THE INDIAN CIVET. 291 
family, and have comparatively short, stout, and somewhat 
compressed bodies, and the limbs relatively longer than in 
some of the allied genera. They are all highly odoriferous ; 
one of their secretions being employed in perfumery. Mainly 
an Oriental group, they are represented only bya single species 
in Africa. 
I. THE AFRICAN CIVET. VIVERRA CIVETTA. | 
Viverra civetta, Schreber, Sdugethiere, vol. iii. pl. cxi. (1778) ; 
Gray, Cat. Carniv. Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 46 (1869). 
? Viverra poortmanni, Pucheran, Rev. Mag. Zool. vol. vii. p. 
154 (1853). 
Viverra orientalis, Matschie, Mittheil. deutsch. Schutzgebieten, 
vol. vi. pt. 3, p. 11 (1893). 
(Plate XX VII.) 
Characters.—Back with a strong erectile crest of black hairs, 
continued on to the tail; general colour of fur ashy-grey, marked 
with dark streaks and blotches; sides of neck marked by two 
dark streaks, separated by a white one, running backwards 
from the ear, and the black ones meeting to form a gorget 
under the throat. Tail roughly haired, with the rings well 
defined on the basal half, but the terminal half almost uni- 
formly black. Lower part of limbs uniformly dark. 
Distribution.— Africa ; apparently distributed widely over the 
tropical portions of the continent, having been recorded from 
Abyssinia, Fernando Po, Guinea, and the Gaboon, but seems 
unknown in the south, not even being recorded from Nyasaland. 
Habits.—So far as known, a non-arboreal species, this Civet 
probably agrees closely in habits with its Indian ally, and, 
therefore, need not be further noticed. 
Il. THE INDIAN CIVET. VIVERRA ZIBETHA. 
Viverra zibetha, Linn., Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 65 (1766) ; 
Blanford, Mamm. Brit. India, p. 208 (1888). 
P 2 
