. At the same time the Lemurs and some of the Monkeys are of comparatively low grade, and much inferior, at all events in development of brain, to Mammalia belonging to other orders. The dentition throughout the order is heterodont (comprising incisors, canines, preraolars, and molars) and diphyodont. There is a bony ring to the orbit, the clavicles are well developed, and the radius and ulna are distinct. There are usually 5 unguiculate digits to both the manus and pes, but the pollex may be rudi- mentary or wanting. Either the pollex (thumb) or hallux (great toe) or both are opposable. The members of this division are almost without " Q ntion arboreal. The Primates are divided into two suborders. Many naturalists class the Lemurs as a distinct order, for reasons that will be noticed under Lemur oidea. The suborders are thus distinguished : ., A. Orbit completely enclosed by bone behind. Pollex (or thumb) short (wanting in a few instances) ; second digit of foot with a nail similar to those of other digits. Upper in- cisors not divided by a space in the middle . . ANTHEOPOIDEA. B. Orbit opening behind into temporal fossa be- neath the postorbital arch. Pollex long, second digit with a long claw. Upper in- cisors (except in Chiromys) divided by a space in the middle LEMTTEOIDEA. Suborder ANTHEOPOIDEA. A. Premolars ^ molars 3 ; thumb, if present, opposable ; internasal septum narrow. ( Ca- tarrhini.') I. No tail ; stature erect ; great toe or hallux parallel with other toes, not opposable ; arm shorter than leg ; no interval be- tween upper canines and incisors ; canines not longer than incisors Hominidae. 4 SlMIIDjE. II. No tail; stature sometimes erect, some- times not ; hallux opposable ; arm longer than leg; an interval between upper canines and incisors ; canines in adults longer than incisors Simiidae. III. A tail almost always present; stature never erect ; hallux opposable ; arm not longer than leg; an interval between upper canines and incisors; canines in adults longer than incisors Cercopithecidae. B. Premolars |, molars f or ; thumb not op- posable ; hallux always opposable ; inter- nasal septum broad. (Platyrrhini, all Ame - rican.) IV. M. | ; tail in many cases prehensile Cebidae. V. M. f ; tail not prehensile Hapalidae. The family Hominidce comprises but one genus, and, according to the views usually accepted, but one species, Man. Naturalists have differed as to the physical relations of Man to other animals, but most modern writers have returned to the views of Linnaeus, and class Man with the Monkeys, but in a distinct family*. No attempt will be made in the present work to enter into the anthropology of India ; the subject requires a volume to itself. The Cehidce and Hapalidce are confined to America. Bepresenta- tives of the Simiidce and Cercopitliecidce are found within the Indian area. Family The Simiidce, or anthropoid Apes, comprise the Gorilla, Chim- panzee, Orang-outang, and Gibbous. The first two are peculiar to Africa, the Orang-outang inhabits Sumatra and Borneo, whilst the Gibbons, forming the genus Hylobates, are found throughout South-eastern Asia and some of the neighbouring islands, but not west of the Bay of Bengal. They are the only members of the family occurring within our area. In Pliocene times, however, it is probable that two large an- thropoid Apes inhabited Northern India. One of these, Troglo- dytes sivalensis, was allied to the Chimpanzee, whilst a canine tooth indicates a form very closely approaching the Orang-outang. Eemains of both have been found in the Siwalik beds of the Punjab. * On this subject the following works may be consulted : Darwin, ' The Descent of Man ; ' Huxley, 'Man's Place in Nature; ' Mivart, under the article " Ape," and Flower, under " Mammalia," in the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica.' 9th edit. HYLOBATES. Genus HYLOBATES, Illiger (1811). Size smaller than that of other anthropoid Apes ; the largest species, H. syndactylus, not much exceeding three feet in height. Body and limbs slender ; arms, hands, and feet exceedingly long, the arms being so much longer than the legs that the hands reach the ground when these animals stand upright on their feet a position that is assumed habitually by this genus, and by this alone, amongst the Simiidce, when walking. Thumb and great toe deeply separated from the next digits. Ischial callosities (naked thickened Fig. 1. Skull of Hylobates lar. skin on each buttock) present, but small. There are generally 13 pairs of ribs, 5 lumbar, 3 sacral, and 3 or 4 caudal (coccygeal) ver- tebrae ; so that there being, as usual, 7 cervical vertebrae, the verte- bral formula is C. 7, D. 13, L. 5, S. 3, C. 3-4. Dentition : i. |, c. ^, pm. |~, m. |^|. Synopsis of Indian and Burmese Species. A white or grey band across the eyebrows, re- mainder of head and upper surface of feet and hands the same colour as the body . , . . H. hoolock, p. 5. Hands, feet, and a ring of hair surrounding the face white or whitish H. lar, p. 7. 1 . Hylobates hoolock. The Hoolock or white-browed Gibbon. Simia hoolock, Harlan, Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. iv, p. 52, pi. 2 (1834). Hylobates hoolock, Blyth, Cat. p. 4 ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1870, pi. v, fig. 2 ; Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 1 ; Anderson, An. Zool. lies. p. 1 ; id. Cat. p. 26. Uluk, Hindi ; Myouk-lwai-yyau and Tuboung, Burmese of Arakan. 6 SIMIIDJ3. Colour. Generally black throughout, with the exception of a white or grey band across the eyebrows. This band is usually, but not always, interrupted in the middle. Many individuals, how- ever, both males and females, vary in colour from brownish black to light yellowish grey, the frontal band being always conspicu- ously paler. The crown, back, and outside of the limbs are often paler-coloured than the lower parts of the body, the skin of the naked part of the face below the frontal band being almost always dark-coloured. Blyth thought that the males only were black, the females always paler ; but this is certainly not the case; the females, however, are more frequently pale-coloured than the males. Dimensions. From crown to rump about 20 inches, fore limb (including hand) 23, hand alone 6, leg and foot 19, foot 6 ; height from crown to heel about 32 inches. An adult male skull is 4-45 inches long from the occiput to the alveolar margin of the pre- maxillaries at the base of the middle upper incisors, 3-35 in basal length from the lower or anterior edge of the foramen magnum to the same, and 2-9 in breadth across the widest part of the zygo- matic arches. Distribution. The hill-ranges south of Assam ; Sylhet, Cachar, Manipur, Irawadi valley near Bhamo, Chittagong, and Arakan in hill-forest. It is uncertain how far the species is found to the east- ward. According to Anderson it inhabits Martabau. Pemberton's assertion that this species occurs at the base of the Himalayas in the lower ranges of Bhutan is probably a mistake. The type described by Dr. Harlan came from the Garo hills. Habits. Good accounts of this animal are given by Burrough, in Harlan's original description, by Blyth and by Anderson. Like most other Gibbons, the Hoolock is usually found associating in flocks, often comprising fifty to a hundred individuals, or even more. An old male, however, is occasionally found solitary. Gibbons are thoroughly arboreal, and Hoolocks are almost, if not entirely, confined to hill-forest. They move chiefly by means of their long arms, by which they swing themselves for prodigious distances from branch to branch and from tree to tree. They de- scend hill-sides at a surprising pace, their descent being accom- plished by grasping bamboos or branches that bend beneath their weight, and allow them to drop until they can seize the ends of other bamboos or branches lower on the slope, and take another mighty swing downwards. They also ascend with great rapidity, swinging themselves from tree to tree. When walking on the ground, the Hoolock rests on its hind feet alone, with the sole flat on the ground and the great toe widely separated from the other digits. The arms are usually held up- wards, sometimes horizontally, their great length giving the animal a very peculiar aspect. Gibbons walk rather quickly, with a waddling gait, and can easily be overtaken by men when on the ground. The food of these Apes consists of fruit, leaves, young shoots, spiders (of which they are very fond), insects, birds' eggs, and H.YLOBATES. 7 almost certainly of young birds, if not of any birds they can cap- ture. Anderson found that small birds were killed and devoured by Hoolocks in confinement with a method and eagerness that showed the prey to be the natural food of the Apes*. The Hoolock drinks with its lips, putting its head down to the water as monkeys do. All species of Hylobates have a powerful voice, and the common name of the present form is taken from its peculiar double call, which is repeated several times. At a distance, the sound much resembles a human voice ; it is a peculiar wailing note, audible from afar, and in the countries inhabited by these animals is one of the most familiar forest sounds. The calls commence at day- break, and are continued till 9 or 10 A.M., several of the flock join- ing in the cry, like hounds giving tongue. After 9 or 10 o'clock in the morning the animals feed or rest, and remain silent through- out the middle of the day, but recommence calling towards evening, though to a less extent than in the earlier part of the day. When captured young the Hoolock is easily tamed, and is, as a general rule, very gentle, docile, and good-tempered, exceedingly intelligent, and very cleanly in its habits. Some instances of savageness on the part of male animals have, however, been noticed. All the Gibbons are very delicate, and rarely live long in captivity. But a single young is born at a time. Neither the period of gestation nor the age at which these animals become adult appears to have been ascertained. 2. Hylobates lar. The white-handed Gibbon. Homo lar, L. Mantissa, App. p. 521 (1771). Hylobates lar, Illiger, Prod. p. 68 (1811); Elyth, Cat. p. 5; id. Mam. Birds Surma, p. 1 ; Tickell, J. A. S. B. xxxiii, p. 196 ; Sclater, P. Z. S. 1870, pi. v, f. 1 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 5 ; id. Cat. p. 28. Myouk-lwai-gyau, Burmese ; Uhgka etam, Malay. The skull is shorter in proportion to its length than that of H. hoolock. The orbital ridges in H. lar are more prominent, the muzzle shorter, the nasal orifice less elongated, the teeth smaller, and the palate shorter. Colour. Black to fulvous or yellowish white, the back sometimes lighter than the lower parts, occasionally much variegated. Hands and feet always pale-coloured, usually white or yellowish white above. There " is generally around the nude face a white ring of hair, comprising frontal band, whiskers, and beard ; but the deve- lopment of the ring varies, and in some specimens it is almost * The dexterity of an allied species, H. agilis, in capturing birds on the wing bad previously been observed (Martin, 'Man and Monkeys,' p. 430). SIMIID.E. obsolete. Naked skin of the face black. According to all accounts, this species is much more variable in colour than //. hoolock, and pale-coloured specimens are far commoner, in some localities pre- dominating. Fig. 2. Hylobates lar. (From ti drawing by Col. Tickell.) Dimensions. An adult male, according to Tickell, measures from crown to rump 19-6 inches, fore limb 25 (humerus 9-5, radius 9-5, hand 6), hind limb 19-5 (femur 7-5, tibia 7-5, foot 4-5). The height, when standing erect, is about 30 inches ; some are said to be larger. Females are smaller than males. An adult skull is 4' 15 inches long from the occiput, 3 - 05 from the foramen magnum, 2-95 broad. Distribution. The white-handed Gibbon is found in Tenasserim in the forests skirting the hills up to an elevation of 3000 or 3500 feet above the sea, and throughout the Malayan peninsula. Tickell HTLOBATES. 9 says that it ranges as far north as the northern limit of Pegu, but not west of the dividing range between Pegu and Arakan ; whilst Anderson states that it is found both in Arakan and Lower Pegu. I doubt the occurrence of this species in the latter countries, and I can find no satisfactory evidence of its existence in the Irawady or Sittoung valleys, although it very probably inhabits the hills east of the Sittoung. Further information as to the range of H. lar and H. lioolack in Burma is desirable. Habits. The white-handed Gibbon is said by Tickell, who ob- served both species in their native forests as well as in captivity, not to be nearly so light and active as the Hoolock, and to walk less readily. The voice, too, is quite distinct, according to the same observer, in the two species. The cry of H. lar has been rendered in musical notation by Tickell, who has given, in the paper quoted above, an admirable account of the animal's habits. It is usually found in parties of from 6 to 20, composed of indi- viduals of all ages. The present species is said to drink by scooping up water in its hand, and not as the Hoolock does. So entirely does it depend on its hands for locomotion amongst trees, that it carries anything in its feet. Tickell, from whom I take these details, says that he has seen a party of H. lar escape thus with their plunder from a Karen garden in the forest. In all other respects the habits of this species, so far as they are known, resemble those of H. hoolock. The young, almost always one in number, twins being as rare as amongst human beings, are born in the early part of the cold season, and each sticks to the body of its mother for about seven months, after which it begins gradually to shift for itself. According to Heifer (J. A. S. B. vii, p. 858), the Siamang (Hylo- bates syndactylus) is found in Southern Tenasserim ; but several of Heifer's identifications were incorrect, and as no one has since heard of the animal in the Tenasserim provinces, I agree with Blyth in believing that Heifer must have been mistaken. The Siamang is larger than the other species of Gibbon, standing about 3 feet 2 inches in height, and is perfectly black in colour through- out. It is doubtful if the Siamang occurs elsewhere than in Sumatra, though "Wallace states that it is found in the Malay Peninsula, where the only species, except H. lar, noted by Cantor (J. A. S. B. xv, p. 173) is H. ayilis. In Siam H. leucoyenys (figured P. Z. S. 1877, pi. Ixx) is said to occur. At the same time there appears to be a large, not yet identified, Ape in the mountains of Tenasserim, but whether it belongs to the anthropoid Apes, or is a large tailless or nearly tailless Macacus, it is impossible to say. The only observers who have seen this animal, so far as I am aware, are Mr. W. Davison and Captain C. F. Bingham. The former writes to me that when collecting birds for Mr. Hume, on Muleyit, a mountain about 7000 feet high, east of Moulmain, he came suddenly on a number of Monkeys feeding on the ground in a very dense part of the forest. He had a good 10 CEECOPITHECIDJE. look at one standing erect about 10 feet away, and considered it too large for a ffylobates, as its height was about 4 feet. It was, in front, of a deep ferruginous colour, and as it moved away it was distinctly seen to be tailless. Mr. Davison does not remember the colour of the back, but thinks it was the same as that of the underparts. He had only a half-charge of the smallest shot in his gun, so did not fire, and he never saw any of these animals again. Captain Bingham informs me that a specimen was brought to him in the flesh (but unfortunately so decomposed that only the skeleton could be preserved) of a tailless female Ape, with long grizzled red hair on the outside of the limbs, and standing about 3 feet 6 inches high. This was near the place, Muleyit, where the animals above mentioned were seen by Mr. Davison. The skeleton was subsequently lost or mislaid. The same observer once saw a party of four or five large tailless monkeys at the foot of Muleyit, but these appeared to be black in colour. None of the animals resembled Gibbons. Both Mr. Davison and Captain Bingham are excellent observers. The only known animal corresponding with their descriptions is the Ourang-outang, but so well-known a form would have been recognized by others. It is perhaps more probable that the animal seen may have been a tailless, or nearly tailless, Macacus. Family GERCOPITHECID^. This family comprises all the Old-World Apes, Monkeys, and Baboons, with the exception of the anthropoid Apes. It is divided into two subfamilies, both represented in India. Cheek-pouches present, stomach simple, tail variable CercopitJiecince. ]S"o cheek-pouches, stomach sacculated, tail always long Semnopiihecince. Subfamily CERCOPITHECIN^]. In this subfamily are included not only all the common Indian Monkeys except those belonging to the Hanuman or Langur group, but also the closely allied African forms belonging to the genera Cercopiihecus and Gercocebus. The African Baboons (Cynocephalus), distinguished by having the nostrils quite at the end of the muzzle, are also included by many writers. By Blyth, Jerdon, and others, the short-tailed Indian Monkeys were classed in the genus Inuus, the long-tailed Macaques in Macacus. But the type of Lacepede's original genus Macaca* * Mem. de 1'Inst. iii. p. 490 (1801). MACACUS. 11 (subsequently modified by F. Cuvier and Desmarest into Macacus) and of Inuus of Cuvier was the same animal, the Magot or Barbary Ape (Simla inuus, L.). The length of the tail is certainly, by itself, not, a sufficient generic distinction amongst these monkeys, for there is a complete gradation from the tailless M. inuus, through the stump-tailed M. arctoides, to the pig-tailed M. nemestrinus, and thence to M. rhesus, which leads to the long-tailed Macaques. The most peculiar of the Indian forms is J/. silenus, which has by some naturalists been made the type of a distinct genus, Silenus. Even in this case, however, the only difference of any importance, the presence of a ruff of long hair round the face, is scarcely of generic rank. In the present work, all the Indian, Burmese, and Ceylonese species are comprised under Macaeus. A. species of Macacns and two of Cynocephalus (the latter, as already noticed, now peculiar to Africa) have been discovered fossil in the Pliocene Siwalik beds of the Punjab. A tooth of Cyno- cephalus has also been found in the Pleistocene deposits of the Kurnool caves. Genus MACACUS, Lacepede (1801). Syn. Inuus, Cuv. ; Silenus, Gray. Body and limbs stout, tail variable. Males larger than females and with larger canines. Ischial callosities well developed. Cheek-pouches large. Muzzle considerably produced ; nostrils opening obliquely some distance short of the end of the muzzle. Last molar of lower jaw with five tubercles. Dentition, as throughout the family, i. |, c. J~, pm. |^|, m. |^|. Yertebral formula C. 7, D. 12 (occasionally 13), L. 7 (or 6), S. 3, C. 10-22. The Macaques are much more compactly built than the Semno- pitheci, and have shorter limbs and a considerably longer muzzle. The species of the present genus resemble each other in their habits j they are found in flocks, often of considerable size, and generally composed of both sexes and of all ages. They are active animals, though less rapid in their movements, whether on trees or on the ground, than the Semnopitheci. Their food is varied, most of the species, if not all, eating insects as well as seeds, fruits, &c., and one kind feeding partly on Crustacea. They have occasionally been known to devour lizards, and, it is said, frogs also. All have the habit of cramming food into their cheek- pouches for mastication at leisure, a practice that must be familiar to any one who has fed monkeys in confinement. The voice and gestures of all * the species are similar and differ entirely from those of both the Gibbons and Semnopitheci. Tickell notices this in his MS. notes, and gives the following details, which are worthy of extraction : " Anger is generally silent, or, at most, * M . silenus may be an exception, as it is said to have a peculiar call. I have had no opportunities of observing this species in the wild state. '~- . '*+. . - ' 12 CERCOPITHECIDJE. expressed by a low hoarse monotone ' Jieu,' not so gular or guttural as a growl. Ennui and a desire for company by a whining ' horn.' Invitation, deprecation, entreaty, by a smacking of the lips and a Fig. 3. Skull of Macacus rhesus : % diam. (Copied from Anderson, ' An. Zool. Res.') Fig. 4. Skull of Macacus rhesus : $ diam. (From Anderson.) display of the incisors into a regular broad grin, accompanied with a subdued grunting chuckle, highly expressiA'e, but not to be ren- dered on paper. Fear and alarm by a loud harsh shriek, ' Icra ' or ' Jcraouk,' which serves also as a warning to the others who may be heedless of danger. Unlike the Presbytes (Semnopitheci) and Grib- bons, they have no voice if calling to one another." The majority of the species are very docile when young. They thrive well, and several of them have bred in confinement. The MACACUS. 13 period of gestation is about seven months, only a single young one, as a rule, being produced at a birth. They become adult at the age of 4 or 5 years, but breed earlier. Synopsis of Indian, Ceylonese, and Burmese Species. A. Tail less than f of head and body together. . Colour black, a grey beard and ruff round face M. silentts, p. 16. b. Colour brown, no beard or ruff. a'. Tail about half as long as the head and body, a". Hair straight, buttocks naked around callosities M. rhesus, p. 13. b". Hair wavy or woolly, buttocks clad up to edge of callosities M.^issamensis, p. 15. b'. Tail about ^ as long as the head and body, and very slender. a". A distinct horseshoe-shaped crest on the crown M. koninus, p. 18. b". No distinct crest M. nemestrinws, p. 20. c'. Tail very sbort, only one or two inches in length M. arctoides, p. 17. B. Tail more than f of head and body together. a. Hair of crown lengthened and distinctly radiating from middle. '. General colour, greyish brown, not rufous M. sinicus, p. 23. b'. General colour rufous or yellowish .... M. pUeatus, p. 24. b. Hair of crown neither lengthened nor dis- tinctly radiating M. cynomolgus, p. 21. 3. Macacus rhesus. The Bengal Monkey. Simia rhesus, Audebert, Hist, Nat. Singes, 2* fam. p. 5, pi. i (1797). Simia erythrjea, Schreber, teste Shaw, Gen. Zool i, p. 33 (1800). Macacus (Pithex) oinops, Hodgs. J. A, S. B. 1840, ix, p. 1212. Inuus rhesus, Blyth, Cat. p. 8 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 11. Macacus rhesus, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 55 ; id. Cat. p. 67. Bandar, H. ; Markat, Beng. ; Wdndar, Puriz, Punj, or Ponj, Kashmir ; Gye, Ho Kol. Fur of moderate length (rather long in Himalayan specimens) and straight, not wavy or woolly. Hair of crown not radiating from centre. Tail two fifths to one half the length of the head and body, tapering, not tufted at the end. Caudal vertebrae usually 17 or 18. Ears naked. Buttocks naked for some distance around the callosities. Colour. General colour hair-brown with a greyish tinge, the hinder quarters being generally rufous or yellowish, especially in adults. The hair is ashy towards the base, and more or less annu- lated and tipped with light brown throughout the upper parts, giving a minutely speckled appearance. Lower parts scarcely paler. 14 CEECOPITHECTDJE. Face and callosities flesh-coloured, being bright red in adults at all times. Dimensions. Head and body 22 inches, tail 10 without the hairs, 11 with, hand 4|, foot 6. These are the measurements (by Hodg- son) of a very large individual, doubtless a male. Females measure much less, body 16 to 18 inches, tail about 6 to 7. Skull of a male 5 inches long from occiput, 3-5 from foramen, breadth across zygo- raatic arches 3-55 ; of a female 4-3 and 3 inches long, 3-1 broad. Distribution. The Rhesus is the common monkey of Northern India from the Himalayas to the Grodavari river. It is found in Kashmir up to an elevation of 5000 feet (10,000 according to some authorities), and there is a colony, I believe of this species, on the top of Jako hill, about 8500 feet high, at Simla. Specimens have also been sent from Nepal by Hodgson (as J/. oinops) and by Man- delli from Sikhin, but from low elevations. M. rhesus is found close to the west coast near Bombay, but not much further south ; it is common throughout Guzerat and the Central Provinces, in Bengal, Orissa, and parts of the Northern Circars. There is a specimen in the Calcutta Museum from Samaguting, in Assam, and Anderson met with a form not distinguishable from this in Upper Burma and Yunnan. All the specimens obtained, how r ever, were in captivity, but he saw a colony of wild monkeys that appeared to belong to this species on the Irawadi below Tenankhyoung. Closely allied forms (M. lasiotis and M. cyclopis) occur in China. Habits. Although this monkey is not, .regarded as sacred by Hindus, it is never molested by them, and in many parts of the country it is as impudent as the Hanuinan and even more mis- chievous. Very intelligent, and, when young, fairly docile, it is one of the commonest animals kept tame, and throughout Northern India it is the monkey carried about by itinerant showmen, and taught to perform tricks of various kinds. It is a most amusing creature, the incarnation of mischief and curiosity, but frequently rather ill-tempered. Older individuals are usually savage. In the wild state it is found in herds, often of considerable size. It has generally but little fear of man, and may occasionally be found in native villages, though less commonly than the Hauuman. It is very frequently seen on the ground searching for food, and it eats spiders and many kinds of insects, especially Lepidoptera and Orthoptera, besides fruits and seeds. Flocks of this monkey are more frequently seen near cultivation, especially around tanks or amongst trees on the banks of streams, than in forest jungle. These animals are very quarrelsome, perpetually screaming and fighting, or teasing each other in fact, they behave very much like unruly children. M. rhesus swims well and takes readily to water. MACACU8. 15 4. Macacus assamensis. The Himalayan MonTcey. Macacus assamensis, McClelland, Horsfield, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 148; Anderson, An. Zool Res. p. 64; id. Cat.y. 70. Macacus (Pithex) pelops, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. ix, p. 1213 (1840). Inuus pelops, Jerdon, Mam. p. 11. ? Macacus problematicus, Gray. Cat. Monkeys fyc. B. M. 1870, p. 128. ? Macacus rheso-simiHs, Sclater, P. Z. 8. 1872, p. 495, pi. xxv ; ib. 1875, p. 418. Eur of moderate length, wavy, and, in Himalayan specimens, dis- tinctly woolly in texture. Hair of crown often indistinctly radiating, not lengthened. Tail nearly half as long as the head and body, not tufted. Buttocks well covered with hair, except on the callosities. The skull differs hut little from that of M . rhesus, except in being larger, but appears higher, with a deeper lower jaw. Colour. Above uniform dark brown, without any grey tinge ; hinder parts the same, not ruf escent, as in M. rhesus ; lower parts distinctly paler. Fur destitute or nearly destitute of annulation, and, in general, of pale tips, slightly lighter in colour, but not ashy, at the base. Face dusky (perhaps variable). Dimensions. Adults apparently are considerably larger than M. rhesus. Head and body (probably of an average specimen) 20 inches, tail 9| ; of another, a female, 17*2 and 7-6. A male, nearly adult, skull from Upper Burma measures 5-54 inches in extreme length from occiput to premaxillaries, and 3-63 broad, according to Anderson. An adult female skull from Nepal measures 4-7 inches in extreme, and 3'2 in basal length, 3-3 broad. Distribution. The Himalayan range as far west as Masuri, or perhaps further, from near the base of the hills to a considerable elevation ; also Assam, the Mishmi hills, and Upper Burma near Bhamo, whence obtained by Anderson. The same species appears also to be found in the Sandarbans east of Calcutta *, and there is in the British Museum a specimen very probably of the same animal from the Laos country in Upper Siam. In Sikhim this species is generally seen between 3000 and 6000 feet above the sea. McClelland's original type was from Assam, possibly from the hills to the northward. The type of M. problematicus of Gray was from Dhalimkot in Bhutan. Habits. This species much resembles M. rhesus, but is, whether wild or tame, more sluggish in all its movements. Its voice, too, is different, though the difference is small. I was at first disposed to consider the Himalayan form, M. pelops, distinct from M. assamensis, but after going over all the evidence * Anderson, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 529, and An. Zool. Ees. p. 64. In his last work, the ' Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian. Museum,' Calcutta, p. 68, Anderson has referred the Sandarban specimens to M. rhesus, on account of certain cranial characters, and especially the size of the skull. The description, however, agrees with that of M. assamensis in what I believe to be the charac- teristic peculiarities of that species. 16 CEBCOPITHECID^E. I am inclined to agree with Anderson, who unites them, and who fortunately was able to examine and describe the type of the last- named form, now no longer to be found. That the Sikhim monkey is perfectly distinct from Ji. rhesus I am certain, and I have seen several young specimens of the former tame. They appear stouter, 'and differ in fur, coloration, visage, and habits, and I think the limbs are proportionally shorter. 5. Macacus silenus. The lion-tailed Monkey. Simla silenus, Schreb. Sciuaethiere, i, p. 87, pi. xi, partim (nee Linn.). Simla ferox, Shaiv, Mus. Levcrianum, p. 69, pi. (1792). Inuus silenus, Blyth, Cat. p. 7 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 10. Silenus veter, Gray, Cat. Monkeys $c. B. M. 1870, p. 32 (nee Simia veter,imn.) ; Macacus silenus, Anderson, An. Zool. JRcs. p. 93 ; id. Cat. p. 60. Shia bandar, II . ; Nil bandar, Beng. ; Chinoala, Nella manthi, Mai. ; Singalika, Can. ; Karingode, Kurg. ; Kondamachu, Tel. ; Kurarikaranyu, Tamul. Fig. 5. Macacus silenus. Fur long. A ruff of longer light-coloured hair on chin, throat, cheeks, and temples, encircling the head, except on the forehead, and concealing the ears, which are naked. Hair radiating from centre of crown. Tail slender, about one half to three quarters the length of the head and body, and tufted at the tip ; caudal ver- tebra 17. Colour. Black throughout, except the beard and ruff, which are grey. In some young specimens the abdomen is brown. Face and hands black, the callosities of a fleshy tinge. Dimensions. Head and body of a male 21 inches, tail 13| ; of another 20 and 15 : of a female, head and body 18, tail 12| ; of MACACUS. 17 another specimen 18 and 10. These are from Travancore speci- mens, measured by Mr. F. W. Bourdillon, and show much variation in the length of the tail. A female skull measures : Length to occiput 4-4 inches, basal length 3-1, breadth 2-9. Distribution. The forests of the Syhadri range or Western Ghats near the Malabar coast from about 14 north to Cape Comorin, and at a considerable elevation above the sea. Most common in Cochin and Travancore. Habits. The lion-tailed Monkey, according to Jerdon, to whom we are indebted for the only authentic account of this animal i a wild state, inhabits the most dense and unfrequented forests of the hills near the Malabar coast in herds of from twelve to twenty or more. It is shy and wary. In captivity it is sulky and savage, and not easily taught. The call of the male is said (J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 283) to resemble the voice of a man. As I have shown elsewhere (P.Z. 8. 1887, p. 620), this monkey is not Simia silemis of Linnaeus, nor is it S. veter of the same author. As, however, the specific name silemis has been used generally for this species for more than a century, naturalists are unwilling to change it. The name Wanderoo, usually applied to M. silenus by European naturalists, is also a mistake, being the Ceylon name of the Semnopitheci, erroneously given to the pre- sent species by Buffon. The " lion-tailed Monkey " is a name of Pennant's. 6. Macacus arctoides. The brown stump-tailed Monkey. Macacus arctoides, Is. Geoffr. Mag. Zool. 1833, Cl. i, pi. 11 ; Murie, P. Z. S. 1872, p. 770 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 45, pis. i, ii j id. Cat. p. 74. Papio melanotus, Ogilby, P. Z. S. 1839, p. 31. Macacus brunneus, Anderson, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 628 j id. 1872, p. 203, pi. xii (juv.). Inuus speciosus, Slyth, Mam. Birds Surma, p. 6. Hair on head and shoulders very long, as much as 4 inches in adults. Tail very short, almost rudimentary, sparsely clad with hair or naked in old animals ; buttocks naked for some distance around callosities. Caudal vertebra 11 (probably fewer in some individuals). Colour. Dark brown ; in some specimens blackish brown above, paler below. In the young the hairs are the same tint through- out, in older individuals the terminal portion of each hair is very closely and minutely annulated with several alternating rings of golden yellow and dark brown. Face and buttocks bright red. Dimensions. Probably about 2 feet in length, the tail only one to two inches. No trustworthy measurements of adults are recorded. An adult male skull measures 5-3 inches in extreme length, 3-7 in basal length, and 3'5 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. Not very well ascertained. Apparently this monkey is found in some of the hill-ranges south of Assam, and c 18 CEBCOPITHECID^!. there is a specimen in the Calcutta Museum said to have been brought from Tipperah. To the eastward this form is found in the Kakhyen hills of Upper Burma and also in Cochin China. Habits. Nothing is definitely known of this monkey in the wild state. It is said to be a hill species. Blyth refers the present form to M. speciosus of F. Cuvier, a name generally applied to a Japanese species, and Anderson is disposed to concur. M. speciosus is said by Ternminck (' Fauna Japonica ') to have been founded on a drawing by Diard or Du- vaucel of a monkey living at Barrackpur near Calcutta. The figure resembles a pig-tailed Monkey (M. nemestrinus) with most of its tail cut off as much as it does either M. arctoides or the Japanese species. I agree with Anderson that the name M. spe- ciosu# should be dropped. A stump-tailed monkey of rufous-brown coloration, said to be from the Malay Peninsula, has been named M. rufescens by Anderson (P. Z. S. 1872, pp. 204, 495, pi. xxiv) ; and' two other forms, M. maurus and M, ocreatus, inhabit some of the Malay islands. A very large form, M. tibetanus, has been described from Moupin, in Eastern Tibet, by A. M.-Edwards. In his latest work Anderson has united this form to M. arctoides. I am informed by Mr. W. Davison that he had for some time alive a monkey of a kind apparently allied to M. arctoides, which had been captured by a shikari near Bankasun in the extreme south of Tenasserim. Mr. Davison has also seen a second speci- men, a female, his own being a male. Unfortunately the first specimen was subsequently lost. These animals were of a pale cream-colour throughout, slightly tinged with rusty on the shoulders and back ; face and hands flesh-coloured. The tail was quite rudi- mentary, less than an inch long, and turned on one side in both specimens, so that at the first glance both appeared to be tailless. Both were very small, although shown to be adults by the teeth, each being not above 15 inches high when it stood erect. They had a sharp piercing voice, and exhaled a peculiar fetid odour. The one kept by Mr. Davison was excessively insectivorous, and preferred insects to fruit or bread. These monkeys apparently belonged to an undescribed species. It is quite possible, too, that the large tailless ape seen by Mr. Davison and Captain Bingham in the Tenasserim mountains', and described in the notes on Hylobates lar (ante, p. 9), may be an ally of M. arctoides, though apparently much larger than that species. 7. Macacus leoninus. The Burmese pig-tailed Monkey. Inuus leoninus, Blyth, Cat. p. 7 (1863) ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 4. Macacus andamanensis, Bartlett, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 467. Macacus leoninus, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1870. p. 663. pl.xxxv; Anderson, An. Zool Res. p. 52 ; id. Cat. p. 71. Myouk-mai, Bum. ; Myouk-la-haing, Arakan. MACACUS. 19 A somewhat short-limbed, stout form. The hairs on the shoulders and fore part of back very long, 4 to 5 inches in males, but rather short on the lower back and rump. Head broad, rather flat ; hair radiating in the centre of the crown and surrounded in front and Fig. 6. Macacus leoninus. (P. Z. S. 1870, pi. xxxv.) on both sides by a horseshoe-shaped crest, the anterior or supra- orbital portion of which consists of very stiff hairs. Tail about one third the length of the head and body, slender, well clad with hair. Caudal vertebrae 17 to 18. The skull is distinguished from that of M. nemestrimis by having the muzzle much shorter. Colour. Males are dark brown above, the horseshoe-shaped crest, the lower back, and the upper surface of the tail black ; sides of head and buttocks grey ; lower parts, including lower surface of tail, light greyish brown. The tail is somewhat tufted, and has sometimes a bright ferruginous tuft at the end. Females are greyer and rather paler, and have no black on the head or back, though the tail is blackish above. The fur is finely annulated, except on the head, loins, tail, and buttocks, with yellow and blackish brown above, and with dusky and whitish below. On the long hair of the shoulders there are as many as ten to twelve rings, five or six of each colour, on each hair. Base of hair greyish brown. Face dusky flesh-colour. Dimension. Length of male : head and body 23 inches ; tail without hair at end 8, with hair 10. Females considerably less. Skull of adult male 5-3 inches long from occiput, 4 from foramen, and 4 broad across the zygomatic arches ; of a female 4-45 and 3-1 inches long and 2-95 broad. 20 CEECOPITHECID^. Distribution. Originally described from specimens collected by Sir A. P. Phayre in Arakan. Anderson has since referred to this species specimens from Upper Burma, and a young animal from Perak, Malacca. The latter identification is very questionable, as the Malay peninsula is inhabited by the true pig-tailed Monkey, M. nemestrinus. A few individuals have been introduced into the Andaman Islands, but the species is not indigenous. Habits. Scarcely anything is known, except that the young and females are docile' in captivity, old males fierce. In this, as pro- bably in most other respects, this species is very similar to the next. 8. Macacus nemestrinus. The pig-tailed Monkey. Simla nemestrina, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 35 (1766). . Inuus nemestrinus, Blyth, Cat. p. 7. Macacus nemestrinus, Anderson, An. Zool. Res, p. 77 ; id. Cat. p. 72. Mijouk-padi, Burmese ; Ta-o-ti, Burmese of Tavoy ; Bruh, Malay. Body stout ; limbs long and powerful ; muzzle in adults much produced. Fur slightly lengthened over shoulders, and short generally. Hair radiating in centre of crown, but not surrounded by the distinct horseshoe-crest of M. leoninus (there is, however, an approximation to it in some specimens). Tail very slender, rather more than one third the length of the head and body. Caudal vertebrae 18. The muzzle, in old male skulls especially, is greatly produced, and much resembles that of the Baboons (Cynocephalus) in form. The orbits are nearly as high as broad. Colour. Crown of the head dark brown or black, except at the sides ; a broad black stripe extends throughout the middle of the back in many specimens, becoming broader on the rump ; but in young animals and in some adults the back is brown throughout. Fur of upper surface generally yellowish brown, but varying from pale orange-brown to blackish brown in different specimens ; lower parts greyer brown or albescent ; hands and feet sometimes darker than the limbs. Tail black above, light yellowish brown below. The fur on the upper parts and the outside of the limbs is closely annulated with yellow and brown ; basal portion of hair grey. Dimensions. Tickell gives as the measurements of an old male from Ye : Head and body 18| inches, tail 7|, hand 3f , foot 6, height at shoulder 16 ; the size, however, varies much, and many individuals attain a much greater development, rivalling, as Anderson remarks, a good-sized mastiff both in height and strength. Of two skulls of adult males in the British Museum one measures 6-5 inches long from the occiput and 5 from the foramen, by 4-2 broad across the zygomatic arches ; whilst another male adult skull is only 5'78 and 4-4 long and 3'8 broad ; and a third from Mergui 5, 3-6, and 3-5. Females must be very nearly as large as males ; the skull of a very old specimen from Tenasserim is 6-2 and 4-2 MACACUS. 21 inches long and 4'25 broad. It is just possible that two dis- tinguishable forms, a larger and a smaller, are indicated by these measurements. Distribution. The pig- tailed Monkey is found throughout a great part of Tenasserim, although apparently not common, except in the extreme south of the province a circumstance that probably explains why the occurrence of M. nemestrinus in Southern Burma has been generally overlooked. There is, however, a skeleton in the British Museum (the old female of which the skull-measure- ments are given above) sent by Major Bingham from Meplay valley, Thoungyeen river, and a skull presented by Dr. Oldham from Mergui. Tickell, too, in his MS. notes, records and describes specimens from Ye ; and Mr. "W. Davison tells me that the species is common about Malewun and Bankasun. The pig-tailed Monkey is not found north of Tenasserim, but extends south into the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Habits. The pig- tailed Monkey in Tenasserim, according to Tickell, frequents thick jungle about the base of the hills. The voice and manners are similar to those of M. rJiesus. When the animal is excited the tail is held in the form of an S. In Sumatra M. nemestrinus is said by Sir S. Eaffles to be peculiarly docile, and to be trained to climb the cocoa-nut trees and gather nuts for its master. This can only apply to females and young animals ; old males are very savage, and they are formidable animals from their size and strength. The period of gestation in this species has been ascertained to be 7 months and 20 days. 9. Macacos cynomolgus. Macaque, or crab-eating Monkey. Simla cynomolgus, Schreb. Saugth. i, p. 91, pi. xiii (fig. Buffori), nee Macacus irus, F. Cuv. Mem. Mus. iv, p. 120 (1818). Macacus carbonarius, F. Cuv. Hist. Nat. Mam. pi. xxxii (1825) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 9. Macacus aureus, Is. Geoffr. Voy. Bel., Zool. p. 58. Macacus cynomolgus, Blyth, Cat. p. 9 ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 7 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 73 ; id. Cat. p. 61. Myouk-ta-nga, Burmese ; Ta-o-tan, Tavoy and Arakan ; Kamui-awiit, Talain ; Da-ouk, Sha-ok-li, Karen ; Krd, Malay. Fur of moderate length and nearly straight. Hair of the crown not lengthened, and usually directed backwards, but occasionally radiating somewhat irregularly from one or more centres, or form- ing a rudimentary crest. Tail nearly as long as the head and body. Caudal vertebrae 22. Skull long and low, with the muzzle produced, and the orbits much broader than high. Colour. The general tint of the upper surface varies from dusky or greyish brown to rufous or golden brown in different individuals ; lower parts light greyish brown to nearly white. The hair of the 22 CEECOPITHECIDJ;. upper parts varies from light brown to almost black at the base, the terminal portion being annulated with yellow and brown or black ; on the shoulders there are usually three rings of each colour, fewer behind. In young specimens there is no annulation. Pace, ears, and callosities varying from flesh-colour to dusky. Eye- lids white or bluish white in many cases. Varieties. There are two prominent varieties of this well-known monkey a dark-coloured form with dusky face (M. carbonarius'), and a golden-rufous race (M. aureus). Both of these, as well as the normal yellowish-brown type, are found in Burma. The colour of the face varies greatly, some dark-furred individuals having a pale face, and vice versa. Dimensions. An old male measures : head and body 22 inches, tail 19, hand 3-9, foot 5-5. In another the head and body are about 21 inches, tail 20. Females are smaller. A large adult male skull measures 5-3 inches in extreme length, 4'1 from ante- rior margin of foramen magnum, and 3*6 in breadth across the zygomatic arches ; a female skull 4-35, 3, and 2-9 in the three dimensions. Distribution. The crab-eating Monkey is found throughout a great part of Burma, including Arakan, especially along tidal creeks near the coast, and in the deltas of rivers. It is not known to occur on hills, nor has it been recorded with certainty from Upper Burma. It is found in the Nicobar Islands (? introduced), but not in the Andamans. Beyond our area it has a wide range throughout Siam and the Malayan peninsula and islands. Habits. Tickell, in his MS. notes, gives an excellent description of this animal, from which most of the following details are derived. He says that these monkeys are usually met with in small parties of five to fifteen, consisting of one old male, four or five females, and their young. They are especially common on the banks of tidal creeks, where they live amongst the mangroves, and feed upon seeds, Crustacea, and insects. The claws and body of a crab were found in the cheek- pouch of a female shot in Arakan by Captain (afterwards Sir A.) Phayre. The tidal creeks are, in Tenasserim and Arakan, and in the delta of the Irawadi, the only highroads of the country ; the monkeys, consequently, become fami- liarized with the sight of men, and will allow of a near approach and even pick up rice or fruit thrown to them. This I can confirm from my own observation ; I have even known them, in Pegu, follow a boat for some distance. They swim and dive well. Tickell mentions an instance of a wounded male, that had been shot and placed in a boat, jumping overboard and diving repeatedly, once to a distance of 50 yards, in order to avoid recapture. There is no particular season for breeding. The young clings tenaciously to the mother for the first month, after which it ven- tures out little by little, and, to quote Tickell, " it is exceedingly amusing to watch the rough tenderness with which the latter [the mother] checks at first the over-venturesome sallies of the little MACACTTS. 23 animal, which is often pulled back by the tail, chastised with a cuff on the head, and then gravely huddled up to the breast, where the shrieks and chattering of the delinquent, which is just as fractious as a child under such circumstances, are soon appeased." Like the rest of the genus, this monkey is easily tamed if taken young ; it is intelligent and full of antics. The females continue gentle, but the males become morose and savage as they grow old. This species is the Macaque of Buffon, but is not the Simia cynomolgos of Linnaeus, which is an African baboon. F. Cuvier called attention to these facts in 1818, but his remarks appear to have been generally overlooked. As in the case of M. silenus, the name has been used too long to be altered now with a probability of a less familiar term being generally accepted. 10. Macacus sinicus. The Bonnet Monkey. Simla sinica, Linn. Mantissa, p. 521 (1771). Cercocebus radiatus, Geoffr. Ann. du Mus. xix, p. 98 (1812). Macacus radiatus, Blyth, Cat. p. 8 ; Jcrdon, Mam. p. 12. Macacus sinicus, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 90 ; id. Cat. p. 59. Bandar, H. ; Makadu, Wdnar, Kerda, Mahr. ; Manga, Kodaga, Can. ; Koti, Tel. ; Koranga, Velio, manthi, Mai. ; Kurangu, Tamul ; Mucha, Kurg ; Kodan, Toda. Fur of moderate length, generally straight and smooth. Hair of the crown lengthened and radiating from the vertex, but not usually extending over the forehead, where the shorter hair is parted, as a rule, down the middle. Tail nearly or quite as long as the head and body. Caudal vertebrae 22. The skull is long, flattened over the brows, with the orbits much broader than high and nearly vertical. Compared with the skull of M. rhesus, that of M. sinicus is vertically much lower ; thus the skull of which the measurements are given below is 3-05 inches in height, the mandible included, whilst a skull of M. rhesus one tenth of an inch shorter is, with its mandible, 3*5 inches high. Colour. Hair-brown to greyish brown above, pale brown or whitish below. Fur annulated towards the ends in some specimens. Face and ears flesh-coloured. Dimensions. Head and body of an adult male 19| inches, tail 22 ; weight 16 Ibs. The tail, however, is generally rather longer in proportion. An adult male skull is 4-8 inches long from occiput, 3-5 from foramen, and 3-5 broad across the zygomatic arches. Distribution. Southern India, extending on the West Coast to the neighbourhood of Bombay, but on the East not further than the Grodavari ; it is doubtful indeed if this species is found so far north as that river. This monkey is replaced in Ceylon by the next, which appears only to differ in colour. In general M. sinicus has shorter and smoother fur, and the radiating hair on the crown is shorter, not 24 CERCOPITHECIDJG. extending to the forehead, but a specimen from Travancore in the British Museum has rough hair like M. pileatus devoid of annula- tion, and an unusually long topknot. Habits. Very similar to those of other members of the genus. This is the common monkey, tame or wild, of Southern India, found both in wild jungles and in populous towns, where it pillages the shops of the dealers in fruit and grain. Jerdon says " it is the most inquisitive and mischievous of its tribe, and its powers of mimicry are surpassed by none." I do not think that it can excel M. rhesus in inquisitiveness and mischief, but I believe that it is, on the whole, more docile. 11. Macacus pileatus. Toque Monkey. Simla pileata, Shaw, Gen. Zool. i, pt. 1, p. 53 (1800). Macacus sinicus, Kelaart, Prod. p. 8, nee Linn. Macacus pileatus, Blyth, Cat. p. 9; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 91 ; id. Cat. p. 61. Ealdwa, Cingalese. Hair rather long, wavy and rough, that of the crown forming a topknot radiating from the vertex, and considerably lengthened, extending in front nearly to the eyebrows. Tail nearly as long as head and body. Caudal vertebrae 24. The skull is similar to that of M. sinicus. Colour. Rufous or yellowish brown above, white or whitish below. The upper surface of the tail, hands, and feet sometimes more dusky. Fur hair-brown at base, tipped and sometimes annulated with rufous or yellow. Face and callosities flesh-coloured. Ears, palms, and soles dusky. Dimensions. Head and body of an adult male 21 inches, tail 18 (Kelaart). Schlegel gives 20 and 23 inches, probably from skins. A male adult skull is 4*9 inches in extreme length, 3 - 5 in zygo- matic breadth. According to Kelaart the present form is of less robust make and smaller size than the Southern Indian form, but it is very doubtful if there is any constant difference. For my own part, I doubt if the two are entitled to specific distinction. Distribution. Ceylon, throughout the island. Habits. Precisely the same as those of M. sinicus. Kelaart says that the latter is more intelligent and less mischievous ; but, as already remarked, the two are probably mere varieties of the same species. M. pileatus is the monkey commonly kept tame in Ceylon, and carried about by jugglers and itinerant mountebanks for the amusement of children, exactly as M. rJiesus is in Northern and M. sinicus in Southern India. It may be mentioned here that those who have only seen monkeys in Europe, and especially in cages, have in general a very imperfect idea of the intelligence, love of fun, and power of mimicry that these animals possess. SEMNOPITHECUS. 25 Subfamily SEMNOPITHECIN^. The members of this subfamily are easily distinguished by their slender form, and by the absence of cheek-pouches. They are more purely herbivorous than the Macaque monkeys, and a con- siderable portion of their food consists of leaves and young shoots. Their digestive organs are much modified, and the stomach bears some resemblance to that of ruminant ungulates, being large in size and divided into three portions. In consequence probably of the more restricted nature of their food, these monkeys are far more delicate than the species of Macaeus, and are less easily kept alive in confinement. They are consequently not nearly so well represented in European museums, and they have been less studied by European naturalists. Very little is known of their breeding- habits or of their life-history in general. The only Indian genus is Semnopithecus, which is found almost throughout the Oriental region. The corresponding African genus Colobus is distinguished by having the thumb of the hand rudi- mentary. For descriptions of the anatomy, see Otto, Acad. Cses. Leop. Nova Acta, xii, 1825, p. 505 (a partial translation of this ap- peared in the ' Zoological Journal,' vol. iii, p. 249) ; Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. i, p. 65; and Murie, P. Z. S. 1865, p. 740. Genus SEMNOPITHECUS*, F. Cuvier, 1821. Syn. Presbytis, Eschscholtz. Body and limbs slender. Tail long, exceeding in length the head and body together in all Indian, Ceylonese, and Burmese species. Thumb short, but well developed. A row of long stiff black hairs across the eyebrows. Vertebrae : C. 7, D. 12, L. 7, S. 3, C. 25-30. Dentition : i. J, c. g, pm. g, m. Jg. The skull is rounder than in the Macaques, the breadth of the brain-case being relatively greater and the development of the muzzle less. The facial angle is consequently higher, although the intelligence is certainly not superior, and is apparently lower. * Both the genera Semnvpithccus and Presbytis were proposed in the same year, 1821, the former, iu the French form Scmnopithtqtie, for S. entellus and S. melalophos (Hist. Nat. des Mammiferes), the latter for 8. mitratus (Kotzebue's ' Entdeckungs Reise,' iii, p. 196). The latter species is somewhat aberrant. The name Semnopithecus has been more widely used than Presbytis, and is accordingly adopted here. 26 CERCOPITHECID 35 . Fig. 7. Skull of Semnopithectis entellus. Synopsis of Indian, Ceylonese, and Biirmese Species. A. Hair of crown radiating from a point on the forehead. . Head scarcely paler or not paler than back. a'. Hands and feet black. No crest S. entettus, p. 27. b'. Hands and feet same colour as limbs. A crest S. priamta, p. 31. b. Head distinctly paler than back. a'. Hands and feet black, lower parts yel- lowish S. hypoleucus, p. 33. b'. Hands and feet scarcely darker than limbs, lower parts greyish & schistaceus, p. 30. B. Hair of crown radiating from two frontal points, one on each side. a. Nearly black above, inside of thighs white S.femoralis,p.2. C. Hair of crown directed backwards through- out, not radiating. a. No crest ; hair of crown not longer than on temples and nape. '. Body black or dusky brown above and below. a". Head black throughout, like body . . S. barbei, p. 39. b". Head pale brown, cheeks same colour as crown S.Johni, p. 33. c". Cheeks paler than crown, sacral region grey S. cephaloptcrus, p. 34. d". Cheeks paler than crown, sacral region black S. ursinus, p. 36. b'. Body yellowish white throughout .... S. senex, p. 35, SEMNOPITHECUS. 