Chapter VI: Introduction (4)

DESCRIPTION.--Brownish-grey above, paler beneath; fur coarser and longer than in the last species, and in the young ones the colour is more of a bluish-grey, browner on the back. The ears are larger than those of _S. caerulescens_; tail nearly equal to the body, thick at the base, and sparsely covered with long coarse hairs; feet and tail flesh-coloured in the living animal.

SIZE.--Head and body about 6 inches; tail, 3-1/2 inches.

"This," as Jerdon says, "is the common musk-rat of China, Burmah, and the Malayan countries, extending into Lower Bengal and Southern India, especially the Malabar Coast, where it is said to be the common species, the bite of which is considered venomous by the natives." Kellaart mentions it in Ceylon as the "common _musk shrew_ or rat of Europeans;" but he confuses it with the last species. He gives the Singhalese name as "_koone meeyo_." The musky odour of this species is less powerful, and is almost absent in the young. Blyth states that he was never able to obtain a specimen of it in Lower Bengal, yet the natives here discriminate between the light and dark-coloured shrews, and hold, with the people of Malabar, that the bite of the latter is venomous. Horsfield states that it has been found in Upper India, Nepal, and Assam, and he gives the vernacular name in the last-named country as "_seeka_."

NO. 127. SOREX NEMORIVAGUS. _The Nepal Wood Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 71_).

HABITAT.--Nepal.

DESCRIPTION.--Differs from the last "by a stouter make, by ears smaller and legs entirely nude, and by a longer and more tetragonal tail; colour sooty black, with a vague reddish smear; the nude parts fleshy grey; snout to rump, 3-5/8 inches; tail, 2 inches, planta, 11/16 inch. Found only in woods and coppices."--_Hodgson_.

NO. 128. SOREX SERPENTARIUS. _The Rufescent Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 72_).

HABITAT.--Southern India, Burmah and Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Colour dusky greyish, with rufous brown tips to the hairs (_Blyth_). Above dusky slate colour with rufescent tips to the fur; beneath paler, with a faint rufous tinge about the breast (_Jerdon_). Fur short ashy-brown, with a ferruginous smear on the upper surface; beneath a little paler coloured (_Kellaart_). Teeth and limbs small; tail slender.

SIZE.--Head and body about 4-1/2 inches; tail, 2 inches; skull, 1-2/10 inch.

The smell of this musk shrew is said by Kellaart, who names it _S. Kandianus_, to be quite as powerful as that of _S. caerulescens_. Blyth seems to think that this animal gets more rufescent with age, judging from two examples sent from Mergui. By some oversight, I suppose, he has not included this species in his 'Catalogue of the Mammals of Burmah.'

NO. 129. SOREX SATURATIOR. _The Dark Brown Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 73_).

HABITAT.--Darjeeling.

DESCRIPTION.--"Colour uniform deep brown, inclining to blackish, with a very slight rufescent shade; fur short, with an admixture of a few lengthened piles, when adpressed to the body smooth, but reversed somewhat harsh and rough; tail cylindrical, long, gradually tapering; mouth elongated, regularly attenuated, ears moderate, rounded."

SIZE.--Head and body, 5-1/2 inches; tail, 3 inches.

Jerdon seems to think this is the same as _S. Griffithi_ or closely allied; I cannot say anything about this, as I have no personal knowledge of the species, but on comparison with the description of _S. Griffithi_ (which see further on) I should say they were identical.

NO. 130. SOREX TYTLERI. _The Dehra Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 74_).

HABITAT.--Dehra Doon.

DESCRIPTION.--"Light rufescent sandy brown, paler beneath; unusually well clad even on the feet and tail, this last being covered with shortish fur having numerous long hairs intermixed; form very robust; basal portion of tail very thick."

SIZE.--Head and body, 4-1/2 inches; tail, 2-3/4 inches; hind foot, 7/8 inch.

NO. 131. SOREX NIGER. _The Neilgherry Wood Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 75_).

HABITAT.--Ootacamund, Neilgherry hills.

DESCRIPTION.--"Blackish-brown, with a rufescent shade on the upper parts; abdomen greyish; tail equal in length to the entire animal, exclusive of the head, gradually tapering to a point; snout greatly attenuated. Length of head and body, 3-1/2 inches; of the tail, 2-1/2 inches."--_Horsfield_.

NO. 132. SOREX LEUCOPS. _The Long-tailed Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 76_).

HABITAT.--Nepal.

DESCRIPTION.--Uniform blackish-brown colour; tail very long and slender, exceeding in length the head and body, terminating in a whitish tip of half an inch long.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3 inches; tail, 2-1/2 inches. Jerdon supposes that it is found at great altitudes, from Hodgson having in another place described it (MSS.) under the name _nivicola_.

NO. 133. SOREX SOCCATUS. _The Hairy-footed Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 77_).

HABITAT.--Nepal, Sikim, Mussoorie.

DESCRIPTION.--According to Hodgson, nearly the size of _S. nemorivagus_, "but distinguished by its feet being clad with fur down to the nails, and by its depressed head and tumid bulging cheeks (mystaceal region); ears large and exposed; colour a uniform sordid or brownish-slaty blue, extending to the clad extremities; snout to rump, 3-1/2 inches; tail, 2-1/2 inches; planta, 13/16 inch. This animal was caught in a wood plentifully watered, but not near the water. It had no musky smell when brought to me dead."

NO. 134. SOREX MONTANUS. _The Ceylon Black Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Ceylon, mountainous parts.

DESCRIPTION.--"Fur above sooty black without any ferruginous smear, beneath lighter coloured; whiskers long, silvery grey; some parts of legs and feet greyish, clothed with adpressed hairs; claws short, whitish; ears large, round, naked; outer margin lying on a level with the fur of the head and neck, the ears being thus concealed posteriorly; tail tetragonal, tapering, shorter than head and body."--_Kellaart_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-3/4 inches; tail, 2-1/4 inches; hind feet, 1/3 inch.

NO. 135. SOREX FERRUGINEUS. _The Ceylon Rufescent Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Ceylon, Dimboola, below Newara Elia.

DESCRIPTION.--"Colour uniform dusky or dusky slate, with the tips of the fur rufescent; fur long; large sebaceous anal glands; smell very powerful."--_Kellaart_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-3/4 inches; tail, 2-1/4 inches.

