



NATURAL HISTORY. 



Sub-family b. Hyenina. 

 HY.ENA. (Gr. 



Striata (Lat. striped), the Striped Ilymia. 



The HYENIXA, or HY,ENAS, are remarkable for their pre- 

 datory, ferocious, and withal, cowardly habits. There are 

 several Hyaenas, the striped, the spotted, and the villose, but 

 as the habits of all arc very similar, only one will be men- 

 tioned. The Hyaenas, although very repulsive in appearance, 

 are yet very useful, as they prowl in search of dead animals, 

 especially of the larger kinds, and will devour them even 

 when putrid, so that they act the same part among beasts 

 that the vultures do among birds, and are equally uninviting 

 in aspect. They not unfrequently dig up recently interred 

 corpses, and in Abyssinia, according to Bruce, they even flock 

 in numbers into the village streets, where they prey on 

 slaughtered men who are thrown out unburied. One of 

 these animals attacked Bruce in his tent, and was only 

 destroyed after a severe battle. Their jaws and teeth are 

 exceedingly powerful, as they can crush the thigh bone of an 

 ox with apparently little effort. Their skull too is very 

 strong, and furnished with heavy ridges for the support of 

 the muscles which move the jaw. The hinder parts of the 

 Hysena are very small, and give it a strange shambling 



