174 MUSTELIDJE. 



Colour. Above dark brown, almost chocolate-brown in general, 

 but some individuals appear rather paler. The underfur is pale 

 brown. A narrow median stripe from the crown of the head to 

 the middle of the back or even to above the hips pure white ; also 

 the cheeks and an interrupted band across the forehead, sometimes 

 reduced to a frontal spot. The margin of the ears and terminal 

 third to half of the tail whitish. Lo\Aer parts brownish white, 

 sometimes yellowish, the breast and throat paler. Sometimes the 

 pale colour is confined to the middle of the abdomen, the sides 

 being brown. 



Dimensions. In a female the head and body measure 16 inches, 

 the tail without hair 7i, with hair 9, hind foot from heel 2\. A 

 skull measures 2-75 inches in basal length, and l-7o across the 

 zygomatic arches. 



Distribvtion. The Himalayas in Nepal and Sikhim at moderate 

 elevations, and Java. Other supposed localities probably refer to 

 the next species. 



Habits. Very impei'fectly known. The animal is nocturnal and 

 lives generally in forests, but wanders into houses, and Anderson 

 says he killed one at night in the house of a Sikhim Bhotia, to the 

 disgust of the proprietor, who declared the creature to be useful in 

 destrojdug cockroaches and other insects. 



I am unable to find any distinction between the Himalayan and 

 Javanese forms distinguished by many authors as //. nipalensis 

 and //. orientalis. The cranial differences noticed by Gray, Ander- 

 son, and others appear to be due to individual variation only. 



88. Helictis personata. The Burmese Ferret-hadger. 



Melogale personata, Geoff. Belamjer, Voy., Zool. p. 1.37, pi. v (1834). 

 Helictis orientalis, Bli/th, J. A. S. B. xxxi, p. 332, nee Horsjiehl. 

 Helictis nipalensis, Blyth, Cat. p. 70, Mam. Birds Burma, p. 29, nee 



Hodqson. 

 Helictis personata, Thomas, P. Z. S. 1886, p. 59. 



Kyoung-u-gyi, Burmese (Tickell) ; Kyoung-pyan, Aiakanese. 



General proportions precisely similar to those of H. orientalis. 

 Teeth much larger, and the upper sectorial nearly trapezoidal, the 

 inner lobe being remarkably developed and the two cusps much 

 less unequal than in H. orientalis. 



Colour. Above brownish grey. In all other respects this form 

 resembles H. orientalis ; the dorsal underfur is sullied white, dorsal 

 and frontal bands and cheeks white or yellow, lower parts brownish 

 white or yellow. The longer hairs on the sides have whitish tips. 

 Dark portions of the face much darker than the back generally. 



Dimensions. Tickell, in his MS. notes, gives for a female : — head 

 and body 15 inches, tail 8|, hind foot 2^. This I suspect to be 

 small, skulls of this species and stuffed specimens being rather 

 larger than those of //. orientalis. The skull of a male measures 

 in basal length 2-85 inches, in breadth 1*87. 



Distribution. Recorded from Pegu and Manipur. Thei'e is also 