NO. 136. SOREX GRIFFITHI. _The Large Black Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Khasia hills and Arracan.

DESCRIPTION.--"Deep blackish-brown, with a slight rufous reflection in a certain light; fur short, close, soft, and adpressed; tail thick at the base, with a few long very slender straggling hairs along its entire length; ears small and rounded; snout elongated."--_Horsfield_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5-3/4 inches; tail, 2-1/2 inches.

Horsfield puts this down as having been found in Afghanistan by Griffiths, but this is an error owing to Griffiths' Afghanistan and Khasia collections having got mixed up.

NO. 137. SOREX HETERODON.

HABITAT.--Khasia hills.

DESCRIPTION.--"Very similar to _S. soccatus_ in general appearance, but less dark coloured, with shorter fur, and pale instead of blackish feet and tail underneath; the feet too are broader, especially the hind feet, and they have a hairy patch below the heel" (_Blyth_). The skull is narrower, and the upper incisors less strongly hooked.

_GENUS FEROCULUS_.

Teeth small; upper incisors shorter and less strongly hooked than in restricted _Sorex_; posterior spur large; lower incisors serrated with three coronal points. Feet very large.

NO. 138. FEROCULUS MACROPUS. _The Large-footed Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur, long, soft uniform blackish--faint rufescent tinge.

SIZE.--Head and body 4-1/4 inches; tail 2-1/4.

* * * * *

The following species are of a more diminutive type, and are commonly called "pigmy-shrews;" in other respects they are true shrews.

NO. 139. SOREX HODGSONI. _The Nepal Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 78_).

HABITAT.--Nepal and Sikim.

DESCRIPTION.--Brown, with a slight tinge of chestnut; feet and tail furred; claws white.

SIZE.--Head and body 1-1/2 inch; tail, 1 inch.

Found in coppices and fields; rarely entering houses.

NO. 140. SOREX PERROTETI. _The Neilgherry Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 79_).

HABITAT.--Neilgherry hills, probably also other parts of Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--"Back deep blackish-brown; belly pale; limbs and feet brown; palms and plantae clad with hairs; ears large, conspicuous."

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-4/12 inch; tail, 11/12 inch.

NO. 141. SOREX MICRONYX. _The Small-clawed Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 80_).

HABITAT.--West Himalayas, Kumaon, Mussoorie.

DESCRIPTION.--Claws very minute, with fine hairs impending them, only to be detected by a lens; fur paler and more chestnut-brown than any other of these minute shrews, and more silvery below.

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-5/8 inch; tail 1-1/8 inch.

NO. 142. SOREX MELANODON. _The Black-toothed Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 81_).

HABITAT.--Calcutta.

DESCRIPTION.--Called _melanodon_ from the remarkable colouring of its teeth, which are piceous and white-tipped; colour uniform fuscous, scarcely paler beneath.

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-7/8 inch; tail, 1-1/16 inch.

NO. 143. SOREX NUDIPES. _The Naked-footed Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Tenasserim.

DESCRIPTION.--"Remarkable for its naked feet and very large ears; also for the odoriferous glands on the sides being strongly developed, whereas we can detect them in no other of these minute species" (_Blyth_). Colour brown above, a little grizzled and glistening, more silvery below.

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-3/4 inch; tail, 1-1/16 inch.

NO. 144. SOREX ATRATUS. _The Black Pigmy-Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Khasia hills.

DESCRIPTION.--"Very dark colour, extending over the feet and tail which is even _blackish underneath_; fur blackish-brown above, a little tinged rufescent, and with dark greyish underneath; the feet and tail conspicuously furred, beside the scattered long hairs upon the latter."--_Blyth_.

This species was determined by Blyth on a single specimen, which was found without its head, impaled by some shrike upon a thorn at Cherrapunji. The same thing occasionally occurs in England, when the common shrew may be found impaled by the rufous-backed shrike (_Lanius collurio_).

_SUB-GENUS SORICULUS_ (_Blyth_).

The foregoing species being of the _white-toothed_ variety (with the exception of _S. melanodon_, which, however, exhibits coloration decidedly the _reverse_ of the following type), we now come to the shrews with teeth tipped with a darker colour; the dentition is as in the restricted shrews, with the peculiarity of colour above mentioned. The hind feet of ordinary proportions, unadapted for aquatic habits, and the tail slender and tapering, like that of a mouse, instead of being cylindrical with a stiff brush at the end.

NO. 145. SORICULUS NIGRESCENS. _The Mouse-tailed Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 82_).

HABITAT.--Sikim and Nepal.

DESCRIPTION.--"Above dark-blackish or blackish-brown, slightly tinged rufescent, and with a silvery cast in certain lights; beneath greyish-black" (_Jerdon_). Feet and claws pale; tail slender, straight and naked.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/4 inches; tail, 1-1/2 inch; hind foot, 5/8 inch.

Jerdon says that Kellaart named an allied species from Ceylon _Corsira newera ellia_, but I have not been able to find it in his 'Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae,' nor elsewhere.

_GENUS CROSSOPUS_ (_Wagner_).

The hind feet large; the lower surface, as also of the tail, fringed with stiff hairs; tail somewhat compressed towards the tip; habits aquatic.

NO. 146. CROSSOPUS HIMALAICUS. _The Himalayan Water-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 83_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Oong lagniyu_, Lepcha; _Choopitsi_, Bhot.

HABITAT.--Darjeeling.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur dark brown above, paler beneath; rusty brown on the lower part of throat and middle of belly, according to Jerdon; slate coloured back with scattered long hairs, which are longer and white-tipped on the sides and rump, according to Blyth's memoir; ears very small, hairy, concealed; tail long, slender, fringed with stiff whitish hair beneath; whiskers long and brown.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5 to 6 inches; tail about 3-1/2 inches; hind foot, 3/4 to 11/12 inch.

Jerdon procured this water-shrew at Darjeeling in the Little Rungeet river; it is said to live on small fish, tadpoles, water insects, &c. The movements of the English water-shrew, when swimming, are very agile. It propels itself by alternate strokes of its hind feet, but with an undulating motion, its sides being in a manner extended, and body flattened, showing a narrow white border on each side; then the fur collects a mass of tiny air bubbles which make the submerged portion glow like silver. It prefers clear still water, but at the same time will make its way up running streams and ditches, and occasionally wanders away into fields, and has been found in houses and barns.