27 b. No crest. Hairs of crown longer than those of temples and occiput, and forming a cap. Body dark grey above, yellow below . . S. pileatus, p. 37. c. A crest of longer hairs. a'. A pointed crest on occiput. Adults ashy to blackish brown,youngyellowish brown S. obscurus, p. 41 . b'. Crest compressed and longitudinal on crown of head; body dark grey above, whitish below S. phayrei, p. 39. d. A crest ? Black above, ferruginous below, neck white; young rufescent white throughout S. chrysogaster ', p. 38. The remains of a single species of Semnopithecus have been found in the Siwalik beds, and those of another in the Pleistocene Cave- deposits of Kurnool. 12. Semnopithecus entellus. The Langur or Hanumdn Monkey. Simia entellus, Dufresne, Butt. Soc. Phil. 1797, p. 49. Semnopithecus entellus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii, p. 169, xiii, p. 470 ; Hutton, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 944; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 15; id. Cat. p. 35. ? S. anchises, Elliot, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiii, p. 470, xvi, p. 733. Presbytis entellus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, pp. 372, 1271, pi. liv, fig. 1 ; id. Cat. p. 11 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 4. Langur and Hanumdn, Hindi ; Wdnar, Marathi ; Musya *, Canarese ; Kode, Kiirg; Sard, Korku (Satpura Hills) and Ho (Kol). No crest. Hair on the crown of the head radiating in all directions from a point about one-third the distance back from the eyebrows to the occiput. Ears large, not covered by the hair of the cheeks. Hair of the body of the same colour through- out, and generally somewhat wavy. Colour. Head, body, limbs, and tail pale earthy or greyish brown, or pale isabelline throughout ; hands and feet always black above. The back and the outside of the limbs are sometimes darker, and the lower parts paler; the head too is said to be occasionally lighter in colour, but the difference is not great. Face, ears, and soles of hands and feet black. Dimensions. Average size of an adult male : head and body about 2 feet long ; tail, without hair at end, 38 inches. Females are rather less. Large males measure considerably more ; head and body 30 inches, or even more according to Jerdon. Weight of a male 22 Ibs., of a female 18 Ibs. An adult male skull measures : extreme length from alveolar border of premaxillaries to back of head 5-05 inches, to foramen (basal length) 3-6, width across the zygomatic arches 4. * This and the next name may belong to 8, priamus. 28 CEBCOPITHECIDjE. Distribution. The northern portion of the Indian Peninsula, including South-western Bengal, Orissa, the Central Provinces, Bombay, Guzerat, Southern Eajputana and part of the N.W. Provinces, extending to Kattywar and probably to Cutch ( J. A. S. B. xli, pt. 2, p. 220), but not to Sind or the Punjab. Hutton states that this species is not indigenous east of the Hugli or north of the Ganges, and of a line drawn westward from Allahabad to near Bundi on the Chambal, and that colonies found near certain Hindu shrines, as Muttra in the North-west Provinces and Kish- nagurh in Bengal, have been introduced. The latter is probable, but it is certain that Langurs occur in the Oudh Terai, and gene- rally along the base of the Himalaya (Jerdon mentions their occurrence near Pankabari, in Sikhim), and they are more likely to be this species than $. schistaceus. It is remarkable that the range of so well-known an animal should be so imperfectly ascertained. The southern limit of S. entellus also needs verification. This is certainly the species inhabiting the Bombay Deccan; but Blyth mentions (J. A. S. B. xiii, p. 471) an immature black-handed specimen from Coimbatore, well within the range of the pale- handed P. priamus, and Lydekker has referred to S. entellus the remains from the Kurnool caves. The range of this Langur on the Eastern coast extends, I believe, south of the Godavery. Habits. Few, if any, wild animals afford better opportunities for observation than the Hanuman Monkey of Northern and Central India. Generally protected, and looked upon as sacred by many of the Hindu inhabitants, it has no fear of man and may be found in groves near villages, or even in the village trees, as commonly as in the depths of the forest. In many parts of India it is a common occurrence to see these monkeys on the roofs of houses. They frequently pilfer food from the grain-dealers' shops, whilst the damage they inflict on gardens and fields renders them so great a nuisance that the inhabitants of the country, although they will not as a rule kill the monkeys themselves, sometimes beg Euro- peans to shoot the intruders. IS. entellus feeds on fruit and grain, seed, seed-pods (for instance gram), leaves and young shoots, the last two forming a large portion of its food. Certain vegetable poisons are said to be taken by this monkey with impunity, doses of 5 and even 10 grains of strychnine having been given to one without effect, although the same drug killed Macacus rhesus quickly. The Hanuman is usually found in smaller or larger communities, composed of individuals of both sexes and of all ages, the youngest clinging to their mothers and being carried by them, especially when alarmed. An old male is occasionally found solitary, as with so many other mammals. The story that males and females live in separate troups, though apparently believed by Blyth and quoted by Jerdon, I agree with Hutton in regarding as fictitious, though, as the latter observer justly remarks, females with very young offspring may keep together and temporarily apart from the remainder of the troup to which they belong. SEMNOPITHECT7S. 29 I also doubt the details of the story, quoted, like the last, from the ' Bengal Sporting Magazine ' for 1836, of combats between the males for tbe possession of the females. But the occurrence of fights amongst these animals rests on good evidence. Mr. T. H. Hughes (Proc. A. S. B. 1884, p. 147) described a combat, witnessed by himself in April, between two communities of Hanurnans, apparently for the possession of a mango-grove. Only the champion males of each flock engaged at first, two from the larger flock, one from the smaller ; but after one of the former had been killed, his throat being torn open by his adversary's teeth, two females came to the assistance of the survivor, and the single champion of the opposite side was mortally wounded, whereupon several of the weaker flock appeared to be taken prisoners by the others. The whole account is very interesting. Away from villages, the high trees on the banks of streams or of tanks, and, in parts of Central India, rocky hills are the favourite haunts of these monkeys. They are never found at a great distance from water. Whether on trees, on rocks, or on the ground they are exceedingly active. " They leap with surprising agility and precision from branch to branch, and when pressed take most astonishing jumps. I have seen them cross from tree to tree, a space of 20 to 30 feet wide, with perhaps 40 or 50 feet in descent. They can run on all fours with considerable rapidity, taking long strides or rather bounds " (Jerdm). They leap from rock to rock as readily as from tree to tree. But great as their apparent speed is, McMaster found that on horseback he easily ran down a large male in a very short distance ; indeed, it is their power of bounding and the remarkable appearance they present whilst leaping, with their long tails turned over their backs, that convey the idea of speed, rather than the actual rapidity of their motions. Their voice is loud and is often heard, especially in the morning and evening. The two commonest sounds emitted by them are a loud, joyous, rather musical call, a kind of whoop, generally uttered when they are bounding from tree to tree, and a harsh guttural note, denoting alarm or anger. The latter is the cry familiar to the tiger-hunter, amongst whose best friends is the Hanuman. Safely esconced in a lofty tree, or jumping from one tree to another as the tiger moves, the monkey by gesture and cry points out the position of his deadly enemy in the bushes or grass beneath, and swears at him heartily. It is marvellous to observe how these monkeys, even in the wildest forests, where human beings are rarely seen, appear to recognize the men as their friends, at least as allies against the tiger. It is a common but erroneous notion of sportsmen that this guttural cry is a sure indication of a tiger or leopard having been seen, whereas the monkeys quite as often utter it merely as an expression of surprise ; I have heard it caused by the sight of deer running away, and I believe that it is frequently due to the monkeys catching sight of men. In confinement the Hanuman is, as Jerdon says, quite sedate 30 CEBCOPITHECID^. and indolent. Older animals are not unfrequently morose and savage. None of this group are so docile or so amusing as the Macaci, and even in the wild state the Hanuman appears quieter, less possessed by an insatiable curiosity, less sportive, and also less quarrelsome. His behaviour is more in accordance with the extreme gravity of his appearance. The female Hanuma'n is said not unfrequently to have twins, although one young at a time is the rule, as throughout the order. The period of gestation does not appear to have been ascertained, nor the age at which these monkeys become adult. 13. Semnopithecus schistaceus. The Himalayan Langiir. Semnopithecus schistaceus, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. ix, p. 1212 (1841) ; Anderson, An. Zool Res. p. 16 ; id. Cat. p. 37. Presbytis schistaceus, Blyth, Cat. p. 11 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 6. Ldngur, Hindi. No crest. Fur long. The hair of the crown radiates from a point some distance behind the eyebrows, as in S. entellus. The ears are smaller than in that species, and concealed by the long hair of the che'eks. Tail slightly but distinctly tufted at the end. Colour. Back, tail, and outside of limbs earthy or greyish brown, frequently with a slight purplish tinge. Shoulders and a band down the fore limbs often darker. Crown and sides of head and the lower parts whitish. Feet and hands externally the same colour as the limbs, or very little darker. Face and ears black ; a little black hair on parts of the face. Dimensions. A moderate-sized individual measures 30 inches from muzzle to rump, tail 36. An adult male skull is 5-7 inches in extreme, 4-15 in basal length, 4-35 broad. This species is the largest of the Indian and Burmese forms, and probably of the whole genus. Distribution. Throughout the greater portion of the Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan, the most western authenticated locality being the Wurdwan valley above Kishtwar (J. A. S. B. xlvi, p't. 2, p. 284). In Sikhim S. schistaceus is confined to the interior at elevations of from 7000 to 12,000 feet. It is found at similar elevations in the "Western Himalayas, but it is also said to occur at the base of the Himalayas. As stated under the last species, it remains to be seen whether the Langurs of the Terai and lower Himalayan slopes are not S. entellus. I can find no record, by a competent naturalist, of S. schistaceus below 5000 or 6000 feet. This monkey is included in a list of mammals found in the N"aga hills (J. A. S. B. xliv, pt. 1, p. 332), but probably some other species has been mistaken for it. The statement that large monkeys are found in Kafiristan (J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 332) re- quires confirmation. Habits. Except in inhabiting a much cooler climate, this Langur differs but little from the Hanuman. monkey in habits. Hutton SEMtfOPITHECUS. 31 has observed S. schistaceus near Simla, sporting amongst fir trees that were loaded with snow-wreaths. According to a MS. note of Hodgson's these monkeys pair in February and have young in April or May, the period of gestation being apparently only two months. Further information is desirable. S. schistaceus is distinguished from 8. entellus (1) by being some- what larger, though there is probably no great difference between large individuals of both species ; (2) by the head being much paler in colour than the back, and by the feet being but little, if at all, darker than the limbs ; (3) by the smaller ears, and by their being concealed by the long hair of the cheeks ; (4) by the form of the skull. Dr. Anderson has shown that the skull of 8. schistaceus is longer in proportion to the breadth, and the face is relatively longer than in S. entellus. If a straight edge be applied to the face, it will be found that in S. entellus the nasal bones do not project beyond a line drawn from the middle of the supraorbital ridge to the anterior border of the premaxillaries, whilst in S. schistaceus the nasals do project beyond that line. These cha- racters appear quite constant in adults. Anderson in his last work, the ' Catalogue of Mammalia in the Indian Museum,' classes S. schistaceus as merely a variety of 8. entellus, but I cannot agree. 14. Semnopithecus priamus. The Madras Langur. Semnopithecus priam, Elliot, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiii, p. 470 (1844). Presbytis priamus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 732, pi. liv (p. 1271) ; xx, p. 153 ; id. Cat. p. 12 ; Kelaart, Prod. p. 3 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 7. Semnopithecus albipes, Is. Geoff. Cat. Meth. Mam. (1851) p. 14 ; Gray, Cat. Monkeys $c. B. M. p. 15 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 18. Semnopithecus priamus, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 19 ; id. Cat. p. 38. Konda-musal, Muskaunthi, Tarn. ; Gandangi, Tel. ; Miisia, Can. ; Kunde Wandaru, Cing. The radiation of the hairs on the front part of the crown is less conspicuous than in 8. entellus and S. schistaceus ; the hairs on the hinder part of the crown are elongated along the middle line so as to form a distinct longitudinal compressed crest *. Black supra- orbital fringe very long. Ears large, not covered by the hair of the cheeks. Hair of the body long, with scattered longer piles of the same colour. * The existence of this crest was mentioned by Blyth, Jerdon, and Kelaart, and figured by Sir Emerson Tennant, but doubted by Anderson. It is, how- ever, distinctly shown in three dried skins from Ceylon in the British Museum, and as these skins have never been mounted the character is clearly natural. I have also seen it in skins from Southern India, and am assured by Mr. W. Davi- son and others that it is constantly present. 32 CEBCOPITHECID.B. Colour. Back, outside of limbs, and tail greyish or earthy brown, sometimes with a slight pinkish tinge ; head paler brown above ; feet the same colour as the limbs, or a little darker, not black. Fig. 8. Head of Semnopithecus priamus. Lower parts pale brown. Face, palms of hands, and soles of feet black. Dimensions. Head and body 21 inches, tail 28 (a Ceylon speci- men) ; a large "Wynaad example, however, measured 23 and 37 inches. Madras specimens are probably larger than Ceylonese. An adult male Ceylon skull is 4-23 inches in extreme, 3 in basal length, and 3'35 in zygomatic breadth. Another has for corre- sponding dimensions 46, 3*28, and 3'63 inches. Distribution. Coromandel coast and the Carnatic as far north as Nellore, also Mysore, the "Wynaad, and Northern Ceylon, extend- ing south as far as Trincomali and the skirts of the Kandyan hills. The limits of range of this species and of S. entellus are not exactly known. S. priamus, I learn from Mr. W. Davison, ascends the eastern slopes of the Nilgiri hills to an elevation of 6000 feet. Habits. Precisely similar to those of its near ally 8. entellus. This species may be distinguished from S. entellus by having a crest, and by the feet and hands not being black above. The form of the skull is quite different, as Anderson has shown ; the facial portion being much shorter and more concave. The distance from the alveolar border of the premaxillaries to the supraorbital ridge in an adult skull of S. priamus is 1'7, in S. entellus 2-25, and in S. schistaceus 2*7 inches. Several other differences in the cranium and mandible are noticed by Anderson. BEMttOPITHECTTS. 33 15. Semnopithecus hypoleucus. The Malabar Langur. Semnopithecus hypoleucos, Blyth, J. A. S. B. x, p. 839 (1841), xiii, p. 470 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 20 ; id. Cat. p. 40. Semnopithecus dussumieri, Is. Geoffr. Comptes Rendus, xv, p. 719 (1842) ; id. Descr. An. Nouv., Fam. des Singes, p. 54, pi. xxx. Presbytis hypoleucos, Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xvi, p. 733. Presbytis johnii, Blyth, Cat. p. 12; Jerdon, Mam. p. 7, nee Fischer. Fella Manthi, Malayalim. No crest. The hair on the crown of the head radiates as in S. entellus. Colour. Above dusky brown, varying somewhat in tint, some- times not much darker than 8. entellus, but always darker in the middle of the back than on the sides. Head fulvous to dirty yellow, the crown being rather darker. Supraorbital hairs black as usual, and some black hairs before the ears. Limbs dark brown, hands and feet black ; tail dark brown, the terminal portion paler. Lower parts yellow or yellowish white. Face black. Young animals are said by Jerdon to be sooty brown throughout. Dimensions. Smaller than those of S. entellus. Head and body of a full-grown male 21 inches, tail 32. An adult male skull measures 4-26 inches in extreme length by 3*30 in breadth across the zygomatic arches (Anderson), Distribution, The Malabar coast, especially in evergreen forests, from about 14 or 15 North lat. to Cape Comorin, ascending the hills to an elevation of about 1200 or 1300 feet. It is not confined to the forests, but frequents gardens and the belt of cultivated wooded land that extends all along the sea-coast of Malabar. Habits. Similar to those of 8. entellus, except that, although it is found in trees near houses, it is not familiar and rather shuns observation. It has the usual loud call of the genus, and the same kind of alarm-note when it sees tigers or other beasts of prey. It is frequently taken young and tamed. 16. Semnopithecus johni. The Nilgiri Langtir. Simla johnii, Fischer, Syn. Mam. p. 25 (1829). Semnopithecus cucullatus, Is. Geoffr. Zool. Bel. Voy. p. 38, pi. i Semnopithecus jubatus, Wagner, Schreb. Sdugeth. Supp. i, p. 305. Presbytis johnii, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 734. Presbytis cucullatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 283 ; id. Cat. p. 14. Presbytis jubatus, Jerdon, Mam. p. 8. Semnopithecus johnii, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 21 ; id. Cat. p. 45. Turuni, Eodan, Pershk, Toda ; Korangu, Baduga and Kurumba ; Karing Korangu, Mai. Hair of the crown and sides of the head very long ; no radiating centre to the crown. Pur of the body long, fine, and glossy. D 34 CEECOPITHECIDJE. Colour. Glossy black to blackish brown except the head, which is some tint of brownish yellow, and the ruinp and base of the tail, which are generally ashy grey in adults and occasionally in the young. In the female there is always a yellowish-white patch inside each thigh (Davisori). The very young animal is black throughout. Dimensions. Head and body 21 to 23 inches, tail 32 to 35 ; weight 23 Ibs. In a very large male the head and body measured 29 inches, tail 37. Females are rather smaller than males. The above measurements are from TraA r ancore and Animale specimens by Mr.Tf. Bourdillon and Mr. T. Hornaday. The skull of a female barely adult measures 2-45 inches in basal, 3'7 in extreme length, and 2-65 in zygomatic breadth, but this is doubtless a small specimen. Distribution. Found throughout the higher portions of the Southern Syhadri or Western Ghats from the Wynaad to Cape Comorin, not descending below 2500 or 3000 feet elevation. Common on the Nilgiri, Palnai, and Animale hills. Not known on the Shevrai (Shevaroy) or other ranges east of the Syhadri. Habits. This animal is shy and wary, the result of human perse- cution. It inhabits the sholas or dense but abruptly-limited woods of the Nilgiris and other high ranges of Southern India, and is also found in the forests on the slopes of the hills, usually in small troops of from five to ten individuals. It is very noisy, having a loud guttural alarm cry, used also to express anger, and a long loud call. Jerdon relates that when the sholas of the Nilgiri range were beaten for game, these monkeys made their way rapidly and with loud cries to the lowest portion and thence to a neighbouring wood at a lower level. In consequence of the beauty of their skins, and the circum- stance that certain castes eat their flesh, these monkeys are more frequently shot than most of the Indian species, "hence their shyness. 17. Semnopithecus cephalopterus. The purple-faced Monkey. Cercopithecus vetulus, Erxl. Syst. Reg. An., Mam. p. 25 (1777), partim. Cercopithecus kephalopterus, Zimm. Geog. Gesch. ii, p. 185 (1780). Cercopithecus leucoprymnus, Otto, Acad. C&s. Leop. Nova Acta, xii, p. 605, pi. xlvi bis (1825). Presbytis cephalopterus, Blyth, J. A. S. 3. xvi, pp. 734, 1271 ; Kelaart, Prod. p. 1 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 13. ? Presbytis thersites, JEUiot, Blyth, J. A. S. S. xvi, p. 1271, pi. liv, f. 3 ; Blanford, P. Z. S. 1887, p. 626. Semnopithecus cephalopterus, Schleqel, Mon. Singes Mris. P.-B. p. 51 Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 22 ; 'id. Cat. p. 43. Semnopithecus kelaarti, Schlegel, 1. c. p. 52. Kalhi Wand^-u (and Elli Wanderu ?), Cingalese. Hair of crown directed backward, not radiating. Whiskers SEM^OPITHECUS. 35 very long, concealing the lower part of the ears. Black supra- orbital hairs but moderately developed. Hair of body of moderate length. Colour. Body and limbs dusky or smoky brown to black, more or less tinged with ashy grey above and below; sacral region, comprising the lower back, posterior upper portion of thighs, and base of tail, ashy grey to greyish white, greater portion of tail darker grey, tip again paler. Hair uniformly coloured, sometimes paler towards the base, and frequently with pale tips on the back. Crown of head and nape hair-brown, much paler than the back ; sides of head and chin ashy grey or white, the long whitish whiskers contrasting stroogly with the brown crown, and serving at all ages to distinguish this species from S. johni. Dimensions. Head and body 20 inches, tail 24|. A female skull scarcely adult is 2-5 inches in basal, 3'5 in extreme length, and 2-6 broad. Varieties. The prevalent coloration, in adults at all events, is nearly black on the body, with the sacral region silvery grey. But in the form named S. kelaarti by Schlegel, which appears to be far from uncommon, the whole animal is hair-brown except the lower back, upper portion of thighs, whiskers, and chin, which are light brown or whitish. It is not known whether, specimens thus coloured are ever fully adult, but many immature specimens have the normal coloration. Examples intermediate in coloration between the black and brown forms are also met with. It is probable that the S. thersites of Blyth and Kelaart may have been founded on such brown examples of the present species. It is clear that this monkey varies greatly in coloration, and although at present I am disposed, chiefly for want of accurate information, to keep the two next species, S. senex and S. ursinus, distinct, it is quite possible that Anderson (Cat. Mam. I. M. pp. 44, 45) may be right in classing all as varieties of S. cephalopterus. The skulls of this species, of S. johni, and S. ursinus are said by Anderson to be very similar to each other. Distribution. Found throughout most parts of Ceylon at low or moderate elevations, not above 1300 feet according to Kelaart. According to Layard it is the common monkey of the maritime provinces and is also found ia the Kandyan districts. Habits. Very similar to those of other species, found usually in troops, of ten to fifteen individuals. In confinement it is said to be very gentle. 18. Semnopithecus senex. The white Monkey. ? Simia veter, L. Syst. Nat. ed. xii, i, p. 36 (1766). Cercopithecus senex, Erxl. Syst. Reg. An., Mam. p. 24 (1777). Presbytis albinus, Kelaart, Prod. p. 7 ; id. J. A. S. B. xx, p. 182. Semnopithecus senex, Schleg. Mus. Pays-JBas, i. p. 63. Semnopithecus cephalopterus, var., Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 23, note: id* Cat. p. 45. D2 36 CEBCOPITHECID^. Fur dense and wavy, whiskers full. Long white hairs over the toes. Colour. Yellowish white, faintly marked with brownish on the bead, dusky over the shoulders and on the middle of the back. Face and ears black. Soles and palms flesh-coloured. Dimensions. Apparently the same as those of S. ursinus. Distribution. Mountains of Southern Ceylon at considerable elevations. Habits. This species or variety is said to be rare, but to be found occasionally on the Ceylonese mountains in parties of three or four, always apart from the other monkeys. Its occurrence was men- tioned more than two centuries ago by Captain Eobert Knox. Although it is very possible that S. senex is simply a white variety of 8. ursinus or S. ceplialopterus, it appears equally pro- bable that the present species may be an allied but distinct form now verging on extinction. The only specimen I have seen, a young animal in the Leyden Museum, looked somewhat different from both. I have not been able to compare the skull. 19. Senmopithecus ursinus. The bear Monkey. Presbytis ursinus, Bhjth, J. A. S. B. xx, pp. 155, 182 ; id. Cat. p. 13 ; Kelaart, Prod. p. 2. Semnopithecus ursinus, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 24. Maha Wanderu, Cing. Hair very long, 4 to 5 inches in length on the sides. Supra- orbital black hairs scarcely longer than those of crown, but coarser. The skull is said by Anderson to be shorter, with a greater zygo- matic breadth than that of S. cephalopterus ; the face shorter, and the nasals somewhat longer, besides other distinctions ; but it would be necessary to examine more specimens before concluding that these distinctions are constant. Colour. Dusky brown almost throughout ; hair on sides of face and chin paler, greyish brown to white. Hands and feet dark or black ; head above in some specimens more rufous than back, and occiput grey. No grey tinge in the sacral region. Dimensions. Larger than S. ceplialopterus. Head and body 21 inches, tail 26, hand 5, foot 6|. Distribution. Mountains of Southern Ceylon, especially near Newera Ellia. Habits. According to Kelaart, these monkeys are usually seen in large numbers jumping on the trees, and when disturbed make a short howling noise. Sir E. Tennant says that " at early morning, ere the day begins to dawn, their loud and peculiar howl, which consists of quick repetition of the sound Jwiv-how, may be frequently heard in the mountain jungles." One of these animals has been known to attack a coolie carrying a rice-bag. The flesh of this monkey, as of S. johni, is eaten by certain castes of natives. SEMNOPITHECUS. 37 20. Semnopithecus pileatus. The capped Monkey. Seuinopithecus pi^eatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xii, p. 174 (1843), xiii, p. 467 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 13 ; id. Cat. p. 40. Presbytis pileatus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 735 ; id. Cat. p. 12 ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 11. Fig. 9. Head of Semnopithemis pileatus. The crown of the head thickly covered with hair of equal length, rather longer than that of the occiput and temples and harsher than that of the back, all directed backwards and form- ing a distinct cap. There is no frontal radiation. Hair of cheeks long, partially covering the ears. Black supraorbital hairs well developed. Colour. Upper parts dusky grey to brownish ashy grey, darker on the upper part of the back and sometimes on the crown of the head ; the hands and feet dark brown or black above, the fingers or some of them occasionally yellow ; tail dark brown or black towards the tip. Sometimes the upper parts have a ferruginous tint. Lower parts and sides of head and neck golden brown or orange to pale yellow or yellowish white. The yellow or whitish colour of the cheeks extends to a line drawn just above the ears, and the sides of the neck behind the ears are also pale, so that the dark cap is well defined. Face black. Blyth states that females and young have the lower parts white or but faintly tinged with ferruginous and the upper parts pure grey, whilst old males are of a deep rust-colour below and ou the cheeks. In most specimens, however, the lower parts are of some shade of yellow, more or less pure. Dimensions. Less than S. entettus. An immature female mea- sured : head and body 18 inches, tail without the tuft of hair at 38 CERCOPITHECIDJ5. the end 28-5, with the tuft 31 (Blyth). According to Anderson the skull is of about the same size as that of S. priamus, but the supraorbital ridge is less developed. Distribution. Throughout Assam and the mils to the south of the valley, Sylhet, Tipperah, Chittagong, Northern Arakan, and part of Upper Burma. Neither this nor any other species appears yet to have been recorded from the Himalayas north of Assam. Anderson gives Tenasseriin also as a locality, but this is due to his uniting S. chrysogaster with this species. Habits. Nothing is known of the habits of this species in parti- cular, though it doubtless resembles its allies in most respects. In captivity it is said to be gentle when young; but older animals, especially males, are sometimes savage. 21. Semnopithecus chrysogaster. The red-bellied Monkey. Semnopithecus potenziani, Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus, xliii, p. 412, note (1856), description insufficient. Semnopithecus chrysogaster, Licht., Peters, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 429, footnote ; id. MS. Akad. Berlin, 1879, p. 830, footnote, pi. iv b (no description, but a good figure). Presbytes chrysogaster, Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 10. In the only specimen known there is a slight compressed crest extending from. the vertex to the nape, but there is some doubt as to whether this crest is natural ; probably it is. No distinct whisker-tufts. Chin thinly covered with short white hairs and a few on the upper lip. Fur of body rather long. Colour. Upper parts, limbs, and tail jet-black, the basal half of the dorsal hairs ferruginous, the extreme base white ; the frontal band, the cheeks to behind the ears, sides and front of neck, with chin and upper breast, white ; rest of lower parts deep and bright ferruginous, which tinges the inner side of the limbs. Young wholly rufous white or pale isabelline. Dimensions of stuffed adult specimen (a female) : head and body 20 inches long, tail 23. Two specimens, an adult female and a young one, are preserved in the Berlin Museum. According to Blyth, these were obtained by Heifer in Tenasserim. Peters says nothing of Heifer, nor could I learn anything in Berlin of the original collector of the specimens, although on the stand, besides the locality, is the name Prof. Strempel. The circumstance that so beautifully coloured and conspicuous a species has not been noticed again tends to raise some doubt as to the species really occurring in Tenasserim. At the same time, Sciurus piceus, said by Peters (P. Z. S. 1866, p. 429, note) to have been received with Semnopithecus chryso- gaster, appears to be identical with a variety of Sciurus erythrceus that occurs in Cachar. SEMNOPITHECUS. 39 22. Semnopithecus Imrbei. Barbe's Leaf-Monkey. Presbytis barbel, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 734 j id. Cat. p. 14; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 11. Semnopithecus barbei, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 12 ; id. Cat. p. 48. No crest. Hair on the crown not radiating. Whiskers long. Beard short. Hair on the vertex slightly lengthened, but not so distinctly as in 8. obscurus. Colour. Blackish brown to black above and below, with a silvery greyish wash on the upper parts and outside of limbs. Eyebrows and whiskers black. Naked face bluish black. Dimensions. Head and body 19'5 inches, tail 29. Distribution. The types were from the interior of the Tipperah hills. This species has also been obtained by Anderson on the Irawadi just above Mandalay in Upper Burma, and further north in the Kakhyen Hills, and by Mr. Ossian Limborg on Muleyit mountain west of Moulmain in Tenasserim. Mr. Limborg's spe- cimens have been identified by Dr. Anderson, but require com- parison with the monkey from the same neighbourhood identified as S. phayrei by Colonel Tickell. Habits. Similar to those of other members of the genus. Anderson observed this monkey in parties of from thirty to fifty. They were not shy. It is possible that this species, of which I have not been able to examine specimens, is only a variety of S. obscurus. This was Blyth's view at one time (J. A. S. B. xxiv, p. 711), and Anderson (1. c.} has shown that there is much similarity in the skulls of these two forms. Both have rounded orbits and a comparatively elon- gate interorbital region. Blyth, in his Catalogue and in his list of Burmese Mammals, however, classed jS>. barbei as closely allied to S. femoralis, if not identical. This scarcely appears to me borne out by the description. 23. Semnopithecus phayrei. Phayre's Leaf-Monkey. Semnopithecus obscurus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiii, p. 466, nee Reid. Presbytis phayrei, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 733 (1847) ; id. Cat. p. 15. Semnopithecus argentatus, Blyth, Horsfeld, Cat. p. 7. Presbytis cristatus, Raffles, apud Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 9, nee Raffles. Semnopithecus phayrei, Anderson, An, Zool. Res. p. 34 ; id. Cat. p. 49. Myoi(k-myek-kweng-hpyu (monkey with white orbits), Burm. ; Myoiik- hgnyo, Arakan and Tavoy ; Gena, Talain ; Ddthwa and Shawd me, Karen. A somewhat peaked, longitudinal median crest on the vertex. Hair of crown elongated, directed backwards, not radiating. Whiskers long, partly covering the ears. In the skull the supra- orbital ridges are but little developed, and the orbits are less 40 CEIICOPITHECID^I. rounded than in S. barbei and S. olscurus. The occipital region is nearly vertical. Colour. Above dark ashy brown, darkest on the head and extre- mities, including the tip of the tail, the basal portion of which is albescent. Back from shoulders to loin silvery, or glistening. Whiskers same colour as crown. Underparts whitish or white, this colour not extending on to the limbs. Eyelids and a broad area above the eyes whitish or white ; an area including the mouth Fig. 10. Semnopithecus yihayrei. (From a drawing by Col. Tickell.) and lips, and extending from the nostrils to the chin, flesh-colour ; hairs around mouth white ; remainder of face leaden black. Young the same colour as adults ; the very young are, however, straw-coloured according to Tickell. Dimensions. An adult female, according to Tickell, measured : head and body 23 inches, tail 30, hand 4|, foot 6. Anderson gives much smaller measurements : head and body 18-2 inches tail 21-2, SEilNOPITHECUS. 41 Distribution. Arakan, the Bassein district of Pegu west of the Bassein river, where I shot this monkey myself, and Northern Tenasserim, near Moulmain, where the same species apparently was obtained by Tickell (J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 428, and MS. notes) and by Mr. W. Davison. In Tickell's unpublished notes there is an excellent coloured drawing and description with several details of anatomy &c., taken from an adult female that he obtained east of Moulmain. The drawing, from which the accompanying cut is taken, represents an animal greyer in colour than Arakan specimens, and the hands and feet are blackish above, contrasting strongly with the colour of the limbs. The lower parts are white on the lower abdomen and inside the thighs only ; elsewhere they are ashy grey. This animal may have been an example of S. albocinereus, Desm. (S. siamensis, Mull. & Schl.), but I am rather disposed to refer that species to S. femoralis. Habits. Phayre's Leaf-Monkey is found in dense high forests, or amongst bamboos on the hill-sides and on the banks of streams, usually in flocks of twenty or thirty individuals. It is very shy and wary, and is consequently more often heard than seen, the whole flock when alarmed rushing through the forest, shaking the branches violently and leaping from tree to tree. But occasionally, as Tickell observes, an old male stays behind in a safe post of vantage on the top of one of the highest trees, where he may be heard uttering his short deep alarm-cry at frequent intervals. This cry is an angry bark not unlike that of the Hanuman. I was once well scolded from a tree by an old monkey, I believe of this species, on the edge of a half-deserted clearing in Southern Arakan. I had done nothing to offend his monkeyship, but he evidently considered me as something unusual and suspicious. Blyth observes that the young of this species, besides making a whining noise to express their wants, emit a cry that might be mistaken for the mew of a cat. 24. Senmopithecus obscnrns. The dusky Leaf-Monkey. Semnopithecus obscurus, Reid, P. Z. S. 1837, p. 14 (no description) ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 25 ; id. Cat. p. 46 j Thomas. P. Z. S. 1886, p. 66. Presbytis obscurus, Blyth, Cat. p. 14 ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 10. Lotong or Lotong-itam, Malay. Hair of crown directed backwards, not radiating, becoming lengthened at the back, so as to form a pointed projecting tuft on the occiput. "Whiskers long. Colour. As a rule dark ashy grey on the head, body, and limbs, varying, however, to blackish brown ; feet and hands black ; lower parts rather paler; tail as a rule lighter than the body. The lengthened hair on the occiput conspicuously paler, sometimes 42 CEECOPITHECID^;. whitish. The nape and sometimes the middle of the back often brownish. Mouth and eyelids whitish, remainder of face black. A female obtained by Mr. Davison at Bankasun, in the extreme south of Tenasserim, has the crown of the head and middle of the back hair-brown, sides almost black ; long hair of occiput, limbs, tail, and underparts brownish grey ; feet black above, as usual. The young are of a vivid golden ferruginous colour, which soon changes to dusky ash, the rufous colouring remaining longer on parts of the head, throat, flanks, and thighs, and longest of all on the terminal portion of the tail. Probably the female described above retained the coloration of the young on the limbs and tail. Dimensions. In an adult male the head and body measured 21 inches, tail 32. An adult male skull from Tenasserim * in the British Museum measures in extreme length 4-25, basal length 3, and zygomatic breadth 3-5. In an adult female skull the corre- sponding dimensions are 3 - 8, 2*7, and 2*85 inches. Distribution. Malayan Peninsula, Siarn, and the Tenasserim provinces. 25. Semnopithecus femoralis. The banded Leaf-Monkey. Semnopithecus femoralis, Horsfield, Appendix Life Sir T. S. Raffles, p. 642 (1830) (no description) ; Martin, Charlesworttis Mag. N. H. ii, p. 436 (1838) ; Cantor, J. A. 8. B. xv, p. 175 ; Horsf. Cat. p. 10 ; Anderson, An. Zool Res. p. 30 ; id. Cat. p. 52 ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 66. Two distinct radiating centres, one on each side of the forehead behind the supraorbital ridge. Hair of the occiput elongate, forming a crest as in S. obscurus. Colour. Blackish brown to black, except upon a varying portion of the under surface, which is white, and always includes the lower abdomen and inside of the thighs. Sometimes the latter colour extends only to the knee, in other specimens it passes down the inside of the leg to the heel, and also occupies the centre of the chest, the inside of the arm, and the lower surface of the tail except near the tip. Dimensions. Anderson gives head and body 19 inches, tail 22 ; but no measurements from fresh individuals are available. Distribution. Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, ex- tending north into Tenasserim. A specimen was obtained by Mr. Davison at Bankasun in South Tenasserim. Nothing is recorded of the habits of this species. I am strongly disposed to suspect that S. siamensis, Mull. & Schleg. (S. albodnereus apud Cantor), is a grey form of this species. * This is one of a large collection of Indian skulls in tho British Museum labelled as presented by the late Dr. Oldbam. The collection was made by Mr. W. Theobald, and entrusted by him to Dr. Oldham for presentation to the Museum. LEMURIDJE. 43 Suborder LEMUEOIDEA. The Lemurs or Half-Apes, Prosimice of some authors, differ so widely from the Monkeys, both externally and anatomically, as to have been classed by many naturalists in a distinct order. The principal distinctions are the form of the skull and teeth, the greater extent to which the cerebellum is uncovered by the cere- brum, the greater development of the pollex, and the long claw- shaped nail on the second digit of the foot in Lemurs, and the presence in these animals of a perforate clitoris, a two-horned uterus, and a bell-shaped, diffuse, and non-deciduate placenta. The skull in Lemurs has a long narrow muzzle ; the orbits are not surrounded by bone behind, as in Monkeys, but open freely beneath the bony orbit into the temporal fossa ; and the lachrymal foramen, instead of being internal, opens on the outside of the skull. The upper incisors are, in nearly all Lemurs, divided by a toothless interspace in the middle of the upper jaw; and the lower incisors are long, narrow, and projecting ; whilst the lower canines are, in most of the forms, only distinguished from the incisors by greater depth, and have been, by several writers, counted as incisors. In most species, too, the anterior or first lower premolar is larger than the second and third, and resembles a canine, whilst the other premolars and molars are very different in shape from those in all the Old- World Monkeys (those of the Marmosets are intermediate in form), being more or less ovate in section instead of rectangular. Most of the characters enumerated as distinguishing the Lemurs are found also in other and lower orders of Mammalia. (For additional details on the Lemuroidea, see Mivart, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 503, and 'Encyclopaedia Britannica,' article " Lemur.") The Lemuroidea are divided into three families Lemuridce, com- prising the greater number of the genera ; Tarsiidce^ consisting of a single genus and species, Tarsius spectrum, found in the Malay Archipelago, but not known to occur on the continent of Asia"; and Chiromyidce, also comprising a solitary representative only, the Aye- Aye of Madagascar. The first -family is alone represented in South-eastern Asia. Family LEMURID^E. Two genera occur within our area, all the others are restricted to Africa and Madagascar, the majority being peculiar to the last- named island. The two found in India, Ceylon, and Burma are thus distinguished : 44 LEMUELS. I. Either only two upper incisors, or four of unequal size ; the inner pair much larger than the outer. Tail present, hut very short. Limbs not remarkahly slender '. NYCTICEBUS. II. Four small upper incisors of equal size. Tail none. Limbs very slender LOBIS. The lemurs of the Oriental region afford one of the most remarkable and interesting examples of geographical distribution known. The nearest allies of Nycticebus and Loris are two genera, Perodicticus and Arctocebus, found only in West Africa. Nycti- cebus has an extensive range east of the Bay of Bengal, but has not been recorded from the Himalayas ; Loris is peculiar to Southern India and Ceylon. Genus NYCTICEBUS, Geoffroy, 1812. Syn. Stenops, v. d. Hoeven. Head short; limbs moderately stout; body slender; tail very short ; ears short, rounded, and covered with hair ; eyes large and approximate ; second digit of both hand and foot very short, that of the foot with a long -claw, all the other digits with a broad nail. Fig. 11. Skull of Nycticebus tardigradus. The skull is globular behind ; the muzzle produced, but not very narrow anteriorly ; orbits large. The greatest breadth of the skull is across the zygoinatic arches. Vertebral formula : C. 7, D. 16-17, L. 6-8, S. 3, C. 11-12. Dentition : i. ^ or ?=- 2 , c. , pm. |=f, m. g. When there are two pairs of upper incisors, the inner are much larger than the outer. The last upper molar has but three well-developed tubercles, two outer and one inner. 26. Nycticebus tardigradus. The slow Loris. Lemur tardigradus, L. Syst. Nat. p. 44 (17(56), excl. syn. Nycticebus bengalensis, Geoffr. Ann. Mus. xix, p. 164 (1812). NTCTICEBTJS. 45 Nycticebus tardigradus, Blyth, Cat. p. 18; Jerdon, Mam. p. 14; Anderson, Cat. p. 94. Nycticebus cinereus, A, Milne-Edw. Nouv. Arch, du Mus. iii, 1867, Bull. p. 11, pi. 3 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 103 ; id. Cat. p. 94. Sharmindi billi (bashful cat), H. ; Lajjar or lajjawoti bdnar (bashful monkey), Bengali; Myouk-mouny-ma (monkey's 'concubine), Burmese; Myouk hlioung, Tavoy; Kasyng, Talain; Tacheng, Karen; Kukang and Bruh-samundi, Malay. Fur very close and woolly, covering the whole body and face with the exception of the nose and lips. The short hairy ears and the short tail are almost concealed beneath the fur. As a rule, there are four incisors in the upper jaw, but one or both of the outer pair may be wanting. Fig. 12. Nycticebus tardigradus, Tenasserim variety. (From a drawing by Col. Tickell.) Colour. There are two principal varieties, differing in colour aud somewhat in size, found in the countries east of the Bay of Bengal. The more common and larger of the two is that called N. benga- lensis by Q-eoffroy, and N. cinereus by "A. Milne-Edwards, and is the var. A of Blyth's Catalogue. This is ashy grey above, and rather paler below, more or less silvery on the back, and often mfescent on the rump, the fur being dark ashy at the base. A 46 chestnut-brown stripe runs down the back from the crown to the loins, but does not expand into a broad patch on the crown. Each eye is surrounded by a dark brown circle, broadest above ; a narrow space in front between the two orbital rings is whitish or white. A small oval patch, including each ear, is also brown. Nose and soles of feet flesh-coloured where naked. The other variety is, as a rule, smaller and rufescent grey above, paler below; the dorsal stripe is broader, and often deep rich brown; it usually expands into a broad rufous expanse on the crown, including the ears but not the eyes, which are always surrounded by a brown ring. A third form is figured from Tenasserim by Tickell, from whose drawing the accompanying cut is taken. In this, which is pale rufescent, the dorsal stripe simply bifurcates on the forehead, one band running to the circle round each eye. This leads to the type known as N. javanicus, in which there are four brown bands running down the head and face from the crown, one to each eye and one to each ear ; the interspaces pale, and those between the eyes white. This variety, or race, is said to be peculiar to Java, and rather smaller in size than the others, and to have almost constantly only two upper incisors. Schlegel, too, states that it has eight lumbar vertebrae instead of six. It is very doubtful, however, if any of these distinctions are constant. Dimensions. An adult male from Upper Burma, according to Anderson, measured : head and body 13-2 inches long, tail O75, fore limb and foot 7'2, hind limb 9. Jerdon gives a greater length, 14-5 to 16 inches. All these are taken from the large northern variety. A Tenasserim adult male, measured by Tickell, was 12-75 inches long. Two adult skulls measure 2-5 and 2'65 inches in extreme length, 2-2 and 2-3 in basal length, 1-7 and 1-8 broad across the zygomatic arches. A Javanese skull is only 2-15, 1*85, and 1-55 inches in the three dimensions. Distribution. Throughout the countries east of the Bay of Bengal Burma, Malacca, Siam, and the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. Common in Assam, Sylhet, &c., and extending west to the neighbourhood of Eangpur and Dacca, but not found in the Himalayas. Habits. Purely nocturnal and arboreal. This animal feeds on leaves and shoots of trees, fruits, insects, birds' eggs, and young birds. It has been observed by Tickell to raise itself on its hind legs and throw itself upon an insect. As a rule it is silent, or only utters a feeble crackling sound, but when angry and about to bite it emits a tolerably loud growl or grunt. When captured, it is at first apt to be savage and prone to bite, but soon becomes very gentle and docile. Tickell, from whose MS. the above notes are chiefly derived, says : " This animal is tolerably common in the Tenasserim provinces and Arakan, but, being strictly nocturnal in its habits, is seldom seen. It inhabits the densest forests, and never by choice leaves the trees. Its movements are slow, but it climbs readily, LOBTS. 47 and grasps with great tenacity. If placed on the ground, it can proceed, if frightened, in a wavering kind of trot, the limbs placed at right angles. It sleeps rolled up in a ball, its head and hands buried between its thighs, and wakes up at the dusk 'of evening to commence its nocturnal rambles. The female bears but one young at a time." Genus LORIS, Geoffrey, 1796. Head short ; nose narrow ; body slender ; limbs very slender and long ; tail wanting ; ears larger than in Nycticebus, rounded, and naked towards the margin; eyes very large and close together. Skull with orbits that are very close together, merely separated by a very thin bony plate, and so large that the breadth across the orbits is greater than that across the zygomatic arches ; muzzle narrow anteriorly. Vertebra; : C. 7, D. 15, L. 8, 8. 3, C. 6-8. Dentition: i. ?=?, c. J^J, pm. JQ, m. |=|. The upper incisors all small and of equal size. Hindmost upper molar with four well- developed tubercles. Fig. 13. Loris gracilis. 27. Loris gracilis. The slender Loris. Loris gracilis, Geoffr. Magasin Encyclopedique, An 4 e (1796), t. i, p. 48 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 19 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 15 ; Anderson, Cat. p. 97. Stenops gracilis, Kelaart, Prod. p. 9. Devdnffa-pilli, Tel. ; Tevdngu, Tarn. ; Nala and Adavi-manushya, Can. j Chinge-Kuli, Kurg ; Una happolava, Cing. 48 LEMTTBID2E. Fur very close, soft, and rather woolly ; ears thin, rounded, naked towards the edge, of moderate size, considerably larger and more conspicuous than in the slow Loris. Colour. Dark earthy grey, more or less rufesccnt above and on the outside of the limbs, often with a silvery wash. Dorsal fur whitish (occasionally ashy near the skin), with a blackish ring near the end and white tips. Lower parts much paler. Some speci- mens of the young are much more rufous, almost ferruginous. A narrow white stripe between the eyes expanding into a broader area on the forehead ; sides of face, including the eyes, dai'ker. Dimensions. Length of head and body about 8 inches, arm 5, leg 5*6. Skull of an adult 2 inches long from occiput to end of nasal bones, which project beyond the premaxillaries ; basal length 1*5; breadth 1*25 across the orbits, 1*2 across the zygomatic arches. Distribution. Southern India and Ceylon, in the lowland forests, not, so far as is known, at any considerable elevation above the sea. This species does not appear to have been recorded as far north as the Godavari valley. It may probably be found on the West coast of India, in the Southern Concan, near Eatuagiri, but even this is not clearly ascertained. According to Jerdon, it appears to be rare on the Malabar coast, but common in the forests of the " Eastern Ghats " (probably the hills south of the Kistna river). Habits. Very similar to those of Nyeticcbus tardigradus, except that the slender Loris is rather quicker in its movements, though still slow in general. Like its ally, it is purely nocturnal and arboreal ; living upon shoots and young leaves, insects, birds' eggs, birds, and lizards. It is said to be very fond of honey or syrup. It sleeps rolled up in a ball with its head between its legs, grasping its perch with its arms. According to Jerdon, numbers are occasionally brought to the Madras market. The eyes are a favourite remedy of the Tamul doctors for certain eye-diseases. Order CARNIVORA. Whether the members of the great group of flesh-eating Mam- mals, comprising cats, civets, ichneumons, hyaenas, dogs, weasels, badgers, otters, racoons, bears, seals, and their allies, are structu- rally inferior to the Primates or not, is a question on which some difference of opinion exists ; but there can be no question as to the superiority of organization shown by the higher Caruivora when compared with any other mammalian order, except that containing Man and the anthropoid Apes. The superiority is quite as well marked in the development of the brain as in that of the body and limbs. The Carnivora are animals with never less than four toes on each foot, all the toes being armed with claws. The pollex and hallux are never opposable. The teeth comprise incisors, canines, and molars. The incisors are, with A r ery few exceptions, three on each side of each jaw the outer, especially in the upper jaw, being larger than the others. The canines are well developed. There is a milk-dentition. The condyle of the lower jaw is a transverse half-cylinder, working in a glenoid fossa of corresponding form, hence the movement of the jaw is only up and down, not lateral. The stomach is simple. The caecum is short or absent. The uterus is bic-ornuate; the placenta deciduate, and often zonary. The mamma? are abdominal. The clavicle is often absent, and when present imperfect. In many forms there is a bony septum inside the skull, between the cerebrum ana cerebellum. There is but little difference of opinion amongst naturalists as to the limits of the Carnivora ; the only point on which the agree- ment is imperfect is as to whether the seals should be included in the order or classed separately. When they are included, as in the system here followed, they form a separate suborder, called Pinni- pedia, distinguished by having the whole external form modified for an aquatic life, the hind feet especially being converted into paddles. The teeth of the molar series, both premolars and molars, are similar to each other in size and form. Nearly all seals inhabit cold climates, and none are found in India or the neighbouring countries. The Carnivora vera or Fissipedia are fitted for a terrestrial or partially terrestrial life, and have the teeth of the molar series in each jaw dissimilar in size and form, there being always one tooth on each side, above and below, that is especially modified, and that is, in the majority of the families, larger than the other teeth: this is the sectorial, carnassial, or flesh-tooth. E 50 CARNIYORA. The teeth in front of it are more or less sharp, pointed, and com- pressed ; those behind are broad and tuberculated. The sectorial in the upper jaw is the hindmost premolar, and consists of a more or less compressed bicuspid or Iricuspid crown on two roots and an inner lobe supported by a third root. In the Ursidce, in which the sectorial teeth are ill-developed, the inner lobe and root are want- ing. The lower sectorial is the first true molar, and consists of two roots supporting a bilobed compressed crown, with, in general, a keel and an inner tubercle ; both of which, however, are wanting or rudimentary in the most specialized Camivora, as the Felicia. Fig. 14. Upper sectorial teeth of I. Fclis, II. Canis, III. Ursits. (Flower, Art. Mammalia, 'Encyclopedia Britannica.'). 