MUNGOOSES. 



469 



15 or IG inches. It is characterised bj' tlie tip of the tail being black, antl tlie 

 grizzled grey-brown colour of the fur, in which the individual hairs are ringed 

 with reddisli-brown and creamy-yellow. South of the Sahara this species is replaced 

 1)3^ the sliglitly larger but closely allied catlre niungoose (//. cafer), in which the 

 hains are ringed with black and white. In South Africa, as far north as Zanzibar, 

 we have also a much smaller species, the .slender muiigoose (H. gracilis), agreeing 

 with the two preceding forms in tlie black tip to tlie tail, while in Kordofan tlie 

 nearly equal-sized red-tailid mungoose {H. saiujuineu.v) is distinguished by its 

 general fawn-coloured fur, and the red ti]) to the tail. 



Three other South and We.st African nuingooscs of large size are characterised 

 by the tip of the tail being of the same tint as the body-colom-. The largest and 

 mo.st distinct of the African species is, however, the white- tailed mungoose 



Tilt INULVN MCKGOOSE (jj nat. size). 



(H. albicauda). in which the lengih of the head and body vai'ies from 22 to as 

 much as 26 inches. This species is di.stingui.shed from all the above by the under- 

 surface of the ankle being hairj^ instead of nearly or quite naked, and also by its 

 bushy tail. The general colour is blackish-grey, the longer hairs being ringed with 

 l)lack and white, and having the tips black. According to Mr. Thomas, the white- 

 tailed mungoose presents a remarkable individual variation in the colour of the 

 fur of the tail. The hairs are of considerable length, " in some cases with white 

 bases and long shining black tips, so that the whole tail appears to be black ; in 

 others with a long white tip beyond the black, so that then the tail appears to be 

 white ; in the latter case the hairs at the extreme tip of the tail being generally 

 wholly white." This species ranges from the eastern part of Abyssinia to Natal, 

 and reappears on the West Coast in the Guinea district. 



Of the Oriental mungooses we select for especial notice the common Indian 



