TIIE RED-TAILED MUNGOOSE. 251 
tail, while the colour may be either sandy, rufous, or dark 
greyish-brown. Under-side of tarsus naked. Skull resembling 
that of H. zchnewmon in form. Length of head and body, varying 
from about 11 to 14% inches ; of tail, from 10% to 12 inches. 
Distribution. Africa, south of the Sahara. 
Varieties. The typical variety, ranging from Cape Verd 
across Abyssinia to Natal, is of large size, and has the 
general colour of the fur dark brownish-grey, with or with- 
out black annulations, the tips of the hairs often showing a 
distinct ruddy tinge. In those specimens without black rings 
on the hairs the black terminal portion of the tail is not so 
sharply defined. 
In the West African variety, ZH. melanurus, ranging from 
Liberia to Sierra Leone and the Cameruns, the general colour 
is dark rufous, with the hairs distinctly ringed with black, the 
fur being short and crisp. 
The South African variety, H. dadius, extending from the 
Cape to Zanzibar, is rather smaller, and distinguished by its 
bright rufous colour, the hairs being sometimes ringed with 
black, and the fur rather long and soft. 
In the still smaller variety, 4. ochraceus, typically from 
Abyssinia, the colour is light sandy-yellow, the hairs in the 
type specimen being ringed with black. This variety is re- 
corded by Bocage, in the paper cited, from Angola. An allied 
West Coast variety (7. flavescens), from Benguela, according 
to the same writer, has the fur of a brighter tint, with the hairs 
on the head and root of the tail tipped with black. 
Another variety from Angola(/Z. punctulatus? = H1. ruficauda) 
is of a bright rufous tint, with the hairs tipped with black. 
Vv. THE RED-TAILED MUNGOOSE. HERPESTES SANGUINEUS. 
Herpestes sanguineus, Riippell, Neue Wirbelthiere, p. 27 (1835) ; 
Thomas, Proc. Zcol, Soc. 1882, p. 71. 