1, anterior, 2, middle, 3, posterior cusp of blade; 4, inner lobe supported on distinct roots ; 5, inner lobe posterior in position, and without distinct root, characteristic of the Ursula. Suborder FISSIPEDIA. As already mentioned, the limits of this suborder (or order according to some writers) are generally admitted but the sub- division into sections and families is difficult, owing to the com- plicated relationships between the different genera. The majority live entirely upon animal food ; but a few, like the bears, feed on a mixed diet, of which vegetables form a portion. A considerable number, as the cats and dogs, walk on their toes, and are known as Digitigrade, whilst others, for instance the bears, rest upon their palms (palm(i) and soles (planta) and are distinguished as Planti- grade ; a somewhat intermediate mode of progression, found in the weasels, otters, and badgers, being termed Semiplantigrade. This distinction has been extensively employed in classification, but is defective, for Paradoxurus, Arctictis, and Cri/ptoprocta are more or less plantigrade, although in other respects much more nearly CARNIVORA. 51 allied to the digitigrade cats and civets than to any of the planti- grade or subplantigrade Carnivora. Mr. H. N. Turner * and Professor Flower t have proposed to divide the order into three sections, named ^Eluroidea, Ot/noidea, and Arctoidea, from the Greek names of the cat, dog, and bear respectively, each of these animals being typical of a particular section, and the distinctive characters being taken principally from the base of the skull and the develop- ment of a ca3cum. Some other characters taken from the gene- rative organs support this classification, which is employed in the following table. The accompanying cut of part of a wolf's skull will serve to illustrate the distinctions mentioned, and a dog's or jackal's skull will be found precisely similar in all essential points to a wolf's, and will serve for comparison. Fig. 15. Part of the base of the skull of a Wolf (Canis lupus). (Flower, P. Z. S. 1809, p. 25.) c. The condyloid foramen. 1. The foramen lacerum posticum. car. The carotid canal, e. The enstachian canal, o. The foramen ovale. a. The posterior, and a', the anterior opening of the alisphenoid canal, p. The par- occipital process. m. The mastoid process, a.m. The external auditory meatus. g. The glenoid foramen. * P. Z. S. 1848, p. 80. t P. Z. S. 1809, p. 4. This paper contains numerous details of anatomy. E2 52 CABNIVOHA. A. Auditory bulla much dilated, rounded, and (except in Hi/ffnidtf) divided into two chambers by a septum. Bony auditory meatus short. Par- occipital process flattened against the bulla and (except in Hyaniilai) not projecting behind. Condyloid and glenoid foramina concealed or wanting. Caecum small ^ELUROIDE A *. a. Head short ; 3 or 4 teeth in upper molar series, 3 in lower; dorsal vertebrae 13; claws sharp, curved, and (except in Cyn&lurus) com- pletely retractile, loes 5 4 1. Felidae. b. Head elongate ; 5 or teeth in molar series of each jaw; claws variable. Toes usually 5 5. 2. Viverridae. c. Head elongate ; 4 teeth in upper molar" series, 3 or 4 in lower, all small and widely sepa- rated ; claws blunt. Toes 64 Proteleidae. d. Head slightly elongate ; 5 teeth in upper molar series, 4 in lower ; dorsal vertebra) 15 ; claws blunt, not retractile. Toes 4 4 3. Hyaenidae. B. Auditory bulla much dilated, rounded but not divided. Bony auditory meatus short. Par- occipital process flattened against bulla, but projecting behind. Condyloid and glenoid foramina distinct. Cascum elongate, and gener- ally folded en itself CYNOIDEA. a. Premolars ^4* true molars variable in all Indian forms) ; claws exserted, blunt, non -retractile. Toes 5 4 (except in Lycaon) 4. Canidae. C. Auditory bulla not rounded nor divided, most prominent on inner border and sloping thence forwards, backwards, and outwards, flattened off towards the meatus, the lower lip of which is prolonged. Paroccipital process prominent, quite free from bulla. Condyloid and glenoid foramina distinct. No csecum. Toes 5 5 .. ARCTOIDEAf. a. True molars ^ (one tubercular molar behind thesectorial above and below). Noalisphenoid canal .................................. 5. Mustelidae. b. True molars gE", (two tubercular molars in upper jaw, one in lower, behind sectorial) . . 0. Procyonidae. c. True molars Z"a- An alisphenoid canal ---- 7. Ursidae. Of the above-named families one only, Proteleidce, containing a single species, Proteles cristatus, peculiar to Southern Africa, is not found in the Indian region. The remaining seven are represented. * For anatomical details of classification see Mivart, P. Z. S. 1882 pn 135 459. t For anatomical details see Mivart, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 340. XELLDJi. 53 -ffiLUROIDEA. Family FELIDJE. This, the most typical and highly specialized group of flesh- eating mammals, and that to which the term " beasts of prey " is especially applicable, comprises the various kinds of cat, all of which, despite great differences in size, are closely allied and resemble each other in almost all details of structure. In the cat, the whole organism is peculiarly adapted for the capture and killing of other animals for food ; the armature of teeth and claws, the power of speed for a short distance, the excessive muscular development and activity, are all combined to enable a feline to seize and kill animals, in some cases, superior in size to itself *. The cats are distinguished from all other families of Garniuora by having a rounder head and more highly specialized teeth ; the canines and sectorial, or flesh-teeth, in particular being highly developed weapons for cutting and tearing, whilst the remaining teeth of the molar series are poorly developed. The claws also are adapted for inflicting severe wounds, and are applied to the armature of a foot worked by powerful muscles, and, in the case of the fore legs, with unusual freedom of action, as may easily be seen by comparing the movements of a cat's fore limb with those of a dog's. The vertebra are C. 7, D. 13, L. 7, S. 3, C. 13-29. There is no alisphenoid canal. The dental formula in the Felidce is i. ^, c. -j-^j, pm. ^ or |^|, m. ^J. The outer incisors are much larger than the others, especially in the upper jaw. The canines have, in many species, a sharp hinder edge. The anterior upper premolar is small, has a single root (except in F. planiceps), and is often lost in old skulls, whilst it is always wanting in the adults of some species, as in F. rubiyinosa and the Lynxes. The second upper premolar is two- rooted, pointed, with a large central lobe preceded by one small cusp and followed by two. The third upper premolar, the sectorial or flesh-tooth, is by far the largest of the molar series, and bears three roots or fangs, with a crown consisting normally of four lobes, three along the inner margin and an inner lobe, the develop- ment of which varies in different species. The hindmost tooth is the true molar, which is small, bears two roots and a flattened crown, and is placed with its longer axis nearly at right angles to that of the premolars. This tooth, like the anterior premolar, is often lost in old animals. The teeth of the molar series in the lower jaw consist of two premolars, similar in shape, each being, like the second upper premolar, quadricuspid, with two roots, the anterior premolar rather smaller than the other; behind these is the sectorial, or * For a complete account of the cat's anatomy, see Dr. St. George Mivart'a work entitled ' The Cat,' published in 1881. 54 FELIDJE. true molar, with two roots and two nearly equal lobes, each ending in a point, the points diverging but connected by a sharp cutting- edge. There is sometimes a rudimentary hinder tubercle or " talon." The deciduous or milk-teeth are of course much smaller ; but resemble in form the permanent teeth that succeed them, with the exception of the second milk-molar in each jaw and the third in the upper. The second upper milk-molar is three-fanged, and much resembles in form the permanent third premolar or sectorial, whilst the third milk-molar resembles the upper true molar in shape, but is relatively larger. The second lower milk-molar somewhat simulates the lower first true molar or sectorial, but the anterior lobe is smaller than the second, and behind the latter are two posterior tubercles. The claws are perfectly retractile (partially in Cyn&lurus). The terminal or third phalanx of each digit is attached to the side, not the end, of the second, and is drawn back by a retractor ligament attached to the proximal end of the third phalanx, and passing through a bony sheath on the first phalanx. All cats are truly digitigrade. The pollex, or thumb, is well developed and has a large claw, but is not used in walking, being more proximally situated than the other digits. There is no hallux. There is a thick pad for each toe, that for the pollex being .smaller than the others, and a large median pad between the four toes on each foot. A seventh small pad exists on the fore leg on the outer palmar surface of the metacarpus. The organs of sight and hearing are well developed and the senses acute. The long vibrissae, commonly called whiskers, are delicate organs of touch. The tongue is covered with rough papillae directed backwards, and adapted to remove flesh from bones. The intestines are comparatively short, being from twice to five times the length of the body. Cats are found in all the Continents, but are wanting in the Australian and Madagascar regions. The Felidce comprise only two genera, both of which are found in India. They are thus distinguished : Claws perfectly retractile ; inner cusp of upper sectorial well developed .............................. FELIS. Claws imperfectly retractile ; inner cusp of upper sectorial rudimentary ................................ A monograph of the family, with excellent coloured figures of all the species by Wolf, has been published by Mr. D. G. Elliot. Several forms of fossil Felidce have been discovered belonging to both living and extinct genera. In the Siwaliks of North-western India remains of five species of Fells, one of which, F. cristata, nearly equalled the tiger in size, have been found, together with those of two forms of the great sabre-toothed feline Mat/hatred**; an extinct type with enormous canines, and jaw-fragments indi- cating two other genera, JEluroyale and JEluroimis, the latter FELIS. 55 peculiar to the Indian Pliocene. Some bones of felines have also been found in Indian Pleistocene deposits, but they have not been identified with certainty. Genus PELIS, Linnteus, 1766. This genus is perhaps represented by more species in India and its dependencies than in any other tract of the earth's surface equal in area. Fig. 16. Skull of Felis viverrina. (Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 268.) Synopsis of Indian, Ceylonese, and Burmese Sjrteci.es. A. Ears of moderate length, not tufted, or with short hairs only at the end. a. Large, tawny throughout; tail tufted at the end F. leo, p. 50. b. Large, transversely striped ; tail not tufted. F. tiyris, p. 58. c. Spotted throughout, spots on body less than 2 inches in diameter. a'. Large, exceeding 5 feet from nose to tail-tip F. pardus, p. 67. b'. Less than 5 feet from nose to tail-tip. a". Tail about one fourth of total length (from nose to tail-tip) F. viveirina, p. 76. b". Tail about one third of total length. a. No distinct longitudinal bands on crown ; ears pointed F. ornata, p. 84. 8. Distinct longitudinal bands on crown j ears rounded. a'. Upper molar series 3 on each side ; tail unspotted , . . F. rubiginosa, p. 81. $'. Upper molar series 4 ; tail spotted above F. benyalensis, p. 78. d. Large spots, exceeding 2 inches in diameter, or irregular blotches on the body. a'. Large, pale grey or whitish with dark rings on body F. uncia, p. 71. 56 FELIDJi. b'. Brownish grey or tawny, with large irregular blotches or irregular black bands. a". Total length from nose to tail-tip over 5 feet in adults F. nebutosa, p. 72. b". Total length under 5 feet F. marmorata, p. 74. e. Uniformly coloured or with more or less indistinct transverse bands; size moderate or small. a'. Chestnut (rarely dark brown) above; tail whitish below F. temmincki, p. 75. b'. Silvery grey or buff'; fur long, thick, and soft F. manul, p. 83. c'. Tawny or grey. a". Tail less than one third of total length F. chaiis, p. 86. b". Tail about one third of total length ; transverse bands much more distinct F. torquata, p. 85. B. Ears long, pointed, with a pencil of hair exceeding half an inch in length at the end. a. Tail about one fourth of total length .... F. caracal, p. 88. b. Tail less than one fifth of total length F. lyni; p. 89. 28. Felis leo. The Lion. Frfiis leo, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 60 (1766) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 53 ; id. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 182; Jerdon, Mam. p. 91; I>. O. Elliot, Mon. Felidce, pi. i. Sher, Babar-sher, Singrh, Hindi; Untia-bdyh (Camel-tiger), Guzerati; Sdivach, Katty war ; Shinyal, Bengali ; Suh or Suh <$ , Siminy $ , Kash- miri ; Rastar, Brahui. Pupil round. A heavy mane of long hair (varying in length however) all round the neck and on the sides and crown of the head in adult males only. Tail about half the length of the head and body, well tufted at the end, a small horny point at the tip, surrounded by the tuft. Caudal vertebrae 24 or 25. The skull of a lion is thick, heavy, and massive, with a broad zygoraatic arch and well-marked sagittal and occipital crests. The superior surface is remarkable for its flatness ; the postorbital processes, too, are very nearly in the same plane as the forehead. The posterior termination of the maxillary bones on the face between the orbits is opposite the end of the nasals. The exposed portion of the presphenoid bone in the inesopterygoid fossa is very narrow, and usually flat. The lower edge of the mandible is convex, owing to a small projection below the hindmost lowest molar. In all these characters the skull of a tigor differs. Colour. Tawny (pale yellowish brown) everywhere, except the black tail-tuft and the outside of the ears, which are black towards the base, but not at the tip ; the hairs of the mane in the prime of life are also more or less black-tipped. Young cubs are marked with darker spots or irregular bands, and faint spots may often be seen on the belly and sides of almost adult or even adult animals, especially females. FELIS. 57 Dimensions. Head and body 5g to 6| feet long, tail 2| to 3. A male measured: head and body 5 feet 11 inches, tail 2 feet 1 1 inches ; a female 5 feet 5 inches and 2 feet 7 inches. A lion measuring 8 feet 9| inches was 3 feet 6 inches high. The female is considerably smaller than the male, and, as with tigers, some individuals probably are larger, others smaller than the above extremes. The hairs of the mane are 10 inches to a foot long in some Indian lions. A skull -of an adult male lion measures in extreme length 13 inches, breadth across xygoinatic arches 9'4. Distribution. In India the lion is verging on extinction. There are probably a very few still living in the wild tract known as the Gir in Katty war, and a few more in the wildest parts of Rjvjputaua, especially Southern Jodhpur, in Oodeypur, and around Mount Abu. About 20 years ago lions were common near Mount Abu, several were shot near Gwalior, Goona, and Kota, and a few still existed near Lalitpur, between Saugor and Jhansi.^XOne is said to have been killed near Goona in 1873. In 1864 one was killed near Sheorajpur, 25 miles west of Allahabad ; and when the railway was being made from Allahabad to Jubbulpoor, in 1866, a fine lion, with a good mane, was shot by two of the engineers near the 80th milestone from Allahabad. About 1830 lions were common near Ahmedabad. Several years previously, in the early part of the century, lions were found in Hurriana to the north- ward, and in Khandesh to the south, in many places in Kajputaua (one was shot in 1810 within 40 miles of Kot Deji, in Sind), and eastward as far as Eewah and Palamow. It is probable that this animal was formerly generally distributed in North-western and Central India*. I have never heard of lions in Cutch, and suspect Jerdou was mistaken in supposing them to be found there. Eastward and north of India the lion is not found, and almost the only part of Western Asia in which it is common is in Mesopo- tamia and part of South-western Persia. As is well known, this animal abounds throughout Africa. Varieties. For a long time it was supposed that the Indian lion was maneless, and in numerous books on natural history there are accounts of the "Maneless lion of Guzerat " (F. Leo guzrattensis, Smee, Trans. Z. S. i, p. 165, pi. xxiv ; P. Z. S. 1833, p. 140). It is probable that maneless male individuals may occasionally occur, and it is well known that lions in some parts of Africa, e.g. the Cape and Algeria, have longer manes than in other tracts. It- is also asserted that lions inhabiting forests have shorter manes, owing to the hairs being pulled out by thorny bushes, but this is doubtful. It is certain, however, that some adult Indian lions have well-developed manes, and the typical maneless Guzerat lion in the British Museum is immature. The lion figured by Captain Smee was shot near Ahmedabad, and was a short-maned lion, similar to most Persian or Abyssinian animals. * J. A. S. B. xxxvi, pt. 2, p. 189; P. A. S. B. 18G8, p. 198; Journ. Geog. Soc. 1870, p. 204. 58 FELIDJE. Halnts. The habits of tigers and lions are for the most part similar, except that the tiger inhabits more wooded countries. Both animals are mainly nocturnal in their movements, sleeping in the daytime and wandering greatly in search of food at night. Both are excessively powerful, and able to kill large animals, such as full-grown cattle, horses, or even camels for food, and both occasionally kill men, and are greatly feared by the inhabitants of the country. Round animals of so ferocious a nature a series of myths have naturally collected, and it is difficult to unravel the true from the false in such traditions. It is not surprising that even intelligent sportsmen, finding that particular classes of natives have a singu- larly accurate knowledge of the haunts and habits of wild animals, should not always be able clearly to distinguish which of these habits have actually been observed, and which are merely traditional, both being equally believed in by the narrators. Lions are perhaps bolder than tigers, and certainly much more noisy, their habit of roaring, especially in the evening and at night, having necessarily attracted the attention of all who have been in countries infested by them. Of the two the tiger, though standing lower, is heavier in the body, and I think the more powerful animal. In India lions feed chiefly on deer, antelopes, wild pigs, cattle, horses, donkeys, and camels, and used formerly to kill many of the latter. Whether lions usually kill their prey, as tigers do, by breaking the neck, I cannot say ; in the only cow I ever saw that had been killed by a lion, (in Northern Abyssinia) the vertebrae were not dislocated. I also saw a lioness hold a camel by the throat for some minutes, without attempting to break its neck. Lions are more easily tamed than most of the felines. They often breed in confinement*. The period of gestation is about 108 days, and from three to six young (in India it is said two to three) are commonly born in one litter. The eyes are open at birth. Young lions want the mane, which becomes gradually developed after the full growth is attained. 29. Felis tigris. The Tiyer. Felis tigris, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 61 (1760) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 54 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 92 ; D. G. Elliot, Mon. Fel pi. iii. Bdyh, Shcr (female BdgJmi, SJierni), H. ; Ndhar, Sela-vdyh, II. of Central India; Uabr,P.; Mazar, Baluchi; Shinh, Sindhi; Padar-mh, Kashmiri ; Patayat-bdyh, Wahay, Mahr. ; Go-vdyh, Beng. ; Tut, Sad, Hill tribes of IJajmehal ; Gariimktila, Kol. ; Ldkhra, Uraon ; Krodi, Kondh ; Kula, Sonthal, Ho and Korku ; Pali, Tarn., Tel., Mai., and Gond ; Pidi-redda-piUi, Peram-pilli, Tarn. ; Pedda-puli, Tel. ; Perain- pi'tli, Kiidua, Mai. ; Kuli, Can.; Ndri, Kurg; Pirri, Biirsh, Toda; Tag, Tibetan ; Titkt or Tiik, Bhot, ; Sathong, Lepcha ; Keh-va, Limbii ; Schi, Aka; Matsd, Garo ; Kla, Khasi: Sa, Ragdi, Tekhu, Khudi, Naga; Humpi, Kiiki; Sumyo, A bur. ; Sit, Khamti; Sirong, Singpho ; Kei, Mauipuri ; Misi, Kachari ; Kya, Burmese ; Kla, Talain ; Khi, Botha-o, Tupuli, Karen ; Htso, Shan ; Rimau, "ffarimau, Malay. * For an excellent account of the lions bred in the Dublin Zoological Gardens, see V. Eall, Trans. Roy. Irish Academy, xxviii, p. 7^3. TEL1S. 59 Pupil round*. Hair of the cheeks from behind the ears round the sides of the neck considerably lengthened in adult males, so as to form a ruff. Hair of body short and close (but varying in length somewhat with the season). Tail about half the length of the head and body, tapering gradually, not tufted at the end. Tail vertebra) 22 to 26. The skull is very massive and heavy, the zygomatic arches excessively wide and strong, and the crests for attachment of the muscles highly developed. On an average the skull is even larger, wider, and more massive than that of the lion. The facial surface is considerably more convex, the maxillary bones terminate posteriorly between the orbits in front of the nasals, and the lower surface of the presphenoid in the roof of the posterior nares is much broader than in the lion, and is generally raised into a ridge along the middle. The lower surface of the mandible is nearly straight to near the angle, then slightly concave. Consequently the skull of a tiger, with the lower jaw attached, rests firmly on a flat surface, whilst the posterior portion of the skull nowhere touches the surface. This is not the case with any other great feline, except perhaps the jaguar. Colour. Ground-colour, above and on the sides, varying from pale rufous to brownish yellow, below white, striped transversely with black throughout the head and body. The tail is marked with black rings. Ears black outside, with a large white spot on each. The ground-colour is much more rufous in some animals than ia others, and forest tigers are probably darker and redder than those inhabiting the thin jungles of Central and Southern India. Young animals, too, are more brightly coloured than old. The young are born striped. Both black and albino tigers have been met with, though both are very rare. Mr. C. T. Eucklaud tells me that he once saw a black tiger that had been shot near Chittagong ; whilst an albino tiger was exhibited in London, at Exeter Change, early in the century, and figured by Griffith*)*. Dimensions. Adult males measure 5| to 6| feet from nose to insertion of tail, the tail being about 3 feet long. In a male 9 feet 4 inches long, measured by Tickell, the head was 16 inches, neck 12, body 4 feet, tail 3 feet 2 inches. Females measure about 5 to 5| feet from nose to rump. The height at the shoulder is about 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches. The usual measurement of tigers by sportsmen is from the nose over the curves of the head and buck and along the tail to the tip. Thus measured full-grown tigers are generally 9 to 10 feet long, tigresses 8 to 9 ; but tigers have been killed 12 feet in length, and I myself shot an apparently full-grown tigress only 7 feet 6 inches long, and another specimen that had cubs with her measured only 7 feet 8 inches^. The skull * Jerclon is in error in stating that the pupil is vertical. t Griffith's ' Cuvier,' ii, p. 444. j A very good account of the measurements of tigers is given in Sterndale's ' Mammalia of India,' pp. 162, 527. See also Sir J. Fayrer, ' Nature,' June 27th, 1878, xviii, p. 219. By both tigers measuring over 12 feet are recorded. Tickell, inhia MS. notes, states that he once saw a tiger that measured 11 feet 9 inches. 60 FELID.E. of a male tiger 9 feet 7 inches long measured 13 inches in extreme length, 12 in basal length, and 9 in breadth across the zygomatic arches ; that of a large Nepal tigress 10 inches in extreme length by 7'8 in zygomatic breadth. But an enormous skull from Purneah measures according to Sterndale 15*25 by 10-5. Sanderson found a bulky, well-fed male tiger to weigh 25 stone (350 Ibs.), and Elliot gives the weight of t,\vo large male tigers as 360 and 380 Ibs., and of a large tigress 240 Ibs. Forsyth gives much higher weights, but it is not clear whether he actually weighed the animals. Distribution. Throughout India, Burma, and other parts of South-eastern Asia, Java, and Sumatra, but not Ceylon, nor, it is said, Borneo. The tiger occurs in suitable localities throughout a great part of Central Asia, and is found in the Valley of the Amur, the Altai Mountains, around Lob Nor in Eastern Turkestan, about the Sea of Aral, on the Murghab near Herat, on the southern coast of the Caspian (Hyrcauia), and in the Caucasus, but not in Tibet, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, or Persia south of the Elburz Mountains on the Caspian. In India tigers still occur wherever large tracts of forest or grass-jungle exist; but within the last 20 or 30 years the number of these destructive animals has been greatly reduced, and they have now become scarce, or have even in some cases disappeared entirely in parts of the country where they formerly were common. This has been the case especially throughout a large area of the Central Provinces, in many parts of Bengal, and several districts of the Bombay Presidency. In the forests at the base of the Himalayas tigers are common, and they ascend the hills occasionally to an elevation of 6000 or 7000 feet, but none are found in the in- terior of the mountains. The species is entirely wanting through- out Baluchistan, Afghanistan, and the other countries due west of India, and is only found in a few places in Upper Sind and the western Punjab. It is wanting in Lower Siud and Cutch. To the eastward, in Assam and Burma, tigers are generally distributed. The absence of tigers in Ceylon would seem to indicate that this animal has only recently migrated into Southern India, more recently than most of the other mammals, the majority of which are found on both sides of Palk Straits. Habits. For a full account of the habits of tigers, on which more has been written than probably on any other wild animal, reference may be made to numerous works by Indian sportsmen. Foremost amongst these are Sir J. Fayrer's ' The Royal Tiger of Bengal,' Sterndale's 'Seonee'and 'Natural History of Indian Mammalia,' Forsyth's admirable ' Highlands of Central India,' Sanderson's equally accurate ' Thirteen Years among the Wild Beasts of India,' and McMaster's ' Notes on Jerdon's Mammals of India.' The first gives an account of the tiger in the grass-jungles and swamps of the Gauges valley, the second and third describe the animal haunting the forests of the Central Provinces, the fourth writer's experience was mainly gained iu Mysore, and that of the fifth in the hills of Southern India. FELTS. 61 Tigers are monogamous. The period of gestation is about 14 to ] 5 weeks, and from 2 to 5 young, aud occasionally it is said even 6, are produced at one time. I have on more than one occasion known four cubs to be cut out from a tigress's body after death. There is no particular season for breeding. Young cubs are found at all times of the year. The tigress is said to avoid the male when about to bring forth, and to hide her young from him ; but tigers are occasionally, though not often, seen accompanying tigresses and cubs. The young remain with the mother until nearly or quite full-grown ; and when more than two tigers are found consorting together, the party consists in general of a tigress and her full-grown offspring, the old tiger occasionally associating with his family also. Eorsyth observes that a tigress cannot have young more frequently than once in three years, because the cubs take about that time to attain their full growth. These animals are usually found solitary or in pairs, less fre- quently in parties of from three to six. They remain at rest during the day, and roam about at night in search of food. Their wanderings are considerable, and frequently extend to many miles in the course of the night, a preference being given to well-beaten tracks or sandy beds of streams. On these, in the early morning, every incident of the night's adventures may be traced by an experienced tracker. The tiger sometimes continues his stroll in the early morning, and his movements, as Forsyth remarks, " may often be traced up to eight or nine o'clock by the voices of monkeys and peafowl, the chatter of crows and small birds, and the bark of satnbar and spotted deer." The alarm-cries of all these animals are quite peculiar and different from their ordinary calls ; but it must be remembered that the cause of their alarm may be a leopard, a wild cat, a bear, a dog, or even in some cases a man, and not necessarily a tiger. The tiger usually takes up his abode for the day in deep shade, especially in the hot season, and in general near water under a dense bush or tree, in high green grass, or in thick low cover such as green rushes, tamarisk, or some of the other plants that grow in the beds of streams. Not unfrequently a high bank affords him the cool shade he loves, and in rocky parts of the country caves are frequently resorted to ; where ruins exist in jungle they are often a favourite abode. A well-known habit of all wild animals, but especially remarked in the case of the tiger, is the regularity with which particular haunts are selected in preference to others that appear equally well suited. Some one patch of high nul grass near the river-bank or on the edge of the swamp, one dense thicket of jhow (Tamarix) or jdman (Euyenia) amongst a dozen apparently similar in a stream-bed, one especial pile of rocks amongst hundreds along the hill-side, will be the resort year after year of a tiger, and when the occupant is shot, another, after a brief interval, takes his place. Tigers, especially in the cold and wet seasons, when there is abundance of cover and water, are great wanderers, roaming from 4 G2 FELTDJE. place to place, though probably keeping in general within an area of 15 or 20 miles in diameter. In the hot season from March to June their range is usually more restricted, as vegetation is dried up or burnt except near the few spots where water is still found. As has already been remarked, tigers are very much less in the habit of roaring than lions are. Where the latter are common scarcely an evening passes without their being repeatedly heard. I have often been in places where tigers were equally abundant, but it is an exception for their roaring to attract attention *. Their usual call is very similar to that of the lion, a prolonged moaning, thrilling sound, repeated twice or thrice, becoming louder and quicker, and ending with three or four repetitions of the last portion of it. Besides this, there is a peculiar loud " woof " pro- duced when the animal is disturbed or surprised, a growl that it utters when provoked, and the well-known guttural sound of rage repeated two or three times when it charges. When hit by a bullet a tiger generally roars, but tigresses, at all events, very often do not ; 1 have on three occasions at least known a tigress receive a mortal wound and pass on without making a sound. Tigers swim well and take readily to water, even crossing arms of the sea. They but rarely ascend trees, and appear quite incapable of climbing a vertical stem, large or small. It is true that they have been known to take men out of trees, from heights it is said of even 18 or 20 feet ; but such cases are always due to some pecu- liarity in the tree, a sloping trunk, or a fork 8 or 10 feet from the ground, from which the animal can get a fresh start. As a rule a tiger, like other mammals, pays no attention to men in a tree even a very few feet from the ground, if they do not move or speak. In fact tigers are much less addicted to springing than is popu- larly supposed, and rarely move their hind legs off the ground except to clear an obstacle. Still they are capable of springing some distance. They have a habit, like cats, of scratching wood, and often show a predilection for the trunk of a particular tree, on which the marks of their claws may be seen up to a height of 30 or, it is said, 12 feet. The ordinary game-eating tiger of the forest lives mainly on deer and pigs, and avoids the neighbourhood of human habitations. Almost all tigers, however, occasionally kill cattle. The wild animals commonly eaten by tigers are pigs, deer of all kinds, nylgai, four-horned antelope, and porcupines. The last are evidently a common prey. 1 have repeatedly, in the Central Provinces, when skinning tigers, found fragments of porcupine-quill encysted be- neath the skin. Peafowl may be slain at times, but more often, I think, by leopards than by tigers, and the same may be said of monkeys. Bears, though not often attacked, occasionally fall * It is true that my own experience was at not quite the same time of the year. I have been repeatedly in jungles inhabited by tigers from November till Jnue, and only in lion-haunted tracts in July and August. But all travellers notice the noisiness of lions. FELTS. 63 victims. I have more than once seen unmistakable remains of a bear that had been devoured ; and Sanderson relates an instance of a tiger that was said to have taken habitually to the slaughter of bears for food. Young gaur are occasionally killed, but the full-grown animal is more than a match for most tigers. Instances are said to have been known of even young elephants being attacked, one such is mentioned by McM aster. In fact a hungry tiger will probably kill any other animal he can for food. He is said to have been observed catching and eating frogs ; and Mr. Simson found tigers in Eastern Bengal, during inundations, feeding upon fish, tortoises, crocodiles, and large lizards, and he once killed a tiger the pouch of which was crammed with grasshoppers or locusts. It is not to be supposed that the tiger's prey is killed without a struggle, and the more powerful animals sometimes beat off their assailants, whilst instances have been recorded in which large boars have killed tigers that attacked them, the two having in some cases been found dead together. Great numbers of domestic animals are killed by tigers annually, and many of the latter appear to live entirely upon cattle. Oxen are the ordinary prey of the cattle-eating tiger, who is often an older animal than the game-killer, having become by long experience more cunning and less afraid of man. Tigresses with cubs also often quarter themselves upon a village and subsist in luxury on the flocks and herds of the villagers. Sheep and goats are not so often attacked, tigers having a distinct preference for beef, but ponies, and even horses and camels, are occasionally killed. Buf- faloes in a herd are fully able to defend themselves, and generally attack a tiger, many incidents being recorded in which they have rescued their herdsman ; but tigers often kill young buffaloes if they are found away from the herd. There has been much discussion as to the manner in which the tiger kills its prey. The popular notion was, and probably still is, that the tiger springs upon its victim from a distance, and either kills the animal by one blow of its paw, or tears the throat with its teeth and sucks the blood. All this is certainly incorrect, so far, at all events, as cattle are concerned ; small animals may perhaps be killed by a blow of the paw. I have seen many oxen that had been killed by tigers, and in numerous cases (always, I think, when 1 ascertained the point) the neck had been broken, whilst in several instances, despite the marks of fangs upon the throat, the great blood-vessels of the neck were untouched, and claw-marks were confined to scratches on the forequarters. All these details agree with the description given by Sanderson from the accounts received from herdsmen. According to these, the tiger does not spring upon his prey : " clutching the bullock's forequarters with his paws, one being generally over the shoulder, he seizes the throat in his jaws from underneath and turns it upwards and over, sometimes springing to the far side in doing so, to throw the bullock over and give the wrench which dislocates its neck. This is frequently done so quickly that the tiger, if tirnid, is in retreat again before the herdsman 64 FELID.I:. can turn round." It is probable that. with smaller animals the tiger does not always take the trouble to break the neck, and in the case of large beasts such as buffaloes and gaur, which he is unable to overthrow, he occasionally hamstrings them, I think by a blow with his claws, but am not sure. I have twice known instances in which buffaloes were left hamstrung by tigers. Tigers sometimes undoubtedly kill or disable by the fearful blows they can give with their paws, but the above is, I believe, their usual plan of killing oxen. Sterndale confirms Sanderson's account, and also points out that a tiger very rarely springs upon his prey ; he probably takes advan- tage of the momemtary paralysis produced by his appearance to make a short rush and to seize the animal he intends to devour. He generally stalks as near as he can, but he has been seen to gallop after animals for some distance before seizing one of them. I quite agree with Sanderson, who regards " the venerable belief io tigers sucking the blood of their victims" as one of the numerous myths that have collected around beasts of prey in the course of ages. If an animal is struck down in the daytime, the body may be dragged some distance, but is usually left untouched till even- ing. At or soon after nightfall, or occasionally in quiet places before sundown, the tiger returns to the kill (known as f/liara or mara), and, if the spot is open or otherwise unsuited for his repast, drags the body to a more -convenient place. The enormous mus- cular power of the tiger is shown by the way in which he can transport large carcases of oxen or buffaloes over rough ground, up and down steep banks and through thick bushes. He sometimes lifts the body completely off the ground ; Sanderson mentions an instance in which a bullock, weighing about 400 Ibs., was thus carried for 300 yards. He almost always commences by eating the intestines and hindquarters. As a rule he remains near the kill, sometimes rushing out upon any intruder and driving away jackals, vultures, and other carrion-feeders ; but more often he hides the carcase under bushes or leaves, and retires to a neigh- bouring thicket beside water. If very hungry, a tiger will devour both hindquarters the first night. If undisturbed, he generally re- mains about three days near the carcase, feeding at intervals. In one case, so far as I could learn, a large ox was completely devoured in 48 hours, only a few fragments of bones and the contents of the stomach being left. Forsyth says that a tiger which lives entirely on cattle kills an ox about once in five days, and passes about two days after finishing his last victim without looking about for food, though he will strike down another quarry if it comes near him. Young tigers are more destructive than older animals, and when one gets amongst a herd of cattle, he frequently kills several, apparently in pure wantonness. A tigress with cubs, too, is frequently very destructive, partly, it is said, in order to teach the young tigers to kill their own prey. An animal that has been fired at, especially if he has been wounded, when returning to the kill, will frequently never again return to the body of his prey, but kill afresh when hungry. FELIS. 65 It is well known that, although tigers as a rule kill their own food, they do not disdain carrion ; in numerous instances they have been known to eat animals killed by sportsmen and even bullocks that had died of disease. Cases are even on record in which a tiger that had been shot has been devoured by another of his own species. The ordinary game- or cattle-eating tiger is the greatest of cowards in the presence of man, and often allows himself to be pelted off from the animal he has seized. Sternclale mentions a case in which a herdsman laid bis heavy iron-bound staff with impunity across the back of a tiger who had seized one of his cows ; and I. once found two young children, the eldest not more than 8 or 9 years old, left in jungle to drive a tiger away from the body of a bullock he had killed, and to prevent his eating it or dragging it away. The half-wild inhabitants of the Indian forests have but little fear of ordinary tigers ; and after some 20 years' wanderings in large part through tracts infested with tigers, I agree with Forsyth that, except in the haunts of a man-eater, there is little danger in traversing any part of the jungles. Bears are, I think, more to be feared than tigers. The only tigers not being man-eaters that are dangerous are tigresses with young cubs, and occasionally a hungry tiger who has just killed his prey. Of course this only refers to un wounded tigers ; a tiger that has been wounded will usually attack any one who approaches him, but even he will not charge home against a body of men, and one successful method of shooting tigers and following them when wounded is founded on this cir- cumstance. The man-eater is, to quote Forsyth, " a tiger who has got very fat and heavy, or very old, or who has been disabled by a wound, or a tigress who has had to bring up young cubs where other game is scarce. All these take naturally to man, who is the easiest animal of all to kill, as soon as failure with other prey brings on the pangs of hunger." A tiger that has once taken to man-eating will pro- bably, having got over his innate fear of the human species, con- tinue to live upon the same prey, though it is the exception for even man-eaters to confine themselves to human food. Still a few do so to a great extent, and a fearful scourge such a tiger becomes. The destruction of human life by tigers is still considerable in India, and the whole takes place in comparatively thinly peopled portions of the country. Thus in Lower Bengal alone in six years 1860-66, 4218 persons were killed by these animals. In all probability nearly the whole destruction was caused by a very small percentage of the tigers inhabiting the country. Forsyth says that great grazing districts, into which cattle come for a limited season only, are always the worst for producing man- eating tigers. There is much reason for believing that a tigress, who has taken to preying upon man, brings up her cubs to the same mode of life. A man-eater generally becomes cunning and suspicious beyond all ordinary tigers, and around this, the most terrible of all wild animals, myths and legends centre until it is difficult to know what is true and what is false. Many of the 66 wolf-legends of Europe may be found repeated aud intensified in connection with the Indian tiger. Foremost among these tales is of course the wehr-wolf snperstition a belief that certain men have the magical power to transmute themselves at will into wild beasts. But the most remarkable of all is the creed, universal in the Central Provinces and generally prevalent, I believe, throughout India, that the spirits of those men who have been killed by a tiger attend him and sit upon his head, and that they not only warn him against danger, but, entertaining malice against their fellow- men, aid him to destroy them. This superstition exists amongst many races. Tigers or representations of tigers are actual objects of adoration, or, to speak more correctly, propitiation, amongst some of the wilder tribes of the Indian Peninsula ; and one form of oath in Courts of Justice is, or was formerly, administered on a tiger's skin. Various parts of the animal, such as the front teeth, the claws, the whiskers, and the rudimentary clavicles (birnuJch), are preserved as amulets and charms. The whiskers, Jerdon says, in some parts of Southern India are considered to endow the fortunate possessor with unlimited power over the opposite sex. In other parts they are regarded as a deadly poison, and are destroyed as soon as a tiger is killed. To one peculiar and wide-spread myth, the relations between tigers or lions and jackals, some reference will be found under the head of the latter. The destruction of so dangerous an animal as the tiger is natu- rally one of the principal objects both of the native shikari, who kills for the reward given by Government, and varying from Es. 5 to Us. 50 in different districts, and of the European sportsman. The common native plan, adopted occasionally by Europeans, is to build a platform, or machdn, in a tree, either close to the carcase of an animal that has been killed by a tiger, or to a spot where a live animal, usually a bullock or young buffalo, is tied up as a bait, and to shoot the tiger when he comes to feed on the carcase or to seize the bullock. Another system, adopted by Europeans from Indian chiefs, is to drive the jungles with a line of elephants, the sportsmen shooting from howdahs. This is often almost the only practicable plan in the great plains of Bengal and Upper India, which are covered with grass from 8 to 20 feet high. In the smaller jungle-patches of Central and Southern India, tiger-shooting is chiefly attempted in the hot season, and the tiger is either driven by beaters past a tree on which the sportsman sits, or followed up, either on an elephant or on foot. Baits, usually young buffaloes, are tied out in selected spots, in order to induce the tiger to kill, and remain during the heat of the day in places convenient for finding him ; and native trackers, many of whom could probably vie with the far-famed American Indians them- selves, are employed to follow up the animal and ascertain where it is lying. A full account of this method is given by Forsyth in the ' Highlands of Central India.' Occasionally, especially when a FELIS. 67 tiger has been wounded, a herd of buffaloes are employed to drive him out of the cover, which they do very etfectually, charging him in a body if he does not retreat. In some parts of Southern India a plan is adopted of enclosing a small area of jungle, into which a tiger has been traced, by nets. The animal is then speared or shot when occasion offers. A full account of this method is given by Sanderson in the work already quoted. According to Jerdon, in the Wynaad tigers are driven into a net and speared by a particular class of natives. It would be impossible to notice all the methods adopted for de- stroying tigers. In some parts of the country traps are used, but the cage-trap, though often successful in capturing panthers, is seldom so with tigers. Tigers are occasionally taken in pitfalls. A kind of figure-of-4 trap with a heavy platform loaded with stones, that falls upon the tiger and crushes him, is used in parts of Orissa and, I believe, elsewhere. In Burma a bow is set with a poisoned dart, and let off by a string across the path. Spring-guns have also been used. Poisoning the carcase of an animal killed by a tiger is also resorted to in some cases, strychnine being chiefly used for the purpose by Europeans, but it is not always effective. The age to which tigers live is not clearly ascertained. Sander- son mentions an instance in which he killed a large cattle-eating tiger that had been known to haunt a particular group of villages for twenty years. This animal showed no signs of age except that his coat was becoming light-coloured. Tigers captured young are easily tamed, and many of the adult animals in menageries are perfectly good-tempered, and fond of being noticed and caressed by those whom they know. They have repeatedly bred in confinement, though not so freely as lions, and the cubs more rarely survive. 30. Felis pardus. The Leopard or Panther. Felia pardus, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 61 (17C6); Blyth, Cat. p. 55; Jerdon, Mam. p. 97 ; Elliot, Man. Pel. pis. vi, vii. Felis leopard us, Schreb. Sduyeth. iii, p. 387, pi. ci ; Kelaart, Prod. p. 45. Tendwa, Chita, Sona-chita, Chita-bdgh, Adndra, H. ; Palany, Pers. ; Diho, Baluch. ; Siik, Kashmiri ; Tidua, Sriyhas, Bundelkand ; Gurbacha or Borbacha, Deccau ; Karda, Asnea, Singhal, Bibia-bdyh, Mahr. ; Ten- dmva, Bibla, Bauris of Deccan ; Honiga, Kerkal, Canarese ; leon-Kula, Kol. ; Jei-kos, Paharia of Ilajmehal; JBurkdl, G or day, Gond. ; Sonora, Korku; Chim-thai, Tarn.; Chinna-puli, Tel.; Puli, Mai. ; Kutiya, Cin- galese ; Bai-hira, Tahir-he, Goral-he, or Ghor-he, hill-tribes near Simla (according to Jerdon, generally known as Lakhar-bagha, a name elsewhere used for the hyaena) ; Sik, Tibetan ; Syik or Syiak, or Seffiak, Lepcba ; Kajenyla, Manipuri ; Misi patrai, Kam-kei, Kuki ; Hurrea kon, Morrh, Rusa, Tekhu Khuia, Kekhi, Naga ; Kya-lak or Kya-thit, Burmese ; Kla- preutiff, Taiain ; Kiche-phong , Karen ; Rimau-bintany, Malay. Pupil circular. Tail varying from rather more than half to about three quarters the length of the head and body. Caudal vertebrae usually 24 or 25, but varying, it is said, from 22 to 28. 68 The upper surface of the skull is arched, as in the tiger, but the lower jaw is convex beneath, as in the lion, the condyle being proportionally nearer the angle even than in the latter. When a leopard's skull, with the mandible attached, is placed on a flat surface, the hinder part of the skull almost always touches that surface. Ground-colour above from rufous to yellowish white or pale brownish yellow, sometimes darker, sometimes paler ; below white. The whole animal is spotted. The spots or rosettes on the back, sides, and dorsal portion of the tail are black externally, pale- coloured within ; they vary much in number, size, and form ; the surrounding black border of each spot is more or less interrupted, an unbroken ring being of rare occurrence, whilst the inner pale area is sometimes darker than the ground-colour outside, but usually the same. The spots on the head, distal portions of the limbs, and lower parts have no pale centres. Young leopards are of a brownish colour, and the spots are much less clearly denned. Dimensions very variable, the total length of head, body, and tail together ranging from 5 to 8 feet. A large male measured : Head and body 4 feet 9 inches, tail 3 feet 2 inches ; total 7 feet 11 inches (Jerdon). A smaller animal 3 feet 10 inches and 2 feet 10 inches; total 6 feet 8 inches (Tidcett). Height at shoulder about 2 feet. An average-sized skull measures 6*9 inches in basal length and 5 inches wide across the zygomata ; but in the series of adult skulls in the British Museum the basal length varies from 5-6 inches to 8-1. Distribution. Asia generally, with the exception of Siberia and the high Tibetan plateau. Found also throughout Africa. In India, Burma, and Ceylon this animal is generally distributed, ex- cept in parts of Sind and the Punjab. Fossil remains have been found in Great Britain, Spain, France, and Germany. Varieties. By very many writers, and amongst Indian naturalists by Sykes, Elliot, Horsfield, Hodgson, and Sterndale, it has been thought that there are two species of Indian leopards a larger and a smaller. Even Jerdon appears to have been in doubt on the subject. Most of the sportsmen who have hunted in Central India and many native shikaris distinguish these two forms, and in parts of the country there is some appearance of two races a larger form that inhabits the hills and forests, and a smaller form, commonly occurring in patches of grass and bushes amongst culti- vated fields and gardens. The larger form is said to have a shorter tail, a longer head with an occipital crest, and clearly defined spots on a paler ground-colour. The smaller form has a comparatively longer tail, a rounder head, less clearly defined spots, and rougher fur. I cannot help suspecting that the difference is very often due io age *, as in the case of the supposed two species of four- horned antelope, for younger leopards have rounder heads, without * Tiokell, I find, in his MS. notes makes the same suggestion. FELTS. 