HONEY WEESEL. 395 
colours being separated along the whole length 
of the animal, from the base of the nose to the 
tail^ by a stripe of black and white : the ears are 
scarce visible: the tail rather thick; the legs 
shorty and the head large; the snout short and 
somewhat pointed : the body seems of a thicker 
form than is usual in this genus. 
This animal, when pursued, ejects a fetid liquid 
accompanied by a smell as insufferable as that of 
some of the American Weesels or Skunks, and 
productive of the same effects. 
HONEY WEESEL. 
Viverra Mellivora. V, dorso cinereo, fascia laterali nigra, ahdo- 
mine nigro, uriguibus longis suhtus cavis, fossoriis, Lin. Syst. 
Nat. Gmel. P' gi. 
W. with cinereous back, with a black lateral band ; the abdomen 
black 3 the claws long and formed for burrowing. 
Ratel. Sparrm. act. StockL 1777. t. 4./. 3. 
This, according to Dr. Sparrman, feeds prin- 
cipally on the honey of wild bees about the Cape 
of Good Hope, which it finds in the holes of Jer- 
boas, Rabbits, and other animals, as well as in hol- 
low trees. To this, its most acceptable food, it 
is guided, as Dr, Sparrman tells us, by a bird 
called the Honey-Guide (Cuculus Indicator), 
which utters a shrill note whenever it discovers 
bees, on which it preys. This account of Sparr- 
man's is greatly ridiculed by Mr. Bruce in his 
Abyssinian travels. The Honey Weesel has a 
