OCR Text |
Show 630 MR. R. SWINHOE ON CHINESE MAMMALS. [June 23, thinner and less woolly than in the adult. Underparts white, with the spots also faint; legs more washed with chestnut. 41. VIVERRA ZIBETHA, Linn. (Indian Civet.) Viverra zibetha, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 512. V. ashtoni, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 379. Common iu the bamboo-covered hills of South China, from Canton to near Shanghai, and in the Chusan Islands ; occurs also in Hainan (see anted, p. 227). I have never detected it in Formosa. 42. VIVERRICULA MALACCENSIS, Gmelin. (Little Spotted Civet.) Viverricula malaccensis, Gray, I. c. p. 513. Viverra pallida, Gray ; Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 7. Common in South China, Hainan, and Formosa. 43. PAGUMA LARVATA. (Gem-faced Civet.) Paguma larvata, Gray, P. Z. S. 1S64, p. 359 ; Swinhoe, Zoologist, 1858, p. 6223 ; P. Z. S. 1864, p. 381. P. larvata, var. taivana, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 8. This tree-loviug species is found in the hills of the Kwangtung and Fokien Provinces and in Formosa. I kept one alive for some months in 1856, chained in m y verandah at Amoy. It fed on cooked meat in preference to raw, and did not seem to care much for either fowl's eggs or small birds. A stuffed snake threw it at once on its guard, and with a spring it seized it by the head and shook it. A shrimp was offered to it; this it smelt, and then rubbed its head over, first one side and then the other, as dogs do over carrion ; it refused to eat it. When let loose it used to climb up the doors and legs of tables and chairs, putting one foot on each side, and pushing up with the hind legs. It walked backwards and forwards at the length of its chain, shaking the lower jaw, aud would suddenly stand up on its hind legs, giving utterance to a shaking cry. It snapped at all dogs, and kept them at a distance. It slept during a great part of the day, but continued lively for the greater part of the night. The heat affected it a good deal, and made it pant. The Society's Gardens have two live specimens of this species received from Formosa. 44. URVA CANCRIVORA, Hodgs. (Crab-eating Mountain-mun-goos.) Urva cancrivora. Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 568. A specimen brought from the Fokien hills, near Amoy, agrees with Hodgson's specimens in the British Museum, from Nepaul. Face long and pointed, with the nasal portion recurved; nose and upper lip with a deep vertical groove. Ears short, broad, and rounded. Soles of feet and underside of toes quite bare ; claws strong. Fore foot:-first toe very short, second longer than the |