GCONTRNIS OF VOLOME XXXII

No. 1

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE. (W7th a coloured

plate.) Rallina fasciata, Blanf. By E. C. Stuart Baker,

Jee, e2.Ses, Fake. MiB.O Us; HAF; AS OnUs. =

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE Bohai pamainaeees

Partith, «By &. Blatter,. SJ.4.Ph.Ds-FUL:S.. Mathes

THE MoGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NAcn aeons AND

SPORTSMEN. Part II. (Wizth four plates.) By Salim

A. Ali.. Dre Mees cot bad cemee ate

THE prene OF Seams nicer Rpt Ill. (With-a

plate),) By C. B. Ticehurst, M.A., M.R.C.S., M.B.O.U.,

F.R.G.S.. , apaee ee eas cbeaee ete

THE Porim Wasp CRiynthtiin niteiaulam). Pare I. (With

two plates and three text-figures). By Major R. W. G.

Tlingston, I.M.S.. ; scconth se ean ieee cuace

ANIMAL LIFE IN ROR CaN aT AE Sica "(With one plate

ana weap iext-iwewyres). By Dr. S.1.:Horay D:S¢in....034

WILD ELEPHANTS IN THE UNITED PROVINCES. (W2th four

PIGS. DY Bt) Wie CHAMPION, TeF Se, s'hosdesvceuios gennaonee

SCIENTIFIC RESULTS FROM THE MAMMAL SuRVEY No.

XLVII. By Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S..

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR. Part IL. Rane a re )

Bebb. Or StaaStOnly. Wis. O, Uss. iia aastee pec crns cette Sa sencss

ON THE BREEDING HABITS AND FECUNDITY OF THE SNAIL

Limnea luteola. (With two plates and two graphs.) By

R. V. Seshaiya, M.A.. ae ue ob Sauer eat citees esos

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIMALAVAS, (With four plates.)

By J. W. Borradaile.. : 2 ee

PRINCIPLES AND een OF THE Rene ee

RENDERED TO THE SCHOOLS BY MUSEUMS IN AMERICA.

(With four plates.) By 8S. H. Prater, C.M.z.s..

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES. Part XXVIII. (With one Gee lope

and four plates.) By Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser, 1.M.S., F.E.S.

REVIEWS :—A NATURALIST IN BAST AFRICA... 10. scccccccnsencee

NoOviITATES MACROLEPIDOPTEROLOGICA.........

PAGE

111

yet)

133

134

154

163

iv CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXi1

PAGE

EDITORIAL,, odadvlassieaesas'gee sips oneieeeeiee oer cee Nea a a. ence eo)

OBITUARY .. wi iglie’Seco’g Sicyalein sa. cieiee AiG oi ae eeey RNA oes ste on ete aS 205.

te ane aNeoue Nous —

I.. Observation on the Habits of the Slow Loris

Loris lydekkerianus. (With a plate.) By.C. R.

Narayan Rao, M.A.. : es 206

Il. Man-eating Tigers. By iN. 'P. eben F.Z.S.. 209

ITI. *« Panther treeing its Kill. (Wzth a photo.) By

| W. MM: Looan-Home, Major 3 ee eee 209

IV. Wild Dogs attacking Cattle. By Randolph

_ ©. Morris.. re Rene eee ns ct ery Ae Alel

V. Jackals in Residential Coanougiee Nise Rodney

Foster, Major .c..c. pte ee CAA

VI. The Maternal Instinct in the Dwarf Pipistrelle

Ge mimus minus.) By We. aW.2A. Phillips,

F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.. Maes 211

VII. Note on the Deseu l@cmine (Gla je )

t By C. McCanni7 2.35 ee rece n Or) er ence 213

VU. Habits of the Porcupine (Aystr7x ae By

/ C. McCann.. : eo ere eee ee 214

IX. A White Wlcphant Calf. vee D. F. Mncne kere 214

X. Twin Elephant Calves. (W7th a plate.) By Gor-

donvHundley.. 2c... .2en aes 215

XI. Solitary Cow Gaur. ae Randolph C. ‘Morne ae als)

XII... Bison and Cultivation: By Av Pe Kinlocherz.s.., 7). 215

XIII. Worn Down Tips of Bison Horns. By Randolph

C. Morris.. Berton) eC

XIV. A Fine Mantaes oe as S Rniocn F.Z.S.. mA2UG

XV. Clicking Noise made by Muntjac. By Readclen .

Co MOPS) cet ae cee ce oe eee ee 216

XVI. Peculiar Cries emitted by Sambhur Stags Fignune

By Randolph: CI Mons © oy hart: aie ene 216

XVII. Mating of the Jungle Crow (Corvus coronoides inter

medius:) BY AttMUteEL. VSeLGiiiy aos tec se. te

XVII: The Bearded=) Tit [email protected] Ps FUSSICUS

(Brehm.) An addition to the Indian List. By

Pio h, Wihistlerst ire 2: npn ee Cw mea 217

XIX. Occurrence of the Pamir Horned Lark (Ofocor?s

penicillata albigula) in the Punjab. By Hugh |

Whistler.. Se 218

Xo ae De Rocaparron (Petro onta a stata) in Pine. Buna ,

By Hugh Whistler.. REL ang hai Gneaeey ere hee 218

XXI.

XXII.

SX.

XXIV.

RXV.

XXVI.

XXVIL.

WX ITT,

XXIX.

XXX.

XXXI.

SOE

XXXITI.

XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXVI.

XXXVII.

XXXVIITI.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXII

The Mating of Paroquets. By Salim A. Alli......

Habits of the Indian Spur-winged Plover (Hop/lop-

terus ventralis.) By R. W. G. Hingston, Major.

Comments on Mr. J. K. Stanford’s ‘ Occurrence

of the Sheldrake and Lapwing in Upper

Burma’. By J. R. Musgrave Hanna, Captain.

Occurrence of Swinhce’s Snipe in North Lakhim-

pur dy) We Me Demarciiands, 4 piaccessttecsse ee

The Breeding of the Spot-billed Duck (Azas

pectlorhyncha.) By C. G. Chevenix Trench.,,..,.,

Occurrence of the Sheldrake in Behar. By

ome VESTS Nas eats ah. ee craps Tecate etre Seah! tore oe ok

Further Record of Occurrence of the Sheldrake

(CLOdO7 NG 1adoria) ny Demat 2a ssndie. sue qeseecses oe

Migration of Wild Fowl. By Editors.. ee

Large Flocks of the Comb Duck isp

melanonotus.) By Rodney Foster...........c00e0e

A Case of Snake-bite due to Cantor’s Viper

(Lachests cantoris.) By A. Bayley de Castro......

Snakes of Sholapur. By Lt.-Col. K. G. Gharpurey,

Mise. ee

Large ed of fore ee the Chatketed’ Seis

Snake (Verodia piscator.) By S. H. Prater,

a eee Some Micha ecb een sartee tos wee aati!

Notes on the Life and Habits of the Common Car-

penter Bee (Xylocopa amethystina). By A.G.

Frere, Major, F.zZ.S..

Notes on Collection of ues eae in Seah

pur and Mount Abu during the years 1924, 1925

and 1926. By A. D. Macpherson, C.1.E..........

The Occurrence of the Wood Mason Butterfly

(Parantirrhea Mea in Coorg. By H. C.

Winchworth.. av. Bee RS 5 ae

The North-west Bde in “Sind. es Harold

H. Mann..

On the Vitality of ine eontocae (Stolopendras Sp. BD)

By Salim A. Ali.. ae Ree vain

The Poison of Cornansdee melee, a canoe re-

ference to the Andaman Species. By Bayley-

(Clee OES Teo Pe ie Pn ee ee

225

220

228

Vi CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXII

No. 2

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE. THE WADERS

AND OTHER SEMI-SPORTING BirpDs (With a coloured

plate). Porzana pusilla pusilla, Blanf. _ By EC... Stuart

Baker, J-P., F.2:S., F.1.S., HbA. 0.0e i

THE PottER Wasp. By MajorR. W. G. ‘Hien I.M.S..

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISHES FROM Bompay. By H. W.

Fowler......... SP Ieee er elt eto he lade

THE MocuL EMPERORS oF INDIA AS NATURALISTS AND

SPORTSMEN... Part 111, "By. SalimpAr Alt. 5. see ee

THE CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES. By Joseph Pearson..........

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY.

Part [V. By.E. Blatter, $.J., Phsb., F.L.S.. ot

A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND, ug 26, “(With si SIX

plates.) By Wieut:. J. W. Borradailey fee see ee

INDIAN DRAGONBFLIES. Part XXVIII. (With three plates). By

Lt.-Col. P.Ce Fraser, 1-Si) 78 Bis. suet e eee

Brrp Notes FROM THE Mount EVEREST EXPEDITION OF

1924. (With a plate). By Major R. W. G. Hingston, 1.M.s.

THE Rice RATS OF LOWER SIND AND THEIR CONTROL.

(With a plate and three Mee By Ps Ve Waele;

M.A. ee Rr rn et ee Leone

GAME Beary ae IN THE Nie By Major E. G.

Phythian Adams, 1.A. (Retd.)... Sve cathrnsice

SOME FURTHER NOTES ON THE SucoND pone OF THE

FAUNA OF BriITISH INDIA—BrirRps, Vol]. III. By C. B.

Ticehurst, McA M.R-C.Si,, MiB. OrUs oR RIG: sus craks. Popes

Two NEW SPECIES OF GRASSES FROM PANCHGANI. (Wzth

two plates.) By Rev. E. Blatter and C. McCann........%..

GAME PRESERVATION IN INDIA. By the Editors........2.......-

E;/DITORIAL ..... -auinlagiek va 8 shies ap dscety CSE gto Coen Eee a eee

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES :—

I. ‘Tigers and Elephants. By A. J. W. Milroy.....

II. Tigers preferring Carrion to Live Bait. By

Wr Oe Shortt. ; ERE Stas 5 eee

III. A Panther Cowinittine: ieee By W. H. O.

Shortt..

IV. The Colour Change: and ees di Dterences.. in

Colour in the Long-armed Sheath-tailed Bat

(Taphozous longimanus.) By W. W.A. Phillips.

V. Habits of the Flying Lemur (Galeopterus peninsula).

By WoS. Wood... s.r nebeeue, LAS Ae ie Cee

PAGE

320

330

344

309

366

370

371

372

<NE-

VII.

XIE,

XIV.

XV.

OVE:

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

0.4

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXII

Flying Squirrels in

Albino Goral (Nemorrhedus goral) in Chamba.

TS VaR Agile INCA TIAL, 1 BIN. colcicad’sSaon en lube eee cleo ue slersteeite os

Isthe large Hornbill (D. dzcornzs) Carnivorous ?

By W.-S: Woodst:. 255 ORAS Area. Oey Peee re

A Jungle Fowl Problem. By R. C. Morris.....:..:

MW Cost oaipe, by Capita. lH. Stable; i Assess.

‘The Arrival of Snipe in BABIES fee By George

Brown

i ey

Addenda to the Avifauna of Sind and of British

India. By -C.-B. Ticehurst; ¥.z.s., M.B,0.U.,

Corrigendum to Fauna of Iraq. By C. B. Ticehurst,

EtZ.9, Ms B,.O.U.,, FR.GuSt.

Birds eating Butterflies.

A Short-cut by Birds to the Honey in

Flowers of Sesbania gvranditlora. By N. K.

Tiwary, M.Sc.. few au tars, f Nace aes

Artificial and Natural Many. a H. Jougucet..

A List of Snakes and Lizards from Panchgani.

By J. P. Mullan..

Preying Habits of sie cee Baines eral

Fl J. .icnie ht: Ces... ;

Some Observation on tite Conon eae “Milli

_pede Spzrostrepius Brandt. (With a plate). By

M. L ee M.sc., and 8. 5. Chaudhury, M.A,,

M.SC..

“By

A Pieene ‘of Creer peed uae yan. e

Re HORUS oe ix oan ere eee: «ta Hee onan as

The Use of Patent Bullets in Shot Guns. By

Wie Tete CO) MOU TCH 7 a kas Meets pe ee ices

ManiO RAN DUM OBL) SSOCTATION ces ic. cee sdcdeas nc adoce Gen ents Se ces dacues

PROCEBDINGS) vccewcccces ces.

Tenasserim. By W. 5S. Wood. .

By GC. E. Siam Aargenneny .

vii

PAGE

373

3/3

374

375

376

377

378

379

380

381

382

384

385

394

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

VOLUME XXXII

Nos. 1 and 2

PAGE

Att, SALIM, A.; The Moghul

Emperors of India as Natural-

ists and Sportsmen. Part Il

(with four plates).

—-—— ; Part Ill

; The Mating

——

of Paroquets oe na

——_—__—_—__——_ ; On the Vitali-

ty of the Centipede Sa

Ora, Sp.) «.

BAKER, E. C. Snes [ P.,

FlZ;S., F:i:S.,/ M.B.0.U;;

H F.A.O.U.; The Game Birds

of the Indian Empire, Vol.

V. The Waders and other

Semi-sporting Birds. Part III

(with a coloured plate). ‘The

Ruddy .Crake ; The White-

breasted Water Hen; The

Brown Crake; Elwes’ Crake;

The Banded Crake; The

Malayan Banded Crake; The

Andamanese Banded Crake...

Part IV (zzth a coloured plate).

The Eastern Baillon’s Crake;

The Spotted Crake ; The Little

Crake; The Corncrake or Land

Rail; ‘The Blue-breasted Ban-

ded Rail; The Philippine Blue-

breasted Banded Rail; The

Andaman [3lue-breasted Band-

ed Rail; The Indian Blue-

breasted Banded Rail .

BERRIFF, ARTHUR H.; Mating of

the Jungle Crow (Corvus coro-

noides intermedius)

Buatia, M. L. and CHAUDHURY,

S.S.; Some Observations on

the Common Indian Millipede

(Spirostreptus) (with a plate).

264

218

Zot

237

217

382

PAGE

BLATTER, E., and MCCANN C,;

Revision of the Flora of the

Bombay Presidency. Part III.

Graniinee i

a ee ee Ge SE

Part IV. Gvraminee@ ...

Two New Species of Grasses

from Panchgani (Satara Dis-

trict) (wth two plates)

BoMBAyY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY’S MaMMAL SURVEY,

No. XLVII, On the Generic

Position of the Afghan Jerboa

(Alactaga indica). By Oldfield

Thomas.

Boe La J. ee A

Sporting Trip to British

Somaliland, 1926 (wth six

blates) Ss ef =

= oa = —- ; i

Journey across the Himala-

yas (with four plates)

Brown, G.; The Arrival of

Sith in Mysore

CASTRO, A. BAYLEY-DE; A Bice

of Snake-bite due to Cantor’s

Viper (Lachests cantoris)

es aie

Poison of Centipedes—being

a Special Reference to the

Andaman Species wee

CHAMPION, JF .-(W..,. 12 "B.S: ;

Wild Elephants in the United

Provinces (with four plates)

CHAUDHURY, S. S8.; see Bhatia,

M, 4a.

EpirTors ; The Migration of Wild

Fowl :

: The Game Pree cyatiod

in inne

281

easy)

133

299

375

223

232

127

222

359

a ape

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

PAGE

Epirors ; Birds eating Butterflies

FOSTER, MAJOR RODNEY; Jackals

in Residential Compounds

; Large

Flocks of the Comb Duck -

(Sarcidiornis melanvonotus)

FOWLER, HENRY, W.; Notes on

Some Shore Fishes from

Bombay : wise

FRASER, LT.-COL. F, Oe “LM.S.:

Indian Dragonflies. Par XXVII

(wath four plate and one text-

figure) a re

- ——— ; Indian

Dragonflies. Part XXVIII

(wth three plates)

FRERE, Major A,G., F. Z.S.;

Notes on the Life and Habits of

the Common Carpenter Bee

(Xyvlocopa amethystina)

GHARPUREY, LT.-COL.,

Snakes of Sholapur

HANNA, Capt. J. R. MUSGRAVE ;

Comments on Mr. J. K.

Stanford’s ‘ Occurrence of the

Sheldrake and Lapwing in

Upper Burma’

HINGSToN, Magor R. Ww. G.,

I. -M. S.; Phe Potter Wiese

(Rhynchium nitidulum) (with

two plates and three text-

figures ee

——- —— The Potter

Wasp, Part Il ay

-—_—_- -----—_ ----_—_— ; Habits of

the Indian Spur-winged

Plover (Hoplopterus ventralis)

—-— — -——_——_; Bird Notes

from the Mount Everest Ex-

pedition of 1924 (wth a plate)

; Comments

on Preying Habits of the Tent-

building Spider...

Hora; Dr. $S.L.; Animal Life

in Torrential Streams (wth

one plate and ten text-figures)

HUNDLEY, GORDON; Twin Ele-

phant Calves (w7zth a plate)

KINLOCH A. P., Bs Z.S.; Man-

eating Tigers

KG;

——

S77. |

223

733

183

3 bt

225

224

290 |

246 |

219 |

320

214

209 |

PAGE

KinztocuH, A. P., F.Z.S.;. Bison

and eulayation Gs 215

— —— —.. — —_-——; A Fine

Muntjac 216

KnicEe, Ey i: SBteyine Habits

of the Tent- anne SPldenare eO6)

JOUGUET, H.; Artificial and

Natural Mimicry ; +379

LEMARCHAND, W. M. # OCCHE:

rence of Swinhoe’s Snie in

North Lakhimpur 221

LoGAN-HomME, Major W. M.

A Panther treeing its Kill (with

a photo) = 209

McCann, C. ; Note on fie erent

Gerbille Monon. hurrian@). 213

——_-~--———- ; see Blatter, E.

MacFigz, D. F.; A White Ele-

phant Calf “ sist ee

MACPHERSON, LT.-Cor. A. D. ;

Notes on a Collection of But-

terflies made in Jodhpur and

Mount Abu during the years

1924, 1925 and 1926 228

_ Mann, HAROLD H.; the North-

West Locust in Sind enol

Mitroy, A. J. W.; Tigers and

Elephants ee 3.3/0

Morris, RANDOLPH C.: Soli-

tary Cow Gaur ... - we, Lilo

a —_—--——— —; Wild.

Dogs attacking Cattle... Ze

es Ee —_——_—— _; Worn-

Down Tips of Bison Horns 216

——-—__.—__ ————_; ‘Cli-

cking Noise’ made by:Muntjac 216

ee —_—— _ ; Pecu-

liar Cries emitted by Sambhur

Stags fighting : eel

ams 2 $ 5 A

Jungle Fowl Problem ... tec OVE

6 ee EE So A.

Plague of Green Bugs (Nezara

viridula) .. P 384

MULLAN, J. P, oy St of eae

and Lizards from Panchgani... 380

Munns, F. A. C.; Further

Record of Occurrence of the

Sheldrake (Zadorna tadorna)

in Bihar ... = ie ey 4

x LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

MurpnHy, P. ; Occurrence of the

Sheldrake in Bihar

Osmaston, B. B., M.B.O. a

Notes on the Birds of ern

Part II (with a plate) ...

PEARSON, JOSEPH ; The Ceylon

Pearl Fisheries ...

PHILLIes, W. W. A., ‘F. Z. S),

M.B.0.U. ; The AMatemall Ins-

tinct in the Dwarf Pipistrelle

(P. mimus mimus)

——-———-—--—_—_— ; The Colour

Change and Shia Differences

in Colour in the Loug-armed

Sheath-tailed Bat (Zaphozous

longimanus) e

PHYTHIAN-ADAMS, I. A. (Red.

Game Preservation in the

Nilgiris va mate a

PRATER; 8S,’ /Hiy "C.M.228 2;

Principles and Extent of the

Educational Service rendered

to the Schools by Museums in

America (w7th four plates)

; Large

Brood of Eggs of the Chec-

kered Water Snake ae

piscator) .

Rao, C. R. Nene, M. A.

Observations on the Habits of

the Slow Loris (Loris lydek-

kerianus) (with a plate)

SESHAIVA, R. V., M.A, ; On the

Breeding Habits and Fecundity

of the Snail Limnea luteola

(with two plates and two

graphs) .

SHAW, G. E. aan Bain Bue

terflies

SHORTT, W. H. oh aii ere are

ferring Carrion to ieee Bait ~..

; A Panther

Cdinmittine Suicide

—; The Use of

Patent Bullets in ‘Shot Guns ...

SINGH, Ram; Albino Goral

(Nemorrhedus goral) in

Chamba

STABLE, CAPT, R ee LA. ty

Lost Snipe wok

THOMAS, OLDFIELD, F.R.S.:

See Bombay Natural History

eS Se ce ee ee

a eee |

——o—_ _.

PAGE

ee)

134 |

274

21)

371 |

| Tiwary, N. K.; A Short-cut by

339

169

206

154

377M

PAGE

Society’s Mammal Survey of

India, Burma and Ceylon.

TIGERBURST 7 °C, 9B. MAL

MERC. 5.° 438 .0.U2 ER

G.S.; The Birds of British

Baluchistan,

plate)

—_--— —_ —_—_—_——_: Some

Further Notes on the Second

Edition of the Fauna of British

India—Birds, Vol. III ...

—_—_—_—_——_ ; Ada-

enda to the Avifauna of Sind

and of British India

Part III (with a

- — ; Cor-

rigendum to Fauna of Iraq ...

Birds to the Honey in the

Flowers of Sesbania grandi-

flora

TRENCH, C. G. Oineuee The

Breeding of the Spotbill Dace

(Anas pecilorhyncha) ... a

WAGLE, P. V.,'M:A¢G. > The

Rice Rats of Lower Sind and

their Control (w7th three dia-

grams and a plate) ie

West, Capt. E. Maser

Solitary Cow Gaur

WHISTLER, HUGH ; The Beatdcd

Tit (Panurus biarmicus rus-

sicus)—An Addition to the

Indian List ae ae

—_——_——_-—— ; Occurrence

of the Pamir Horned Lark

(Otocoris penicillata albigula)

in the Punjab breed oa

—-; The Rock-

Sparrow (fetronia stulta) in

the Punjab

WINCHWORTH, MAJOR Hi: cs

The Occurrence of the Wood

Mason Butterfly (Parantirrhea

marshallt) in Coorg %

Woop, W. S.; Habits of the

Flying Loner (Galeopterus

Penney

: Flying Squirrels

in Tenmeonin

1S the ‘Large

Hornbill (Dchoceros bicornis)

Carnivorous? ... ae i

344

378

330

215

212

218

LIST OF PlaA LES

VOLUME XXXIil

No. 1

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire—

The Malayan Banded Crake (Rallina fasciata)

The Mogul Emperors of India as Naturalists and Sportsmen —

Plate I.- (A) Sketches of Ibex Goat Hybrids

(2) Nilgai

Plate IIl.—(A) Mallard ..

(B) Night Heron

Plate III.—(A) A Falcon

(B) Pea Fowl

Plate I1V.—(A) A Pair of Sarus...

(8) Cheer Pheasant ...

The Bird of Baluchistan—

(Ad) Hanna Pass, Quetta des oP

(B) A Venerable Juniper—-Ziarat Forest ...

The Potter Wasp—

Fig.1. (Rhynchtum nitidulum) :

2.—(A) ” oe 53 Nest of Tc

(B) . fi 5 Building Lower Half of Cellrs.:

Animal Life in Torrential Streams—

Plate V.—-Panoramic View of a Small Torrential Stream below

Dumpep in the Khasi Hills

Wild Elephants in the United Provinces—

1. A Young Tusker in which the Upper Ear-rims have not yet

begun to turn over

2. An Old Tusker with one Tusk broken

. A Large Middle-aged Makna

4, A Female Elephant which presemenly died of old aee

Birds of Kashmir—

1. (A) Path near Sonmarg

(2) A Corner of Wular Lake ve

Breeding- habits and Fecundity of the Snail Limnca oie

Plate J.—1. Laying Eggs on the Side of a Glass Jar

2. Eggs laid on the Under Surface of a Floating Piece of

Leaf

3. Mating

4, Egg with Nine Ranbeyest

Plate I].—Sketches showing relative aevelopinent of male ana Fernele

genitalia at different periods of life

A Journey across the Himalayas—

Plate I.—{.d) Nomad Camps on Banks of Beas, Kulu ret

(2) The River Beas between Sultanpur and Katrain, Kulu.

PAGE

106

107

111

128

129

130

13]

134

156

175

164

xii LTS TROP-PEATES

PAGE

Plate II.—(A) Valley of the Chenab on the way to Kyelang, near Sis-

sue, over 10,000 feet above sea-level : 165

(B) Bridge of twigs, (Jzoola) over the Chenab at Conrune g,

Lahoul %.. ‘cont OS

Plate III.—(.A) Old castle of fhe Dhavaer of Teoul: Conn eosd el Od

(2B) Mt. Garpang (19,900 feet) from Sissue 4:8 a 7.

Plate IV.—(4) My Camp at Kukti, Chamba State ae 167

(4) Mountains of Pir Panjal Range overlooking Chenabs

with Glacier of Mt. Shikar Beh, 20,340 feet se BLOF,

Principles and Extent of the Educational Service rendered to the Schools

by Museums in America—

Plate I.--Circulating Nature Study Collections ... ee eae, Lae

Plate [I.—An Example of a Circulating Collection Case POT LS)

Plate III.—Exhibits for the Blind : ie Be eye)

Plate IV.—Blind Children studying the Elippopoearnne 177

Indian Dragonflies—

Plate I.—Hind-wing of Rhinocypha immaculata, showing the main

and interposed nervures only a ee tele

Plate IIl.—1l. Wings of Rhinocypha cuneata, Seve “Male eo ee S/

2. Wings of Rhinocypha quadrimaculata, Selys, Male ... 187

Plate II].—1. Wings of Ahkinocypha iridea, Selys, Male a 194

2. Wings of Rhinocypha fenestrella, Ramb., Male ae el Oe

Plate IV.—1. View of rocky-bed of a montare stream in Shillong

Assam, where Rhinocypha ignipennis and spuria are

found, other ZYGOPTERA taken here are Watrona bast-

larvis and Echo margarita... fie HO

2, Another typical stream for Fei neey ion era.

