126 VIVEEUINiE. 



hermaphrodita, Pallas. — Menuri, H., in the south. — Lakdti, H., in some 

 parts ; occasionally Khatds. — Vulgo, in Southern India, Jhdr ha kdtd,\ox 

 tree-dog. — TJd, Mahr. — Bhondar, Bengal. — Ke'ra hek, Can. — Mdnu-pilli, 

 Tel. ; and Marra-pilli, Malyal., both signifying tree-cat. — Toddy cat of 

 Europeans in Madras. 



The Common Tkek-cat. 



Bescr. — General color brownish-black, with some dingy yellowish 

 stripes on each side, more or less distinct, and sometimes not noticeable ; 

 a white spot above and below each eye, and the forehead with a whitish 

 band in some ; a black line from the top of the head down the centre of 

 the nose is generally observable. In many individuals the ground color 

 appears to be fulvous with black pencilling, or mixed fulvous and black ; 

 the longitudinal stripes then show dark ; limbs always dark-brown. Some 

 appear almost black throughout, and the young are said to be nearly 

 all black. Some appear fnlvous-gray washed with black, the face black, 

 and the tail very dark ; and others appear to have the sides spotted. 

 Many of these variations are owing to the state of abrasion of the 

 fur, which is yellowish at the base and blackish at the tip. One is 

 described as " pale grayish-brown with longer black hairs intermixed, and 

 most prevalent on the back of head, neck, and along the back ; three black 

 bands on the loins ; head brownish with a gray mark above and below 

 the eyes ; tail with the terminal fifth yellowish white." I have had 

 several skins with the terminal portion of the tail yellowish white, and one 

 or two with the whole posterior parts of the same hue. Some have the 

 abdomen marked with elongated white spots, and individuals occur with 

 the tail spirally twisted, so that the extremity has the lower surface 

 uppermost ; and, according to Blyth, it was an individual similar to this 

 on which the genus was founded, and the name Faradoxurus bestowed, 

 which has been translated into Screw-tail. 



Length, head and body, 22 to 25 inches ; tail 19^ to 21 ; hind foot 3 ^ ; 

 weight 8| ibs. 



This tree-cat is a common and abundant animal throughout the greater 

 part of India and Ceylon, extending through Burmah and the Malayan 

 peninsula to the islands. It is most abundant in the better wooded 

 regions, and is rarely met with in tlie bare portions of the Deccan, Central 

 India, and the North-west Provinces. It is very abmidant in the Carnatic, 



