THE MUNGOOSE 



In form this mungoose is rather slender. The 

 body, from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail, 

 averages twelve to fourteen inches ; the tail is ten 

 to eleven inches. The colour of the fur of the body- 

 is speckled grey, caused by the hairs being banded 

 or ringed black and white. The legs are dark 

 brown ; eyes brown. 



The Pale Mungoose 



[Mungos punctatissimus) 



The only known specimen of this mungoose was 

 obtained at Port Elizabeth by Dr. Brehm, a German 

 naturalist, and is at present in the collection of the 

 Leyden Museum. It is stated to be very closely 

 allied to the Small Grey Mungoose, differing only 

 in its lighter colour and its smaller size. 



Although I have lived at Port Elizabeth for the 

 past ten years and done my utmost to obtain 

 examples of this mungoose, I have failed. Con- 

 siderable numbers of Small Grey Mungooses have 

 been sent to me at the museum ; and I have 

 observed scores of them disporting themselves in 

 the warm sun's rays near the town. An animal 

 dealer in Port Elizabeth for many years past has 

 procured mungooses from this neighbourhood, and 

 I have taken care to inspect them regularly, but 

 they were all of the typical species, viz. Mungos 

 fulverulentus. It is highly probable that the speci- 



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