10 i VIVEURID^5. 



eastward to Yunan, where it was obtained by Anderson. It is not 

 rare in the interior of Sikhim, probably at moderate elevations. 



Habits. According to Hodgson, who had one example tame, this 

 , very beautiful and graceful little animal is " equally at home on 

 trees and on the ground ; it dwells and breeds in the hollows of 

 decayed trees. It is not gregarious at all, and preys chiefly on 

 small birds, which it is wont to pounce upon from the cover of the 

 grass. The times of breeding are said to be February and August, 

 and the litter to consist of two young, there being two litters 

 each year." 



The tame specimen (a female) was " wonderfully docile and 

 tractable, very sensitive to cold and very fond of being petted." 

 It was fed on raw meat, and refused fish, eggs, and fruits. It 

 never uttered any sound. The animal was perfectly free from 

 any odour. 



50. Prionodon maculosus. The Burmese Tiyer-Civet. 



Prionodon maculosus, W. Blanf. P. A. 8. B. 1878, p. 71 ; J.A. S. B. 

 xlvii, pt. 2, p. 152, pis. vi, vii (1878) ; Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, 

 p. 66. 



Tail a little shorter than the head and body, cylindrical. Skull 

 larger and more strongly built than that of the other species, but 

 the anterior portion of the bulla is much less swollen than in 

 P. pardicolor. The pterygoid fossae are very broad. 



Colour. Grey, with about six broad rather irregular transverse 

 brownish-black bands across the back, much broader than the 

 intervening pale stripes (or the back may be described as brownish 

 black with six narrow pale bars across). The dark bands are 

 broken up on the sides of the body, forming interrupted longitu- 

 dinal dark stripes, one of which is conspicuous and runs across the 

 shoulder to the side of the neck, and is continued by spots beneath 

 the ear to the eye. A broader dark band down the upper part of 

 the neck on each side from a little behind the ear to behind the 

 shoulder, where it passes into the transverse bands ; between the 

 two upper neck-bands are a few spots, as also*' on the fore neck, 

 forming an imperfect gorget, and on the outside of the limbs. 

 Lower parts and feet pale, unspotted. Nose dark brown mixed 

 with grey ; head generally brownish grey, dark around the orbits 

 and in front of them ; and two dark streaks running back from the 

 eye, one to the crown, the other to join the lower neck-band. Ears 

 dark behind. Tail with seven perfect blackish rings alternating 

 with pale interspaces, which are much narrower. TJnderfur ashy 

 grey. 



Dimensions. Head and body about 19 inches, tail 16 (without 

 the hair at the end, which is less than an inch long), height 

 at shoulder about 6, length of tarsus and hind foot 2*8, ear out- 

 side 0-65. Basal length of skull 2-9, zygomatic breadth 1-5. 



Distribution. Tenasserim Provinces. One specimen was procured 



