ZIBETT. 99 



^larrovv transverse blackish bands upon a grey ground, 

 parallel on the shoulders, but larger and more irregular 

 on the body and thighs, where they sometimes assume 

 the form of those eye-like spots seen on the panther : 

 the neck has but three black stripes on a white ground ; 

 the muzzle is entirely black, except the upper lip, which 

 is white : the tail has only four or five rings of black, 

 and the end, for nearly six inches, is entirely black ; 

 while the tail of the zibett has eight or ten rings, and 

 the end is black for only two inches from its tip. 



The Zibett. 

 Viverra Zibetta, Linn., Gm. Zibet, Bvffon. 



This animal was long confounded with the true civet ; 

 but living specimens of both being in the Paris menagerie, 

 enabled M. Fred. Cuvier to state with precision the differ- 

 ences between them. In a state of nature, it is believed 

 to prey upon the smaller quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, 

 and occasionally to eat fruits. Like the civet, and 

 all nocturnal animals, it is heavy and stupid during 

 the day, but becomes active as the night approaches. 

 AVhen irritated, it expresses its resentment in much 

 the same voice as that of a cat, bristling up its hairs, 

 and hissing. It seems much less widely distributed 

 than the last, although said to inhabit the same coun- 

 tries by writers who have evidently confounded the two 

 species. It secretes a substance equally strong, and by a 

 similar conformation, to that of the civet. 



The colours differ from those of the true civet in 

 several respects. The body is covered with small, round, 

 black spots, upon a grey or brownish ground ; whereas 

 those marks in the civet assume the form of narrow, 

 transverse bands : the neck is marked on each side with 

 four black bands on a white ground ; and the muzzle, 

 which in the former animal is entirely black, is, in this, 

 grey, with a conspicuous white spot over the eye, which 

 the civet does not possess : the tail is encircled with 



