THE NILGIRI BROWN MUNGOOSE. 259 
Characters. Distinguished from the other uniformty-coloured 
Indian forms by the black tail-tip. Fur long, harsh, and 
somewhat ragged ; tail nearly as long as the head and body, 
or, if the hair be included, longer; heel partially haired. 
General colour varying from light brownish-grey, speckled with 
white, to rufous or iron-grey ; terminal three or four inches of 
the tail jet black; behind this the colour ferruginous for a 
short distance, and then similar to that of the body; under- 
parts sometimes paler than back ; feet generally darker, either 
rufous-brown or blackish. Under-fur grey to greyish-brown ; 
longer hairs, with alternations of some four white, and as many 
dark brown or black rings, the tips varying from light brown 
to deep ferruginous-red. Length of head and body, about 20 
inches ; of tail, 19 inches. 
Distribution.—India, from Kashmir southwards, and Ceylon ; 
but everywhere rare, generally frequenting forests. 
The variety “7. jerdoni has the fur very grey. 
XIII. THE NILGIRI BROWN MUNGOOSE. HERPESTES FUSCUS. 
Herpestes fuscus, Waterhouse, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 555 
Blanford, Mamm. Brit. India, p. 127 (1888). 
Characters.—No black tip to tail; hairs with three very short 
light rings, about one-third the length of the dark ones ; colour 
very dark ; under-fur dark brown. 
Size large; tail rather shorter than head and body, with 
longer hair; fur long and not very harsh; under-fur long, 
dense, and woolly ; heel hairy beneath. General colour black- 
ish-brown, minutely speckled with yellow or brownish-white ; 
tail rather, and feet much darker. Length of head and body, 
18 inches ; of tail, with hair, 17 inches. 
Distribution.—Travancore, and Nilgiri Hills of Southern 
India. 
