264 Lloyd's natural history. 



Distribution. — Himalaya from Nipal to Assam, Arakan, Burma, 

 North Tenasserim, and Southern China. 



HaMts. — This species is stated to be sub-aquatic in its habits, 

 feeding largely upon Crabs and Frogs. 



XX. THE WHITE-TAILED MUXGOOSE. HERPESTES ALBICAUDA. 



Herpestes albicaudus, Cuvier, Regno Anim. ed. 2, vol. i. p. 158 



(1829). 

 Herpestes leucurus, Ehrenberg, Sy.nb. Phys. pl.-xii. (1830). 

 Ichneumia albescens, I. Gaoffroy, Mag. Zool. vol. vii. p. 394 



(1855). 



Herpestes loempo, Temminck, Esquisses Zool. p. 93 (1853); 



Matschie, Mittheil. dcutsch. Schutzgebieten, vol. vi. art. 3, 



p. 11 (1893). 

 Ichneumia nigricauda, Pucheran, Rev. Mag. Zool. vol. vii. p. 



394 (1855)- 

 Ichneumia abu-wudan, Fitzinger and Heuglin, S.B. Ak. Wien, 



vol. liv. pt. i. p. 561 (1866). 

 Herpestes {Ichneumia) a/bicauda, Thomas, Proc. Zool. Soc. 



1882, p. 75. 

 Herpestes a/bicaudatus, Thomas, op. cit. 18S9, p. 622. 

 Herpestes a/bicauda, Thomas, op. cit. 1894, p. 450. 



With this species we revert to the Ethiopian members of the 

 genus. 



Characters. — From all the species noticed above, the pre- 

 sent one is distinguished by having the whole of the lower 

 surface of the tarsus covered with hair, by the upper carnassial 

 tooth being only about one-fourth longer than the last molar, 

 and by the presence of three cusps on the outer side of the 

 last lower tooth. It has been separated as a genus or sub- 

 genus, under the name of Ichneumia, and connects the more 

 typical forms with the under-mentioned Bdeoga/e. 



