AILURtra FULGEIfS. 



75 



jet black; from the eye to the gape a broad vertical line of ochreous-red 

 blending with the dark lower surface ; moustache white ; muzzle black. 



Length of head and body. 22 inches; tail 16; about 9 inches high ; 

 weight 8 8). 



This very curious and richly colored animal is a denizen of the south- 

 eastern Himalayas, having only been taken in Nepal and Sikim. It is 

 stated to be found from 7,000 feet up to 12,000 feet or so. General 

 Hardwicke was the first to discover this animal, but Ms description was 

 not published till after Mr. P. Cuvier had described it from a specimen 

 sent to Paris by M. Duvancel. Hodgson has given a full account of it, 

 from which I extract the following observations : — " The Wah is ^ vegeta- 

 livorous climber, breeding and feeding chiefly on the ground, and having 

 its retreat in holes and clefts of rock. It eats fruits, roots, sprouts of 

 bamboo, acorns, &c. ; also, it is said, eggs and young birds ; also milk and 

 ghee, which it is said to purloin occasionally from the villages. They 

 feed moiming and evening, and sleep much in the day. They are excellent 

 climbers, but on the ground move rather awkwardly and slowly. Their 

 senses aU appear somewhat blunt, and they are easily captured. In capti- 

 vity they are placid and inoffensive, docile and silent, and shortly after 

 being taken they may be suffered to go abroad. They prefer rice and milk 

 to all other food, refusing animal food, and they are free from all offensive 

 odour. They drink by lapping with the tongue, piss and spit hke cats 

 when angered, and now and then utter a short deep grunt like a young 

 bear. The female brings forth two young in spring. They usually sleep 

 laid on the side, and rolled into a ball, the head concealed by the bushy 

 tail." 



It is not very common now about Darjeeling. The Lepchas there say 

 that it feeds a good deal on insects and larvae, which it scratches out of 

 the ground. A friend of mine watched a pair seated high up in a lofty 

 tree. They were maldng the most unearthly cries, he assured me, he ever 

 heard. It was evidently the pairing season. 



Hodgson states that one he examined had 14 ribs and dorsal vertibree, 

 another 15 ; the radius and ulnse are distinct and nearly equal in size, and 

 the tibia and fibula also distinct. There is no clavicle: altogether the 

 skeleton was sufficiently ursine. The tongue is rather rough ; the stomach 

 is semi-circular, and the intestinal canal nearly five times the length of 

 the body. There are no anal glands ; the penis is as in Felis or Viverra ; 

 and the female has eight mamrnaj. 