Pool below Seven Falls, Shillong, Assam _... sf SOS.

Observations on the Habits of the Slow Loris (Loris lydekkerianus )—

(A) In expectation of the evening meal... = rie 3206

(B) All huddled bose rery in a corner of the cage me fa 200

Twin Elephant Calves-— ott Pi,

In Harness Loe oe cae ne re, ce 2S

No. 2

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire—

_.. The Eastern Baillon’s Crake (Porzana p. pusilla) Sat Jen 987

A Sporting Trip to British Somaliland—

Plate I.—1. ‘ The Motor Road’ across the Maritime Desert a S00

2. Golis Scenery site ce 2o00

Plate II.—3. View from Hol-Ka-Boba Base Goi Ronee: oie OT

/ 4, Camp at Gobedieh aa as Bes fen Od

Plate IIl.-—-5. A Xurria Watering, Alladieh ire be very 304

6. Lesser Kudu (Strepsiceros imberbis, Bly.) ... ioe O04

Plate 1V.—7. ‘ Aoul’ orScemmering’s Gazelle (Gazella

semmeringt, Cretschm.)... whe ae as “305

8 Oryx (Oryx betsa, Rupp) ... ne i waa O05

Plate V.—9. Juma the Midgan with ‘ Beira’ (Dorcatragus

meélanotis, Menges ) Ah aoe ny ee esis

LSI OTF EL ALES

10. ‘ Gerenuk ’ or Waller’s Gazelle (Lithocrantus

walleri, Brooke)

Plate VI.—11. The Golis Range...

12. The Village of Adadleh

Indian Dragonflies — A ee ecu!

Plate I.—l. Wings of Whinocypha untinaculata, Selys. Male

2. Wines of Rhinocypha trimaculata, Selys. Male

Plate I].—1l. Wings of Rhinocypha trifasciata, Selys. Male

2. Wines of Akinocypha bifasciata, Selys. Male

Plate III.—1l. Wings of Rhinocypha bifenestrata, Fras. Male

2. Wings of Rhinocypha hilarve, Fras. Male ..

Bird-notes from the Mount Everest Expedition of 1924—

(a) Choughs in Everest Base Camp aoe

(6) Blue Hill-Pigeons in Everest Base Camp

(7) Adams’s Mountain-Finch in Everest Base Camp...

Rice Rats of Lower Sind and their Control—

(a) The Indian Desert Gerbil (Cheliones hurriane) ...

(6) The Sind Mole-Rat (Gunomys sindicus) ... diy

Dichanthium panchganiense, Blatter and McCann sp. nov,

Dichanthium McCanni1, Blatter and McCann sp. nov,

Dichoceros bicornts (Nest of the Great Indian Hornbill)

Spirostreptus, Brandt, (The Common Indian Millipede)

INDEX LO SLEOSTATIONS

VOLUME XXXII

PAGE

Accentor, Brown, in Everest Base

Camp abl aie e 3 aa. hoe ee

Ancylus figs. . fe a goel24

Animal life in torrential streams—

Stream below Dumpep, Khasia

Bis Seles es is te Peek

Baltitora bruce, figs. a eS

Blephearocerid, larve fig. eles

Cheer Pheasant, Pl. fig. (B) ... 53

Cheliones hurriane, Pl. fig. 1... 330

Choughs on Everest Base Camp,

Plowmig. 1 oe. en o20

Dichanthium WeCiant PL Fig oie!

ae panchganiense Pl. ... 358

Dichoceros bicornis, nest of, Pl. ... 366

Elephant Calves in Harness, Pl. 215

———* (wild) in the United

Provitices 3—

Pilea yours Pusker~ a. Pre Ae:

Pl. 2, an old Tusker ee Rete) 42)

Pl. 3, a large middle-aged

Makna ... e 7 30

Pl. 4, a female Beaten gute h

presumably died of old age 13i

Malcon.) Ply tio. (A) ee. Sy

Gomphine, Larvee and Habitat,

foe ee ead ame

Gunomys sindicus, Pl. tm 2. Tg a0 ee

——— ; Diagram,

showing course of burrow Rese.

Hanna Pass, Quetta, Pl. fig. (A) 65

Himalayas:—A Journey Across

the Nomad Camps on banks of

Beas, Kulu, Pl. (A) 164

River Beas between Sultanpur

and Katrain, Kulu Pl. (B) ... 164

Chenab Valley, Pl. (A) Fee Loh)

Bridge of Twigs (Jhoola) over

the Chenab at Gohbrung,

Lahoul, Pl. (B) as loo

PAGE

Lahoul, Gondla, Old Castle of

the Thakars, Pl. (A) 166

Mt. Garpang, Pl. (B) ... sg. 106

Kukti, Chamba State, Camp at,

Ae ek ileae. i: . 167

Pir Panial Range, Mounianns aa

|e 3) Pela ohn 167

Ibex-Goat Hybrids, Pl. fig. (A) 36

Kashmir, Birds of :—

Path near Sonmarg, Pl. (A) ... 134

A Corner of Wular Lake, Pl. (B) 134

Lateo, section of, fig. rat, fee OLS

Limnéa luteola, Life History,

Pls: Sa oe 156, 157

Oe graphs showing

number of eggs laid 158, 159

_ Lorts lydekkerianus, P\. .. 206

Macromia tda, fig. ae won UA,

_ Mallard, Pl. fig. (A) ar ees

Matrona basilarts, fig. ... ae ply)

Mertones hurriane, Diagram

showing course of burrow See ote,

Mountain-Finch, Adam’s, in Eve.

rest Base Camp, PI. fig. 4 sae 20

Nesokia huttont, Pl. fig. 3 Moat

~ —-—-—— Diagram showing

course of burrow Tee oae

Night Heron, Pl. fig. (B) Sat pee:

Nilgai, Pl. fig. (B) ais By cuere |)

Panther, treeing its kill, photo .,. 209

Pea-fowl, Pl. fig. (B) ae Fen MOE

Pigeons, Blue Hill,—in Everest

Base-Camp, P).ciow.2> =... Pe YAY)

Porzana p. pusilla, Pl. ... i 40 Y)

Principles and Extent of the Edu-

cational Service rendered to the

Schools by Museums in Ame-

rica :—

Circulating Nature Study Collec-

{ons ele we. te pear mee ees

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

‘Example of a Circulating Collec-

tion Case, Pl. ae sie pen

Exhibits for the Blind, PI. . 176 |

Blind Children studying the |

Hippopotamus, PI. ee Al

Psephenus, larvee and pupa, figs. 120

-Pyralid Moth, Larval and Pupal

Chambers, fig. Mas

Rallina fasciata, Pl. we i

Rhinocvpha bifasciata, wings oe

PAGE

Rhynchium nitidulum, Diagram to

forward tilt of pendulum, fig.... 107

cells at different

levels, fig. , fo LOD

Sarus Cranes, Pl. fig: (A) SK.

_ Schizothorax, section of fig. eld

Simullide, \aree and pupe, figs. 121

Sptrostreptus, Pl. ... 382

Somaliland, British, a sporting

{tip tox—

Ble fig 2 af se mise OLS Pl. E (1) The * Motor Road ”

wee - bifenestrata, wings across the Maritime Desert 300

of PP. fies. I 318 (2) Golis Scenery . 300

—— cuneata, wings, Pl. 187. Pl. =I (3) View from Hol-ka-

-——___-—— fenestrella, wings, Pl. 194° Boba Pass, Golis Range .., 301

— hilarye, wings of, Pl. (4) Camp at Gobedieh. 301

fig, 2 318 Pl. [11 (5) A Kurria watering

———— Bat a Heats oe Alladieh sat ... 304

PreCa), (5) ies ego (6) Lesser Kudu (Strep-

~ —— immaculata, Hind- siceros imberbis, Bly.) 304

wing, Pl, a 186 Pl. [LV (7) ‘ Aoul’ or Scemmer-

ividea, Wings, PI. 194 ing’s Gazelle (Gazella semmer-

_———-- guadrimaculata, wings, ingi, Crets)

Pl. eat eee ode “et LOd (8) Oryx (Oryx beisa,

—— spurta, Haunt of, Pl. Rupp) ; ae = 305

(A) ... 195 Pl V (9) Juma the Midgan

eae eae -.. 184 with ‘ Beira’ (Dorcatragus

brake tritasctata, wings of, melanotis, Menges i» 308

Pl. fig. 1 ve w. 315 (10) ‘Gerenuk’ or Waller’s

—— trimaculata, wings of, Gazelle (Lithocranius

Pl. fig. 2 ee nee OLE! walleri, Brooke) .. 308

— wnimaculata, ae Of, * Pl. VI (11) The Golis Rene 309

Pl. fig. 1 314 (12) The Village of Adad-

Rhynchium ie PL. 106 leh en 309

A diagram showing pendulum, Trichopterous ee Pace. 119

mechanism of Potter Wasp Xylocopa amethystina, nest ander

nest; Pl. fie, CA): <2.:107 construction 227

lower half of cell, Pl. Ziarat Forest— a enerainic sua

fig.(B) .. - 107 ' per, Pl. fig. (4) 65

ERRATA

Vol. XXXII, Nos. I and 2

Page ii. line 14 for-varmcus read btarmicus.

1 55 9) 13 ,, pencillata read penicillata.

» 2 ,, 23 ,, Corturnex read Coturntx.

, 60 ,, 5 from bottom for aurztra read aurita.

», 68 ,, 1 for Heretus read Hieraetus.

» @0 ,, 9 from bottom for bver7pes read brevipes.

,5, 87 ,, 8 for Geochelidon xead Gelochelidon.

,, 114 ,, 19 ,, Rana formosa read Ranae Formosae.

» 115 ,, 7 ,, Rana formosa read Ranae Formosae.

yy 118 5 © 6 Sy tly vead dragonily..

» 121 ,, 3 ,, Stmullidae read Simuliidae.

,, 137 ,, 37 ,, garulla ~ead garrula.

,, 149 ,, 9 from bottom for Lymnocriptes vead Lymnocryptes.

», 217 ,, 35 for viarmicus read biarmicus.

, 218 ,, ll ,, viarmicus read biarmicus.

,, 218 ,, 21 ,, pencillata read penicillata.

,, 227 Last two lines should follow line 34 on page 226, i.e. they

should read between ‘... forms of food offered.’

and ‘ The inhabitant waslarge.. .’

,, 2/72 line 17 for Popular vead Poplar.

eos, — ae le29 yeaa 19293 |

,, 307. ,, 8 ,, Ball-throated vead Bare-throated.

,, 323 ,, 3 from bottom for rufotriata read rufostriata.

,, 346 ,, 34 for swbuluta read subulata.

INDEX OF

SPECIES

_ PAGE

Acacia arabica e 231

Acanthis baltistanicus ~ 346

————-. cannabiua fimgillitostrié 346

———— f. brevirostris ; 346

——_——— flavirostris rufostriata 323

———-—— ladacensis 346

montaneila 346

————— pamirensis 346 |

rufostrigata e 346

Accipiter badius cenchroides .. 70

——-—— brevipes ae 70

—-—— minullus tropicalis ... oe OH

——--——— nisus melanoschistus. 70, 143 |

—___---——-nisosimilis 70

——_——_-——-—— pallens 70

—-—— peregrinum 231

—-—— virgatus ee 70

Acridotheres ginginianus 44, 344 —

— tristis 37/28

Acropoma japonicum 209: |

fEgialitis dubia a ecko

4igypius monachus 66, 141

AEthopyga andersoni 300

——-=—— dabryi 356

——-—— flavescens 356 |

—-— goalpariensis Shh)

—--—— gouldie dabryi 356

——- gouldic 356

——-—— ignicauda ignicauda sishoam

——-—— mussooriensis Soo

——-—— nipalensis 356

——-———- sanguinipecta 356

——-—— saturata 306 |

——-—— siparaja sehericze 390° |

Alactaga acontion 133

aa Clare! 133

—— indica 133

Alactagulus 133

Alzmon alaudipes 344

Alcedo atthis pallasii 138

Alauda arvensis dulcivox 308

——————--_— schach... 353

Anastomus oscitans

PAGE

Alauda gulgula gulgula 353

= ——— 9llttata 136

ee CCLIV OK 303

- inopinata Sco

Alaudula raytal adamsi 303

—--——— rufescens 303

—_ - —__— persica 3035, G04

seebohmi ... 354

Alectoris greeca chukar ah AS

—-——- ——— koraikovi Pe rane

—---———- -__-- pallescens 145

| Amadina pectoralis 345

Amandava amandava 345

Amaurornis akool akool 6

ama bicolor 8

—-- fuscus i

——-—- —-—-- - bakeri 1, 146

——- Bre inei voter Z

—_———-- ZeylOMICUS ... 2

——- ———- Insularis 4

ee Ce MICULS 4,6

———_ ——_ -—— chinensis as)

= —~ en ——— insularis 4,5

Amia ellioti a 258

——- frenata 259

Ammomanes 354

—-. phoenicura Sone 354

—_— zarudnyi 354, 376

—- -- phoenicuroides 354

Ammoperdix griseigularis ae oS

—_—_—_-——-——-——_._ griseigu- 75

laris 25

Anapheis Eeeene 228

Anas acuta 93

——- angustirostris 93

——- boscas ais 63

——- penelope 93 ,-222

———- platyrhyncha Araiveha hohe SMa oy!

~——- pecilorhyncha 635225

aa - poecilorhyncha. 93

——- strepera 39

Xvili

INDEX OF SPECIES

PaGrE

Andropogan sorghum. sativus var.

durra 296

fulvus 295

obovatus ane 296

roxburghii sis se 295

———— ——— vertilliflorus 294

_—- striatus ae 23

aemnnae subglabrascens ... 292

——. tacazensis 23

——— tridentatus 25

———- — tristachyus 290

verticilleflorus 294

| Anhinga melanogaster 89

Anous stolidus pileatus 88

Anser albifrons Sea 93

—— albifrons 151

—-——_- Bre Papell |

——-~ indicus TS) .325

Antennarius hispidus ... sip aees

Anthropoides virgo Reso =)

Anthus berezowskii Sar

- blakistoni 351, 352

- — campestris griseus 352

-~cervinus .., ...344, 351, 352

~—— - hodgsoni hodgsoni 351

~- japonicus 351

~ malayensis 352

-- richardi godlewskii 352

—— ~ - rufulus at Ie

—— - roseatus ... 135, 139, 325, 352

~~ rufescens... i see ae

-- similis jerdoni 135

~ sordidus decaptris 352

———- spinoletta 302

- striolatus 352

— -s. contelli 352

-—_——- thermophilus 352

—trivialis haringtoni 135

-—-— ——- trivialis 351

- -- yunnanensis 351

Antilope cervicapra ... 39

Apluda aristata 26

-——-—- gryllus 26

_———~ varia er 26

var. aristata 26

| Apocopis vaginatus 25

—_——— wightii a3 ae 25

—_—_—.-—— —— _ var. vaginata 25

PAGE

Anatherum nitidum For ae eo. OS

Ancylus ee . ge. 115, 123

Andropogon armatus 59/

- binatus 25

————- ———_ cernuus 297

-—__—_———— compactus aes see ed,

— consimilis 293

———-—- —— cordatifolius 2)

—— ae —— crinitus 289

—__—-——— elegantissimus . 3d

——___———- filiformis 18

———=- fuscus 293

oe griesebachii Si

a halepensis 292

we inscalptus 24

——— ——— lineatus 24

_———_ macrostachys 23

—— monandrus 289

—— ---- nervosts ... 23

—— --—_ niger 296

————_—— = nitidus 293

—_—_—-_——- pedicellatus 203

——_——-—— petiolatus 288

———_—_-——— princeps ... Ze

—— ——-——_ purpureosericeus 293

——— ravenne ... 287

——_——-—— rhizopeones 288

-———-—-—— rhynchophorus ... 24

ms roxburghianus 18

rubens 296

——————- schangulensis

—_——_———- schima 24

—— ——-——. serratus oe wares

—_——-——— sorghum . .-291, 293, 294 |

—--———-——- sorghum. var. eeyptiacus 296 |

—_—— -———-- arabicus... 296

—————— -__ ——————- bicolar 296

———— —— —— - —_ ——_ cernuus 297

———$ —_—_— —_- __-—- ——_ hians 295

——— -——— ——_ - —_-————_ niloticus... 296 |

——— -—_ + ———_. roxburghii. 296 |

———_—_—_——__—--—- —-— ——- rubrocernans 296 ©

——————_— —————-—____- —— sativus 291, 292

——_—_—— ———-- —-— schweinpur-

thianus... 296

—$ —_— —_— — —— -—— usorum 295

————_—__——_-——.__ halepensis var.

effusus 294 |

—— -—_—_——_-—— -—— sativus var.

egyptians ... 296

——_ ——_ —__ ——- sativus var,

nernuus 297

Apolectus niger

Appias libythea ...

Aquila clanga

chrysaétus

— daphanz

heliaca.... eee

nipalensis nipalensis

rapax vindhiana..

Ardea cinerea cinerea ie

purpurea manillensis ..

purpurea

eee

Ardeola grayi

Arenaria interpres interpres

Argynnis hyperbius hyperbius

Arnetta vindhiana

Asio flammeus

— otus otus

Atella

phalanta

Athene brama

—_——_ _____. jndica

Aulacodes simplicalis

Azanus ubaldus ...

~ uranus awe

Badamia exclamationis...

Balitora brucei

Baoris bada

——colaca ae eee

Barilius bola

Belenois foe

Blepharocera ae aoe dee

Bos bubalus

—— grunniens

Boselaphus bere ocamelis

Botaurus stellaris stellaris

Bregmaceros atripinnis

Bubo bengalensis =

——- bubo bengalensis...

—— subsp. <

—— turcomanus... see

—- coromandus

Bubulcus ibis

——--—— ibis comomiataus

Bucanetes .., as es

Bungarus ceeruleus

-— candidus

Butastur teesa

Buteo ferox

~—_——_ ——— ferox

Byasa aristolochie ... aa

noctua bactriana ee

INDEX OP SSPECES

PAGE |

258

228

67 |

a7 G7

..67, 142

ae G7

91, 150

Oy 90691

... 90, 91

91, 150

229 |

230

377 |

230

206

fee 65

sO); 320

124

230 |

230

13h)

230

269

377

122

308)

34 |

262

140

141

a7]

197

346

294

381

143

228

KIX

PAGE

Byasa hector 228

Caccabis chukor ... 54

Calandrella acutirostris acutirostris .. Shy,

_———_——_ ——_ ———- tibetana 136, 325

—- brachydactyla brachy-

dactyla .. 353

———-—— b. dukhunensis 353

——--—— b.. hermoniensis 353

—- b. longipennis Jo

——-—— Db. orientalis 353

--——— pispoletta 354

Calidris alba im 84

Calliope pectoralis pectoral oe 139

Calornis chalybeius 44

Calotropis heb)

Capella gallinago pallinage 85

- megala ... 221

———- solitaria ... 88

Capparis aphylla... Zo

Capra sp. oe 36

Capra falconeri ... eae wes oF

Caprimulgus indicus 147

Caprona ransonnetti... ro 230

Carana kalla , 258

Carangoides oblongus .. sé 258

Carduelis caniceps orientalis .. 346

---— subulata 346

——-— c. major 346

——-—— paropanisi... ose 346

= SubCcaniceps. 4). 346

Carpodacus erythrinus ... s 345

—- -—— roseatus 345

-—— -—__-- ——_--——--- kuubanensis 345

—— ——_-——-. lapersonnei ves 346

—— lucifer 346

—_——__-——- mac g regori 345

—_——_——- rubecilloides 323

—-—— —— rubicilla rubicilloides 346

—_—_-————- severtzovi 346

—_-—— trifasciatus a ax 345

Casarca ferruginea a og oh aee

— rutila 63

Catachrysops strabo 230

Catopsilia crocale 228

——-—— florella 228

——--—— pomona 228

ee v. catilla 228

——-—— pyranthe - 228

Catreus wallichi ... 53, 144

Cenchrus granularis 28

Centropus sinensis tes ee 46

90 |

17-|

xXx

PAGE

Cervulus muntjac 40

Cervus elaphus maral 41

Cerylelugubris guttulata 138) |

_ rudis leucomelanura 138

Chaimarrornis leucocephalus ... 322

Charadrius alexandrinus alexandrinus 81

—— dubius curonicus a 81

— —---——- - jerdoni »O1, 148

———---— leschenaulti ean 81

-——— mongolus atrifrons 1, 147

Charaxes fabius... : 229

Chaulelasmus streperus ... ame Pegi sy

Cheliones hurrianz +o 2135-300, ol

Chettusia gregaria 81

- leucura 81

Chillades laius 230'%|

Chionachne barbata |

Chirocentrus dorab | . 253.)

Chlamydotis undulata macqueeni... 61, 78

Chlidonias leucopareia indica... ..86, 150 |

Choriotes edwardsi 60

Chrysopogon fusctis 293° 4

Cicer arietinum 334 |

Ciconia ciconia

— asiatica 90

—- nigra :

Cindus cindus Paci tienaes 323) |

cashmeriensis 44

- pallasi tenuirostris 44

Cinnyris asiatica brevirostris ... 355

Circaétus gallicus 68

Circus eruginosus 69

— —_-—— eruginosus seh OT |

-——— cyaneus ...69, 142

macrourus ...09, 142 4

SS py careus 69 |

Cirripedesmus on sonee feaeoae vex BO

Cissa chinensis chinensis des 43 |

Clamator jacobinus 45, 140

Clupea ilisha 268 |

Coelorrhachis clarkei Bol

— -—-— - —-- hirsuta 30)

Coilia dussumieri 254 |

Coix barbata a

— gigantea 17

—— lacryma oe

—— lacryma-jobi Lo

Coladenia dan 230 |

Colotis amata 229 |

-—-—— danz dulcis 229

—— etrida st 229

INDEX OF SPECTES

Colotis fausta

protractus

m——= — versicolor...

vestalis

Coluber helena

Columba eversmanni Ate

-———-—— leuconota leuconota

livia

intermedia

———_——_——-— neglecta...

——--—— palumbus casiotis

——-—— rupestris

em 2 ee,

turkestanica

Colymbus septentrionalis

——---—— steliatus

Coracias garrula semenowi

Corbicula ...

Corvus capellanus

corax tibetanus ...

cornix sharpi

-———. coronoides :

_ nteemecdias:

——— splendens... ee aes

—-— zugmeyeri ...

Coryllis vernalis ...

Cotile riparia

—-— subsoccata

Coturnix coromandelica

coturnix ,

—_———_ ——_—. coturnix

Cremnochonchus syhadrensis ...

Crex*cnex 2 -: wee

pratensis ...

Crocodilus palustris

—-——-— porosus

Crocopus phcenicopterus

eae’

Cuculus canorus telephonus ...

———— optatus ..

——- polices pala pellecennalte

Cuncuma leucoryphus

Cursorius coromandelicus

cursor cursor

Cyamopsis psoralioides ...

Cynoglossus macrolepidotus

Cygnus jankowskii

———— minor

olor

Dafila acuta

Danais chrysippus

——-—— limniace

——~ — plexippus

PAGE

229

een e229

380, 381

229

224, 380

see 73

144, 327

ois 72

of 2,43

72;.73, 143

326

140

142, 326

o> ad

SE]

19) ))

18 |

91 |

30 |

PAGE |

Delias eucharis sf 228

Delichon urbica cashmeriensis 348

— -+—- urbica ... 348 ©

Dimiegretta sacra asha ...

