The Honey-badgers [Rateliis or Mcllivora), 

 of which two species are known, a smaller, 

 indigenous in South and Central Africa, 

 while the other larger species, which attains 

 the length of from 2i\ to 28 inches, is a native 

 of India, are, like 

 the previous forms, 

 nocturnal animals, 

 which remain in 

 excavated holes 

 by day and roam 

 about at night in 

 search of their 

 food. This con- 

 sists mainly of 

 honey, but also 

 of birds, mice, 

 tortoises, snails, 

 locusts, and fruits. 

 The honey- bad- 

 gers seek out 

 principally the un- 

 derground nests 

 of humble-bees 

 and other species ; 

 but the nests of 

 bees in hollow 

 trees are not safe 

 from them, for 

 they are very good 

 climbers. The 

 head is shorter 



GROUP OF THE BADGERS, 

 their caoe and 



M7 



Ft.:;; rii 



en- cage and regularly, at a particular spot 

 which the\- have selected for this exercise, 

 standing upon their head. 



I have seen a honey-badger in the Jardin 

 des Plantes at Paris which repeated this 



process at the 

 same spot a hun- 

 dred times without 

 getting tired. 

 An illustration is 

 gi\'en of the honey- 

 badger known as 

 the Cape Ratel 

 {Ratclus or Hfcl- 

 livora capcnsis), 

 fig. I 10. 



The Skunks 

 (^Mephitis) are 

 small, veryelegant, 

 short-leQQed, but 

 slender burrowers, 

 which have a lono- 

 naked snout and 

 long bushy tail. 

 Their fine s o f t 

 thick fur attracts 

 notice by its lon- 

 o-itudinal white 

 stripes, which form 

 .varied markino-s 

 '■Iji'V'^ the back. The 



riiL Hi i/ilnn SI unl {M f/ii/u iff i/i ) pa^e 218 I 1. 1.1- run CI; 



"--^ -■^"■"^•'"und - 



than in the former eenera, the leQ-s are short 



O o 



and adapted for burrowing, the tail is rather 

 long; one premolar is wanting in the denti- 

 tion ; the long coarse fur appears as if divided 

 into two parts. A light gray, almost white, 

 mantle appears to cover the back from head 

 to tail, while the rest of the body is black. 



The honey -badgers, like the telagons, 

 defend themselves by the diffusion of an 



^rouna- colour oi 

 the fur is always black. The variety in the 

 white markinQS is so Sfreat that one can 

 scarcely find two specimens exactly alike. 

 The dentition is \-erv much reduced by the 

 loss of one or two premolars. Advantage has 

 been taken of these characters to establish 

 some sub-Q'enera, which, however, ha\e little 

 value, for the nature of the teeth, among 

 which the last tubercled teeth are very peculiar 



intolerable odour. They appear, however, to ; in their structure, remains always the same 



be good-humoured, livelv, and even trickv 

 creatures. They are often seen in our zoo- 

 logical gardens, where they attract attention 

 by their singular habit of running about in 



The skunks inhabit the whole length and 

 breadth of America from Northern Canada 

 and Hudson's Bav to Patao-onia. 



less 



Notwithstanding their greater 



or 



28 



