HYAna. 205 
clamp on the external posterior surface is closely applied to the bulb as 
in the cats, and not separated by a groove as in the dogs. 
The cervical vertebrze sometimes become anchylosed, from whence, 
in former times, arose the superstition that this animal had but one 
bone in the neck. 
In its internal anatomy, digestive as well as generative, the hyzena is 
nearer to the cat than the dog, but it possesses the cecum, or blind gut, 
which is so large in the canidee, small in the felines, and totally absent 
in the bears. 
The tongue is rough, with a circular collection of retroflected spines. 
The hind legs are much shorter than the front, and the feet have only 
four toes with blunt worn claws, not retractile, but like those of the dog. 
The hair is coarse and bristly, and usually prolonged into a sort of 
crest or mane along the neck and shoulders, and to a slighter degree 
down the back; the tail is bushy. 
Dental formula: Inc., 3—3; can., —; pre-molars, saa ; molars, —. 
There are only three known species of hyzena, of which one, our 
common Indian animal, belongs to Asia, and two, H. crocuta and H. 
brunnea, to Africa. 
No. 220. HyYA@NA STRIATA. 
The Striped Hyena ( Jerdon’s No. 118). 
NativE Names.—TZaras, Hundar, Jhirak (in Hurriana); Lakhar- 
baghar, Lokra-bagh, Hindi; Wauwkra-bagh, Bengali; Rerha in Central 
India; Azrba and Kat-Kirba, Canarese ; Korna-gandu, Telegu. 
Hasirat.—All over India; but as far as I can gather not in Burmah 
nor in Ceylon ; it isnot mentioned in Blyth’s and Kellaart’s catalogues. 
It is also found in Northern Africa and throughout Asia Minor and 
Persia ; it is common in Palestine. 
DeEscriptTion.—Pale yellowish-grey, with transverse tawny or blackish 
bands which encircle the body, and extend downwards on to the legs. 
The neck and back are maned. 
SizE.—Head and body, 34 feet ; tail, about 14 feet. 
This repulsive and cowardly creature is yet a useful beast in its way. 
Living almost exclusively on carrion, it is an excellent scavenger. 
Most wild animals are too active for it, but it feeds on the remains left 
by the larger felines, and such creatures as die of disease, and can, on a 
pinch, starve for a considerable time. The African spotted hyzena is 
said to commit great havoc in the sheep-fold. The Indian one is very 
destructive to dogs, and constantly carries off pariahs from the outskirts 
of villages. ‘The natives declare that the hyzena tempts the dogs out by 
its unearthly cries, and then falls upon them. Dr. Jerdon relates a 
story of a small dog belonging to an officer of the 33rd M. N. I. (the 