69 any occipital ridge to the skull, and rougher fur than older animals. I have for years endeavoured to distinguish the two forms, but without success. The size of the animal, the number, form, and closeness of the spots, and length of tail are all extremely variable characters. The animals found iu the damp forests of the Hima- layas, Bengal, Assam, and Burma are darker and redder in colour, and have the spots larger in proportion to the interspaces, than the paler-coloured leopards of the Indian Peninsula ; and I think some of the leopards of Central India are larger than is usual elsewhere. I cannot myself, as I have said, in many cases determine to which of the two supposed forms an Indian leopard-skin should be referred, yet I can tell most African skins * at a glance, as the spots are very much smaller and there is a race inhabiting Persia, and found in Baluchistan and the mountains of Siud t, that differs widely from all the others and is quite intermediate in coloration and spotting between the leopard and the ounce, the resemblance to the latter being increased by the long fur and thick hairy tail. These two varieties, the African and the Persian, however, pass by insensible gradations into the ordinary form ; and I cannot find any difference in the skulls or evidence to satisfy me that there is any constant distinction between different races of leopards, pards, or panthers. This is the conclusion at which Mr. Blyth also arrived. A black variety of the leopard is not uncommon. The spots on this can still be traced if the skin is viewed in certain lights, but the general colour is uniform black, the colour of a black cat. This form, though distinguished by some writers as Felis melas, is un- questionably only a variety, the occurrence of black and spotted cubs in the same litter having been repeatedly recorded. Black leopards are more common on the hills of Southern India and in Travancore than in other parts of the peninsula ; they are also said to be of frequent occurrence in the Malay Peninsula. A white (albino) leopard is figured in Buchanan Hamilton's drawings. Habits. The habits of leopards differ materially from those of tigers. The leopard is much more lithe and active even than the tiger, climbing trees readily, and making immense bounds clear off the ground. The leopard is often found in the neighbourhood of villages, hiding during the day amongst the crops or in the bushes about cultivation, and carrying off sheep, goats, and especially dogs, at night. In pursuit of his prey he seems to have but little fear of man ; he will enter outhouses, native huts, or even tents. He cares but little for the neighbourhood of water even in the hot weather, his favourite haunts being rocky hills covered with thick scrub, and he is generally found in caves and under piles of rocks. * Probably the true F. leopardus of Erxleben &c. and F. pardiis of Temminck. t Probably F. tulliana, Val. See Alston and Danford, P. Z. S. 1880, p. 51. I have a fine skin, for which I am indebted to Mr. H. E. Watson, from the Khirthar range on the western frontier of Sind. 70 FELID.E. He can conceal himself in the most wonderful way, his spotted hide blending with the ground, and his lithe loose form being com- pressible into an inconceivably small space. I quite agree with Forsyth, from whom I have taken several of the above traits, that he is more courageous than the tiger; if brought to bay, the leopard will charge again and again with the utmost ferocity. Large leopards, or panthers as Jerdon calls them, often kill cattle, ponies, donkeys, and large deer such as sambar, but the smaller varieties have to content themselves with inferior prey. The leopard, however, is absolutely without prejudice in the matter of food all beasts, birds, and, 1 believe, reptiles that are not too large to kill or too small to catch are the same to him ; he will strike down an ox or bound upon a sparrow. If he has a predilec- tion, it is probably for dogs and jackals. He is a terrible foe to monkeys, and kills many of the hanumans or langurs who inhabit the rocky hills in which he delights. Leopards, like tigers, some- times kill their prey by breaking the neck ; but I am disposed to believe that they frequently either tear open the throat or hold it in their jaws and strangle their victim. However, I have not had many opportunities of seeing animals killed by them. They carry away the body like tigers, and hide what they do not eat, very often in a tree. Leopards occasionally take to man-eating and, owing to their boldness, become even a more fearful scourge than tigers. In two parts of India, the Sonthal Pergunnahs south of Uhagalpur, and Seoni in the Central Provinces, at about the same time (1857-60), leopards were singularly destructive to human life, taking men, women, and children by night out of houses, or off the machans or platforms built in the fields to watch the crops from. One leopard near Seoni, commemorated by Sterndale and Forsyth, is said to have killed 200 human beings in two years before he" was shot. The idea that leopards object to cross water, though supported by an observation of Blyth's that a tame animal showed great aversion to wetting his feet, is erroneous. Like other wild animals, they swim well. The leopard, as a rule, is a very silent animal, rarely, except when provoked, uttering a sound. When surprised and when charging, he makes noises similar to those made by a tiger ; but his call is very different. I have occasionally heard a sound which agrees with the description I have received both in Africa and in India of this animal's cry, and which corresponds to the account of it given by Captain Baldwin in the ' Large Game of Bengal.' It consists of a peculiar harsh noise between a grunt and a cough, repeated quickly three or four times. Forsyth calls it a harsh grating roar. The period of gestation does not appear to have been accurately recorded, but is said to be about the same as in the tiger and lion, or fifteen weeks. The young are born about February or March in the Peninsula of India, and a litter usually consists of two, three, or four cubs. They probably take about the same FKLIS. 71 time as a tiger, three years, to arrive at full growth. Young leopards are more difficult to tame than tigers or lions; and, even when tamed, are less to be trusted. On the whole, this feline has an exceedingly bad character. Leopards are killed in large numbers by native shikaris, but, despite the greater prevalence of the species, fewer leopards than tigers are shot by European sportsmen. This is due to the difficulty of finding leopards, owing to the manner in which they conceal themselves and to their independence of water, and also to the extremely difficult aim they afford to a rifle, on account of the swiftness of their movements and their power of hiding themselves. The ordinary Indian plan of shooting them is to tether a kid or calf, or occasionally a dog, near the tree in which the hunter sits, and to make the bait bleat from time to time by pulling a string. A favourite device with native shikaris is to put a fish-hook through the unfortunate bait's ear and attach a string thereto. A light from an earthen pot (garra) is sometimes thrown on the tethered animal, or the ground around is sprinkled with chaff or flour to render the leopard more conspicuous at night. Owing to his greater boldness, a leopard is much more easily trapped than a tiger, and many are taken alive in a kind of cage baited with a live calf, goat, or dog. The bait is usually placed in a separate partition, so arranged as to open and release the bait by the shutting of the door which entraps the leopard. Fall- traps and spring-bows or guns are also used to kill panthers as well as tigers. 31. Fells uncia. The Ounce or snoiv Leopard. Felis uncia, Schrtber, Sdugeth. iii, p. 586, pi. c (1778); Blyth, Cat. p. 58 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 101 ; Elliot, Mon. Pel. pi. iv. Felis irbis, Ehrenberg, Ann. Sc. Nat. xxi, p. 410 (1830). Ikar, Zig, Sachak, Sdh, Tibetan (Bhotia) ; Bharal he of hills north of Simla ; Tkunodgh, Kunawar. Fur long, dense, and rather woolly. Tail thick, scarcely taper- ing, about three quarters the length of the head and body. The skull differs greatly from that of a leopard, being much higher and more convex when viewed from the side, with a depres- sion at the posterior termination of the nasal bones, which are broad and short ; the postorlutal processes, too, are less bent down. The face in front of the orbits is very short. Colour. Ground-colour above very pale whitish grey, sometimes with a yellowish tinge, below -\\'hite ; the whole animal spotted with black. The spots on the back, sides, and tail are large, black, interrupted rings or rosettes of rather irregular shape, much larger than in leopards, the space inside each ring being usually rather darker than the ground-colour ; spots on the head, limbs, and ter- minal portion of the tail without pale centres ; the spots on the belly few in number and rather indistinct. From near the middle 72 FELTED. of the back to the root of the tail is a median dark bai:d. Ears black, each with a large yellowish spot. Dimensions. Head and body about 4 feet 4 inches, tail 3 feet, height 2 feet. A skull measures about 6 inches in basal length, and 4*75 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. High Central Asia, especially Tibet, extending north to the Altai, and west, it is said, into Persia. This, however, and the reported range still further to the westward into Armenia, is somewhat doubtful ; the peculiar pale-coloured variety of leopard found in Western Asia (F. tulliana) may have been mistaken for an ounce (see Alston, P. Z. S. 1880, p. 51). The ounce is found throughout the Himalayas at high elevations, and is more abundant on the Tibetan side of the Snowy Range, where it is met with in the Upper Indus and Sutlej valleys. It is fairly common in Gilgit. It is known to sportsmen as the snow leopard. Habits. Not much is known of the ounce's life-history. It lives amongst rocks at considerable elevations, never, it is said, below 9000 feet above the sea in the Himalayas. This, however, may be in summer ; for Scully relates that in Gilgit the ounce descends as low as 6000 feet in winter. It preys upon wild sheep and goats (ibex, markhor, and thar), and probably upon any rodents (mar- mots, hares, Laqomys, &c.) or birds it can capture ; it carries off sheep, goats, and dogs from villages, and even kills ponies, but, it is said, has never been known to attack man. 32. Felis nebulosa. TJie clouded Leopard. Felis nebulosa, Griffith, Carnirora, p. 37, plate (1821). Felis diardi, Cm: Oss. Foss. ed. nouv. (2e) iv, p. 437 (1823) ; Blyth, P.Z.S. 1863, p. 183 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 102; Elliot, Mon. Pel. pi. viii. Felis macrocelis, Temminck, Horsf. Zool. Journ. \, p. 543 (1825) ; Tickell, J. A. S. . xii, p. 814 ; myth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 27. Felis macroceloides, Hodgs. Calc. Journ. N. H. iv, p. 286 (1844) (no description); id. P. Z. &. 1853, p. 192, pl.xxxviii ; Blyth, Cat. p. 58. Pungmar, Satchuk, Lepcha ; Zik, Limbu ; Kung, Bhotia ; Lamchitia, Khas tribe, Nepal ; Thit-Kyouny , Burmese ; Arimau dahan (tree tiger), Malay ; Clouded Tiger of British naturalists. Size of a small leopard. Pupil oval, vertical. Tail thickly furred, nearly the same thickness throughout, and long, about four fifths the length of the head and body. Caudal vertebrae 25. Skull long, low, and narrow. Orbit widely open behind. Hinder termination of bony palate concave ; mesopterygoid fossa narrow. Lower edge of mandible straight from symphysis to near the angle, then concave. The upper canines are longer relatively than in any other living cat, and have a very sharp edge posteriorly. Anterior upper premolar frequently but not always wanting. Colour. General tint varying from greyish or earthy brown (cat-grey) to fulvous (light yellowish brown) ; lower parts and FELI8. 73 inner side of limbs white or pale tawny. Head spotted above ; two broad black bands, with narrower bauds or elongate spots between them, commence between the ears, run back to the shoulders, and are prolonged, more or less regularly, as bands of large oval or elongate marks along the back. Sides of body usually divided into large subovate, trapezoidal, or irregularly shaped darker patches Fig. 17. Skull of Fclis nebulosa. (Gray, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 266.) by narrow pale bands, the patches in places edged with black, especially behind. In old specimens the dark patches are some- times indistinguishable, but the black edges remain as irregular stripes. The limbs and underparts are marked with large black spots. Tail with numerous dusky rings, often interrupted at the sides, those near the body traversed above by a longitudinal band. Ears black externally, often with a grey spot in the middle. Two black horizontal cheek-stripes, the upper running from the eye ; the margin of the upper lip also black laterally in some specimens. There is an irregular black band across the chin and another on the throat. Blyth states that this animal grows more fulvous with age, the greyer skins being those of young animals. Dimensions. An old male, measured by Hodgson, was 37| inches long from snout to vent ; tail with hair at end 30, without 29 ; height 14|, length of ear 2f ; weight 44^ Ibs. In another specimen the head and body measured 3| feet, tail 3. A skull larger than usual, from Assam, is 6-2 inches long from the foramen (basal length), and 4'75 broad across the zygomatic arches; another skull 4-7 by 3;6. Distribution. The clouded leopard occurs in the South-eastern Himalayas, Sikhim, Bhutan, &c., at moderate elevations, probably not above 7000 feet. It is also found in the Assam hills and throughout the hilly parts of Burma, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. A variety with a shorter tail (Leo- pardus Irachyunis, Swinhoe) has been obtained in Formosa. 74 FELIDvE. Habits. Very little is known of the habits of this animal, all that has been recorded hitherto about it in the wild state being derived from the accounts given by native hunters. It is believed to be thoroughly arboreal, living and sleeping in trees, and preying upon birds and mammals. In captivity it appears not difficult to tame. 33. Felis marinorata. The marbled Cat. Felis marmorata, Martin, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 103 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 59 ; id. P. Z. S. 1803, p. 183 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 104 ; Elliot, Man. Fd. pi. ix. Felis cliarltoni, Gray, A. M. N. H. xviii, p. 21 1 (1846) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 59. Leopardus dosul, Hodys. Cat. Mam. fyc. Nepal, H. M. 2nd edit. 1863, p. 3 (no description). Sikmar, Bliotia ; Dosal, Lepcha. Larger than a domestic cat. Tail bushy, nearly the same thick- ness throughout, about three quarters the length of the head and Fig. 18. Felis marmorata. (Elliot, MOD. Fel.) body. Pur soft, thick, with woolly underfur (at all events in Himalayan skins). Ears short, rounded at the end. Bony orbit complete behind in old skulls. The posterior edge of the bony palate deeply concave. Anterior upper premolar apparently often wanting. Colour. Ground-colour varying from brownish grey (earthy brown) to bright yellowish or rufous brown, lower parts paler. The sides divided by narrow pale streaks into large, irregularly shaped darker patches, black on the hinder edges. Along the back are angular black blotches or irregular rings, arranged more or less FELIS. 75 in longitudinal bands. There are black spots on the outside of the limbs, the upper surface of the tail, and usually on the lower parts ; but those on the belly are very variable, being sometimes large and distinct, sometimes almost imperceptible. The inside of the limbs and the chest are banded or spotted, and there are the usual cheek- stripes. Two interrupted bauds, one from the inner corner of each eye over the head, are continued as well-marked black stripes on the hind neck, spots or bands intervening between them on the head but not on the neck. The underfur is rich brown. Accord- ing to Blyth, the ground-colour becomes more fulvous with age. Dimensions. Length of head and body 18 1 to 23 inches, tail 14 to 15j|, ears from crown of head 2 (Jerdon). The basal length of a skull is 2-95 inches, zygomatic breadth 2*6. Distribution. The marbled cat is found in Sikhim and the Eastern Himalayas, and in the hilly regions of Assam, Burma, and the Malay countries, extending to Sumatra, Java, and, it is said, Borneo. This animal has not been recorded from Nepal. Habits. Nothing known, f. marmorata is probably arboreal, like the similarly coloured F. nebulosa. In Sikhim it is said to be shy and fierce. 34. Felis temmincki. The golden Cat. Felis temminckii, Vigors 8f Horsf. Zool. Journ. iii, p. 451 (1828) ; Elliot, Mon. Pel pi. xvi. Felis moormeusis *, Hodgs. Gleanings in Science, iii, p. 177 (183J); id. P. Z. S. 1832, p. 10; Elliot, P. Z. & 1871, p. 759. Felis aurata, Blyth, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 185 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 107 Sclater, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 816, pi. xxxvi, nee Temm. Felis nigrescens, Hodgs. Cat. Mam. $c. Nepal, B. M. 2nd edit. p. 4 (no description). Size rather less than that of F. nebulosa. Pupil very slightly elliptical in a strong light, round in general. Tail about two thirds the length of the head and body, almost the same thickness through- out. Caudal vertebra? 22. Ears short, rounded. Fur of moderate length, dense, rather harsh. Skull with the orbits nearly complete behind. Lower surface of presphenoid very narrow and bordered by parallel lines. Colour. Deep ferruginous or chestnut, darker (bay) along the back, paler on the sides, still paler and whitish below ; chin and lower surface of tail to the tip white, the tip above is dusky. There are some round dusky spots on the breast, between and behind the axils, and, in some specimens, on the inside of the fore limbs, and less distinct markings, forming imperfect bands, on the throat. The lower side of the tarsi and feet are brown. The markings on the face are peculiar and somewhat variable ; the most conspicuous is a horizontal white or buff cheek-stripe, sometimes edged with black, from below the eye to behind the gape ; a whitish band * The spelling was subsequently corrected to murmcnsis by Hodgson himself in several publications, e. g. Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist, iv, p. 286. 76 FELICE. inside each eye ; and occasionally curved lines running back from above the eye to between the ears. Ears black or brownish black outside, with an ill-defined pale central spot. !Fur brown at the base, ferruginous near the end, some black tips on the back. A variety of a dark brown colour also occurs (F. nigrescens, Hodgson), both in Nepal and Tibet. It has the same white under- surface to the tail. Dimensions. A fine male, according to Hodgson, who saw the animal alive, measured, length of head and body 31-5 inches, tail 19, height at the shoulder 17, length of ear 2-5. An adult skull fi-om Nepal, in the British Museum, measures 4-8 inches in basal length, and 3 - 65 in zygomatic width. Distribution. The South-eastern Himalayas, at a moderate eleva- tion ; rare in Nepal, more abundant in Sikhim. Found also in Tenasserim, Sumatra, and Borneo, and probably throughout Burma and the Malay Peninsula. Mason mentions an animal known to the Burmese as the fire-cat or fire-tiger, from its red colour; and Theobald saw a specimen caged at Moulmain. A suggestion has recently been made in the ' Taprobanian,' i, p. 33, that this species may be found in Ceylon, but this is improbable. Habits. Unknown. Several specimens have been obtained alive ; there was one for some time in the Zoological Gardens, London, and another in Calcutta. This cat does not appear easily tamable. 35. Felis viverrina. TliefisUnrj Cat. Felis viverrina, Bennett, P. Z. S. 1833, p. 68 ; Blytli, P. Z. S. 18G3, p. 184; Jerdon, Mam. p. 113 ; Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 27; Elliot, Mon. Fel. pi. xxii. Felis viverriceps, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. v, p. 233 (1836) ; Eelaart, Prod. p. 46. Felis him alay anus, Jar dine, Nat. Lib., Felines, p. 230, pi. 24* (1837). Felis celidog'aster, Blyth, Cat. p. 61, nee Temm. Banbiral, Bdrdun, Klmpya-bdyh, Bdyh-ddsha, II. ; Mach-bdyral, Beng. ; Hdndun-diva, Cingalese. Size larger than that of the domestic cat, limbs short and strong. head elongate, ears short and rounded. Fur coarse, without any gloss. Tail about one third the length of the head and body. Caudal vertebras 19. Pupil circular. Skull long, occipital and sagittal crests well-developed ; muzzle narrow, compressed, elongate ; nasal bones long, broad anteriorly, concave on the outer margin. Orbit complete or nearly complete behind in adults. Lower margin of mandible nearly or quite straight. Teeth large. Colour. Earthy grey, with a more or less marked brownish tinge, darker and browner on the back, paler and whiter below, spotted throughout with black or dark brown. The spots are always much longer than broad, but they vary much in size, sharpness, and definition in different animals ; in some they are small and com- paratively indistinct, owing to an admixture of grey-tipped hairs ; in others well-marked and about an inch in length on the sides. From 6 to 8 black lines run from the forehead to the nape, breaking up into shorter lines and spots on the shoulders, but continued ai lines of spots down the back. Cheeks greyish white, usually with two well-marked horizontal black or brown cheek-stripes. Several cross bands more or less distinct on the throat and fore neck. Markings on limbs variable ; sometimes there are none, but usually there are bars or lines of spots outside the thigh and ^forearm, and the usual two bars inside the latter. Lower parts spotted. Tail more or less distinctly ringed with black above. Underfur brown, only the longer hairs with a long whitish portion near the end and a black tip ; in the spots all the terminal part is black. Feet brown beneath. Dimensions. Head and body 30 inches, tail 10 1 (or with hair 11|), height 15; weight 17 Ibs. The above are the measurements and weight of a male, but some specimens are larger. Kelaart gives head and body 34|. A large skull (I have seen even larger) measures 4*85 inches in basal length and 3*5 across the zygomatic arches ; another 4*7 by 3-6 ; a small but quite adult skull 4-2 and 3-05. Distribution. Bengal, probably Orissa, and the Indo-Grangetic plain generally, extending as far as Sind, whence I have a good specimen procured by Mr. H. E. Watson near Sehwan. Unknown in the peninsula of India, except on the Malabar coast, where it occurs from Mangalore to Cape Comorin, but not, so far as is known, to the northward near Bombay. This species occurs also in Ceyloa. Along the base of the Himalayas the fishing cat is met with as far west as Nepal, and ranges throughout Burma, Southern China, and the Malay Peninsula. So far as is known, F. viverrina does not appear to be found in the Malayan islands, but it is said to exist in Formosa. Habits. This species haunts marshy thickets near rivers, swamps, or tidal creeks, and differs from most cats in feeding upon fish. It also, according to Buchanan Hamilton, eats freshwater mollusca such as Ampullaria arid Unio, both of which abound in many of the Indian swamps. Hodgson found that one specimen brought to him had eaten a large snake. The fishing cat, however, like other members of the genus, doubtless kills such mammals and birds as it can. It is said to be very ferocious^ both in Bengal and in Malabar it has been known to kill calves, and sheep are not unfrequently destroyed by it. Mr. Baker wrote from Malabar that it often killed pariah dogs, and he had known young infants carried off by it from their parents' huts. A still more remarkable instance of its ferocity is mentioned by Blyth, a newly caught male of this species in his possession having killed a tame young leopardess of twice its own size, after breaking through the partition that separated the cages. Frequently F. viverrina is savage in confinement, but Blyth says he had several males perfectly tame and considered this a particularly tamable species. 78 36. Felis bengalensis. The leopard Cat. Felis bengalensis, Kerr, Animal Kingdom, p. 151 (1792) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 60 ; id. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 184 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 105 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 164; Elliot. Mon. Pel. pi. xxi ; Blanford, P. Z. S. 1887, p. 627. Felis javanensis, Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. Hist. Nat. vi, p. 115 (1816) ; Horsf. Zool. Res. Java, pi. Felis sumatrana Horsf. Zool. Res. Java, pi. (1824). Felis miluta, Temm. Mon. Mam. \, p. 130 (1827). Felis nipalensis, Via. # Horsf. Zool. Journ. iv, p. 382 (1829). Felis chinensis, Gray, Charlesworth' 1 s May. N. H. i, p. 577 (1837). Leopardus ellioti and Leopardus horsfieldii, Gray, A. M. N. H. x, p. 260 (1842). Felis pardochrous, Hodgs. Calc. Journ. N. H. iv, p. 286 (1844), no description. Felis ogilbii, Hodgs. Calc. Journ. N. H. viii, p. 44. Felis jerdoni, Myth, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 185 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 107. Felis javensis, Elliot, Mon. Pel. pi. xxviii (1883). Chita Billa, H. ; Ban Biral, Beng. ; Wagati, Malir. of Ghats ; Thit- Kyoung, Arakan ; Kye-thit, Thit-kyiik, Kya-gyiik, Burmese ; Kla-hla, Talain and Karen ; Rimau-dkar, Malay. Fig. 19. Felis bengalensis. (Elliot, Mon. Fel.) About the sizfe of a domestic cat or rather smaller, but with longer legs. Tail rather less than half the length of the head and body together, sometimes perhaps not more than one third, but some measurements give more than one half. Ears moderate, rounded at the tip. Pupil circular (perhaps elliptical in strong light). The skull is rather elongate, low and convex. Orbit incomplete behind. The inner lobe of the upper flesh-tooth small. Anterior upper premolar rarely deficient. Colour. Ground-colour above pale fulvous, varying from rufous to greyish, below white, ornamented throughout with numerous more or less elongate, well-defined spots, either black throughout, FELiS. 79 or, especially on the sides, each spot partly black and partly brown, the two colours passing into each other. The fur is brown at the base, and many of the fulvous hairs have white tips, producing a grizzled appearance on the ground-colour. The size of the spots is very variable ; they have a general tendency to a linear arrange- ment, especially on the back. The limbs and underparts are all spotted, the spots on the belly being as a rule, though not always, well defined, and there are spots on the upper surface of the tail, the lower surface of which is generally unspotted, but spots are frequently met with in Himalayan and Burmese varieties. To- wards the end of the tail the spots usually become small transverse bars. There is almost always a white band running up to the forehead from the inside of each eye. Four longitudinal black bands commence on the forehead, and are continued over the head to the hind neck, breaking up into short bands and elongate spots on the shoulders ; less distinct bands or spots occasionally come in between the two median head-stripes on the forehead and shoulders, but these two stripes frequently coalesce on the back of the neck, diverging again between the shoulders and being continued as rows of spots to the tail. There are generally two well-marked hori- zontal cheek-stripes, the lower of which is often joined to a transverse stripe across the throat ; other transverse stripes, sometimes broken into rows of spots, cross the lower neck and breast. There are the usual two dark bands inside the forearm, and a large whitish spot on the black outside surface of each ear. In kittens the general colour is pale brown, and the markings are ill-defined. The coloration of this species is so variable that it is difficult to give a description that is applicable to all the varieties. Dimensions. Head and body 24 to 26 inches, tail 11 to 12 or more (Jerdon). Some varieties are considerably smaller ; a Burmese specimen measured by Tickell had the above two measurements only 16 and 9-5 inches. A large Nepalese skull is 3-1 inches in basal length from the foramen to the premaxillaries, and 2-5 wide across the zygomatic arches ; whilst in the small Burmese variety (F. watjati of Gray) the length and breadth of a skull similarly measured are only 2-7 and 2-1 inches. Distribution. The leopard cat is common in the Himalayas as far west as Simla, in Lower Bengal, Assam, the Burmese and Malayan countries, Southern China, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Philippines. It is also found in the Syhadri Range or Western Ghats of India, Coorg, Wynaad, Travancore, &c., and in some, per- haps all, of the other forest-regions of the peninsula, though not very abundantly. I have never seen a specimen during several years' wanderings in the Central Provinces and the northern part of the Bombay Presidency. There is, however, a skin said to be from the neighbourhood of the Coromandel coast in the Calcutta Museum ; and a living specimen from Jeypore, west of Vizagapatam, was quite recently given to the Zoological Gardens in London by Mr. G. T. Egan. According to Jerdon F. benyalensis is also found 80 FELID.E. in Ceylon, but this I doubt ; its occurrence is not mentioned by Kelaart, Blyth, or Tennant, nor is there a specimen from the island in the British Museum, which is well supplied with Cingalese Mammalia. Varieties. In this species the tendency to variation in markings appears to reach its maximum so far as Asiatic cats are concerned, though the American ocelot is at least equally variable. The variation is shown by the number of synonyms this animal has received, and by the great difference in the number of the species into which it has been divided by different naturalists. After examining the fine series of skins and skulls in the British Museum I have come to the same conclusion as Blyth and Jerdon, and class all the various races as varieties of a single species. As in many other cats, there is a grey phase, to which belong F. nlpal- ensis, F. jerdoni, F. javanensis, F. chtnensis, and a rufous phase. According to Blyth (Cat. Mam. A. S. p. 60, and P. Z. S. 1863, p. 184, note), some of the grey forms, and especially F. nipalensis, are hybrids with domestic cats. There is considerable variation, too, both in size and in the length of the tail. The following are the principal named varieties : The ordinary Himalayan type, F. pardichroa of Hodgson, has pale rufescent back and sides, with spots usually subangular or angular in form, each spot black behind and brown in front. In some specimens the spots are large and almost triangular with the points directed backwards, in others the spots are simply elongate ovals and of small size. F. nipalensis is only a grey phase, and, as already remarked, was perhaps founded on a hybrid. There is, however, one variety unnamed, the specimen of it in the British Museum having been received in that collection from the East India Museum after the death of Dr. Gray. In this the black spots tend to form longitudinal lines and to enclose bands of rich rufous brown between them, the bands being more or less broken up into large rosettes, dark brown inside and bordered by imperfect black rings ; the pale rufescent ground-colour occupies but a small portion of the surface. This is the most beautiful form I have seen. According to Mr. Blyth, there is a similar specimen in Calcutta. The small race called F. ivagati by Dr. Gray is, I believe, not the Wagati of Sir W. Elliot*, for the specimens are all labelled Moulmain, and are probably the Burmese form. Judging from comparison with a single specimen from the peninsula of India, the Burmese and Southern Indian races are very similarf, except that the latter is larger ; the ground-colour in both is light with large distinct elongate black spots. F. tenasserimensis is founded on a flat skin, and differs in no important character. Further south in the Malay Peninsula and the Malay Islands, extending to Borneo and the Philippine Islands, is another small form, F. minuta v. * Madras Jour. Lit. Sci. x, p. 108. t According to McMaster (Notes on JerJon, p. 29) Burmese individuals are smaller and more richly marked than those from the Western Ghats. FELTS. 81 sumatrana, with smaller and more numerous rounded black spots. Some specimens appear to have a decidedly shorter tail than typical F. bengalensis, but others have the tail as long as in the normal form. F.javanensis (of Horsfield and Gray, F. javensis of Elliot in part) is a peculiar small grey form with very small spots, those on the back elongate but deep blackish brown * rather than black, those on the sides brown. F. jerdoni, as represented by two speci- mens in the British Museum, both named by Blyth, and one of which must be considered the type, is merely a smaller form, absolutely indistinguishable from F.javanensis so far as markings and structure are concerned ; there is no evidence of the locality whence these specimens came, but they are probably Malayan. Habits. F. bengalensis is only found in forests, where it preys on birds and small quadrupeds. In Coorg, Jerdon was informed that it lived in hollow trees, and carried off poultry from villages. Jerdon also quotes Hutton to the effect that this cat breeds in May, and has only 3 or 4 young, in caves or beneath masses of rock. All observers agree that F. bengalensis is excessively savage and untamable. Usually when caged it remains crouched in a corner during the daytime and snarls at all who come near. But a speci- men that I have recently seen in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, paced its cage, came when called by its keeper, and appeared thoroughly tame. This is the individual, already mentioned, from Jeypore in the Madras Presidency. 37. Felis rubiginosa. The rusty-spotted Cat. Felis rubiginosa, I. Geoffr, Belanger, Voy. Indcs Or., Zoologie, p. 141, pi. 6 (1834) ; Kelaart, Prod. p. 47 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 108 ; Holds- worih, P. Z. 8. 1871, p. 756 ; Elliot, Mon. Pel. pi. xxix. Namalipilli, Tamil, Madras; Verewa jmni, Tamil, Ceylon ; Kula diya, Cingalese. Size smaller than that of an ordinary domestic cat. Tail about half the length of the head and body. Fur short and soft. Ears small, rounded at the end. Two upper premolars on each side ; the anterior pair are wanting, as in the lynxes. The bony orbit is complete behind. Ground-colour above and on the sides rufescent grey, below white, body and limbs spotted. Some Ceylon specimens are bright ferruginous with a slight greyish tinge only. The fur of the upper parts is hair-brown, varying in depth of shade, at the base, then pale brown ; numerous longer hairs are intermixed, in which the pale brown passes into rufous brown followed by a white ring, the tip being rufous to dark brown. The spots on the back and sides are brown to pale ferruginous, darker on the back, paler and redder on the sides ; all are small, somewhat elongate, especially on the back, and arranged in longitudinal lines. The spots on the belly are dark brown and larger. In the ferruginous Ceylon variety none of the spots are red, all are brownish black. Four dark lines, sometimes with one or two shorter broken bands 82 in the middle, run from the eyes and base of the nose over the head, almost without interruption, and the two inner are continued between the shoulders as two well-marked, elongate, slightly diverging stripes without any other spots or bands between them. Behind the shoulders the bands are continued in the form of spots, other spots intervening. Cheek-stripes and throat-bands as in other cats, but usually ferruginous, the bauds outside the forearm dark brown. There is a well-marked dark band inside each eye. Kirs outside brown, with a large pale spot on each. Tail rufous grey, nearly the same colour as the back above, much paler below, finely punctulated, but without any distinct spots or stripes. Fig. 20.Felis rutiffinosa. (Elliot, Mon. Pel.) Dimensions. Head and body 16 to 18 inches, tail 9*5. A skull measures 2'55 inches in basal length and 2-05 in breadth across the zygomatic ai-ches. Distribution. Southern India and Ceylon. Unknown on the Malabar coast, but not uncommon in the Carnatic. Sterndale also obtained it at Seoni in the Central Provinces, but it appears to be rare so far north. Habits. Jerdon says : " This very pretty little cat frequents grass in the dry beds of tanks, and occasionally drains in the open country and near villages, and is said not to be a denizen of the jungles. I had a kitten brought to me when very young in 1846 and it became quite tame, and was the delight and admiration of all who saw it. Its activity was quite marvellous, and it was very playful and elegant in its motions. "When it was about eight months old, I introduced it into a room where there was a small fawn of the gazelle, and the little creature flew at it the moment it saw it, seized it by the nape, and was with difficulty taken off. I lost it shortly after this. Sir W. Elliot notices that he has seen several undoubted hybrids between this and the domestic cat, and 1 have also observed the same." FELIS. 83 It is doubtful whether Jerdon's information as to this cat not living in jungles is correct, for Holdsvvorth found it inhabiting forests in Ceylon. Sterndale had two young kittens at Seoni and fully confirms Jerdon's account of their being easily tamed, exceedingly graceful and agile. A young village cat which, after one of the pair died, he obtained as a companion to the survivor, was far inferior in activity and in its power of climbing. Another cat that has been procured from the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo, and which, although not hitherto recorded from any locality further north than Province Wellesley, may possibly be found to extend into the southern portion of the Tenasserim Provinces, is F. planiceps, Vigors. The following de- scription will enable this species to be recognized : F. planiceps. About the size of a domestic cat. Tail short, a quarter to a third the length of the head and body. Orbits com- pletely enclosed by bone, and the anterior upper premolar larger and better developed than in any other living cat, having two roots. Colour dark rich red-brown above, the fur having a silvery speckled appearance, owing to an intermixture of hairs with white tips ; below white, more or less spotted or splashed with brown. 38. Felis manul. Pallas's Cat. Felis manul, Pallas, Raise Euss. Heichs, iii, p. 692 (1776) ; Elliot, Man. Fel. pi. x. Felis nigripectus, Hodgs. J. A. S. E. xi, p. 276, with plate (1842). Size of a domestic cat. Fur soft, long and very thick. Ears short and rounded. Tail very thick, bushy, cylindrical, about half the length of the head and body. The skull is of very peculiar shape, being remarkably broad for its length everywhere. The orbits, too, are directed forward more than in any other cat. The upper surface of the skull is highly convex. The muzzle is broad, the nasals of moderate size, slightly concave on the outer margins. The teeth are well developed, the inner lobe of the flesh-tooth very small, and in the only skull I have examined the anterior upper premolar was wanting on both sides. Colour. Silvery grey to yellowish buff, with a silvery wash above, darker on the back ; breast brown, remainder of lower parts white. Fur brown at the base, then buffer grey ; ends of long hairs white with black tips on the back. Across the loins are a few more or less distinct black transverse stripes, narrow and far apart, and on the tail are 6 or 7 nearly equidistant narrow black rings and a black tip. In some specimens, too, there are a few black transverse stripes on the limbs. The head is spotted above, and there are the usual two dark horizontal stripes across each cheek. Dimensions. Head and body of a male 18| inches, tail 8|, height 9, length of ear 1^ (Hodgson, MS.). A skull measures in basal length 3 inches, breadth across zygomatic arches 2-8. Weight according to Pallas 6 to 74 Ibs. 84 FBLTDJE. Distrifadion. Tibet, extending into Ladak, vvlience there is a specimen, procured by General K. Strachey, in the British Museum collection. The species, however, does not appear to have been observed on the south side of the main Himalayan range. To the northward F. mannl is found as far as Siberia, being common in Mongolia. Habits. According to Pallas this cat lives amongst rocks in the deserts of Central Asia, and feeds on small animals. 39. Felis ornata. The Indian desert Cat. Felis ornata, Gray, Hardwicke's 111. Ind. Zool \, pi. 2 (1832), bad figure ; id. P. Z. S. 1867, p. 401 ; Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxv, p. 441 ; id. Cat. p. 63 ; Elliot, Mon. Fel. pi. xxxii; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 55. Felis servalina, Jardine, Naturalists' 1 Library, Felines, p. 232, pi. 25 (F. ornata on plate). Felis torquata, Blyth, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 185, partim; Jerdon, Mam. p. 110, partim (nee. F. Guv., Chat du Nepal, Hist. Nat. Mam. pi. 126). ' Fig. 21. Felis ornata. (Elliot, Mon. Fel.) Size of a domestic cat. Tail tapering, about half the length of the head and body. Ears well developed, pointed. Fur short. The skull is broader and shorter than those of F. chaus and F. benyaltnsis. Lower edge of mandible very convex. Inner lobe of upper flesh-tooth weh 1 developed, being quite as large as the anterior outer lobe, or larger. Colour. Very pale sandy (fulvescent grey or light isabelline), with numerous small black roundish spots on the body, and still smaller elongate spots on the crown and nape, those on the crown having a tendency to form longitudinal bands. Fur of back dusky grey near the base, thence to near the end pale rufescent, tip still paler. There are some narrow black cross lines outside the limbs, and two distinct black bars inside each forearm, also the usual cheek-stripes, which are brown. The lower parts are pale rufescent, with a few J?ELI8. 85 black spots ; the chin, throat, and front of the breast white and un- spotted, the fore neck rufescent. Ears externally the same colour as the back, with a few elongate brown hairs at the end. Tail with some black transverse bands above, which form rings towards the end ; the tip is black. Paws black beneath. Dimensions. Head and body 18 to 22 inches, tail 9 to 10, hind foot from calcaneum 4-5. Basal length of an adult female skull 3-25, zygomatic width 2'7o j a smaller male skull 2-85 by 2-35. The sexes do not appear to exhibit any constant difference in size. Distribution. Throughout the drier regions of Western India, from the Punjab and Sind to Saugor and Nagpur, not extending, however, to the Gangetic valley, and rare south of the Nerbudda. It is common in the Indian deserts east of the Indus, in Sind, Western Bajputana, and Hurriana. Habits. The desert cat inhabits sandy plains and sand-hills, where its principal food in all probability consists of Gerbilli (G. hurriance). It is not found in wooded country. It is not by any means par- ticularly nocturnal. According to Dr. Scott, as quoted by Blyth, this cat, like F. rubiyinosa, F. chaus, and other species, breeds with domestic cats, and in some parts of the country inhabited by F. ornata many of the village cats are similarly spotted. Until recently this animal was represented by but two skins, one of them immature, in the British Museum collection, it appears to be also poorly represented in Calcutta. The receipt of six beautiful specimens and skulls, obtained near Sambhar in Eajpu- tana by Mr. H. M. Adam, and presented to the British Museum by Mr. Hume, has served to show that F. ornata is a well-marked species and distinct from F. torquata, to which it was united by Blyth and Jerdon. A cat much resembling F. ornata is found inhabiting Eastern Turkestan, and was named by me F. shawiana. Although nearly allied to the Indian desert cat, F. shawiana appears to be larger with a shorter tail. 40. Felis torquata. The waved Cat. Felis torquata, F. Cui\ Hist. Nat. Mam. pi. 126 (1826); Jerdon, Mam. p. lW,partim ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 55. Felis inconspicua, Gray, Charlesivorth's May. N. H. i, p. 577 (1837). ? Felis huttoni, Blyt/i, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 169 ; xvii, p. 247, xxii, p. 581. Size of a domestic cat. Tail tapering, about half the length of the head and body, or rather more. Ears rounded at tips. Skull short and high, very similar to that of F. ornata. The minute anterior upper premolar, instead of being placed as in F. ornata, F. caligata, and many other cats, halfway between the second premolar and the canine, is close to the former in both the skulls examined, and in one there is an additional equally minute premolar in front, close to the canine. The position of the normal anterior premolar close to the second is common in domestic cats, Indian and European. 86 FEUD.*-. Colour. Ash-grey, varying in some skins to brownish or rufescent, lower parts buff. Fur on back grey at the base and sometimes throughout ; in other skins it becomes rufescent, always having a dark brown or blackish subterminal portion, and a whitish or yel- lowish tip. Narrow longitudinal dark bands, often very indistinct, run along the crown and back ; and there are numerous interrupted narrow dark brown or black transverse (vertical) bands or rows of spots on the sides, extending as cross rows of spots to the anterior portion of the abdomen. There are cross bands on the fore neck ; the breast and lower abdomen remaining unspotted. The usual markings are found on the cheeks. Tail with more or less distinct black rings on the posterior half and a black tip. Paws black or dark brown beneath. Dimensions. A male obtained in Kashmir measured head and body 22 inches, tail 12. A female from Bajputana measured head and body 20 inches, tail without hair at the end 10, with 10, ears 2 outside, hind foot 4-9. In the fully adult skull of the latter the basal length is 2-95, zygomatic breadth 2-4. Distribution. The type of F. torquata was said to be from Nepal ; the exact locality of F. inconspicua is not recorded, but specimens precisely similar have been obtained by Captain Boys and Mr. Adam in Bajputana, and by Sir O. B. St. John in Kashmir. This cat must therefore be widely dispersed throughout Northern India, though it does not appear to be common. Nothing especial is known of the habits, and it is far from im- probable that specimens of the present form are merely descendants of tame cats that have run wild. The converse- is, however, equally probable, that this is the aboriginal race from which Indian domestic cats, and possibly those of other countries are derived ; and the circumstance that skins from parts of India so distant from each other as Nepal, Rajputana, and Kashmir are precisely similar is in favour of the latter view. The characters of the upper premolars distinguish F. torquata from the allied F. caffra (or F. caliyata), to which, however, F. huttoni, described by Blyth from Afghanistan, may perhaps belong. 41. Felis chaus. The jungle Cat. Felis chaos, Giildenstadt, Nov. Com. Pet. xx, p. 483, pis. 14, 15 (1776); Kelaart, Prod. p. 48 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 63 ; id. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 186 ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 28 ; Jcrdon, Mam. p. Ill ; Elliot, Mon. Fel. pi. xxxiii. Felis catolynx, Pal/as, Zoog. Ros.-As. i, p. 23, pi. ii. Felis affinis, Gray, Hardwicke's III. Ind. Zool. I, pi. 3. Felis kutas, Pearson, J. A. S. B. i, p. 75. Felis (Lynchus) erytkrotis, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. v, p. 233. Felis jacquemontii, 1. Geoffr. Jacquemont, Voyaye, iv, p. 58, Atlas, ii. Janyli-billi, H. ; Khatds, H. and Beng. ; Banberdl, Beng. ; Gnrbu-i- Kuhi, Pers. ; Bdul, Bhdoga, Mahr. ; Berka, Hill-tribe of Rajmahal ; Mant-bek, Can. ; Kada bek or Bella bek, Wadcdri ; Katu-punai, Tarn. ; Jurkapilli, Tel.; Cherru puli, Mai; Kyouny tset-kttn, Arakanese. FKLIS. 87 Size exceeding that of a domestic cat. Pupil round. Ears often with a few longer hairs at the end, not amounting, however, to a distinct tuft as in the lynxes. Tail short, one third to two fifths the length of the head and body. Eur variable, short in specimens from plains of India, longer in Himalayan skins. Skull strong, elongate, postorbital processes bending sharply downwards ; the brain-case broad behind the postorbital processes ; nasal bones broad anteriorly, more or less concave at the side. The lower jaw convex below. Inner lobe of upper flesh-tooth well developed, as large as the outer anterior lobe. Colour of the body varying from sandy grey or yellowish grey to greyish brown ; back darker, often rufescent, sometimes dusky ; lower parts fulvescent or rufescent white. Eur in general fulves- cent white (isabelline) from the base to near the tip, where it is greyish white, the tip being black, sometimes on the back rufous near the tip ; the underfur near the body in some specimens brown. The limbs are sometimes transversely barred with dusky, sometimes not ; there are usually the two broad dusky bands inside the fore- arm. Foot and tarsus dusky brown beneath. Tail ringed with black near the end, and the tip black. Cheek-stripes and band across breast sometimes present and of a pale ferruginous tint. Ears pale rufous outside, the tips generally blackish or black. There is some long whitish hair on the anterior portion of the ear inside. In adult specimens there are usually no markings on the body or limbs, but exceptions occur. In some skins more or less distinct vertical rows of spots or wavy lines may be traced on the sides. A black variety is occasionally found, and Dr. Scott procured it both near Hansi and in the neighbourhood of Umballa. Dimensions. Hodgson gives : head and body 22 inches, tail with hair at the end 11, without 10, height at shoulder 16; weight 14 Ibs. Jerdon's measurements are: head and body 26, tail 9 to 10, height at shoulder 14 to 15 ; and of a large specimen killed at Umballa, total length 39 inches, height 18, weight 18 Ibs. (Appendix, p. ii). A moderate-sized skull is 3'75 inches long (basal length), and nearly 3 broad across the zygomatic arches. In a large male skull the basal length is nearly 4 inches, in a small (? female) specimen 3-35. Distribution. F. chaus is the common wild cat of India from the Himalaya to Cape Comorin, and from the level of the sea to 7000 or 8000 feet or perhaps higher on the Himalayas. It is found in Ceylon and also extends into Burma, but has not been recorded further east. A wild cat observed by Col. Tickell at the Andaman Islands (J. A. S. B. xxxii, p. 86) may perhaps have been this species. It has an extensive range through Western Asia and Northern Africa. Habits. This cat frequents either jungles or open country, and is very partial to long grass, reeds, cornfields, sugar-cane fields, and similar places, being often seen in the neighbourhood of villages. It feeds on birds and small mammals, and is said to be especially destructive to partridges, peafowl, hares, and other game. 88 FELID-fi. Jerdon was actually robbed by a jungle cat of a peafowl he had shot; and McMaster relates a similar incident that happened to himself. The same observer says that he shot one in Burma in deep black mud, where it was perhaps hunting for fish or crabs. The voice, according to Blyth, differs from that of the domestic cat. The jungle cat is a very savage animal. McMaster says he was once charged by a large individual that he had wounded with shot. As a rule, even if captured young, F. chuus appears to be untam- able, but exceptions occur. It frequently breeds, however, with the domestic cat of India, and some of the latter closely resemble it in colouring, although they are considerably smaller. It is said to breed twice in the year, and to have three or four young at a time. 42. Pelis caracal. The Caracal. Felis caracal, Giildenstadt, Nov. Com. Pet. xx, p. 500 (1776) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 64; Jerdon, Mam. p. 113; Elliot, Mon. Pel. pi. xli. Siydh-amh (black ears), Pers. and II. ; Tsoade, Little Tibet ( ? Gilgit) ; Ech, Ladak (Vigne). Size intermediate between F. chaus and F. lynx. Build slender, limbs long. Tail one third the length of the head and body. Ears long and pointed, with a long black tuft of hair at the end. Skull convex above, facial portion short. Teeth well developed. Anterior upper preinolar wanting ; inner lobe of upper flesh-tooth moderate. Colour above varying from rufous fawn-colour to brownish rufous, generally the former in Indian specimens, unspotted ; below paler rufous or white, often with indistinct rufous spots. Fur nearly the same colour throughout, slightly paler near the roots, some white tips intermixed on the back, and in darker specimens black tips also, giving a peculiar grizzled appearance. Limbs and tail the same colour as the body, the tip of the latter sometimes black, but not always. Ears outside black, often mixed with white, inside white ; a blackish spot on each side of the upper lip, and others, not always distinct, above each eye and on each side of the nose. A white or pale spot inside, and another below each eye. Dimensions. Head and body 26 to 30 inches, tail 9 to 10, ear 3, height 16 to 18 inches. Basal length of skull 4*55 inches, breadth across zygornatic arches 3'8. Distribution. Found in the Punjab, Sind, North-western and Central India, and the greater part of the Peninsula except the Malabar coast, but rare everywhere. Ball met with it in Chutia Nagpur. Unknown in Bengal and the Eastern Himalayas, but said by Vigne to be found in the Upper Indus valley *. Outside of India this species occurs in Mesopotamia, and perhaps on the * Perhaps only tamed specimens ; see J. A. S. B. xi, p. 759. highlands of Persia, in Arabia, and throughout a large part of Africa. Habits. Very little appears to have been recorded concerning this animal in the wild state. It probably lives amongst bushes and grass, not in thick forests. It is said to prey on gazelles, small deer, hares, and birds, and frequently to capture birds as they fly off by springing upon them to a height of 5 or 6 feet from the ground. It is destructive to peafowl, floriken, cranes, and, doubt- less, to partridges. The caracal is easily tamed, and is trained to catch birds, such as peafowl, cranes, &c., and small deer, gazelles, hares, or foxes, and also to kill for sport a favourite amusement in parts of India, according to Blyth, being to pit these cats against each other to kill pigeons out of a flock. The caracals are let loose amongst the pigeons feeding on the ground, and each cat often strikes down ten or a dozen birds before they can escape by flight. Some Indian princes are said to have kept a large number of caracals for the purpose of hunting. Vigne, who saw them used, says that their speed is, if possible, greater in proportion even than that of the hunting leopard. Although the caracal has the long limbs, ears, skull, and denti- tion of a lynx, it wants the ruff, and has a fur better adapted to its tropical or subtropical haunts. 43. Pelis lynx. The Lynx. Felis lynx, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 62 (1766) ; Elliot, Man. Pel. pi. xxxix ; Scully, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 201. Felis isabellina, Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xvi, p. 1178 (1847) ; id. Cat. p. 64 ; id. P. Z. 8. 