130 



TIVEREID.T;. 



narrow white stripe runs along each side of the neck from the angle 

 of the mouth to the shoulder. Head dark brown, speckled with 

 white ; legs and feet the same, but without any white, the feet often 

 black. The woolly underfur dark brown at the base, then pale 

 brownish yellow, the longer hairs brown close to the skin, then 

 light brown or yellowish brown like the underfur for a considerable 

 length, next black, also for a long distance, and whitish at the 

 tips. 



Fig. 35. — Herpestes urva. 



Dimensions. Head and body 18 to 21 inches : tail without the 

 hair at the end 11 to 12 ; weight (of a small specimen apparently) 

 4 pounds. A skull measures 3"3 inches in basal length and 2 in 

 zygomatic breadth. 



Distribution. The south-eastern Himalayas at low elevations, 

 Assam, Arakan, Pegu, Tenasserim, and Southern China. 



Habits. The heavy form of this mungoose is probably connected 

 with somewhat different habits from those of the typical species, 

 such as J/. muii</o. According to Hodgson If. iirua is somewhat 

 aquatic, and lives cliietly on frogs and crabs, which abound in 

 the Himalayan and Burmese streams. Like other species, it lives 

 in holes in the ground. 



The anal glands are about the size of a cherry, and the animal 

 has the power of squirting out a fcietid fluid from them backwards 

 with great force. A description of these glands has been given by 

 Dr. Campbell (J. A. S. B. vi, p. 565). 



Two more s])ecies of the genus, H. jnvnnicus and //. bracht/nrKs, 

 both of large size, are found in the JMahiy l*euinsulaand in some of 

 the islands ; whilst a tliird I'orm, //. sonltorqi'dtus, is peculiar to 

 Borneo. Homci other Malay opecies have been described, but appear 

 doubtfully distinct. 