Dendrocitta rufa 43

Dendrocygna javanica 93

Dendronanthus indicus ool

Dichanthium armato 307

—— — McCanni 397, O00

Dichanthium panchganiense 357, 358

Dichoceros bicornis 367, 374 |

Dimeria diandra

——— filiformis 18

—— gracilis 18

——— ornithopoda 18

——--———. woodrowii sf

Dipsadomorphus ceylonensis ... 381 |

—— trigonatus 224, 351

Dissemurus paradisius as

Dissoura episcopa episcopa Ol Ge .00|

Dorcatragus melanotis 308, 309 |

Drepane punctata 261 |

Dromas ardeola -/9

Dryobates auriceps 137

————— himalayensis 137

Dryophis mycterizans 225, 001

Echeneis 174 12654)

Echis carinata 225, 380, 381

Ecydurus 118 |

Egretta alba

— —-garzetta Parvetta

Elephas maximus 127

Elionurus hirsutus

Elophila fulicalis 125

Elyonurus royleanus 30

Emberiza arcuata 344

—_—— buchanani 348

——--——-calandra 344, 348

—_———- cia 5 348

———-- ¢. ponice sia 348

———— citrinella Se htoeens: 348

———— f, arcuata 347

— — —— hortulana 348

oe huttoni 348

~——-—_—— icterica 348 |

————— khamensis 248

————-——. melanocephala 348

— pusilia 347

——-—— scheniclus aliGlin 2h7

———-—. stracheyi 344

———— pallidior 347

INDEX OF SPECIES

XX1

PAGE

Engraulis dussumieri 253

—_—— {ti 254

— ——- valencioniie esi 254

Equus onager indicus = 34

Eragrostis cynosurioides 932; 335

Erianthus fastigiatus 283, 288

——-—— oriffithii 187

——-——— hexastachyus... ies!) Zod

——-—— ravenne 283, 287

——-—— roxburghii 290

—- miserum WA

Erismatura leucocephala 153

Erolia alpina alpina 83

-caputus canutus 83

ferruginea 83

——_ minutia 149

ee — 83

——— temimincki . 83, 149, 328

——— tenuirostris 84

Eronia leda es 377

Erythrospiza aerials 346

Eryx conicus 224

Esacus recurvirostris 7 ass 79

Euchlena mexicana var. mastuniane zs 15

Euchrysops cnejus 230

contracts 230

Eudynamis honorata 379

——— -—— scolopaceus tedionncene 45

Eulabes intermedia 44

Eulalia argentea 290

- fimbriata 290

Kumenes conica 98

Kuploeea 377

-——_—— core tar 229

Euryzona canningi aE V2

Euthalia nais 229

Falco esalon insignis Ve

-——-— amurensis ... a fal

-——- cherrug milvipes ... an

——- chiquera chiquera 72

——- concolor 71

—- jugger 71

——-~ peregrinator a us 71

-—— peregrinus babylonicus eee Al reral

ee — calidus 70, 143

——-- subbuteo subbuteo 71, 143

—- tinnunculus saturatus 143, 326

—-——— tinnunculus UE

Fistularia villosa eet 206

Francolinus francolinus asiz ... 145

——-—_.__ --____——. Hogdlanowi 76

xxii

PAGE

Francolinus francolinus henrici 76

———-—- pondicerianus 96,145

— ——__ -___ —- ——__—_—- interpositus 77

— mecranensis 76

———-——- vulgaris 55

Fringilla frontalis 345

Fringillauda nemoricola Gemoneel 324 |

Fulica atra 78

—— atra 146

——_——. chinensis 4

Galeopterus peninsulz 372

Galerida cristata chendoola 354

Gallinago gallinago gallinago 149

abet 028, 570,°3/6

——— -- stenura

——-——-- chloropus parvifrons 78, 146

——-—— erythrothorax

Gallus ferrugineus 22

Garra ids 114

Garrulus glandarius Were silite 376

—--- krynicki .. 376

Gavialis gangeticus 264

Gazella bennetti ... 40

~ scemmeringi 303,°305

- subgutturosa ah 40

Gelochelidon nilotica nilotica ... 87

Genneeus hamiltoni 145

Gerbillus gleadowl1 330

—_- hurrianeze 330

——-—— indicus ‘ 330

Glareola pratincola pratincola 80

Glaucidium brodiei 141

-— cuculoides cuculoides 141

Glaucion clangula : 95

Glaucionetta clangula paeala 153

Grus antigone 57

-communis ... 56

Gunomys sindicus

Gymnodactylus deccanensis 380,000)

Gymnoris ... 346 |

Gypaétus perpatde ends 67, 142, 326 |

Gyps fulvus fulvescens

——- himalayanus set 65

——:-- himalayensis 141, 326

Hackelochloa granularis 28

Heematopus ostralegus longipes 82

Heematospiza sipahi 345

Haliaétus albicilla

os leucoryphus ..

Haliastur indus ...

Hasora alexis 230

Helicopsyche 123, 124

. 330, 331, 332

68 |

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Hemarthria capensis 28

—+— compressa ... 27

—— coromandelina te 27

——_ fasciculata ... ee Bled

-—— glabra one 27

Hemibungarus nigrescens 380, 381

Hemidactylus maculatus 380, 381

Heptagenia 118

| Hesperida galba 230

Heteroxenicus Rey 1)

Hieraétus fasciatus 68, 142

—-- pennatus 68, 142

Himantopus himantopus femonroot 82, 148

Holcus bicolor 296

--- cernuus ... a Pope AS)

- compactus Per She

- dora if oes due ace, ee

———- durra 296

———- fulvus 293

——— - halepensis 291

———- niger 5 296

wane saccharatus ae ase ase. 296

——.- sorghum | 296, 297

| ———_-————— minus 295

ee nitidum 295

—. ~ sisna ... 295

Hologamium nervosum aoe 23

Hoplopterus ventralis 219

Hipposideros brachyotus 372

Hirundo arctivitta 350

— —~—— daurica daurica see, uaaO)

—— —-- erythropygia os, ooo

—_ — —_ —__-— japonica seas Haaae.

=~ nepalensis 349

-—___. —_—_-—— rufula 350

oe striolata 349

————- filifera 344

——-—— gutturalis 349

——-——. intermedia 349

—-—— scullii... we 350

———— smithi filifera ... 349

———— substriolata 349

———— rustica rustica 349

——_____-—__— tytleri ... 349

Huphina nerissa é 228

Hydrophasianus chirurgus... 80

Hydroprogne caspia caspia 86

Hyelaphus porcinus 4]

Hypolimnas bolina 229

——— misippus 229

Hypoteenidia striata eset

Hypoteenidia striata striata

—- gularis

—--~-—_-___-— —— obscura

—_—__—_—_--——-— obscuriora

Hystrix leucura ..

Janthia rufilata ;

Ibidorhynchus struthersi

Ibis melanocephala

Ictinaétus malayensis

Ictinus

Ilerda viridis Ri

Imperata arundinacea ...

——-—— latifolia

——-—— cylindriaca

—-—— keenigii

Indoplanorbis exustus

-—— aneustifolium

Ischeemum aristatum

—— ciliare

—- conjugatum

crinitum

diplopogon ...

——_——— _ geniculatum

hirsutum

—_-_—-—— impressum

—-——- inscalptum ...

laxum ay

—_— —--——_ var. genuinum

-———--—— inscalptum

——— —— lisboz

——--—— macrostachys

—_——— macrostachyun

————— mastrucatum

—_-————. molle...

nervosum

pilosum

rugosum

———— schima

—_———— semisagittatum

————S

var.

yantha

spathiflorum

sulcatum

tenellum

timorense

Ithagenes cruentus

Ixias pyrene

——.- marianne rr

Ixobrychus minutus aayutes is

————— sinensis

Iynx torquilla japonica

———

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

ZAS* |

243°

243

214

302 |

148, 328

117

198 |

281 |

281

155

20,

das-

xxiii

PAGE

Jamides bochus 230

Jardinea abyssinica 22

Jasaminum grandiflorum Bie

Johnius belangeri 260

- -glaucus .. 260

———- miles 260

Labeo calbasu 269

Lachesis cantoris 223

a gramineus 224

_ ———— purpureomaculatus .. 224

Lampides boeticus 230

Lanius cristatus cristatus 376

- - schach tephronotus 321

Larus argentatus cachinnans re 85

brunneicephalus . 86, 150, 328

fuscus taimyrensis eee 85

——-- genei 86

| ——-- hemprichii 86

| ——-- ichthyzeius ae 85

—--- ridibundus Pa ounce eae 86, 150

Lasiurus hirsutus 30

Leiodon cutcutia. ae 262

Leptocoma evans brevir pers 356

- lotenia 356

-—— ornata 356

Leptoptilus dubius 62

ee ---—— fasciculata .. 28

| Lethe rohria nilgiriensis 229

Libellago cuneata 189

-—— fenestrella 193

——-—-- quadrimaculata 192

—_——--— trifasciata 315

——-—— unimaculata ... oe ols

——---— falcinella taleimella 7, 83

Limnza luteola 154

—— stagnatilis - 155

Limnocryptes minima ... 85

Limosa lapponica lapponica 82

| —- limosa limosa te 82

| Liopeltis (Ablabes) Semen 381

Lioscopus collaris nepalensis ... 323

Lithocranius walleri 308

| Lithotis rupecula... “s 115

Lobivanellus indicus aigneri ... 80

—_—— -——----——— indicus 147

Lodicularia capensis

—— ——-—- fasciculata ... 28

Lophoceros birostris 374

Lophophanes rufonuchalis Meat vs 321

Lophopogon tridentatus es 25

Lophophorus impejanus 144, 327

XXIV

Loris lydekkerianus

——- malabaricus

Lufa acutangula...

Lyceena orbitulus walli...

Lycodon aulicus ... :

—--— flavomaculatus

———— striatus . ;

———— travancoricus ...

Lymnccryptes minima ...

Mabuia carinata ...

Machetes pugnax..

Macrogomphus aymecicns

Macromia ida

Macropisthodon pinta color sik

(Tze pidonotus))

plum bicolor

Manisuris granularis

—— polystachya ...

Mareca penelope... :

Marmaronetta angustirostris

Matrona basilaris

Megalogomphus hanyngtoni

Megalophrys

Megalornis grus ...

—-—— —- nigricollis

Melanitis leda ismene

Melanocorypha bimaculata

—__-—_—__——--— maxima

torquata

Merganser merganset orientalis

orientalis

Mergus albellus ...

—-serrator ...

Merops apiaster ...

—- superciliosus eae Net

Merularuficollis ...

Michelia champaca

Microcichla scouleri scouleri

Microhierax eutolmus

—=———--- — fringillarius

Micropus affinis galilegensis

-—— apus pekinensis

——-—— melba melba...

pacificus leuconyx

Milvus lineatus é

——-— migrans ouinae

——-———---—— h neatus

—= ==

——- ———--——— migrans

Mimusops elangi ...

Mirafra

Molpastes Mateo an ’ ee

INDEX OF SPECIES

_ PAGE |

206

334

i elds

224,

380 |

224

380 |

149 |

380, 381

84 |

116

Ti7 |

224, 380

380 |

28 |

152 —

152 |

116

114

B27

228

303

325

153

329

153

Shs)

147,

25;

137]

376

O22

972 |

322 |

377 ||

S77

139 |

139

242 |

354

Pom Mab Yes)

326 ©

PAGE

Monticola solitaria pandoo 322

Montifringilla blanfordi... 324

- - mandelli... 324

——- - nivalis adamsi... 324

—_-—__—_— alpicola... 347

—— ruficollis 324

Moschus moschiferus 41

Motacilla alba an 350

——- hodgsoni 134

——-——-——-— persica ... 350

——__— persona sce eS

———-——- alboides 325, 351

—-—-—-———. beema 301

——-—- calcarata ace no

—-— cinerea 344, 351

_—— -—— melanope 134, 375

—- citreola i 344, 351

we calcaratus... 325

—_—_-———-——-— citreoloides 134

—-—_——_-—-——- caspica 351

—_—_——_——__—__——. were eh!

———-—-— dukhunensis 350

—_—-~--———- feldege 344

——---—— flava. 351

sa eats: 351

——-—— leucocephala 351

—_————- lugubris . 351

—_—-—_-_--——_—— Pen cnienar cues ie 45

——_—--—~ maderaspatensis 351

————— melanogriseus 351

-—---—— personata... 351

———-- thunbergi 351

——--—-~— vidua ... 377

—- yarrelli 351

Munia malacca 345

- pectoralis 345

Mureenesox cinereus 255

Mus rattus.. aa as 330

Mycalesis minetis Bcdects 229

Myiophoneus temminckii 321

Nacaduba nora ... 230

Naia hannah wae = 206

——- naia... re 350, 381

——- trupudians... 224

Narke dipterygia.. 253

Nemorrheedus goral 373

Neophron percnopterus neconoptenie 66, 141

ES rubripersona-

tus 66

Neritina perotettiana 115

Nerodia piscator ... Lip es 225

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Nerodia (Tropidonotus) piscator ... 380

Nesokia hardwickei i Bie aa el O80)"

-- huttoni ... ee $2 50057 09114 G36

Nettawuhitiase = is. fees Ae 94, 152 |

Nettion crecca crecca ... as neal’ 2 Oe

Nezara viridula ... eee ae Bede |

Nucifraga caryocatactes nemeniy seer O2UN |

Numenius arquata lineatus ... Zan 82

—- pheopus pheopus... see 82

Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax OT, 151

Nyroca ferina ferina ... cee woe, 152

- fuligula ... ae 3 42209, 805 1

——- marila marila ... ~ een 24

-nyroca nyroca ... ies re 94

- rufa rufa... or ae eee Ber

Oceanites occanicus occanicus Aes 89 |

CEdicnemus cedicnemus astutus oe te)

—--—__—_-—— sahare ... 43)

Cinanthe deserti oreophila ... ss mp ed

CEnopopelia tranquebarica tranque-

barica ... es ae a wee 74

(Estrus ovis an be at a 36 |

Oligodon subgriseus _... asa fe eed ||

—-—— teniolatus... bes ... 380

Ophiocephalus ... sts ses ie OS

Ophiurus corymbosus ... a's sa He

——_——- megaphyllus... ... test, “EOC

Oriolus oriolus oriolus ... ae .. 344

Osteogeniosus militaris ... ay =) Bale

Otis tarda . Ses ee ye 78

Otocorys Aipestiig Bineei. — 136; 325

——_——_——-- longirostris... 135; 302

———— penicillata albigula ... Spee 209

@tohthus ruber ...- . = ay mee 200

Otus bakkamoena deserticolor ae 65

brucei mais awe ses bet 65

aaa DEM MALIC. 0... oe aes as 65

a MCMC US" 45 ant sek at 65

—— scops pulchellus ..,. Rig a 65 |

—— sunia ee oe ve er Go 1

—— turcomanus... sit oe are 65

Oxyura leucocephala ... aah es gS 1}

Palzornis cyanocephalus Ds oes 46

irs CDAIeHSIS: \.. “is .. 46, 47

————- torquatus ... Ss ... 46, 47

Palingenia ve re cas ieee LS

Paludomus sd +e iat ee ee es

Pampus cinereus.. $54 wa iar 208

Pandanus odoratissimus Ses seperate

Pandion haliaétus haliaétus ... 66, 141

Pantoporia perius evi Er awl aed

Panurus biarmicus russicus

Papilio caunus

- delesserti...

- demoleus...

——-- memnon ...

- polytes romulus

- rex ;

Parantirrhoea mereelle

_ Paraplagusia bilineata ...

| Parnassius apollo

Parus monticola ...

Passer biblicus

| ——-——-—-———- confucius

indicus

- montanus...

—__ -———_—_——— montanus

—— dilutus

———-— pyrrhonotus

rutilans

———

-——___—.--——-——. cinnamomeus...

—_—_——--——_——- debilis ...

——————_ —— intensior

Pastor roseus

Pathysa nomius .

Pavo cristatus

| Pelecanus crispus

-~——-- -- onocrocotalus

Peitophorus acuminatus

————--— divergens

| - talboti

Pennisetum typhoideum

Penthoceryx sonneratii sonneratii

Perdicula sp.

Perdix hodgsonie Aodeeoinee

Pericrocotus speciosus ...

Perissospiza carneipes ...

ICLELOId eS” 5c.

———--——- speculigera

Petronia stulta 3

Pheeton eetherius indicus

| Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis

| ———---—— fusicollis

—__—_—__-~—— Javanicts

Phalaropus fulicarius

-_—-— lobatus

Phasmoptynx capensis ...

Pheretima posthuma

Philomachus pugnax

Phoenicopterus minor

- domesticus meTOoIns er

hispaniolensis transcaspicus ..

382

149

€xvi

PAGE |

Phoenicopterus ruber antiquorum |

Phcenicurus erythrogaster grandis 322.51

——-+—- —— frontalis 139, 322

aes hodgsoni ee 322

———-- ——_ ochrinus pheciieuraides 139

ns ea ee rufiventris 3220)

Phylloscopus t. sindianus 356

Pica pica bottanensis 320

Picus squamatus squamatus eh AST

Pila globosa 155; 382 ||

Pinacopteryx =i 377

—- ridleyanus 377

Pipistrellus mimus mimus 211

Pitta brachyura ... ii ie ies 1208 |)

Phoepyga squamata 140 |

Planesticus albicinctus ... 322

Platalea leucorodia

— major 90

Platanista gangetica 42 |

Platanus orientalis 272

Plegadis falcinellus Se _ 61 |

falcinellus 90, 150 |

Ploceus baya 45 |

Plotosus anguillaris 256 |

Plumatella fruiticosa 116

stricta 116

Pluvialis apricarius = 81 |

Podiceps cristatus cristatus 95,193 |

— nigricollis nigricollis

—_—— ruficollis albipennis 153 |

—_—_—_-—___---— capensis

Podoces humilis ... 321

Pogonatherum crinitum , 289 ©

— polystachyum ... 289

——-— refractum 289 |

—_——— saccharoideum 289 |

———-— — — var. |

genuinum 289 |

monandrum 289

Pogonopsis tenera 289

Pollinia argentea 290

~ - eriopoda... 25

-—-——~ fimbriata 290

monandra 259

- polystachys 289

——- striata 23

-— tristachya 290

Pollinidium angustifolium 25

Polydactylus sextarius ... o7

383

Polydesmus

92 |

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Polymitarcys 118

_Polytoca barbata 17

——-— cooki 17

Populus alba ae

_ Porphyrio ao tleete olor enna us78,1

61 |

95 |

96 |

_— —— seistanicus ... 73

Porzana bicolor é 8

—— fusca bakeri ... ie me iL

———-— maruetta ane 237

—-——— parva see feteOo

—-—— porzana : a etl OW,

—— maculipennis sad (Ey

| ===——— pusilla pusilla. 77, 146, 240

Precis almana ee 229

hierta 229

lemonias .. 229

orithyia 229

| Prinia gracilis lepida 217

Propasser frontalis 345

——-—— pulcherrimus::: 323

—-—-—— rhodochlamys grandis 345

=—+— rodachrous : 345

———-rodopeplus ... al 345

See nara blythis 2k 345

Prosopis specigera... 231

Prosopistoma 118

Proteles cristatus.. ¥ 303

Prunella Priveeectig peiecene 323

——-—— rubeculoides 323

———— strophiatus strophiatus 323

Psephenus... - 119, 120, 124

Pseudogyps benpalener 66

Pseudorhombus russellii dee Senter

Pseudotantalus leucocephalus... 2 OL-62

Psilostachys filiformis 18

Psittacula schisticeps ehienrene . 240

—- torquata oe ; sae CLO, SLO

Pterocles alchatus penone tee vis)

— coronatus atratus 74

——_——— exustus. Syl

Eee fichteneteint Hehtendeettid 74

———-— orientalis ee BARON le!

-——_——— senegalensis erlangeri 75

-————-_ senegallus 75

Pteromys belone.. 373

Ptyas (Zamenis) mucosus 380

Ptyonoprogne obsoleta obsoleta 348

= pallida 348

rupestris .. 325

Pucrasia macrolopha pid eteilipin! 144

Puffinus chlororhynchus cee oes 8S

=-_-—— ignipennis..,.

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Puffinus persicus .. .. 89, 90

-—- irocirig renmincsents 89

Pyrgita nigricollis “es 346

Pyrrhocorax graculus S21

—_——- pyrrhocorax 320

Pyrrhospiza punicea punicea .., 323

Pyrrhula erythrocephala 323

Pyrrhulauda grisea 354

—-—— — siccata 354

Querquedula crecca crecca 94

querquedula 94, 152

Rallina canningi... wet 12

- fasciata ii

- superciliaris siperoiinre 3)

eurizonoides $)

Rallus akool : 6

aquaticus aquaticus 146

—_— —— korejewi i

crex 241

fasciatus ... i

fuscus 1

Sularis.| ay. 243

parvus a 239

phoenicurus a3 4

porzana ... nee see 237

pusillus 240

striatus 243

superciliaris 9

Rana afghana 4 114

—- cyanophlyctis ins 267

——- formosa re 114

—- tigrina 267

Rapala melampus 230

Ratzeburgia schimperi .. 30

Reana luxurians . as)

Recurvirostra avoceita HUaver ta 82

Rhiniachne princeps =e Ay 22

| Rhinocypha adamantina .. 187, 189, 190

SEE beatifica 187, 188

———_--—— beesoni we tite 187, 189

——- bifasciata 187, 314

——_—__-———- bifenestrata , 1875185, 316

—_—- —— biforata .. 186, 187, 188

—_-——_ bisignata .. 186, 187, 189

—— cuneata 186, 187, 188, 189

—- fasciata Av ioe LOE

——— -—— fenestrella... 187, 188, 193, 194

——-—— _fulgipennis... 312

———-—— hemihyalina 187, 193

——~-—— hilaryee 1875-318

186, 187, 188, 311

XXV1i

PAGE

| Rhinocypha immaculata 187,317

--——_ iridea 186, 187, 188, 195

-——- laidlawi 187

—— pertorata ... . 186, 187, 188

——-——. quadrimaculata _ 186, 187, 19],

192

——-—--——— spuria... 184, 186, 187, 188, 190,

191

———— trifasciata .. 1H 1S7 pLOon Glo

| ——--——_- trimaculata 1G/eISG 32

/———--——- unimaculata 187, 188, 196, 313,

317

——_—--——- whiteheadi Aol 187, 189

| Rhodopechys sanguinia 346

Rhyacornis fuliginosa a22

Rhynchium nitidulum ... 98

Rhynchops albicollis 88

Rhytachne princeps 22

Riparia ijimee ijimze 348

——-—- riparia indica 348

——— ~-- — subsoccata 348

- — sinensis.. 348

Ripidium ravenne a 2Os

Rostratula benghalensis benehalens: 149

Rottbceellia acuminata 29

——_—--— arundinacea 30

—_——-——— clarliei bs 33

——-—-——. compressa Zfac8

————— compressa var. fascioulatn 24; 28

— ——_— -—— genuina ... 27

———-——— corymbosa ... we 62

——_———-- divergens 29

-—_———— elegantissima eal

————— exaltata a ol

-———___—_————_—-— arundinacea SL

—_—_ —_— —__ var. genuina out Jl

———_—_—_——_—_——_——_ robusta 31

| ————— gibbosa a5

————— glabra 27

a hirsuta 30

————- talboti 30

Rytilix granularis 28

Saccharum egyptiacum var. nepalence 283

sae —— —sinense ... 283

——-—— . arundinaceum .. 283, 285, 286

—————— bengalense 285

————— boissieri ton 1286

—— ——— canaliculatum nae. 208

————~-— chinense 283

—————— ciliare 285, 286

————— ciliare var. griffithii 287

INDEXAOF SRECIES

24 |

23a

23 4

23 |

25 |

XX Vill

PAGE |

Saccharum cylindricum 281

- europeeum Acie |

——— —— exaltatum Bory ||

——— fastigiatum .. ae shh ee OO

————— eriffithi ..283, 286, 287

— - hirsutum 30

——_—— —— indum aa iis 28 |

———--— munja 283, 285, 286 |

———-——- officinarum ... 283, 285

————— paniceum ... 289

————-— procerum 285

—————- ravenne ede 201

——— —-—— sara 285, 286

wa sentidcednibens eeeoo

-—- ———— spontaneum : 283, 285

——-—-—— spontaneum var. egyptia-

cum;. 284

——---—— var, caper 281

——— tridentatum ... 25

Salvadora persica 213

Salvadora sp. 231

Sarangesa dasahara 230

--—— purendra 230

Sarcidiornis melanonotus 63

Sarciophorus malabaricus 80

Saroglossa a 344

Saxicola torquata mhdiea 139

Scieena russellii ... ves 201

Scirpus maritimus 334, 335

- subulatus 334

Scoliodon acutus wee 2200 ||

Scolopax rusticola rusticola 85, 149 |

Scolopendra 231

Scomberomorus eee 207

Secutor insidiator 258

Sehima ischemoides

— kotschyi... 24

———- macrostachyum

- nervosum

- spathiflorum

- sulcatum

Sesbania grandiflora 378

Silybura brevis 380. |

—- macrolepis 380

Simotes arnensis ... 224

Simulium. 120

Sorghum Bieler : 296

——- bicolor var. Spor atin 296

——-——- cernum 297-4]

—_—_———- durra 296.73)

o——-—— fulvum we 293 |

PAGE

Sorghum halepense ... 292, 294

Se Or aa OO

————- nitidum 291, 293

-——-——— papyrascens ... meri ag 3/40 7

—————- purpureo-sericeum ... 291, 293

——-—— rubens... Sete 42/8)

—————-- roxburghii SORE | oe)

——_———__——_-—— _ var. hians 295

_——— —--——_— _ semiclau-

Stim. .: oe 295

—— —— subeglabrescens 291, 292

-——_——- versicolor 291

——-——- verticilliflorum woe 204

——-—— vulgare 291, 293

—_———-——- —— bicolor ae 296

——_—_————— subvar nigrum 296

—_—_—-————— var. obovatum 296

—_ —— roxburehii 293

Sparus spinifer 299

Spatus clypeata ... 94, 152

Spheoeroides lunaris : 262

———-- viridipunctatus 262

Spindasis ictis 230

-_—————- vulcanus ads ocoU

Spirostreptus wae ane 382, 384

Spodiopogon albidus ... as 288

---—— angustifolius BA 25

—_——_--- conjugatus aoe 21

ae obliquivalvis 21

Squatarola squatarola squatarola 81

Stegosia cochinchinensis 31

————. exaltata 31

Stercorarias parasiticus... 88

Sterna albifrons ... 87

— — albigena ... 87

— aneestheta Poli gaie 88

-——— bengalensis bengalensis 87

—--— bergii velox 87

—— hirundo 150

ae — hirundo... | ve 87

——-—_——-—-— tibetana... is 328

-—--— melanogaster 87

repressa 87

sandviceunsis eandicene 88

——— saundersi ... 87

Strepsiceros imberbis : Brrpeee sil"

Streptopelia decaocto decaocto... 73, 144

—————— orientalis meena ... 73, 144

ean senegalensis cam bayensis 73

——_——__-—— turtur arenicola ... - 73

Strixaluco biddulphi ... ees 64, 140

INDEX OF SPECIES Xxix

PAGE PAGE

Strix butleri ee tes ase ne 64 | Tringa glareola ... 65 se ...89, 148

Sturnushumii_... ae sia aa 44 - hypoleucus aes ... 84, 148, 375

———-— y. humii ee a jase 3 O44 - nebularia coe wee ass Ss 1AQ

ee ev minor ays “ei .. 344 - ochropus aes ... 84, 148, 328

___--— vy. poltaratzskii a .. 344 - totanus eurhinus oer ... 149

Suastus gremius ... 2a ae ... 230 | Trochalopterum affine affine ... we oe

Sula cyanops ne tre = ae 89) |) 2: Jineatum ot . 140

—— dactylatra melanops mF = 89 | Tropidonotus piscator ... ie .. 224

Sus cristatus is aes ... 42 | Trypauchen vagina... ae ae blll

Sylvia curruca Paltmodendfi = ... 376 | Turbinicola saxea ate FE os, | ALS

376 | Turnix dussumieri eco homeo

Syntarucus alia ae ee .. 230 | Turtur orientalis see ae aves. wed.

