102 THE TOWER MENAGERIE. 
between the shoulders to the extremity of the tail, and 
form a kind of mane, which may be raised or depressed 
at pleasure. The legs and greater part of the tail are 
perfectly black, and the upper lip and sides of the neck 
nearly white. A large patch of black surrounds each 
eye, and passes from it to the angle of the mouth; and 
two or three other bands of the same colour pass ob- 
liquely from the base of the ears towards the shoulder 
and neck, the latter of which is marked by a broad black 
patch. ; 
In his natural habits the Civet closely resembles the 
fox and the less powerful species of cats, subsisting by 
rapine, and attacking the birds and smaller quadrupeds, 
which form his principal food, rather by night and by 
surprise than by open force and in the face of day: 
reduced to a state of captivity, he becomes moderately 
tame, but not sufficiently so to allow himself to be 
handled with impunity. In many parts of Northern 
Africa large numbers of them are kept for the purpose 
of obtaining their perfume, which bears a high price and 
is much esteemed. The individual sketched above isa 
male of large size, and remarkable for never having 
deposited any of the perfume, although for more than 
twelve months an inhabitant of the Menagerie. 