Its food is principally aquatic insects, worms, mollusca, and freshwater crustacea. In Bell's 'British Quadrupeds' its mode of poking about amongst stones in search of fresh-water shrimps (_Gammarus pulex_) is well described. Mr. F. Buckland states that he once dissected a water-shrew and found the intestines to contain a dark fluid pulpy matter, which, on being examined by a microscope, proved to consist entirely of the horny cases and legs of minute water insects. Continental writers declare that it will attack any small animal that comes in its way, giving it quite a ferocious character, and it is said to destroy fish spawn. I can hardly believe in its destroying large fish by eating out their brain and eyes. Brehm, who gives it credit for this, must have been mistaken. I have also read of its attacking a rat in a trap which was dead, and was discovered devouring it, having succeeded in making a small hole through the skin.

In England this animal breeds in May. The young are from five to seven in number, and are brought forth in a small chamber in the bank, which is constructed with several openings, one of which is usually under the level of the water.

Dr. Anderson has very fully described the Himalayan species under the name of _Chimarrogale Himalaica_. He caught a specimen in a mountain stream at Ponsee in the Kakhyen hills, 3500 feet above the sea level, and observed it running over the stones in the bed of the stream and plunging freely into the water hunting for insects.

_GENUS NYCTOGALE_.

Head and skull as in _Soricidae_, but with palmated feet and compressed tail, as in _Myogalidae_. Special characteristic, large pads on the soles of the feet, which form sucking discs.

NO. 147. NYCTOGALE ELEGANS. _The Thibet Water-Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Moupin in Thibet.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur of two kinds, a soft under down of slaty grey colour through which pass longer hairs, grey at the base with white tips, "causing the animal to vary considerably in appearance according as these hairs are raised or laid flat;" ears quite concealed, and without a conch; tail stout, longer than the body, quadrangular at the base, then triangular, and finally flattened; feet large and palmated, with large pads on the soles, depressed in the middle, forming sucking discs, which are a peculiar characteristic of this animal.

SIZE.--Head and body about 3-1/2 inches; tail about 4 inches.

Though this is not properly an Indian animal, I have thought fit to include it as belonging to a border country in which much interest is taken, and which has as yet been imperfectly explored.

_GENUS CORSIRA_.

Of Gray, _Amphisorex_ of Duvernoy; differs in dentition from the last in having the lower quasi-incisors serrated with three or four coronal points, and the anterior point of the upper incisors not prolonged beyond the posterior spur, tipped with ferruginous; the lateral small teeth in the upper jaw are five in number, diminishing in size from the first backwards. Tail cylindrical, not tapering, and furnished with a stiffish brush at the extremity. The common British land-shrew is of this type.

NO. 148. CORSIRA ALPINA. _The Alpine Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 84_).

HABITAT.--Darjeeling.

DESCRIPTION.--Deep blackish brown, very slightly rufescent in certain lights; tail slender, nearly naked, very slightly attenuated, compressed at the tip.

SIZE.--Head and body, 2-1/2 inches; tail 2-1/2 inches.

This is identical with the European Alpine shrew; the _Sorex caudatus_ of Horsfield's Catalogue (No. 148), which was a specimen named by Hodgson, is also the same animal.

_GENUS ANUROSOREX_.

Remarkably for its large head, nude, scaly extremities, and extremely short, nude, scaly tail. "The structure of the ear, limbs and tail has special reference to a burrowing animal--the ear being valvular, so that it may be effectually closed against the entrance of foreign substances, and the feet devoid of hair, but scaly, and the tail reduced to very small dimensions. The eye is also excessively small, and buried deep in the dense silky fur. The hind feet, contrary to what is almost invariably the case in burrowing mammals, are larger than the fore feet."--_Anderson_.

NO. 149. ANUROSOREX ASSAMENSIS. _The Assam Burrowing Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Assam, Thibet.

DESCRIPTION.--General colour dark slaty, faintly washed with brownish rusty on the long hairs of the rump; fur long and silky, longest over the rump; occasional long brown hairs with pale tips are scattered over the body; long whiskers, yellow claws; naked parts of snout, limbs and tail flesh-coloured.

SIZE.--Head and body nearly 3 inches; tail, 1/2 inch; forefoot, 1/2 inch; hind foot, 3/4 inch.

The skull and dentition of this animal are essentially soricine. The Thibetan species (_A. squamipes_) is described as being over four inches in length, of a greyish colour, with a greenish-brown tinge; feet and nails whitish. It lives in burrows which it digs in the earth. I think it should properly come after the moles, which it resembles in some particulars.

FAMILY ERINACEIDAE--THE HEDGEHOGS.

The molar teeth broad; the hinder ones nearly square, the tubercles on their upper surface rounded; the other teeth are three incisors on each side, of which the inner one is considerably larger than the rest; behind these, separated by a little gap, come three premolars gradually increasing in size, then one having much the appearance of a true molar, but furnished with a cutting edge; then three molar teeth, two of which are nearly square with strong tubercles. The last molar is small. In the lower jaw the lowermost incisor is very large, and projects almost horizontally forwards, and it is followed by three small teeth now acknowledged to be premolars, with another large premolar, which is of the nature of a carnassial or cutting tooth acting on the one in the upper jaw. Then three molars as above, two large and one small, but with sharp tubercles. The skull has a more carnivorous form; it has "a complete zygomatic arch, and the tympanic bone forms a bundle-like swelling on each side of the back of the skull." Feet pentadactylous or five-toed; legs very short. The tibia and fibula (two bones of the shank) are joined together. The back is clothed with hair intermixed with sharp spines or bristles. Tail short or wanting entirely.

[Figure: Dentition of Hedgehog.]

_GENUS ERINACEUS_.

The European hedgehog is well known to most of us. Few boys who have lived a country life have been without one at some time or other as a pet. I used to keep mine in a hole at the root of an old apple-tree, which was my special property, and they were occasionally brought into the house at the cook's request to demolish the black-beetles in the kitchen. These they devour with avidity and pursue them with the greatest ardour. They also eat slugs, worms, and snails; worms they seize and eat from end to end, like a Neapolitan boy with a string of maccaroni, slowly masticating, the unconsumed portion being constantly transferred from one side of the mouth to the other, so that both sides of the jaws may come into play. Dr. Dallas quaintly remarks on the process: "This must be an unpleasant operation for the worm, much as its captor may enjoy it." Toads, frogs, mice, and even snakes are eaten by the European hedgehog. It would be interesting to find out whether the Indian hedgehog also attacks snakes; even the viper in Europe is devoured by this animal, who apparently takes little heed of its bite. The European species also eats eggs when it can get them, and I have no doubt does much damage to those birds who make their nests on the ground.

