144 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



Junghuhn furnishes much information about his 

 life in the wild state and his visitations of the cof- 

 fee-plantations. When the coffee-berries begin to 

 ripen and their color becomes a vivid red, at which 

 period adults and children strip the branches of the 

 red berries and hurry to the drying-grounds with 





THE COMMON PARADOXURE. OR MUSANG. This animal, which inhabits the Malay Peninsula, 



Java, Sumatra and Borneo, is smaller than the Indian species, although his habits are much the same. The 

 broad head with pointed snout, slender body and long tail are shown in the picture, but the markings vary in dif- 

 ferent specimens. He makes such ravages on the plantations in Java when the coffee berries are ripe that the 

 natives call him " Coffee-Rat." {Paradoxurus hermaphroditus.) 



their full baskets, then " one often sees on the paths 

 intersecting the coffee-gardens the spoor and signs 

 of the Musang, which enjoys the evil reputation of 

 being a Chicken-stealer in the mountains, but is also 

 fond of fruits, and frequently, when the berries are 

 ripe, visits the coffee-plan- 

 tations where he is often 

 caught by the Javanese at 

 that season of the year. 

 The Musang also lives on 

 birds and insects, catches 

 wild Chickens, and sucks 

 the eggs of both tame and 

 wild birds. In captivity he 

 is often kept on nothing 

 but pisang for weeks at a 

 time, and gets so used to 

 the house that it is safe 

 to allow him his freedom. 

 The keeper who occasion- 

 ally presents him with a 

 Chicken egg gains his 

 affection to such a degree 

 that he follows him around 

 like a Dog and submits to 

 being petted and stroked 

 by him." 



The Masked Paradoxure 

 (Paradoxurus larvatus) in- 

 habits China and Formosa. 

 His color is principally 

 black on the head, gray 

 on the cheeks, lower jaws, 

 throat and neck, and yel- 

 lowish-gray on the upper part of the body. A whit- 

 ish band runs from the tip of the nose to the back 

 of the head; another extends under the eyes, and 

 a third above them. The ears, the tip of the long 

 tail and the feet are black. It is sometimes called 

 the Masked Paguma. 



THE DOG-FOOTED CIVETS. 



Among the Viverridae with non-retractile claws, 

 or Dog-footed Civets (Cynopoda), we must first turn 

 to the Mungooses or Ichneumons, so widely cele- 

 brated in olden times. The Mungooses (Herpestes) 



have the following distinct- 

 ive features: the body rests 

 on short legs, and is long 

 and round; the head is of 

 small or medium size; the 

 snout is pointed; the eyes 

 are rather small, and have 

 a circular or elliptical pu- 

 pil; the ear is short and 

 rounded; the nose is short, 

 hairless, smooth and fur- 

 rowed in the median line; 

 the feet are five-toed; the 

 tail tapers toward the end, 

 and the fur is rough and 

 long. The teeth are forty 

 in number and are for the 

 most part very strong. 



The Ichneumon As IS but 

 of Ancient just, we will 

 Fable. fi rst consid- 



er the Ichneumon, or " Pha- 

 raoh's Rat" (Herpestes ich- 

 neumon}, the sacred animal 

 of the ancient Egyptians. 

 Herodotus tells us they were embalmed after their 

 death and buried in sacred ground. Strabo writes 

 that this excellent animal never attacked large 

 Snakes without the aid of several companions and 

 then easily got the better of the most poisonous 



THE MASKED PARADOXURE. This species of Palm-Cat, which is found in China and Formosa, dif- 

 fers from the others in the absence of spots on its fur. It has several white bands on its face, black feet and a long, 

 somewhat bushy tail. Like the other Paradoxures, it lives on fruits as well as flesh. (Paradoxurus larvatus.) 



reptiles. Therefore its image stood in the Hiero- 

 glyphs as an emblem of a weak Man who could not 

 get on without the support of others. vElianus, on 

 the contrary, assured us that it chased the Snakes 

 unaided, but with great cunning, first wallowing in 

 the mud and then drying itself in the sun, so as to 