1863, p. 186. Patsalan, Kishmiri. A strongly built cat, high on the legs, with a short tail, less than one fourth the length of the head and body. Ears long, pointed, and with a long black tuft of hair at the end. Pupil round. Hair of the hinder part of cheeks lengthened and hanging down, form- ing a partial ruff. Fur soft, thick. Pads of feet more or less con- cealed by hair. Intestines shorter than in other cats, being only twice the length of the body. SkuU very convex above, the facial portion short and broad. Orbits incomplete behind. In adults there are only two upper premolars. Colour varying from pale sandy grey (isabelline) to rufous fawn with a greyish wash, and in some (European) specimens to ferru- ginous red, lower parts white. In summer there are small black spots on the body, and these are persistent in some cases even in winter fur (probably in young individuals) ; but Asiatic specimens in winter coats are unspotted except on the flanks and limbs, and even there the markings are often wanting. The spots are evi- dently very variable. The fur is fawn-coloured with a wore or less 90 FELIDjE. rufous tinge, towards the roots the hairs are brownish ; the tips or* the longer hairs are white, some black tips being often intermixed on the back. Terminal portion of the tail black. Ears outside grey, with the margins, tip, and terminal tuft black. Some black hairs are intermixed with the ruff, and, in some cases, there is an im- perfect dark band across the throat. There are sometimes blackish or black spots on the belly. The Tibetan lynx was distinguished by Blyth as F. isabellina on account of its pale colour and of the hair on the toes being shorter. Both these differences are probably due to the Tibetan lynx living in open ground amongst rocks, whilst the common lynx of Europe dwells chiefly in forests. The lynx of Gilgit, where there is some forest, is intermediate in coloration ; and I can find no constant character of importance by which F. isabellina is distinguishable from the common lynx. Some skins procured by Hodgson from Tibet are undistinguishable from Gilgit and Turkestan specimens. Dimensions. Head and body 33 inches, tail 7| ; weight about 60 Ibs. In a skull, the basal length is 4-6 inches, zygomatic breadth 4. Distribution. Found in the Upper Indus valley, Gilgit, Ladak, Tibet, &c., also throughout Asia north of the Himalayas, and Europe north of the Alps. Habits. The lynx is found in Gilgit at heights above 5000 feet, but occurs at a great elevation in Tibet, Captain Kinloch having shot a female and captured the cubs near Hanle when hunting Ovis hodysoni, which does not descend below 14,000 or 15,000 feet in summer. In Tibet, as in Europe, this species has the character of being extremely bloodthirsty and savage. Scully mentions that a pair of them killed six sheep in one night near Gilgit. Lynxes prey on birds and on all mammals that they are able to kill, from goats to mice ; but the stories told of their attacks upon animals the size of red-deer, Cervus elaphus, are scarcely credible. The keenness of sight and hearing in the lynx have long been famous ; the animal is well known to be an excellent climber, and to lie in wait for his prey on trees. Lynxes have two or three young at a time, and usually hide them in caves and holes amongst rocks. The young are born with the eyes not opened. Young animals are easily tamed. Genus CYKELURUS, Wagler, 1830. The claws only partially retractile, always remaining partly ex- posed. Limbs longer than in any true cats. Body slender. Skull with the infraorbital foramen on each side very small, and fre- quently represented by two or more foramina. Inner lobe of the upper flesh-tooth quite rudimentary. The only species generally admitted is C. jubatus ; a peculiar form, with woolly hair and pale spots, from South Africa, has been distinguished as C. laneus (Fclis lanea, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 532), CYNJELUJ1US. 91 but there is some question as to whether this is more than an acci- dental variety. Other nominal species will he found recorded in books. 44. Cynaelurus jubatus. The hunting Leopard. Felis jubata, Schrcber, Sdugeth. iii, p. 392, pi. cv (1778) ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 114 ; Bull, P. A. S. B. 1877, p. 109. Felis guttata, Hermann, Obs. Zool. p. 38 (1804). Cynailurus jubatus, Blyth, Cat. p. 65; Elliot, Mon. Pel. pi. xliii. Chita, Laygar, H. ; Ykts and Yuz-palang, Pers. ; Chitra, Gond ; Chita puli, Tel.; Chircha and Sivunyi, Canarese; Cheeta of many European naturalists. As long as the common leopard or panther, but much higher and more slender. Pupil round. Ears short and round. Eur coarse, hairs of neck somewhat lengthened, bair of belly rather long and shaggy. Tail more than half the length of the head and body. Skull much resembling that of F. uncia in shape, high and broad, very convex above and wide behind the postorbital processes. The facial portion short and broad, nasals broad, maxillaries short and high. Orbits incomplete behind. Opening of posterior nares broad. Anterior upper premolar generally present. Colour from tawny (pale brownish yellow) to bright rufous fawn above and on the sides, paler below, spotted almost every- where with small round black spots without any pale centres, and not arranged in rosettes. Chin and throat bufty white, unspotted. A black line from the anterior corner of each eye to the upper lip, aud another less marked, or a row of spots in some specimens, from the hinder corner of the eye to below the ear. Ear black outside, base and margins tawny. Tail spotted above ; the spots, towards the end, passing into imperfect rings. Young covered with long hair, grey in colour, without any spots. Sterndale states, however, that on clipping the hair the spots are found on the underfur. A young animal in the British Museum is figured by Elliot, and is brownish grey on the back, chocolate-brown on the legs and lower parts, with indications of darker spots. This is, doubtless, in process of change into the colour of the adult. Dimensions. Length of head and body about 4-5 feet, tail 2-5, height 2-5 to 2*75 (Jerdon). A skull is 5'35 inches long in basal length, and 4-55 across the zygomatic arches. Distribution. The hunting leopard is found throughout Africa and South-western Asia, extending from Persia to the countries east of the Caspian and into India. In this country it occurs throughout a great portion of the peninsula, from the Punjab through Rajputana and Central India to the confines of Bengal (I once saw a skin that had been brought in by a local shikari at Deoghar, in theSonthal Pergunnahs, south of Bhagalpur,and Ball saw another, under similar circumstances, at Sambalpur), and in 92 TELID.E. the Deccan. How far south in India C. jubatus ranges does not appear to be recorded ; the animal is not found on the Malabar coast, nor, according to Jerdon, in Ceylon, and its range is pro- bably nearly the same as that of the Indian antelope. It does not appear to be found north of the Ganges, and it occurs nowhere east of India. Habits. Being used in the chase, and considered an important or even necessary appanage to the state of many Indian princes, the hunting leopard is eagerly sought after by the particular class of men who capture wild animals ; and as only the adult is valued, its habits are well known to those who occupy themselves with capturing and training it. Their accounts are, of course, like all such descriptions by uneducated men, in all parts of the world, a mixture of observed facts and traditionary fable ; but some of their most interesting statements appear to be confirmed by independent testimony. In Sterndale's ' Mammalia of India and Ceylon,' p. 202, an admirable description of the capture of two hunting leopards is quoted from, the 'Asian;' whilst Jerdon describes, from his own observation, the training of a young animal brought up in captivity, and quotes from Buchanan Hamilton *, Vigne f, and W. Elliot J accounts of the method in which the "chita" is used to hunt antelope. A capital description is also given by McMaster . The principal haunt of this feline in India is in low, isolated, rocky hills, near the plains on which live antelopes, its principal prey. It also kills gazelles, nylgai (Jerdon once observed a pair stalking some of the latter), and doubtless occasionally deer and other animals ; instances also occur of sheep and goats being carried off by it (a goat was once taken away by one from my own camp in Khandesh) ; but it rarely molests domestic animals, and has not been known to attack men. Its mode of capturing its prey is to stalk up to within a moderate distance of between 100 to 200 yards, taking advantage of inequalities in the ground, bushes, or other cover, and then to make a rush. Its speed for a short dis- tance is remarkable, far exceeding that of any other beast of prey, even of a greyhound or kangaroo hound, for no dog can at first overtake an Indian antelope or a gazelle, either of which is quickly ran down by C. jubatus if the start does not exceed about 200 yards. McMaster saw a very fine hunting leopard catch a black buck (Antilope cervicapra) that had about that start, within 400 yards. It is probable that for a short distance the hunting leopard is the swiftest of all mammals. This animal, according to the accounts of the men who capture it, usually passes two days, after gorging itself, in resting in its lair, and on the third day repairs to a particular tree, which forms a rendezvous for other animals of the species. On this tree it * The quotation is said to be from the ' India Sporting Review.' t Travels in Kashmir, Ladak, &c. i, p. 41. J Mad. Journ. L. S. x, p. 107. Notes on Jerdon's Mammals of India, p. 32. CYN^LURTJS. 93 sharpens its claws, leaving marks that are recognized by the hunters, who capture the leopards by means of nooses made from the dried sinews of antelopes, and pegged to the ground around the tree. From the few accounts given of their habits in the wild state, it is apparent that these felines frequently hunt in pairs or families ; hence, perhaps, the appearance of several at a particular spot, where they amuse themselves by playing about before going off to hunt. As already mentioned, only adults are captured, Indian shikaris considering that the young can only be properly trained by the parents. The same view prevails in India with regard to falcons. The hunting leopard is easily tamed, about six months being re- quired to reduce him to a complete state of obedience and to complete his training. Many of these animals, when tamed, are as gentle and docile as a dog, delighting in being petted, and quite good tempered even with strangers, purring and rubbing them- selves against their friends, as cats do. They are usually kept, when tame, on a charpai or native bedstead, attached by a chain to the wall, and are not shut up in a cage. Young hunting leopards are, of course, soon domesticated, as was shown in the case of that commemorated by Jerdon. So far as I have heard, however, this animal has not been known to breed in captivity. The method of hunting with the " chita," as described by several observers, is the following : The leopard is hooded, so as to blind- fold it ; it is fastened by a thin cord attached to a* leather belt round its loins or to a collar, and is taken on a bullock-cart to the neighbourhood of the antelope. The latter have no fear of the ordinary country carts, which they see daily, and there is, con- sequently, no difficulty in driving to within a short distance of the herd. The leopard is then unhooded and slipped, and, according to the distance at which the antelope may be, either springs towards them at once, or, taking advantage of inequalities in the ground, follows them at a run until he gets within such a distance as to enable him to make his rush with success. He usually seizes the buck, if there is one with the herd, but this is probably due to the fact that the buck is generally the last ; and, as pointed out by Sir W. Elliot, the mir-shikaris (keepers) always endeavour to get the herd to run across them, when they drive on the cart and unhood the " chita." The leopard rushes at the antelope and fells it, it is said, by striking its legs from under it with his paw ; he then seizes the quarry by the throat, and holds it until the keepers arrive. The antelope's throat is then cut, and some of the blood collected in the wooden bowl from which the hunting leopard is fed, and offered to the latter, who laps it eagerly, advantage being taken of the opportunity to slip on his hood again. A good hunt- ing leopard is said sometimes to capture four bucks in a morning. Baldwin, in the ' Large Game of Bengal,' states that the hunt- ing leopard has occasionally been speared from horseback. It gives but a short run, and rarely shows fight. McMaster also relates an 94 YIVERRIDJE. instance of this animal being speared, and states that the hunting leopard, although at first it far outpaced the horse, was easily caught, and tried to hide in a bush, out of which it was put and speared easily. Family VIVERRID.E. The second family of the J^luroidea contains the civets, para- doxures or tree-civets, ichneumons or mangooses, and their allies, a much more diversified assemblage than the Felidce. In the Viver- ridce the head and body are more elongate, the muzzle more pro- duced, the limbs shorter in proportion, and the teeth of the molar series more numerous than in the cats. All Indian forms have four premolars on each side above and below, one or two true molars, five toes to each foot, and a long tail. The claws vary in retractility, and so does the extent to which the tarsus and metacarpus are clad with hair beneath, this again depending upon the circumstance that some types, like Viverra and Prionodon, are truly digitigrade, whilst others, as Arctictis and Paradoxurus, are more or less plantigrade. Many of the genera have peculiar anal and preanal glands, the secretion from which is highly odoriferous. The auditory bulla is externally constricted and internally divided by a septum, which is conspicuous from the meatus. An alisphenoid canal is present, except in Viverricula. Further details of the anatomy will be found in Prof. Mivart's papers already quoted (P. Z. S. 1882, pp. 145, 459). No representatives of this family exist in America or Australia, all being confined to the warmer parts of the Old World, and chiefly to Africa, Madagascar, and South-eastern Asia, one species extending into Spain. The Viverridce are variously divided by different authors. In the system here followed they comprise ' three subfamilies, one of which, Cryptoproctince, by some considered a distinct family, con- sists of a single species peculiar to Madagascar. The other two are represented in India, and are thus distinguished : A. Claws strongly curved and more or less retrac- tile. Auditory bulla oval or subconical, broad and truncated behind, narrow in front. Apex of paroccipital process in general projecting slightly beyond the bulla; prescrotal glands generally present Viverrina?. B. Claws lengthened, exserted, not retractile. Audi- tory bulla somewhat pear-shaped. Paroccipital process not projecting beyond bulla, but spread out, and in adults lost on its posterior surface. No prescrotal glands Berpest'mce. VIVERRA. 95 Subfamily VIVERRIN^E. African and Oriental forms both occur in this subfamily, but the latter are more numerous. The following genera are found within our area : A. Ears uot tufted ; tail not prehensile. a. Tarsus and metatarsus hairy behind; tail with dark and light rings. a'. Two upper true molars ; a black gorget. a". An erectile black dorsal crest VIVERRA. b". No crest YIVERRICULA. b' . One upper true molar ; no gorget PRIONODON. b. Tarsus half naked behind; tail (in Indian species) uot ringed. '. Teeth large ; a naked preaual (in males pre- scrotal ) glandular tract PARADOXURTIS. b'. Teeth small ; no naked preanal or prescrotal tract ARCTOGALE. B. Ears tufted ; tail prehensile ; tarsus naked behind ARCTICTIS. Genus VIVERRA, Linn., 1766. A crest of elongate and erectile black hairs along the middle of the back. Feet truly digitigrade, the metatarsus, metacarpus, and feet being hairy throughout, with the exception of a central and five toepads on all feet and a metacarpal pad on each fore limb. Fig. 22. Skull of Fiverra zibetha. Claws small, partially retractile, and blunt. Pupil vertical. Female with three pairs of ventral teats. Fur coarse. One or more black bands across the throat ; tail ringed. All the species are larger than a domestic cat. None are known to be arboreal in their habits. Dentition : i. ]j, c. J^J, pm. ^, m. |=?. The teeth are strong and the hinder teeth in the molar series broad ; the inner lobe of 96 YIVERRID.E. the upper sectorial very large, nearly equal to the hinder lobe in size. The true upper molars are well developed. The lower sectorial has a large talon with two large inner and two small outer tubercles. The milk-dentition is figured by Mivart (P. Z. S. 1882, p. 155). Vertebra? : C. 7, D. 13, L. 7 (or D. 14, L. 6), S. 3, C. 22-30. This and the next genus comprise the true Civet-cats, from which the substance known as civet, largely used as a perfume, is obtained. It is the secretion of a pair of glands found in both sexes, just in front of the scrotum in the male, and in a corre- sponding position in the female. The secretion escapes by a number of minute orifices into a large sac, the external opening of which appears as a longitudinal slit, resembling a large vaginal aperture *. There are also two glands surrounding the anus, the secretion from which has a very different and extremely offensive odour. Various kinds of civet-cats, belonging to this and the next genus, are kept in small cages in some countries, and the civet collected from the pouch periodically ; but I am not aware whether this is done anywhere in India. Synopsis of Indian and Burmese Species. A. No black stripe down the tail. a. Markings on sides indistinct or wanting V. zibctha, p. 90. b. Large transverse dark marks on sides V. civettina, p. 98. B. A black stripe down upper surface of tail. a. Large dark tail-rings not interrupted below. . V. megaspila, p. 99. Eemains of two species of Viverra, V. lakeri and V. durandi, the last-named larger than any existing civet-cat, have been found in the Pliocene beds of the Siwalik hills. 45. Viverra zibetha t. The large Indian Civet. Viverra zibetha, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 65 (17(36) ; Schreb. Sdugeth. iii, p. 420, pi. cxii ; Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxxi, p. 331 ; id. Cat. p. 45 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 120. Viverra undulata, Gray, Spic. Zool. p. 9, pi. 8. Viverra sp., M'Clelland, C'alc. Journ. N. H. i. p. 56, pi. i. Viverra orientalis, Jiodie melanurus, Hodgson, (.'ale. Journ. N. If. ii, p. 47. Viverra melanurus et civettoides, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. x, p. 909, xi, p. 279 (no descriptions). Khatds, Hindi (used for several other animals also) ; Mach-bhomlar, Bdgdos, Pudo-ganla, Beng. ; lihrdn, Nepal Terai ; Kit biraht, Nepal ; Kunff, Bliot ; Saphiony, Lepcha ; Kyoung-ntyeng (horse-cat), Burmese ; Tangalong, Malay. * Hodgson, Calc. Journ. N. H. ii, p. 54, pi. i, f. 1, 2 ; Mivart, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 147. The figures representing this species and V. megaspila in Sterndale's ' Natural History of the Mammalia of India' are apparently taken from other animals. The first figure much resembles the African V. civetta. YIVEBRA. 97 Ears small, rounded. Tail thick, scarcely tapering, more than half as long as the head and body. A crest of longer black erectile Fig. 23. Vivcrra zibctha. (From Hodgson's drawings.) hairs along the back from shoulders to insertion of tail. The scent-glands, when dissected out, are each 2-5 inches long by 1-5 broad. In the skull the bony palate is continued about a quarter to half an inch behind a line joining the last upper molars, the ter- mination being concave. Nasals short. Mandible convex below. Last upper molar one and a half times as broad as long, but last lower molar much longer than broad. Colour. General coloration dark hoary grey, with often a brownish or yellowish tinge. Underfur brown ; terminal portion of the longer hairs white with black tips on the upper part of the body. A black stripe, corresponding to the erectile crest, from between the shoulders to the first dark tail-ring, but not down the tail, which is completely surrounded by six broad black rings, the last terminal, all much broader than the white rings between them. A pale band borders the black dorsal line on each side, especially towards the rump. Sides of the body generally without markings ; sometimes, however, indistinct spots and imperfect ocelli occur, forming wavy transverse bands on the sides, and longitudinal bands separated by narrow whitish lines on the loins. Legs indi- stinctly barred outside near the body, all the distal portions and the feet dark brown or black. Head grey ; chin brown ; a dark spot behind the ear ; hind neck much mixed with black ; front and sides of neck and upper breast white, crossed by a broad black gorget, and generally, but not always, by a narrower band in front and another behind ; the hindmost meets a horizontal band runr- ning back from behind the ear along the side of the neck. In a half-grown British-Museum specimen from Nepal the black dorsal band appears to extend in front of the shoulders. The coloration otherwise resembles that of the adult. n VIVEKBlDjE. Dimensions. Head and body in an adult male 32 inches, tail 18, ears 2, height about 15; weight 18 to 25 Ibs. A skull measures 5-25 inches in basal length, 27 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. Bengal, Assam, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Siarn, and Southern China. The range extends south and south-west of Bengal to Orissa and Chutia Nagpur, and probably some distance further south and west, and to the northward into Sikhim and Nepal, ascending the Himalayas to a considerable elevation. Habits. The civet-cat is generally solitary. It hides in woods, bushes, or thick grass during the day, wandering into open country and often coming about houses at night. Not un- frequently it is found in holes, but whether these are dug by it is doubtful/ It is said to be very destructive, killing any birds or small mammals it can capture, and often attacking fowls, ducks, &c., but also feeding on snakes, frogs, insects, eggs, and on fruits and some roots. Hodgson found in the stomachs of those he examined remains of fowls (evidently taken from a refuse-heap near a kitchen), rats, shrews, and frogs. Civet-cats take readily to water. V. zibetJia breeds in May or June, and has three or four young, which, according to Hodgson, are probably born with the eyes open. The period of gestation is not known. Hounds and all dogs are said to be greatly excited by the scent of this civet, and will leave that of any other animal for it. Hodgson's species V. melanura was the uniformly coloured variety, F. civettoides that with transverse bars. In his drawings is the figure of a third form, said to have been brought from Tibet, covered on the body with small ocelli. I have a somewhat similar specimen, perhaps Tibetan, but less ocellated; it is pro- bably the form said to be brought from the Chinese border of Tibet and (ailed Kung by Tibetans (J. A. 8. B. xxiv, p. 237). 46. Viverra civettina. The Malabar Civet-Cat. Viverra civettina, Hhjtlt, J. A. S. B. xxxi, p. 332 (18G2) ; id. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 484 ; id. Cat. p. 44 ; Jerdon, Mum. p. 121. " Dusky grey, with large transverse dark marks on back and sides ; two obliquely transverse dark lines on the neck, which, with the throat, is white ; a dark mark on the cheek ; tail ringed with dark bands ; feet dark. Size of the last ( F. zibetha) or nearly so." (Jerdon.) I have been unable to examine a specimen of this civet ; but Mr. "W. L. Sclater, who has recently compared the type with F. zibeiha, writes to me that F. civettina is distinguished by having the hinder parts of the body covered with distinct large spots, and by the black rings of the tail being united by a black band above. This quite bears out Blyth's description. The large upper true molar in F. civettina is more quadrangular, 0-36 inch long by 0-4 broad, in F. zibetha O32 by 0-4 ; and in the lower jaw of the former the VIVEERA. 99 first and second premolars are close together, in the latter widely separated. The area inhabited by V. civettina is separated from that occu- pied by V. zibetha by a broad tract of country, there being no civet known to occur in the Central Provinces, Deccan, or Carnatic. It is therefore probable that V. civettina is a distinct species. The following account of its distribution is from Jerdon : " The Malabar civet-cat is found throughout the Malabar coast, from the latitude of Honore (Honawar) at all events to Cape Comorin, and very possibly it extends further north. It inhabits the forests and the richly wooded low land chiefly, but is occasionally found on the elevated forest-tracts of Wynaad, Coorg,&c. It is very abundant in Travancore, whence I have had many specimens. It is not recorded from Ceylon, but most probably will be found there. I have procured it close to my own house at Tellicherry, and seen specimens from the vicinity of Honore. I never obtained it from the Eastern Ghats nor from Central India. It is stated by the natives to be very destructive to poultry." 47. Viverra megaspila. The Burmese Civet. Viverra megaspila, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxxi, p. 331 (1862) ; id. P. Z. S. 1864, p. 484 ; Giiniher, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 428, pi. xxxvii. Viverra tangalunga, Cantor, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 197, nee Gray. Kyoung-myeny, Burm. ; Musang-jebat, Malay. Tail less than half the length of the head and body, tapering. A band of erectile black hairs along the back, sometimes but not always less developed than in V. zibetha. Bony palate extending nearly half an inch behind a line joining the last upper molars ; termination very concave. The teeth larger and broader than in V. zibetha hinder upper molar oval, not much broader than long ; hinder lower molar very little longer than broad, and larger than that in V. zibetha. Colour. Grey, sometimes with a yellowish or brownish tinge (the figure in P. Z. S. is too brown), scarcely paler below ; underfur pale brown to whitish, the tips of the longer hairs grey or black. A black line down the back from the shoulders continued down the tail, which is ringed with dark brown or black ; the proximal rings about the same breadth as the whitish interspaces, and (except sometimes the first) extending round the tail. Terminal portion of tail for a varying distance (sometimes half the length) black. Sides with spots, usually distinct, larger than in V. zibetha or V. tangalunga (about three quarters of an inch in diameter), tending to form transverse bands on the sides and longitudinal on the rump. Feet brown. Head grey; base of ear behind a little darker ; hind neck dusky ; chin brown ; neck white in front and on sides, with two or three black gorgets, the anterior just behind the brown chin often wanting, the second well marked H2 100 across the throat, the third faint on the upper breast, but distinct on the side of the neck, where it runs forward to behind the ear. Dimensions. A large individual measured 37 inches from nose to the root of the tail ; tail 17'5 inches. Basal length of skull about 5 - 2 inches, zygomatic breadth 2*9. Distribution. Burma, Malay Peninsula, Cochin China, and Sumatra. Eecorded as far north as Prome. Halits. Similar to those of F. zibetha. This civet is said by Cantor to have from one to three young at a time. Viverra tanyalunga, Gray, inhabits Java, Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines, and, it Is said, Malacca, but this requires confirmation. The only other species of the genus is the African F. civetta. Genus VIVERRICTILA, Hodgson (1838). No erectile mane along the back ; nails sharper and more curved than in Viverra ; pollex and hallux shorter and more remote from the other toes, l^oot and toepads precisely as in Viverra. The build is slighter, the size much smaller, the muzzle finer, and the whole animal more adapted for arboreal and climbing habits. The anal and prescrotal glands are similar. In the skull there is, as a rule, no alisphenoid canal, although one is very rarely present. The anterior portion of the bulla in front of the constriction is much more swollen than in Viverra, so that the bulla looks considerably longer ; the paroccipital process, too, seldom projects at all from the hinder part of the bulla, being generally rounded off against it. The teeth are small, compressed, and sharp, the formula being the same as in Viverra. Vertebra : C. 7, D. 13, L. 7, S. 3, C. 25. The absence of an erectile mane, and the differences in the skull and structure of the feet, appear to justify the separation of the present genus, which resembles Viverra in its other characters. There is but a single species. 48. Viverricula malaccensis. The small Indian Civet. Viverra malaccensis, Gmcl. Syst. Nat. i. p. 92 (1788) ; Jerd. Mam. p. 122. Viverra indica, Geoffr., Desm. Nouv. Diet, vii, p. 170 (1817); Elliot, Mad. Journ. L. S. x, p. 102. Viverra bengalensis and V. pallida, Gray, Ifardwicke's III. Ind. Zool. i, pi. 4 ; ii, pi. " Viverra rasse, Horsf. Jies. Java, pi. ?, Ho> Cat. p. 4 p. 160 ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 55. Viverricula indica and V. rasse, Hodgson, A. M. N. H. i, p. 152 (1838). h, Cat. p. 45 ; Anderson, Zool. An. Res. Viverricula malaccensis, lih/Ui, Mashk-billa, Katds, II. ; Gnndha yokal, Gando gaula, B. ; Sot/of, Ho Kol ; Jomidi man/in; Mahr. ; Saiyar, Bag-myul, Nepal Terai ; Punaffin bcA; Can. ; Pi'mayn pilli, Tel. ; Uralawa, Cing. This animal is also called VIVEBBICULA. 101 Kasturi, a namo properly belonging to the musk-deer, in parts of India. Koung-ka-do, Burmese ; Wa-young-kyouny-byouk, Arakan. Tail tapering, about two thirds to three quarters the length of the head and body. Ears short and rounded. Fur harsh and rather coarse. Teats 6, ventral. Pupil vertical. In the skull the nasals are of moderate length, terminating posteriorly in front of a vertical plane passing through the ante- rior extremities of the orbits ; the occipital crest is greatly deve- loped. Bony palate extending back some distance behind the posterior molars. Mandible convex below. Colour. Brownish grey to pale yellowish brown, with usually several longitudinal black or brown bands on the back and longi- tudinal rows of spots on the sides. In some specimens both lines and spots are indistinct, and the dorsal bands are occasion- ally wanting ; but usually there are five or six distinct bands on the back and four or five rows of spots on each side. Neck- markings rather variable ; generally there are two dark stripes from behind the ear to the shoulders, and often a third in front, crossing the throat. A dusky mark behind each ear and one in front of each eye. The head grey or brownish grey ; chin often brown. Feet brown or black. Tail with alternating black and whitish rings, seven to nine of each colour. The underf ur brown or grey (often grey on the upper parts of the body and brown on the lower) ; coarser hairs with long grey, brown, or black terminations, the grey hairs on the upper parts often tipped with black. Dimension*. Head and body 21 to 23 inches, tail (including the hair at the end, which is about an inch long) 15 to 17, ear 1 to 1| long outside, height about 9 ; weight 5 to 6 Ibs. A male skull measures 3'75 inches in basal length, 1'75 in zygomatic breadth; another 4 by 1*8. Distribution. Throughout India, except in Sind, the Punjab, and the western parts of Bajputaua. A specimen was obtained by Mr. Adam at Sambhar. Also found in Ceylon, Assam, Burma, Southern China, the Malay Peninsula, Java, and some of the other Malay islands. This species likewise inhabits Socotra,the Comoro Islands, and Madagascar, but has probably been introduced, having been carried thither caged as a producer of civet. Habits. The small civet inhabits holes in the ground, or under rocks, or thick bush, but appears not to have been observed in forest, although it is said to climb well and to be distinctly arbo- real in its habits. It comes near human habitations, and has been met with taking refuge in drains and outhouses. It is frequently ' kept in confinement, and becomes perfectly tame. Jerdon states that he kept several, which caught rats, squirrels, and birds, and he adds that this species is kept by natives for the purpose of yielding civet. The food is varied, chiefly consisting of small animals, vertebrate and invertebrate, but partly of fruits and roots. Poultry are occasionally carried off by this civet. The female has usually four or five young at a birth. 102 VIVEEKID^E. Genus PRIONODON, Horsfield, 1823. Syn. Linsang, MUller, 1839. No dorsal mane. Form slender ; limbs short ; head and neck long; ears short, rounded; muzzle pointed; tail very long, cylin- drical. Claws perfectly retractile and sharp ; thumb and hallux near the other digits. There is on the inner proximal side a sup- plementary lobe to the central palmar and plantar pads, separated Fig. 24. Skull of Prionodon maculostts. from the other three lobes by hair in P. pardicolor, but not in the other species. Metatarsus and metacarpus hairy beneath. No pre- scrotal glands. Anal glands present. Fur soft. Female with four teats two ventral anteriorly situated, and two inguinal. Colour fulvous, with bold black spots or markings. Tail ringed. Dentition : i. |, c. ^j, pm. ^, m. ^ 5 * ne posterior upper molar of Viverra wanting. The teeth are sharp and compressed. Of this genus two species are found within our area, a third is Malay. AU appear to be carnivorous ; they may also, as suggested by Hodgson, live partly upon insects. An allied genus, Poiana, is the representative of Prionodon in Africa. /Synopsis of Indian and Burmese Species. A. Smaller ; head and body about 15 inches ; skull 2| to 2f ; back with longitudinal rows of large spots P. pardicolor, p. 103. B. Larger; head and body 18 to 20 inches, skull 3; back with broad transverse bands P. maculosus, p. 104. PKIONODON. 103 49. Prionodon pardicolor. The spotted Tiger-Civet. Prionodon pardicolor, Hock/son, Cole. Jburn. N. If. ii, p. 57, pi. i, figs. 3, (1842) ; viii, p. 40, pi. i ; Blyth, Cat. p. 46 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 124; Anderson, An. Zool Res. p. 166. Zik-chiiai, Bhot. ; Stiliyu, Lepcha. Fig. 25. Prionodon pardicolor. (From Hodgson's drawings.) Tail as long as the body and neck. Pupil round. Skull with the zygomatic arch slight. The constriction of the bulla is very marked. Colour. Fulvous (very pale brown), with large black spots above, whitish and unspotted below. Underfur slaty, tips of longer hairs buff or black. Head brown ; frequently a black spot behind each ear. Four bands down neck, two on each side, two broader above from behind ears to between shoulders, the others lower down and more broken into spots ; the two upper bands are con- tinued as rows of large rounded spots down the back, a row of smaller irregular spots intervening, and about three more rows of spots, square or round, diminishing in size below, down each side. The spots also form about six or seven transverse rows. Limbs near the body spotted outside ; feet pale brown, unspotted. Tail with about eight to ten dark rings separated from each other by the same number of pale rings, all passing right round the tail and subequal in breadth. Dimensions. Head and body 14 to 15 inches, tail 12 to 13, height 5 to 5| ; weight about a pound. Skull 2-5 inches long, 1-25 broad. Distribution. The south-eastern Himalayas, extending thence 10 i VIVEURID^5. eastward to Yunan, where it was obtained by Anderson. It is not rare in the interior of Sikhim, probably at moderate elevations. Habits. According to Hodgson, who had one example tame, this , very beautiful and graceful little animal is " equally at home on trees and on the ground ; it dwells and breeds in the hollows of decayed trees. It is not gregarious at all, and preys chiefly on small birds, which it is wont to pounce upon from the cover of the grass. The times of breeding are said to be February and August, and the litter to consist of two young, there being two litters each year." The tame specimen (a female) was " wonderfully docile and tractable, very sensitive to cold and very fond of being petted." It was fed on raw meat, and refused fish, eggs, and fruits. It never uttered any sound. The animal was perfectly free from any odour. 50. Prionodon maculosus. The Burmese Tiyer-Civet. Prionodon maculosus, W. Blanf. P. A. 8. B. 1878, p. 71 ; J.A. S. B. xlvii, pt. 2, p. 152, pis. vi, vii (1878) ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 66. Tail a little shorter than the head and body, cylindrical. Skull larger and more strongly built than that of the other species, but the anterior portion of the bulla is much less swollen than in P. pardicolor. The pterygoid fossae are very broad. Colour. Grey, with about six broad rather irregular transverse brownish-black bands across the back, much broader than the intervening pale stripes (or the back may be described as brownish black with six narrow pale bars across). The dark bands are broken up on the sides of the body, forming interrupted longitu- dinal dark stripes, one of which is conspicuous and runs across the shoulder to the side of the neck, and is continued by spots beneath the ear to the eye. A broader dark band down the upper part of the neck on each side from a little behind the ear to behind the shoulder, where it passes into the transverse bands ; between the two upper neck-bands are a few spots, as also*' on the fore neck, forming an imperfect gorget, and on the outside of the limbs. Lower parts and feet pale, unspotted. Nose dark brown mixed with grey ; head generally brownish grey, dark around the orbits and in front of them ; and two dark streaks running back from the eye, one to the crown, the other to join the lower neck-band. Ears dark behind. Tail with seven perfect blackish rings alternating with pale interspaces, which are much narrower. TJnderfur ashy grey. Dimensions. Head and body about 19 inches, tail 16 (without the hair at the end, which is less than an inch long), height at shoulder about 6, length of tarsus and hind foot 2*8, ear out- side 0-65. Basal length of skull 2-9, zygomatic breadth 1-5. Distribution. Tenasserim Provinces. One specimen was procured PAKA.DOXUBUS. 105 by Mr. Limborg east of Moulmein, a second by Mr. W. Davison at Baiikasun in Southern Tenasserim. Habits, Unknown ; probably similar to those of P. pardicolor. The only other species of the genus is that first described, P. gracilifi, a small form with nearly the coloration of P. maculosus, but a very different skull. This kind inhabits Java, Borneo, and, it is said, Sumatra. It was also reported from Malacca by Cantor (J. A. S. B. xv, p. 199) ; but, judging by the dimensions given, it is not improbable that the species obtained by him was P. macu- losus. Genus PARADOXURUS, F. Cuv., 1821. Syn. Paguma, Gray ; Platyschista, Otto. No mane. The naked soles of the feet are joined to the foot- pads (no hairy space intervening), and extend over considerably more than half the inferior surface of the carpus and tarsus. Claws small, sharp, retractile. Pupil vertical. Tail very long, not ringed in Indian species. All the species are nocturnal and arboreal. The food is mixed, partly animal, partly vegetable. Prescrotal and anal glands as in Viverra, except that the former discharge into a slight fold in- stead of a deep pouch, and that their secretion has little or no scent of civet. There is a well-marked tract devoid of hair, corre- sponding to the glands, in front of the scrotum in the male and around the genito-urinary orifice in the female. The secretion from the anal glands is in some forms singularly fetid *. Dentition : i. g, c. j^, pm. ^^, in. ^^ > as ^ n Viverra. The teeth vary much in development and somewhat in form, being large in some species and small in others. The bony palate extends back above the posterior nares in a few kinds only. The pterygoid fossa is broad. Vertebra : C. 7, D. 13, L. 7, S. 3, C. 29-36. The tail is not prehensile, but the animal appears to have the power of coiling it to some extent, and in caged specimens the coiled condition not unfrequently becomes confirmed and perma- nent. The name Paradoxarus was given by 1\ Cuvier to a speci- men with the tail thus coiled, as represented in the ' Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes,' pi. 186. Nothing of the kind, so far as I am aware, has been observed in wild examples, nor has any use of the tail for prehensile purposes been recorded. At the same time it should not be forgotten that, owing to the exclusively nocturnal habits of Paradoxuri, they are seldom seen in the wild state. * For a description of the glands see Hodgson, As. Res. six, p. 77 ; Turner. P. Z. S. 1849, p. 25 ; also Mivart, P. Z. S. 1882, pp. 1(53, 519. There is also an excellent account, with figures, by Otto, Acad. Cues. Leop. Nova Acta, xvii, p. 1095, pi. Ixiiii. 106 V1VJBHBIDJ3. I have described the history and synonymy of this genus in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society' for 1885, pp. 780-808. Synopsis of Indian, Ceylonese, and Burmese Species. A. Bony palate not extending a quarter of an inch behind the last upper molars. a. Vibrissse black, a few of the lowest some- times white near the base only ; dorsal fur often long and ragged, with long black tips. a. Back unstriped ; no pale band across forehead P. niger, p. 106. b. Back generally striped ; a pale band across forehead P. hermaphroditus, p. 108. b. Vibrissae dark brown ; general colour the same P.jerdoni, p. 111. c. Vibrissaj rufous ; general colour dull rusty red P. aureus, p. 1 10. B. Bony palate extending more than half an inch behind the last upper molars; vibrissae white P. yrayi, p. 112. 51. Paradoxurus niger. The Indian Palm-Civet. Viverra nigra, Desm. Mam. p. 208 (1820). Viverra bondar, De Blainv. ibid. p. 210 (1820). Paradoxurus typus, F. Cm. Hist. Nut. Mamm. pi. 186 (1821) ; Elliot, Mad. Jour. L. S. x, p. 103 ; Kelaart, Prod. p. 38 (1852). Paradoxurus typus, P. pennantii, and P. bondar, Gray, P. Z. S. 1832, pp. 65, 66. Platyschista pallasii, Otto, Acad. Cces. Leap. Nova Acta, xvii, p. 1089, pis. Ixxii, Ixxiii (1835). Paradoxurus birsutus, Hodgs. As. Res. xix, p. 72 (1836). Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 532 (nee Viverra hermaphrodita, Pallas). Paradoxurus musanga, partim, et P. bondar, Jerdon, Mam. pp. 125, 128. Paradoxurus niger, W. Blanf. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 792 : Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 55. Lakdti, Chingdr (vulgarly Khatds and Jhdr-ka-Kutta), II. ; Menuri, Dakhani ; Sham, Bhotidar, Bengali ; Machabba, Malwa, Nepal Terai ; Togot, in Singhbhiim ; Ud, Mahr. ; Kera-bek, Canarese ; Maru-pilli, Veruvu, Tarn. ; Manu-pilli, Tel. ; Marrapilli, Mai. ; Ugudora, Cing. ; Toddy Cat of Europeans in many parts. Tail nearly or quite as long as the head and body, well clad with hair, slender, tapering very slightly. Fur coarse and often long, some piles, especially on the back, long and ragged; underfur short or wanting. Ventral mammae usually six (sometimes four, according to Hodgson). In the skull the bony palate extends but little, not more usually than about one eighth of an inch, behind a line drawn through the hinder edges of the posterior molars. Muzzle produced and PABADOXUBUS. 107 narrow, but varying in length. Upper sectorial tooth narrow, the inner lobe small and at the distal extremity of the tooth ; the Fig. 26. Half palate of Paradoxurus niger. (P. Z. S. 1885, p. 793.) inner margin of the tooth between the inner and hinder lobe distinctly concave. Colour. Blackish grey to brownish grey. The fur in general long, and with long ragged coarse black tips ; but these are, of course, much more developed in the cold season. Underfur, when present, ashy or brownish ; the longer hairs, beyond the underfur, pale grey with long black tips. As a rule there are no stripes on the back, but indistinct dark bands and rows of spots are sometimes seen, especially in young specimens. Feet and the greater part of the legs, with the terminal portion (frequently more than half) of the tail, black. The tip of the tail is sometimes white, and indi- viduals with the feet or other parts of the body white are occa- sionally found. Head-markings variable ; face generally black or blackish, with a distinct white or grey spot below the eye, another (generally) on each side of the nose amongst the vibrissae, and often another above the eye. There is not, however, in this spe- cies, as usually there is in the next, a distinct whitish band across the forehead. Vibrissae black ; occasionally, but rarely, a few of the lower are whitish or white towards the base. Dimensions. Males are larger than females. A male measured : head and body 22-5 inches, tail 19-5 ; a female 20 and 17'5. In another female both were about 18 inches long. An adult female skull measures 3-9 inches in basal length, 2-3 broad; a male 4-15 by 2'35 ; another, very large (from Nepal), 4-4 by 2'55. Distribution. Throughout the peninsula of India, from the foot of the Himalayas, and Ceylon, wherever there are trees ; equally common in the wildest forest and about human habitations. It is 108 not found in the Punjab and Sind, and is rare in the bare parts of the North-west Provinces and the Bombay Deccan. Common in Upper Bengal, Southern India, and the West coast. Varieties. Southern Indian and Ceylonese skins are blacker than those from Northern India ; but I can find no other distinction between the typical P. niyer (P. typus of many writers) and the form usually known as P. bandar, which is not nearly so yellow as Hodgson's description would lead a reader to suppose. Jerdon's description is manifestly taken from Hodgson's, and neither Blyth nor Jerdon had seen Hodgson's specimens. The Viverra bondar of De Blainville was founded on a drawing in Buchanan Hamilton's collection, preserved in the India Office Library. This drawing certainly represents, I think, the common Indian palm-civet. Habits. The common palm-civet, tree-cat, or toddy-cat, is a familiar animal in most parts of India, though, being thoroughly nocturnal in its habits, it is but rarely seen in the daytime. It is arboreal, passing the day generally in trees, either coiled up in the branches, or in a hole in the trunk, and in places where cocoa- nut palms are common it frequently selects one of them for a residence. Mango-groves are also a favourite resort. It not un- frequently takes up its abode in the thatched roofs of houses ; Jerdon found a large colony established amongst the rafters of his own house in Tellicherry. It is also found in dry drains and out- houses. It even occurs in large towns ; I have known of one being caught in the middle of Calcutta. It is common in forest, and its presence may be detected, as Tickell observes in his MS. notes, by its droppings, rather smaller than a cat's, and always deposited on the top of the trunks of large fallen or felled trees. The food of P. niyer consists partly of small mammals, lizards, and snakes, birds and their eggs, and insects ; partly of fruit and vegetables. This animal at times is very destructive to poultry ; it is also said to do mischief in vegetable gardens. Throughout Southern India and Ceylon it is said to have an especial fondness for palm-juice or toddy, whence its popular name of toddy-cat. In confinement it will eat cooked food of almost any kind, boiled rice, vegetables, &c. The palm-civet breeds in holes of trees, and has from four to six young. When taken young this animal is easily tamed. 52. Paradoxurus hermaphroditus. The Malayan Palnir-Civet. Viverra bermaphrodita, Pallas, Schreber, Siiufleth. iii, p. 420 (1778). Viverra musanga, Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii, p. 252 (1822). Paradoxurus prebensilis, P. musanga, P. dubius, P. bermapbroditus, P. pallasii, P. crossii, and P. tinlaysonii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1832, pp. 05-68. Paradoxurus quinquelineatus and P. musangoides, Gray, Charh-s- wortKsMag. N. H. i, p. 579 (1837). Paradoxurus hirsutus, Hodgs. As. Res. xix, p. 72 (1836). Paradoxurus nigrifrons, Gray, List Sp. Mainm. B. M. p. 55 (1843), no description ; id. P. Z. 8. 1804, p. 535. PAKADOXURUS. 109 Paradoxurus strictus and P. quadriscriptus, Hodf/x. A. M. N. If. ser. 2, xvi, pp. 105, 106 ; id. P.Z. S. 1856, p. 396, pis. xlvii, xlviii. Paradoxurus fasciatus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 536, nee Viverra fasciata, Desm. Paradoxurus musanga, Jerdon, Mam. p. 125, partim ; Blyth, Mam. Birds Ihtrma, p. 26. Paradoxurus hermaphroditic, W. Blanf. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 794 ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 67. HJiondar, Bdffhddnkh, Beng.; Kyoung-won-bailt, Kyoung-na-ga,~Qwcm. ; Khabbo-palainrj , Talain ; Sapo-mi-aing, Karen : Miisang, or Musaitfj Pdndtm, Malay. Fig. 27. Paradoxurus hermaphroditus. (From a drawing by Colonel Tickell ; position slightly altered.) Structure generally much as in the last.* Tail more than three quarters the length of the head and body. Fur as a rule not so long and ragged as in P. niger. Muzzle shorter ; upper sectorial and molars larger, the former with a large inner lobe, and with the margin from the inner to the hinder lobe nearly or quite straight. Colour. Brownish grey, sometimes ashy. TJnderfur, when pre- sent, brownish, the longer hairs light brown or grey, occasionally with black tips. The back is generally more or less distinctly striped longitudinally, most distinctly when the fur is short, the number of stripes varying and the lateral bands often replaced by rows of spots. Feet and terminal portion of tail (often one haif or more) black; tail-tip sometimes white. Usually there, is a distinct broad pale or whitish band across the forehead and in front of the ears, and as a rule this band is not crossed by black streaks, but sometimes there is a longitudinal black line in the middle and another running back from each eye. Generally a white or whitish spot occurs below the eye, and this spot some- times is joined to the frontal band. The muzzle, including the eyes, the top of the head, with the ears and sides of the neck, are ]10 VIVEEKID^E. black or dark brown. The markings, however, are very variable, and occasionally either the dorsal striping or the pale frontal band is wanting ; but as a rule one or the other is distinct, and serves to distinguish this from the last species. Vibrissae black, the lowest occasionally white near the base. Dimensions. About the same as in P. niger. Head and body 20 to 25 inches, tail 16 to 20. A male skull from Burma measures 3-8 inches in basal length ; 2-45 in zygomatic breadth. Fig. 28. Half palate of Paradoxurus hermaphroditits. (P. Z. S. 1885, p. 796.) Distribution. Throughout the countries east of the Bay of Bengal Burma, Siain, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo. In Lower Bengal and at the base of the Himalayas, in Sikhim and in Assam, many of the Paradoxuri appear to belong to this species or to be intermediate between it and P. niger. Habits. Precisely the same as those of P. niger. This species has been united to the last by Blyth and Jerdon, and unquestionably the two pass into each other, so that it is a mere question of convenience whether they are called species or races. As a rule the Eastern form is distinguished both by having stripes on the back and a distinct frontal band, and by its larger and differently shaped upper sectorial teeth ; and as the difference is considerable, and each form fairly constant over an immense tract of country, I think it better to use different names for the two. 53. Paradoxurns aureus. The Ceylonese Palm-Civet. Paradoxurus aureus, F. Cuv. Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. ix, p. 48. pi. 4 (1822) ; W. Stanford, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 802, pi. 1. PAKADOXURUS. Ill Paradoxurus zeylanicus, Kelaart, Prod. p. 39 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 531; Blyth, J. A. S. B. xx, pp. 161, 184; id.' Cat. p. 47; nee Viverra zeylonensis, Pallas, nee V. zeylanica, Gmelin. Paradoxurus montanus, Kelaart, apud Blyth, J. A. S. B. xx,pp. 161, 184; id. Prod. p. 40. Kula-wedda, Cingalese. Tail about four fifths the length of the head and body. Fur moderately soft and thick, of uniform length, with but little woolly underfur. Mammae four. Skull very similar to that of P. hermaphroditus ; the upper sec- torial tooth is larger than in the Indian form (P. niger), the inner lobe being very well developed. The anterior upper true molar also is broader inside, being sometimes nearly rectangular. Colour. Uniform dull rusty red or dull chestnut, passing, how- ever, in some specimens into a darker and browner shade. The fur and underfur are of nearly the same shade throughout ; no black tips to the hairs. Faint longitudinal dorsal streaks may be detected on many specimens. A \vhite subterminal band is occa- sionally found on the tail. Vibrissae whitish in dried skins, pro- bably rufous in fresh specimens. Dimensions. A fully grown female, according to Kelaart, measured : head and body 19 inches, tail 15-5, height 8. Males are probably larger. A skull measures 3'85 inches in basal length, and 2-35 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. The island of Ceylon, apparently generally distri- buted, the darker specimens being from a considerable elevation. Habits. According to Kelaart, this species is less carnivorous than P. hermaphrodites, specimens obtained near Newera Ellia having fed entirely on the fruit of Phi/sails peruviana or Cape gooseberry (the Tipdri of Bengal). In other respects the habits of the two are precisely similar. 54. Paradoxurus jerdoni. The broivn Palm-Civet. Paradoxurus jerdoni, W. Blanf. P. Z. S. 1885, pp. 013, 802, pi. xlix : 1886, p. 420. Kdrt-nai (forest-dog), Mai. General structure apparently as in P. hermaphroditus, except that the fur is of uniform length. "Woolly underfur but little developed. Skull distinguished from that of all other species by the great length of the anterior palatine foramina, which, in the only speci- men examined, are over 0-4 inch long -and extend back as far as the hinder edges of the anterior pair of upper premolars. Teeth larger than in ordinary specimens of P. hermaphroditus. Colour. Rich deep brown on head, shoulders, and limbs, back and sides the same but grizzled. Tail brown, tip often white. Fur and underfur brown, except a long subterminal grey ring on the longer hairs of the back and sides. Vibrissse dark brown. 112 Dimensions. Approximately the same as those of P. zeyloncnsis. Adult skull 4-2 inches long from occipital condyles, 2-5 wide across zygomatic arches. Distribution. Only known with certainty from the Palni hills in Madura, and the Nilgiris. but probably inhabiting all the higher ranges of Cochin and Travancore. Habits. Not known. 55. Paradoxuius grayi. The Himalayan Palm-Civet. Paradoxurus grayi, Bennett, P. Z. 8. 1835, p. 118; Jerdon, Mum. p. 128 ; Slyth, Mam. Birds Surma, p. 26 ; W. Blanf. P. Z. 8. 