Parr 
THE ELEGANT MUNGOOSE. 279 
stripes down the upper-parts, of which the middle pair do not 
extend so far back as the rest; head brown; limbs like ground- 
colour of body; tail.whitish. Length of head and body, about 
14 inches; of tail, 13 inches. 
Distribution. Madagascar. 
Il. THE NARROW-STRIPED MUNGOOSE. GALIDICTIS VITTATA. 
Galidictis vittata, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1848, p. 21 ; Mivart, 
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 186. 
Characters. — General colour grizzled grey ; the back and sides 
with eight nearly equal-sized and rather narrow longitudinal 
blackish-brown stripes; chin and under-parts pale brown ; 
hind-feet and outer surface of fore-legs reddish-brown ; tail 
grizzled black and grey, becoming white towards and at the 
tip ; the longer hairs brownish-white, with two, or occasionally 
three, broad black rings. Size approximately as in the last. 
Distribution Madagascar. 
Nothing appears to have been recorded with regard to the 
habits of either of the species of this genus. 
XXI. THE RING-TAILED MUNGOOSES., GENUS GALIDIA. 
Galidia, Geoffroy, Comptes Rendus, vol. v. p. 580 (1837). 
Distinguished from the preceding genus by the smaller size 
of the lower canine tooth, and by the under surface of the 
tarsus and metatarsus being more or less covered with short 
sparse hairs. As regards coloration, the body is uniform, 
while the tail is ringed. The skull is very similar to that of 
Galidictis, but has the muzzle and palate relatively narrower, 
and the hinder portion of the latter flat, instead of concave. 
I, ELEGANT MUNGOOSE. GALIDIA ELEGANS. 
Galidia elegans, Geoffroy, Comptes Rendus, vol. v. p. 580 
(1837); Mivart, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1882, p. 18. 
Characters.—Size small ; tail rather more than three-quarters 
the length of head and body. General colour dark chestnut- 
