y seemed to be to tease the snake into darting
at him, when, with inconceivable rapidity, he would pounce on the
reptile's head. He seemed to know instinctively which were the
poisonous ones, and acted with corresponding caution. I tried him
once with some sea-snakes (_Hydrophis palamoides_), which are
poisonous, but he could get no fight out of them, and crunched their
heads off one after the other. I do not believe in the mungoose being
proof against snake poison, or in the antidote theory. Their extreme
agility prevents their being bitten, and the stiff rigid hair, which
is excited at such times, and a thick loose skin, are an additional
protection. I think it has been proved that if the poison of a snake
is injected into the veins of a mungoose it proves fatal. The female
produces from three to four young at a time.

The cry of the mungoose is a grating mew, varied occasionally by a
little querulous yelp, which seems to be given in an interrogative
sort of way when searching for anything. When angry it growls most
audibly for such a small beast, and this is generally accompanied
by a bristling of the hair, especially of the tail.

NO. 237. HERPESTES JERDONI _vel_ MONTICOLUS.
_The Long-tailed Mungoose_ (_Jerdon's No. 129_).

HABITAT.--Indian peninsula, it having been found in the extreme
south as well as Kashmir in the north and Singbhoom in the centre.

DESCRIPTION.--Colour like the last, but more yellow in general tone;
tail long, tipped with maroon and black, very hairy; feet dark
reddish-brown; muzzle slightly tinged with red; under fur pale
yellowish, the long hairs being broadly tipped with brown, darkest
at the tip, paler at the base, then a white band; then three brown
bands separated by white, the base of the hair being broadly white;
the skull is distinguishable by the breadth of the frontal region
across the post-orbital processes, and between the anterior margins
of the orbit. Dr. Anderson considers this as identical with the
Kashmir _H. thysanurus_, which has also been found by Mr. Ball in
Singbhoom. Dr. Gray says it is very like the African _H. ichneumon_,
only paler. Dr. Jerdon had only obtained it from the Eastern Ghats
inland from Nellore, where it inhabits forests among the hills.

SIZE.--Head and body, 20 inches; tail, 19 inches.

NO. 238. HERPESTES SMITHII.
_The Ruddy Mungoose_ (_Jerdon's No. 130_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Deeto_, Singhalese.

HABITAT.--Southern India and Ceylon.

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