THE MUNGOOSES 



477 



they could obtain, and sold them. By this means, and naturally, the mungoose 

 has become general all over the island, and the beneficial results of this useful 

 animal may safely be taken as exceeding 150,000 a year." The mungoose has 

 been subsequently introduced with equally satisfactory results, into Cuba, Porto 

 Rico, Grenada, Barbadoes, and Santa Cruz. 



The small Indian mungoose (H. auropunctatus] is a member of the same group 

 as the preceding species, but is of smaller dimensions, with closer and shorter fur, 

 in which the individual hairs of the back do not have more than five colored rings. 

 This is a northern form not found in India to the southward of Calcutta, and rang- 

 ing into the Himalayas as far north as the valley of Kashmir, while to the westward 

 its range includes Baluchistan and portions of Afghanistan and Persia, and east- 

 ward it extends through Assam into Upper Burma. In Kashmir it may frequently 

 be seen in the Mohammedan burying places, where it inhabits old graves. Omitting 



THE CRAB- EATING MUNGOOSE. 



( One-sixth natural size. ) 



mention of other uniformly-colored Indian species, we may briefly refer to three 

 other species inhabiting our eastern dominions. One of these is the ruddy mun- 

 goose (//". smithi), widely distributed in India, and distinguished by the black tip to 

 its tail, and the absence of a stripe on the throat. The second is the striped-necked 

 mungoose (H. mticollis), which is the largest of all the Asiatic species, and is 

 readily distinguished by having both a black tip to the tail and a black stripe down 

 each side of the neck. It inhabits Western India, from Bombay to Cape Comorin, 

 and is also found in Ceylon. 