Sypheotides aurita an: i eee 79 | Typhlops sp. oi wba ti .. 224

—— indica... es as ves 79 | Tyto alba javanica... es 64, 140

Sypheotis auritus ve ae - 60 | Udaspes folus ... oe oe ... 230

= -—— penralensis ... ee .- 60 | Upenoides vittatus ®t oe ge 4S)

Syrrhaptes tibetanus ... an 144, 327 | Upupaepopsepops ...__... .. 138

Tachysurus coelatus... Per .. 296 ———— orientalis... a saa 320

-——. sona ... wes as ... 255 | Uroconger lepturus _... aod vet 2200

Tadorna tadorna ... 93, 220, 221, 222 | Uroloncha pectoralis of od

Tamarix ... eee er “as ere | | cman ae punctulata ... a «. 345

Taphozouslongimanus... ... «. 371 | ——---—rufiventris ... ... 0... 345

melanopogon .. se 371) Vanellus vanellus Sox) SEE Sagar,

Tarucus theophrastus ... ae .. 230 | Vanessa cardni ees wed oe 229

Telicota dara weve eee 230 | Vipera russellii 000. 0. 204

Terekia cinerea ... ee .. «+ 83 | Varanus bengalensis ... ... . «©3381

Terias ... wes tee eee~S ewe «= 877) “Virachola isocrates ...... ... 230

=== hecabe .... ae a ... 229 | Woodrowia diandra ... ie - 19

--—— libythea ... — Me .. 228 | Xylocopa amethystina ... ce 225, 269

= leta Ke Pye Me ..» 229 | Ypthima asterope mahratta ... 5. 229

=== venata, ~... oe =" ... 228 | Zamenis fasciolatus ... ae ... 380

Tetracerus quadricornis... ~ ae 35 | ———— mucosus ih Mies ees

Tetraogallus caspius... 54 | Zea mays ... z ron 0 ls

-——- himalayensis Himelevencis 145 ——- var. BOI snCrne see ne 17

Lawes tibetanus ... a ... 327 | Zetides agammemnon ... we ae OS

——————— tibetanus «- 146 | Zizera gaika ae es we 1200

——- tetrax orientalis ... a 78 —lysimon .., ee _ .. 230

Thelepogon elegans... » 22 mahamaha .,, ... —... ~—-230

Threskiornis melanocephalus ee otis decreta doe = er 280

cephalus Ses sis ses =. 0 trochilus putli ... ae .. 230

Tichodroma muraria ... als ... 321 | Zosterops aureiventer ... as 355, 356

Tirumala formosa a oa -- 3// | ——--——.. cacharensis ,.. a . 354

— mercedonia .. ne 377 | ——-—— egregia me =e e355

Totanus calidris tne ae os S28) 1) = El wesi at aa we = 354

- nebularius cae ace re $4 |) Ses palpebrosa ... ie .. 354

aaa es stagnatilis ae a ses 84 —_——-—_——-— elwesi ... eee 137

- totanus curhinus ae $4 | —-——____..__ nilgiriensis ae S00

Tragopansp. ... ore a es 54. | ——-——————_-— occidentis ... 354

Trichoptera oe Rei ee .. 118 | ——-—— simpiex se es i sooo

Trichiurus muticus cae a en 2Or ——_——_-—— peguensis ... ssn GOS

—— savala aan see -. 257 | Zygonyx ... me ake le Se 7

é ~

AY NATURAL |

‘EDITED BY.

sir REGINALD SPENCE, Krk ws. 2s: H. PRATER, C.M.zZ. Cae

— & SALIM A, ALI

VOL. XXXII, No.

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CONTENTS OF VOL. XXXII, No. 1

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE. (With a coloured plate.)

By E.C. Stuart Baker, F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.O.U., H.F.A.O.U. cs-cevese

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY. Part III. By

E. Blatter, S.3.. Ph.D., F.L.S. _ ..... Praca l Coo saearetle nd aicebe th eves saute

THE MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS AND SPORTSMEN,

Part Il, <(With four plates)... By Salitaj A. AM. saciesccccisccscccassceoces

THE BrirDs OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN. Part III. (With a plate).

By C. B. Tieehurst, M.A., M.R.C.S., M.B.O.U., F.R.G.S.

eee 27 ee2er72 080008

THE POTTER Wasp (Rhynchium nitidulum). Partl. (With two plates

and three text-figures). By Major R. W.G. Hingston, 1.M.S. .........

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS. (With one plate and ten text-

MeuUreS er DY Di. S. Ls. Ora.) WsSCx \)o¢cccceesceseeccsseeee da, Sooeweneat eats

WILD ELEPHANTS IN THE UNITED PROVINCES. (With four plates). By

RENN em © arin lO sei, S .. Tack, aksoae dave etse caus secees cicmrca acess Seusigigwatec steed

SCIENTIFIC RESULTS FROM THE MAMMAL SURVEY No. XLVII.

By Oldfield Thomas, F.R.S. .......0. Reb anne SL Seale oe Mawesne dears bes oaesmeteesues

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR. Part Il. (Witha plate). By B. B.

SIMA SUOMI SONU Gn eeteaeises sci acie cave slp conse hed ea ce niles dclnek viae's saeacaulecg Ubewasees

ON THE BREEDING HABITS AND FECUNDITY OF THE SNAIL Limncea

luteola. (With two plates andtwo graphs.) By R. V. Seshaiya, M.a.

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIMALAYAS. (With four plates). By J. W.

AES GIGENCEEUI Ceaener ors SU Ceer a obs cuca ieee nrc ethic dae siciee tins oe ccaueca stusdiee wuniuteneeee es

PRINCIPLES AND EXTENT OF THE EDUCATIONAL SERVICE RENDERED

TO THE SCHOOLS BY MUSEUMS IN AMERICA. ( W1th four plates). By

ee lemiaheCei fe CoNle 2. S.8 lac Seanch asics cagest eee vrs wie eeas veneeebisscelonvtscgsmsrcness4 os

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES. Part XXVIII. (With one text-figure and four

braves By, Lt.-Col F.C, Braset, 1.MsS., BiE.S. .ccocctisestueseonpescsses

ED TOR Aer ase ckcdscs.cceh eee teeretseceanecceebesss ese PO PF BAS REPT Or PS

OBITUARY. | cus ccecccacietes cesses Beret samh ee aa cile eho a ic | Stella wate msloacead ae piaseSon mon eeeuee uke

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES :—

I.—Observations on the habits of the Slow Loris Loris lydekkert-

anus. (Witha plate). By C.R. Narayan Rao, M.A. ..........0ee

ie—-Man-eating Tigers. -By* A. P; Kinloch) *8.Z.S8. | ©. ..esssocssvexseaces

III.—A Panther treeing its kill. (Wzth a photo). By W. M. Logan-

ElOme? NMAION 6 é.0c5.eeeseteor se Ea ein ea aad eee ea ae Ra ne Rn rt

IV.—Wild Dogs attacking cattle. By Randolph C. Morris ............

V.—Jackals in residential compounds. By Rodney Foster, Major...

VI.—The maternal instinct in the Dwarf Pipistrelle (?. mimus

mimus.) By W.W.A. Phillips, F.Z S.,M.B.O.U. .......00.0006-

VII.—Note on the Desert Gerbille (Cheliones hurriane}. By C.

BUGS etn Th acre Neem initia ny center one veces chit inn te Oa Ose San oaseek eb nadnp eaherae ts

VIII.—Habits of the Porcupine. (Hystrix leucura). By C. McCann.

ie white Hlephant Calf. By D. Fo Machies .....cccceccdeccseed sosesensit

PAGE

i CONTENTS OF Vol. XXXII, No. 1

PAGE

X.—Twin Elephant Calves. (Wzth a plate). By Gordon Hundley 215

XI.—Solitary Cow Gaur. By Randolph C. Morris. .................0. 215

XII.—Bison and cultivation. By A. P. Kinloch, F.z.S. ....2........ 215

XIII.—Worn down tips of Bison horns. By Randolph C. Morris... 216

XIV.—A Fine Muntjac. By A. P. Kinloch, F.z.s. .......... Saisie tases ectanes 216

XV.—Clicking noise made by Muntjac. By Randolph C. I Morris... 216

XVI.—Peculiar Cries emitted by Sambhur stags fighting. By

Randolph ©. Morris juci. steer e-teseee cies oene este neni 216

XVII.—Mating of the Jungle Crow (Corvus coronotdes intermedius) .

By Arthur Hs Berrifi ui e ee ener een SAE: 217

XVIII.—The Bearded Tit, Panurus viarmicus russicus (Brehm)— An

addition to the Indian list. By Hugh Whistler ............ 217

XIX.--Occurrence of the Pamir Horned Lark (Ofvocoris pencillata

albigula) in the Punjab. By Hugh Whistler ............... 218

XX.—The Rock-sparrow (/etronia stulta) inthe Puniab. By Hugh

Wiiistler © siivecchaics 0c Serer ete teeta aoe eter re towers cane 218

XXI.—The mating of Paroquets. By Salim A. Ali ......... cages ceeieene 218

XXII.—Habits of the Indian Spur-winged Plover (Hoplopterus

gyentralss).; By R.W=G. Himgstom Sec kscseress encase seccee sn: 219

XXI1II.—Comments on Mr. J. K. Stanford’s ‘ Occurrence of the Sheld-

rake and Lapwing in yes Burma.’ mie R. Musgrave

Hanna, Captain: - | i.5.2usecsonsnesemetoas tnseseste ce womennserece tm encets 220

XXIV.—Occurrence of Swinhoe’s Snipe in North Lakhimpur. By

W.M. Lemarchand ..... Baaisicdatene nec e OMe anette ikea once ate 221

XXV.—The breeding of the Spotbill Duck is pacilorhyncha).

By C. G. Chevenix Trench: uso es le ee 221

XXVI.—Occurrence of the Sheldrake in Behar. By P. Murphy ..... 22%

XXVII[.—Further record of occurrence of the Sheldrake Legere

dadorna) in-Behar... (By FA] €. Munns, 2.2.55 tes aaaee 222

XXVIII.—Migration of Wild Fowl. Byars CilCTS! praca ceaet Ome ete ice 222

XXIX.—Large flocks of the Comb Duck (Sarcidiornis melanonotus).

By Rodney Foster .......+....0 Suse setics tes Nenconsensncmmce acme eaten 222

XXX.—A case of snake-bite due to Cantor’s MEG UE Gcreses

cantoris). By A. Bayley-de Castro _...... LG sbomseeeeonsnaiatessiees 223

XXXI.—Snakes of Sholapur. By K. G. Gharpury, I-M-S. ............... 224

XXXIl.—Large brood of eggs of the Checkered Water Snake

(Nerodia piscator). By S.H. Prater ......se.ceeceeeeeseeeceees 225.

XXXIII.—Notes on the life and habits of the common Carpenter

Bee (Xylocopa amethystina). By A.G. Frere, Major, F.z.S. 225

XXXIV.—Notes on a collection of butterflies made in Jodhpur and

Mount Abu during the years 1924, 1925 and 1926. By A. D.

Macpherson, C.1.B. 62/2. ccoscccetecenessortateesset oer sitinwecane=mactiae 228

XXXV.—The Occurrence of the Wood Mason Butterfy (Parantir.

rhea marshalli) in Coorg. By H.C. Winchworth ....... 230

XXXVI.—The North-West Locust in Sind. By Harold H. Mann ... 231

XXXVII.—On the Vitality of the Centipede rt eae sp.) By

SSeplataa VAS ANd eae ew ae tae Coteacuee Geer ne totes snes nemetoeen sat 231

XXXVIII.—The Poison of Centipedes—Being a special reference

to the Andaman species. By A. Bayley-de Castro ......... 232

235

PROGREDINGS 0: -xacecaycdcaeus pce td Gide cs the emiecteiloa ers uiniecianararcian Satstna's’e SAN tt a re dee

SOC

JOURN. BOMBAY NAT. HI

THE MALAYAN BANDED CRAKE

Rallina fasciata

ize

s life si

LTD.

VITTY & SEABORNE,

JOURNAL

OF THE

Bombay Naturai History Society

Avucust, 1927 VoL. XXXII No. 1

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

He Oo STUART BAKER B.27.S5,7F.L.8.,; 00B:0:U), (HePlA.O0U:

VoL. V

THE WADERS AND OTHER SEMI-SPORTING BIRDS

Part III |

(With a coloured plate)

(Continued trom page 546 of Vol. XXXT)

AMAURORNIS FUSCUS

The Ruddy Crake

There are four forms of this little Crake found within the Indian

Empire, viz. :

(1) Amaurornts fuscus fuscus. The Ruddy Crake.

- Rallus fuscus Linn., Syst. Nat., 12th ed., 1., p..262,. 1766,

Philippines.

This and the Ceylon form are the smallest of the four

forms, with a wing between 89 and 99 mm.; the colour

the same as in FP. f. bakeri but deeper both above and

below. Itis found from the Philippines through Celebes,

Java, Sumatra and Borneo, etc., all through the Malay

Peninsula to Tenasserim.

(2) Amaurornis fuscus bakert. The Northern Ruddy Crake.

Porzana fusca bakevi Hartert; Nov. Zool., 1917, p. 262

Kuinaon. |

Larger than the preceding bird with a wing of 97 to 110 mm.

Similar in colour. Inhabiting Northern India from the

2 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATORALAITST. SOGIET YAO). exes

Afghan Frontier (Whitehead) and Kashmir to Eastern

Assam and Bengal, Chin Hills and Arakan.

(3) Amaurornis fuscus erythrothorax. ‘The Chinese Ruddy

Crake.

Gallinula erythrothorax Temm. and Schlegel, Fauna Jap.

Aves, p. 121, pl. 28, 1849, Japan.

This is the largest and palest of all the known forms, the

wing 105 to 120 mm. ; the lower parts a paler rufous and

the crown less rufous anteriorly. This form occurs only,

as far as is yet known, in the Shan States within our

limits. Outside these it ranges from Japan and China to

Yunnan and Siam.

(4) Amaurornts fuscus zeylonicus. The Ceylon Ruddy Crake.

Amaurornts tuscus zeylonicus Stuart Baker, Bull. B. O. C.

Janolo27.

A small form about equal in size to A. f. fusca but much

paler and faintly tinged above with yellowish. Omitting

one very faded specimen, the darkest Ceylon bird is not

quite so dark as the palest Javan or Malayan specimen.

Ceylon and South-West coast of India to Belgaum and

Kanara.

Description.—Forehead and crown to the sinciput, sides of the

head and neck, lower plumage to abdomen vinous chestnut ; upper

plumage dark olive brown, the rump, upper tail coverts, tail and

wing quills darker brown; flanks and abdomen olive brown; under

tail-coverts blackish-brown, edged with white; chin and centre of

throat white more or less tinged with chestnut.

Colours of soft parts.—Iris crimson, brown in young birds,

glaucous blue-brown in nestlings; bill horny green to brownish

green, the tip of the lower mandible yellowish; eyelids plumbeous

grey with ared rim; legs and feet reddish-orange to brick red.

Measurements.—A. f. fusca. Totallength about 220 to 230 mm. ;

wing 87 to 99 mm. ; tail about 55 mm. ; culmen 19 to 21 mm. ; tarsus

3/7 ran,

A. f. erythrothorax. Wing 105 to 122 mm.; culmen 21 to 24 mm.

A. f. bakert. Wing 97 to 110 mm.; culmen 21 to 24 mm.

A. ft. zeylonicus. Wing 87 to 96 mm. ; culmen 19 to 20 mm.

As already noted, the depth of colour varies in the different

geographical races, but the above description fits them all.

Young Birds are darker above, and have the crown concolorous with

the back ; supercilia, sides of head and neck and lower surface dull

white barred everywhere with dusky brown; flanks and thighs dull

olive-brown ; under tail-coverts as in adults.

Nestling black with fulvous spots behind the ear-coverts.

Distribution : vide supra.

Nidtficatton.—The Ruddy Crake breeds wherever it is found,

though birds may move about considerably under the effect of

drought, heavy rainfall or other locai conditions, whilst it is possible

that many of the rails which swarm in the swamps and lakes of

Eastern Bengal in Winter breed further north. I have personally

found them breeding in the Sunderbands of E. Bengal, Mymensingh

and the Surma Valley in June, July and August whilst in Kashmir,

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 3

Osmaston and others have taken eggs from May to September.

In South Siam, Herbert found it breeding in July, whilst in Ceylon

eggs have been taken in August and September, and in Travancore

in June. Further north, Davidson took nests with eggs in Kanara

from May on to August. The nest is a fairly substantial pad of

grass, rush blades or similar materials, which is placed either on or

quite close to the ground in swampy places, marshy fields or in

islands in the middle of swamps. Occasionally the nest is placed

in reeds, rank grass or bushes growing in water, but this is ex-

ceptional. The eggs generally number 5 or 6, more rarely 7 or

even 8. The ground colouris a pale cream, sometimes a little

deeper, and sometimes almost white, whilst every now and then

one comes across a clutch of an almost deep red-pink. The marks

consist of numerous ill-defined flecks, irregular blotches and spots

of rufous-brown to deep reddish-brown, fairly numerous over the

whole surface and generally more so at the larger end; the

secondary markings, not always visible, are similar put more scanty

and of a pale mauve, neutral tint or reddish-lilac. The surface is

smooth but not glossy, and the texture strony and close. Thirty- —

four eggs of the southern form average 30:0 « 22°35 mm.; one

hundred of the northern form average 32°3 « 23:7 mm. ; whilst the

only two clutches which I have seen of the Malayan bird were only

about 29:0 & 23:0 mm., and were broader in comparison than any of

the others. Typically they are rather smudgy ill-marked eggs

compared with the more boldly spotted eggs of Hypotenidia.

Habits.—The Ruddy Crake is possibly a much more common

bird than people imagine, but it is such a desperate little skulker

that it is most difficult to flush. When snipe-shooting in Eastern

Bengal we often found that inthe hotter hours of the day the snipe

deserted the rice fields and shallow mud and water round the edge

of the swamps, taking refuge from the heat under the lilies, lotuses

and other plants growing in deeper water. It was whilst pursuing

these snipe that | first came across this very attractive little Crake.

There was no chance in this deep water of running, so that any

birds we disturbed were forcedto fly and, in consequence, we were

constantly putting up tiny birds which flew much like quails for two

or three hundred yards and then, after swerving a little to the right

or left, dropped suddenly down to the water plants again. The legs

were always visible as they rose so that I guessed them to be rails

of some kind, and shooting one found it to be a Ruddy Crake. As

long as the sun was high and hot we could be sure of putting up

any number of these quaint little birds, though shooting in the early

mornings and late afternoons one but seldom saw them as they

were then feeding where the cover was ample, and they could

escape without flying. Their diet is both insectivorous and

vegetarian and they, sometimes at least, also eat tiny fresh water

molluscs. Its note, so far as I have heard it, is a very soft crake,

not rapidly repeated but uttered as a single note at considerable

intervals. It appears to be uttered only in the very early mornings |

and the evenings, and then but rarely. Hume syllabifies this as

keck-keek-keck. Even where the birds were most numerous, as in

the Sunderbunds, they were but seldom to be heard, though I was

4 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY Vol. X2OdT

never in these districts during the breeding season when they may

be more loquacious. They keep much to rice fields during the

day, though they also haunt ali kinds of swamps and marshes and

may sometimes be found in marshy meadows at a considerable

distance from any water. Round about villages, they may sometimes

be seen on quite small pieces of water and they then become quite

used to humanity and very tame. They seem good-tempered littie

birds, several pairs feeding in company without squabbling or

fighting, even at the commencement of the breeding season. For

the table they are of no use, though Hume says that when skinned

and disguised with onions, etc., they are quite eatable.

AMAURORNIS PHGNICURUS

The White-breasted Water Hen

The White-breasted Water Hen has three geographical races

within our limits, including the typical form. These are :—

(1) Amaurornts phenicurus phenicurus. The Ceylon White-

breasted Water Hen.

Rallus phenicurus Pennant, Ind. Zool., ix. p. 10, 1769, Ceylon.

Inhabiting Ceylon and South Travancore only.

(2) Amaurornis phenicurus chinensts—The Chinese White-

breasted Water Hen.

Fulica chinensis, Boddaert, Tabl. Pl. Enl. p. 54, 1783, China.

Found throughout India, Burma, China.

(3) Amaurornis phenicurus tnsularis.—The Andaman yes

breasted Water Hen.

Amaurornis tnsularis Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xxiii, p. 163, 1894,

Andamans.

Known from the Andamans only.

Rather larger than either of the two preceding birds, and

darker and blacker in general colour, with more extend-

ed white onthe forehead.

Vernacular Names.—Dawak, Dahak, Dauk (Hin.); Kitimat

(Oudh); Azuvahi (Sind.); Kureyn (Gond); Bole-Radi(Tel.) ; Tannin

Koli, Kannung Kolt (Tam. Ceylon); Aulu-quet (Burm.) ; D7-dao-ho-

gophu (Cachari).

Description.—Forehead, supercilia, sides of the head, chin to vent

pure white ; upper parts, wings and sides of the body from breast

to vent dark slaty-grey more or less washed with olive, and the

upper tail-coverts generally browner ; tail and wing quills blackish,

the first primary with white outer web, posterior flanks, thigh-

coverts, vent and under tail-coverts dingy rufous; axillaries and

under wing-coverts slaty edged with white.

Colours of sott parts.—Iris brown in the young to crimson in the

breeding male ; bill green, the base of the upper mandible red, the

tip and lower mandible paler and more yellow ; legs and feet dull

chrome-yellow to yellowish-green.

Measurements.—A. phenicurus phenicurus.—Total length about

320 mm.; wing 142 to 160 mm.; tail 58 to 66 mm.; tarsus 49 to

57 mm. ; culmen 35 to 42 mm.

A. p. chinensis. Wing 158 to 173 mm.; culmen 36 to 41 mm.

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 5

A. p. insularis. Wing 157 to 173 mm.; culmen 37 to 44 mm.

Young Birds have the feathers of the forehead and face tipped

with slaty and the white obscured ; the upper parts generally are

olive-brown rather than slaty-gray.

Distribution.—As given above.

Niditication.—The White-breasted Water Hen breeds from June

to September over the greater part of the area in which it is found

but Messrs. Wait, Phillips and Jenkins have taken eggs in almost

every month of the year in Ceylon, whilst in Assam, Burma and

China many birds commence breeding in May. The commencement

of their breeding agrees in fact, as it does with other water-birds in

the tropics, with the break of the rains. As soon as the swamps

and lakes begin to fill, the birds set about their domestic duties,

and by the time the insect world is at its worst and thickest, the

eggs hatch and the young have a super-abundance of food. So

entirely are nesting proceedings governed by the rainfall that the

breeding commences late or early just as the rain itself is late or

early, whilst in some seasons of drought the birds desert the driest

areas altogether and betake themselves to more congenial

surroundings, or, if they remain, do not breed at all. The

nest varies very much both in character and in position. Sometimes

itis placed in among tangles of reeds, coarse grass, cane brakes,

or any of the other forms of vegetation which grow either in the

Swamps or immediately round them. In these cases the nest

may be just clear of the water or as much as two or three feet

above it, whilst in appearance it is just a heavy, large edition of

that of the common Coot or Moorhen. -At other times it is

built quite high up in bushes, trees or palms and it is then often

made of twigs, creepers and such other material as may be

handy for the purpose. Oates states that most of the nests he found

in South Burma were high up in trees, not below ten feet. In Assam

most of our nests were found close above the water, but one we

found high up in a pepul tree and another pair of birds had laid in

the deserted nest of a Fish-eagle. JI have seen many hundred nests,

and think six or seven eggs is the number most often laid, and

four or five only are often found incubated. Bingham found eight to

be the normal full clutch in Tenasserim, but, on the other hand, in

Ceylon, three or four eggs only are normally laid and five is excep-

tional. In shape the eggs are rather long ovals, very obtuse at the

smaller end and sometimes rather cylindrical. The surface is fairly

smooth and fine and sometimes faintly glossy. The ground colour

varies from a very faint yellow-cream to yellowish-stone or pale buff,

never of any great depth. The markings consist of blotches and

spots, irregular and, generally, rather longitudinal in shape, scattered

sparsely over the whole surface and rather more numerous at the

jarger end. The primary or superficial characters are light reddish-

brick to rather dark brownish-red, whilst the secondary or under-

lying marks are lavender grey, neutral tint or purplish. The eggs

are very like those of the Ruddy Crake except in size. The average

sizes for the eggs of the various races are as follows :—

A. p. chinensis. 100 eggs 40°5 & 29:7 mm,

6 JOURNAL, BOMBAY. NATURALVHISTASOCIETY, Vol. XXX]

A. p. insularis. 50 eggs 40°8 & 31:0 mm.

A. p. phenicurus. 40 eggs 36:8 X 30:0 mm.

Maxima 45°0X% 30:0 mm. (Burma) and 43:0 & 32:2 mm. (Andamans).

