136 MAMMALIA OF INDIA. 
as before and repeat. In Cassell’s ‘Natural History’ this is alluded to, 
only the writer says that now they are in fresh quarters, and the flitting 
seems to have disturbed them. He adds: “ We have often watched one 
of them run round and round the cage in the usual purposeless manner 
of captive animals, but with this peculiarity: when he reached a 
particular corner of the den, he quietly, and without effort, turned head 
over heels, and then went on again. On one occasion, after he had 
been doing this with great regularity for some rounds he seemed to 
become abstracted, and passea the usual spot without the somersault ; 
when, however, he had proceeded a few paces he recollected himself, 
stopped for a moment, returned to the exact place, turned over as usual, 
and proceeded without further let or hindrance.” The African species 
is said to live largely on bees—I suppose ground bees, such as our 
English humble bee, for these animals are not arboreal—and it is said 
to exhibit great skill in tracking the flying insects to their nest. 
“‘Sparrman states that it seats itself on a hillock to look for the bees, 
and shades its eyes with one forepaw against the rays of the setting 
sun.” Here is something for our Indian naturalists to observe. Some 
other animals are said to do the same ; whether the Biju does it or not 
I cannot say. McMaster says of it: “Two that I saw in confinement 
appeared very good-tempered, and much more playful than tame bears 
would have been. They were, I think, fed entirely upon vegetables, rice 
and milk.” This animal is the same as Hodgson’s Ursitaxus inauritus, 
the Bharsiah which figures as a separate genus in Cuvier. ‘The skull is 
very like that of the wolverenes in general form. 
GENUS GULO—THE GLUTTON OR WOLVERENE. 
This animal was placed by Linnzus among the Urside, and is classed 
by some with the JZc/idide, but its dentition is more that of the Martens, | 
which occupy the next group. The true Glutton (Gu/o Zuscus) is not 
known in India, but we have some so-called Wolverenes (/Zé/ic¢is) to 
which I shall presently allude. Still a few remarks about the typical 
animal, which is by no means an uninteresting creature, may not be out of | 
place. The Glutton inhabits a wide tract of country in the Northern 
Hemisphere, the colder regions of Europe, Asia, and America; it is 
abundant in Siberia and Kamschatka, and is the pest of the trappers in 
North America. Fabulous stories were told of this animal in olden days, 
some of which are still propagated at the present time. It was supposed 
to be of insatiable appetite, and to attack its prey (deer, &c.) by dropping 
down from the branch of a tree on to the back of its victim, and to eat 
its way into a vital part, whilst being carried along—a decided fallacy, 