Few dogs will tackle a hedgehog, for the little creature at once rolls itself into a spiny ball, all sharp prickles, by means of the contraction of a set of cutaneous muscles, the most important of which, the _orbicularis panniculi_, form a broad band encircling the body which draws together the edges of the spiny part of the skin. There is a most interesting account of the mechanism of the spines in Mr. F. Buckland's notes to White's 'Natural History of Selborne,' vol. ii., page 76. A jet of water poured on to the part within which the head is concealed will make the creature unroll, and it is said that foxes and some dogs have discovered a way of applying this plan, and also that foxes will roll a hedgehog into a ditch or pond, and thus make him either expose himself to attack or drown. Gipsies eat hedgehogs, and consider them a delicacy--the meat being white and as tender as a chicken (not quite equal to porcupine, I should say); they cook them by rolling them in clay, and baking them till the clay is dry; when the ball is broken open the prickles come off with the crust.

[Figure: Hedgehog.]

Hedgehogs have had several popular fallacies concerning them. They were supposed to suck cows dry during the night and to be proof against poisons. Mr. Frank Buckland tried prussic acid on one with fatal results, but he says the bite of a viper seemed to have no effect. Pallas, I know, has remarked that hedgehogs will eat hundreds of cantharides beetles with impunity, whereas one or two will cause extreme agony to a cat or dog. The female goes with young about seven weeks, and she has from three to eight in number. The little ones when born have soft spines--which, however, soon harden--are blind, and, with the exception of the rudimentary prickles, quite naked. They are white at birth, but in about a month acquire the colour of the mother.

NO. 150. ERINACEUS COLLARIS. _The Collared Hedgehog_ (_Jerdon's No. 85_).

HABITAT.--Northern India and Afghanistan. Dallas says from Madras to Candahar; but Jerdon calls it the North Indian hedgehog, and assigns to it the North-west, Punjab, and Sind, giving Southern India to the next species.

DESCRIPTION.--Spines irregularly interwoven, ringed with white and black, with yellowish tips, or simply white and black, or black with a white ring in the middle; ears large; chin white; belly and legs pale brown.

SIZE.--Head and body, 8 to 9 inches; tail, 7/12 inch.

I have found this species in the Punjab near Lahore. One evening, whilst walking in the dusk, a small animal, which I took to be a rat, ran suddenly between my legs. Now I confess to an antipathy to rats, and, though I would not willingly hurt any animal, I could not resist an impulsive kick, which sent my supposed rat high in the air. I felt a qualm of conscience immediately afterwards, and ran to pick up my victim, and was sorry to find I had perpetrated such an assault on an unoffending little hedgehog, which was however only stunned, and was carried off by me to the Zoological Gardens. Captain Hutton writes of them that they feed on beetles, lizards, and snails; "when touched they have the habit of suddenly jerking up the back with some force so as to prick the fingers or mouth of the assailant, and at the same time emitting a blowing sound, not unlike the noise produced when blowing upon a flame with a pair of bellows." He also says they are very tenacious of life, bearing long abstinence with apparent ease; when alarmed they roll themselves up into a ball like the European species.

Hutton also remarks that _E. collaris_, on hearing a noise, jerks the skin and quills of its neck completely over its head, leaving only the tip of the nose free.

NO. 151. ERINACEUS MICROPUS. _The Small-footed Hedgehog_ (_Jerdon's No. 86_).

HABITAT.--South India.

DESCRIPTION.--"Ears moderately large; form somewhat elongated; tail very short, concealed; feet and limbs very small; head and ears nude, sooty-coloured; belly very thinly clad with yellowish hairs; spines ringed dark brown and whitish, or whitish with a broad brown sub-terminal ring, tipped white."--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Head and body about 6 inches. Dr. Anderson considers this as identical with _E. collaris_.

NO. 152. ERINACEUS PICTUS. _The Painted Hedgehog_.

HABITAT.--Central India, Goona, Ulwar, Agra, Kurrachee.

DESCRIPTION.--Similar to the above, but the tips of the spines are more broadly white, and the brown bands below not so dark; the ears are somewhat larger than _micropus_, and the feet narrower and not so long.

NO. 153. ERINACEUS GRAYI.

HABITAT.--North-west India.

DESCRIPTION.--The general colour is blackish-brown; the spines are narrowly tipped with black, succeeded by a narrowish yellow band; then a blackish-brown band, the rest of the spine being yellowish; the broad dark-brown band is so strongly developed as to give the animal its dark appearance when viewed from the side; some animals are, however, lighter than others. The feet are large; the fore-feet broad, somewhat truncated, with moderately long toes and powerful claws.

SIZE.--Head and body about 6-3/4 inches.

NO. 154. ERINACEUS BLANFORDI (_Anderson_).

HABITAT.--Sind, where one specimen was obtained by Mr. W. T. Blanford, at Rohri.

DESCRIPTION.--Muzzle rather short, not much pointed; ears moderately large, but broader than long, and rounded at the tips; feet larger and broader than in the next species, with the first toe more largely developed than in the last. The spines meet in a point on the forehead, and there is no bare patch on the vertex. Each spine is broadly tipped with deep black, succeeded by a very broad yellow band, followed by a dusky brown base; fur deep brown; a few white hairs on chin and anterior angle of ear.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5.36 inches.

NO. 155. ERINACEUS JERDONI (_Anderson_).

HABITAT.--Sind, Punjab frontier.

DESCRIPTION.--Muzzle moderately long and pointed; ears large, round at tip and broad at base; feet large, especially the fore-feet; claws strong. The spines begin on a line with the anterior margins of the ears; large nude area on the vertex; spines with two white and three black bands, beginning with a black band. When they are laid flat the animal looks black; but an erection the white shows and gives a variegated appearance.

SIZE.--Head and body about 7-1/2 inches.

NO. 156. ERINACEUS MEGALOTIS. _The Large-eared Hedgehog_.

