HERPESTES. 187 



I have not seen the skull of this species, but Horsfleld in his Zoological 

 Researches has figured it in profile. His figure was taken from the skull of the 

 largest specimen in the India Museum, London, and it was probably the skull of the 

 example of this species now in the British Museum. Dr. Horsfield, however, only 

 gave the generic characters. 



Horsfield's specimen was from Java and Cantor's from Penang, and the type 

 of _H". exilis, Gervais, is the young of this species, and H. rutilus. Gray, is an immature 

 specimen obtained by Mouhot in Oambodja. A specimen in the Paris Museum, 

 which I have seen since the preceding remarks were wiitten, stands in that 'collection 

 under the name of S. exilis, Gervais ; it was obtained in Cochin China, and is 

 identical with S. rutilus^ Gray, and with five other specimens from Java and 

 Sumatra, all of which agree with a fine series in the Leyden Museum referred to 

 K. javanicus. I have also examined the type of S. ruber, which is a pale-reddish 

 Herpestes, evidently the adult of this species. 



Hebpestes brachyurus. Gray. Plate VIII, figs. 3 & 4. 



Herpestes hrachyurus, GxSij, Mag. Nat. Hist. (New Series,) i. 1837^ p. 578; Voy. of Samarang, 

 Mamm. pi. iv. p. 15 (1850) ; Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1864, p. 556 ; Blainv. Osteogr. Atlas, pi. vi. ; 

 Cantor, Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 1846, vol. xv. p. 243; Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. 1852, p. 349; Cat. 

 Mamm. As. Soc. Mus. Beng. 1863, p. 52. 



The type of this species is also in the British Museum. The general colour is 

 dark blackish-brown, finely punctulated with yellow, more especially on the anterior 

 half of the body and on the shoulders, the caudal hairs being broadly black-tipped, 

 and the head paler and more olive-brown than the rest of the body. The fore 

 limbs and the lower half of the hind legs are dark-brown and unspeckled. The 

 chin and throat are rusty yellowish-brown, the chest and belly are brown, and 

 the hairs are banded much as on the back. The underlying pile is yeUowish-brown. 

 The long hau's of the fur have indistinct, pale-brown tips, which merge iato clear 

 yellow bands, which are succeeded by brown bands, three times as broad as the 

 former, and which are followed by three alternate, yellow and brown bands. The 

 very broad middle area to the hair and the dark tip give the dark colour to the fur, 

 and the bright yellow, sub-apical band produces the yellow-speckled appearance, 

 but in many of the dorsal hau's tliis band entirely disappears. On the head, the 

 dark bands are pale-brown, and the yellow bands also are paler than on the 

 trunk, so that the head is considerably lighter-coloured. The sides of the face, 

 before the eyes, and the dorsum of the muzzle are pale yellowish-brown, and the 

 cheeks are also of the same colour, but grizzled. The punctulation of the tail is 

 almost obscured by the black. The tail also is untufted, and it is broader at its 

 base, from which it gradually tapers to the tip. The hair of the flanks is 1"20 

 long, and on the base of the tail an inch longer. The whiskers are rather feeble 

 and pale-brown. The claws are moderately strong, and one-half of the under sur- 

 face of the tarsus is bare. 



