HERPESTES. 33 



Herpestes griseus, Desm. Mam. p. 212; Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, 

 p. 553; Cat. Mam.Br.Mvs. p. 151 ; Jerd.Mam. Jwc^m, p. 132; Murray, 

 Hdhk., Zool., 4'o., Sind, p. 88. H. pallidus, Schivz. Syn. Mam. 1, p. 373. 

 Mangusta grisea, Fischer, Syn. Mum. p. 164. Nevjera, Nayria, Nore, 

 Sind. — The Madras Mongoose. 



Tawny yellowisli grey or pale grey, tlie hairs Larsli, ringed with 

 rufous and yellowish, with a broad white or yellowish subterminal 

 ring. Feet blackish. Tail bushy, concolorous with the body, not 

 tipped black, and nearly equal in length to the body. Cheeks and 

 throat more or less reddish. False grinders 3 — 3, the first is conical, 

 roundish ; the third triangular. Flesh tooth longer than broad in front. 

 Tubercular grinders transverse. Lower jaw shelving in front. Skull, 

 length 2*75 inches, width at zygomatic arch 1-42*. 



Length. — Head and body 16-17 inches, tail 14*. 



Hab. — Sind, Punjab, Kutch, Guzerat, Deccan and Concan, Bengal, 

 Travancore, Nepal and India generally. In Southern and Central India 

 very common. 



Affects scrubby jungle in Sind. In villages, it is very destructive 

 to poultry. 



Herpestes persicus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 554; id. Ca,t. Cam. 

 Br. Mils. p. 151 ; Blavf. EaMern Persia, p. 42; Murray, Hdhlc, Zool., 

 Sf-c, Sind, p. 88. — The Persian or Grey Mongoose. 



Pale ashy, very closely and abundantly black and white punctulated ; 

 hair short and soft, ringed black and white, one dark band at the 

 base, one in the middle and the third at the tip, the interspaces being 

 white. Chin and under side uniform ashy, brownish on the chest. 

 Tail conical, concolorous with the back. Feet like the back with 

 shorter fur, chiefly tipped white. In general appearance a miniature 

 of H. griseus. 



Length. — Head and body 10 — 12 inches; tail lOi — 12 inches, skull 

 rather elongate, 2'4 to 2*6 inches in length ; teeth normal, the thii'd false 

 grinder subtriangular, with a small central prominent lobe. Flesh 

 tooth subtrigonal, the inner tubercle small on the front edge. Width 

 at zygomatic arch I'o*, of brain case I'l". Forehead convex. Contrac- 

 tion behind orbit "62*. 



Hab. — Sind and Persia. Habits same as H. griseus. 



Herpestes ferrugineus, Blanford, P. Z. 8. 1874, p. 661, pi. 

 Ixxxi; Murray, EdhJc, Zool., 8,'c., Bind. — The Ferruginous Mon- 

 goose. 



General colour ferruginous, minutely speckled and mixed with white. 

 Fur moderately fine. Hairs of the back long, dull rufescent at the 

 base, and the remaining portion composed of short alternating rings of 

 white and ferruginous, there being sometimes as many as six alter- 

 nations in each hair, the extreme tips being ferruginous. On the lower 

 parts the colour is a little paler, and the rings on the hairs are less 

 distinct; upper portions of the feet rather darker red; soles of feet 

 and lower part of tarsus bare. The hair on the tail is long and the 

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