Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.] [North Finchley.

TWO-SPOTTED PALM-CIVET.

This is a West African species, which, with an allied form from East Africa, represents the palm-civets in the Dark Continent.

Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.] [North Finchley.

MASKED PALM-CIVET.

A whole-coloured species of the group.

The Fossa, Civets, and Ichneumons 79

to her (her favourite is a sparrow), and makes her usual cry, and Janet runs to her and carries off the bird, which she eats, feathers and all, in a very few minutes, if she is hungry." When near a farm, the meerkats will devour eggs and young chickens. They are also said to eat the eggs of the large leopard-tortoise. The commonest is the SLENDKR- TAILED MEERKAT. It is found all over South Africa, and is very common in the Karroo. It eats insects and grubs as well as small animals, and is commonly kept as a pet throughout the Colony. WE have now traced the long line of the Carnivora from the lordly Lion, the slayer of man and his flocks and herds, and the Tiger, equally formidable and no less specially developed for a life of rapine on a great scale, to creatures as small and insignificant as the Meerkat, which is at least as much an insect- L_J feeder as a devourer of flesh, and the Ichneumons

Photo by Robert 1). Carson} [Philadelphia. and Civets. The highest form of specialisation in the BLNTUROXG. group is the delicate mechanism by which the chiefThe binturong is placed with the civets. It has a prehensile tail like the kinkajou (see page 127). weapons of offence, the claws, are enabled to keep their razor edge by being drawn up into sheaths when the animal walks, but can be instantly thrust out at pleasure, rigid and sharp as sword-blades. The gradual process by which this equipment deteriorates in the Civets and disappears in the Mongoose should be noted. There are many other carnivora, but none so formidable as those possessing the retractile claws. Thus the Bears, though often larger in bulk than the Lion, are far inferior in the power of inflicting violent injury. At the same time such delicate mechanism is clearly not necessary for the well-being of a species. The members of the Weasel Tribe are quite as well able to take care of themselves as the small cats, though they have non-retractile and not very formidable claws.

Such a very abnormal animal as the BINTURONG of which we are able to give an excellent photograph is doubtless rightly assigned to the place in which modern science has placed it. But it will be found that there are several very anomalous forms quite as detached from any general type as is the binturong. Nature does not make species on any strictly graduated scale. Many of these nondescript animals are so unlike any other group or family that they seem almost freaks of nature. The binturong is certainly one of these. The next group with which we deal is that of the Hyaenas. In these the equipment for catching living prey is very weak. Speed and pursuit are not their m&ier, but the eating of dead and decaying animal matter, and the consumption of bones. Hence Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.] [Sorth Flncldey. the jaws and teeth are highly de- MONGOOSE. is the great enemy of snakes. Another species eats the eggs ofveloped, while the rest of the body The Indian mongoose the crocodile. is degenerate.

The question of the comparative intelligence of the Apes and Monkeys, and the carnivorous animals subsequently described in these pages, is an interesting one. It would seem at first as if the Cat Tribe and their relations, which have to obtain their prey by constant hunting, and often to make use of considerable reflection and thought to bring their enterprises against other animals to a successful issue, would be more likely to develop intelligence and to improve in brain-power than the great Apes, which find an easy living in the tropical forests, and only seek fruits and vegetables for their food. Yet it is quite certain that this.is not the case. The Cat Tribe, with the exception of the domesticated cats, does not show high intelligence. Even the latter are seldom trained to obey man, though they learn to accommodate themselves to his ways of life. There is no evidence that cats have any sense of number, or that any of them in a wild state make any effort to provide shelter for themselves or construct a refuge from their enemies, though the Leopard will make use of a cave as a lair. In matters requiring intelligence and co-operation, such rodents as the Beaver, or even the Squirrel, are far beyond the feline carnivora in sagacity and acquired or inherited ingenuity. Except the Stoat, which sometimes hunts in packs, no species of the carnivora yet dealt with in this work combines to hunt its prey, or for defence against enemies. Each for itself is the rule, and even among the less-specialised & eS flesh-eating animals of the other groups it is - - - - — wner onned |.: Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. only the Dog Tribe which seems to understand MEERKAT. the principles of association for a common A small, mainly insectivorous animal, found in South Africa; also object. called the Suricate

CHAPTER IV.

THE HYHANAS AND AARD-WOLF.

