HERPESTES. 1 20 



end of the pterygoids, which diverge slightly. Teeth large, the 

 bindtiiost upper and lower molars broader in proportion than in 

 any other Indian species. 



Colour. Varying from grizzled dusky iron-grey to rich unspeckled 

 ferruginous or chestnut-red, the red colour being frequently confined 

 to the hinder part of the body and tail, the head always iron-grey 

 above. A black baud down each side of the neck from behind the 

 ear to the shoulder, with a paler or more rufous area above and 

 below the band. Legs and feet unspeckled dark brown or black, 

 and a long black tip to the tail. Fur brown at tlie base, the longer 

 hairs with alternating rings of pale yellowish grey and black, 3 or 

 4 of each, the dark rings the longer, or there are one or two rings of 

 each colour near the base of the hairs and all the terminal portion 

 is ferruginous. 



Dimensions. Head and body 21 inches ; tail without hair at end 

 about 13, with it 15 ; weight 6 lb. 10 oz. Basal length of skull 

 3-7 inches, zygomatic breadth 2-2. 



Distribution. The hills near the west coast of India, from near 

 Bombay to Cape Comorin, and Ceylon. Ceylon, specimens appear 

 more rufous than Indian. 



Habits. But little known. Jerdon remarks that from its size, 

 this species must be very destructive to game and the smaller 

 quadrupeds. It is often seen on the Nilgiris, and appears abroad at 

 all hours in the day, according to McMaster, who once observed 

 a pair evidently hunting on scent, which they followed to earth, and 

 they then began to burrow. Sviddenly they started off at full ])ace in 

 pursuit of something, probably, McMaster suggests, a hare, which 

 had bolted from another opening of the burrow. 



65. Herpestes urva. The crab-eating Mimgoose, 



Gulo urva, Hodc/son, J. A. S. B. v, p. 238 (1836). 



Urva caucrivora, Ilodqs. J. A. S. B. vi, pp. 561, 504 ; Jerdon, Mam. 



p. 138. 

 Mesobema cancrivora, Hodt/s. J. A. S. B. x, p. 910; Calc. Journ. 



N. H. ii. p. 214. 

 Herpestes urva, Anderson, An. Zool. Bes. p. 189, pi. ix, figs. 5, 6, skull. 



Arva, Nepalese. 



Size large, approaching that of H. vitticollis. Form more robust 

 than in most species of the genus. Tail about two thirds the 

 length of the head and body. Fur of body and tail very long, 

 coarse and ragged, underfur woolly. Naked sole of hind foot only 

 extending about two thirds the distance to the heel. Mammae 6, 

 ventral. Two anal glands, one on each side, with external 

 orifices. 



In the skull the orbit is probably complete in old specimens. 

 The termination of the bony palate above the posterior nares is 

 concave. 



Colour. Dusky iron-grey, or blackish with a greyish surface 

 caused by the long whitish tips to the hairs. A well-marked 



K 



