NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 
naked line running from the nose to the upper lip, 
and the skull having a rounded appearance without 
any pronounced angles or crests, and the palate 
deeply concave. By reason of these differences, 
naturalists have placed it in a genus by itself. 
The Smooth-nosed Mungoose inhabits the 
eastern parts of Africa, and appears to be rather 
rare. It has been found at Komatipoort, and can, 
therefore, be claimed as one of the South African 
animals. Its food appears to consist of wild fruits, 
insects, and no doubt the various small mammals, 
such as those eaten by other species of mungooses. 
The general colour is, according to W. L. Sclater, 
“dark ashy, darker along the middle linz of the 
back; woolly underfur dark slaty with pale brown 
tips, the longer hairs ringed brown and white ; 
head coloured like the body; nose completely 
surrounded by hairs, so that there is no bare line 
between the nose and the upper lip. Tail with 
long hairs, much as in the White-tailed Mungoose, 
with a dark dorsal line and black tip, all the hairs 
' being white at the base ; iris dark brown with sea- 
green centre. Head and body twenty-two inches ; 
tail fifteen inches.” 
Tue Banypep Muncoose 
(Crossarchus fasciatus typicus) 
The Banded Mungoose has been placed under a 
different genus to the preceding species owing to 
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