LARGE RUSTY-SPOTTED GENET 55 



remaining concealed during the daytime under a bush, in 

 a tuft of grass, or in a tree. They feed upon insects, 

 birds, small mammals, and ravage the poultry yards 

 when they get an opportunity. To the Boers they are 

 known as Mosiliaat Katten. Thomas and Wroughton 

 give the following key to the two groups into which 

 these animals naturally fall (see P.Z.S. for October, 

 1908, " Mammals from Zambesi ") :— 



A. Forefeet black. 



(a) Hairs of dorsal crest and tail long (at least 50 mm. 

 near base of tail) ; dorsal spots relatively small, with a 

 distinct tendency to coalesce into longitudinal stripes, 

 tail-tip white — felina group. 



(6) Hairs of dorsal crest and tail short (not more than 

 35 mm. at base of tail) ; dorsal spots large, always distinct, 

 tail- tip black — tigrina group. 



GROUP B. 



Genetta rubiginosa. Large Biosty-spotted Genet. 

 Groote Boodgevlekte Mosiliaat Kat. 



This species would appear to be the northern repre- 

 sentative of the Cape Colonial G. tigrina, as it resembles 

 this animal in the large size of the blotches and in the 

 absence of a pronounced dorsal crest (or mane) along the 

 back. The ground colour is a sandy-grey or yellowish- 

 drab, and the spots are of a rusty-red or chestnut-brown, 

 often surrounded by a blackish ring. This latter charac- 

 teristic w^as the main reason for the description of a new 

 species — G. letahce — by Messrs. Thomas and Schwann in 

 1906, from specimens collected in the Eastern and 

 Northern Transvaal by C. H. B. Grant, but which they 

 discarded at a later date upon the receipt of a larger 



