192 ubsidjE. 



fond of milk. All observers, however, agree that it either refuses 

 flesh of all kinds, or takes it very reluctantly. Hodgson tried 

 repeatedly the experiment of putting a live fowl in the cage of an 

 ^lurii-s', which but rarely killed the fo\A 1, and never ate it. 



The sharp and powerful semiretractile claws of j3£lurus are thus 

 manifestly not used for predatory purposes, but are admirably 

 adapted for climbing ; aud there can be no question that this form, 

 like so many of the Himalayan mammalia, is chiefly arboreal in its 

 habits. It is dull of sighl and hearing, and even its sense of smell 

 is not very acute ; aud, according to Hodgson, it is easily captured, 

 having but little speed, cunning, or ferocity to protect it. It grasps 

 articles, such as fruit, readily with its paws, as observed by Bart- 

 lett. Its walk is plantigrade ; its movements on the ground slow 

 and awkward. It sleeps sometimes coiled up like a cat or dog, with 

 the bushy tail over the head, sometimes resting on its legs with 

 the head tucked under the chest and between the fore legs, a 

 practice common, it is said, with American racoons, and doubtless 

 due to the habit of resting on a branch of a tree. Bartlett especially 

 notices the resemblance between its habits generally aud those of 

 the kinkajou (Cercolcptes). 



Though by no means distinctly nocturnal, yE. ful/ois sleeps 

 much in the day, moving about and feeding in the morning and 

 evening. According to J3artlett it drinks like a bear, by inserting 

 its lips, and not by lapping, though Hodgson says the contraiy. 

 Its usual cry, or call-note, is a short faint squeak, said by Dr. 

 Simpson to resemble the chirping of a bird; but when angry it 

 rises on its hind legs like a bear, aud attacks with what one 

 observer terms a series of " snorts," and another a " sharp spitting 

 hiss." Jerdon says that a friend of his watched a pair seated high up 

 on a lofty tree, and making most unearthly cries, evidently at the 

 pairing-season. 



The period of gestation is not known, but the young are generally 

 two in number, and ai'e produced in spring. They appear to have 

 a long period of helplessness, during \\ hicli they remain in their 

 place of birth, a hollow tree or hole among rocks, and they remain 

 with the ])arents until another brood is about to ap})ear. 



As a rule these animals appear to be easily tamed even when 

 adult. They are delicate animals, and cannot endure heat, and 

 they also suffer from unich cold. When excited, according to Dr. 

 Sinipson, a male had the power of emitting a strong odour of 

 musk. 



Family URSID.E. 



The last family of the Arctoidea contains llie bears, a very 

 natural grou]), all of them animals of consideiable size, heavily 

 built, thoroughly ])lantigrade, and with the feet adapted for digging, 

 though not used for fossorial purposes in the same manner as those 