Minima 37:0 X 28:0 mm. (Ceylon).

Habits.—This Rail is, I think, much less of a skulker than most of

its tribe and its larger size, also, makes it a less easy matter to hide.

It, of course, keeps as a rule closely to cover, more especially to,

reeds, rushes and cane brakes, whilst at other times it creeps about

in the forest and jungle surrounding the swamps, lakes or ponds in

which it feeds in the mornings and evenings. At the same time it

may often be seen wandering about over the water weeds, or swim-

ming from one patch of cover to another, quite in the open, and I

have often watched them feeding for half an hour at a time. They

are very active walkers over weeds and lotus leaves, moving with

rather long, deliberate strides, each foot lifted high and the tail

jerking in unison with each step whilst every now and then there is

an additional quick jerk upwards. It is, on the whole, a bold bird

and may often be seen wandering about on the banks of village,

ponds and ditches and, indeed, often breeds on these. It feeds on

shoots of rice and water plants, reeds, grain, insects, mollusca and

worms, etc. It is a noisy bird in the breeding seasons, and emits

sounds quite astonishing for the size of the bird. E. H. Aitken

describes its breeding call thus :—

‘ Anything more unearthly proceeding from the throat of a bird

I never heard. It began with loud, harsh roars which might

have been elicited from a bear by roasting it slowly over a

large fire, then suddenly changes to a clear note repeated like

the coo of a dove.’

They are pugnacious birds, and two cocks meeting in the open

during the breeding season are sure to fight, but the damage done

seems never to be serious, and they never continue the scrap with

the pertinacity of the Water-Cock.

AMAURORNIS AKOOL AKOOL

The Brown Crake

Rallus akool Sykes, P.Z.S., 1832, p. 164, Deccan.

Vernacular Names.—None recorded.

Description.—Whole upper parts, wings and tail dark olive-brown,

the quills rather darker brown and less olive; lores, indistinct super-

cilia, sides of head and neck and lower plumage ashy-grey, passing

into brown on the posterior abdomen, vent and under tail-coverts ;

chin and centre of throat whitish passing into the grey of the

surrounding parts.

Colours of soft parts.—Iris brownin young birds to blood-red in

breeding males; bill greenish-horny or pale-green, more blue at

the tip; legs and feet fleshy-brown to livid purple.

Measurements.—Wing 114to 131 mm. ; tail54to 63 mm. ; tarsus 46 to

51mm. ; culmen 28 to 32 mm. Females average smaller than males.

Chick in down.—Black.

Distribution.—Northern India from Kashmir to Gowhati in West

Assam; south to Bengal, Behar, Central Provinces, the South

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 7

Deccan, Mysore and Rajputana. I cannot trace any specimen from

North Khasia Hills, nor did I ever see it there myself. There ison

the other hard a specimen from Gowhati in the Kamroop

District.

Niditication.—The Brown Crake breeds from May to September,

making a pad nest of reeds, grass or rushes, and water weeds

either in among the reeds quite close above the water or a more

substantial nest of the same materials mixed with twigs, leaves and

creepers which it places in a thick bush or tangle of canes in or

close to the water. Occasionally it makes use of a bush in thick

undergrowth some distance from any swamp or open water but

nine nests out of every ten will be found practically in the swamp

or alongside the margins. The nest is nearly always well concealed,

and, as it is small for the size of the bird, is not easy to find. The

number of eggs laid varies from four to six, and in appearance

they are very like rather richly coloured eggs of the Common

Water-Rail. The normal shape is a broad, blunt oval, almost

spheroid, and the texture is very fine and close, often well glossed.

The ground colour is anything from a pale yellow—or pinkish-stone

to a warm salmon or buff. The markings consist of fairly bold,

well-defined spots and blotches of pale reddish-brown to deep

reddish-purple, scanty everywhere but rather less so at the Jarger

end.

Fifty eggs average 34:9 265 mm.; Maxima 38:8 K 27:2

ange 37°7 << 280° mm... Minima 31:8 <x 26:7 and 34:9 >< 23°2

mm.

Habits. —Blewitt sixty years ago gave an admirable account of

this Rail. He writes :—

‘T have met with it nearly always singly, occasionally in pairs.

Its favourite resorts are swamps, the reeds and bushes on the

edge of streams, and the tangled amphibious coverts on the

border of water-courses. A favourite place of abode too is the

marshy ground occupied by Keurak Plants, the branches and

broad leaves of which it ascends like Arythra phenicura, with

wonderful agility. I have always found it a shy bird, seeking at

once a place of security on the slightest alarm. Frequently I

have witnessed it half emerge from the rushes, either to feed or

change its retreat, and then pause, carefully scanning the neigh-

bourhood before venturing onward. When walking, it ever

and anon jerks up its short tai]. It runs with rapidity, and

when once concealed it is very difficult to flush it; indeed, it

would appear rightly to trust far more for safety to its speed

of foot and aptitude for concealment than to its powers of

flight.

Slowly and heavily does it fly, and never to any distance, and

with good dogs it may be run down and secured. This Rail

has a short plaintive note, which, however, I have only heard it

uiter at daybreak and just before sunset.’ ’

It by no means always keeps to marshes and swamps, but often

seems to feed on dry and even on open ground where much of its

food consists of land snails, slugs, worms, etc. Like the rest of the

Rails, it is a shy, secretive bird, avoiding observation.

8 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST: SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

AMAURORNIS BICOLOR

Elwes Crake

Porzana bicolor Walden, Ann. Mag. Nat. His. 4), iv, p. 47,

1872, Sikkim.

Vernacular Names. None recorded.

Description.—Head, neck and Jower plumage dark ashy grey,

darkest on the crown and nape and paler on the sides of the head,

changing to albescent on the chin; upper parts, wing-coverts and

inner secondaries rich brownish-rufous ; tail black ; wing-quills dark

brown.

Colours of soft parts.—Iris brown in the young to blood-red in

breeding males; bill pale glaucous-green tipped paler and greyer

and with a red patch near the base, more vivid in the breeding

season ; legs and feet dull red to rather bright brick-red.

Measurements.—Wing 112 to 119 mm. ; tail 57 to 60 mm. ; tarsus

37 to S9 mm.; culmen 21 to 27 mm.

Distribution.—Nepal and Sikkim to Eastern Assam; Khasia and

Cachar Hills, Manipur and Northern Burma to Yunnan and the Shan

States.

Nidification.—This Crake breeds in considerable numbers in the

Khasia Hills, as also in the North Cachar Hills in the few places

suitable to it. In Sikkim it is said to breed between 4,000 and

6,000 feet, but in Assam we took nests anywhere above 3,000 feet,

whilst in Dibrugarh it was not uncommon practically down to the

foothills. Most of the nests personally found by me were in quite

small patches of jungle round about, or between, rice fields at an

elevation of some 5,500 feet. Here they were very numerous, and

I found nearly a dozen birds breeding in a small patch about 100

yards long by 60 wide. The nest differed in no way from that of the

Brown Crake and was usually built a few inches above the water,

though one was built up in a rhododendron tree in deep forest and

some way from water.

The eggs only differ from those of the Brown Crake in being

more richly coloured. 80 eggs average 33°9 K 26:lmm.; Maxima

36:3: X525°3 and 35:3, & 27:0. mms > Winima is 20: l-and..32°3

2a 7 min.

The breeding season is from the middle of May to the end of

August, and the number of eggs laid varies from 5 to 7.

Habits.—The habits of Elwes’ Crake are much the same as those

of the Brown Crake. In the hills south of the Brahmapootra we

found it kept to patches of jungle, scrub and rushes between or

round the rice cultivation or, where there was none of this, to smali

ponds and pools in or near forest. They also frequented small

streams, especially those which had plenty of cover on one side and

open grass land on the opposite one. They often came out of the

cover in the early mornings and late evenings and fed on the grass »

land, picking up small grasshoppers, Jand shells and small worms.

On the least sign of danger they scuttled down to the bank and

either swam or flew to the cover on the far side. When frightened

they ran with head and tail depressed and covered the ground at a

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 9

great pace, but at other times their walk was the usual slow jerky

movement affected by all Rails. I have never heard their call,

even in the breeding season, though I attributed to this bird a deep

grunting noise, very loud and resonant, which I sometimes heard,

late in the evening, in their favourite haunts.

RALLINA SUPERCILIARIS SUPERCILIARIS

The Banded Crake

Ratlus superciliaris Kyyton, Ann. Mag. Nat. His., xiv, p. 230,

1834, Malay Peninsula.

Rallina superciliarts, Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 167.

Vernacular Names.— Daobur-lat (Cachari).

Description.—Chin and throat pure white, in younger birds more

or less tinged with rufous; head, neck and breast chestnut ; remain-

ing upper parts and wing-coverts dark brown slightly washed with

olive; wing-quills dark brown ; lower breast, abdomen and under

parts barred black and white, the centre of the abdomen practically

unmarked with black.

Colours of sott parts.—Iris crimson-red or blood-red; bill green,

the terminal half of the upper mandible and tip of lower dark brown;

legs dull greenish-plumbeous, plumbeous or black.

Measurements.— Total length about 250 mm.; wing 122 to 132 mm. ;

tail 55 to 64 mm.; tarsus 39 to 46 mm.; culmen 27 to 28 mm.

Young birds have the upper parts of the head and neck con-

colorous with the back; sides of the head and neck more ashy-

brown; breast brown; inner webs of quills more or less barred

with dull white, a few white and black bars on scapulars and wing-

GOVEITS.

lrides dull brown; legs greenish-plumbeous.

Distribution.—Ceylon and the sub-Himalayas from the North-

West Frontier to E. Assam. Thence in small numbers here and

there throughout the well-wooded, wetter parts of India. It also

aecurs In South Burma, the Malay States and Annam. |

In the Philippines its place is taken by #. s. eurt@zonotdes, a race

with deeper rufous colour and either no white or very little on the

chin and throat.

Nidtfication.—In 1900 and succeeding years General R. M. Betham

found this bird breeding in considerable numbers on the ghats near

Khandalla. In some notes to me he writes :—

‘This rail is apparently common on the ghats at Khandalla, near

Poona, during the monsoon. It was probably overlooked as

so few people visit these spots at this season, owing to the

excessive rainfall.

‘My shikari first brought me the eggs which were puzzling as

they were so unlike other rails. He, however, managed to

secure the bird with the eggs so we were fortunately able to

_ identify: them.

‘It breeds in thick jungle or, rather, in dense tangles of bushes

and other vegetation, and its nest is not easy to find.’

5 :

10 JOURNAL, BOMBAY. NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Prior to this in 1898 Bell and Hervey had alreadv taken many of

its nests and eggs round about Kanara. This is recorded in this

Journal (vol. xiv, p. 394) as follows :—

‘We found that the Banded Crake was a fairly common bird in

the jungles along the coast during the monsoon, and we

obtained altogether some dozen nests with eggs varying in

number from 4to 7 inthe clutch, besides finding many empty

ones. All the nests with eggs were found in the months of

June to September, i.e., during the heavy rains. Many nests

were found robbed of their contents by mongooses, etc., the

empty egg-sheils lying onthe ground below, some few there

were in which the eggs were rotten. The nests are placed in

bamboo clumps, on creeper masses, on the top of a tree stump,

etc.. and were, at the most, six feet fromthe ground. The size

ef the egg is about. 1:307°x 1” omvan average. one ofr the

dargest out of a jseries of 50; measures 1°40%" x 1-207.) = ihe

birds breed in the densest jungles as well as in the scrub jungle,

from sea level up to the tops of the highest hills, which are

here about 1,800 feet.’

Including Bell’s figures the average for 90 eggs is 33:7 X

26:0 mm. ; Maxima 35:8 K 25°4mm. and 35:1 K 28:2 mm.; Minima

30-9 KX 25-0 mm. The texture of the eggs is suz generis ; something

between the thick shiny, chalky texture of the egg of the Crow-

pheasants and that of the Herons, but nearer the former, and it is.

most interesting to find that the eggs of these two primitive birds,

the Rails and the non-parasitic Cuckoos, should be so much alike

and so reptilian in character. In shape the eggs are very round,

blunt ovals.

Osmaston took two nests containing 7 and 5 eggs respectively

in June and July near Dehra Dun. In the latter case the parent

bird attacked his hand, leaving her nest for the purpose, and then

returned to sit on her eggs. The native shikaris told Betham that

they sat very tight and would almost allow themselves to be captur-

ed by hand.

. Habits.—Bell’s comments on the habits of these Rails forms an

excellent summary :—

*What Mr. Davidson says about its habit of calling in the

mornings and evenings is correct; but it calls at other times

during wet, misty weather. The cry is rather like that of the

“« Common hen after laying’ an ‘ese ; but ‘there is a- difierence:

. Suddenly disturbed, it utters the cry of the common paddy

bird (Ardeola grayt) when alarmed ; if suspicious of danger: it

makes a noise like "k—z Pe ’; pronounced in a sub-

dued voice. It is extremely shy of open ground, and will

invariably fly across even a few feet of open path in the jungle.

When flushed it takes to the nearest tree or any thickly foliaged

place available andis quite at home perched on a branch.

We have put up many during our walks, generally with dogs.

I have never seen one during the dry months, though I am

constantly in their breeding haunts during that time. Whether

- they migrate or not from the district we do not eon for

certain, hut. it seems probable. ie BV aa a

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 3? 11-

-*In the jungles they go about with their wings slightly hanging.

They feed on insects.’

As regards their migration it is unlikely that they will be found

to do more than move locally if even that. It seems probable that

in the dry season they move away to those swamps and lakes which

never dry up even in the longest droughts, so it ma ybe that they

move north to those limitless wet areas lying below the foot-hills of

the Himalayas. Even this, to me, seems unlikely and, when we

have unravelled the mystery of their movements, we may find that

they are very restricted.

RALLINA FASCIATA

The Malayan Banded Crake

Rallus: fasciatus Raffles, Trans. Lin. Soc., xiii, p. 328, 1822;

Malay Peninsula.

Rallina fasciaia, Blant. and Oates, iv, p. 169.

Vernacular Names.— None recorded.

— Description.—Whole head, neck and breast deep chestnut, the chin

and throat often a little paler and the crown darkest ; remaining

upper parts, scapulars and innermost secondaries rufous-brown ;

wing-coverts black with broad white bars; quills dark brown, barred

on both webs with whitish; below broadly barred with black and

white, the latter more or less rufous on the iongest feathers.

Colours of soft parts.—Iris crimson or blood-red; Dill blackish,

the base paler and tinged with greenish or plumbeous-siate ; gape

and orbital. skin crimson; legs and feet coral-red ; claws slate or

horny-blue.

Measurements.—Length about 240 to 250 mm.; wing 118 to 131

min. ; tail 49 to 51 mm. ; tarsus 42 to 48 mm. ; culmen 20 to 21 mm.

Young Birds have the head and neck the same coiour as the back ;

the breast is pale dull brown and the remaining under parts” are

whitish obscurely marked with brown bars.

Distribution.--From Karennee and Rangoon south through the

Malay Peninsula to the Celebes and Moluccas, Borneo, Java and

Sumatra.

Nidification.— There appears to be nothing on record about the

breeding of this Rail, but Mr. Kellow took several sets of eggs for

me near Simpang in the Federated Malay States. The nests were

said to be rather rough platforms of grass, twigs and other scraps

of vegetation placed on or under bushes in small ravines a !ong

way from any water. In 1904 Wickham took a nest with 5 eggs.

The nest was said to be

‘a pad of dead bamboo leaves with a few dry twigs placed on

the ground under the thin cover of a small bush. I made many

attempts to secure the old bird—one including three devices,

one cast with a fishing net in the daytime, twice shot at (once

on the nest), and the setting of nooses; in spite of all these.

failures I was lucky enough to get the old male caught on the

nest at night with a cast-net. The nest was ina small patch of

_. bamboo tree jungle, rather dark, not very thick undergrowth

$n the bend of a stream which dries. up in the hot weather,

lg JOURNAL, BOMBAY NA TURAL AIST. SOCIZTY, Vol. XXX./

leaving perhaps a pool or two, but was at this time a flowing

stream ; the particular patch of jungle used bordering the paddy

land.”

The nest was taken on June 29.

Mr. Hopwood also obtained a nest of this bird containing four

eggs, quite fresh. This nest, as well as those from Simpang, were ail

taken in August. It contained four eggs which together with the

Malay ones are now in my collection. They are of the same

curious texture, shape and colour as those of A. superctliavis. They

average 31:5 & 23:9 mm.; Maxima 35:0 K 25:4 mm. ; Minima 27:2

27-9 im:

Habits. —Much the same as those of the preceding bird, and

probably like it resident wherever found, in spite of the fact that

so many are caught taking refuge in houses in a completely

exhausted condition. The first bird I ever saw was a young female

caught by one of my servants in their house, very exhausted when

eaught, but reviving at once and fiercely attacking the hands of her

capturer, uttering hoarse grunts rather like a dog growling. Pro-

bably she had been pursued by some nocturnal vermin, and took

shelter in the first hiding-place she found. Tnis was in North

Cachar in December at about 2,500 feet. I also found this bird

breeding there, capturing a hen bird and one young—out of severai

—on her nest. It must be as great a skulker as any other Rail, for

I hardly ever saw one unless accompanied by dogs, as nothing

would make them fly and, far from flying across open paths in the

jungle, they always scuttled across as hard as they could. In

Assam it was a bird of dense jungles only, but in Lower Burma

and the Malay States it seems to come more into jungle surround-

ing villages and cultivation.

RALLINA CANNINGI

The Andamanese Banded Crake

Euryzona canning? (Tytler), Blyth, Ibis, 1863, p. 119. Port

Canning, Andamans.

Rallina canningi, Blanf. & Oates, iv, p. 169.

Vernacular Names.—None.

Descripltion.—Whole upper plumage, head, neck, breast and inner

secondaries deep chestnut ; wing-coverts the same, but a few of the

median and greater obsoletely barred with white and dark brown ;

primaries and outer secondaries dark brown edged with chestnut

barred on the inner webs with whitish, and also, less distinctly on

the outer webs of the first two or three primaries, lower parts

boidly barred with black and white.

Colours of soft parts.—Iris red; bill pale-green; legs and feet

olive-green.

Measurements.—Total length 325 to 350 mm. ; wing 151 to 163 mm. ;

tail 73 to 92 mm: ; ‘tarsus 56 to 62 mm.; culmen 29 to 33mm. As

usual in Rails. the males exceed the females in average measure-

ments, though there is much overlapping in size.

Distribulion.—The Andaman Islands.

Nidification.--Osmaston obtained a fine series of the nests and

eggs of this Rail in 1907, whilst Wickham and Anderson obtained

TFHE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 13

others later. All these nests appear to have been madeé of dead

leaves, grass and rushes and to have been placed on the ground in

marshy land or on the borders of streams in dense forest. In one

case only does the record show that the nest was placed on a_ thick

bush above the ground at a height of some three feet.

The nests contained 3 to 5 eggs of the same texture and colour

as those of the other Aadlinas but the chalky covering with its

shiny yellowish surface is perhaps rather more pronounced.

Thirty-two eggs average 40°6 &K 30°83 mm.; Maxima 431 & 30°8

and 41°3 & 32:0 mm. ; Minima 37:2. 30:0 and: 39°4 K 29*7 mm.

Habits.—There is nothing on record about this Rail beyond

Wimberly’s remarks of nearly 50 years ago :—

‘This is an extremely shy, and, I believe, exclusively a forest

bird. It certainly never leaves cover during the daytime. It

is found either in the forest itself or in thick secondary scruo

adjoining this, and especially where the ground is swampy or

~ intersected by hill streams.

‘Tf driven out of cover it will not take wing unless hard-pressed,

when its flight is slow and heavy.

‘Its food appears to consist of insects and fresh-water fish. The

latter I infer, as some of those I sent you were taken in snares

laid on the ground baited with fresh-water shrimps which were

all eaten.

‘T have never heard the call notes, but the man I employed to

snare some of my specimens tells me that its call is very

similar to that of the Andamanese Banded Rail.’

Later Osmaston endorsed all the above marks and he has also

proved it to be a very common bird in the Andaman Islands.

( Zo be continued )

ey 2

REVISION OF

THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY

BE. (BLATTER, Soa.) Phe ee. S

Part III

(Continued trom page 917 of Vol. xxx)

GRAMINEZ: (Cke. ii, 907)

-E. BLATTER AND C. McCann

We-have decided to take up the Graminee for seyeral reasons. Since

Cooke’s publication of this family several new species have been described and

McCann has added over 50 species which are new to the Presidency. More

important than the numerical additions are the changes made during the last

fifteen years with regard to the general arrangement of the grasses and the

definition of certain genera. A great amount of work has been done in Europe

as well as in America. In Europe it was chiefly O. Stapf who, with his vast

experience of the grass-flora of many countries and the rich material of “the

Kew Herbarium at his disposal, has advanced our knowledge of the grasses

and their systematic co-ordination more than anybody else. A comparison of

his monograph of the grasses in the Flora of Tropical Africa which is still

in. progress with that of the Flora Capensis shows at once in which direction

and to what extent progress has been made. As regards the second sub-

family Pooidew the two works reveal only minor changes; but considerable

changes were found necessary in the first subfamily Panicoidec. Here

again it is chiefly the genera Andropogon and Panicum _and their allies which

have been affected. In this respect, especially where the tribe of Panicee

is concerned, we owe a good deal to American botanists. It was chiefly

the fact that there were no definite dividing lines for the genera of Andpro-

gonee and Panicec, that induced Stapf not ‘to unite the groups wherever

intermediate links can be detected,’ which would bring about endless

confusion, but ‘ to be satisfied with approximately definable groups, which can

on the whole be easily grasped and remembered.’ In other words, it is

preferable from a practical point of view to adopt smaller genera than

unmanageable large genera for merely theoretical reasons. As the Kew

Herbarium, as far as the grasses are concerned, owes its systematic arrange-

ment entirely to Stapf, and as colonial workers will always appeal to Kew in

their difficulties, we thought it advisable to follow Stapf in the definition and

sequence of the tribes as laid down in the Flora of Tropical Africa. As of

late the grass-problems have received renewed attention by the Agricultural

Departments in India, we do not consider it superfluous to bring the systematic

account of the grasses of Bombay up-to-date.

An. asterisk in front of a name means that the particular genus or species has

been introduced.

Two compiete keys, one natural and one artificial will be given at the end.

SUBFAMILY I. PANICOIDEA:

The mature spikelets fall entire from their pedicels or with them, all are

alike or differ in sex and structure. Perfect spikelets with 2 heteromorphous

florets, the upper hermaphrodite, the lower male or barren. Rhachilla not ©

continued beyond the upper floret:

TRIBE I. Mayide@.—Sexes borne on difterent inflorescences on the same

plant or the female spikelets at the base of the inflorescence, and the male

above them. The male spikelets in pairs, one sessile, the other pedicelled, or

both pedicelled, in spike-like solitary or panicled racemes, 2-flowered. Glumes

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 15

membranous or chartaceous, enclosing the florets. Valyes more or less

hyaline, awnless. The female spikelets solitary with or without a rudimentary

pediceiled companion, 1-flowered. Glumes firm, at least the lower which

ultimately often becomes bony, or both thin and more or less hyaline. Valves

hyaline, awnless.

1. Male and female spikelets in separate inflorescences.

Male spikelets in a large terminal panicle. ‘The

female spikelets in the axils of the leaves

(a) Female spikes distinct, articulated . . “l. Huchlena.

(6) Female spikes grown together into a spongy

more or less cylindrical body a 725. ew,

2. Male and female spikelets in separate portions of

the same spike, the female below.

(a) Grain enclosed in the usually globose or ovoid

ivory-like capsuliform supporting sheath ... 3. Cozy.

(6) Grain enclosed in the hardened outer glumes ... 4. FPolytoca.

*], EUCHLANA, Schrad.

Stout and tall annuals with leaves very broadly linear or oblong. Male

spikelets 2-nate (sessile and pedicellate) on the spiciform fascicled branches of

a terminal panicle, 2-flowered with coriaceous glumes. Female spikelets in

2-ranked spikes which are clustered in the leaf-axils, not fused as in the Maize,

joints rhomboidal, oblique, articulate, excavate, with the margins of the

excavation embracing the cartilaginous outer glume and with it forming a

smooth pseudocarp.

*1, Euchlena mexicana, Schrad. Ind. Sem. Hort. Gé6tting. (1832), var

luxurians ; H.H. Mann in Bull. 77, Dept. of Agric., Bombay.—Aeana luxu-

ytans, Dur. in Bull. Soc. Acclim. Sér. IT, LX (1872), 581.

Vern. name: ‘'Teosinte.

Description: A large, very succulent, strong growing, annual grass, 30 cm.-

3.m. high. Leaves long, 5-7°5 cm. broad. Male spikelets 8-9 mm. long,

crowded in long spikes ina corymb 15-25 cm. long. Female spikes in the

leaf-axils. Styles very long, protruding from the top of the enclosing leaf-

sheath. The spike of the female spikelets breaking up at maturity into

rhomboidal seed-like joints. Nearly allied to Maize and resembling it in its

tassel of male flowers and broad leaves. A single plant often sends up

100 stems.

Locality : Cultivated in the Ganeshkhind Botanic Garden.

Distribution: A native of Guatemala.

