THE PHILIPPINE PALM-CIVET. 235 



Distribution. — The range of the typical form of this species 

 embraces Burma, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, 

 and Java; the variety P. strictus is apparently confined to Sikhim 

 and Assam; while the variety P. niger is spread over India 

 proper and Ceylon, extending to the Himalaya, but becoming 

 rarer in the north-west, and also to the east in Lower Bengal, 

 where it passes almost insensibly into the typical form. 



Habits. — The habits of the Common Palm-Civet, cr, as it is 

 often called, Toddy-Cat, may be taken as typical of those of 

 the genus generally. These animals pass the daytime either 

 among the branches of trees or in hollows of their trunks, in 

 the neighbourhood of the coast cocoa-nut palms being their 

 favourite resorts, while in more inland districts mangrove-groves 

 are frequently selected. Thatched roofs of houses, as well as 

 outbuildings and drains, are, however, sometimes chosen as 

 dwelling-places, and these animals will occasionally take up 

 their quarters in the heart of cities. From such varied domi- 

 ciles the Palm-Civet issues forth at dusk in search of food, which 

 comprises the smaller Mammals, birds and their eggs, lizards, 

 insects, fruit, and vegetables, in addition to "toddy" — that is to 

 say, palm-juice — which is eagerly drunk from the vessels sus- 

 pended from palm-trees to collect it. The young are born in 

 the hollows of trees, and usually number four to five in a litter. 



II. THE PHILIPPINE PALM-CIVET. PARADOXURUS 

 PHILIPPINENSIS. 



Paradoxurus philippiiiensis, Jourdan, Comptes Rendus, vol. v. 



p. 523 (1837) ; Blanford, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1885, p. 800. 

 Paradoxurus zeylanicus, Gray, List Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 55 



(1843). 

 Paradoxurus philippensis, F. Cuvier, Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 2, vol. 



viii. p. 372 (1837). 

 Characters. — Very similar to the preceding, but rather smaller, 

 with the fur closer, softer, less ragged, and more even in length, 



