220 HTSTEICIN^. 



This species is common in Ceylon, whence Mr. Blyth formerly named 

 a young specimen as distinct. It occm-s also in Afghanistan, and pro- 

 bably in other parts of Asia. 



205. Hystrix bengalensis. 



Blyth, J. A. 8. XX. 179. — Cat. p. 128. — H. malabarica, Sclatee. 

 P. Z. S. 1865 (fid. Blyth). 



The Bengal Porcupine. 



Descr. — Smaller than leucura; crest small and thin, the bristles blackish; 

 body spines much flattened, and strongly grooved, terminating in a slight 

 seta; slender flexible quills much fewer than in leucura, white with a 

 narrow black band about the centre ; the thick quills basally white, the 

 rest black, mostly with a white tip ; a distinct white demi-collar : spines 

 of lumbar region white ; as are those of the tail and rattle ; muzzle less 

 hirsute than in leucura. 



Length of one, head and body 28 inches ; tail 8. 



Blyth compared this species with the hill porcupine, which it resembles 

 in its smaller crest, and also in its general characters, but it more resem- 

 bles leucura in the proportion of the large quills and other points. He 

 has quite recently written me from England that he considers the porcu- 

 pine recently described by Sclater as H. malabarica, to be the same as 

 his bengalensis. Sclater describes it as having a great general resemblance 

 to leucura, but differing in the less bristly snout, and the longer tail, as 

 also in many of the quills being orange colored in the place of white, 

 especially some of the spines of the back and tail, whilst others were 

 black and white as in the common kind. If Mr. Blyth is right in his 

 identification of the two species, the orange color of the quills would 

 appear to be only a local variation, and even this does not appear to 

 be constant ; for Mr. Day, who first noticed the orange porcupine, states 

 that in captivity they lose much of their orange color, and its vividness 

 greatly decreases when they are ill. Besides the general points of distinc- 

 tion between leucura and malabarica, Mr. Sclater points out a few slight 

 peculiarities in the form of the skull of the latter. 



The Bengal porcupine is found in lower Bengal, extending into Assam 

 and Arrakan ; and also in south Malabar, if Blyth's identification be 

 correct. Nothing peculiar is recorded of its habits. Mr. Day states that 