1885, p. 803. Paradoxurus nipalensis, Hodgson, As. Res. xix. p. 76 (1836). Paradoxurus tytlerii, Tytler, J. A. S. li. xxxiii, p. 188 (1864). Fig. 29. Half palate of Paradoxurus grayi. (P. Z. S. 1885, p. 804.) Tail about the same length as the head and body. Fur varying in length, but much more uniform throughout the body, less harsh and more woolly than in P. Tiermaphroditus ; woolly underfur fre- quently well developed. Mammae 4. In the skull the constriction behind the postorbital processes is much less than in the preceding species. The bony palate runs back above the posterior nares for 0*4 to 0-5 inch behind the hindmost molars, and is deeply concave at the end. The teeth are smaller than in P. Jiermaphroditus the inner lobe of the upper sectorial less developed, and the first upper true molar mo;re trian- gular. In old individuals the teeth, the molars especially, are much worn down. PARADOXl'RUS. 113 Colour. Grey throughout, without markings on the body, the lower parts paler and whitish. Underfur brownish grey or dusky, paler towards the base, longer hairs whitish grey towards the end, the tips on the upper parts black. Frequently, though not always, the terminal half of the tail is dusky or blackish ; feet usually brown. Head, including ears and chin, brown or blackish, with the exception of the forehead, a broad band beneath each ear, a narrower line down the nose, and a blotch or spot below each eye, where white hairs are conspicuously intermixed, but there is some variation in their proportion and distribution. Vibrissae (whiskers) mostly white, some of the uppermost black. Some specimens have a yellowish or brownish tinge, especially on the rump, thighs, and base of the tail. Dimensions. Head and body 24 to 25 inches, tail with hair at the end about the same; weight 9 to 10 Ibs. A very old skull measures 4-4 inches in basal length, 2-7 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. Throughout the Eastern Himalayas in Assam, Sikhim, and Nepal, and as far west as Simla, whence a specimen was obtained by Mr. Hume. Surgeon-General L. C. Stewart in- forms me he shot an individual near Landour, at an elevation of 7500 feet. This species also occurs in Arakan and the Andaman Islands, but not I believe in the Peninsula of India, some reported occurrences being probably due to mistaken identification. Varieties. Some skins in the British Museum sent by Mr. Hodgson have short woolly fur, and are of a yellowish-brown colour. I believe them to be either a variety of P. grayi or perhaps dyed skins. The thinness and shortness of the fur show that the specimens were derived from a warm region, probably from near the base of the Himalayas. I have similar skins from Sikhim. The skull from one of Mr. Hodgson's skins is precisely similar to those of P. grayi. The Andaman form P. tytleri is slightly smaller in size, but does not appear otherwise to differ. The head and body, according to the describer, measured 21 inches, tail 20 ; a stuffed skin in the British Museum is a little larger. The skull from the latter is 4*45 inches long, 2*65 broad. Habits. We are indebted almost entirely to Mr. Hodgson's re- searches for a knowledge of this animal's habits. It is more fru- givorous than the common palm-civet, but, like that species, feeds partly on animal, partly on vegetable food, and captures birds and small mammals. It lives and breeds in holes of trees, four young having been found on one occasion, and it inhabits mountain forests. In the Andaman Islands the smaller variety is said to do much havoc amongst pine-apples. This species appears to be eavsily tamed. A tame individual kept by Hodgson was " very cleanly, and its body emitted no un- pleasant smell, though, when it was irritated, it exhaled a most fetid stench, caused by the discharge of a thin yellow fluid from four pores, two of which are placed on each side of the anal aper- ture," the orifices, in short, of the anal glands. McMaster in his ' Notes on Jerdon,' p. 37, relates how his servants and dogs were i 114 baffled in their endeavour to capture an animal, which he suggests may have been this species, at Russellkonda in the Northern Circars, by the singularly fetid fluid discharged by the creature. It is very possible, however, that the common palm-civet may have the same power as P. grayi of making itself obnoxious. The tail was coiled, as it sometimes is in the common ludian palm-civet, in the original type of this species, a caged specimen. Nearly allied to P. yrayi is a still larger form, P. leucowystax, reddish brown in colour, with the head, except on the muzzle, paler. This is found in Malacca and the Malay Archipelago, and may possibly occur in Tenasserim *. P. rubidus, Blyth, J. A. !3. B. xxvii, p. 275, is probably a variety of the same species. Another form, considerably smaller than P. grayi, inhabits China, and was named P. larvata from the distinct head-markings. Both these species have the same prolonged bony palate as P. grayi) and all three externally resemble each other by their con- spicuous white vibrissa?. By Gray they were distinguished as a genus, which he called Payuma. The nature and affinities of the animal called Paradoxurus la-nig er (As. Ees. xix. p. 79) by Hodgson are as obscure as its habitat. It is not quite certain that the only skin known, which is without a skull and in very indifferent condition, belongs to this genus ; and it is questionable whether this specimen was obtained within the limits accepted in the present work. The following brief descrip- tion may enable the form to be recognized if rediscovered. The fur consists of very thick woolly hair, without longer piles. The tail is thick at the base and tapers rapidly, it is but little more than half the length of the head and body. The soles of the feet are naked, but the toe-pads are almost surrounded by hair. There is a naked area in front of the anus. The colour is rather light rufescent brown (or greyish fawn), the hair grey at the base, light brown towards the tips, no black tips anywhere ; the tail nearly the same colour throughout. The head has lost almost all its hairs. This skin was said to be from Tingri, Tibet, and evidently belonged to an animal inhabiting a cold climate (see P. Z. S. 1885, p. 807). Genus ARCTOGALE, Peters, 1864. All the teeth, except the canines, very small ; those in the molar series scarcely or not in contact. The upper sectorial much rounded, the inner lobe median in position, not anterior. Palate frequently convex longitudinally between the upper sectorial teeth, the posterior portion sloping upward, and greatly pro- duced above the posterior nares, the sides of which are arched towards each other ; mesopterygoid fossa excessively narrow, less than half the breadth of the palate between the upper sectorial teeth. No pterygoid fossa. * There was in 1877 a specimen in (he Zoological Gardens, Calcutta, pre- sented by Mr. Eivers Thompson, and said to have been brought from the Karen Hills, Burma. AUGTOGALE. 115 There is no bald space in front of the scrotum or around the genital orifice ; hence it is probable that the prescrotal glands, if they exist, are ill-developed. The soles are naked to a greater ex- tent than in Paradoxurus, and the first digit on both fore and hind feet is more remote from the others. In other respects the two genera are similar. 56. Arctogale lencotis. The small-tootlied Palm-Civet. Paguma trivirgata, Gray, List Sp. Mam. B. M. 1843, p. 55 ; Cantor, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 201 (nee Paradoxurus trivirgatus, Gray, 1832). Paradoxurus leucotis, Blyth, Hortf. Cat. p. 66 (1851) ; id. J. A. S. B. xxvii, p. 274 ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 26. Paradoxurus prehensilis, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 681, pi. Ixxi, nee Viverra prehensilis, Blainv. Arctogale trivirgata, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 543 ; Mivart, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 163, tigs. 8 & 9. Arctogale leucotis, W. Blanf. P. Z. S. 1885, p. 789. Kyoung-na-rwek-phyu, Arakan; Kyoung-na-ga, Tenasserini ; Musdny- dkar, Malay. Fig. 30. Arctogale leucotis. (P. Z. S. 1877, pi. Tail about the same length as the head and body. Fur short, of uniform length, not harsh. Skull narrow and elongate. Post-orbital processes long, zygo- 116 VIVERKIDjF.. matic arches weak. The bony palate extends more than half an inch behind the last upper molars. Colour. Fulvous grey (whity-browii) to dusky grey, or occasion- ally brown above, much paler below. Fur in pale specimens some- times grey throughout ; in darker skins brown near the base, then grey, tipped on the back with dark brown or black. Along the Fig. 31. Half cranium (A) and mandible (B) of Arctogale leucotis, nat. size. a, anterior opening of alispbenoid canal ; o, foramen ovule ; c, carotid canal (compare fig. 15, p. 51, ante). (Mivart, P. Z. S. 1882.) back run three longitudinal dark bands, either continuous or broken into spots ; sometimes these bands are indistinct or wanting, but generally they are well marked. The head above, including the crown and ears, usually darker, often ashy or black ; a narrow white line generally runs down the middle of the forehead and nose, or paH of the distance. In Burmese specimens the tips of the ears are often whitish. Whiskers dark brown. Sides of neck pale, like the tower parts. Feet and terminal portion of tail brown or black. Dimensions. Head and body of a large male 26-5 inches, tail 27. Skull 4 inches in basal length, 2'3 in zygomatic breadth. ARCTICT1S. 117 Distribution. This well-marked form is found east of the Bay of Bengal, from Sylhet, and, according to Sterndale, Assam, through Arakan and Tenasserim to Malacca, Sumatra, and Java. Said by Mason to be common in Tenasserim. Habits. Nothing particular recorded. When taken young A. Imcotis is easily domesticated. Tickell and, probably, Mason mistook the Tenasserim form of P. Itermaphroditus for this species. The type of Blyth's Pcmtdoxumis leucotis, that originally described by Horstield, is now in the British Museum, and is a young and pale specimen of the present form. Hemiyale liardwickd (Paradoonirus derbynnus), a Malayan animal allied to Paradoxuru-s, and formerly referred to that genus, is dis- tinguished by having the soles of the feet naked to a much smaller extent, though more than in Viverra or Prionodon, and by its den- tition. The coloration -is very peculiar, pale brownish grey, with a variable number (usually 5 or (j) of broad, dark transverse bands on the back, longitudinal stripes on the nape, and rings on the basal portion of the tail. This animal ranges from the Malay Peninsula to Borneo. Genus ARCTICTIS, Temminck, 1824. Syn. Ictidcs, Valenciennes. Tail long and truly prehensile. Ears short, tufted. Feet thoroughly plantigrade, the whole hinder surface of tarsus and Fig. 32. Skull of Arctidls binturong. metatarsus being naked. Claws short, half retractile, compressed, slightly curved. Fur coarse and long. Pupil vertical. Large pivscrotal glands opening into a deep fold. 118 . VIVERRJD^E. Dentition: i. ?, c: ~ lt pm. Q, m. |=|; four lower premolars sometimes occur, and the last upper molar is often wanting. Canines large, compressed, very sharp behind, concave externally in front of posterior edge. Molars small, rounded ; both they and the incisors are slightly separate from each other. Vertebrae : C. 7, D. 13-14, L. 6-7, S. 3, C. 34. Only a single species is known. A good account of the anatomy is given by Garrod, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 196, and 1878, p. 142. Flower and Mivart have confirmed the view adopted by Blyth and Jerdon, that the genus is closely allied to Paradoxurus. 57. Arctictis binturong. The Bear-cat, or Binturong. Viverra ? binturong 1 , Raffles, Linn. Trans, xiii, p. 253. Arctictis biuturong, Temm. Mon. Mamm. ii. p.3U8 ; Cantor, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 192 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 49 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 130 ; Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 26. Young, Assamese: Myottk-kt/d (Monkey-tiger), Burmese; Untarong, Malay. Tail nearly as long as the head and body, very thick at the base, clothed with bristly, long, straggling hairs, longer than those of the body. Fur coarse and long, some piles longer than the rest of the fur, especially on the back. In the skull the bony palate runs back for a considerable distance above the posterior nares. No pterygoid Fig. 33. Arctictis binturong. Colour. Black, more or less grizzled on the head and outside of the fore limbs, and sometimes throughout the body. Fur and under- fur either black throughout or brown at the base. On the head and outside of the fore limbs, and often on the back, there is a sub- terminal grey or rufous-grey ring on the longer hairs. In young IIERPESTES. 119 specimens there are long grey or rufous tips to the fur. The ears have a white border, but the tufts are black. Dimensions. Head and body 23 to 33 inches, tail 26 to 27. An adult female skull measures 4-95 inches in basal length, and 2-95 in breadth across the zygomatic arches. Distribution. From Assam, throughout Arakan, Tenasssrim, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra and Java. The reports of this animal's occurrence in the Himalayas are of doubtful accuracy. Habits. Like the Paradoxuri, Arctictis is omnivorous, living on small mammals, birds, fishes, earthworms, insects, and fruits ; it is also nocturnal and arboreal, its power of climbing about trees being much aided by its prehensile tail. It is rather slow in its move- ments. Its ability to suspend itself by its tail has been questioned, but Blyth has shown (J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 864) that the young at all events can support itself by the extremity of the tail alone. Blyth also remarks that it is the only known placental mammal with a truly prehensile tail in the Old World. This species inhabits wild forests, and, owing to its nocturnal and retiring habits, is seldom, seen ; it is said, however, to have a loud howl. It is naturally fierce, but when taken young is easily tamed, and becomes very gentle and playful. Of its breeding nothing appears to be known. The only remaining member of the Viverrince found in South- eastern Asia that requires notice here is Cynoyale binnetti, a re- markable aquatic type, somewhat resembling an otter in form. It is of a red-brown colour, with the feet webbed, and rather less naked b3neath than in Paradoxurus, and a short tail. The teeth have long and sharp cusps, adapted for capturing fish, on which it lives. It is found in the Malay Peninsula (J. A. S. B. xv, p. 203), Sumatra, and Borneo. Subfamily HERPESTIN^E. Besides the characters already enumerated, most of the members of this subfamily present the peculiarity of the anus opening into a sac-like depression ; but this character is ill-marked or absent in some of the common Indian species. There are several genera in- cluded, but all except one are peculiar to Africa or Madagascar. The only generic type within the Indian area is fferpestes, the various subdivisions, such as Urva, Tceniogale, &c., raised to generic rank by Hodgson, Gray, and others, not being distinguished by characters of more than specific importance. Genus HERPESTES, Eliger, 1811. Syn. Mangitsta, Olivier ?; Ichneumon, Lacp. n?c L. ; Mungos, Ogilby ; Urea, Mesobema, Hodgson; Osmctectis, Caloyale, Galerella, Ca- lictis, Tceniogale, Onychoyale, Gray. Body long and slender, limbs short, muzzle pointed. Ears very short and rounded. Tail, in most species, long and conical, being 120 YIYEKU1D.E. generally thick at the base, and covered with long hair. The feet are plantigrade, the extent to which the under surfaces of the tarsus and carpus are naked varying in different species, extending in some to the heel in the hind feet, whilst in others the proximal portion of the tarsus is hairy below. The fur is coarse, and the longer hairs ringed or annulated, that is marked with alternating dark and pale spaces. Toes five on all feet. Mamma; usually 3 pairs, but occasionally 2. In several species, and probably in all, there are anal glands. Dentition : i. ^, c. j^j, p. ^, m. |j^. Teeth of the molar series \\ith strong, sharply-pointed cusps. Vertebra): C. 7, D. 13, L. 7, S. 3, C. 21-29. The bony orbits in the skull are, as a rule, com- plete in adults, in which there is a considerable contraction in the Fig. 84. Skull of Herpestes vitticolli*. breadth of the cranium behind the long postorbital processes. This is much less conspicuous in young skulls. The brain-case behind the postorbital process is very long, when compared with the muzzle. The bony palate is continued above the posterior nares for a long distance behind the molars ; the pterygoid bones are very short, and there is no true pterygoid fossa, the pterygoid process of the alisphenoid forming a short, broad fossa that termi- nates posteriorly just at the posterior opening of the alisphenoid canal, close to the anterior extremity of the pterygoid itself. Some of the species of this genus are African, one, H. ichneumon, extending to Spain ; others are Indian. The African have been recently revised by Mr. Oldfield Thomas (P. Z. 8. 1882, p. 64) ; the Oriental by Dr. Anderson, in his 'Anatomical and Zoological He-searches.' I entirely agree with the latter in his generic views; HEKPESTES. 121 but 1 am induced to carry the reduction of the number of species a little further than he does. The Mungooses are terrestrial animals, seeking their prey on the ground, and very rarely climbing trees. They are active, bold, and predaceous,.and live on small animals, mammals, birds, and reptiles, insects and eggs, occasionally eating fruit. They are deadly enemies to snakes, as described under H. mungo. They live in holes in the ground, hollow trees, and similar places. When angry or excited, they erect their long hairs, and especially those of the tail. Synopsis of Indian, Ceylmese, and Burmese Species. A. No neck-stripe nor black tail-tip. a. Fur close and short, longer hairs of back with 4 or 5 rings of colour : size small. a'. Tarsus and hind foot without claws, under 2 inches long H. auroptmctatirs,ip. 121. b'. Tarsus and hind foot without claws, more than 2 inches H. birmanicus, p. 122. b. Fur longer, long hairs of back with more than 5 rings ; size larger. a'. Naked sole extending to heel. Colour grey or rufous H. munyo, p. 123. b'. Naked sole not extending to heel. a". Size large ; tarsus and hind foot about 3 inches. Colour dark brown griz- zled H.fmcus, p. 127. b". Size smaller ; tarsus and hind foot under 2-7 inches. Colour dark brown or rufous H.fulvescens, p. 127. B. A black tail-tip, no neck-stripe H. smithi, p. 126. C. A black tail-tip and black neck-stripe .... H. vitticollis, p. 128. D. No black tail-tip, a white r.eck-stripe H. urva, p. 129. 58. Herpestes anropunctatus. The small Indian Murtyoose. Mangusta auropunctata, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. v, p. 235 (1836). Herpestes nipalensis, Gray, Charlesworth' s May. N. H. \, p. 578 (1837) ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 136. Herpestes pallipes, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 346 (1845) ; xv, p. 1C9, Herpestes persicus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 554 ; W. Blanf. P. Z. 8. 1874, p. 662 ; Anderson, An. Zool. lies. p. 174. Herpestes auropunctatus, Anderson, ibid. p. 172. Mush-i-Khourmu, Persian ; Nid, Kashmir. Size small. Fur short, even, close, moderately harsh, that of the tail considerably longer than that of the body. Tail, without hairs at end, about three quarters the length of the head and body. Naked sole not extending to the heel. in the skull the pterygoid bones are not parallel, but diverge slightly behind. Colour. Varying from light grey to dusky brown, minutely speckled with white or yellow. Lower parts paler and more uni- 122 VIVEBRIDJE. form, or in western varieties white, and without any annulation on the hair. Dorsal fur brown at the base, then for some distance pale brownish grey or yellow, the longer hairs beyond this are blackish brown, then very pale brown or white, and, in some cases, tipped dark. Hairs of the tail with 5 to 7 alternations of pale and dark. There is some difference in the extent to which the pale and dark rings are developed ; in very dark specimens the pale rings are greatly reduced in size and vice versa. Dimensions. Head and body 10 to 12 inches, tail, without hair at end, 7 to 10, tarsus and hind foot without claws 1-7 to 1'9 ; weight of a large male 18 ounces. A male skull measures 2*3 inches in basal length, 1'15 broad across zygomata. Distribution. Throughout Northern India, being found in the lower Himalayas from Sikhirn to Kashmir, in the North-west Pro- vinces, Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan, South Afghanistan, and Southern Persia. To the eastward common in Lower Bengal about Calcutta, and found at Midnapur, but not recorded further south in the Peninsula. This species is found at Chittagong, and ranges through Cachar aud Assam to Upper Burma, where it was procured by Anderson at Bhamo. Tt has not been found in Ai'akan, Pegu, or Tenasserim, but a single specimen, possibly imported, was obtained by Cantor in the Malay Peninsula. This is now in the British Museum, and is undistinguishable from Indian specimens. Varieties. The Western form, found in Sind, Baluchistan, and Southern Persia, is very much paler and greyer in colour than Bengal and Himalayan skins usually are, and was distinguished bv Blyth as If. pallipes, and by Gray subsequently as //. persicus. This was formerly classed separately by Anderson and myself. As, however, every intermediate gradation in colour can be found, I do not think the distinction can be maintained. The pterygoids in the skull of the pale-coloured variety are closer together anteriorly, and diverge more behind ; but I can find no other difference, the discrepancies in breadth of the skull noticed by Anderson not being constant. Habits. Nothing particular appears to have been recorded about this form, which is an active, inquisitive little animal, frequently seen in the daytime about bushes, hedgerows, and cultivated fields. The habits, so far as known, resemble those of H. munyo. 59. Herpestes birmanicns. The small Burmese Mungoose. Herpestes auropunctatus birmanicus, Thomas. A.M. N. H. ser. 5, xvii. p. 84 (1886) ; id. P. Z. S. 1886, p. 58. Size larger than that of H. auropimctatus, which this species re- sembles in the short, even fur and in structure generally. In the skull, the termination of the bony palate above the posterior nares is concave, and the pterygoids do not diverge. Colour. Dark brown, minutely speckled with grey or yellowish grey throughout, lower parts very little paler than upper. Under- HEBPESTES. 123 fur dark brown at the base, then whitish, the longer hairs beyond this on the back are black, then comes a yellowish ring, and the tip is black. The black tips are only found on the upper parts. On the tail-hairs the alternations of colour are more numerous. Dimensions. Skins measure : head and body about 14 or 15 inches, tail with hair 9 or 10, tarsus and hind foot 2 - 2. No measurements of fresh specimens are available. The skull of a male is 2*6 inches long to the back of the occipital condyles, 1-32 broad across the zygomatic arches. Distribution. There are in the British Museum two specimens from Burma, one collected by Captain "Wardlaw Eamsay, the other obtained by Mr. Gates in Pegu : a third specimen was collected by Mr. Hume in Manipur. I have also a skin from Cachar. This species probably replaces If. auropunctatus in Burma and some of the other countries east of the Bay of Bengal. 60. Herpestes mimgo. The common Indian Munyoose. Viverra mungo, Gmel Syst. Nat. i, p. 84 (1788). Herpestes frederici, Desm. Diet. Sc. Nat. xxix, p. 60 (1823). Herpestes malaccensis, Fischer, Syn. Mam. p. 164 (1829) ; Blyth, Cat. p. 51 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 134. Mangusta (Herpestes) nyula, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. v, p. 236 (1836). Mangusta mungos, Elliot, Mad. Jour. L. S. x, p. 102. Herpestes pallidus, Wagner, Schreb. Saugeth. Supp. ii, p. 311, pi. cxvi G ; Anderson, An. Zool. J?es. p. 181. Herpestes griseus, Kelaart, Prod. p. 41 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 51 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 132; Stoliczka, J. A. S. B. xli, pt. 2,. p. 227 ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 56, note ; nee Ichneumon griseus, Geoffr. Herpestes ferrugineus, W. Blanf. P. Z. S. 1874, p. 661, pi. Ixxxi. Herpestes andersoni, Murray, Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 34 (1884) . Herpestes mungo, W. Blanf. P. Z. S. 1887, p. 631. Neical, Newala, Nyul, or Newar, Dhor, Rasu, H. ; Mangm, in the Beccan and Southern India; Binf/uidaro, Sarambumbui, Ho Kol ; Koral, Gond. ; Munyli, Can. ; Mangisu, Yentawa, Tel. ; Kiri or Kiripilai, Tam. ; Kiri, Mai. ; Mugatea, Cing. Hair long and somewhat ragged. Tail, without hair, a little shorter than the head and body. Tarsus naked to the heel, the hinder part of the naked sole narrow. In adult skulls the orbit is complete behind. The bony palate extends above the posterior nares to about half the distance between the last molars and the posterior end of the pterygoids. Ptery- goids parallel, not divergent. Colour. Greyish brown, speckled with white or pale grey, some- times with a ferruginous tinge on the head and feet. A variety is ferruginous throughout. Lower parts paler. Underfur light brown, longer hairs distinct in colour from the underfur, and marked by alternating rings of white or greyish white and dark brown, 4 or 5 of each on the hairs of the back. The dark and light rings are generally of nearly equal length, but occasionally the pale 124 VIVERRIDJE. rings are longer than the dark. The lips are often rufous brown. Claws dark brown. Dimensions. Head and body 15 to 18 inches, tail 14 to 15 ; weight about 3 pounds. Males are considerably larger than females. A large skull, probably male, is 3 inches in basal length, and 1*65 in breadth across the zygomatic arc-lies, whilst a small adult female skull measures only 2*7 inches by 1*5. Distribution. Found throughout the peninsula of India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and also in Ceylon. H. mungo ranges on the west to Wind and Afghanistan, and doubtless into Baluch- istan. I have a specimen of a peculiarly pale colour with very long hair from Hazara, west of Kashmir, but this species is not known to be found on the Himalayas at any elevation further east, though common near the foot of the hills. It occurs throughout Bengal, and is eaid to be found in Assam ; but it has not been observed in Burma, and the single specimen obtained by Cantor in the Malay Peninsula may very probably have been imported, whilst the original derivation of Cuvier's type of H. malaecensis from Malacca is very doubtful. Varieties. Blyth and Jerdon distinguished the Bengal race as H. malaccensis. This is generally darker in colour, with the head and legs more rufous, but some Bengal specimens are similar to those from Southern India, and there appears to be no constant distinction, either in colour or size. A richly ferruginous form is found in Sind, besides the common grey type, and is a well-marked variety. On account of the coloration and some apparent differ- ences in the skull, I distinguished this as H. ferruyineus, but the skull characters appear due to immaturity. A very large, old example of this ferruginous variety is the type of Mr. Murray's H. andersoni, which he has very obligingly sent to me for com- parison. Habits. The common mungoose is found in hedgerows, thickets, groves of trees, cultivated fields, banks of streams, and broken bushy ground, but not commonly in dense forest. It is often found about houses. It lives and breeds in holes dug by itself. Very little appears to be known of its breeding-habits. It is often seen in pairs ; the young are three or four- in number, and are produced in the spring. The food of this animal is varied. It lives principally upon rats and mice, snakes and lizards, such birds as it can capture, eggs and insects, but it- eats fiuit at times. Tie stomach of one killed near Secunderabad contained, aiccadiiig to McMaster, a quail, a small wasp's nest, a lizard (Calotes versicolor), a number of insects, and part of a custard apple. The mungoose is sanguinary and destructive, and when it gains access to tame rabbits, poultry, or pigeons, it, Jerdou says, "commits great havoc, sucking the blood only of several." He adds, " I have often seen it make a dash into a verandah where some cages of mynabs, parrakeets, &c. were daily* placed, and endjeavour to tear them from their cages." The mungoose is easily tamed and becomes thoroughly doiuesti- HEKPESTES. 125 cated, very much attached to its owner, intelligent and amusing. An excellent account is given by Sterndale (Nat. Hist. Ind. Mam. p. 223) of one that he had tame, and that died of grief when separated for a time from its master. The itinerant showmen, who are common throughout India, are frequently accompanied by a tame mungoose, and most of the fights between these animals and snakes that are witnessed by Europeans are waged by such tame individuals. As is so commonly the case, a taioe muugoose will doubtless attack a much more formidable opponent than a wild one would. Sterndale's mungoose once attacked a greyhound, aud mortally injured a male bustard, Eupodotis edwardsi, a bird about six times the weight of its assailant. Much has been written about the combats between this animal and venomous snakes, and about the immunity of the mungoose from the effects of the serpent's bite. The prevalent belief throughout oriental countries is, that the mungoose, when bitten, seeks for an antidote, a herb or a root known in India as mangusivail. It is scarcely necessary to say that the story is destitute of foundation. There is, however, another view supported by some evidence, that the mungoose is less susceptible to snake-poison than other animals. The mungoose is not always willing to attack, though at other times he is ready enough to fight. I have not seen many combats, but so far as 1 can judge from the few I have witnessed, Jerclon and Sterndale are correct in their view that the miuigoose usually escapes being bitten by his wonderful activity. He appears to wait until the snake makes a dart at him, and then suddenly pounces on the reptile's head, and crunches it to pieces. I have seen a mungoose eat up the head and poison-glands of a large cobra, so the poison must be harmless to the mucous membrane of the former animal. When excited, the mungoose erects its long stiff hair, and it must be very difficult for a snake to drive its fangs through this, and through the thick skin which all kinds of Nerpestes possess. In all probability a mungoose is very rarely scratched by the fangs, and, if he is, very little poison can be injected. It has been repeatedly proved by experiment that a mungoose can be killed, like any other animal, if properly bitten by a venomous snake, though even in this case the effects appear to be produced after a longer period than with other mammals of the same size. The mungoose is an excellent ratter, soon clearing a house of rats and mice. A tame individual in London is said to have killed, on one occasion, a dozen full-grown rats in less than a minute and a half. Within the last fifteen years the introduction of H. mungo into Jamaica is said to have resulted in a saving of from .100,000 to 150,000 annually, owing to the decreased number of the rats which destroy the sugar-canes (P. Z. S. 1882, p. 712). The cry of this mungoose, according to Sterndale, is a grating mew, varied occasionally by a little querulous yelp, which seems to be given in an interrogative mood, when the animal is searching for anything ; when angry it growls most audibly for so small a 126 Y1VERRID.E. beast, and the growling is generally accompanied by a bristling of the hair, especially of the tail. It is cleanly in its habits, and, after feeding, picks its teeth with its claws, a habit that has been noticed by more than one observer. The name H. griseus, adopted by many authors for this species, is taken from Greoffroy's Ichneumon griseus, which does not, I think, belong to the Indian animal at all ; whilst Grineliu's name, derived from the Mungos or .Viverra mungos of Kaempfer and Linnaeus, clearly by its name and description was intended for the common Indian uiungoose, and has priority by more than twenty years. 61. Herpestes smitM. The ruddy Mungoose. Herpestes smithii, Gray, Charlesicorth 's Maq. Nat. Hist, i, p. 578 (1837) ; id. P. Z. S. 1851, p. 181, pi. xxx ; Sfyth, Cat. p. 50 ; Jcrdon, Mam. p. 135 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 176. Herpestes thysamirus, Wagner, Munch. Gel. Anz. ix, p. 440 (1839) ; Schreb. Sangeth. Supp. ii, p. 301. Crcssarclius rubiginosus, Wagner, Schreb. Siiugeth. Supp. ii. p. 329. Herpestes ellioti, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xx, p. 162. Herpestes rubiginosus, Kelaart, Prod. p. 43. Herpestes jerdonii and Calictis sinithii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1S64, pp. 550, 565. Herpestes monticolus, Jcrdon, Mam. p. 135. Konda yentava, Tel. ; Erima-kiri-pilai, Tarn.; Dito, Cing. Fur long, harsh, and rather ragged. Tail nearly as long as the head and body, or, including the terminal hair, longer. Naked sole beneath tarsus extending nearly to the heel but not quite. Skull differing but little from that of H. mungo, except that the mesopterygoid fossa is narrower, and the pterygoids diverge slightly behind. The teeth are a little larger. Colour. Varying from light brownish grey speckled with white as in H. mungo, to rufous or iron-grey, a mixture of black, ferru- ginous red, and white. The terminal portion of the tail, 3 or 4 inches long, jet-black, passing into ferruginous proximally, re- mainder of the tail coucolorous with the body. Feet generally darker, rufous brown or blackish. Lower parts sometimes paler than back. Underfur grey to greyish brown, longer hairs with alternations of white and dark brown or black, usually four rings of each ; tip from light brown to deep ferruginous, almost blood-red. Dimensions. Head and body about 20 inches, tail 19. Some measurements are smaller. A male skull measures 3 inches in basal length, and 1'7 broad across the zygoinatic arches. Distribution. This species has a wide range in India, being found throughout the peninsula and Ceylon. Jerdpn obtained it near Madras, near Nellore, and at the foot of the Nilgiris ; Col. McMaster at Gawilgurh, Berar. Mr. Ball found it in Singh- bhooin ; I procured what I believe was this species in the Eajpipla hills east of Surat ; there is a skin in Mr. Hume's collection from Sambhur in Kajputana; and the type of H. thysanurus, which is HERPESTES. 127 probably the same, was a Kashmir specimen. This form has not, however, been met with in the North-west Provinces or Bengal. Varieties. The type of H. smithi is a very rufous skin, whilst that of H. jerdoni is almost as grey as H. mungo. But there is much variation, and in this as in other species the amount of rufous coloration is evidently very variable. The skulls are precisely similar. The measurements also show a remarkable variation, and it is just possible that a larger and a smaller form are confounded. Habits. Very little has been recorded. The ruddy mungoose is chiefly found in thick forests. 62. Herpestes fuscus. The Nilgiri brown Mungoose. Herpestes fuscus, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 55 ; Jerdoti, Mam. p. 180 ; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 184, pi. viii, figs. 1, 2 (skull). Size large. Tail a little shorter than the head and body. Hair on the tail longer than on the body. Fur long, not very harsh ; uuderfur dense, long and woolly. Naked sole not extending to the heel. lu the only skull examined the orbit is nearly perfect. The pterygoid bones are parallel and peculiarly everted, being convex inside and concave externally. The second and third upper pre- molars with distinct anterior cusps. Last lower molar with three anterior cusps instead of two. Colour. Blackish brown, minutely speckled with yellow or brown- ish white. Tail rather darker. Feet very dark. TJnderfur hair- brown, longer hairs with alternating rings of blackish brown and yellow or yellowish white, three or four of each, the dark rings much longer than the light. Dimensions. Head and body 18 inches, tail with the hair at end 17; basal length of skull 3-2, zygomatic breadth 1-95. Distribution. The Nilgiri and Travancore hills, and probably some other hill-ranges of Southern India. Anderson adds Ceylon, but without giving any authority, and I feel doubtful whether H. fuscus is found there, for it appears to be replaced by H.fulvescem. Habits. Very little is known of this fine mungoose except that it inhabits the dense woods upon the Nilgiri hills, where it was obtained by Jerdou. It was procured in Travancore by Mr. Baker (J. A. S. B. xxviii, p. 283). 63. Herpestes fulvescens. The Ceylon brown Mungoose. Herpestes fulvescens, Kelaart, J. A. S. B. xx, p. 162 (1851), xxi, p. 348 ; id. Cat. p. 52. Herpestes flavidens, Kelaart, J. A. S. B. xx, p. 184 ; id. Prod. p. 44. Cyuictis maccartliise, Gray, P. Z. S. 1851, p. 131, pi. xxxi. Onychogale maccarthise, Gray, P. Z. S. 1804, p. 570. Herpestes maccarthise, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 178. Herpestes ceylanieua, H. Nevill, Taprobanian, i, p. 62. lliun-Hiuyatea, (.'ing. 128 VIVERKIU.E. Size of a small H. mungo. Naked sole not extending to the heel. Tail without the hair at the end about three quarters the length of the head and body. Fur less harsh than in most species of the genus, long, with a thick woolly underfur ; hair of tail but little longer than that of body. In the skull the orbit is imperfect (apparently from immaturity, however), and the pterygoid bones parallel. Colour. Normally dark brown speckled with dull yellow, but some specimens are paler. Lower parts nearly as dark as upper ; feet dusky. Tail the same colour as the body. Uuderfur brownish grey, darker near the body, the longer hairs of the back with alternating rings of pale brownish yellow and dark brown, three or four of each, the basal and terminal rings pale. Claws brown. Dimensions. Head and body 16^ inches, tail 12|. The skull measures 2*7 inches in basal length, and 1-45 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. Peculiar to Ceylon. Kelaart's specimens were from the hill-region to the south ; Gray's type was said to be from Jaffna, but had evidently been kept in confinement. Kelaart's two names fulvescens and flavidens wer6 published in a paper read before the Asiatic Society of Bengal, March 5th, 1851 (J. A. S. B. xx, p. 287). The former occurs first, and is in every way preferable. Gray's name maccarthia? was given in a paper read before the Zoological Society of London, May 13, 1851. It is clear that Kelaart's name is the earlier. Gray at first referred the species to Cynictis, a South-African genus of Herpestincc with but four toes on each hind foot, and subsequently made JJ.maccarthue into a special genus Onychoc/ale, apparently on account of its long fore claws, a character which, as Anderson has pointed out, was entirely due to the type having been kept in confinement. Some skins are paler and more rufous than others, and one in the British Museum is pale sandy. The normal colour is very similar to that of H. javanicus, which may be distinguished by its shorter tail. H. fulvescens is closely allied to H. fusms, which it appears to represent in Cevlon, and from which it is chiefly distinguished by its much smaller size. 64. Herpestes vitticollis. The stripe-necked Munyoose. Herpestes vitticollis, Kentiett, P. Z. S. 1835, p. 67; Ke'aart, Prod p. 42 ; Jerdon, Main p. 137; Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 188, pi. ix, figs. 3, 4 (skull). Mangustavitticollis,.E/&0<, Mad. Jour. L. S. x, p. 103, with coloured plate. Loko-mugatea, Cingalese. This is the laigest species found in Asia. Tail, including the long hair at the end, about three quarters the length of the head and body, without the terminal hair about three fifths. The fur long and harsh, that on the tail longest. Sole of the hind foot naked to the heel. In the skull the bony palate runs far back, considerably more than half the distance between the posterior upper molars and the HERPESTES. 320 end of the pterygoids, which diverge slightly. Teeth large, the hindmost upper find lower molars broader in proportion than in any other Indian species. Colour. Varying from grizzled dusky iron-grey to rich unspeckled ferruginous or chestnut-red, the red colour being frequently confined to the hinder part of the body and tail, the head always iron-grey above. A black band down each side of the neck from behind the ear to the shoulder, with a paler or more rufous area above and below the band. Legs and feet unspeckled dark brown or black, and a long black tip to the tail. Fur brown at the base, the longer hairs with alternating rings of pale yellowish grey and black, 3 or 4 of each, the dark rings the longer, or there are one or two rings of each colour near the base of the hairs and all the terminal portion is ferruginous. Dimensions. Head and body 21 inches ; tail without hair at end about 13, with it 15 ; weight 6 Ib. 10 oz. Basal length of skull 3-7 inches, zygomatic breadth 2-2. Distribution. The hills near the west coast of India, from near Bombay to Cape Comorin, and Ceylon. Ceylon specimens appeal- more rufous than Indian. Habits. Bat little known. Jerdon remarks that from its size, this species must be very destructive to game and the smaller quadrupeds. It is often seen on the Nilgiris, and appears abroad at all hours in the day, according to McMaster, who once observed a pair evidently hunting on scent, which they followed to earth, and they then began to burrow. Suddenly they started off at full pace in pursuit of something, probably, McMaster suggests, a hare, which had bolted from another opening of the burrow. 65. Herpestes urva. The crcib-eating Mungoose. Gulo urva, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. v, p. 238 (1836). Urva cancrivora, Hodys. J. A. S. B. vi, pp. 561, 564 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 138. Mesobeina cancrivora, Hodys. J. A. S. B. x, p. 910 ; Calc. Journ. N. H. ii. p. 214. Herpestes urva, Anderson, An. Zool. Res. p. 189, pi. ix, figs. 5, 6, skull. Arva, Nepalese. Size large, approaching that of H. vitticollis. Form more robust than in most species of the genus. Tail about two thirds the length of the head and body. Fur of body and tail very long, coarse and ragged, underfur woolly. Naked sole of hind foot only extending about two thirds the distance to the heel. Mammae 6, ventral. Two anal glands, one on each side, with external orifices. In the skull the orbit is probably complete in old specimens. The termination of the bony palate above the posterior nares is concave. Colour. Dusky iron-grey, or blackish with a greyish surface caused by the long whitish tips to the hairs. A well-marked 130 VIVEERIDJE. narrow white stripe runs along each side of the neck from the angle of the mouth to the shoulder. Head dark brown, speckled with white ; legs and feet the same, but without any white, the feet often black. The woolly underfur dark brown at the base, then pale brownish yellow, the longer hairs brown close to the skin, then light brown or yellowish brown like the underfur for a considerable length, next black, also for a long distance, and whitish at the tips. Fig. 35. Herpestes urva. Dimensions. Head and body 18 to 21 inches ; tail without the hair at the end 11 to 12 ; weight (of a small specimen apparently) 4 pounds. A skull measures 3'3 inches in basal length and 2 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. The south-eastern Himalayas at low elevations, Assam, Arakan, Pegu, Tenasserim, and Southern China. Habits. The heavy form of this mungoose is probably connected with somewhat different habits from those of the typical species, such as H. munyo. According to Hodgson H. urva is somewhat aquatic, and lives chiefly on frogs and crabs, which abound in the Himalayan and Burmese streams. Like other species, it lives in holes in the ground. The anal glands are about the size of a cherry, and the animal has the power of squirting out a foetid fluid from them backwards with great force. A description of these glands has been given by Dr. Campbell (J. A. S. B. vi, p. 565). Two more species of the genus, H. javanicus and H. bracliyurus, both of large size, are found in the Malay Peninsula and in some of* the islands ; whilst a third form, //. semitorquatus, is peculiar to Borneo. Some other Malay species have been described, but appear doubtfully distinct. HYJSNID.E. 131 Family HY^ENID^l. The last family of the ^Eluroidea that is found in the Indian ' area is represented by a single species, the common striped hyaena. But two other species exist, both African. All resemble dogs more than cats, but are more nearly related to the Viverrida>, and especially to the Herpestine subfamily, than to either Felicia or Ganidce. The head in hyaenas is large and slightly elongated, the tail moderate, limbs rather long ; the hallux and pollex are wanting, the tarsus and metatarsus entirely hairy. The feet have a median or plantar pad and one to each digit. The animal is truly digiti- grade. The claws are but slightly curved, strong, blunt, and non- retractile. The skull is remarkable for the great development of the sagittal crest, serving for the attachment of the powerful temporal muscles. The zygomatic arches are very strong. The auditory bulla is in- flated but not divided ; the paroccipital process distinct ; there is neither alisphenoid canal nor pterygoid fossa. The palate extends back but a short distance behind the posterior molars. The teeth are well developed, the upper sectorial being particularly large. By most naturalists all living hyaenas have been classed as ono genus, but some writers of late have distinguished the African spotted hyaena as Crocuta, on account of its having much smaller upper true molars with but one or two roots, less developed lower true molars, no mane, and some remarkable peculiarities about the female genital organs (Watson, P. Z. 8. 1877, p. 369, 1881, p. 516 ; and Mivart, ibid. 1882, p. 198). Genus HYJENA, Brisson, 1756. Dentition : i. - 6 , c. \~, pm. *^, m. J^J. The outer incisors much larger than the inner, canines and premolars large. Upper sectorial teeth very large, formed of a distinctly trilobed blade and a moderately developed inner tubercle at the anterior extremity of the tooth. Upper molar small and placed transversely close to the hinder edge of the sectorial, as iu cats. Lower sectorial con- sisting of but little more than the bilobed blade. Vertebra : C. 7, D. 15, L. 5, S. 4, C. 19. The anatomy of the hyaena has been described by Daubenton in Buffon's ' Histoire Naturelle,' vol. ix, p. 280. Fossil species are numerous, and no less than five have been recognized in the Siwalik beds of the Punjab, besides one species of an allied genus, called Lepihycena by Lydekker. Eemains of the African H. crocuta have been found in caves near Karnul, Madras. K2 132 Fig. 36. Skull of Hyana striata. (Guide to the Galleries of Mammalia, British Museum.) 66. Hyaena striata. The striped ffycena. Hyama striata, Zimm. Geoff. Gesch. ii, p. 256 (1780) j Blyth, Cat. p. 44 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 118. Lakar bagha, Lakar bdgh or Lakra, Jhirak, Hondar, Harvdgh, Tarns, H. in various districts ; Taras also Makr. and Sindhi ; Cherak, Sindlr ; Aptar, Baluchi; Renhra, Gond ; Hebar kuIa,~&oKol; Derko Tud, Paharia of Rajmehal; Dhopre, Korku; Kirba and Kut-kirba, Can.; Dumid yundu, Korna yundu, Tel. ; kaluthai-korachi, Tarn. Tail about three sevenths the Jength of the body, and clothed with long hair. Hair of the median line on the neck and back long, forming a crest or mane. The hind legs considerably bent and shorter than the fore, the hind feet much smaller than the fore feet. A large post-anal glandular pouch receiving the secre- tions of the large anal scent-glands. The upper true molar with three roots ; lower true molar with an inner tubercle and a well-developed talon or heel. Colour. Dirty grey, with narrow transverse tawny or blackish stripes on the body and legs. Dimensions. Head and body 3| feet, tail with hair 1|. Skull 8*5 inches in basal length, 6*4 broad across zygomatic arches. Weight of an adult 74 Iba. Distribution. Throughout the Peninsula of India, rare in forests, abundant in hilly open country. It is very common throughout Central and North-western India, and extends through South- western Asia to Northern Africa. It has not been recorded from Ceylon or east of the Bay of Bengal, and is rare in Lower Bengal. Habits. The hyaena is most common in the drier parts of India, and its chief haunts are rocky bills and deep ravines. I have on several occasions turned hyaenas out of grass or bushes, and Jerdon notices having met with some in sugar-cane fields ; but as a rule this animal remains in the daytime in caves amongst rocks, or in holes, dug by itself, in the sides of hills or of ravines. It is a nocturnal animal, and although an occasional individual may be met with returning to its den in the early morning, its rambles are usually commenced after sunset and ended before sun- rise. During the night it roams far and wide, and no tracks of wild animals are more common, in the countries where it is found, than its unmistakable footprints, very like a dog's in shape, but with the marks of the hind feet conspicuously smaller than those of the fore feet. Unlike the spotted hyaena, the striped species appears to be solitary in its habits, and it is rare to meet with more than two together. ^ The principal food of the hyaena consists of the carcases of animals that have died of disease or been killed by beasts of prey, and very often it carries off portions of ^ the body to its den. I once shot one that was carrying away the hind leg of a nilgai. The powerful jaws and large teeth are admirably adapted for crushing bones, which are consumed by hyaenas, after the flesh has been picked off by vultures and jackals. Occasionally sheep or goats, and more often dogs, are carried off by hyaenas, and the latter at all events are often taken alive to the animal's den. Jerdon relates an instance in which a small dog belonging to an officer at Dumoh was carried away, but procured alive the next day from a cave by some sepoys, who killed the hyaena. Fragments of bones are often found around a hyaena's retreat, together with the peculiar dung of the animal, which dries into hard white balls, known as alba yrceca, chiefly composed of fragments of bone, and so in- destructible that they have been found fossilized in caves that had been tenanted by extinct forms of these animals. The hyaena is universally despised for its cowardice ; despite its powerful teeth, it rarely attemps to defend itself. It is occasion- ally ridden down and speared, but unless the ground is peculiarly favourable for horses, it will give a good run before being killed, not on account of its speed, for it is easily caught by a good horse, but from the way it turns and doubles. As a rule, it shows no fight when brought to bay. McMaster, in his excellent Notes, relates an instance in which a hyaena, after being slightly wounded by a spear, was pursued by a game old Arab horse who had lost his rider, and who attempted to seize the hva3na with his teeth and to strike him with his fore foot, an attack that the hunted animal only acknowledged by tucking its tail tightly between its legs. The cry of the striped hyaena is much less frequently heard than that of the spotted species in the countries inhabited by each respectively, nor are their calls the same, though there is some similarity between them, and both are peculiarly loud and dis- agreeable. 134 CANID^. Hyaenas are easily tamed if captured young, and become very docile and greatly attached to their masters. The number of young in a litter is, I believe, 3 or 4, but about all points connected with the breeding more information is required. The period of gestation does not appear to have been observed. CYNOIDEA. Family CANID^l. The Cynoidca, consisting of a single family, CanidcK, in which are included dogs, wolves, jackals, and foxes, form a group of Carnivores as easily recognized and as distinct as the Felidce. The head throughout the family is elongate, tail moderate, limbs fairly developed, and the feet truly digitigrade, with the pads similar in number and form to those in cats and hyaenas. The print of a canine foot is very similar in shape to that of a hyena's, both differs from a cat's in having the two middle toe-pads at a greater distance in advance of the other two, and in the whole foot being much longer in proportion to its breadth. Throughout the Canidce there are four toes on the hind foot, except in some cases of domestic dogs, which have five, and all, except the African genus Lycaon, have five toes on the fore feet, the pollex being much shorter than the other digits and not reaching the ground. The claws are blunt, nearly straight, and nou-retractile. In the skull the muzzle is much lengthened, the postorbital processes are short, the auditory bullao inflated but not divided into two by septa ; a paroccipital process is attached to the hinder part of each bulla, but projects behind. There is an alisphenoid canal, but only a rudimentary pterygoid fossa. There are always four premolars on each side of each jaw. The upper sectorial consists of a stout blade, of which the anterior cusp is large, conical, and pointed backwards ; the posterior cusp is in the form of a compressed ridge; the inner lobe is very small and placed quite at the fore part of the tooth. The first upper molar is large, and much broader than long, its outer border bicuspid ; the second molar is of the same shape but smaller. The lower sectorial is a very large tooth, with a strong compressed bilobed blade, the hinder lobe the larger and more pointed, a small but distinct inner tubercle inside the posterior lobe of the blade, and a broad low tuberculated heel. The second lower molar is less than half the size of the first or sectorial; the third lower molar, when present, is quite small. Clavicles exist but are rudimentary. The vertebral formula is C. 7, D. 13, L. 7, S. 3, C. 17-22. The family has an almost world-wide distribution, and all the forms are so closely similar in all essential structural characters . CANIS. 