28 



Mammals of Burma. 



[No. I, 



m 



*57. E. chaus(J. 115). 

 Felis chaus, Gildenst. Khyoung tsek-koon, Arakan. 



The Chaus. The author procured this species in Arakan, and Col. 

 McMaster states that he " shot a very fine one in Burma." Egyptian 

 specimens exhibited in the London Zoological Gardens do not differ in 

 any respect, that I can perceive, from the common Indian species. 



Mason refers to a species about the size of a domestic cat, "but its 

 •colour and markings are exactly those of a Tiger. These Cats," he adds, 

 " are very abundant in the jungles, and occasionally venture into towns, 

 where they make great havoc among the poultry." I could not well fail 

 to have met with such a species, did it exist, and take leave to doubt that 

 any small species of Cat is coloured and marked exactly like a Tiger. 

 F. undata is doubtless intended, at least in part. 



Mason also refers to an animal which he denominates the " Fire-cat," 

 or "Fire-tiger," of the Burmans. This is very probably F. ternminchii, 

 Vigors (F. moormensis, Hodgson, and F. chrysothrix, Tern. MS.), which 

 is found not only in Nipal and Assam, but in the Malayan peninsula 

 and Sumatra, and therefore may be expected to occur in the intervening 

 territory. It has been lately figured by Dr. Sclater.* 



Fam. Mustelidae. 

 Sub-fam. Luteins (Otters). 

 *58. Ltjtea naie (J. 100). 

 Lutra nair, F. Cuv. Phyau, Arakan. 

 Common on both sides of the Bay of Bengal. 



*59. AOSTYX LEPTOKYX (J. 102). 

 Lutra leptonyx, Horsfield, Zool. Res. Java. 



Otter with minute claws. " Otters abound in some of the streams. 

 In the upper part of the Tenasserim, a dozen at a time may be occasionally 

 seen on the rocks of the river. The Burmese sometimes domesticate them, 

 when they will follow a man like a dog" (Mason). f As common as the 

 former species. 



* P. Z. S. 1867, pi. xxxvi. p. 816. 



f No animals are more difficult to determine than the species of Otter, from their general 

 similarity, which may lead to over-hasty identification of them, and the neglect to note 

 specific differences which appear on minute examination. The skulls generally afford good 

 means of discrimination. 