HABITAT.--Afghanistan.

More information is required about this species. Jerdon seems to think it may be the same as described by Pallas (_E. auritus_), which description I have before me now ('Zoographica Rosso Asiatica,' vol. i. page 138), but I am unable to say from comparison that the two are identical--the ears and the muzzle are longer than in the common hedgehog. This is the species which he noticed devouring blistering beetles with impunity. It has a very delicate fur of long silky white hairs, covering the head, breast and abdomen, "forming also along the sides a beautiful ornamental border" (_Horsfield_, from a specimen brought from Mesopotamia by Commander Jones, I.N.)

The space to which I am obliged to limit myself will not allow of my describing at greater length; but to those of my readers who are interested in the Indian hedgehogs, I recommend the paper by Dr. J. Anderson in the 'Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal' for 1878, page 195, with excellently drawn plates of the heads, skulls and feet of the various species. There is one peculiarity which he notices regarding the skull of _E. collaris_ (or, as he calls it, _micropus_): the zygomatic arch is not continuous as in the other species, but is broken in the middle, the gap being caused by the absence of the _malar_ or cheek-bone. In this respect it resembles, though Dr. Anderson does not notice it, the _Centetidae_ or _Tanrecs_ of Madagascar.

Dr. Anderson's classification is very simple and good. He has two groups: the first, containing _E. micropus_ and _E. pictus_, is distinguished by the _second upper premolar simple, one-fanged, the feet club-shaped; soles tubercular_. The second group, containing _E. Grayi_, _E. Blanfordi_ and _E. Jerdoni_, has _the second upper premolar compound, three-fanged, and the feet well developed and broad_. The first group has also a division or bare area on the vertex; the second has not.

FAMILY HYLOMIDAE (_Anderson_).

The following little animal has affinities to both _Erinaceidae_ and _Tupaiidae_, and therefore it may appropriately be placed here. Dr. Anderson on the above ground has placed it in a separate family, otherwise it is generally classed with the _Erinaceidae_. Its skull has the general form of the skull of _Tupaia_, but in its imperfect orbit, in the rudiment of a post-orbital process, and in the absence of any imperfections of the zygomatic arch and in the position of the lachrymal foramen it resembles the skull of _Erinaceus_. The teeth are 44 in number: Inc., 3--3/3--3; can., 1--1/1--1; premolars, 4--4/4--4; molars, 3--3/3--3, and partake of the character of both _Tupaia_ and _Erinaceus_. The shank-bones being united and the rudimentary tail create an affinity to the latter, whilst its arboreal habits are those of the former.

_GENUS HYLOMYS_.

Head elongate; ears round; feet arboreal, naked below; tail semi-nude; pelage not spiny.

NO. 157. HYLOMYS PEGUENSIS. _The Short-tailed Tree-Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Burmah, Pegu, Ponsee in the Kakhyen hills.

Appears to be identical with the species from Borneo (_H. suillus_).

FAMILY TUPAIIDAE.

These interesting little animals were first accurately described about the year 1820, though, as I have before stated, it was noticed in the papers connected with Captain Cook's voyages, but was then supposed to be a squirrel. Sir T. Stamford Raffles writes: "This singular little animal was first observed tame in the house of a gentleman at Penang, and afterwards found wild at Singapore in the woods near Bencoolen, where it lives on the fruit of the kayogadis, &c." Another species, _T. Javanica_, had, however, been discovered in Java fourteen years before, but not published till 1821. They are sprightly little creatures, easily tamed, and, not being purely insectivorous, are not difficult to feed in captivity. Sir T. S. Raffles describes one that roamed freely all over the house, presenting himself regularly at meal-times for milk and fruit. Dr. Sal. Muller describes the other species (_T. Javanica_) as a confiding, simple little animal, always in motion, seeking its food at one time amongst dry leaves and moss on the ground, and again on the stems and branches of trees, poking its nose into every crevice. Its nest, he says, is formed of moss at some height from the ground, supported on clusters of orchideous plants. Dr. Cantor, in his 'Catalogue of the Mammalia of the Malayan Peninsula,' writes as follows: "In a state of nature it lives singly or in pairs, fiercely attacking intruders of its own species. When several are confined together they fight each other, or jointly attack and destroy the weakest. The natural food is mixed insectivorous and frugivorous. In confinement, individuals may be fed exclusively on either, though preference is evinced for insects; and eggs, fish and earth-worms are equally relished. A short, peculiar, tremulous, whistling sound, often heard by calls and answers in the Malayan jungle, marks their pleasurable emotions, as for instance on the appearance of food, while the contrary is expressed by shrill protracted cries. Their disposition is very restless, and their great agility enables them to perform the most extraordinary bounds in all directions, in which exercise they spend the day, till night sends them to sleep in their rudely-constructed lairs in the highest branches of trees. At times they will sit on their haunches, holding their food between their forelegs, and after feeding they smooth the head and face with both fore-paws, and lick the lips and palms. They are also fond of water, both to drink and to bathe in. The female usually produces one young."

The above description reminds one forcibly of the habits of squirrels, so it is no wonder that at one time these little creatures were confounded with the _Sciuridae_.

_GENUS TUPAIA_.

The dentition of this genus is as follows: Either four or six incisors in the upper jaw, but always six in the lower; four premolars and three molars in each jaw, upper and lower. The skull has a complete bony orbit, and the zygomatic arch is also complete, but with a small elongated perforation; the muzzle attenuated, except in _T. Ellioti_; ears oval; the stomach possesses a caecum or blind gut; the eyes are large and prominent, and the tail bushy, like that of a squirrel; the toes are five in number, with strong claws; the shank-bones are not united as in the hedgehogs. The diet is mixed insectivorous and frugivorous.

NO. 158. TUPAIA ELLIOTI. _Elliot's Tree-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 87_).

HABITAT.--Southern India, Godavery district, Cuttack; the Central Provinces, Bhagulpore range.

[Figure: Dentition of _Tupaia_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Fur pale rufous brown, darker on the back and paler on the sides; the chin, throat, breast and belly yellowish, also a streak of the same under the tail; the upper surface of the tail is of the same colour as the centre of the back; there is a pale line from the muzzle over the eye, and a similar patch beneath it; the fur of this species is shorter and more harsh, and the head is more blunt than in the Malayan members of the family.

