Ï776. January. the leaft mention made of it ; at the fame time that M. d e l a C a i l l e does not fay a fingle fyllable concerning the Angular ceconomy of the animal, and moreover defcribes the claws as being fomewhat fmaller than they really are, particularly on the hind feet. Les deux trous oblongs a ¡’ouverture de la gueule, dans lefquels la peau rentre, according to the obfervation made by M. d e l a C a i l l e , ' appear to deferve a more accurate inveftigation and defcription. In S c h r e b e r on the mammalia, p. 450, Tab. CXXV. there is a defcription and drawing of it under the denomination of the Jiinkbinks, or the viverra CapenfiS', though, in my opinion, the claws and tail in this figure are too fhort, and the head too thick and clumfy, and too black underneath. M. S c h r e b e r mentions his having heard, that this animal is fond of honey ; a circumftance confirmed by the following account, which I have before in- ferted in the Swediih Tranfadtions. In this part of Africa there is to be feen a confiderable number of holes and fubterraneous paffages, fome o f which are adtually inhabited, while others have been previoufly formed, but fince deferted by the hyjlrix crijlata, a fort of mus jaculus, or the jerbua Capenjis, the jackal, the mole, the Jus Æthiopicus, with feveral fpecies of viverra. Juft within the apertures of thefe cavities, and o f the fubterraneous paffages which are blocked up in part by the ground having given way, the bees moft: commonly ufe to make their nefts, efpecially as trees fit for their purpofe are fel- dom to be found. The rat el, a fort of weafel Or badger, by nature deftined to be the adverfary of the bees, and the unwelcome vifitor of their habitations, is likewife endued with with a particular faculty for difcovering and attacking them . • within their entrenchments. His long, claws, befides af- V yn> filling him in . digging the dark fubterraneous paffages which ierve him for an afylum, are likewife of ufe- to him in the occupation he is frequently employed in of undermining whole colonies of bees. As a man placed at the rnaft-head can eafieft defcry a fail or land at a. great diftance about fun-fet, fo: probably this time of the day is the molt convenient for the rate! to look out for his fupper; for he- is faid likewife to be particularly attentive to his bufinefs about fun-fet, and will fit and hold one of his paws before his eyes, in order to modify the rays of the fun, fo as to render them inoffenfive to his organs of fight, and at the fame time to have adiftindt view of the object o f his pur- fu it : and when, in confequence of peering in this manner on each fide of his paw oppofite to the fun, he fees any bees fly, he knows that they are at this time going ilrait forward, to their own habitation, and confequently takes care to keep, in the fame direction as that in which they fly , in order to find them. He has befides, the fagacity as. well, as the Hottentots,' the Caffres, and the peafants o f the. Cape,to follow a.little bird, which flies on by degrees with, the alluring note o f cherr, cherr,, cherr,, and guides its followers to the bees’ neft. This felf-interefted betrayer of the bees, to which I have many times been obliged for the honey I have eaten in the courfe of my travels through the: defert, is the little cuculus indicator, which I have defcribed. and given, a drawing of in the Phil. Tranf. and propofe to- make mention, of a little farther' on. A&
27f 72-2
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