135 that generic distinctions are founded on characters of less struc- tural importance than in most families of Mammalia. For an account of the cranial and dental characters see Huxley, P. Z. S. 1880, p. 238. The Ganidce are mostly carnivorous. Many are predatory, and several hunt in troops. Some feed on carrion, on insects, or, in part, on fruit. All have a very acute sense of smell, and both sight ami hearing are highly developed. Three Indian genera are recognized, and may be thus distin- guished : A. A frontal sinus present; postorbital process smooth and convex above ; tail, including hair at end (in all Indian forms), less than half the length of the head and body. a. Seven teeth in lower molar series CANIS. b. Six teeth in lower molar series CYON. B. No frontal sinus, postorbital process concave above ; tail more than half the length of the head and body VULPES. Many fossil Canines are known. In the Sivvalik beds of the Punjab a wolf, Canis cautleyi, and a fox, Vidpes curvipalatus, have been found, and also a species of the extinct genus Amphicyon, which was in some respects intermediate between dogs and bears. Genus CANIS, Linn. (1766). Syn. Lupus, Saccalius, Oxygous, Ham. Smith. In this genus are comprised the wild wolves and jackals and domestic dogs, the latter being apparently the descendants of several different wild forms, amongst which the common wolf and the common jackal are two of the principal. The dentition is i. J, c. J=J, pm. |=J, in. f=f. The teeth are b 1 I 7 * 4 -4 7 o 3 powerful. The tail in all wild species forms a moderate brush, the hair being longer than on the body. The pupil is round. There are generally 10, more rarely 8, mammae. Synopsis of Indian, Ceylonese, and Burmese Species. A. Head and body about 3 feet 6 inches long ; much woolly underfur C. lupus, p. 135. B. Head and body about 3 feet long; little or no woolly underfur C. pattipes, p. 137. C. Head and body 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches long .... C. aureus, p. 140. 67. Canis lupus. The Wolf. Canis lupus, L. Sysi. Nat. ed. xii, i, p. 58 (1760) j Button, J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 345; Scully, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 201. Lupus laniger, Hodys. Calc. Joiu~n. N. H. vii, p. 474 ; Horsficld, A. M. N. H. ser. 2, xvi, p. 107 (1835) ; Blyih, J. A. S. B. xvi, pt. 2, p. 1 170. Canis chanco, Gray, P. Z. S. 1863, p. 94. Canis niger, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1874, p. 654, pi. Ixxviii. 136 CANIDJE. , Persian ; Giirk, Baluch. ; K/iarmd, Brahni ; Rdtnahun, Kash- mir ; Ulidnyu, Tibetan. Size large. Tail with hair considerably less than half the length of the head and body, without hair about one third. Fur long and thick, with woolly underfur. Colour. Oil the upper parts and the outside of the limbs rufous or yellowish grey, much mixed with black in some skins, lower parts whitish. Underfur on back pale slaty or light brown with coarse whitish hairs intermixed, longer hairs light brown tipped with black ; sometimes beyond the black there is a white termina- tion. The tail is often tipped with black. Some individuals are much paler than others, some are quite black. Dimensions. Head and body 3 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 9 inches, tail without hair 15 to 16 inches, with hair 18 or 19, hind foot, from heel 9, ear outside 4*5 ; height 2 feet 4 inches. A large skull measures 8'7 inches long in basal length, 5*5 broad across the zygomatic arches ; a smaller but fully adult skull is 8 inches long, 4-8 broad. Distribution. Throughout the Palaearctic region, extending into Baluchistan, and Western Sind (where a specimen has been obtained bv Mr. J Murray), and probably into the Northern Punjab, as a skull from the Salt Range, collected by Mr. Theobald and now in the British Museum, appears to belong to this and not to the next species. The common wolf, if, as I believe, C. laniyer is identical, inhabits all countries north of the Himalayan range. Varieties. The Sind, Baluchistan, and Gilgit animals appear un- distinguishable from European wolves. The variety found in Tibet and Ladtik is, however, very pale-coloured, with woolly fur, and has generally been distinguished as C. laniger. I thought at one time that the dentition was different, the upper sectorial in C. lani- rjer being generally shorter than the two upper true molars taken together, whilst the reverse was believed to be the case in C. lupus (P. A. S. B. 1877, p. 116) ; but Huxley in his paper already quoted (p. 279) has shown that the teeth of both European and Tibetan wolves vary in this respect, and the difference in the fur appears due to climate. The cranial distinctions mentioned by Blyth (J. A. S. B. xxiii, p. 733) are probably caused by age. The black Tibetan wolf, classed apart by some, is evidently a variety similar to the black European wolf that was called Canis lycaon by Schreber. Habits. The common wolf plays as large a part in story and myth amongst European nations as the tiger does in India. The wolf's habits are well known, though, as in the case of the great feline beasts of prey, the terror inspired by him has invested him, in popular lore, with many imaginary attributes. Wolves are found both in open country and forests. As a rule they occur solitary or in pairs, but at times, and especially in the winter, they associate in packs, sometimes of large numbers. They live upon any mammals or birds that they can kill ; they carry off CANIS. 137 children, sheep, and goats, and when pressed by hunger attack men. Hoi'ses and cattle are only killed when several wolves com- bine. Carrion is readily eaten by these animals, and in case of need they are said to feed upon vegetable substances, such as buds of trees, lichens, and moss. .Although wolves prey to a considerable extent by night, they are by no means exclusively nocturnal in their habits. Their principal cry is a loud howl, which serves as a call. The pairing-time is from December to April, the period of ges- tation 63 days, so that the young, varying in number from four to nine, are born in the spring or early summer. Wolves breed in thickets or in holes in the ground. The whelps are not full-grown and capable of propagating until the third year after their birth. The duration of life is from 12 to 15 years. Young wolves are easilv tamed. 68. Canis pallipes. The Indian Wolf. Canis pallipes, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 101 j Blyth, Cat. p. 39 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 139. Canis lupus, Elliot, Madr. Journ. L. S. x, p. 101 ; Blyth, J. A, S. B. xi, p. 596. B/ierit/a, Gurq, Honddr, Nekra, Bighdna, H. ; Bagydr, Sindhi ; Ldndyd, Gond and Dakh'ini ; Tola, Can. ; Toralu, Tel. Structure generally similar to that of C. lupus, but the animal is smaller and slighter, and the fur shorter, with little or no woolly underfur. Mammae 10. Colour. Greyish fulvous, usually with a brownish tinge, some- times much mixed with black on the back ; some have a reddish tinge, and occasionally it is said that a thoroughly rufous indivi- dual is met with. All I have seen are, however, browner than C. lupus generally is, and of an earthy grey colour. Hair of varying shades of light brown from the base to near the end ; tips black on the back. Coarse white hairs are mixed with the finer fur near the skin. The hairs on the tail have generally black tips. Lower parts dingy white. The young are sooty brown, with a milk-white chest-spot, which disappears about the sixth week from birth, when a dark collar appears below the neck, but is lost at maturity. Dimensions. Head and body about 3 feet, tail with hair 16 to 17 inches. Skull of an adult male from Sambhar 6'85 inches in basal length, 4'4 broad. Weight of a female 42 Ibs. Distribution. The Indian Peninsula south of the Himalayas, especially in open plain country ; rare in wooded districts and amongst hills. I have never heard of this species occurring on the Malabar coast. Rare in Lower Bengal. Unknown further east : not found in the Himalaya, and apparently replaced by C. lupus beyond the Indus, though occasionally seen west of the river. No wolf has been recorded from Ceylon. 138 CANID.E. Habits. Very similar to those of C. lupus, except that the Indian wolf, although somewhat gregarious, is not known to associate in large packs (I have never heard of more than six to eight together). It is also rather a silent animal, but sometimes, Jerdon says, it barks like a pariah dog. It is rarely, if ever, heard to howl. , Indian wolves prey on all mammals or birds they can kill, but especially on sheep, goats, and antelopes. Instances are not rare of their attacking man, two or more combining for the purpose; and they, in some parts of India, carry away a large number of children yearly, usually taking them from villages. They course and run down hares and foxes, and occasionally attack cattle. They not unfrequently kill dogs. Like all wild canines, these animals are very intelligent and cunning, and many of the stories told of the stratagems they em- ploy to secure their prey appear to be well authenticated. One plan, vouched for by several observers, is that of part of the pack driving antelopes or gazelles across a spot where others of the pack are lying in ambush, either in ravines or in hollows scratched by themselves in the ground. Some wolves, too, are said to lie in wait hidden until antelopes approach them while feeding. A re- markable stcry is related by a writer in the ' Asian,' w ho states that he saw a wolf rolling on its back with its legs in the air, whilst some antelopes that were attracted to approach by curiosity advanced to within sixty or seventy yards ; then they were accidentally dis- turbed, and two other wolves, that had been lying in ambush 100 yards apart in advance of the third, jumped up. It is also said that when wolves attack sheep, part of the pack attack and keep the dogs in check, whilst others carry off the prey. A somewhat similar story is related by Forsyth, except that the victims were children. In the Dumoh district of the Central Provinces an old she-wolf and a full-grown cub haunted a patch of bushes and grass near a village standing on the slope of a hill, down which ran the main street, where children were always at play. The smaller wolf hid amongst bushes between the village and the bottom of the hill, whilst the larger animal went round to the top, and, watching its opportunity, ran down the street, carrying off a child on the way. At first the people used to pur- sue, and sometimes made the marauder drop bis prey ; but in that case the companion wolf usually succeeded in carrying off another of the children in the confusion, whilst the child first seized was generally so injured as to be beyond recovery. In this, as in many other similar cases, a very wide-spread superstition prevented the villagers from hunting down and killing the animals; and Forsyth actually found it difficult to get men to assist him in shooting the brutes, in which he fortunately succeeded. The story illustrates both the cunning and the boldness of the Indian wolf. I myself saw one run out of a village in the middle of the day with a young goat and escape with it in spite of the villagers' pursuit. CANJS. 139 The great aversion to killing a wolf that exists in many parts of India is due, I am told by Mr. Theobald, to a widely spread belief that the blood of a wolf, if shed upon the lands of a village, renders them unfruitful. The Indian wolf has both speed and endurance, and has very rarely, if ever, been run down and speared from horseback, though the feat has often been attempted. McMaster, after briefly describing an unsuccessful attempt, very appropriately quotes Byron's lines in ' Mazeppa ' about wolves : " With their long gallop, which can tire The hound's deep hate and hunter's tire." If hunted with greyhounds a wolf generally, after going for some distance, turns upon the dogs and chases them back to the hunts- man. Instances of this are given by both Jerdon and Forsyth ; but the latter relates how in one case a wolf that had chased back two greyhounds met his match in a bull mastiff. Jerdon states that a wolf once joined his greyhounds in hunting a fox. In the Indian desert between Eiijputana and Sind wolves are said by Sir B. Frere (Journ. E. Geogr. Soc. 1870, p. 204) to be dug or smoked out of their dens amongst the sand-hills. This is generally done about midday in the hottest part of the hot season ; the men engaged protect their feet with folds of raw hide, and if the wolves are not clubbed or speared at once they are easily run down, as the hot sand blisters their feet and disables them. I was told by Mr. Le Mesurier, formerly chief engineer of the Great Indian Peninsular Eailway, that he succeeded in capturing many wolves in a pitfall consisting of a circular trench with per- pendicular sides, and too deep for the animal to jump out of. On the ground left at the original level in the middle of the circular trench, a goat was tethered, and the trench was thinly covered with sticks and straw, that gave under the wolf's weight. Indian wolves breed in holes or in caves among rocks. Dr. Bonavia, in a letter published in ' Nature ' for 1875 (vol. xii, p. 67), states that the young vary in number from three to eight, and are born from October to December, chiefly in the latter month. He adds that they are born blind and with drooping ears. The young are easily tamed, and they have all the habits of dogs * ; indeed, the common Indian dogs may be in part descended from wolves, although they are probably chiefly derived from jackals. There is some evidence to show that the Indian wolf occasionally breeds with the village dogs; whilst Sir B. Frere (Journ. E. Geogr. Soc. 1870, p. 205) mentions that in the Indian desert a pariah bitoh was known to associate with a pack of wolves. Stories about wolf-reared children are common in Northern India, especially in Oudh. Particulars of several supposed cases * A curious instance may be mentioned. Dr. J. Anderson gave two young tame wolves a teal that was rather high. They would not eat it, but rolled over on it exactly as many dogs would do. 140 CANID^E. were collected by Colonel Sleeman, and several are recorded by Sir B. Hurchison (A. M. N. H. 2, viii, p. 153) and Mr. Ball (P. A. S. B. 1873, p. 128, and ' Jungle Life,' pp. 455-466). It is doubtful how far any are authentic. All the children were boys, and all appear to have been idiots. 69. Canis aureus. The Jackal. Canis aureus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 59 (1766) ; Elliot, Madr. Jouni. L. 8. x, p. 101 ; Sli/th, Cat. p. 40 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 142. Canis aureus indicus, Hodgson, As. Res. xviii, p. 237. Sacalius iudicus and Oxygoiis indicus, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. x, p. 908. Giddr, Siydl, or Shidl, Phial, H. ; Laraiya, Bandelkand ; Shigal, Pers. ; Sriyala, Sansc. ; Shdl J , Shdaj $ , Kashmiri ; Toldgh, Baluchi ; Kola, Mahr. and Dakh. ; Karincha, Ho Kol ; Kolial, Nerka, Gond. ; Nan, Can.; Kalla-Nari, Tain. ; Nakka, Tel. ; Karakcn, Nari, Mai. ; Naria, Cing.; Amu, Bhot. ; Hiydl, Assamese ; Meshrong, Kachari ; Hijai, Joksat, Mikir ; Hian, Naga ; Mye-khive, Burm. Tail with the hair at the end about one third the length of the head and body. As a rule, the upper sectorial is much shorter than the two true upper molars taken together ; but in two out of twelve measurements given by Huxley the length is the same. Mammae 10. Colour. Pale isabelline to pale rufous, more or less mixed with black on the upper parts ; muzzle, ears, and outside of limbs more rufous ; lower parts paler, sometimes nearly white ; hair of the fore neck with dusky tips. The underfur on the back is brown, paler at the base, the longer hairs on the back beyond the under- fur grey with black tips. The tail-hairs are reddish brown, with long black terminations, making a black tail-tip. Bright rufous, coal-black, and pure white albino individuals have also been re- corded (Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxvii, p. 275). Dimensions. Variable, some animals being much larger than others. The head and body certainly vary from 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches in length, and I have seen measurements given of 2 feet 8 inches, though these must, I think, have been taken on skins. A large male from the Nipalese Terai measured : head and body 30 inches, tail without hair at the end 9, with hair 11, ear 3*2 ; weight 20 Ibs. A small female from Eajputana measured : head and body 24-6, tail without hair 9, with hair 12-1, ear 3'2, hind foot from heel 5-5. Skulls are also very variable (see Huxley, P. Z. S. 1880, p. 277); a large one measures 5-8 inches in basal length and 3*5 in zygomatic breadth, an adult female 4*95 by 2 - 9. Distribution. The jackal is found throughout the whole of India and Ceylon, on hills and plains, in forest and open country, and even in populous cities. It ascends the Himalayas to an elevation of 3000 or 4000 feet, and is occasionally found higher, especially around hill-stations, whilst it is common on the Nilgiris in Southern India. It is more rare east of the Bay of Bengal, but is CANIS. 141 found in Assam andCachar,and is not uncommon atAkyab and about Thayet Myo in Northern Pegu. It has also recently been observed close to Mandalay. The only place where I have heard of its occurrence farther south or east is near Moulmain *, where Mr. Theobald tells me he once saw two; but it is possible these might have been introduced. West of India it extends throughout South-western Asia to the Caucasus, and is found in South -eastern Europe in Greece and Turkey, and as far west as Dalmatia,. also throughout Northern Africa, being replaced by closely allied species in the Ethiopian region. Habits. Jackals are found singly or two or more together, and they sometimes associate in considerable numbers, especially at night, as is shown by their bowlings. They are principally noc- turnal, more so, I think, than the Indian wolf, but by no means exclusively ; in the cold season they may be seen about at all hours. Their food is very varied, consisting of carrion of all kinds, any beasts or birds that they can master, and, in default of animal food, fruit. The jackal is one of the common scavengers of towns and villages, feeding on offal or dead carcases of any kind, and occasionally killing poultry or even lambs or kids. " Sickly sheep and goats usually fall a prey to him, and a wounded ante- lope is pretty certain to be tracked and hunted to death by jackals " (Jerdon). Amongst fruits, he especially feeds on ber (Zizyphus), and he is said in several parts of India to be very fond of sugar- cane and of maize. " In Wynaad, as well as in Ceylon, he de- vours considerable quantities of ripe coffee-berries ; the seeds pass through him, well pulped, and are found and picked up by the coolies ; it is asserted that the seeds so found make the best coffee ! " (Jerdon). As Sterndale explains, these seeds are the best because the jackals select the finest fruit. The cry of the jackal is familiar to all who have ever resided in the countries inhabited by the animal, and consists of two parts a long wailing howl three or four times repeated, each repetition in a note a little higher than the preceding, and then a succession of usually three quick yelps, also repeated two or three times. The common Anglo-Indian version of " Dead Hindoo ; where, where, where," gives some idea of the call. In one African jackal, G. varieyatus of Abyssinia, the second portion of the cry is entirely wanting. There is, however, another, a very peculiar call, only uttered by the jackal, it is believed, when a tiger or leopard is in the neigh- bourhood, and certainly uttered upon such occasions. The cry is unmistakable, I have several times heard it ; but the jackal that makes it carries us at once into the region of fable and folk-lore. The same story that has existed on the shores of the Mediterranean for two thousand years at least, that a jackal acts as scout for the * There are, however, in the Leyden Museum two stuffed specimens of this animal collected by Biard, and one of them is labelled from Malacca, the others from Borneo. Jt is impossible to say whether the localities are correct. 142 lion, or " lion's provider," and is repaid by a share of the prey, is commonly believed with regard to the tiger in India ; and it is this peculiar jackal, known as Phedl, or Phiou, or Phnew (see Torrens, 3. A. 8. E. xviii, p. 788) in Northern India, the name being taken from the cry, and as Bhdlu or Kol bhdlu in Southern and "Western India, that is said to invariably precede the tiger and to make the call just noticed. Several observers have, however, remarked that the jackal which makes the cry follows the tiger and does not precede him ; and Mr. Blyth has observed that a pariah dog, on sniffing a collection of caged tigers in Calcutta, set up a most extraordinary howl, probably similar to that of the Phedl. Jerdon gives an excellent abstract of the opinions expressed by various writers, and concludes, as others have done, that the cry is an alarm-note. This appears probable ; tigers, if they have an oppor- tunity and are hungry, may kill and eat jackals, and leopards cer- tainly do so. Another belief, which appears widely diffused in India and Ceylon, is that a horn grows on the head of some jackals, and is of great virtue to its possessor. The jackal is occasionally hunted by hounds, and gives a good run, but is quickly caught by greyhounds, who, however, cannot always dispose of him easily. He is, Jerdon says, very tenacious of life, and shams dead in a way to deceive even experienced sportsmen. The period of gestation in the jackal is usually said to be sixty- three days, the same as in the wolf and dog ; but, as might be ex- pected, there is some variation, and there appears good reason for believing that the time in the jackal is a few days less * on an average. The number of young in a litter is about four; the female brings forth in holes in the ground, occasionally (as Jerdon remarks) in dry drains. That some breeds of domestic dogs, per- haps all the smaller races, are derived from jackals appears to be the opinion of most competent naturalists. The two breed together freely, and it is probable that some of the jackal-like dogs seen about Indian villages may be hybrids. Jackals are liable to attacks of rabies, and mad animals are not uncommon, many cases of hydrophobia having resulted from their bites both in men and animals. Genus CYON, Hodgson (1838). Syn. Cuon, Hodgson ; Chrysceus, Ham. Smith. There are only two true molars on each side of the lower jaw, instead of three, as in Canis, the dentition being : i. |, c. -^ * The subject is fully discussed by Darwin ('Animals and Plants under Domestication,' i, p. 29). The question of tbe origin of domestic dogs is there treated at length. CYON. 143 pm. ^, m. |^|. The muzzle is proportionally shorter, and the line of the face, when viewed from the side, is slightly convex, instead of being straight or concave as in other Canidce. The mammae are more numerous, being 12 or 14 instead of 10. There is long hair between the foot-pads. In all other respects the genus Gyon agrees with Canls. Cyon has a very peculiar geographical distribution, being found in Central Asia as far north as the Altai, the Amurland, and Saga- lien, and throughout the Oriental region, but not, so far as is known, in Northern China or Japan. There is some doubt about the specific characters, but two distinguishable forms appear to inhabit our area *. Synopsis of Indian and Burmese Species. A. Larger and stouter ; hair long, with wcolly underf ur, ferruginous red to tawny. Skull 6-75 to 7 inches long; tarsus and hind foot over 7 inches C. dukhunensis, p. 143. B. Smaller and slighter ; hair short, no under- fur, brighter ferruginous. Skull 6*25 inches long, tarsus 6 C. rutilam, p. 147. The term " wild dog " applied to these animals is clearly a misnomer, for in every important detail in which the genus Gyon differs from Canis (wolves and jackals) in the form of the skull, the dentition, and the number of mammae domestic dogs agree, with the latter and not with the former. The name has doubtless been applied to the present genus on account of its hunting in packs, like hounds, its fine handsome and bold appearance, and its courage. A description of the anatomy of this .genus is given by Dr. Murie (P. Z. S. 1872, p. 715). The anal glands have been de- scribed by Hodgson (Calc. Journ. N. H. ii, p. 412), and the skeleton by Dr. Campbell (ibid. p. 209). The strong and unpleasant odour of the animal, which resembles that of the jackal, appears due, in part, to the secretion from these glands. 70. Cyon dukhunensis. The Indian wild Dog. Canis dukhunensis, Si/kes, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 100, 1832, p. 15 : Blyth. J. A. S. B. xi, p. 591. Canis primsevus, Hodc/son, As. Res. xviii, pt. 2, p. 221 (1833), with figure. * These were united by Biyth, Jerdon, Murie (P. Z. S. 1872, p. 720), and others, and I am by no means confident that the distinctions here pointed out are sufficiently constant to justify separation, but they are found in all the specimeus I have been able to examine seven or eight of C. dukhii)te)isis or primcevus, and four of C. rutilans. 144 Cuon primajvus, Hodgs. A. M. N. H. i, p. 152 (1838) ; Cak. Journ. N. H. ii, pp. 208,412 ; Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 514. ? Cuon grayiformis, Hodgs. Cat. Mam. Sfc. Nepal $ Tibet B. M. 2nd ed. p. 5 (1863). Cuon rutilans, Blyth, Cat. p. 37 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 145 (nee Mullet-). Son-kutta, Rdm-kutta, Jangli, or Ban-kutta, II. ; Kolsun, Kolasna, Kolasra,Kolsa,^>L&hr.; Eram-naiko,Gond.; Tani, HoKol; Vatai-karau, Tarn. ; Reza-Kutd, Adavi-Kiitd, Tel. ; Shin-nai, Mai. ; Rdm-hun, Kash- mir ; Siddaki, Ladak ; Bhaosa, Bhdnsa, Budnsu, in the Himalayas from Simla to Nipal ; Nazi, Phard, Tibetan ; Paoho, Bhot. ; Sa-tum, Lepcha. The general form is rather that of the jackal than of the wolf, the legs being shorter than in the latter. Fur long, with thick woolly underfur in Tibetan and Himalayan skins. The tail is a good brush. General form stout. The upper sectoral is decidedly longer than the two upper true molars together. Colour. On upper parts generally rusty red, varying in some specimens to rufous grey or even light brownish grey, paler below. The colour is generally not uniform, being variegated by dark tips to the dorsal hair. The underfur, when present, varies in colour from light brown to dull rufous on the upper parts, and has light- coloured coarser hairs intermixed ; the longer hairs are light rufous, with dark rusty-red tips. Terminal portion of tail black (very rarely the extreme end is whitish). The young animals are sooty brown throughout. Dimensions. Head and body of a male 37'5 inches, tail without hair 8, with hair 14|, tarsus and hind foot 7| ; weight 27 Ibs. "(Hodgson). The animal had been in confinement and was very thin. A skull measures 6-5 inches in basal length, 4-2 in zygo- matic breadth ; length of upper sectoral 0-85. Distribution. The Indian wild dog is found in Gilgit, Ladak, and other parts of the Upper Indus valley ; it was obtained by Hodgson from Eastern Tibet, and it occurs throughout the Himalayan forests from Kashmir to Assam. It also inhabits all the larger forests of the Indian Peninsula, but I cannot find it recorded from Ceylon except by Jerdon, and he was perhaps misled by Hamilton Smith's Chrysceus ceylanicus, which appears to have been a domestic or semi-domestic dog. Kelaart distinctly denies the existence in Ceylon of the present animal. It is doubtful whether the species found in the countries between Assam and Tenasserim is this or the next. No Indian mammal has so remarkable a range as 0. dwWm- nensis. Judging from other mammals, it might have been ex- pected that the Tibetan and Himalayan species, C. primcevus of Hodgson, would prove identical rather with the Siberian .C. alpimts, Pallas, than with the Indian C. dukhunensis. But Scully has shown (P. Z. S. 1881, p. 202) that C. alpinus is distinguished by its much larger upper true molars, whilst no constant difference has hitherto been detected between C. primcevus and C. dukhu- nensis. Habite. The wild dog of the Indian Peninsula is a forest animal, CYON. 145 but in the Upper Indus valley and Tibet must inhabit open hilly country, as there is no forest. It is, as a rule, diurnal, but may move about by night also. It is thoroughly predatory, living, as a rule, on the animals killed by itself and the associated mem- bers of the same pack ; but probably, like other canines, feeding upon carrion and on vegetable food at times. McMaster, to whom we are indebted for some very good notes on the species, found that an animal kept in confinement ate herbs, grass, and leaves of various kinds greedily, " not as dogs do when ill, but with a keen relish." All forms of the genus Cyon hunt in packs, usually from six to twelve, but sometimes as many as twenty in number, and live principally upon deer of various kinds and wild pigs in India, and on wild sheep and antelopes in Tibet. Many sambar and spotted deer are killed by them, whilst occasionally nilgai and Indian antelopes fall victims. Wild dogs avoid the neighbourhood of man, and consequently but rarely attack domestic animals; occasionally, however, they kill sheep, goats, and cattle, and Jerdon mentions one instance, and McM aster another, of their pulling" down a tame buffalo. I came across a third case my- self in the jungles east of Baroda, and I was curious to see how so large an animal had been destroyed. There were but a few tooth-marks about the nose and throat, and some of the pack had evidently attacked the buffalo in front, whilst others tore it open. This is probably their usual way of killing large animals ; they have been seen to snap at the flank of a sambar running. The statement made by Hodgson, apparently on native infor- mation, that wild dogs give tongue when hunting is denied by the excellent observer and sportsman Colonel Hamilton, who wrote under the name of " Hawkeye," and who is quoted by McMaster. I have twice met with these animals in the act of hunting, once on the Nilgiris and a second time east of Eaipur in Chhatisgarh, and in neither case did I hear any sound. They are said, however, to howl at night. Throughout India there is a general belief that these wild dogs hunt and kill tigers. Whilst not absolutely rejecting the tale, I must say that I think it improbable. The wild d6g drives away all deer and other wild animals on which tigers feed, and probably the latter follow their prey. At the same time, some of the accounts of wild dogs attacking tigers are singularly circumstantial. Captain Baldwin, in 'The Large and Small Game of Bengal' (p. 19), gives the particulars of one case, apparently as well authenticated as an account can be that rests upon the evidence of villagers inhabiting wild parts of the country. In this case the remains of a tiger that had been devoured were said to have been found together with three dead wild dogs. The same writer (p. 108) describes an instance, said to have been witnessed by an English sportsman, of an attack by wild dogs on the Himalayan 146 black bear (Ursus torquatus). Another case in which wild dogs are asserted to have killed a tiger is mentioned by Mr. Stern- dale in ' Seonee ' and in his ' Natural History of Indian Mam- malia.' In other instances the wild dogs are said to have dis- puted with a tiger or a leopard the possession of prey that had been killed by the latter. It is not improbable that such dis- putes occur, that they result in the death of some of. the wild dogs, and that the remains of the bullock or sambar over which the contest has occurred are taken by credulous men for tiger's bones. Another story about the wild dog, also universally believed in India, and quoted by Hodgson and others as if perfectly authentic, is that the urine of these animals is excessively acrid, that they sprinkle with it the bushes through which they drive their prey, and then rush upon the latter when blinded by the pungent fluid. Another version is that they jerk the urine into their victim's eyes with their tails. This is sometimes said to be their method of killing tigers, and in Burmah they are even supposed to destroy elephants by this stratagem. It is scarcely necessary to say that, except Hodgson, none of the naturalists (such as Jerdon, McMaster, and Sterndale) who mention this extraordinary story express any belief in it. A somewhat similar story (I suspect a myth) is told about wolves in Europe, and related by so good an observer as Blasius (' Saugethiere Deutschlands,' p. 182), to the effect that when large animals such as cattle or horses offer much resistance to wolves the latter dip their tails or the whole of their bodies in water, and either shake themselves before the animal they are attacking, or whisk their tails into his eyes and then rush on him in a body whilst his eyes are closed. Although many large animals are killed by wild dogs, no instance appears to be known of their attacking man. Wild dogs are said to be absolutely untamable, and, although this is perhaps an exaggeration, they are certainly very diffi- cult to tame. In one instance mentioned by Hodgson there was a certain amount of domestication of a young indivi- dual, as it would play with dogs, and allow itself to be caressed by its owner, but others remained for years as fierce and shy as when caught, and this is the experience of all other writers. The breeding-period is in the winter. The time of gestation is not accurately known, but is probably about two months ; the young are produced in holes or caves among rocks from January to March, and there are sometimes six or more in a litter ; but, according to Hodgson's observations, usually two to four. A breeding-place was discovered by Mr. Wilson near Simla*, where several females apparently bred together. TTJLPES. 147 71. Cyon rutilans. The Malay wild Dog. ? Canis jayanicus, Desm. Mamm. p. 193 (1820). Canis familiaris, var. sumatrensis, Hardwicke. Trans. Linn, Soc xiii p. 235, pi. xxiii (1822). Canis rutilans, S. Mull. Verhandelingen, Zoo!. Zoogd. pp. 27 51 (1839) ; Blyth, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 24. Cuon primaevus, Cantor, J. A. S. B. xv. p. 106, nee Hodgson. Tau-khwe, Burm. ; Anjing-utan, Malay. Smaller and slighter in build than C. dukhunensis, limbs much more slender. The length of the upper sectorial is very little more than that of the two upper true molars. No woolly under- fur ; hair of body short and harsh ; brush smaller than in C. duk- hunemsis. Colour. Uniform deep ferruginous red above, hair scarcely paler towards the base. Lower parts whitish. Terminal portion of tail black. (The original C. javanicus was said to be black on the back and outside of the limbs.) Dimensions. Head and body'32| inches in a young male, tail 12 ; tarsus and hind foot in adults 6 inches. An adult female skull from Moulmein measures 5-9 inches in basal length, 3-5 in zygo- matic breadth, length of upper sectorial 0'75. Distribution. Throughout the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and it is said Borneo. This is the species found in the Tenasserim provinces ; and there is a specimen from Moulmein in the British Museum. Whether the form that inhabits Northern Burma is identical with this or the last species is not known. Habits. Similar to those of C. dukhunensis. Genus VULPES, Brisson, 1758. Foxes, although frequently classed in the same genus with wolves and jackals, differ sufficiently to be entitled to generic distinction, being of slighter build with a longer tail, sharper muzzle, propor- tionally longer body and shorter limbs. The tail is always con- siderably more than half the length of the head and body, and is covered with long hair. The ears are large, the pupil of the eye vertically elliptical in a strong light, and there are 6 mammae. There is no frontal sinus in the skull, and the form of the anterior portion of the brain differs from that of Canis *. The upper surface of the postorbital processes is concave. The nasal bones do not extend so far back on the face as the maxillaries. Dentition: i. ^, c. l ~ } . > pm. ^, m. |^|, as in Canis. * Huxley, P. Z. S. 1880, p. 246. L2 148 Fig. 37. Skull of Vulpes bengalensis. (Gray, P. Z. S. 1868, p. 517.) Synopsis of Indian Species. A. Tip of tail black ; ears grey outside. a. llufous grey, small; skull about 4 inches long V. benyalensis, p. 148. b. Ashy grey, very small ; skull about 85 inches long V. cana, p. 150. B. Tip of tail white. a. Ears black or dull brown outside. a'. Small ; hind foot and tarsus 4 to 5 inches long V. leucopus, p. 151. 6'. Large; hind foot and tarsus about 6 inches long V. alopex, p. 153. b. Ears pale rufous outside ; size small V. ferrilalus, p. 155. Foxes are chiefly nocturnal in their habits, hiding in holes or burrows made by themselves, or in ravines or amongst grass or bushes during the day. They are, as a rule, solitary, and rarely if ever associate in numbers as other Ganidce do. All the species are more or less insectivorous and frugivorous ; but the more tropical forms appear to live on insects more than those do that inhabit temperate climates. All are highly intelligent and famous for cunning. 72. Vulpes bengalensis. The Indian Fox. Canis bengalensis, Shaw, Gen. Zool. i, p. 330 (1800) ; Elliot, Mad. Journ. L. S. x, p. 102. Canis bengalensis (and C. rufescens ?), Gray, Hardwicke's HI. Ind. Zool. ii, pis. 2 & 3. Canis kokree, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1831, p. 101. __ Canis vulpes indicus, Hodgson, As. Res. xviii, pt. 2, p, 237 (1833). Cynalopex bengalensis, Blyth, Cat. p. 41. Vulpes bengalensis, Horsfield, Cat. p. 84 ; Jet-don, Mam. p. 149. Vulpes hodgsonii, Gray, C'harlesworth 's M. N. H. i, p. 578. Lumri, Lorn, Lokri, H. ; Lukhariya in Bundelkand ; EJiekar, Khikir, Behar ; Khek-siyal, Beng. ; Kokri, Mahr. ; Khekri, Gond ; Konka-nakka, Gunta-nakka, Poti-nara, Tel. ; Konk, Kemp-nari, Chandak-nari, Can. VULPES. 149 Size small. Limbs very slender. Tail shorter in proportion than in typical foxes. Colour. Above rufescent grey, varying with the season and locality from almost silver-grey to greyish rufous, minutely speckled with white, the sides very much greyer than the back ; lower parts whitish, usually pure white on the chin and throat, pale rufous yellowish or creamy white on the lower breast and abdomen, and more rufescent towards the vent. No cross band on the shoulder. Dorsal fur sometimes white throughout, except at the tip, but when long, in the cold season, white at the extreme base, dusky or purplish slaty, with coarser white hairs intermixed, for about one quarter to one third the length, then creamy white or pale rufous but becoming darker gradually nearly to the end, where there is a white ring followed by a ferruginous or black tip. The fur on the lower parts is whitish throughout. The outer sur- faces of the limbs are bright rufous ; there is a black spot on each side of the muzzle in front of the eye ; the ears are grey outside, whitish within. Tail grey, more or less rufescent above, many of the hairs with black tips, and those at the end of the tail entirely black, forming a sharply defined black tail-tip. Dimensions. Head and body about 20 inches, tail without the hair at the end 11, with the hair 13 to 14, tarsus and hind foot about 4. A skull is 4*15 inches in basal length, 2 - 5 broad across the zygomatic arches ; a smaller 4 by 2-25. Weight about 7 Ibs. (male's ?i to 8, females 5| to 6|). Distribution. Found commonly throughout India, except in thick forest, from the base of the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, but not recorded west of Sind and the Punjab, nor east of Assam, where it is rare. Unknown in Burma. Its occurrence in Ceylon is very doubtful ; Kelaart mentions a report of its existence in the Badulla district, but evidently without placing any dependence on the story. Habits. Jerdon's description of this animal's habits is excellent, and is confirmed and supplemented by McMaster's notes. This pretty little fox is familiar to many of the inhabitants of India, being common in most open parts of the country, whether culti- vated or waste, and being by no means shy, but frequently coming into gardens and enclosures around houses. I have seen it on the Maidan in Calcutta, and its cry may be heard there almost nightly in the cold season. The sound, a little chattering bark, as Stern- dale aptly calls it, consists of a sharp yelp quickly repeated three or four times. The present species feeds less upon birds and more upon small mammals, reptiles, and insects than its larger allies. It but rarely carries off poultry. According to Sir Walter Elliot, it subsists mainly on rats, land-crabs, grasshoppers, and beetles ; but Jerdon has seen it hunting quail, and says that it doubtless kills youug birds and eats eggs. He also remarks that lizards are a favourite food with it, that it habitually eats fruit, such as ber (Zizyphm), melons, &c., and occasionally pods and shoots of gram or channa 150 , CANID^B. ( Cicer arietinum) and other vegetables ; whilst both he and McMaster have observed it feeding on termites or white auts, especially the winged forms that emerge in flights in the hot season. McMaster relates having once near Hyderabad, in the Deccan, seen a fox spring out of the grass and catch moth after moth as they passed him just before dusk. The burrows in which the Indian fox lives and breeds are usually situated in open plains, sometimes in thorny scrub, a slight rise in the ground, the bund of a tank or other artificial elevation being selected in places liable to be flooded in the rainy season. There are several openings to each burrow, some of them blind, others leading to a larger central chamber, two or three feet below the surface. Jerdon relates that on two occasions he ran foxes to holes in hollow trees. The Indian fox does not exhale the strong odour characteristic of the European species, and is said to afford but little scent to dogs. F". bengalensis is but rarely hunted with foxhounds, partly on this account, partly because of its numerous earths. It, how- ever, is frequently coursed with greyhounds, and gives a good run with Arab, Persian, or half English dogs, pure-bred English hounds being too fast. It doubles in a most dexterous manner, taking advantage of every accident of the ground, such as a ditch or ravine, and frequently making good its escape to earth or into bushes. McMaster, who writes enthusiastically about this game little animal, says he was once beaten by a tired fox, that escaped the dogs by running amongst a herd of sheep and cattle. In its movements this animal is quick, active and graceful. Jerdon notices that the tail is carried trailing when the fox is going slowly or hunting for food, horizontal when running, and almost erect when making a sudden turn. This fox is easily tamed and is said to be an amusing pet, free from smell and cleanly it its habits. It is not often kept tame as it is believed to be liable to attacks of rabies. There is, however, some probability that such cases as have occurred, if not caused by infection, may have been due to too close confinement. The breeding takes place in burrows. The pairing-time varies according to locality from November to January, and the young, almost always four in number, are produced from February to April. At this season the female is seldom to be met with after sunrise, and the cubs are very rarely seen outside their earth till nearly full-grown. 73. Vulpes cana. The hoary Fox. Vulpes canus, W. Blanford, J. A. S. . xlvi, pt. 2. p. 321 (1877) ; Sdater, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 392. Poh, Baluch. ; Sitrba-shdkdl (cat-jackal), Persian of Kandahar. Size A r ery small ; tail long and bushy ; fur long and very soft. Skull (in the only specimen examined) destitute of any sagittal YULPES. 151 crest. Muzzle short and narrow. The inner lobe of the upper sectorial tooth very small. Colour. Ashy grey, blackish on the back and sometimes with a rufescent tinge, white below. The basal half of the dorsal fur is dark purplish grey in some skins, the distal half grey or rufescent ; in other cases the hairs are light ashy grey almost throughout, the longer and coarser hairs have white rings near the end, and black tips on the back. The long tail-hairs are. ashy near the base, white near the ends, the tips black, the black tips being more developed posteriorly so that the tail has a black tip, though less defined than in F. bengalensis. Ears grey outside, creamy white on the margin and within ; forehead rufous ; a dusky or black spot on each side of the muzzle. Outside of the limbs dark rufous or dark ashy, almost black in some cases. Dimensions. Head and body 18 inches, tail with the hair at the end 15 to 16, without 12| to 13. In the skull the basal length is 3'35, zygomatic breadth 2. Distribution. Baluchistan and Southern Afghanistan, possibly extending eastwards to Sind. I have hitherto only been able to examine two skins and a skeleton, the types, procured by Major Mockler at Gwadar, and a skin from Kandahar sent to me by Sir O. B. St. John. Nothing is known of the habits of this species. 74. Vulpes lencopus. The Indian desert Fox. Vulpes flavescens, Blyth, J. A. S.B. xxii, p. 581, nee Gray. Vulpes leucopus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxiii, p. 729 (1854), xxv, p. 443, xxvi, p. 289 ; Jei-don, Mam. p. 151. Vulpes griffithii, Blyth, J. A. 8. B. xxiii, p. 730 ; id. Cat. p. 43 ; Scully, A. M. N. H. ser. 5, viii, p. 226. Vulpes pusillus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxiii, pp. 729, 730; Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 516 ; Jet-don, Mam. p. 153. Lumri or Lokri, H. and Sindhi ; Lombar, Baluchi ; Riibuh, P. Size small, though rather larger than that of F. bengaltnsis. Fur full in winter. Colour of typical form. In winter the back is more or less rufous, speckled with white, and varies from brownish yellow to rusty red. There is usually a distinct pale patch on each side of the back behind the shoulder, and the cross stripe in front of these patches is well marked. The sides are grey or whitish, more or less speckled, becoming darker, often iron-grey or simply rufous, on the outside of the limbs. The lower parts as a rule are slaty or purplish grey to blackish, abdomen paler, chin and generally a spot in the middle of the breast white. The underfur on the back purplish brown throughout the basal half to three quarters, the extreme base being sometimes whitish, median portion rufous, then white for some distance, and the tip red. On the sides the hairs are white throughout, except a few which have blackish tips. On the underparts the fur is purplish brown, paler towards the base, 152 and with more or less developed white tips. The ears are black or dark brown outside except near the base, whitish within and on the edges. Face rufous, especially round the eye ; usually a dark spot in front of each eye. The inside of the fore limbs, and especially the whole anterior surface of the hind limbs to the toes whitish or white, hence the name. Tail above the same colour as the back, less rufous on the sides and below, many of the hairs with dusky tips ; terminal portion of tail pure white. In spring, when the hair is worn, the dark underfur is exposed on the back, and the whole animal is greyer. The lower parts are probably white in summer. Dimensions. Head and body 19 to 22 inches, tail with hair at the end 12 to 16, without 11 to 14, ear outside 3 to 3-5, tarsus and hind foot 4 to 4|. An average-sized female skull is 4'2 inches long (basal length) and 2-4 broad ; a large male skull 4-45 by 2-65. Weight about the same as that of V. bengalensis, or rather more ; the specimen of which Jerdon gives the weight as 5 Ibs. was pro- bably small. Varieties. I am inclined to class together the three forms dis- tinguished by Blyth because, after seeing a great many specimens of V. leucopus from Sind and Rajputana, I am unable to find any characters by which the small Afghan fox, V. griffitJii, and the Punjab fox, V. pusilla, can be distinguished. Both are probably, as a rule, rather larger, but the difference is trifling ; and a skull of V. griffithi from Kandahar, in the British Museum, measures 4-3 inches in basal length, and is of the same size as a rather large skull of V. leucopus from Etijputana. I am indebted to Mr. Theo- bald for two specimens of a fox, which I believe is typical V. pusilla, from the Potwar in the northern Punjab, and except a trifling difference in size, both agree perfectly with skins of V. leucopus from Sind, whilst they are the same size as large specimens of V. leucopus from Bajputana. There is some confusion as to V. griffithi, for whilst it is founded on the smaller fox of Afghanistan, the dimensions given by Hutton (J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 344), head and body 2 feet, tail 17 inches, height at shoulder 14 to 15 agree better with the larger form. The species described by me in 1875 (A. M. N. H. ser. 4, xvi, p. 310, and ' Eastern Persia,' ii, p. 39) as V. persica is possibly identical with V. leucopus, though larger. Distribution. V. leucopus inhabits the dry and semi-desert regions of Western India, Sind, Cutch, Bajputana, the Punjab, and the North-west Provinces as far east as Fatigarh. It is also found in Baluchistan and Afghanistan, and seems widely distributed in South-western Asia, as I have specimens from Muscat in Arabia. Habits. This is essentially a desert animal, and in India keeps much to sandy wastes, where it appears to live chiefly on the sand-rats, Gerbillus hurriance. Jerdon remarks that the present species keeps to a different kind of ground from that inhabited by V. bengalensis, but in Sind both are common on the waste land with scattered bushes that covers so large a portion of the province. YULPES. 153 V. leucopus, however, appears to be the only form actually found amongst the sand-hills of the desert. The habits, so far as they are known, exhibit no peculiarity. Jerdon considers this fox more speedy than V. benyalensis and capable of giving a capital run even with English greyhounds. 75. Vulpes alopex. The common Fox. Canis vulpes and C. alopex, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 59 (1766). Canis vulpes montana, Pearson, J. A. S. B. v, p. 313 (1836). Canis himalaicus, Oyilby, P. Z. S. 1836, p. 103. Vulpes'nipalensis, Gray, Charksworttts Mag. N. H. i, p. 578 (1838). Vulpes montanus, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi. p. 589, xxiii, p. 730 ; Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 516 ; Jerdon, Mam.'lnd. p. 152 ; Blanf. J. A. S. 13. xlvi, p. 323, xlviii, p. 95 ; Scully, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 202 ; id. A. M. N. H. ser. 5, viii, p. 225. Vulpes flavescens, Gray, A. M. N. H. (1) xi, p. 118 (1843) ; Hutton, J. A. S. B. xiv, p. 344 ; Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 516 j Blyth, Cat. p. 42; Blanf ord, Yark. Miss., Mam. p. 22, pi. li. Vulpes alopex, Blanford, P. Z. S. 1887, p. 635. Lomri, H. ; JRubah, Pers. ; Luh <5 , Laash , Kashmiri ; Wamu, Nepal. A large, and, in winter, richly-coloured fox with long fur and a superb brush. The skull is elongate, but the muzzle is less narrow proportionally than in the smaller Indian forms. Colour of the Himalayan variety. Middle of the back varying from pure chestnut to dull rufous, speckled with white or yellow, or to dark iron-grey (black and rufous mixed). The cross stripe on the shoulder sometimes scarcely apparent, in other skins very distinct and with well-marked buff patches on each side before and behind. The hinder part of the back and the thighs much greyer and more speckled with white ; the sides paler in colour ; lower parts varying from creamy-white to almost black, being probably much paler in summer than in winter. There is generally a white spot in the middle of the chest, which, with the throat, is often much darker than the belly, or the dusky portion of the latter may be confined to a median band. The woolly underfur on the back purplish brown ; terminal portion of longer hairs rusty-red, with generally a white or whitish ring near the end, the extreme tip often black. The underfur of other parts of the body varies from yellowish white to dusky. The ears are black outside, light rufous or buff within. The face is rufous ; there is a large black spot in front of the eye, and the cheeks are white. The outside of the limbs are ferruginous, black and white mixed, sometimes one colour prevailing, sometimes the other. Tail greyish, more or less rufous, many of the hairs with black tips, but the end of the tail is conspicuously white. In spring, when the long winter fur is shed, the animal can scarcely be recognized ; the dark underfur gives a greyish-brown tinge to the back, whilst the sides are pale and the lower parts whitish. 154 Dimensions of Himalayan specimens. Length of head and body 24 to 25 inches, tail with hair at the end 18 to 20, without 14| to 17, tarsus and hind foot nearly 6, height 14 to 15 inches ; weight (according to Jerdon) 14 Ibs. A Himalayan skull measures 4*9 inches in basal length by 2*7 broad. Varieties. There is a considerable amount of variation, both in size and colour, exhibited by the different races of the common fox, and there is, as yet, much difference of opinion amongst natu- ralists as to whether these different races should be distinguished by specific names. The fox of Northern and Central Europe is rather larger than the Himalayan fox and much redder ; but the variety inhabiting Southern Europe, Canis melanoyaster of Bona- parte, approaches more nearly in colour to the Himalayan race. The large Central-Asian fox, V. flavescens, Gray, is a paler- coloured and yellower animal as a rule, with very thick fur in winter and a superb brush. It occurs within our limits in Ladak and other parts of Western Tibet, and is found throughout Eastern Tibet and in some of the higher Himalayan valleys south of the main range; also in Eastern Turkestan, Northern Persia, and probably in other parts of Central Asia. It is also, I believe, the form found in Afghanistan. I have not been able to examine any series of skulls from other localities, but those from Eastern Turkestan are larger than Himalayan specimens (one of a female measures 5 - 45 inches long and 3*15 broad), and equal in size to those of the European fox, whilst the teeth are larger even than in the latter. But it is extremely doubtful if these characters are constant, for there is much variation amongst European foxes. It appears to me that all the large Palaearctic red foxes, together with the North- American cross-fox, C. fulvus or pennsylvanicus, must be considered varieties or races of one species. Distribution. Of these races two are found within the limits of the Indian fauna -V. alopex var. montana of the Western Hima- layas, which is described above and is found from Nepal to Kash- mir and Gilgit; and F". alopex var. faivesceng, the paler, rather larger Central-Asiatic form, occurring in the higher Himalayas, in Tibet, and probably in Afghanistan. No foxes are known to occur in Sikhim or the Eastern Himalayas except close to the snows, and it is doubtful whether any are found in Nepal. Hodgson's specimens were from Simla. Beyond Indian limits the species is found throughout the greater part of the Pala3arctic and (if the views above expressed be correct) Nearctic regions. Habits. The Himalayan fox lives in brushwood and cultivated land, from an elevation of 5000 or 6000 feet upwards, frequently haunting the neighbourhood of human habitations and feeding upon such birds and small mammals as he can capture. He is very destructive to partridges, pheasants, and other game-birds, and often carries off poultry. In Europe, wherever rabbits are common,* foxes live chiefly upon them. The Central- Asiatic variety lives in open country, hiding in burrows or amongst bushes or rocks by day. Like all other foxes, this species, besides killing YULPES. 