598 MANIOC. 



Dimensions. Head and body of a male 24-5 inches, tail 18, of 

 another specimen 26 and 18.' Ceylon specimens appear to have 

 longer tails ; Kelaart gives head and body 23-5, tail 22-5, Hornaday 

 for a female 19 and 37. A skull measures 3*25 in basal length, 

 greatest breadth 1-75. Weight of adults 20 to 27 lb. ; of a large 

 specimen 42, according to Kelaart. 



Distribution. India proper and Ceylon. This species is found on 

 the mainland from Peshawar (Stewart. J. A. S. B. xxxii, p. 235) and 

 Sind (probably also Baluchistan) to Bengal and Orissa, and from 

 the base of the Himalayas to Cape Comorin. It is not reported 

 from any part of the Himalayas, though it probably occurs in the 

 lower ranges to the westward. Jerdon's statement that it was 

 found by Hodgson in Nepal appears due to some mistake. It 

 occurs on the Shevroy hills, Madras Presidency, up to at least 

 8500 feet above the sea. 



Habits. Good accounts have been given by Elliot and Tickell. 

 Like other species of the genus, this pangolin, as a rule, only moves 

 about at night, and hides during daylight in burrows dug by itself 

 or amongst rocks. I, however, once in Orissa found an adult 

 moving about in jungle some time after sunrise. The burrow, 

 according to Elliot, descends in a slanting direction to a depth of 

 from 8 to 12 feet below the surface and ends in a large chamber 

 about 6 feet in circumference, in which the pangolins live in pairs, 

 with, at times, one or two young. The entrance to the burrow is 

 closed with earth when the animals are in it. 



The food consists of various kinds of ants and termites, especially 

 of the latter. The ants' nests are torn open by the powerful claws 

 of the Manis, which thrusts its long tongue into the passage-ways 

 and then withdraws it with numerous ants adhering to it. This 

 animal also drinks (in confinement) by rapidly extending and with- 

 drawing its tongue ; whether it drinks frequently or at all in the 

 wild state may be questioned, for it often inhabits places where no 

 water is procurable. Stones have repeatedly been found in the 

 gizzard-like stomach and may aid, as in birds, in triturating the 

 food. Blyth gave to a Manis that had been starved for some time 

 chopped raw meat and cooked egg and rice, on which the animal 

 fed freely after nightfall, but it died soon after, probably from 

 repletion. 



The only sound known to be produced by this animal is a hissing 

 noise that it makes when annoyed. In confinement it soon grows 

 tame, but there is often some difficulty in feeding it. It walks 

 very slowly, with the back well arched, and is in the habit of 

 standing up on its hind feet with the body not vertical, but 

 inclined forward. 



The breeding-habits are imperfectly known. A single young one is 

 generally produced, more rarely two, in the Deccan from January 

 to March, according to Elliot. In the Shevroy hills, however, a 

 female kept for some time by Mr. W. H. Daly produced a young 

 one weighing 1 lb. on July llth. 



