We present an analysis of the globular cluster (GC) population of the elliptical galaxy NGC 4261 based on Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 data in the B, V and I bands. We study the spatial distribution of the GCs in order to probe the anisotropy in the azimuthal distribution of the discrete X-ray sources in the galaxy revealed by Chandra images. The luminosity function of our GC sample (complete at the 90 per cent level for mV= 23.8 mag) peaks at mV= 25.1? mag, which corresponds to a distance consistent with previous measurements. The colour distribution can be interpreted
