THE TREE-CIVETS 91 



have the characteristic foxy head of the Civets. They are good climbers, and 

 feed on birds and the like. They are found in the warmer parts of the world, 

 the Linsangs, with the exception of one African species, being Asiatic, while the 

 Genets are chiefly African. The Common Genet (Genetta vulgaris) is grey with 

 black spots, and rather smaller than a Cat. It is found not only over Africa 

 from north to south, but in South-western Asia, and also, unlike most of the 

 Civet family, in Europe, where it inhabits Spain and even Southern France. It 

 is sometimes tamed, and kept to destroy Rats and Mice, but, though it has no 

 scent-pouch and does not smell unpleasant, exhales sufficient odour to make it 

 rather a highly-flavoured house-pet. It is usually on view in our Zoological 

 Gardens. 



THE TREE-CIVETS 



THE Tree-Civets, like the Genets, are long-bodied, short-legged animals, with 

 foxy heads and retractile claws ; but they are heavier-bodied and larger than 

 the Genets, equalling or exceeding a Cat in size, and their long tails are slightly 

 prehensile. Their coat is often self-coloured or nearly so; they are essentially 

 climbing animals, spending most of their time in trees, and feed a great deal 

 on fruit as well as on small animals. The common Tree-Civet or Toddy-Cat 

 {Paradoxurus niger), which is grey variegated with black, is a very well known 

 animal in India ; though, owing to its nocturnal habits, it is seldom seen. The 

 stuffy musky smell it diffuses, however, often betrays it ; and I have sometimes 

 seen it in the evening or at night quite among the houses in Calcutta indeed, 

 I caught two individuals in a big box-trap in my own pantry, which they had 

 been attempting to raid, producing a terrible din by trying to get the bread out 

 of a tin box. So skilful a climber is this creature, that I have seen it swarm up 

 a water-pipe in the angle of a wall a climb which I fancy an ordinary Cat 

 would have had some difficulty in negotiating. The Paradoxures found in 

 Bengal are often intermediate between this species and the Malayan one (/*. 

 hermaphroditus), which is usually greyer and more spotted. The Toddy-Cat 

 so called from its habit of drinking the toddy or juice of the palm from the 

 vessels hung to collect it is constantly on view at the London Zoological 

 Gardens, and at the time of writing there is a curious pied specimen there. 

 The Tree-Civets are an Asiatic group, except the West African Nandinia 

 binotata. 



