138 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



India abounds in species of mongoose, the most abundant being 

 the Indian mongoose (Herpestes mungo), a shaggy greyish animal 

 some 18 inches long, speckled with white or pale grey, and occasionally rufous on 

 the head and legs. It is represented by several varieties in different parts of its 

 range, which extends from Baluchistan, the Himalaya, and Assam down to Ceylon. 

 This mongoose lives among thickets, in plantations and cultivated fields, along the 

 banks of rivers, or on rugged ground covered with bushes, but not as a rule in 

 dense forest. Often found near human habitations, it digs its own burrows in the 

 ground, lives in pairs, and has three or four young in the spring. It feeds princi- 

 pally on small rodents, snakes, lizards, birds and their eggs, and insects, but at 

 times also on fruit. It is often domesticated and is well known for its success in 

 catching rats and killing snakes. 



The stripe-necked mongoose (H. viticollis), which inhabits the western coast 

 from Bombay to Cape Comorin, and also Ceylon, is the largest Indian species, 

 being about 21 inches long without the tail. 



The ruddy mongoose {H. smithi) is found all over India with the exception of 

 north-western Bengal. It is about 20 inches long, its tail measuring 19 inches ; 

 like the preceding species it has a black tip to the tail, but there is no black 

 stripe down the neck. 



The Nilgiri mongoose (H. fuscus) has no black tip to the tail, is blackish 



brown in colour, and 18 inches long. It inhabits the Nilgiris and the hills of 



Travancore, but not Ceylon, where it is represented by the Sinhalese mongoose 



(H. fulvescens), which is yellowish in colour, with a yellow tip to the tail, and 



measures just over 16 inches in length. 



The hysenas are represented in India by the striped species 

 Striped Hyaena. . , - . , . . . . 



(Hyama striata), but since that animal receives notice in another 



chapter the bare mention of its name will suffice in this place. 



m , Among the members of the dog tribe, the European wolf (Canis 



Wolves. & . . „ . 



lupus) just enters the area forming the proper subject of the present 



chapter, but is elsewhere replaced by the Indian wolf (G pallipes). India from the 



Himalaya to the south, especially the open plain country, forms the principal habitat 



of this animal, which is rare in hilly and wooded parts, and is apparently not 



present on the Malabar coast. It occurs on the right bank of the Indus, but on 



the left is replaced by the European wolf, which is widely distributed over Asia, 



though not found east of the Bay of Bengal. 



The Indian species is unknown in Ceylon, but reappears in the south of Arabia. 



In some respects it approaches a jackal, being smaller than the European wolf, 



without woolly under-fur, and with the hair generally shorter. The prevailing 



colour is pale fulvous, usually mixed with brown, and, especially on the back, with 



a good deal of black. Some individuals are reddish, and others rusty red all 



over. In length it measures about 36 inches exclusive of the tail, which is 



about 17 inches long. In habits this species much resembles the European 



wolf, but, although social, does not form large packs; it is also a silent animal, 



which only now and then barks like a pariah dog, and seldom or hardly ever 



howls. It feeds on such warm-blooded animals as it is able to overpower, 



but especially on goats, sheep, and antelopes, and when in twos and threes 



