Zoological Society/. 397 



spiteful. The manners of both the mother and the young are simi- 

 lar to those of the domestic Cat and her kittens, the former carr3'ing 

 the latter about from place to place in her mouth. For a day or 

 two previously to her littering she pulled the straw in her inner den 

 into pieces and thus formed a nest. 



On the former occasion the period of gestation could not be de- 

 termined, the female having admitted the male several times ; the 

 last of which was 97 days prior to her parturition; a month after 

 this latter occurrence (her single young one having been born dead,) 

 she admitted the male once only, and became pregnant with her 

 present litter. 



A Note was read from Mr. Henry Tripp, of Orchard Wyndham, 

 Somersetshire, respecting the provision made by a male Hawk, after 

 the destruction of its female, for the nourishment of their young. 

 On the morning after the first night of her absence five small birds 

 were found placed on the side of the nest. These having been 

 taken away, nine others were found on the second morning; among 

 them were a Blackbird and a Thrush. All of them were picked but 

 not in the least broken. On the third night the male bird was 

 caught in a gin set in the nest for that purpose. He had previously 

 been so shy as to evade all attempts at shooting him, while the fe- 

 male, on the contrary, was got at so readily as to induce the keeper 

 to destroy her, notwithstanding his wishes first to destroy her mate. 



Specimens and drawings of numerous animals referrible to the 

 genus Paradoxurus were laid upon the table ; and Mr. Gray en- 

 tered into a detailed account of the distinguishing characters of the 

 group, which he prefaced by some observations on the family of Vi- 

 verridce in general, and concluded by the description of several new- 

 species. He observed that the family may be divided, independently 

 of the characters furnished by the teeth, into three sections, distin- 

 guished by the baldness or hairiness of the soles of their hinder 

 feet, and by concurrent differences in the structure of their odorous 

 glands. The first of these is limited to the true Civets, the genus 

 Viverra, in which the under part of the hind-feet is entirely covered 

 with hair, except on the tips of the toes and the large tubercles at 

 their base; and the pouch secreting the civet forms a deep cavity 

 on each side near the anus. The species of this group are : 1, the 

 African Civet, Viverra Civetla, L.; — 2, the Zibet of Button, Hist. Nat. 

 torn. ix. t. 34, yiv. Zibetlui, L., wlych is the / iv. undulata, Gray, Spic. 

 Zool. p. 9, t. H; — 3, the spotted Civet, Viv. Tan<yuluriga, Gray, which 

 is the yiv. Zibctha of M. F. Cuvier, Dr. Horsfieid, and Sir Stamford 

 Raffles, and is readily distinguished from the last-mentioned species 

 by a continuous longitudinal band occupying the upper surface of 

 the tail, the numerous irregular rings being separated only on its 

 inferior half; — 4, the Gimda Civet, Viv. Rasse, Horsf., Viv. Gunda, 

 Ham. MSS., which Ur. Horsfieid believes to be distinct from Viv. 

 Indian, Geolfr.; — 5, the y;«/c Civet, Viv. jnillidd, (iray; — and 6, the 

 De/undun^, Viv. Linsang, Hardw., Felix <^yacitis, Horsf. Of these 

 the last three have the slender form of the Genncts ; and one, the 



