144 THE INDIAN FAUNA 



bears run away from them at once, and moreover, the ground is too uneven and 

 rocky for elephants to advance quickly enough. A peculiar method of hunting 

 this bear with hounds is used by the Polygars who inhabit the extreme south of 

 the Indian peninsula. When the hounds have driven the bear to bay each hunter 

 sticks a long bamboo cane smeared with bird-lime on to its shaggy fur, and thereby 

 holds it fast. This bear — which is also caught in nets — often tries to escape when 

 pursued, and runs until it falls down from exhaustion, continuing its course for 

 many miles, heedless of cold or heat. It has been stated that when attacking it 

 rises on its hind-legs, so that it may be shot through the breast; but this is 

 erroneous, as it seldom stands on its hind-legs, except when enraged or perhaps 

 when surprised. 



Seven months after pairing-time the young, of which there are generally two, 

 are born, mostly in December or January, but sometimes as early as October, or as 

 late as February. At birth they are about the size of Newfoundland pups. 

 They remain blind for three weeks, and have soft long hair which becomes rougher 

 and coarser in a few months. When two or three months old, the mother takes the 

 cubs out, carrying them on her back, to the long hair of which they cling. In this 

 way they ride about occasionally until they are a good size. Sometimes the mother 

 will carry one cub while the other runs at her side. Generally the cubs remain 

 with their mother for two or three years, by which time they are fully grown. 

 Yellow-Breasted Of the weasel tribe there are many Indian species. Among the 



Marten. typical representatives of the group the yellow-breasted Indian marten 

 {Mustela flavigula) is found throughout the Himalaya, from Kashmir to Assam, 

 as well as in Burma, the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, southern China and 

 the Amur countries, and also in the Nilgiris, the mountains of Travancore, and 

 probably in the higher portions of the Western Ghats, This marten has a 

 length of from 20 to 22 inches exclusive of the tail, which measures 16 inches 

 and more. In the southern portion of its range it has rather short hair, but in 

 the Himalaya the hair is longer, with a woolly under-fur in winter. The head 

 as far as the ears, the face, the hind part of the neck, the lower portion of the back, 

 and the tail and legs are glossy brown or black, while the back is pale brown, or, 

 sometimes, brownish white. The chin and lower part of the throat are white, and 

 the rest of the throat as well as the breast orange or brownish yellow ; the under- 

 pays being paler than the back. The coloration, however, varies in different 

 districts ; and on this and other differences several local races have been named. 



The yellow-breasted marten inhabits the forest and is often seen in the day- 

 time, sometimes in pairs and sometimes in parties of five or six, among bushes or 

 trees, wandering in search of prey, and uttering all the time a low chuckle, winch 

 in anger becomes a hoarse cry. It feeds on birds and their eggs, small mammals, 

 reptiles, fruits, and insects. 

 YenowBeiiied The yellow-bellied weasel (M. cathia) is dark reddish brown on 



weasel. the back, face, head, ears, extremities, and tail, and of a deep yellow 

 on the lower-parts. It is employed in Nepal for catching rats, a task in which it is 

 most successful ; and is also trained for catching fowls, geese, and even sheep and 

 goats, which it kills by biting through the arteries of the neck. It inhabits heights 

 up to 8000 feet in the Himalaya, as far west as Masuri, and in other mountains 