SIZE.--Head and body, 7 to 8 inches; tail, 7 to 9 inches.

NO. 159. TUPAIA PEGUANA. _Syn_.--TUPAIA BELANGERI. _The Pegu Tree-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 88_).

HABITAT.--Sikim (Darjeeling), Assam and through Arakan to Tenasserim.

[Figure: _Tupaia Peguana_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Jerdon says: "General hue a dusky greenish-brown, the hairs being ringed brown and yellow; lower parts the same, but lighter; and with a pale buff line; a stripe from the throat to the vent, broadest between the forearms and then narrowing; ears livid red, with a few short hairs; palms and soles dark livid red." Dr. Anderson remarks that the fur is of two kinds of hairs--one fine and wavy at the extremity, banded with black, yellow and black; the second being strong and somewhat bristly, longer than the other, and banded with a black basal half and then followed by rings of yellow and black, then yellow again with a black tip, the black basal half of the hairs being hidden, the annulation of the free portions produces a rufous olive-grey tint over the body and tail.

SIZE.--Head and body about 7 inches; tail, 6-1/2.

Jerdon says of it that those he procured at Darjeeling frequented the zone from 3000 to 6000 feet; they were said by the natives to kill small birds, mice, &c. The Lepcha name he gives is _Kalli-tang-zhing_. McMaster in his notes writes: "The Burmese Tupaia is a harmless little animal; in the dry season living in trees and in the monsoon freely entering our houses, and in impudent familiarity taking the place held in India by the common palm squirrel. It is, however, probably from its rat-like head and thievish expression, very unpopular. I have found them in rat-traps, however, so possibly they deserve to be so." He adds he cannot endorse the statement regarding their extraordinary agility mentioned by Dr. Cantor and quoted by Jerdon, for he had seen his terriers catch them, which they were never able to do with squirrels; and cats often seize them.

Mason says: "One that made his home in the mango-tree near my house at Tonghoo made himself nearly as familiar as the cat. Sometimes I had to drive him off the bed, and he was very fond of putting his nose into the teacups immediately after breakfast, and acquired a taste both for tea and coffee. He lost his life at last by incontinently walking into a rat-trap."

The Burmese name for it is _Tswai_ in Arracan. Jerdon states that it is one of the few novelties that had escaped the notice of Mr. Brian Hodgson, but Dr. Anderson mentions a specimen (unnamed) from Nepal in the British Museum which was obtained by Hodgson.

NO. 160. TUPAIA CHINENSIS (_Anderson_).

HABITAT.--Burmah, Kakhyen hills, east of the valley of the Irrawaddy.

DESCRIPTION.--Ferruginous above, yellowish below, the basal two-thirds of the hair being blackish, succeeded by a yellow, a black, and then a yellow and black band, which is terminal; there is a faint shoulder streak washed with yellowish; the chest pale orange yellow, which hue extends along the middle of the belly as a narrow line; under surfaces of limbs grizzled as on the back, but paler; upper surface of tail concolorous with the dorsum.

SIZE.--Head and body, 6-1/2 inches; tail, 6.16.

The teeth are larger than those of _T. Ellioti_, but smaller than the Malayan _T. ferruginea_, and the skull is smaller than that of the last species, and the teeth are also smaller. Dr. Anderson says: "When I first observed the animal it was on a grassy clearing close to patches of fruit, and was so comporting itself that in the distance I mistook it for a squirrel. The next time I noticed it was in hedgerows."

The other varieties of _Tupaia_ belong to the Malayan Archipelago--_T. ferruginea_, _T. tana_, _T. splendidula_, and _T. Javanica_ to Borneo and Java. There is one species which inhabits the Nicobars.

NO. 161. TUPAIA NICOBARICA.

HABITAT.--Nicobar Island.

DESCRIPTION.--Front and sides of the face, outside of fore-limbs, throat and chest, golden yellow; inner side of hind limbs rich red brown, which is also the colour of the hind legs and feet; head dark brown, with golden hairs intermixed; back dark maroon, almost black; upper surface of the tail the same; pale oval patch between shoulders, dark band on each side between it and fore-limbs, passing forward over the ears.

SIZE.--Head and body, 7.10; tail, 8 inches.

* * * * *

There is a little animal allied to the genus _Tupaia_, which has hitherto been found only in Borneo and Sumatra, but as Sumatran types have been found in Tenasserim, perhaps some day the _Ptilocercus Lowii_ may be discovered there. It has a rather shorter head than the true Banxrings, more like _T. Ellioti_, but its dentition is nearly the same, as also are its habits. Its chief peculiarity lies in its tail, which is long, slender and naked, like that of a rat for two-thirds of its length, the terminal third being adorned with a broad fringe of hair on each side, like the wings of an arrow or the plumes of a feather. There is an excellent coloured picture of it in the 'Proc. Zool. Society,' vol. of Plates.

* * * * *

I had almost concluded my sketch of the Insectivora without alluding to one most interesting genus, which ought properly to have come between the shrews and the hedgehogs, the _Gymnura_, which, though common in the Malay countries, has only recently been found in Burmah--a fact of which I was not aware till I saw it included in a paper on Tenasserim mammals by Mr. W. T. Blanford ('Jour. As. Soc. Beng.,' 1878, page 150). Before I refer to his notes I may state that this animal is a sort of link between the _Soricidae_ and the _Erinaceidae_, and De Blainville proposed for it the generic name of _Echinosorex_, but the one generally adopted is _Gymnura_, which was the specific name given to it by its discoverer, Sir Stamford Raffles, who described it as a _Viverra_ (_V. gymnura_); however, Horsfield and Vigors and Lesson, the two former in England and the latter in France, saw that it was not a civet, and, taking the naked tail as a peculiarity, they called the genus _Gymnura_, and the specimen _Rafflesii_. There is not much on record regarding the anatomy of the animal, and in what respects it internally resembles the hedgehogs. Outwardly it has the general soricine form, though much larger than the largest shrew. The long tail too is against its resemblance to the hedgehogs, which rests principally on its spiny pelage.

The teeth in some degree resemble _Erinaceus_, the molars and premolars especially, but the number in all is greater, there being forty-four, or eight more. It would be interesting to know whether the zygomatic arch is perfect and the tibia and fibula united, as in the hedgehogs, or wanting and distinct as in the shrews. I have given a slight sketch in outline of the animal.