155 birds and small mammals, feeds upon insects of various kinds, on the combs and honey of wild bees, on eggs, and on fruits and berries, and is especially fond of grapes. Occasionally it eats carrion. In winter, Captain Hutton says, when the snow is on the ground, these animals are very numerous about Simla, and come close to the houses in search of offal and other food. Foxes generally live and breed in burrows, but sometimes in holes amongst rocks. The breeding-time is at the end of winter ; the period of gestation 9 weeks ; the young, usually five to seven in number (in the Himalayas, it is stated by Hutton, only three or four), are produced about the end of March or in April ; they are born blind, and remain so for a fortnight. They are full-grown in the autumn, and sometimes breed again the first year. Foxes live thirteen or fourteen years. In Kashmir Jerdon mentions that in 1865 the 7th Hussars had a pack of hounds and killed many foxes. There are, however, but few localities where the Himalayan fox can be hunted. 76. Vulpes ferrilatus. The small Tibetan Fox. Vulpes ferrilatus, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 278, pi. Cynalopex ferrilatus, Etyth, Cat. Mam. p. 41. Iffur, Tibetan. Size considerably less than that of V. alopex. Ears short ; brush well developed ; fur long, especially on the legs and feet. Colour. On the back ochraceous, finely speckled with white, the general tint being a pale yellowish rusty; face and outside of ears similar, but rather greyer and less yellow; sides of the neck, breast, and body, and the greater part of the tail nearly pure grey, mixed black and white ; tip of the tail white ; outside of the limbs yellowish rufous ; lower parts white, the middle of the breast con- spicuously white and distinct from the dark grey sides. Dorsal fur light grey at the base, then pale rufous, becoming darker near the end, the tips of the longer hairs white, black tips being inter- mixed, rarely on the back but abundantly on the sides, and espe- cially on the tail except towards the tip. Vibrissae black. Dimensions. None are available from fresh specimens. In a skin the head and body measure 24| inches, tail without the ter- minal hairs 9|, with the hairs 11, ear outside 2 inches. According to Hodgson, a skull not mature was 4| inches long and 2| broad. Distribution. Tibet, around Lhassa. Stoliczka ( J. A. S. B. xxxvii, pt. 2, p. 5) includes this fox among the animals found in the Upper Sutlej valley, but the species does not appear hitherto to have been observed elsewhere within British limits. Its habits are unknown. 156 MUSTELID^:. AECTOIDEA. Family MUSTELID^E. The first family in the third of the great groups into which the typical Carnivora have been divided contains the martens and weasels, the badgers and the otters, an assemblage of animals varying more in external conformation, and also in the characters of the teeth, than is the case in any other family of Carnivora. All agree in the possession of a single upper true molar on each side, and all have two lower molars in each ramus of the mandible ex- cept Mellivora, which has but one. The number of premolars is variable, and even that of the incisors is not constant. There is no alisphenoid canal. Several genera possess the power of diffusing at will from their anal glands an excessively foetid fluid. Five toes occur on all feet. The Mustelidce are somewhat difficult of arrangement when all the genera are taken into consideration ; but the Indian forms fall easily and naturally into the three subfamilies amongst which the types belonging to the family have been distributed. These sub- families are readily distinguished by the characters of the feet and claws. A. Toes short, partially webbed ; claws short, com- pressed, acute, curved, often semirectractile. Upper posterior molar of moderate size, elongate transversely. Terrestrial and arboreal Mustelince. B. Foot elongated ; toes straight ; claws non-retrac- tile, slightly curved, non-com pressed, blunt, those of the fore feet especially large. Upper posterior molar variable. Habits mostly terrestrial and fossorial Melince. C. Feet short, rounded ; toes webbed ; claws small, curved, blunt. Head broad and much depressed. Upper posterior molar large and quadrate. Habits aquatic Lutrince. The above arrangement is identical with Blyth's in his 'Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the Asiatic Society,' but Jerdon classed the badgers and their allies in a distinct family apart from the weasels and otters. Throughout the Mustelidce the form of the skull changes with age, even more than in other Carnivora. The breadth across the zygomatic arches increases, whilst the width of the skull between the orbits diminishes to an extraordinary degree. The sagittal and occipital crests increase long after the animal is fully adult. There is also in many forms a great sexual difference in size. A remark- able example is described by Mr. Thomas (P. Z. S. 1886, p. 125). MUSTELA. 157 Subfamily MUSTELINE. The Indian genera of this subfamily are typical forms with a long body and short limbs. The majority of the subfamily are found in the Northern regions of both continents ; several occur in the Himalayas, but only one species is known to exist in the Indian Peninsula and in Burma. Two genera are found within Indian limits. Teeth in molar series on each side 5 above, 6 below. Lower sectorial with inner tubercle. Size about that of a domestic cat MUSTELA. Teeth in molar series 4 above, 5 below. No inner tu- bercle to lower sectorial. Size small PUTOBIUS. By most English naturalists the name Maries is used for the martens (Mustela}, and Mustela for weasels and polecats. I have given elsewhere (P. Z. S. 1887, p. 636) my reasons for preferring the nomenclature of French and German writers. Genus MUSTELA, Linn., 1766. Syn. Maries, Nilsson. Body long and slender ; limbs short; tail of considerable length. Feet digitigrade or nearly so ; toes short ; claws compressed, curved, sharp, semiretractile. Dentition : i.J, c. ^, pm. ^, m. ^. Upper sectorial with Fig. 38. Skull of Mustela flavigula. the inner lobe close to the anterior end. Upper true molar nearly the same size as the sectorial. Lower sectorial with small inner tubercle. Vertebra : C. 7, D. 14-15, L. 5-6, S. 3, C. 18-24. 158 MCSTELIDJE. The martens are animals about the size of a domestic cat, more or less arboreal in their habits, and with but little, if any, dis- agreeable scent. Synopsis of Indian and Burmese Species. A. Tail without hair three fourths the length of the head and body M. flavigula, p. 158. B. Tail without hair one half the length of the head and body M.foina, p. 100. A trace of a fossil Mustela has been found in the Siwalik beds. From tbe fragments found, the species appears to have been similar to M.flavigula. 77. Mustela flavigula. The Indian Marten. Mustela flavigula, Bodd. Elench. An. p. 88 (1785) ; Cantor, J. A. S. B, xv, p. 194. Martes flavigula, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxvi, p. 310 ; id. P. Z. S. 1804, p. 485 ; id. Mam. Birds Burma, p. 29 ; Adams, P. Z. 8. 1858, p. 510 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 82 ; Blanf. J. A. S. B. xlvii, pt. 2, p. 150. Galidictis chrysogaster, Jardine, Nat. Lib. xiii, p. 107, pi. vii (1842). Martes gwatkinsi, Horsfield, Cat. p. 99 (1851). Kasia, Sirmur ; .Tuturala, Chitrdla, Kumaon and Garhwal ; Mul sam- pra, Nepal ; Huniah, Bhot. ; Sakku, Lepcha ; Anga Prao, Malay. Fig. 39. Mustela flavigula. (From Hodgson's drawings.) Tail long and bushy, measuring, without hair, quite three quarters the length of the head and body. Caudal vertebrae 24. Feet more or less naked beneath ; in Malay specimens the whole metacarpus and more than half the tarsus being bare, whilst in some Himalayan animals the naked soles appear less developed. Short hairs separate the pads from each other and from tbe central MUSTELA. 159 pad. Fur of body short in Malay skins, moderately long in Himalayan specimens, and with woolly underfur in winter. The skull resembles that of M. foina more than that of M. martes in shape, but is larger than either, the zygomatic breadth exceeds half the length, and the sides of the muzzle converge. The length of the upper sectorial along its outer margin exceeds the breadth of the upper true (hindmost) molar. This molar differs in form from that in M. foina and M. martes by having the inner lobe no broader from back to front than the outer. Colour. In the common Indian form the head to below the ears, with the face, nape, and more or less of the hind neck, the rump, tail, and limbs glossy blackish brown to black, the back from the shoulders to the rump pale brown, sometimes brownish white. The chin and upper part of the throat as far as below the ears white ; throat and breast yellow or orange or brownish yellow ; abdomen similar in colour to the back, but a little paler. The underfur on the back is paler in colour than the terminal portions of the longer hairs. Varieties. There is, however, a much darker form, found both in the Himalayas and in Southern India, the Galidictis chrysoyaster of Jardine and Martes gwaikinsi of Horsfield. The whole animal is dark brown, except the chin, throat, and breast, the two former of which are white, the breast pale yellow. According to Adams, the dark phase is the summer livery, but this requires confirmation. Another variety, found in Southern Tenasserim and the Malay countries, has the head above and the back uniform or nearly so in colour, a moderate hair-brown, not nearly so dark as the head in ordinary specimens, but with a darker band on each side of the nape, forming a margin to the paler throat, which is not always white or yellow, but sometimes, with the breast, light brown. The Malayan race, however, is not, as Jerdon states, paler than others, but the reverse, except on the head. There is, in the British Museum, a blackish-headed specimen from Tavoy, with the back very pale light yellowish brown, this colour extending to the base of the tail. Four different varieties are described by Blyth, one from Southern India being very similar in colour to some Malay specimens, brown throughout, paler on the sides, chin, throat, and breast. In some instances dark brown spots are found on the throat or breast. Dimensions. Head and body 20 to 22 inches, tail without hair about 16, with hair 17 to 20 (Jerdon's measurement of the tail is erroneous). Weight 4 to 6| Ibs. Basal length of skull 3-53 inches, zygomatic breadth 2-3 inches. Distribution. Throughout the Himalayas from west of Kashmir (I have a skin from Hazara collected by Mr. A. B. Wynne) to the eastern extremity of Assam, at elevations .not exceeding 7000 to 8000 feet, also throughout the hilly part of Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and Sumatra. M. flavigula is also* found in Southern China and even in Amurland (Radde). In the Peninsula of India this marten is found on the Nilgiri hills, on the Travancore ranges, 160 MUSTELID.E. and probably on some of the other higher portions of the Western Ghats, but it does not appear to have been recorded in this range north of the Mlgiris. Jerdon says it is found in Ceylon, but I cannot find any notice of its occurrence there. Habits. The Indian marten lives in hill-forests, and is not un- frequently seen in the daytime, sometimes in pairs, occasionally in families of five or six, hunting among brushwood or on the branches of trees. " When moving about, it is constantly Littering a low chuckle, which is prolonged into a harsh cry when the animal is excited " (Adams). It lives upon birds and their eggs and small mammals, and it is said to kill young deer. It also feeds on reptiles and fruits, and probably on insects, one having been shot by Mr. Bourdillon on a tree in the Travancore hills, apparently in the act of feeding upon cicadas. This species is said to be easily tamed. Nothing is recorded about its breeding-habits, which probably resemble those of other members of the genus. It has a very slight unpleasant odour. 78. Mustela foina. The beech Marten. Mustela foina, Erxleben, Syst. Regn. An. p. 458 (1777). Martes foina, Nilsson, Faun. Scand. i, p. 38 (1820) ; Alston, P. Z. S. 1879, p. 409 ; Scully, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 202 ; id. A. M. N. II. (5) viii, p. 96. Martes toufseua, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xvi, p. 353, partim ; id. Cat. p. 06, nee Hodgson. Martes abietum, Horsf. Cat. p. 101 ; Adams, P. Z. S. 1858, p. 517, nee Ray. Martes leucolachnaja, W. Blanford, York. Miss., Mam. p. 26. Datta kafak, Afghanistan. Tail covered with long hair, and measuring without the hair about half the length of the head and body. Caudal vertebrre about 21. .Feet with long hair between the toes, so that the naked pads are much concealed, especially in winter, when the hair is much longer. Body covered in winter with long glossy hair and thick soft woolly underfill*. Skull broad, muzzle short with the sides slightly converging. Length of upper sectorial along the outer edge greater than breadth of upper true molar. The inner lobe of the last tooth, the hindmost in the upper jaw, is a very little broader from front to back than the outer lobe, the outer margin of the latter distinctly indented between the two cusps. Colour. Varying from greyish brown or even whitish brown or brownish grey to deep blackish brown, the tail and limbs usually rather darker than the body ; throat and breast white, the extent of the white varying. The underfur varies from ashy to pure white. In general the fur of this species is inferior to that of the pine- marten, M. martes; but some Afghan and Turkestan skins of M. foina have beautiful fur, with long, glossy, nearly black piles and MUSTELA. 161 very soft white or pale ashy imderfur. This is the variety for which I proposed the name leucolachncea. Dimensions. Head and body 18 inches, tail without hair 10, with hair 13. Basal length of skull 2-85, zygomatic breadth 1-8. Distribution. Throughout the greater part of Europe, but not in the extreme north, and in Western Asia. This marten occurs in Afghanistan and probably throughout the greater part, of the Hima- laya at considerable elevations ; specimens have been recorded from Gilgit, Ladak, and Kumaon, and I possess one procured by the late Mr. Mandelli from Upper Sikhim or the neighbouring portion of Tibet. The species has not been found further east. Habits. Nothing has been recorded of the habits of M. foina in the Himalayas, except that Scully states, in Gilgit, that it keeps to considerable elevations and is but rarely found in the vicinity of villages as low as 5000 feet. In Europe it is more common than the pine-marten, though the latter, as Alston has shown, is the only form occurring in Britain. The beech-marten is bolder than the pine-marten and more often found about human habitations ; it lives in trees or amongst rocks, and feeds chiefly upon birds or small mammals, frequently destroying poultry. It is very blood- thirsty, killing more than it requires for food. When pressed by hunger it will eat lizards, snakes, frogs, or fruit, and is said to be very fond of cherries. The pairing-time is about February, the period of gestation 9 weeks, the number of young usually 4 or 5, and they remain blind for 14 days from their birth. Young indi- viduals are easily tamed, and indeed there is good reason for believing that the animal was domesticated by the Greeks and Eomans and kept for the same uses as cats are now (see Bolleston, Journ. Anat. Phys. 1868, ii, p. 47). Maries ? toufoeus of Hodgson (J. A. S. B. xi, p. 281) was founded upon three furrier's skins that had been brought from Tibet, without skull, tail, or feet. These skins are now in the British Museum and have been labelled M. zibellina, the sable, to which they may perhaps belong. The fur is very soft, the underfur brownish, not at all like that of M. foina. They are very different from the specimens identified with M. toufceus by Blyth. Mustela martes (Maries abietum of many English writers), the pine-marten, is easily distinguished from M. foina by its narrower skull and differently shaped upper sectorial and true molar (see Alston, P. Z. S. 1879, p. 469). The sable appears to represent the pine -marten in Eastern Asia, and is by some considered only a variety of the latter. 162 MTJSTELID2E. Genus PUTORIUS, Cuv. 1817. Syn. Mustela, auct. nee Cuvier. Body very long, slender, and typically vermiform, limbs very short, tail variable. The external characters are similar to those of Mustela, except that the body, in the typical weasels especially, is even more elongate. Dentition : i. |, c. ^ pm. |j> m - 3- The P rinci P al difference from the martens consists in the absence of the anterior premolar in both jaws, in the cusps of the teeth being sharper, and in the absence of the inner tubercle from the lower sectorial. The skull is elongate behind the orbits, but the muzzle is short. Vertebrae C. 7, D. 14-15, L. 5-6, S. 3, C. 15-21. ? Fig. 40. Skull of Putorius canigula. The forms comprised are the animals known as weasels, pole- cats, ferrets, and minks, of which many species occur in the northern parts of both hemispheres, and several inhabit the Himalayas, one at least extending to the hills south of the Assam valley, and another, not hitherto recorded within Indian limits, inhabiting the Malay Peninsula. None are found in the Peninsula of India. All the species are thoroughly carnivorous and excessively san- guinary and bold, killing, if an opportunity offers, far more than they can consume, and destroying animals much larger than them- selves. Synopsis of Indian Species. A. Limbs and lower surface darker than upper parts. (Polecats.) a. Back fulvous, longer hairs black-tipped P. larvatus, p. 163. 6. Back variegated with white and dark brown P. sarmaticus, p. 164. B. Lower surface not darker. (Weasels.) a. Tail-tip dusky or black. a'. Lower parts white ; whole body white in winter P. erminea, p. 165. b'. Lower parts brown P. subhemachalanus, p. 1(56. PUTOBIUS. 163 b. Tail-tip not darker. a'. A pale median dorsal stripe P. strigidorws, p. 170, 5'. No dorsal stripe. a". Nose white P. canigula, p. 167, b". Nose the same colour as forehead. a. Back dark reddish brown .... P. cathia, p. 169. (3. Back light brown P. alpinus, p. 168, 79. Putorius larvatns. The Tibetan Polecat. Putorius larvatus, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. xviii, p. 447, pis. xi, xii (1849). Putorius tibetanus, Horsfidd, Cat. p. 105. Tail without hair less than half the length of the head and body. Fur long, with much woolly underfur. Long hair between the toes greatly concealing the naked toe-pads. Metatarsus thickly furred. Claws sharp. The skull figured by Hodgson, the only one of the Tibetan form known, is immature, the sutures being all open, although the denti- tion is adult. The hamular process of each pterygoid bone, which in P. fcetidus, the common European polecat, is much curved out- wards, in the skull of P. larvatus is but slightly curved, and is in contact with a process projecting forwards from the anterior portion of the bulla, as in P. sarmaticus. The upper true molar is dumbbell- shaped, the inner lobe being broader than the outer. Colour. Above dirty whitish or fulvous with a black wash, especially between the shoulders and on the hinder part of the back, owing to the long black tips on some of the longer hairs. Underfur whitish throughout. Part of the face between the eyes brown (perhaps black or blackish, as described by Hodgson, in fresh specimens), the tip of the nose and the chin white. The throat, breast, all the limbs, the groin, and the tail except near the base blackish brown, abdomen whitish. Dimensions. Hodgson gives the following : head and body 14 to 16 inches, tail with hair at the end 7, without 6, planta with nails 2| (in another 3|). Distribution. A specimen was procured by Captain (now General) Strachey in Ladak, others by Hodgson from the Utsang district of Tibet north of Sikhim. Habits. Probably precisely the same as those of the common European polecat, which is particularly distinguished amongst the weasel tribe for the evil odour generated by the secretion of its anal glands, whence its name of foumart or foul marten. It lives in woods and thickets, often near human habitations. P. larvatus probably inhabits a less wooded country and hides, like many other species of martens and weasels, amongst stones. The common polecat is very sanguinary and bold, and singularly destructive to game and poultry : it also feeds on frogs and toads. The period of gestation is about 9 weeks, the young, usually 5 to 7 in number, are born about April, in hollow trees or amongst rocks or stones. The common ferret is a domesticated variety of the polecat. M2 164 MTTSTELID-S:. Externally P. larvatus closely resembles P. eversmanni (Lesson, Man. Mam. p. 144) of "Western and Northern Asia in form and coloration, but in none of the three skulls of that species in the British Museum is there a process connecting the pterygoid bone with the bulla. The form of the upper true molar, too, appears to me different. P. putorinus (Blyth, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 281, note) is evidently the same as P. eversmanni. 80. Pntorius sarmaticus. The mottled Polecat. Mustek sannatica, Pallas, Seise, i, p. 453 (1771) ; Hutton, J. A. S. P. xiv, p. 346 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 68 ; Scully, A. M. N. H. ser. 5, viii, p. 227. Tail bushy, about half the length of the head and body. Fur shorter and more even than in the common or Tibetan polecats. Very little woolly underfur, the longer hairs coarse and glossy. Fig. 41. Putorius sarmaticus. Skull similar in form to that of the common polecat, not pinched in behind the postorbital processes. The hamular process of the pterygoid on each side is nearly straight, and meets a process running forward from the anterior portion of the bulla, leaving a foramen below, which is nearly or quite filled up in old skulls, so that the mesopterygoid fossa is continued back to between the bulhie. Crowns of upper true molars not dumbbell-shaped, but of approximately the same width from front to back throughout. Colour. Upper parts variegated with brown and yellowish white, underfur on the back greyish brown. Lower parts from the chin, with the limbs, glossy black. Face dark brown to black, except a white band across the forehead. Another band passes across the nape, and includes the upper portion of the ears ; the two bands nearly or quite meet below the ears. Hind neck dark brown ; there is gene- rally a broad fairly marked whitish band behind each shoulder. The hairs on the tail are very pale brown at the base, then dark PUTOEIUS. 165 brown ; the terminal portion white, except at the end of the tail where all the tips of the hairs are black. Dimensions. Head and body 13 inches, tail without hair 65 ; weight 8 to 12 ounces. Skull (of a female) 2-05 long (basal length), 1-3 broad across the zygomatic arches. Distribution. Eastern Europe and parts of Western Asia, gene- rally very rare, but common in South Afghanistan about Kandahar and Quetta. It has been obtained at or near the latter locality by Captain Hutton and Dr. Leith, and, as I learn from Sir O. B. St. John, occurs in Pishin, north of Quetta. Habits. An excellent account of this animal is given by Hutton, very little about it having been recorded in Europe. It lives in the ground in burrows (probably made by rats originally), and appears to be equally common in cultivation and in uncultivated tracts. It is chiefly nocturnal, but is occasionally seen abroad hunting in the daytime. It feeds on birds, rats, mice, lizards, beetles, and snails, and probably, like the common polecat, on any animals that it can master, and is excessively sanguinary. A caged animal kept by Hutton killed in succession 4 wagtails and 4 rats, two of the latter full-grown and large. The rats were always seized in the same place, just behind the ear, held until they ceased to struggle, and then killed by one or two bites through the back of the skull. As the blood flowed from the wounds, the polecat lapped it up, but never attempted to suck it. Although the animal that slaughtered all these birds and rats had been fasting for some time, it made no attempt to eat its victims during the day, but stored the bodies in a portion of its cage divided off as a sleeping apartment, and only fed after nightfall. The whole account given (I. c.) is too long to copy, but is worth reading. The young are produced in holes about the end of March or beginning of April and are usually three or four in number. This species has the same disagreeable foetid odour that is characteristic of the common polecat. 81. Putorius ermiuea. The Ermine or Stoat. Mustek erminea, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 68 (1766) ; Hodgson, J. A. S. & vi. p. 564, x, p. 909, xi, p. 280 ; Horsf. Cat. p. 104 ; JSlyth, Cat. p. 68 ; Slanf. Yark. Miss., Mam. p. 32. Body very slender. Tail about a third the length of the head and body. Soles of feet covered with hair except the small toe- pads. Fur soft, with woolly underfur. Skull elongate, muzzle very short. The bony palate continues back for more than half the distance between the last molars and the end of the pterygoids, which are simple at the end, not curved outwards, nor is there any process opposite to them projecting from the bulla. Upper molar concave before and behind, so as to be slightly dumbbell-shaped, and slightly emarginate posteriorly on the outer edge. 166 MUSTELINE. Colour. In summer dull chestnut (reddish brown) above, white or yellowish white below, the terminal portion of the tail black. The underf ur on the back paler. In winter the whole of the fur is white except the tail towards its extremity, which remains black. In some countries, as in England, the white winter garb is seldom Dimensions. Head and body 9 to 11 inches, tail with hair 4| to 6, without hair about 3 to 4. Males are larger than females. A skull measures 1*7 in basal length, and 1 inch in breadth across the zygoma tic arches. Distribution. Throughout the Palaearctic region as far south as the Alps and the Himalayas. A specimen was obtained in Afghanistan by Griffith, and the species was recorded from Nepal by Hodgson ; but the only specimen made over by him to the British Museum is a furrier's skin, said to have been brought from Tibet. Adams says the species is found in the lower and middle regions of the Western Himalayas, but Jerdou very pertinently remarks that no Himalayan examples exist in any of our museums. Indeed the only thoroughly authentic occurrence within our area appears to be that mentioned by Dr. G. Henderson in ' Lahore to Yarkand,' p. 42. He shot a specimen near Dras, north of the Zoji-la, Kashmir. The skin is, I believe, that now preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Dr. Henderson remarked that the annual was probably rare in the locality, for the people had no nam,e for it. Habits. The ermine lives in holes in the ground made by rodents, amongst rocks or heaps of stones, or in hollow trees, sometimes hunting in the daytime, but more frequently at night, and killing any mammals, birds, or reptiles that it can master. It kills rats and mice of all kinds, and is well known to be very destructive to rabbits and to feathered game generally. It climbs well, and plunders birds' nests of eggs and young. It is bold and sanguinary. In Europe it pairs in February or March, and has young, usually 5 to 8 in number, in April or May ; the latter are blind for 9 days, remain with the mother till the autumn, and are full-grown in the following spring. The white winter skins from the North, where the fur is thick and close, form the valuable ermine of commerce. 82. Putorius subhemachalanus. The Himalayan Weasel. Mustela (Putorius) subhemachalana, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. vi. p. 563 (1837) ; Horsf. Cat. p. 103 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 83. Mustela humeralis, Slyth, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 99. Mustela horsfieldii, Gray, A. M. N. H. xi, p. 118 (1843). Mustela hodgsoni, Horsf. Cat. p. 103, nee Gray. ? Kran or Gran, Kashmir * ; Sang-king, Lepcha ; Temon, Bhot* * See under P. canigula. 167 Tail moderately bushy, and, without including the hair at the end, nearly half the length of the head and body. Fur moderately long, soft, with some woolly underfur. Soles hairy; long hair between the toe-pads, and between them and the palmar and plantar pads, sometimes almost concealing them. Anal glands as in other species. Skull more elongate than that of P. ermlnea, and muzzle nar- rower ; otherwise .similar. The dentition presents no difference of importance. Colour. Brownish red, ranging from bright chestnut to bay, some being considerably brighter and more rufous in tint than others ; underfur hair-brown. The tip of the tail and the nose are darker, but not black. Chin white, and in many specimens there are white spots or patches on the breast. Dimensions. Head and body in a large (? male) specimen 15| inches, tail without hair 6, with hair 7|, tarsus and hind foot 1|. In a small (? female) example the corresponding measurements are 10, 4, 5, and 1| inches. Weight of a young male 9 ounces. A skull measures 1'85 inches in basal length, and nearly 1 inch in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. This weasel is found in Nepal and Sikhim at eleva- tions from 7000 to 13,000 feet (I have a specimen procured on Chola by Mr. Elwes at the last-named elevation, and Hodgson caught two in his house at Darjiling). Blvth (J. A. S. B. xxiii, p. 215) records specimens collected by Dr. Stewart near Landour and Mussoorie, and Jerdon states that the species is common in Kashmir, where Leith Adams also records its occurrence; but all the skins I have seen from tbe "Western Himalayas belong to the next species. The specimen procured by Griffith, and erroneously referred by Horsfield to M. hodgsoni, is labelled from Afghanistan. Some of Griffith's collections thus labelled were from the Khasi hills, so no dependence can be placed upon the locality. Varieties. The type of Mustela horsfieldi, which was brought from Bhutan, is now in the British Museum. It is smaller and much darker-coloured than Hodgson's type of M. subhemachalana in the same collection. But the tint is evidently variable in this species, and as the distribution of colour is precisely similar, I have very little doubt that the difference in size is sexual, and that the two are identical, as was suggested by Jerdon. In Hodgson's MS. drawings three of these darker specimens are represented, and all are noted as young. Nothing is known of the habits of this weasel. 83. Putorius canigula, The white-nosed Weasel. Mustela canigula, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. xi, p. 279 (1842). Mustela hodgsoni, Gray, A. M. N. H. xi, p. 118 (1843). Tail moderately bushy, about half the length of the head and body. Fur of moderate length Soles hairy. 168 HIJSTELID,E. Skull (fig. 40, p. 162) decidedly elongate, the comparatively narrow area behind the postorbital processes very long, but nowhere distinctly contracted, the sides being subparallel. Colour. Chestnut (brownish red), some specimens darker than others, some being bright chestnut, almost fawn-colour, the tail- tip not darker. Underfur hair-brown. The nose as far back as the eyes, both lips, the chin, and a variable area on the throat and upper breast white. Dimensions. Head and body 15| inches, tail without hair 7g, with hair 9|. The above are Hodgson's measurements, but are from a skin, and therefore only approximate. A skull from Kashmir is 2*05 inches in basal length, 1-1 broad across the zygomatic arches. Distribution. Hodgson's types were from Lhassa in Tibet. There are specimens in the British Museum, collected by Major Kin- loch, from Cbamba and Pangi in the N.W. Himalayas, at an elevation of 8000 feet in each case. I have a skin obtained by Mr. Theobald at Dharmsala, and the species is probably that " with a white blaze on the face " observed by Mr. Lydekker in the Chenab valley. I cannot help suspecting that this form may inhabit Kashmir, and that it may have been mistaken for its near ally P. subhemachalanus. If this be the case, P. canigula is probably the Western cis-Himalayan species, P. subhemachalanus the Eastern, the former extending further east, however, in Tibet. Nothing particular is known of the habits of P. canigula. The type of Mustela hodgsoni, Gray, is in the British Museum, and is a rather small and dark-coloured individual of the present species. The name has by Horsfield, Blyth, and Jerdon been applied to other kinds. 84. Putorius alpinus. The pale Weasel. Mustela alpina, Gebler. Mem. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscou, vi. p. 213 (1823) ; Horsf. Cat. p. 104. TVTn af ol a fom/vn ~FTs\r?fios\M T A Kf Z? wrr? *\ OfV7 7?7,/>-/Vv*7 TT/i^Z* s. Cat. p. 104. a temon, Hodgson, J. A. 8. B. xxvi, p. 207 ; Stanford, Yark. Miss., Mam. p. 32; Scully, P. Z. S. 1881, p. 203; id. A. M. N. H. (6) Tiii, p. 97. Temon, Tibetan. Tail moderately hairy, about half the length of the head and body. Fur short, soft, very thick, with but little woolly underfur. Soles hairy, naked ; pads much concealed by the long hair between them. Claws very slightly curved, blunt, Colour. Above and on the sides light brown (or, as Hodgson calls it, brunnescent fawn) to hair-brown. Underfur rather darker brown at the base, then whitish when the fur is in good condition, the tips brown. Tail the same colour as the body or rather paler. Lower parts, as a rule, yellow or white, with a distinct line of separation from the brown of the sides ; but in other specimens there is no distinct separation of colour, and the lower parts are PUTORITJS. 169 pale brown with a yellow or orange tinge. Forehead rather darker than the back ; sides of the head paler brown ; both lips, with the chin and the fore feet above, white, and frequently the inside sur- face of all the limbs and a small portion of the hind feet. Indistinct brown spots are sometimes found on the breast and abdomen. Dimensions. The only measurements are from skins. Head and body 9| to 11| inches, tail without hair 5 to 5|, with hair about 6|, hind foot to calcaneum 1|. A skull from Hodgson's collection measures 1-82 in basal length, and 1 in breadth; another 1-7 by 0'97 ; whilst one from Kumaon is much smaller, only 1*5 by 0-82. The latter may be a female. Distribution. Within our area this species has been obtained from the country on the northern frontier of Sikhiin by Hodgson and Mandelli, from Kumaon by Strachey, and from G-ilgit by Scully, and it probably occurs throughout the higher Himalayas and Tibet. The type of P. alpinus was from the Altai, and a species, said to be the same, was found in Amurland by Eadde. Habits. The typical P. alpinus is said by Gebler to have young in May, the number not exceeding five. The pairing-season is in February. The typical skins and skulls of P. temon agree well with G-ebler's description of P. alpinus, and with specimens from the Altai in the British Museum, but the individual from Kumaon, although similar in colour, is remarkably small, agreeing, however, in its dimensions with those given by Eadde (Eeis. Siid. Ost-Sib. i, p. 50) for the species. It is quite possible that the smaller individuals may be females. 85. Putorius cathia. The yellow-lellied Weasel. Mustek (Putorius) kathiah, Hodgson, J. A. S. B. iv, p. 702 ; Hors- fidd, Cat. p. 102 ; Jerdon, Mam, p. 84. Mustek auriventer v. cathia, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. x, p. 909, xi, p. 280. Kathia nyal, Nepal. Fig. 42. Putorius cathia. (From Hodgson's drawings.) Tail about half the leDgth of the head and body, not bushy. 170 MTJ6TELI1XS. Fur short and even. Soles partly naked, especially those of the fore feet. Skull resembling that of P. erminea in form, but narrower. The inner lobe of the upper true molar larger than the outer, and having the tubercle in the middle small but prominent, rising from the centre of a slight depression on the surface of the tooth. Colour. Back, face, and upper surface of head, including the ears, limbs, and tail, bay (dark brownish red) ; underfur scarcely paler. Lower parts deep yellow, this colour extending to the inside of the limbs, but more in some specimens than in others ; chin and upper lip generally whitish. In two specimens from Mussooree, collected by Captain Hutton and now in the British Museum, the inside of the fore legs is yellow to the feet, and in one the upper surface of the feet is partly whitish. Dimensions. Head and body 9 to 10| inches, tail without hair 5 to 6, with hair 6 to 7, tarsus and hind foot about 1| ; weight about 6 ounces. A skull measures 1-8 inch in basal length, and 1 in zygomatic breadth. Males are rather larger than females. Distribution. The Himalayas as far west as Mussooree, at mo- derate elevations (about 3000 to 8000 feet), and some of the hills south of Assam. There is a specimen from the Khasi Hills in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Habits. Nothing is known about this animal in the wild state ; its food, mode of hunting, breeding, &c., probably resemble those of other weasels and stoats. Hodgson states that it is easily tamed, and is employed by the Nepalese to rid houses of rats, for which purpose it is most efficient. It is also trained to attack larger animals fowls, geese, and even goats and sheep which it kills by dividing the artery of the neck. 86. Putorius strigidorsus. The striped Weasel. Mustela strigidorsa, Hodqs., Gray (err ore strigodorsa) , P. Z. S. 1853, p. 191 ; Hors/ield, A. M. N. H. 2nd ser. xvi, p. 107 ; id. P. Z. S. 1866, p. 398, pi. xlix ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 85. Tail, without hair, nearly half the length of the head and body. Fur of moderate length ; uuderfur soft and woolly, longer hairs coarse. Soles partly naked. A foetid secretion exudes from the anal glands, which are similar to those of P. cafhia. Mammae 4, subinguinal. . Colour. Deep bay (dark brownish red) throughout, with the ex- ception of the throat and middle of the breast, which are yellow ; the chin, a narrow line down the middle of the back, and another along the belly, which are whitish or white. Underfur on the back a little paler than the terminal portions of the hairs. Dimensions. Head and body 12 inches long, tail with hair 6|, without 5, tarsus and hind foot 2 ; weight 7| oz. The sex of the specimen measured by Hodgson, to whom we are indebted for the PUTOEIUS. 171 measurements, is not recorded. There is clearly a considerable difference in size between the sexes. Distribution. This species has hitherto only been recorded from Sikhim, where two specimens were obtained by Hodgson, probably from a moderate elevation. Two more were procured by Mr. Mandelli, and are in my possession. Nothing is known of the habits, which are doubtless similar to those of other allied forms. The animal is considerably larger than P. cathia, the teeth especially being of much greater size. Two other species of Putorius may hereafter have to be included in the Indian fauna, though at the opposite extremities of the area. The first of these is a weasel described by myself from Eastern Turkestan under the name of Mustela stoliezkana (J. A. S. B. xlvi, pt. 2, p. 260, and Sc. Results 2nd Yarkand Mission, Mam. p. 30, pis. i a, ii 6). This is allied to the common weasel of Europe, but is considerably larger and rather different in colour. The follow- ing is a brief description, which may suffice for identification. P. stoliezkana. Colour pale sandy brown above, on the outside of the limbs, and on the tail, white below. Eur short, dense, and soft. Head and body of a male 9 inches, tail with hair 3, without hair 2-3, tarsus and hind foot without claws 1'4; weight 5-2 oz. Skull 1'75 inches long, 1 broad. There is a specimen from Afghanistan in the British Museum. The other species is P. nudipes, E. Cuv. (Hist. Nat. Mamm. pi. 149), found in the Malay Peninsula (Cantor, J. A. S. B. xv, p. 194), Sumatra, and Borneo. Like so many other Malay species, this may inhabit Southern Tenasserhn. A short description is consequently added : P. nudipes. Tail bushy. Soles partly naked. Eur loose and long, with but little underfur. Colour rusty red, the head above and below white, tail-tip whitish. Head and body about 13 inches, tail without hair 8, with hair 10| ; skull 2-25 inches long, 1'35 broad. It is said by Cantor to inhabit the densest jungle. P. astutus and P. moupinensis have been described by Prof. A. Milne-Ed wards * from Moupin, Eastern Tibet, and P. davidianus from the Chinese province of Kiangsi. None of these can be satisfactorily identified with Himalayan forms. P. astutus is dark rufous-brown above, the tail the same colour throughout ; breast white, with a yellow tinge. Upper surface of fore feet white. Length of head and body nearly 10 inches, tail 41 skull 1-8. ' P. moupinensis is rufous-brown, a little paler below, the face and the tip of the tail darker; chin white or yellowish white. Head and body 13J inches long, tail 9, skull 2-2. This approaches P. subhemachalanus, but has a longer tail. P. davidianus is light rufous-brown above and below, the head above darker ; no dark tip to the tail ; chin, upper lip, and sides of * ' Recberches,' i, pp. 343-348. 172 MTJSTELIDJE. nose white. In a female the head and body measure 11| inches, tail 6|, skull 2. It is just possible that this may be a variety of P. canigula. In Gray's " Eevision of the Genera and Species of Mu#teMce contained in the British Museum" (P. Z. 8. 1865, p. 117),^ and in the same author's ' Catalogue of Carnivorous &c. Mammalia ' (1869, p. 95), Himalaya is given as one of the localities for Vison sibirica (Mustela sibirica, Pall.), and the letters B.M. are appended to show that specimens from the Himalaya are in the British Museum. lam, however, unable to find any such specimens in the collection. In Blyth's ' Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the Asiatic Society,' too, Himalaya and Tibet are given with a mark of doubt amongst the localities for the same species, but this is due to the mistake of supposing M. hodgsoni to be a synonym. Subfamily MELIN^E. This subfamily comprises the badgers and their allies. All are furnished with claws adapted for digging, and thus present some resemblance to bears, with which they have been classed by some naturalists. None of the true badgers have been recorded from within Indian limits, although at least one species belonging to the genus has been found in Tibet. Three genera, however, belonging to this subfamily are found in India or Burma, and are distinguished from each other by the following characters : A. Upper molar broader than long, not larger than upper sectorial. Or. An external ear ; animal paler below than above . . HELICTIS. b. No external ear ; animal pale above, black below . . MELLIVOBA. B. Upper molar longer than broad, and larger than upper sectorial. a. Bony palate prolonged back to glenoid fossa ...... ARCTONYX. Genus HELICTIS, Gray, 1831. Syn. Melogale, Geoffroy (1834). Size small. Body and head elongate, the nose prolonged and terminating in a naked, obliquely truncated snout, separated from the upper lip by a narrow hairy space. The nose is naked above for about one third the distance to the eyes. Limbs short. Claws much compressed, fore claws about double the length of the hind. Soles naked ; on the hind foot the naked portion terminates some distance in front of the heel. Ears short, but distinct. Mammae 4. Dentition: i. |, c. l ~ v pin. ^, m. ^. The upper sectorial, which in both Indian and Burmese forms is much larger than the true molar behind it, has a very large inner lobe divided into two distinct pointed cusps. There is a very small pointed cusp at the anterior extremity of the tooth. The molar is broader than long, HELICTIS. 173 the outer margin slightly indented, the crown with several small cusps. The lower sectorial has a heel about one third the length of the tooth. Fig. 43. Palate of Helictis personata. Skull with the nasal portion narrower than in other genera of the subfamily, and with the palate extending backwards to about halfway between the hindmost molars and the glenoid fossa. Infraorbital foramen large. Vertebrae : C. 7, D. 14, L. 6, S. 4, C? The species of Helictis have longer bodies and shorter limbs than badgers, but are allied to the latter and not to Gulo or any other genus of the Mustelince, so that it is incorrect to call them wolverines, as Jerdon and others have done. Blyth's term Brock- weasel is better, but the animal is not a weasel. All the species are very similar externally, but there are differences in the dentition. An account of the anatomy of a Chinese species has been given by Garrod (P. Z. S. 1879, p. 305). Synopsis of Indian and Burmese Species. A. Colour brown or yellowish brown, not grey. . . . H. orientalis, p. 173. B. Colour brownish grey H. personata, p. 174. 87. Helictis orientalis. The brown Ferret-badger. Gulo orientalis, Horsfield, Java, pi. Gulo nipalensis, Hodgs. J. A. S. B. v, p. 237, vi, p. 560. Helictis nipalensis, Gray, P. Z. S. 1853, p. 191 ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 80. Oker, Nepalese ; Nyentek, Malay. Tail, without the hair, exceeding half the length of the head and body. Fur consisting of soft woolly underfur and longer coarse piles. Teeth of moderate size j outer lobe of the upper sectorial projecting beyond the extremity of the inner lobe in front and behind; anterior cusp of the inner lobe much larger than the posterior. 174 MU8TELID2B. Colour. Above dark brown, almost chocolate-brown in general, but some individuals appear rather paler. The underfur is pale brown. A narrow median stripe from the crown of the head to the middle of the back or even to above the hips pure white ; also the cheeks and an interrupted band across the forehead, sometimes reduced to a frontal spot. The margin of the ears and terminal third to half of the tail whitish. Lower parts brownish white, sometimes yellowish, the breast and throat paler. Sometimes the pale colour is confined to the middle of the abdomen, the sides being brown. Dimensions. In a female the head and body measure 16 inches, the tail without hair 7|, with hair 9, hind foot from heel 2|. A skull measures 2*75 inches in basal length, and 1'75 across the zygoinatic arches. ' Distribution. The Himalayas in Nepal and Sikhim at moderate elevations, and Java. Other supposed localities probably refer to the next species. Habits. Very imperfectly known. The animal is nocturnal and lives generally in forests, but wanders into houses, and Anderson says he killed one at night in the house of a Sikhim Bhotia, to the disgust of the proprietor, who declared the creature to be useful in destroying cockroaches and other insects. I am unable to find any distinction between the Himalayan and Javanese forms distinguished by many authors as If. nipalensis and H. orientalis. The cranial differences noticed by Gray, Ander- son, and others appear to be due to individual variation only. 88. Helictis personata. The Burmese Ferret-badger. Melogale personata, Geoff. Belanger, Toy., Zool. p. 137, pi. v (1834). Helictis orientalis, Blyth, J. A. S. B. xxxi, p. 332, nee Horsfield. Helictis nipalensis, Blyth, Cat. p. 70, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 29, nee Hodgson. Helictis personata, Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 59. Kyoung-u-gyi, Burmese (Tickell) ; Kyoung-pyan, Aiakanese. General proportions precisely similar to those of H. orientalis. Teeth much larger, and the upper sectorial nearly trapezoidal, the inner lobe being remarkably developed and the two cusps much less unequal than in H. orientalis. Colour. Above brownish grey. In all other respects this form resembles H. orientalis ; the dorsal underfur is sullied white, dorsal and frontal bands and cheeks white or yellow, lower parts brownish white or yellow. The longer hairs on the sides have whitish tips. Dark portions of the face much darker than the back generally. Dimensions. Tickell, in his MS. notes, gives for a female : head and body 15 inches, tail 8|, hind foot 2|. This I suspect to be small, skulls of this species and stuffed specimens being rather larger than those of H. orientalis. The skull of a male measures in basal length 2-85 inches, in breadth 1'87. Distribution. Recorded from Pegu and Manipur. There is also MELLIVORA. 175 a skin, apparently of this species, from Cachar, in the British Museum, and in all probability the specimens obtained by Blyth from Tipperah and Arakan are the same. Fig. 4A.Helictis personata. (From a drawing by Col. Tickell.) Habits. This animal is nocturnal like other members of the genus, and appears to be omnivorous. One kept alive by Tickell fed upon fruit, insects, lizards, meat, and eggs, and drank by lapping. It was savage and restless, and appeared well able to defend itself against prowling dogs, as it was kept chained to a tree. Anderson obtained the Chinese type of the genus, H. moschata, distinguished by its very small teeth, in Yunnan, and this species may be found in Upper Burma. Genus MELLIVORA, Storr, 1780.- Syn. Ursitaxus, Hodgson (1836). Body stout. Limbs short, strong ; fore claws very large. Tail short. No external ear. Coloration peculiar : the upper parts whitish ; lower parts and limbs, with the muzzle, uniformly black. Mammae 4. Anal glands well developed, one opening on each side of the anus. Feet naked below, on the hind feet the naked sole extends to the heel. Dentition : i. |, c. J=|, pm. ^, m. J^J. No lower tubercular molar. The upper tubercular (or true) molar much broader than long, thus being transverse and more or less dumbbell-shaped, as in Mustelince. Upper sectorial large, with the inner tubercle quite at the anterior end. The heel of the lower sectorial very small. Vertebra : C. 7, D. 14, L. 4, S. 4, C. 15. The ratels, as they are commonly called in England, have somewhat the form of badgers, but are rather more like bears in gait and appearance. They burrow in the ground, but occasionally 176 MTTSTELmas. climb trees. One species is found throughout Africa, and one in India, but the distinction of the two is somewhat doubtful. Fig. 45. Skull of Melhvora indica. Two forms of this genus, Mellivora sivalensis and M. punjabensis, are found in the Siwalik beds of Northern India, together with a representative of an allied but extinct genus, Mellivorodon palce- indicus. 89. Mellivora indica, The Indian Ratel. Ursus indicus, Ken-, An. King. p. 188 (1792). Mellivora ratel, Gray, Cat. Mam. Birds Nepal 8fc. B. M. p. 13 j Horsf. Cat. p. 120 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 69. Mellivora indica, Jerdon, Mam. p. 78. Ursitaxus inauritus, Hodgson, As. Res. xix, pt. 1, p. 61; id. J. A. S. B. v, p. 671. H. ; Gorpat, Sindhi ; Bdjru Bhdl, at Bhagalpur ; Bharsia, Nipal j Biyu khatcar, Tel. ; Tava karadi, Tarn. ; Usa banna, Kol. Tail without the hair about to 4- the length of the head and body. Fore claws very large, nearly treble the size of the hind claws. No underfur ; abdomen very thinly clad. Colour. Above light grey or whitish grey, lower parts with the limbs black. The dorsal fur consists of longer coarse white hairs mixed with rather shorter and finer hairs which are blackish brown. The whitish upper parts are. sharply divided from the black under- surface, and include the crown of the head, though the black area MELLIVOKA. 177 covers the ears, eyes, and muzzle ; the upper portion of the tail also is whitish except at the extremity. Pore claws white. Fig. 46. Mellivora indica. Dimensions. According to Hodgson head and body 32 inches, tail 5, with the hair 6|, hind foot to heel 4|. Jerdon gives head and body 26 inches, tail 6. A skull is 4'9 inches in basal length by 3'2 in zygomatic breadth. Distribution. India generally, from the base of the Himalayas to the extreme south, with the exception of the Malabar coast and Lower Bengal. Not found in Ceylon nor to the east of the Bay of Bengal, but the range extends to the westward certainly as far as Sind. Habits. Like most of its subfamily the Indian ratel is exclusively nocturnal. During the day it remains in holes, probably dug by itself. According to Jerdon it is most common in hilly districts or in those parts of the alluvial plains of Northern India where the rivers have high banks, affording suitable localities for its dens. It is said to live in pairs, to feed on rats, birds, frogs, and insects, and to be very destructive to poultry. Like the African ratel, it doubtless eats honey and bees when it can get them. Throughout India this animal has the reputation of digging into graves of men in order to feed upon. dead bodies, and several of the native names mean " gravedigger," a term often applied to the species by Euro- peans. In Persia the same belief exists with regard to the badger, and is in all probability equally without the least foundation. Indeed, although the dentition of Mellivora is more carnivorous than that of the true badgers, the fact that the ratel in confinement lives well on vegetable food renders it probable that this animal feeds partly on vegetables, probably fruit and roots, in the wild state also. At the same time Jerdon states that he has heard of 178 MUSTELID^E. several individuals being trapped whilst committing depredations in fowl-houses, and this is confirmed by McMaster. Nothing appears to be known of the ratel's breeding-habits. In confinement it is very tame, quiet, and playful, and frequently acquires a habit of tumbling head over heels, for this practice has been noticed in different individuals by Hardvvicke, Sterndale, and others. Genus AKCTONYX, F. Cuvier (1825). Body and limbs stout, tail short. Snout long, mobile, naked towards the end, and truncated, the terminal disk containing the nostrils being much like that of a pig. Ears very short and rounded. Eyes small. Feet naked below, the naked sole not extending to the heel in the hind foot. Claws of all feet much lengthened, those of the fore feet longest, all slightly curved and blunt. Hair coarse and long, with woolly underfur. Mammae 6'. Infraorbital foramen in the skull very large. Bullae very small. The bony palate extends back to the glenoid fossae, and is deeply indented behind in the middle. The posterior portion of the palate is formed by processes from the pterygoid bones. This form of palate is peculiar to Antony