Uses; Cultivated for green fodder, but it does not stand drought well.

Horses are fond of it.

"2 ZEA, inn, (Cke. it, L051, stapti. Ply Trop, Afr. ix,) 26)

Tall, stout, annual grasses with large leaves, the axils of the lower bearing

the female inflorescences (cobs), tightly enveloped by large membranous

bracts. Sexes in different inflorescences on the same plant. Male inflorescence

terminal, of panicled spike-like racemes with 2-nate spikelets shortly unequally

pedicelled or one sessile on the inarticulate rhachis, both similar, 2-flowered,

awnless. Glumes subequal, membranous, convex, obscurely 2-keeled, 9-10-

nerved. Valves more or less hyaline, 3-5-nerved ; valvules similar, 2-nerved,

obscurely keeled ; lodicules 2, fleshy. Stamens 3; anthers linear. Female

spikelets 2-nate in 4-11 longitudinal rows, Slightly immersed in the spongy

axis of the cob, with a lower barren and an upper fertile floret, awnless.

Glumes similar, very broad, fleshy below, hyaline above, nerveless, ciliate.

Lower valve resem bling the glumes, but shorter and ciliate, with or without

a similar but smaller valvule ; upper valve similar to the lower with a valvule

about as long as the ovary. Leodicules 0. Ovary obliquely ovoid. Style very

_ long, 2-fid at the tip, papillose upwards, exserted in long silky tasse!s from the

sheathing bracts. Grain large, subglobose or dorsally more or less flattened,

surrounded by the dried up glumes, valves and valvules; scutellum large,

equalling or exceeding 3 of the grain.

Species 1.—A native of America.

*1. Zea mays, Linn. Sp. pl. ed. I, 971; Beauv. Agrost. 136, t. 24, fig. 3;

Steud. Syn. Pl. Glum. I, 9; Bentl., and Trim. Med, PI. t. 296; Duthie, Field and

16 JOCRNAL, BOMBAY NATCRAL AIST ©S COLE Yi, Vel Xana

Gard. Crops 25,-t. 53. Koern..and Wern. Handb. d. Getreidebaues 1,

330-378, II, 772-870; Harshberger, Maize, in Contrib. Lab. Univ. Pensylv. I

(1893) "75-202 ; Nicholls, Text-book Trop. Agr. (1892), 260-265 ; Montgomery,

Corn'Crops (1913), 1-275 ; Davy, Maize (1914) ; Stapf. in Fl. Trop. Afr. IX, 26.

Vern. Names : Maize, Buta, Maka.

Description : Culins up to3 m. high, sometimes more. Leaf-sheaths terete,

more or less hairy upwards along the margin; ligule short, truncate, thinly

inembranous, more or less pubescent; blades linear-lanceolate, up to over

90 cm. long -and 10 cm. wide, glabrous or almost so, tips often drooping.

Male panicle up to over 20 cm. long; rhachis pubescent; spikelets up to

12mm. long ;-anthers 6mm.longe Female spike (cob) and grains varying

much in size and shape, the grains also in colour.

Locality : Cultivated widely in the Presidency as a forage for cattle and asa

vegetable and for flour.

Origin ; The origin of Maize is a much discussed question. Some are of

opinion that it has been developed from Teosinte (Huch/@na), others that the

original wild form has become extinct. A more acceptable opinion is that it is

a hybrid between Teosinte and an unknowi or extinct species resembling pod-

corn, a variety of Zea mays in which each kernel is enveloped in the elongated

floral bracts.*

_Kuwada? who studied the number of chromosomes in Maize came to the

conclusion that Zea mays was originally derived from the hybridization between

kuchlena and some unknown species of the tribe Andropogonee, long

chromosomes belonging to the former and short ones to the latter, and that the

nuclei of its various individuals possess both kinds of chromosomes in various

combinations according to the law of chance.

To explain the structure of the ear of Maize, Collins published evidence

which indicated that the ear may have developed through the twisting of yoked

pairs of spikelets. Weatherwax®* tries to refute this opinion. He contends

that dropping of rows of seeds is due to the discontinuance of a row of paired

spikelets and not to the loss of the pedicelled spikelets from yoked pairs, and

that there is no indication that short rows represent long rows partially aborted,

but that the abortion of spikelets or of rows in the ear seems to be much more

constant as a characteristic of theories than of real ears.

(zenetics of Maize: ‘Those interested in Maize from a genetic point of view

sre referred to the more recent publications mentioned in the foot-note.*

* Collins. The origin of maize. Journal Wash. Acad. Sci. 2 (1912), 520.

* Kuwada, Y. Die Chromosomenzahl von Zea mays L. Ein Beitrag zur

Hypothese der Individualitat der Chromosomen und zur Frage tiber die

Herkunft von Zea mays LL. Jour. Coll. Sci. Imperial Univ. Tokyo, 39 (1919), 1-148.

* Weatherwax, P. A misconception as to the structure of the ear of maize.

Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, 47 (1920), 359-362.

* Blaringhem, L.—Production par traumatism d’une forme nouvelle de Mais

a caryopses multiples, Zea Mays var. Polysperma. Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci.

Paris 170, (1920) , 677-679.

Collins, G. N.~—Structure of the maize ear as indicated in Zea-Euchlena

hybrids. Jour. Agr: Res.,.17- 11919), 127-135;

Collins, G. N.—Dominance and the vigor of first generation hybrids. Amer.

Nat); 09 (1921), 116-135,

Collins, J. L.--Chimeras in corn hybrids. Jour. Heredity, 10 (1919), 2-10.

Emerson, R. A.—The nature of bud variations as indicated by their mode of

inheritance, Amer. Nat., 56 (1922), 64-79.

Hume, A. N.—A system for breeding corn or gregarious animals. Jour.

Heredity, 11 (1920), 191-192. .

Jones, D. F.—-Segregation of susceptibility of parasitism in maize. Amer.

Jour. Bot., 5 (1918), 295-300.

_ Jones, D. F.—The effect of inbreeding and crossbreeding upon development.

Proc. Nation. Acad. Sc., 4 (1918), 246-250. ;

Tee D. F.—Heritable characters of maize. Jour. Heredity, 11 (1920),

-10/. Ce

Jones. D. F.—Selection in self-fertilized lines as the basis for corn improve-

ment. Jour. Amer. Soc. Agron., 12 (1920), 77-100.

eee” J. H.—Heritable characters of maize. Jour. Heredity, 11 (1920),

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 11

3. Corx, Linn. (Cke. ii, 997).

Species 5 or 6.—Hot countries of the Old World.

Coix Lacryma-Jobi, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. i, 972; Cke. ii, 997 ; Stapf in Fl. Trop.

Afr. ix, 27.—Coitx Lacryma, Linn. Syst. ed. x, 1261; Duthie, Grasses of N. W.

India, 11, and Fodder Grass, N. Ind. 18.

Locality: Sind: Umarkot, sandy plains (Sabnis B717!) ; Chuar Chemali,

Indus River (Blatter and McCann D680!) ; Mirpur Sakro (Blatter and McCann

D681 ! D683!) ; Gharo (Blatter and McCann D682!).—Gujarat: (Graham).—

Khandesh (McCann !) —Konkan : Gokhiwara, Bassein (Ryan 25!) ; Matheran

(Paranjpe!); Dohe Forests (Ryan 713!) ; Junga Hill, Thana (Paranipe!) ;

Alibag, rice fields (Ezekiel!) ; Kenery Caves, foot (McCann 9876!) ; Sion

(McCann 8453!) ; Bhandup, near tank (McCann 5098!) ; Horse-shoe Valley,

Ghatkoper (McCann 9877!) : Common along line from Kalyan to Kasara in

streams (McCann !).—Deccan: Lonavla (Garade! McCann! Woodrow) ;

Khandala, common all over (McCann 9405!); Purandhar (McCann 5005!) ;

Igatpuri (McCann 4346!) ; Panchgani Ghat (Cooke) ; Panchgani (Blatter !).—

S. M. Country: Devaryi (Sedgwick and Bell 4426!) ; Dharwar (Sedgwick

1856 !),—Kanara : (McCann!) ; Common all through the Konkan and Deccan

during the rains, filling up the banks of streams and fields.

Distribution ; Tropical Asia, cultivated in Africa and America.

Uses : Used as fodder for cattle. Duthie says that they fatten on it. Haines

calls ita poor fodder for cattle. Of the false fruits there are several varieties

differing much insize, shape and colour, and used for decorative purposes in

the place of beads. According to Stapf one variety with thin shells is an

important cereal in Burma and in the Farther East. Waxy endosperm, first

found in maize from China, Burma and the Phillippines, has been found now

in Cotx Lacryma-Jobi from the same region.?

4. Porytoca, Br. (Cke. ii, 998)

1. Polytoca Cookii, Stapf in Hook. Ic. Pl. 24 (1895) t. 2333; Cke. ii, 998.

Locality: Kathiawar: Junagad (Blatter). — Konkan: Tungar forest,

Bassein (Bhide) ; Bombay (Dalzel!) ; Salsette (Jacquemont 706). Deccan :

Khandala (McCann 9881!) ; Igatpuri (McCann 9880!) ; near Mahableshwar

(Woodrow’) ; Mahableshwar (Woodrow, Cooke). Kanara: (Lisboa).

Distribution ; Apparently endemic in the Bombay Presidency.

2. Polytoca barbata, Stapf in Hook. f. F. B. I. vii (1896), 102 ; Cke. ii, 599.

Coix barbata, Roxb. FI. Ind. iii, 569; Dalz. and Gibs. Bombay Fl. 289.

Coix gigantea, Herb. Russ. ex Wall Cat. No. 8626.—Chionachne barbata, Br.

in Benn. Pl: Rar: Jav. 16; Aitchis; Cat. Panj. Pl. 157; Duthie Grass. N. W.

Ind.11, and Fodd. Grass: N. India, 19.

Locality : Gujarat : Chharodi farm (Gammie 16536!) ; Nadiad farm (Herb.

Econ. Bot. Poona!) ; Surat (Sedgwick !) ; Junagad, Kathiawar (Blatter 3784 !).

Khandesh ; Toranmal (McCann 9883!) ; Taloda (Golne!). Konkan ; Between

Worli Fort and Hornby-Villard Road on bank, Bombay (Sabnis 9884!) ; Thana

(McCann!). Deccan: High hills round Junnar, Poona District (Dalzell and

Gibson) ; Poona (Woodrow) ; Collegeof Science, Poona (Herb. Econ. Bot.

Poona!) ; Ganeshkhind Bot. Gard. (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona !) ; Haveli (Herb.

Econ. Bot. Poona!) ; near Sholapur (Woodrow!)}. S.J. Country: S.W. of

Dharwar (Sedgwick and Bell 4433!); Kunemelihalli (Sedgwick 1947!) ;

Kholapur (Woodrow!, Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!). Kanara: Gersoppa Falls

(Talbot !). .

Distribution : India, Ceylon, Java.

Kempton J. H.—Linkage between brachytic culms and pericarp and cob

color in maize. Jour. Washington Ac. Sc. 11 (1920), 13-20.

Kempton, J. H.—A brachytic variation in maize. U.S. Dept. Agr. Bul. 925

1921).

: Richey, F. D.—The inequality of reciprocal corn crosses. Jour. Amer. Soc.

Agron. 12 (1920), 186-196.

Urbain, A.—Influence des matiéres de réserve de l’albumen de la graine sur

le development de l’embryon. Rév. Gén. Bot. 32 (1920), 125-139, 165-191.

1 Kempton, J. H. Waxy endosperm in Cozx and sorghum. Jour. Here-

dity, 12 (1921), 396-400.

18 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

TRIBE II. Andropogonee.—Spikelets usually in pairs, one sessile, the other

pedicelled, very rarely both pedicelled, those of each pair usually alike as to

sex (homogamous) or different (heterogamous) on the axes of variously

arranged, often spike-like racemes. Glumes more or less rigid and firmer

than the valves, and the lower always longer than the florets. Valves mem-

brancus, often hyaline, that of the upper floret awned or reduced to an awn

or muticous.

The key to the genera of this tribe will be given below.

5. DIMERTA, tR: VB:

Woodrowia diandra, Stapf. must be referred to this genus. The genus

Woodrowia, therefore, disappears from the Bombay Flora,

I. Spikelets in 2-3-nate racemes. Annuals

(a). Rhachis nearly, straioht-) Asn lone. )c. ce. 1. D. ornithopoda.

(6) Rhachis circinately curved. Awn short.......... 2. D. Woodrowtt.

II. Spikelets in many-nate racemes. Perennial.....:..... 3. 2D. eraciits.

Ill. Spikelets in panicles. Annual.............sssseseeeeeeee 4, D. diandra.

The species of this genus usually inhabit open, flat, dry, gravelly plains

which are well drained during the monsoon, and several species may be found

associated with each other in the same locality to the exclusion of every other

plant. Where D. ornithopoda, gracilis and diandra grow ppeLe!, the two

former are more numerous.

1. Dimeria ornithopoda, Trin. Fund. Agrost. (1820), 167, t 14; Hack. Monogr.

Androp. 81; Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii, 104; Cke. ii, 945.—D. filiformis, Hochst.

in Hohenack. Pl. Ind. Or. no. 231.—Andropogon filiformis, Roxb FI. Ind.

i. 256.—Andropogon Roxburghianus, Schult. Mant. ii, 451.—Pszlostachys

filiformis, Dalz. and Gibs. Bomb. FI. 305.

Description - Cke. l.c.

Locality: Konkan: Kankeshwar Hills, Alibag (Bhide!); Marmagoa

(Talbot!) ; Vetora (Sabnis 33715!).—Deccan: Mahableshwar (Dalzell and

Gibson, Lisboa) ; Lingmala to Mahableshwar, 4,000 ft., rain 200 inch. (Sedg-

wick and Bell 4653!); Lonavla (Bhide!, Lisboa) ; Khandala, ‘lata’s Lake,

very common (McCann A309!, 9885 !, Woodrow) ; Sakhar-Pathar, Lonavla

(Gammie 15948!) ; Panchgani (Blatter and Hallberg B1214!, B1219!,

B1279!, B1289!, Woodrow).—S. A7. Country : Castle Rock (Bhide!), Londa

(Woodrow !).—Kanara: Yellapore (Sedgwick 3124!); Birchy (Talbot

2251!) ; Karwar (Hallberg and McCann A307!) ; Siddhapur to Sirsi, open

grass land (Hallberg and McCann A313!) ; Jagalbet, N. Kanara (Talbot

1565).

Distribution : All over India, Malay Islands, Japan, Tropical Australia.

2. Dimeria Woodrowii, Stapf in Hook. Ic. Pl. 24 (1895), t. 2312; Hook. f. in

F. B. I. vii, 104; Cke. ii, 945.

Description » Cke. l.c.

Locality : Konkan ; Marmagoa (McCann !, Bhide!, Talbot 2557) ; Karanjee,

Ratnagiri Dist. (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!) ; Ratnagiri (Herb. Dhura!,

Woodrow).—Kanara: Mirjan (Hallberg and McCann!); Honavar, open

rocks (McCann !).

Distribution : W. Peninsula.

3. Dimeria gracilis, Nees ex Steud. Syn. Gram. 413; Hack. Monogr.

Androp. 88; Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii, 105: Cke. ii, 946.

Description : Cke. 1.c.

Locality : Konkan: Penn, hills (Bhide!) ; Vetora (Sabnis 3714!).—Deccan :

Lonavla (Bhide!, Woodrow); Khandala (McCann A318!); on the Ghats

(Lisboa!).—S. 47. Country: Castle Rock (Bhide!) ; Anmod to Castle Rock

(Sedgwick 3254!).—Kanara: Bell and Sedgwick 3165! ; Supa (Sedgwick

and Bell 4880!) ; Arbail Ghat (Sedgwick and Bell 5018!) ; Sirsi (Gammie !) ;

Kumwada (Talbot 2260!); Yellapore (Talbot 1527!) ; Kadra (Talbot!) ;

Sumpkhund (Hallberg and McCann A308!) ; Sirsi to Siddhapur (Hallberg

and McCann A311!) ; Devimani (Talbot !).

Distribution : W. Peninsula, Ceylon.

Where this species is growing together with other species of Dimeria it can

easily be recognized by its overtowering the others.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 19

4, Dimeria diandra, Stapf in Bhide, New and revised spec. of Gram. from

Bombay Jour. and Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, new s. vii, (1911), 515.— Woedrow1a

diandra, Stapf in Hook. Ic. Pl. (1896), t. 2447; Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii, 241 ;

Cke. ii. 1012.

Description : Cke. 1.c. except for the number and description of the glumes,

this part of the diagnosis must read like this: Glumes 4: Lower involucral

¢lume more or less dorsally hairy, with ciliolate margins; upper involucral

glume with a densely ciliate keel; lower floral glume obovate-oblong,

hyaline, nerveless ; upper floral glume 2-lobed, with a geniculate awn about

12 mm. long from the sinus, column of awn 4 mm. long, spirally ciliate, brown,

the upper part of the awn yellow, longer than the column.

Locality : Konkan; Vasco da Gama (Bhide!) ; Marmagoa (Talbot 2557 !)—

Deccan ; Khandala, open grass land (Saxton and Bhide!, McCann A317 !).—

S. M. Country; Castle Rock (Bhide!).—Kanara: Kumberwada (Talbot

2261!) ; Kadra (Talbot 2822!) ; Devimani (Talbot 3547!) ; Jog to Siddahapur,

open grass land, rocky soil (Hallberg and McCann A314!) ; Mirjan (Hallberg

and McCann A315!).

Distribution ; W. Peninsula.

6. Iscuamum, Linn. (Cke. ii, 957)

Species about 50.—All belonging to the Old World, except 3 found in

tropical America.

Cooke, 1. c. describes 12 species. Of these l/schemum angustifolium has

to go under Pollinidium and Ilschemum laxum, sulcatum and spathiflorum

under Schima. Instead 3species new to the Presidency will be added to the

genus Lschemum, viz. L. impressum, Hack., JL. conjugatum, Roxb. and

I. timorense, Kth.

In /schemum the raceines are geminate or digitate.

A. Margins of lower involucral glume of sessile spikelet inflexed or incurved

from base to apex.

I. Leaves rounded at the base (slightly cordate in 7. molle), sessile on

the sheath.

1. Pedicel of upper spikelet less than 1/3 the length of the lower

spikelet.

(a) Lower involucral glume of sessile spike-

lets with nodulose margins 1. JL. aristatum.

(6) Lower involucral glume of sessile spike-

lets closely transversely ribbed

lets dorsally villous all over, not trans-

versely ridged nor with nodulose

margins 3. JL. molle.

2. Pedicel of upper spikelet 1/3 the length of

the lower spikelet or more.

(a) Upper involucral glume of sessile spike-

1, rugosum.

lets 2-fid, 3-nerved 4. JL. diplopogon.

(6) Upper involucral glume of sessile spike-

lets acuminate, se nerved ... 5. JL. pilosum.

II. Leaves hastate or cordate at the base, often

petioled.

1. Pedicel of upper spikelet not 1/3 of the

lower spikelet.

(a) Leaves 7°5—13 cm. long ve .. 6. JL. semisagittatum.

(6) Leaves 25—35 cm. long 7. L. conjugatum.

2. Pedicel of upper spikelets as ‘Jong as the |

lower spikelet, or longer... 8. JL. impressum.

B. Margins of lower involucral glume of sessile

spikelets broadly incurved below the middle.

I. Keel of upper involucral glume winged above

the middle.

1. Sessile spikelets 3 mm. long; callus large,

glabrous ; awn 4 mm. long.. 9. Ll. Lisboe,

2. Sessile spikelets 3 mm. lone ; callus short,

bearded ; awn 12 mm. long . 10. JL. etliave.

Il. Keel of upper involucral glume not winged. ll. JL. timorens,

90 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

1. Ischemum aristatum, Linn. Sp. Pl. (1753), 1049; Cke. ii, 958; Ranag

Achariyar, South Ind. Grass. (1921), 151.

Description : Cke. 1..c. ;

This grass is a very variable one, so variable, indeed, that it is almost

impossible to distinguish good varieties, in spite of Hackel’s and Hook. f.’s

efforts.

Locality; Khandesh: W. Khandesh (Blatter!).—Konkan: Bassein

(McCann 4474!) ; Sion Boinbay (McCann 5233!) ; Bhandup (McCann $899 !) ;

Parsik, railway line (McCann 9991!) ; Matunga near Bombay (Woodrow 4).

Deccan : Khandala, on rocks (McCann 9908!): Lohagad, half way up

(McCann 9906 !) ; Deolali (Blatter and Hallberg 4554!) ; Igatpur: (Blatter

and Hallberg 5169!) ; Mahableshwar (Talbot 4534!) ; Lonavla (Garade!) ;

Panchgani (Blatter and Hallberg B1216 5 Pasarni Ghat (Blatter and Hall-

berg B1307 !).—S. WW. Country : Devarayi (Sedgwick and Bell 4456 !) ; Castle

Rock (Bhide !) ; Belgaum (Ritchie 812/2).

Distribution ; India (also on higher hills), Ceylon, China, Malaya.

2. Ischaemum rugosum, Salisb. Ic. Stirp. Rar. (1791), 1, t.1; Roxb. Fl. Ind.

I, 320; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 206 ; Duthie Grass. N.W. Ind. 18, and Fodd.

Grass. N vinde oles. aS athe err 127: Cke. ii, 959; Ranga Achariyar, South

Ind. Grass. (1921), 153 ; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa pt. V (1925), 1021.

Locality : Konkan : Bombay Island (Blatter!) ; Kankeshwar Hills, Alibag

( Bhide !); Bassein (McCann 4479!).—Deccan: Khandala, common, Echo-

Point in a dry pool (McCann 9903!) ; Igatpuri, common (McCann 4348 !) !

Poona (Woodrow) .—Kaxara : Halyal (Talbot 2140!).

Distribution : India, Ceylon, China, Malaya.

3. Ischemum molle, Hook. f. in F.B.I. vii (1896), 128; Cke. ii, 959.

Locality : Konkan ; Sion creek (Sabnis 9900 !).—Deccan : Lonavla (Bhide !

Woodrow), Igatpuri (McCann 9543 !); Khandala, railway line (McCann 9944!).

Distribution : W. Peninsula, Central Provinces.

4. Ischemum diplopogon, Hook. f. in F.B.1. vii (1896), 129 ; Cke. ii, 960.

Locality : Konkan : Matheran (Woodrow).—Deccan : Mahableshwar (Wood-

row 4): Mahableshwar, wet rocks in a stream (Sedgwick and Bell 4595 !] ;

Amberwadi, Nasik District (Patwardhan !) ; Sakar Pathar, Lonavla (Gammie

15963 !) ; Khandala (McCann !) ; Bhorkas near Poona (Woodrow 3!).

Distribution : W. Peninsula.

5. Ischemum pilosum, Hack. Monogr. Androp. 240; Duthie Fodd. Grass

N. India 3]; Cke. 11; 961.

Vern. Names: Khavo (Broach), Kunda (Poona), Nuth, Kanigyanhullu

(Bijapur).

Locality : Gujarat: Surat, roadside (Sedgwick !).—Ahandesh : (Lisboa) ;

Amalner (Blatter and Hallberg 4397 !).—Deccan: Ganeshkhind Bot. Gard.

Kirkee (Gammie!); Mangri, 8 miles E. of Poona (Herb. Econ. Bot.

Poona !); Yerowda (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!) ; Chattarshinji Hill, Poona

(Ezekiel 1) ; Kirkee (Talbot !) ; Poona (Bhide!) ; Sholapur (Lisboa) ; Satara

(Lisboa). Sh Country: Kunemelihalli (Sedgwick 2138!); Dharwar

(Sedgwick and Bell 5341!) ; black soil field, Haveri (Talbot 2185!) ; Gadag

(Talbot 2185!) ; black soil. field, 7 miles S. of Hubli (Sedgwick 5341 !).

Distribution : W. Peninsula, Central Provinces, Rajputana.

6. Ischemum semisagittatum, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 8; Hack. Monogr.

Androp. 208 : Cke. ii, 961.

Locality. Khandesh : W. Khandesh (McCann !).—Konkan : Kenery Caves

(McCann 9,914!) ; Sion, Bombay (McCann 5,251!) ; Bassein (McCann 4482 !) ;

Sewri, Bombay (McCann 3586 !) ; Marmagoa (Talbot 2500) 1)4; Parel, Bombay

(Woodrow) ; ; Thana (Lisboa).—Deccan : Mahableshwar, in forests (Sedgwick

and Bell 4802!) ; Lonavla (Bhide! Woodrow) ; Khandala, very common

(McCann 9613!) ; Igatpuri, very common (McCann 4319!) ; Satara (Lisboa) .—

S. M. Country : Castle Rock (Bhide !); Dudsagar Falls (McCann !).—Kanara:

Anmod (Sedgwick 3273!) ; Supa (Talbot 2092 !) ; Jugglepet (Talbot 2089!) ;

Yellapur (Talbot, 738). A very common grass growing usually in the shade of

trees. It is common throughout the S. part of the Presidency.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 31

; Distribution g Bengal, W. Peninsula, Ceylon.

Var. dasyantha, Hack. Monogr. Androp. (1889). 209; Cke. ii, 962.

_ Locality : Konkan (Stocks ex. Cke.).—Kanara (Woodrow !)

7. Ischamum conjugatum, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 321 (not of Roxb. Hort. Beng.

(1894), 8); Hack. Monogr. Androp. 205; F.B.I. vii, 131. Spodiopogon

conjugatus, Voigt. Hort. Suburb. Calc. 706 —Andropogon cordatifolius, Steud.

