2 5& LLOYDS NATURAL HISTORY. 



hinder part of back considerably elongated ; tail without black 

 tip ; hairs with the light and dark rings of equal length. Tail a 

 little shorter than the head and body ; tarsus completely naked, 

 but the bare portion of the whole sole of the hind-foot rather 

 narrow. General colour greyish-brown, speckled with white or 

 pale grey ; not unfrequently a ferruginous tinge on the head, 

 which in one variety extends over the entire body ; under-parts 

 paler. Under-fur light brown, the longer hairs distinct in 

 colour from this, and on the back marked by four or five dark 

 and as many light rings, which are generally of equal length ; 

 tips frequently rufous-brown. Claws dark brown. Length of 

 head and body, from 15 to 18 inches; of tail, 14 to 15 inches. 



Distribution. — India generally, from Kashmir and the Himalaya 

 southward, and Ceylon. Imported into the Malay Peninsula. 



This is the common Mungoose of India, and the one 

 carried about by the itinerant Snake-charmers. The Bengal 

 variety (H malaccensis) is darker than usual ; while a variety 

 found in Sind ( H '. ferrugineus t or II. andersoni) is characterised 

 by its rich ferruginous tint. 



XII. THE RUDDY MUNGOOSE. HERPESTES SMITHI. 



Herpestes smithi, Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 578 (1837); 



Blanford, Mamm. Brit. India, p. 126 (1S88). 

 Herpestes thysanurus, Wagner, Munch. Gel. Anz. vol. ix. p. 



439 (1839). 

 Crossarchus rnbigi?iosus, Wagner, in Schreber's Saugethiere, 



Suppl. vol. ii. p. 329 (1841). 

 Herpestes ei/ioti, Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, vol. xx. p. 



162(1851). 

 Herpestes rubiginosus, Kelaart, Prodr. Faun. Zeyl. p. 213 (1852). 

 Calictis smithi, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 565. 

 Herpestes jerdoni, Gray, op. at. p. 550. 

 Herpestes monticolus, Jerdon, Mamm. India, p. 135 (1867). 



