170 MTJ6TELI1XS. 



Fur short and even. Soles partly naked, especially those of the 

 fore feet. 



Skull resembling that of P. erminea in form, but narrower. The 

 inner lobe of the upper true molar larger than the outer, and 

 having the tubercle in the middle small but prominent, rising 

 from the centre of a slight depression on the surface of the 

 tooth. 



Colour. Back, face, and upper surface of head, including the 

 ears, limbs, and tail, bay (dark brownish red) ; underfur scarcely 

 paler. Lower parts deep yellow, this colour extending to the 

 inside of the limbs, but more in some specimens than in others ; 

 chin and upper lip generally whitish. In two specimens from 

 Mussooree, collected by Captain Hutton and now in the British 

 Museum, the inside of the fore legs is yellow to the feet, and in 

 one the upper surface of the feet is partly whitish. 



Dimensions. Head and body 9 to 10| inches, tail without hair 5 

 to 6, with hair 6 to 7, tarsus and hind foot about 1| ; weight 

 about 6 ounces. A skull measures 1-8 inch in basal length, and 

 1 in zygomatic breadth. Males are rather larger than females. 



Distribution. The Himalayas as far west as Mussooree, at mo- 

 derate elevations (about 3000 to 8000 feet), and some of the hills 

 south of Assam. There is a specimen from the Khasi Hills in the 

 Indian Museum, Calcutta. 



Habits. Nothing is known about this animal in the wild state ; 

 its food, mode of hunting, breeding, &c., probably resemble those 

 of other weasels and stoats. Hodgson states that it is easily 

 tamed, and is employed by the Nepalese to rid houses of rats, for 

 which purpose it is most efficient. It is also trained to attack 

 larger animals fowls, geese, and even goats and sheep which it 

 kills by dividing the artery of the neck. 



86. Putorius strigidorsus. The striped Weasel. 



Mustela strigidorsa, Hodqs., Gray (err ore strigodorsa) , P. Z. S. 1853, 

 p. 191 ; Hors/ield, A. M. N. H. 2nd ser. xvi, p. 107 ; id. P. Z. S. 

 1866, p. 398, pi. xlix ; Jerdon, Mam. p. 85. 



Tail, without hair, nearly half the length of the head and body. 

 Fur of moderate length ; uuderfur soft and woolly, longer hairs 

 coarse. Soles partly naked. A foetid secretion exudes from the 

 anal glands, which are similar to those of P. cafhia. Mammae 4, 

 subinguinal. . 



Colour. Deep bay (dark brownish red) throughout, with the ex- 

 ception of the throat and middle of the breast, which are yellow ; 

 the chin, a narrow line down the middle of the back, and another 

 along the belly, which are whitish or white. Underfur on the 

 back a little paler than the terminal portions of the hairs. 



Dimensions. Head and body 12 inches long, tail with hair 6|, 

 without 5, tarsus and hind foot 2 ; weight 7| oz. The sex of the 

 specimen measured by Hodgson, to whom we are indebted for the 