Syn. Gram. 375.

Description: An annual. Stem spreading from the root and creeping, then

geniculately ascending, 30-35 cm. high, slender, stiff, purplish, repeatedly

branching upwards. Leaves short, 25-35 mm. long, base hastate or broadly,

deeply cordate, acuminate, broadest at the base, rather rigid, striate, lower

petioled ; sheath of the upper ventricose and often open ; ligule short, glabrous.

Spikes 2, short, 25-35 mm. long, sessile, villous ; joints very short, quadrately

clavate, plano-convex, ciliate. Sessile spikelets 3 mm. long, pale. Glumes 4.

Lower invoiucral glume oblong, obtuse, flat, 2-toothed, villous from below or

above the middle to nearly the top, margins narrowly inflexed, not winged,

upper half often greener, even or lower margins obscurely nodose. Upper

involucral glume lanceolate, acuminate, strongly keeled, puberulous. Lower

floral giume paleate. Upper floral glume cleft to about the middle, awn dors-

ally inserted at or below the cleft, slender, about twice as long as the spikelet.

Pedicelled spikelets subsessile, almost awnless. Lower involucral glume as

in the sessile.

Locality : Konkan; Okda Forest (Ryan, 712!). Deccan : Mahableshwar to

Pratabgad (Bhide!) ; Khandala (Garade !) ; College Farm, Poona (Pawar !).—

Kanara: Gersoppa Falls (Chibber'!).

Distribution : Bengal, W. Peninsula, naturalized in Ceylon.

8. Ischemum impressum, Hack. Monogr. Androp. 210; F.B.I. vii, 132.

Stem 10-20 cm. high, slender, prostrate below, branching upwards, quite

glabrous. Leaves 5-8 cm. long, upper 18mm. broad, ovate or oblong-lanceo-

late, cordate, lower narrower, petioled, sparsely hairy beneath, margin

thickened, scaberulous, sometimes crenulate ; sheath compressed, glabrous ;

ligule oblong. Spikes 2, yellow ; joints and pedicels stout, clavate, ciliate with

rigid hairs, forked at the top. Sessile spikelets 6-8 mm. long, shining; callus

short, broad, bearded. Lower involucral glume linear-oblong, flat, dorsally

broadly irregularly depressed with shallow subsemilunar pits in the lower 2/3,

above it winged and 2-cuspidate, narrowed and margins subnodulose at the

base, wings erose. Upper involucral glume obtuse, chartaceous, ciliate,

dorsally rounded with a median gibbosity and an auricle-like wing above it.

Lower floral glume oblong-lanceolate, hyaline, 3-nerved, ciliate. Upper floral

glume much shorter, glabrous, cleft to above the middle, awn short, genicu-

lately inserted at the cleft. Pedicelled spikelets smaller than the sessile,

Lowey involucral glume obtuse, glabrous, many-nerved, winged on one margin.

Upper involucral glume 7-nerved. Upper floral glume mucronate.

Locality : Deccan ; Mahableshwar (Sedgwick and Bell, 4514!); Panchgani,

Tableland (Blatter, 5083!, B1221!, B1285!) ; Igatpuri (Blatter!) ; Khandala,

Echo-Point (McCann 9943 !) ; Lonavla (Bhide!).

Distribution : We have found this species only in the W. Ghats. Hooker f.

mentions the Konkan, but with a sign of interrogation. As we have never met

it in the Konkan, it is not likely to occur in that region. Where Huegel’s

specimen comes from we cannot say, and will in all probability never be known.

We think it is quite safe to say that /. tmpressum is endemic in the W. Ghats

of the Bombay Presidency.

9. Ischeaemum Lisboe, Hook. f. in F.B.1. vii, (1896), 133; Cke. ii, 962.

Locality : Kanara: N. Kanara (Lisboa) ; Karwar (Talbot 2209!, McCann!),

A rare grass, apparently endemic in N. Kanara.

10. Ischemum ciliare, Retz. Obs. 6 (1791), 36; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 225 ;

Duthie Fodd. Grass. N. India. 30; Cke. ii, 962. J. geniculatum, Roxb. FI.

Ind. I, 322. S. obliguivalvis, Neesin Nov. Act. Cur. XIX, Suppl. I (1843),

185 ; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 16.

Locality : Konkan: .Bassein (Ryan 445!); St. Xavier’s College Comp.,

Bombay (McCann 4594!) ; Parel, Bombay (Woodrow) ; Compoli (McCann

22 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

9415!) ; Alibag, sandy shore (Ezekiel!) ; Uran (McCann 5126!) ; Salsette

(Jacquemont 710).—Deccan: Khandala, very common (McCann 9612 !); Ganesh-

khind Bot. Gard. (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!); Igatpuri (Biatter and Hall.

3927A!).—S. M. Country : Mugad, hill-side (Sedgwick 1823!) ; Castle Rock

(Bhide!).—M. Kanara: Yellapore (Talbot 1526!) ; Halyal, borders of rice

fields (Talbot 2141!)! Ankola (Mamlatdar of Ankola!) ; Karwar, sea coast,

sandy soil near Gaol (Talbot 2821!) ; Gersoppa Falls (McCann!) ; Common

throughout Kanara (McCann!) ; Kakti (Woodrow).

Distribution : India, Ceylon, China, Malaya, Australia.

11. Ischemum timorense, Kunth Revis. Gram. i, 369, t. 98; Hack. Monogr.

Androp. 229; F. B. I. vii, 136:—7. tenellum, Roxb. FI. Ind. i, 323.

Stem 15-45 cm. high, slender, branched, straggling, nodes glabrous, or

sparingly bearded. Leaves 2'5-10 cm. long, sessile and petioled, linear-

lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous or sparsely hairy, base of upper rounded,

of lower rounded; sheath lax, mouth hairy; ligule obscure. Spikes 2-3,

25-50 mm. long, rather slender, sparingly villous; joints and pedicels about

half as long as the spikelets, nearly equal, shortly ciliate. Sessile spike-

lets 2°5~3 mm. long, greenish or with green nerves; callus narrow, long-

bearded. Lower involucral glume ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate,

bicuspidate, 5-9-nerved, base ventricose, margins broadly involute below,

subauricled, dorsally convex, polished, nerves strong. Upper involucral bracts

longer, acuminate or aristulate, dorsally rounded, recurved, 3-5-nerved, tip

2-toothed, dorsally usually ciliate. Lower floral glume lanceolate, falcate,

palea linear-oblong. Upper floral glume short, 2-lobed, glabrous, awn in the

cleft very slender, shortly exserted. Pedicelled spikelets like the sessile

awned.

Locality: Sind: Sukkur (Mamlatdar of Sukkur!).—Deccan: Mahableshwar,

common (Sedgewick and Bell 4503!) ; Lonavla (Bhide!) ; Khandala, behind

the Saddle (McCann 9915!).—S. MW. Country: Deciduous forests W. of

Dharwar (Sedgwick and Bell 4500!) ; Devikop (Sedgwick 2170!) ; S. W. of

Dharwar (Sedgwick and Bell 4429!) ; Londa (Bhide!).—Kanara: Suppa

(Talbot 2101!) ; Yellapore (Talbot 2327!) ; Dandeli (Talbot 2494 !).

Distribution : Burma, Chittagong, Bengal, Central Provinces, Sind, W.

Peninsula, Ceylon, Malaya, Pacific Islands.

7. THELEPOGON, Roth. (Cke. ii, 971).

Species 1.—India and tropica! Africa.

1. Thelepogon elegans, Roth. ex Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii, 788; Nov.

Pl. Sp. 62; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 267; F. B. I. vii, 148; Cke. ii, 671.—

Andropogon princeps, A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. ii, 470, ¢. 102.—Rhiniachne

princeps, Hochst. ex Steud. Syn. Pl. Glum. i, 360.—Jardinea abyssinica,

Steud. l.c.—Rhytachne princeps, Durand and Schinz. Consp. FJ. Afr. v, 700.

Vern. Names: Bodga (Kaira), Bhatad (Thana), Bangadi (Poona), Pharoda

(Ahmednagar).

Description « Cke. l.c.

Locality : Gujarat : Ahmedabad (Sedgwick !) ; Kaira (ex Burns).— Konkan:

Matheran (D’Almeida A257 !) ; Thana (ex Burns).—Deccan : Najar to Pasur

Rd. (Paranjpe!); Lina Hill, Nasik District (Blatter and Hallberg A79!,

4544!) ; Katraj Ghat (Gammie!); Bairawadi, Purandhar (McCann 5053!) ;

Panchgani (Blatter and Hall. B1267!) ; Poona (Woodrow) ; Hewra (Dalzell) ;

near Nasik (Edgeworth) ; Ahmednagar (ex Burns).—S. 4/. Country : Dharwar

(Sedgwick 1824!) ; Alnawar (Talbot 2303!) ; Belgaum (Ritchie 812).—Kanara :

Halyal (Talbot 2094 !, 2142 !). ;

Distribution : Central India, W. Peninsula, Tropical Africa.

Uses » Eaten by horses, although very bitter (Dalzell).

8. SEHIMA, Forsk. Fl. Aegypt.

Arab. 178; Stapf. in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 35.

Annual or perennial grasses. Blades convolute when young, at length

flat, narrow; ligules a line of stiff hairs. Racemes usually gently curved,

dorsiventrally and laterally compressed, with the pedicelled spikelets converg-

ing over the convex side, joints and pedicels sublinear and parallel. Sessile

and pedicelled spikelets heteromorphous. Spikelets 2-nate, those of each pair

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY — 23

differing in sex, one sessile, the other pedicelled on the articulate fragile

rhachis of solitary spike-like racemes, the pedicelled tardily separating from

their pedicels, the sessile deciduous together with the adjacent joint of the

rhachis and the pedicel. Fiorets 2; lower male, upper bisexual in the sessile,

male or neuter in the pedicelled spikelets. Sessile spikelets: glumes equal

or subequal; lower grooved, rarely flat, 2-dentate or 2-mucronate, more or

less chartaceous, upwards acutely 2-keeled with inflexed margins, keels winged ;

upper glume boat-shaped, keeled upwards with a bristle-like awn. Valves

hyaline, of lower floret entire, muticous, of upper 2-fid and awned from the

sinus. Valvules more or less equalling their valves, hyaline. Lodicules 2,

cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas linear-oblong, laterally exserted. Grain oblong,

obtusely trigonous ; embryo reaching to the middle of the grain. Pedicelled

spikelets flat, with 2 florets resembling the lower floret of the sessile spikelets,

the lower or both miore or less reduced and barren.

Species about 5.—India, Tropical Africa, N. America.

A. Racemes enclosed in long narrow spathes .» Ll. S. spathiflorum.

B. Racemes not enclosed in spathes—

I. Sessile spikelets 6-7 mm. long. Lower in-

volucral glume of sessile spikelet 6-nerved ... 2. .S nervosum.

II. Sessile spikelets 7-11 mm long. Lower in-

volucral glume of sessile spikelet 3-5-nerved... 3. S. ischemoides.

III. Sessile spikelet9mm.long. Lower involucral

glume of sessile spikelet 2-nerved ... we 4. S. sulcatum.

1. Sehima spathifiorum, nov. comb. Blatter and McCann.—/schemum spatht-

florum, Hook. f. in F. B. I., vii (1896), 138; Cke. ii, 963.

Description : Cke. 1. ¢.

Locality ;: Khandesh : Toranmal (McCann 9922 !).—-AKonkan : Penn (Bhide !) ;

Matheran (Paranjpe!) ; Bassein (Ryan 2300 !) ; Kenery Caves (McCann 9920 !) ;

Island of Salsette in hilly stony places (Jacquemont 797).—Deccan ;: Lonavla

(Bhide!) ; Khandala (Woodrow); Khandala, in watercourses, very common

(McCann 9928!) ; Palasdari on the Bhor Ghat, G. I. P. Railway (Woodrow) ;

Lohagad, plain (McCann 9919!) ; Bairawadi, Purandhar (McCann 5054!) ;

Igatpuri (Blatter and Hallberg 3836 !, McCann !).

Distribution : Endemic.

2. Sehima nervosum, Stapf. in Fl. Trop. Afr. IX, 36; Haines pt. v, 1023.—

S. macrostachyum, Hochst. in Schimp. Pl. Abyss. n. 1705.—Andropogon

nervosus, Rottl. aud Willd. in Verh. Naturf. Fr. Berlin, iv (1803), 218.—

Andropogon striatus, Klein apud Willd. Sp. Pl. iv. (1805), 903 ; R. Br. Prodr.

201.—A. tacazensis, Steud. Syn. Pl. Glum. i, 369.—A. macrostachys, Anders.

in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aeth. 306 (per errorem 310).—TLschemum laxum, R.

Br. Prodr. 205: Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii, 136, partim ; Cke. ii, 964, partim.—

Ischemum laxum var. genuinum, Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 245.—/schemum

nervosum, Thw. Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 305.—/schemum macrostachyum, A. Rich.

Tent. Fl. Abyss. ii, 472.—FPollinta striata, Spreng. Pug. ii, 12.—Hologamium

nervosum, Nees in Edinb. N. Phil. Journ. xviii, 185.

Description : A perennial, densely tufted grass. Stems erect, 60 cm. tol m.

high, ona short rootstock, simple or nearly so, slender, terete, about 4-noded,

middle and upper internodes exserted, smooth or slightly rough below the

inflorescence, glabrous. Leaves 15-30 cm. and longer, 2-4 mm. broad, erect,

linear, narrowed into long capillary tips, flat, smooth, striate, glaucous, more or

less scabrid, lateral nerves about 3 on each side. like the midrib whitish and

prominent on both sides; sheaths shorter than the internodes, tight, terete,

striate, smooth or nearly so, glabrous or sparingly hirsute from tubercle-based

hairs ; ligule a line of short stiff hairs. Racemes solitary, 5-10 cm. long, erect,

slightly curved, pale, fragile ; joints and pedicels paraliel, sublinear, slightly

compressed, 3-45 mm. long, densely ciliate with white hairs along the angles,

otherwise glabrous, tips more or less oblique. Sessile spikelets lanceolate-linear

to linear, acuminate, 6:25-7 mm. long, pale green, with a shortly bearded

callus. Glumes subequal: lower subchartaceous to chartaceous, with an

unequally 2-toothed, flat and membranous beak, the teeth of which sometimes

run out into ciliate mucros, deeply grooved, especially below the middle,

acutely 2-keeled, outer keel generally winged upwards, intracarinal nerves 4,

with transverse veins in the upper part, like these green and raised on a white

24 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol.’ XXXTI

ground ; upper glume subchartaceous, slightly shorter, boat-shaped, sublinear

in profile, keeled above, with the keel widened at the apex and passing into a

fine bristle 11-12°5 mm. long, 5-nerved with fine transverse veins, ciliate.

Lower floret: valve faintly 2-nerved, hyaline, ciliate, 4:5 mm. long, with a

narrow, linear valvule of about equal length and a male flower. Upper floret

bisexual: valve oblong-lanceolate, 4 mm. long, 2-fid, with narrow lobes,

hyaline, 3-nerved, ciliate; awn up to 43 mm. long, slender, column spirally

twisted, bronze colour, very minutely ciliate along the spiral, bristle whitish,

as long as the column or slightly longer ; valvule as long as the valve, linear,

subacute, 2-nerved, ciliate. Anthers 3 mm. long. Styles and stigmas pale,

2mm. long. Pedicelled spikelet lanceolate, acuminate, green or tinged with

purple, 7-8°5 mm. long, glabrous ; lower glume slightly 2-toothed, long-ciliate

from the hairs of the tightly inflexed margin, keels very narrowly or obscurely

winged, wing rigidly ciliate, intracarinal nerves 5, the inner 3 very prominent

and rough ; upper glume lanceolate, long and finely acuminate, hyaline, ciliate,

3-nerved ; lower floret as in the sessile spikelet ; upper floret very much like the

lower. Stamens smaller in the lower floret or both florets reduced and empty.

Locality; Gujarat: Porbandar (Bhide!); Junagad, Kathiawar (Blatter

3799!) ; Surat, city walls (Herb. St. X. C. 9498!) ; Ahmedabad (Sedgwick !).—

Khandesh : (Lisboa) ; Umalla village, on Tapti river (Blatter and Hallberg

5160!) ; Toranmal, common on the slopes (McCann 9916!).—Deccan :

Purandhar Fort (Bhide!, McCann 5106!) ; Khandala, St. X. Villa compound

(McCann 9419!) ; Deolali (Blatter and Hallberg 4548!) ; Lonavla (Bhide!) ;

Panchgani (Blatter and Hallberg B1269!) ; Poona (Woodrow); Poona to

Karli (Jacquemont 530).—S. W. Country : Dharwar (Bhide!) ; Haveri (Talbot

2186 !).

Distribution: Bengal, Behar, Central Provinces, Rajputana, W. Peninsula,

Ceylon, Tropical Australia,Somaliland, Abyssinia, Eritrea. Cape de Verd Islands

Uses : Used for thatching in Khandesh (Lisboa). Considered to be one of the

best fodder grasses and is eaten by cattle even after the fall of the spikes( Haines).

3. Sehima ischemoides, Forsk. Fl. Aegypt.—Arab. 178; Stapf in Fl. Trop.

Afr. IX, 37.—Sehima Kotschyt, Hochst. in Flora (1844), 247.—Jschemum

Sehima, R. Br. Prodr. I, 204.—/schemum inscalptum, Hochst. in Schimp. Pl.

Abyss. n. 739 and Flora (1844), 247; A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. II, 472.—

Andropogon Sehima, Steud. Syn. Pl. Glum. I, 369.—Andropogon lineatus,

Steud. 1.c.— Andropogon schangulensis, Rupr. ex. Steud. l.c.— Andropogon

inscalptus, Anders. in Schweinf. Beitr. Fl. Aeth. 306 (per errorem 310).—

Ischemum laxum, R. Br. Prodr. (1810), 205; Hook.f. in F.B.I., VU, 136

partim.—Ischemum laxum var. inscalptum, Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 245..—

Andropogon rhynchophorus, Stapf in Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. LV (1908) Mem. VIII.

TOT:

An annualherb. Stems usually in small fascicles, rarely over 45 cm. high,

slender, terete, simple, 2- or 3-noded, middle and upper internodes slightly

exserted, smooth, glabrous. Leaves glaucous, linear, tapering to a long fine

point, up to 13 cm. long, 1°5-3'1 mm. broad, more or ‘less scabrid, midrib fine

like the 1 or 2 primary lateral nerves. Racemes solitary, or sometimes an

additional 1 or 2 from the upper nodes, 2’5-7'5 cm. long, erect, or slightly

nodding ; joints and pedicels parallel, sublinear, slightly compressed, 3°) mana

long, very densely ciliate from white hairs along the angles, otherwise glabrous,

tips more or less oblique. Sessile spikelets linear 7-11 mm. long, pale green,

_ with a shortly bearded callus; lower glume subchartaceous to chartaceous,

with an unequally 2 toothed flat and membranous long beak, the teeth of

which run out into mucros, deeply grooved, especially below the middle,

acutely 2-keeled, the outer keel generally winged upwards, intracarinal nerves

3-5, raised, rough, only distinct just above the groove ; upper glume and florets

as in Sehima nervosum, excepting the bristle of the glume which is over

15°5 mm. long and the awn, the column of which is generally more brown than

bronze in colour and has much longer cilia along the spirals. Pedicelled

spikelets narrowly lanceolate, long-acuminate, pale green, up to 12°5: mm.

long, glabrous; lower glume with two long setaceous teeth, sparingly

hairy on the back, otherwise the spikelet as in Sehima nervosum.

Locality : Deccan (Woodrow 147, Law, ex. Stapf.)

Distribution : Tropical Arabia, Yemen, Abyssinia, Sudan, Kordofan, Nubia,

Cameroons, Cape de Verd Islands.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 25

4. Sehima sulcatum, comb. nov. Blatterand McCann.—J/schemum sulcatum,

Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 248 ; Hook. f. in F.B.I., vii, 137; Cke. ii, 964.

Description : See Cke. l.c.

Locality : Deccan : Satara (Lisboa) ; Malsiras, Sholapur Taluka (Iisboa).—

S. M. Country: Black soil banks 35 miles S. of Dharwar (Sedgwick 3745 !) ;

banks of black soil fields 7 miles S. of Hubli (Sedgwick and Bell 5342!) ;

Dharwar. common (Sedgwick 1819!, McCann!).

Distribution : Central Provinces, W. Peninsula.

9. POLLINIDIUM, Stapf.

As far as we can make out the diagnosis of this genus was published for the

first time in Haines’ Botany of Bihar and Orissa, pt. 5 (1924), 1020.

Densely tufted, perennial herbs with woolly rootstock and basal sheaths.

Leaves convolute when old, wiry, mouth of sheaths ciliate. Spikes digitate or

fascicled, fascicles with filiform peduncles on a more or less branched panicle.

Spikelets 2-nate, sessile and pedicelled, similar, on the articulate, fragile,

compressed, not stout rhachis. Callus densely clothed with long brown hairs.

Glumes 4: Lower involucral glume flattened, 2?-3-dentate, dorsally hairy at

base, 5-7-nerved, margins inflexed; upper involucral gluine cymbiform,

minutely cuspidate, 3-5-nerved, with a slender awn. Lower floral glume

hyaline, sparsely ciliate, elliptic, palea finely ciliate ; upper floral glume narrow,

conduplicate, entire or 2-toothed shortly awned from the tip or minute sinus,

palea broad and nearly as long as the glume, densely ciliate on the top.

1. Pollinidium angustifolium, Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa, pt. 5 (1924), 1020.—

Ischemum angustifolium, Hack in Monogr. Androp. 241; Hook. f.in F-B.I.

vii, 129; Cke. li, 960.—Spodiopogon angustifolius, Trin. in Mem. Acad.

Petersb., ser. VI, ii (1833), 300; Spec. Gram. Ic. t. 336.—FPollinia eriopoda,

Hance in Journ. Bot. iv (1866), 173.— Andropogon binatus, Retz. Obs, vi, 21.

Description » Cke. |.c.

Locality - Gujarat : Rajkot (Woodrow).—oxkan ; Victoria Gardens, Bombay

(McCann 4302 !).—Deccan : College Garden, Poona (Grade!) ; cultivated at

Poona (Woodrow).

Distribution ; Afghanistan, India, China, Philippines.

Uses: In Bihar and Orissa the Sabai grass is used for strings, ropes and

mats (the Baib matting of Calcutta) and is very largely employed for paper-

making. Fires iinprove the crop by removing shade. It is easily grown by

division of the rootstock or from: seed. From seed it yields a crop in about

three years. Cattle do not eat it (Haines). For Bombay see Cke. l.c.

10. Apocopis, Nees. (Cke. ii, 967)

1. Apocopis vaginatus, Hack. in Oestr. Bot. Zeitschr. 41 (1891), 8; Cke. ii

967.—A. Wightit, Nees, var. vaginata, Hook. f. in F.B.I., vii, 143.

Description » Ckel.c.

Locality : Gujarat: Ahmedabad, field (Sedgwick !).—Konkan: Kalyan

(Weodrow).—S. M7. Country : Forests W. of Dharwar (Sedgwick !)— Kanara -

Halyal (Talbot 2379!) ; N. Kanara (Woodrow).

Distribution; Bihar, Central India, Deccan and W. Peninsula, Burma,

Ceylon.

11. LopHoproGon, Hack.

1. Lophopogon tridentatus, Hack. in Engl. and Prantl. Nat. Pflanzenf. ii, pt.

ii (1887), 22, 56, Monogr. Androp. 254, t. i. f. 14; Hook. f. in F.B.I. vii, 149;

Cke. ii, 966.—Andropogon tridentatus, Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 257.—Saccharum

tridentatum, Spreng. Syst. i, 283.

Description: Cke.1.c.

Locality: Khandesh: Tapti, Bhusawal (Blatter and Hallberg 5457 !),.

--Deccan: Agricultural College compound, Kirkee (Bhide!): Bapodi near

Poona (Gammie 15315!); Bowadhar near Poona (Garade!) ; Rahuri (Nana

A80!); Igatpuri (McCann 4572!) ; Chattarshinji Hill, Poona (Ezekiel!) ;

Deolali (Blatter 9620!, 9610!); Jeur, Sholapur Dist. (Woodrow !).—S. 7

Country: Dharwar, on dry gravelly uplands 2,400 ft., rain 34 inches

(Sedgwick 3010!).

. Distribution «+ Central Provinces, W. Peninsula.

26 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXX

12. ApLupa, Linn. (Cke. ii, 956)

1. Apluda varia, Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 196, var. aristata, Hack.

1. ec. 199 ; Hook. f. in F.B.I., vii, 150; Cke. ii, 956, comprehendens etiam alias

varietates ; Stapf. in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 40; Haines pt. v, 1057.—Apluda arts-

tata, I.inn. Cent. ii, 71 ; Schreber Beschr.-d. Gr. 93, t. 42 ; Beauv. Agrost 133;

Duthie Fodd. Grass. of N. Ind. 44, t. 29.—Apluda Gryllus, Beauv. Agrost.

Explic. planches, 15, t. 23, fig. 5 (6 per errorem).

As our Pombay specimens must be referred to the var. aristata and as

Cooke’s description comprises also other varieties we give in the following Stapf’s

diagnosis of the variety aristata. This must not prevent botanists from

paying attention to the possible occurrence of other varieties in the Presidency.

