422 BCUMA, IT.S I'EOl'LE ASb PUUDUCTIOyS. 



bamboo roots, resembles,' to some extent, ' a ilarraot more tlian a l?at, yet it lias 

 jiuich of the Rat in its habits. 1 one uight caught a spetimcn gnawing a coco-nut, 

 while canqiing out in the jungles.' According to Jlason the Bghais call the liainboo 

 Hat Khdi, and they say that there is the Bamboo Khai, the Heed Khai, the Marauta 

 Khai, and the If'ie, a very small .species of the .same tribe." In R. iSumiifrensis the 

 fur is thin and bristly. The other three here given are smaller animals, with shorter 

 tail and the fur soft and dense. 



The liamboo Kats are inoffensive animals, seldom seen out of their burrows. 

 Dr. Andei-son remarks: "The young are quiet and inoffensive, but the ferine adults, 

 more especially the males, are very fierce, and at once show fight, without thiuking 

 of retreating, emitting a peculiar hissing grunt as they charge. The female also, 

 when in company of the young, becomes greatly excited when captured, and I have 

 seen one in these circumstances, when her own young were placed beside her, rapidly 

 kill them off, one after another, as they fondled her and searched for her teats to suck, 

 but on the other hand in confinement I have known an adult female to be perfectly 

 docile." 



Fain ill/ Hystricidse. 



Dentition, I. § ; R.T. f ; P.ll. i ■ M. «. 



Clavicles imperfect, attached to the sternum only. 



Hysteix, Linnceus. 



The body covered with spines, some stout and rigid, others long and flexible. 

 Tail terminates in a brush of open tubes, of a parchment-like material, supported on 

 slender stallis, which when violently agitated produce a rattling sound. 



H. Bkxg.u,ensis, Blyth. 



Crest small and thin. The body spines flattened, grooved, and terminating in 

 a slight seta. Flexible quills white, with a black central band. Thick quills white 

 towards the base, the rest black, with a white tip. A distinct white gorget. 



Head and body 28 ; tail 8 inches. 



Ranges from Bengal into Arakan. 



H. Tltjanensis. Andamans. 



Yery near to II. {Acanthion) Javanira, but possessed of a moderate crest, and 

 equally near or nearer to H. sub-crlstata, Swinhoc, from which Anderson dissociates it 

 on the presumption from Swinhoe's remarks that that species is not an Acanlhion, as 

 the present one is. Colour dark brown on the head, neck, shoulders and sides, passing 

 into deep black on the extremities. A narrow white line from the gape to the 

 shoulder. Below whitish. In the skull the nasals tcrniinatc anteriorly to the orbit, 

 and even before the anterior angle of the external portion of the lacrymal. 



The country East of the Kakhyen Hills, between 2000 and 4500 feet. 



The porcupines of Burma have not been properly determined, and Blyth only 

 doubtfully refers the common species to Bengahnsin, and alludes to the probable 

 occurrence of H. loiigicauda also in Tenasserim. Dr. Jlason observes, " An individual 

 lately turned up in my compound, and it was amusing to see how the animal defended 

 itself. When pursued, it uniformh" rushed into tlie nearest corner, put down its 

 head, as if it would conceal itself, erected its quills like a hemisphere of spears, and 

 shook together the quills of its tail, which produced a rattling noise in toucs of 

 defiance. In that position it seemed fearless of all attacks." 



Family Leporidae. 

 Dentition I. 8 ; E-T. f ; P.M. '; ; M. J. 

 Lepus, Linnaus. 

 L. Peguensis, Blyth. 

 Pegu hare. Phu-goung. 

 Distinguished fiom L. rujicaudatus of India by the tail being black above. Tho 