NO. 162. GYMNURA RAFFLESII. _The Bulau_.

HABITAT.--Tenasserim (Sumatra, Borneo); Malacca.

[Figure: _Gymnura Rafflesii_.]

DESCRIPTION.--Long tapering head, with elongated muzzle, short legs, shrew-like body, with a long, round, tapering and scaly rat-like tail, naked, with the exception of a few stiff hairs here and there among the scales. In each jaw on each side three incisors, one canine (those in the upper jaw double-fanged) and seven premolars and molars; feet five-toed, plantigrade, armed with strong claws. Fur of two kinds, fine and soft, with longer and more spiny ones intermixed. The colour varies a good deal, the general tint being greyish-black, with head and neck pale or whitish, and with a broad black patch over the eye. Some have been found almost wholly white, with the black eye-streak and only a portion of the longer hairs black, so that much stress cannot be laid on the colouring; the tail is blackish at the base, whitish and compressed at the tip. Mr. Blanford says: "The small scales covering the tail are indistinctly arranged in rings and sub-imbricate; on the lower surface the scales are convex and distinctly imbricate, the bristles arising from the interstices. Thus the under surface of the tail is very rough, and may probably be of use to the animal in climbing." He also refers to the fact that the claws of his specimen are not retractile, and mentions that in the original description both in Latin and English the retractability of the claws is pointed out as a distinction between _Gymnura_ and _Tupaia_. In the description given of the Sumatran animal both by Dallas and Cuvier nothing is mentioned about this feature.

SIZE.--A Sumatran specimen: head and body, 14 inches; tail, 12 inches. Mr. Blanford's specimen: head and body, 12 inches; tail, 8.5.

Mr. Blanford was informed by Mr. Davison, who obtained it in Burmah, that the _Gymnura_ is purely nocturnal in its habits, and lives under the roots of trees. It has a peculiar and most offensive smell, resembling decomposed cooked vegetables. The Bulau has not the power of rolling itself up like the hedgehog, nor have the similar forms of insectivores which resemble the hedgehog in some respects, such as the Tenrecs (_Centetes_), Tendracs (_Ericulus_), and Sokinahs (_Echinops_) of Madagascar.

CARNIVORA.

Speaking generally, the whole range of mammals between the _Quadrumana_ and the _Rodentia_ are _carnivorous_ with few exceptions, yet there is one family which, from its muscular development and dentition, is pre-eminently flesh-eating, as Cuvier aptly remarks, "the sanguinary appetite is combined with the force necessary for its gratification." Their forms are agile and muscular; their circulation and respiration rapid. As Professor Kitchen Parker graphically writes: "This group, which comprises all the great beasts of prey, is one of the most compact as well as the most interesting among the mammalia. So many of the animals contained in it have become 'familiar in our mouths as household words,' bearing as they do an important part in fable, in travel, and even in history; so many of them are of such wonderful beauty, so many of such terrible ferocity, that no one can fail to be interested in them, even apart from the fact likely to influence us more in their favour than any other, that the two home pets, which of all others are the commonest and the most interesting, belong to the group. No one who has had a dog friend, no one who has watched the wonderful instance of maternal love afforded by a cat with her kittens, no one who loves riding across country after a fox, no lady with a taste for handsome furs, no boy who has read of lion and tiger hunts and has longed to emulate the doughty deeds of the hunter, can fail to be interested in an assemblage which furnishes animals at once so useful, so beautiful and so destructive. It must not be supposed from the name of this group that all its members are exclusively flesh-eaters, and indeed it will be hardly necessary to warn the reader against falling into this mistake, as there are few people who have never given a dog a biscuit, or a bear a bun. Still both the dog and several kinds of bears prefer flesh-meat when they can get it, but there are some bears which live almost exclusively on fruit, and are, therefore, in strictness not carnivorous at all. The name must, however, be taken as a sort of general title for a certain set of animals which have certain characteristics in common, and which differ from all other animals in particular ways." I would I had more space at my disposal for further quotations from Professor Parker's 'General Remarks on the Land Carnivora,' his style is so graphic.

The dentition of the Carnivora varies according to the exclusiveness of their fleshy diet, and the nature of that diet.

In taking two typical forms I give below sketches from skulls in my possession of the tiger, and the common Indian black bear; the one has trenchant cutting teeth which work up and down, the edges sliding past each other just like a pair of scissors; the other has flat crowned molars adapted for triturating the roots and herbage on which it feeds. A skull of an old bear which I have has molars of which the crowns are worn almost smooth from attrition. In the most carnivorous forms the tubercular molars are almost rudimentary.

[Figure: Dentition of Tiger and Indian Black Bear]

The skull exhibits peculiar features for the attachment of the necessary powerful muscles. The bones of the face are short in comparison with the _cranial_ portion of the skull (the reverse of the _Herbivores_); the strongly built zygomatic arch, the roughened ridges and the broad ascending ramus of the lower jaw, all afford place for the attachment of the immense muscular development. Then the hinge of the jaw is peculiar; it allows of no lateral motion, as in the ruminants; the _condyle_, or hinge-bolt of a tiger's jaw (taken from the largest in my collection), measures two inches, and as this fits accurately into its corresponding (glenoid) cavity, there can be no side motion, but a vertical chopping one only. The skeleton of a typical carnivore is the perfection of strength and suppleness. The tissue of the bones is dense and white; the head small and beautifully articulated; the spine flexible yet strong. In those which show the greatest activity, such as the cats, civets and dogs, the spinous processes, especially in the lumbar region, are greatly developed--more so than in the bears. These serve for the attachment of the powerful muscles of the neck and back. The clavicle or collar-bone is wanting, or but rudimentary. The stomach is simple; the intestinal canal short; liver lobed; organs of sight, hearing, and smell much developed.

