184 Mammals of Eastern Asia 
The Asiatic Mongooses, genus Herpestes, with type species 
Herpestes ichneumon of the Mediterranean, comprise a number 
of species distinguished from each other by relatively superficial 
characters. Several other distinct species which occur on the 
Sunda Islands are not known on the Asiatic mainland. 
Two main divisions can be easily recognized : Mongooses 
marked with a conspicuous stripe each side on the neck and 
shoulder and with the head broad, including the Stripe-necked 
Mongoose of India and the Crab-eating Mongooses ; and Mon- 
gooses without marks and with the head rather narrow, com- 
prising several species or forms. 
The Crab-eating Mongoose, Herpestes urva, is a large 
Mongoose with a horizontal white stripe on each side of the 
neck extending from under the throat, beneath the ear, to the 
shoulder. (The Stripe-necked Mongoose of India has a black 
stripe along the neck in much the same position.) The color 
of the back is gray, a blend of black and white, with the under- 
hair slightly reddish ; the throat, chin, and chest are white, and 
the belly is brown. There is some black on the chest and lower 
throat, and the fore and hind legs and feet are black. The total 
color effect is badger-like. The length of the head and body is 
from 19 to 23 inches, of the tail from 12 to 16 inches; the hind 
foot measures about 4 inches. The weight varies from 4% to 6 
pounds. 
The Crab-eating Mongoose undergoes comparatively little 
subspecific variation from Nepal and Assam through Burma to 
southern China, Hainan, Formosa, Indo-China, and the Malay 
Peninsula. In China the northern limit of its range is near the 
Yangtse River. Reputed to live near streams, this Mongoose 
feeds upon frogs, small mammals, birds, eggs, and crabs. 
The several species of Mongooses which have no neck stripe 
are divisible into two classes : those with the color of the legs 
darker than the body, and those with the legs not darker than 
