VIVEKBlDjE. 



Dimensions. Head and body in an adult male 32 inches, tail 18, 

 ears 2, height about 15; weight 18 to 25 Ibs. A skull measures 

 5-25 inches in basal length, 27 in zygomatic breadth. 



Distribution. Bengal, Assam, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Siarn, 

 and Southern China. The range extends south and south-west of 

 Bengal to Orissa and Chutia Nagpur, and probably some distance 

 further south and west, and to the northward into Sikhim and 

 Nepal, ascending the Himalayas to a considerable elevation. 



Habits. The civet-cat is generally solitary. It hides in woods, 

 bushes, or thick grass during the day, wandering into open 

 country and often coming about houses at night. Not un- 

 frequently it is found in holes, but whether these are dug by it is 

 doubtful/ It is said to be very destructive, killing any birds or 

 small mammals it can capture, and often attacking fowls, ducks, 

 &c., but also feeding on snakes, frogs, insects, eggs, and on fruits 

 and some roots. Hodgson found in the stomachs of those he 

 examined remains of fowls (evidently taken from a refuse-heap 

 near a kitchen), rats, shrews, and frogs. Civet-cats take readily 

 to water. 



V. zibetJia breeds in May or June, and has three or four young, 

 which, according to Hodgson, are probably born with the eyes 

 open. The period of gestation is not known. Hounds and all 

 dogs are said to be greatly excited by the scent of this civet, and 

 will leave that of any other animal for it. 



Hodgson's species V. melanura was the uniformly coloured 

 variety, F. civettoides that with transverse bars. In his drawings 

 is the figure of a third form, said to have been brought from 

 Tibet, covered on the body with small ocelli. I have a somewhat 

 similar specimen, perhaps Tibetan, but less ocellated; it is pro- 

 bably the form said to be brought from the Chinese border of 

 Tibet and (ailed Kung by Tibetans (J. A. 8. B. xxiv, p. 237). 



46. Viverra civettina. The Malabar Civet-Cat. 



Viverra civettina, Hhjtlt, J. A. S. B. xxxi, p. 332 (18G2) ; id. P. Z. S. 

 1864, p. 484 ; id. Cat. p. 44 ; Jerdon, Mum. p. 121. 



" Dusky grey, with large transverse dark marks on back and 

 sides ; two obliquely transverse dark lines on the neck, which, with 

 the throat, is white ; a dark mark on the cheek ; tail ringed with 

 dark bands ; feet dark. Size of the last ( F. zibetha) or nearly so." 

 (Jerdon.) 



I have been unable to examine a specimen of this civet ; but Mr. 

 "W. L. Sclater, who has recently compared the type with F. zibeiha, 

 writes to me that F. civettina is distinguished by having the hinder 

 parts of the body covered with distinct large spots, and by the 

 black rings of the tail being united by a black band above. This 

 quite bears out Blyth's description. The large upper true molar 

 in F. civettina is more quadrangular, 0-36 inch long by 0-4 broad, 

 in F. zibetha O32 by 0-4 ; and in the lower jaw of the former the 



