3 8o THE CARNIVORA 



from which the well-known perfume is obtained the European 

 Genette, the Ichneumon or Mongoose, and the less familiar 

 Paradoxure, and the Binturong. The latter was formerly placed in 

 the Racoon family, to many members of which it bears a strong 

 yet really quite superficial resemblance, the formation of the skull 

 s and teeth plainly showing its Civet character. 



The Spotted Hyena (Crocuta maculata) is a native of South 

 Africa, extending from Abyssinia and the Soudan on the north, 

 where it meets with its striped brother, to Cape Colony. The skin 

 is of a yellowish-brown ground tint, irregularly blotched with 

 circular black spots. On the back of the neck and on the withers 

 it has a quantity of long, stiff hairs, forming a kind of reversed 

 mane. The fur is coarse and bristly, its character adding greatly 

 to the animal's singularly repulsive appearance. The Striped 

 Hyena (Hyczna striata) is found over the northern part of Africa, 

 and extends into Asia, where it ranges over Asia Minor and Persia, 

 and through India to the foot of the Himalayas. In ground colour 

 it resembles the Spotted Hyena, but instead of being marked 

 with spots its hide is covered with complete black transverse 

 bands, like the hoops of a barrel, which extend downwards on to 

 the legs. It is also very similar in its habits, following the lion 

 to feast upon his leavings, prowling round camps, villages, and 

 towns to pick up offal, frequenting the Arab cemeteries to dig up 

 and devour the dead. Cowardly, ugly, singularly repulsive of habit, 

 the Hyenas are nevertheless extremely useful animals in the trop- 

 ical countries they frequent, for they act in conjunction with the 

 jackals and vultures as natural scavengers, devouring the dead 

 bodies of animals which would otherwise quickly poison the air. 



The Cheetah, or Hunting Leopard (Cynaelurus jubatus), is 

 separated from the true Cats by a number of characters : the claws 

 are non- (or at least but partially) retractile, the legs are longer, and 

 in the position of the molar teeth and the structure of the muscles 

 there are characteristic distinctions. The Cheetah occurs in India, 

 Persia, Turkestan, and Africa, and is about the size of a leopard, 

 with a bright reddish-fawn-coloured coat, covered with numerous 

 single black spots. As one of its popular names implies, it is used 

 for sport, chiefly in the hunting of antelopes, and is capable of 

 at least partial domestication, becoming attached to those who 

 tend it. 



