136 VIVERRIN.*. 



It is said to be not rare in Ceylon. The first specimen obtained by 

 Mr. Elliot had an accidental dark collar, and that gentleman named it 

 torquatus in MSS., which name is alluded to by Kelaart. 



131. Herpestes Nipalensis. 



GRAY. BLYTH,Cat. 165. H. auro-punctatus, HODGSON. H.pallipes, 

 BLYTH, olim. 



THE GOLD-SPOTTED MUNGOOS, 



Descr. Of an uniform olive-brown colour, more or less striate in- 

 different individuals, freckled with golden-yellow, paler and somewhat 

 yellowish-gray beneath ; cheeks more or less rusty ; tail shorter than 

 the body ; hairs with five distinct rings of black and golden ; the fur 

 short, soft, adpressed. 



Length, head and body, 12 to 13 inches; tail 9 to 10. 



This species resembles H. javanicus, but the ground colour is lighter. 

 It is found over the whole extent of the lower Himalayas, from Sikim 

 to Kashmir (and even to Afghanistan) ; and it also occurs in the plains 

 near the hills, from Bengal to the Punjab, not extending far south. It 

 also inhabits Assam, Burmah, and the Malayan peninsula. Nothing 

 peculiar has been noticed of the habits of this Mungoos. 



I find a species recorded in Schinz, If. thysanurus, Wagner, from 

 Kashmir ; hair dark-brown ringed with pale yellow ; feet brown ; tail 

 ending in a long deep black tuft. This, if correctly described, must be 

 distinct from Nipalensis. The only mungoos I got in Kashmir was the 

 latter species. 



132. Herpestes fuscus. 



WATERHOUSE. BLYTH, Cat. 167. 





 THE NEELGHERRY BROWN MUNGOOS. 



Descr. General colour brown, the hair being ringed black and yellow, 

 and tawny at the base ; throat dusky -yellowish ; tail nearly equal in 

 length to head and body. 



Length of one, head and body, 18 inches; tail with the hair 17. 



I procured this Mungoos, many years ago, on the Neelgherries in the 

 dense woods near Ootacamund, and have not seen it from any other 

 locality. My original specimen is in the Museum of the Asiatic Society at 