F every animal has its place in nature, we must suppose that the hyzna’s business is to clear up the bones and such parts of the animal dead as the vultures and_ other natural “undertakers” cannot devour. Hysnas have very strong jaws, capable of crushing almost any bone. In prehistoric times they were common in England, and lived in the caves of Derbyshire and Devon. In these caves many bones were found quite smashed up, as if by some very large wild animal. It was supposed that this was done by bears—Dean Buckland said “by hyznas.” He procured a hyzna, kept it at his house, and fed it on bones. ‘The smashed fragments he laid on the table at a scientific lecture beside the fragments from the caverns. The resemblance was identical, and the Dean triumphed.

The hyaenas are carnivorous animals, with the front limbs longer than the hind. The tail is short, the colour spotted or brindled, the teeth and jaws of great strength. The BROWN HYAENA, or STRAND-WOLF, is an African species, with very long, coarse hair, reaching a length of 10 inches on the back. It is not found north of the Zambesi; and it is nocturnal, and fond of wandering along the shore, where it picks up crabs and dead fish. Young cattle, sheep, and lambs are also killed by it, and offal of all kinds devoured. The SPOTTED HYAENA is a large and massive' animal, the head and body being 4 feet 6 inches long without the tail. It is found all over Africa from Abyssinia and Senegal southwards. A few are left in Natal. It is believed to be the same as the cave-hyaena of Europe. By day it lives

Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. much in the holes of the aard-vark (ant-bear); by

SPOTTED HY^INA.

night it goes out, sometimes in small bands, toThe largest of the carrion-feeding animals. A South African species. seek food. It has a loud and mournful howl, beginning low and ending high. It also utters a horrible maniacal laugh when excited, which gives it the name of Laughing-hyaena. "Its appetite," says Mr. W. L. Sclater in his " South African Mammals," " is boundless. It is entirely carnivorous, but seems to prefer putrid and decaying matter, and never kills an animal unless driven to do so by hunger. Sheep and donkeys are generally attacked at the belly, and the bowels torn out by its sharp teeth. Horses are also frequent objects of attack; but in this case shackling is useful, as the horse, unable to escape, faces the hyaena, which instantly bolts. It is an excellent scavenger, and it has been known to kill and carry off young children, though the least attempt at pursuit will cause it to drop them. Many stories are told, too, of its attacking sleeping natives; in this case it invariably goes for the man's face. Drummond states that he has seen many men who had been thus mutilated, wanting noses, or with the whole mouth and lips torn away. This is confirmed by other authors." Drummond gives an instance of seven cows being mortally injured in a single night by two hyaenas, which attacked them and bit off the udders. Poisoned meat is the only means to get rid of this abominable animal. Sir Samuel Baker says: " I can safely assert that the bone-cracking power of this I Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons. animal is extraordinary. for cracking bones. They will smash the thigh-bona cannot say that it exceeds the The jaws of the hysena are specially made lion or tiger in the strength of a buffalo. 11

of its jaws; but they will leave bones unbroken which a hyaena will crack in halves. Its powers of digestion are unlimited. It will swallow and digest a knuckle-bone without giving it a crunch, and will crack the thigh-bone of a buffalo to obtain the marrow, and swallow either

... end immediately after. [ remember that once a hysena, came into our tent at night. But this was merely a friendly reconnaissance, to see if any delicacy, such as our shoes, or a saddle, or anything that smelt of leather,

Photo ly L. MvUand, F.Z.S.'] [North Finchley. were lying about. It was STRIPED bright moonlight, and the air This is the hysena of Northern Africa, Palestine, and India, was calm. There was nothing to disturb the stillness. I was awakened from sleep by a light touch on my sleeve, and my attention was directed by rifle from beneath themy wife to some object that had just quitted our tent. I took my mat on which I lay, and, after waiting for a few minutes sitting up in bed, saw a large form standing in the doorway preparatory to entering. Presently it walked in cautiously, and immediately fell dead, with a bullet between its eyes. It proved to be a very large hyaena, an old and experienced depredator, as it bore countless scars of encounters with other strong biters of its race." The STRIPED HYAENA is found in India as well as in Africa. In portions of Abyssinia these animals are so numerous that on the Nile tributaries Sir Samuel Baker used to hear them cracking the bones after supper every night just as they had been thrown by the Arabs within a few feet of the deserted table. In this way they are useful scavengers.

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