to the
Malay countries.

DESCRIPTION.--It is difficult to lay down any precise rule for the
colour of this animal, for it varies much. In general it is a fulvous
grey, marked or clouded with black, or with black longitudinal
stripes. No two naturalists describe it exactly alike. The limbs are,
however, always dark, and there is usually a dark stripe down from
the top of head to the centre of the nose. I will quote a few
descriptions by various authors: "General colour brownish-black,
with some dingy yellowish stripes on each side, more or less distinct,
and sometimes not noticeable. A white spot above and below each eye,
and the forehead with a whitish band in some; a black line from the
top of the head down the centre of the nose is generally observable.
In many individuals the ground colour appears to be fulvous, with
black pencilling or mixed fulvous and black; the longitudinal
stripes then show dark; limbs always dark brown; some appear almost
black throughout, and the young are said to be nearly all black"
(_Jerdon_). "General colour fulvous grey, washed with black; face
darker coloured, with four white spots, one above and one below each
eye, the latter more conspicuous; from three to five--more or less
interrupted--black lines run from shoulder to root of tail, the
central one broader and more distinct than the lateral lines; some
indistinct black spots on the sides and upper parts of limbs; tail
nearly all black; feet black, soles bald to the heel, flesh-coloured"
(_Kellaart_). "Nose brown in the centre, with the brown colour
extending under the eyes; the spot under the eye is small and
indistinct" (_Gray_). The last remark is reverse of what Kellaart
says. The muzzle of the young animal is flesh coloured; they are said
to lose their black hairs when kept long in confinement, and become
generally lighter coloured.

SIZE.--Head and body about 20 to 25 inches; tail from 19 to 21 inches.

This is a very common animal in India, frequently to be found in the
neighbourhood of houses, attracted no doubt by poultry, rats, mice,
&c. It abounds in the suburbs of Calcutta, taking up its abode
sometimes in out-houses or in secluded parts of the main building.
During the years 1865-66 a pair inhabited a wooden staircase in the
Lieutenant-Governor's house at Alipore (Belvedere). We used to hear
them daily, and once or twice I saw them in the dusk, but failed in
all my attempts to trap them. That part of the building has s