AILURUS FULGENS. 75 



jet-black ; from the eye to the gape a broad vertical line of ochreous-red 

 blending with the dark lower surface ; moustache white ; muzzle black. 

 Length of head and body 22 inches ; tail 16 ; height about 9 inches ; 

 weight 8 lb. 



This very curious and richly-coloured animal is a denizen of the south- 

 eastern Himalayas, having only been taken in Nepal and Sikim. It is 

 stated to be found from 7,000 feet up to 12,000 feet or so. General 

 Havdwicke was the first to discover this animal, but his description was 

 not published till after F. Cuvier had described it from a specimen 

 sent to Paris by M. Duvancel. Hodgson has given a full account of it, 

 from which I extract the following observations : — " The Wah is a 

 vegetivorous climber, breeding and feeding chiefly on the ground, and 

 having its retreat in holes and clefts of rock. It eats fruits, roots^ sprouts 

 of bamboo, acoi'ns, &c. ; also, it is said, eggs and young birds ; also milk 

 and ghee, which it is said to purloin occasionally from the villages. They 

 feed morning and evening, and sleep much in the day. They are excel- 

 lent climbers, but on the ground move rather awkwardly and slowly. 

 Their senses all appear somewhat blunt, and they are easily captured. 

 In captivity they are placid and inoffensive, docile and silent, and shortly 

 after being taken they may be suffered to go abroad. They prefer rice 

 and milk to all other food, refusing animal food, and they are free from 

 all offensive odour. They drink by lapping with the tongue, piss and 

 spit like cats when angered, and now and then utter a short deep grunt 

 like a young bear. The female brings forth two young in spring. They 

 usually sleep on the side, and rolled into a ball, the head concealed by 

 the bushy tail." 



It is not very common now about Darjeeling. The Lepchas there say 

 that it feeds a good deal on insects and larvfe, which it scratches out of 

 the gi-ound. A friend of mine watched a pair seated high up in a lofty 

 tree. They were making the most unearthly cries, he assured me, he 

 ever heard. It was evidently the pairing season. 



Hodgson states that one he examined had^l4 ribs and dorsal vertebrae, 

 another 15 ; the radius and ulnte are distinct and nearly equal in size, 

 and the tibia and fibula also distinct. There is no clavicle : altogether 

 the skeleton was sufficiently ursine. The tongue is rather rough ; the 

 stomach is semicircular, and the intestinal canal nearly five times the 

 length of the body. There are no anaFglands ; the penis is as in Felis 

 or Viverra ; and the female has eii-ht mammoe. 