Now we come to the divisions into which this group has been separated by naturalists. I shall not attempt to describe the various systems, but take the one which appears to me the simplest and best to fit in with Cuvier's general arrangement, which I have followed. Modern zoologists have divided the family into two great groups--the _Fissipedia_ (split-feet) or land Carnivora, and the _Pinnipedia_ (fin-feet) or water Carnivora. Of the land Carnivora some naturalists have made the following three groups on the characteristics of the feet, _viz_., _Plantigrada_, _Sub-plantigrada_ and _Digitigrada_. The dogs and cats, it is well known, walk on their toes--they are the _Digitigrada_; the bears and allied forms on the palms of their hands and soles of their feet, more or less, and thus form the other two divisions, but there is another classification which recommends itself by its simplicity and accuracy. Broadly speaking, there are three types of land carnivores--the cat, the dog, and the bear, which have been scientifically named _AEluroidea_ (from the Greek _ailouros_, a cat); _Cynoidea_ (from _kuon_, a dog); and _Arctoidea_ (from _arctos_, a bear). The distinction is greater between the families of _Digitigrades_, the cat and dog, than between the _Plantigrades_ and _Sub-plantigrades_, and therefore I propose to adopt the following arrangement:--

I. ARCTOIDEA |_Plantigrades_.
|_Sub-plantigrades_.

II. AELUROIDEA | |_Digitigrades_. III. CYNOIDEA |

I may here remark that the Insectivora are in most cases plantigrade, therefore the term is not an apposite one as applied to the bear and bear-like animals only, but in treating of them under the term _Arctoidea_ we may divide them again into _Plantigrades_ and _Sub-plantigrades_.

ARCTOIDEA.

PLANTIGRADA.

_URSIDAE_.

The bears differ from the dogs and cats widely in form and manner, and diet. The cat has a light springy action, treading on the tips of its toes, a well-knit body glistening in a silky coat, often richly variegated, "a clean cut," rounded face, with beautifully chiselled nostrils and thin lips, and lives exclusively on flesh. The bear shambles along with an awkward gait, placing the entire sole of his foot on the ground; he has rough dingy fur, a snout like a pig's, and is chiefly a vegetarian--and in respect to this last peculiarity his dentition is modified considerably: the incisors are large, tri-cuspidate; the canines somewhat smaller than in the restricted carnivora; these are followed by three small teeth, which usually fall out at an early period, then comes a permanent premolar of considerable size, succeeded by two molars in the upper, and three in the under jaw. The dental formula is therefore: Inc., 3--3/3--3; can., 1--1/1--1; premolars, 4--4/4--4; molars, 2--2/3--3. In actual numbers this formula agrees with that for the dogs; but the form of the teeth is very different, inasmuch as the large premolars and the molars have flat tuberculated crowns, constituting them true grinders, instead of the trenchant shape of the cats, which is also, to a modified extent, possessed by the dogs, of which the last two molars have, instead of cutting edges, a grinding surface with four cusps. The trenchant character is entirely lost in the bear, even in the carnivorous species which exhibit no material difference in the teeth, any more than, as I mentioned at the commencement of this work, do the teeth of the human race, be they as carnivorous as the Esquimaux, or vegetarian as the Hindu.

[Figure: Dentition of Bear.]

[Figure: Skull of Bear (under view).]

There is also another peculiarity in the bear's skull as compared with the cat's. In the latter there is a considerable bulging below the aperture of the ear called the _bulla tympani_, or bulb of the drum. This is almost wanting in the bear, and it would be interesting to know whether this much affects its hearing. I myself am of opinion that bears are not acute in this sense, but then my experience has been with the common Indian _Ursus_, or _Melursus labiatus_ only, and the skulls of this species in my possession strongly exhibit this peculiarity.[6] The cylindrical bones resemble those of man nearer than any other animal, the _femur_ especially; and a skinned bear has a most absurd resemblance to a robust human being. The sole of the hind foot leaves a mark not unlike that of a human print.

[Footnote 6: On referring to Mr. Sanderson's interesting book, 'Thirteen Years among the Wild Beasts of India,' and General Shakespear's 'Wild Sports,' I find that both those authors corroborate my assertion that the sloth bear is deficient in the sense of hearing. Captain Baldwin, however, thinks otherwise; but the evidence seems to be against him in this respect.]

The Brown Bear of Europe (_Ursus arctos_) is the type of the family, and has been known from the earliest ages--I may say safely prehistoric ages, for its bones have been frequently found in post-pliocene formations along with those of other animals of which some are extinct. An extinct species of bear, _Ursus spelaeus_, commonly called the Cave Bear, seems to have been the ancestor of the Brown Bear which still is found in various parts of Europe, and is said to have been found within historic times in Great Britain.

The bear of which we have the oldest record is almost the same as our Indian Brown or Snow Bear. Our bear (_U. Isabellinus_) is but a variety of _U. Syriacus_, which was the one slain by David, and is spoken of in various parts of the Bible. It is the nearest approach we have to the European _U. arctos_.

NO. 163. URSUS ISABELLINUS. _The Himalayan Brown Bear_ (_Jerdon's No. 89_).

NATIVE NAME.--_Barf-ka-rich_ or _Bhalu_, Hind.; _Harput_, Kashmiri; _Drin-mor_, Ladakhi.

[Figure: _URSUS ISABELLINUS_.]

DESCRIPTION.--A yellowish-brown colour, varying somewhat according to sex and time of year. Jerdon says: "In winter and spring the fur is long and shaggy, in some inclining to silvery grey, in others to reddish brown; the hair is thinner and darker in summer as the season advances, and in autumn the under fur has mostly disappeared, and a white collar on the chest is then very apparent. The cubs show this collar distinctly. The females are said to be lighter in colour than the males."

Gray does not agree in the theory that _Ursus Syriacus_ is the same as this species; in external appearance he says it is the same, but there are differences in the skull; the nose is broader, and the depression in the forehead less. The zygomatic arch is wider and stronger; the lower jaw stronger and higher, and the upper tubercular grinders shorter and thicker than in _Ursus Isabellinus_.

"It is found," Jerdon says, "only on the Himalayas and at great elevations in summer close to the snow. In autumn they descend lower, coming into the forests to feed on various fruits, seeds, acorns, hips of rose-bushes, &c., and often coming close to villages to plunder apples, walnuts, apricots, buckwheat, &c. Their usual food in spring and summer is grass and roots. They also feed on various insects, and are seen turning over stones to look for scorpions (it is said) and insects that harbour in such places. In winter they retreat to caves, remaining in a state of semi-torpidity, issuing forth in March and April. Occasionally they are said to kill sheep or goats, often wantonly, apparently, as they do not feed upon them. They litter in April and May, the female having generally two cubs. This bear does not climb trees well."

* * * * *