Description: Mostly annual, branched from the base. Stems densely

tufted, erect, 30-180 cm. high, or geniculately ascending and often rooting

from the nodes, many-noded, terete, smooth and polished. Leaves 10-45 cm.

by 4-15 mm., linear-lanceolate, long-attenuated towards the base, almost

petioled, tapering upwards toa fine setaceous point, convolute in bud, then

flat, somewhat rigid or flaccid, glaucous below, glabrous or very rarely

sparingly hairy, slightly rough above, scabrid along the margins, midrib white

above, stouter towards the base, primary lateral nerves, 5-§ on each side, fine ;

sheaths terete, tight and glabrous or very rarely sparingly hairy, those sup-

porting the flowering branches wider and shorter with reduced blades ;

ligules short, rounded off, glabrous or ciliate. Panicle upto 60 cm. long, much

compound, primary branches long, those of the foliowing orders gradually

shorter, bearing clusters of trios of spikelets; spathe at the base of the trios

ovate to ovate-oblong, mucronate or bearing rudimentary blades, glabrous,

ereen or tinged with purple, 4-4°5 mm. long ; bulbous basal joint up to 1:5 mm,

long, whitish. Sessile spikelets lanceolate-oblong, acute, up to 4°5 mm. long.

Lower involucral glume chartaceous, firmer below, many-nerved ; upper

involucral glume somewhat gibbous on the back, scaberulous on the keel.

Lower floret: Valve oblong-lanceolate, acute, slightly shorter than the glumes,

3-nerved, glabrous; valvule linear-lanceolate, almost as long as the valve,

2-nerved. Upper floret : valve 31 mm. long, 2-fid to beyond the middle, awn

up to9°3 mm. long, very fine, with or without a distinct twisted column ;

valvule generally much shorter, oblong or broad-ovate, nerveless. Anthers

2°3-3'1 mm. long. Stigmas purple, up to 4'5mm. long. Grain about 1 mm.

long, Pedicels 2°3-3'1mm. long, sparingly ciliate. Lateral pedicelled spike-

let 4-5 mm. long. GlJumes similar, subherbaceous, lanceolate, acute, many-

nerved ; lower glume rather flat on the back, upper not or obscurely keeled

and not gibbous. Florets as in the sessile spikelet but the upper not awned,

both are male more or less reduced. ‘Terminal spikelet reduced toa short

striate glume, continuing the pedicel.

Locality : Gujarat: Broach (Chibber !) ; Nadiad Farm (Herb. Econ. Bot.

Poona!) ; Surat (Gammie 16467!, Cooke) ; Karu Roa, Cutch (Blatter 3776 !) ;

Kala Pacham Island (Blatter 3735!) ; Garvi Dangs (Sedgwick !) ; Ahmedabad

(Cooke).—Khandesh : Muravat, Tapti bank (Blatter and Hallbery 4434!) ; N.

slope of Chanseli Hill (McCann A83!); Toranmal (McCann A84!) ; Munmad,

Ankai Hill (Blatter Al46!).—Konkan - Dhapli forest (Roan!) ; extremely

common throughout the islands of Bombay and Salsette (McCann!) ; Bassein

(McCann 4480!); Alibag, margin of water-works (Ezekiel !).—Deccan -

Purandhar (McCann 5008 !, Bhide !); Khandala, very common (McCann 5294 !) ;

Diva Ghat (McCann A86!); Sholapur (D’Almeida A87!); Igatpuri, very

common (McCann 4325 !, 4324!); Panchgani (Blatter 53-85!, Bhide!, Blatter

and Hallberg B1322!).—S. 17. Country : Dharwar (Sedgwick and Bell 4489,

2400 ft., rain 34 inches; Londa (Gammie 15851!); Belgaum (Ritchie 824).—

Kanara: Halyal (Talbot 2495!); Juggleput (Talbot!); Kawarwad (Talbot

2246 !).

Distribution ; Socotra, India, Ceylon, E. Tropical Asia, Malaya, Australia, .

Pacific Islands.

Uses: A fairly good fodder grass, and readily eaten by cattle when young

(Duthie).

13. HEMARTHRIA R. Br. (Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 54)

Decumbent or ascending perennial grasses with branched, many-noded stems.

Leaves linear, conduplicate in bud, then flat. Ligules very short, membranous.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 27

Racemes compressed, often curved, tips more or. uss subulate from the slender

terminal spikelet ; rhachis not or tardily breaking up. Spikelets pseudo-opposite

owing to the fusion of joints and pedicels, each pair made up of a sessile

(secondary) spikelet and the pedicelled companion of the sessile spikelet of the

next lower node. Spikelets two-nate on the tough or tardily disarticulating

rhachis of spike-like, spathe-supported racemes which terminate the culms and

their often fascicled branches, alike in sex and shape, or at least similar ; joints

and pedicels fused into roughly semicylindric internodes, hollowed out on the

inner face for the reception of the sessile spikelet; disarticulation at a right

angle to the rhachis or slightly oblique, tips of joints truncate, not hollowed out

or appendaged. Sessile spikelet: Florets 2, lower reduced to a barren valve,

upper bisexual, awnless. Glumes equal or subequal, lower flat on the back,

2-keeled, very narrowly inflexed along the margins, coriaceous or subcoriaceous,

closing up the cavity formed by the adjacent joint and pedicel, upper

membranous, adhering to the inner face of the cavity. Valves hyaline, of lower

floret 2-nerved, of upper usually nerveless. Valvule of upper floret hyaline,

small, nerveless. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas laterally exserted.

Grain oblong, dorsally slightly compressed ; embryo about % the length of the

grain : hilum conspicuous, punctiform, subbasal. Pedicelled spikelet with more

elongated acuminate glumes, especially the terminal, the upper glume

mucronate or aristate.

Species about 8. Throughout the warm countries of the Old World, 1 also

in America, but probably introduced.

1. Hemarthria glabra, comb. nov. Blatter and McCann. Rottbellia

glabra, Roxb. Fl. Ind. ed. Carey i, 353. Hemarthria coromandelina, Steud.

Syn. i, 358. ARottbelia compressa, Linn. f. Suppl. 114, var. genuina, Hack.

Monogr. Androp. 286; Hook. f. in F. B.1. vii, 153. ottbellia compressa,

Linn. f. Suppl. 114, partim; Cke. ii, 952, partim. Hemarthria compressa,

Kunth Enum. i, 465, partim.

A word of explanation is required regarding the new name. Haines in his

Botany of Bihar and Orissa, pt. VI (1924), 1061, mentions a species under the

name of Hemarthria compressa, R. Br. and gives as synonym FRottbellia com-

pressa, Linn. f. which, in our opinion, is not correct. Hemarthria compressa, R.

Br. Prodr. Flore Nove Hollandiz et insula Van Diemen, p. 207, represents only

partly Rottbellia compressa, Linn. f. Besides, Stapfin. Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 55 has

separated Rottbellia compressa, Linn. f. var. fasciculata from the type and

described it under the specific name Hlemarthria fasciculata, Kunth Rev. Gram.

i, 153. He was allowed to use this old name, because Hemarthria fasciculata

is the same plant as Hackel’s var. fasciculata (Monogr. Androp. 287.) As to

the species under consideration, it coincides with Hackel’s Rottbellia compressa

Linn. var. genuina. With this Hemarthria compressa, Kunth Enum. i, 465

agrees only partly and this name cannot, therefore, be adopted. There are

only two names left which can be considered: ARottbellia glabra and

Hemarthria coromandelina. Of these the former is the older and should, there-

fore, be retained, but as the species is being transferred to the genus

Hemarthria, the plant has to be called Hemarthria glabra, nob.

Description : A perennial grass. Stems creeping below, then erect, scandent,

15 to 6 m. long (Roxb.). Blade of leaf short, slowly getting narrower

upwards, but at the apex slightly obtuse; sheath at the nodes glabrous.

Racemes slender, compressed, 6-10 cm. long, solitary or the upper ones often

fascicled. Spikelets 2-nate, 4-45 mm. long; callus 1 mm. long, obconical,

obtuse, glabrous. Sessile spikelets: Lower involucral glume broad, ovate

lanceolate, obtuse, at the apex emarginate or obtusely bidentate, not in the

least acuminate, scarcely constricted below the apex. Pedicelled spikelets:

Pedicel adnate. Gluines acute or subacuminate.

Locality: Sind: Bughar, Indus River (Blatter and McCann D661 !};

Mirpur Sakro (Blatter and McCann D662!). Gujarat: Kankaria Tank,

Ahmedabad (Sedgwick !).—Khandesh : Tapti, Bhusawal N. E. (Blatter and

Hallberg 5495 !).— Kanara : Sirsi to Siddhapur (Hallberg and McCann A78!),

We have not included the localities mentioned by Cke. ii, 952 as some of his

specimens might belong to another species.

Distribution - Wedo not know of any definite record as to the distribution

of this species. Hooker f. calls it common in India. Hackel gives Bengal,

sarampur, Punjab, Nepal, Ceylon, China. Duthie says it occurs in moist

28 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

places in the plains, and at Jow elevations on the hills of N. India, and

extends to Australia. It would apparently be correct to say that this plant is

found all over India and Ceylon. We are not so sure about Australia.

The question now arises whether Hemarthria fasciculata, Kunth occurs in

the Presidency. Wight, Roxburgh, Hook. f. and Duthie mention it for other

parts of India and Duthie found it in the same localities where he gathered the

previous species, but we have no reliable information at hand to say that it has

been found in the Bombay Presidency. In all probability it does occur in our

parts. In order to help botanists to clear up this point we add Stapf’s descrip-

tion and synonymy of AH. fasciculata, Kunth. At the same time it wil! be good

to remember what Hackel says under Rottbellia compressa, Linn. f.: ‘ Species

valde polymorpha , varietates sequentes tn speciminibus typicis satis distincte,

ed et tpse ita variabiles, ut nullus earum characterum constans, tormaeque

intermedia frequertes.’

Hemarthria fasciculata) Kunth Rev. Gram. i, 153, and Enum. i, 465; Hack.

in Mart. Fl. Bras. Il, 1, -314,_t. 72, fic. 2.—2. capensis, Trin, Anudron:

in Mem. Acad. Petersb. 6 me sér. ii, 248.—Aottbellia compressa, Linn. f. var.

fasciculata. Hack. Monog. Androp. 286 ; Hook. f. in F.B.I. vii, 153 ; Rottbellza

compressa, Linn. f.; Cke. ii, 952, partim.—Rottbellia fasciculata, Lam.

Ilustr. i, 204.—Lodicularia fasciculata, Link. Hort. Berol. i, 6.-- Lodicularia

capensis, Nees Fl. Afr. Austr. 128.—Lepturus fasciculata, Trin. Fund. Agrost.

123.

Description: A perennial grass. Stems erect or more often ascending,

sometimes from a long decumbent rooting base, usually branched, 30cm. to

15m. high, many-noded, compressed, glabrous. Leaves linear, gradually

tapering, acute, very variable in length and width, upto 23cm. by 4 mm;

sheaths shorter or the lower longer than the internodes, compressed, keeled,

often ciliate towards the mouth, otherwise glabrous or almost so; ligules

membranous, very short, ciliate. Racemes usually fascicled, straight or

curved, tapering to a slender point formed by the terminal spikelet, ultimately

more or less fragile. Sessile spikelet linear-oblong to oblong, from a short

obtriangular more or less conspicuous glabrous callus, 4-5'5 mm. long, glabrous.

Lower glume coriaceous, opaque, usually more or less constricted below the

obtuse entire or emarginate. 2-keeled and very narrowly winged tips, smooth,

intracarinal nerves about 7; upper broadly oblong-lanceolate, acute, mem-

branous except at the hardened tip, 3-nerved. Lower floret: Valve oblong,

subobtuse, distinctly shorter than the glumes, 2-nerved. Upper floret: Valve

slightly shorter, ovate-oblong, obtuse, nerveless. Anthers 1°5-2°3mm. long.

Stigmas about 1‘5mm. long, laterally exserted. Grain oblong, dorsally com-

pressed, about 1°5 mm. long, reddish ; scutellum exceeding half the length of

the grain ; hilum punctiform, subhasal. Pedicelled spikelet similar in sex and

shape to the sessile, but slightly longer, with the lower glume more acuminate

and acute, and the upper sharply mucronate, the mucro somewhat exceeding

the lower glume.

Distribution: British E. Africa, Mozambique District, throughout Africa in

the Mediterranean region (Stapf), India, America, probably introduced,

14. Manrsuris, Linn. f.

Species 1.—Throughout the tropics.

1. Manisuris granularis, Sw. Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. (1788), 25; Beauv. Agrost.

t. xxi, Fig. 10; Roxb. Pl. Corom. 11, 11, t: 118; Mart. and Eichl) Fl. Bras.iu,;

2, t. 46; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 314; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 18, Fodd.

Grass, N. India. 29, t. 46; Hook. f. FBI: vii, 159+ Cke: ti, 955.; Stapf EL:

Trop. Afr. ix, 57.— WM. polystachya, Beauv. Fl. Owar. et. Ben. t. 14.—Cenchrus

granularis Linu. Mant. ii, App. 575.—Hackelochlor granularis, O. Ktze. Rev.

Gen. Pl. ii, 776.—Rytilix granularis, Skeels in U.S. Dept. Agr. Bur. PI.

Industr. Bull. 2&2 (1913), 20.

Locality « Gujarat: Charodi (Gammie 16534!).—Konkan : Wada ‘Taluka

(Ryan 600 !) ; Mulgaum in Salsette, open grass land (McCann 3642 !).—Deccan :

Poona (Wocdrow! Cooke); Deolali (Blatter and Hallberg 4552!) ; Igatpuri

cMcCann 4573!) ; Railway line, Kirkee to Poona (Garade 8231!) ; Chattar-

(hinji Hill, Poona (Ezekiel!) ; Khandala (Woodrow), behind Hotel

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 29

(McCann 9410 !), behind Duke’s Nose (McCann 9393 !).—S. 7. Country - Dhar-

war (Sedgwick and Bell 4146!, Woodrow), 2,400 ft., rain 34 in.; Kuput

Hil], Dharwar District (Talbot 2323!).—Kanara: Halyal (Talbot 1733!,

2385 !).

15. PELTOPHORUS, Desv. (Stapf Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 59)

Annual or perennial short grasses with slender, much-branched, rarely

simple stems. Leaves linear, narrow, conduplicate in bud, then flat; ligules

short, membranous. Racemes much compressed, rather slender, straight or

curved, very conspicuously dorsiventral. Spikelets pseudo-opposite owing to

the fusion of joints and pedicels, each pair made up of a sessile (secondary)

spikelet and the pedicelled companion of the sessile spikelet of the next lower

node. Spikelets 2-nate on the rhachis of spike-like, spathe-supported racemes

which terminate the stems and their branches, different in sex and shape.

Joints and pedicels fused into somewhat stout internodes, convex on the back,

hollowed out on the inner face for the reception of the sessile spikelet ; disarti-

culation ata right angle to the rhachis, tips of internodes truncate with two

concavities corresponding to the next upper sessile and the adjacent pedicelled

spikelet. Sessile spikelet dorsally much compressed. Florets 2, lower male or

neuter and then with or without a valvule, upper bisexual, awnless. Gluines

equal or the upper shorter; lower coriaceous, transversely rugose or muricate,

conspicuously winged from the keels, upper membranous, immersed in the

cavity formed by the joint and pedicel, usually 3-nerved, keeled, often in-

distincly. Valves hyaline, nerveless or 2-3-nerved. Valvule, if present,

hyaline, nerveless or 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas

linear, laterally exserted low down. Grain oblong; embryo equalling the

grain. Pedicelled spikelet male or neuter. Lower glume coriaceous, smooth,

asymmetrically or unilaterally winged, upper variously winged from the keel.

Florets as in the sessile spikelet but male or barren.

Species 5.—India (4) and Tropical Africa (1).

I. Lower involucral glume 2—-aristate hoe, dG. 0. Ab0er ZENS.

II. Lower involucral glume with a simple awn

or acuminate.

1. Lower involucral glume broadly ovate,

acuminate (not awned) as abs

2. Lower involucral glume lanceolate with a

slender scabrid awn ie Sa 2s ts LQLOOr?.

P. acuminatus.

1. Peltophorus divergens, comb. nov. Blatter and McCann.

Rottbellia divergens, Hack. Monogr. Androp. 293 ; Lisboa in Jour. Bom.

Nats Euist. ooc,, vi (1891), 195; Hook: f.. in F. B..1., vit, los > Cke:. 11,953,

Description ; Cke. 1. c.

Locality : Konkan ; Trombay (McCann A71!).—Deccan: Mahableshwar,

4,500 ft., rain 270 inches (Sedgwick «and Bell 4560!, Lisboa); Panchgani

(Blatter and Hallberg B1252!, B1259!, B1263 !, B1286!), behind the Tableland

on rocks (Blatter 3805!) ; Satara (Lisboa); Lonavla (Bhide !) ; Khandala

(Woodrow), Saddle, very common all over (McCann 9616!).—S. W7. Country :

Amboli Ghat (Talbot 4305!) ; Belgaum (Ritchie 808, 827).—Kanura ; Castle

Rock, 1,800 ft., rain 300 inches (Sedgwick and Bell 4295!), Karwar (Talbot

3171 !),—Usually growing on rocks in tufts.

Note. The spikes are very brittle when dry and always fall off.

Distribution : W. Peninsula.

2. Peltophorus acuminatus, comb. nov. Blatter and McCann.

Rottbellia acuminata, Hack. Monogr. Androp. 291; Hook. f. F B. I. vii,

Home ke. 1, 953:

Description ; Cke, 1. c.—We have examined Talbot’s specimen No. 1291 and

found that the lower involucral glume is much longer than 8 mm. (1/3 in.)

going up to 10 and 12 mm.

Locality : Konkan : Marmagoa (Talbot 2572!, 1291) ; Vasco da Gama (Herb.

St. X. C. 9483!) ; Malwan (Woodrow).—Kanara: Karwar (Talbot 3171!,

2539, Hallberg and McCann A75!, Lisboa); Katgal (Hallberg and McCann

9934 !) ; Castle Rock (Bhide !).

Distribution : W. Peninsula. Hooker f., but not Cooke, mentions also the

Deccan Peninsula collected in by G. Thomson.

30 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

3. Peltophorus Talboti, comb. nov. Blatter and McCann.—Rottbellia Talboti,

Hook: f.:in®, Bo 1. vii, So Cke. aig G54.

Description: Cke. 1. c.

Locality : Konkan : Vasco da Gama (Bhide!) ; Marmagoa (Talbot 2572 !).

Distribution : So far only been found in Goa.

1é. LAsrIuRuS, Boiss. (Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 60)

Perennial, more or less branched and woody below ; : branches often in dense

fascicles, intravaginal. Leaves linear, convolute or flat, hard; ligule a fringe

of hairs. Racemes si!ky-villous. Spikelets usually 3-nate, rarely 2-nate, on

the more or less fragile rhachis of villous spike-like racemes which end the

stems and branches (if any) and are supported by or exserted from often

spathaceous sheaths, if 3-nate 2 sessile, the sessile different in sex from, but

similar in shape to, the pedicelled ; rhachis nodes bearded all round ; joints

and pedicels linear, the latter more slender and shorter, opposite the joints if

2 sessile spikelets be present, otherwise approximate, but not contiguous and

parallel to one of the sides of the joint ; disarticulation at a right angle to the

rhachis, scar at the tips of the joints suborbicular, smooth, often ciliate. Sessile

spikelets, if 2, one on each side of the pedicel with a narrow ring-shaped callus.

Florets 2, lower male, upper bisexual, awnless. Glumes unequal; lower

longer, subcoriaceous, flat on the back, acuminate, 2-keeled upwards and

2-dentate, densely ciliate, upper boat-shaped, membranous, keeled. Valves

hyaline, 3-nerved. Valvules hyaline, 2-nerved. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens

3. Stigmas linear, laterally exserted. Grain oblong, slightly dorsally com-

pressed, embryo half its length. Pedicelled spikelet similar to the sessile, but

with an indistinct glabrous callus and with both florets male or more or less

reduced.

1. Lasiurus hirsutus, Boiss. Diagn. ser. II, iv, 146; Stapf Fl. Trop. Afr. ix,

60.—Saccharum hirsutum, Forsk. Fl. Aegypt.—Arab. 16.—Rottbellia hirsuta,

Vahl Symb. i, 11; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 311.—J/schemum mastrucutum,

Trin. in Mém. Acad. Petersb. 6me. sér. ii, 298.--/schemum hirsutum, Nees in

Schimp. Pl. Arab. Fel. No. 791.—Celorrhachis hirsuta, Brongn. apud Dene. in

Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 2, ii, 13.—#lionurus hirsutus, Munro apuwd Benth. in

Journ. Linn. Soc. xixv, 68; Boiss. Fl. Or. v, 466 ; Hook. f. in F.B.I. vii, 162 ;

Cke. ii, 973.

Description : Gke: acc:

Locality : Sind: Karachi ( Bhide ae Sehwan to Laki, foot of hills (Sabnis

B613!) ; Umarkot, sandy plains (Sabnis B940!).

Distribution: N ubia, Egypt, Brit. Somaliland, Arabia, Afghanistan,

Baluchistan, Punjab, Sind, Rajputana.

17. ELyonuRUS, Humb. and Bonpl. (Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 62)

Usually perennial, czespitose, aromatic grasses. Blades of leaves flat or

folded; ligules very short, membranous. Racemes erect, joints strongly

compressed, usually villous, tips oblique, not appendaged. Spikelets similar,

usually awnless, differing in sex, 2-nate, one sessile, the other pedicelled, on

the articulate fragile rhachis of solitary spike-like racemes, the sessile deciduous

with the adjacent joint of the rhachis and the pedicel. Florets 2: Lower

reduced to an empty valve, upper bisexual in thesessile male, rarely barren, in

the pedicelled spikelet. Glumes equa!: Lower subcoriaceous to herbaceous,

often 9-toothed or 2-fid, rarely awned, dorsally flattened, 2-keeled, usually

with fine filiformed transparent balsam ducts close to the ciliate or penicillate

keels ; upper membranous, lanceolate, acute, rarely awned. Valves hyaline,

awnless. Valvule obsolete or absent. Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3.

Stigmas laterally exserted. Grain oblong, dorsally compressed ; embryo about

half the length of the grain.

Species about 15.—Tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres.

1. Elyonurus Royleanus, Nees ex. A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. ii, 471; Hack

Monogr. Androp. 343; Hook. f. in F.B.1. vii, 161; Duthie Grass. N.W. Ind.

17, and: Fodd. Grass. N. India 28, t. 54; Cke?) 11/4972: Stapf in. FI Trop:

Afr. ix, 65.—&. Griesebachii, Schmidt, Beitr. z. Fl. Capverd. 154.—/atze-

bdurgia Schimperi, Steud. Nomencl. ed. ii, 439.—Aottbellia elegantissima,

SSE

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 31

Hochst. ex. Steud. Syn. Pl. Glum.i, 365.—Andropogon elegantissimus, Steud.

Syn. Pl. Glum. i, 365—Andropogon Griesebachiz, Steud. Syn. Pl. Glum. i, 365.

Description : Cke. lc.

Locality : Sind; (Woodrow).—Gujarat: Bhodir Maka, Cutch (Blatter

3747!) ; Bhuj, Cutch (Blatter 3795!) ; Rajkot, Kathiawar (Wocdrow).

Distribution : Upper Gangetic Plain, Rajputana, W. Peninsula, Arabia,

Somaliland, Eritrea, Abyssinia, Sudan, Nubia, Cape de Verd Islands.

18.. ROTTBOELLIA, .Linn..f, (Stapf. in Fl. Trop: Afr. ix, 72)

Annual, usually coarse grasses, often with stilt-roots from the lowest nodes,

more or less branched, particularly upwards. Leaves large, linear-lanceolate,

rather wide; ligule membranous, short. Racemes dorsiventral, with the spike-

lets placed anticously and laterally. Spikelets 2-nate on the nodes of the very

fragile rhachis of stout cylindric perfectly glabrous spike-like racemes which

end the stems and their branches, in the latter case spathe-supported, different

in sex and usually in size, colour and nervation except those of the uppermost

pairs which are barren, homomorphous and upwards increasingly reduced

forming a tail-like appendage to the raceme. Joints dorsally flattened below,

widely cup-shaped and hollowed out upwards, more or jess completely fused

with the pedicels along their posticuous angles. Sessile spikelets pale, triangular

in transverse section ; the narrow callus fused with the bases of the adjacent

joint and pedicel into a glabrous ring from the centre of which protrudes a

knob fitting into the cup-shaped hollow of the next lower joint, the whole

plexus falling together. Florets 2, lower male, upper bisexual, awnless

Glumes equal: Lower coriaceous, flat on the back, with very narrow inflexed

margins, 2-keeled upwards; upper boat-shaped, keeled upwards, acute.

Valves hyaline, 3-nerved. Valvules as long or almost as long as the valves,

hyaline, 2-nerved. Lodicules, 2, cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas suberect or

shortly laterally exserted above the middle of the spikelet. Grain broad-oblong

or ellipsoid, dorsally compressed ; hilum large, suprabasal; embryo almost as

long as the grain. Pedicelled spikelet similar to the sessile, but more compressed,

green, striate, with two male florets, or smaller and more or less reduced.

Species 2 or 3.—Tropics of the Old World.

1. Rottboellia exaltata, Linn. f. Suppl. 114; Roxb. Pl. Corom. t. 157; Fl. Ind.

i, 354; Duthie Grass. N.W. Ind. 17; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 293; Hook. f.

in F.B I. vii, 156; Cke. ii, 955.— 2. exaltata, var. genuina, Schweinf. in Héhnel

Disc. Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie, ii, App. 352.—R. exaltata, £. arundinacea,

Hack. in Bot. Soc. Brot. v, 215.—R. arundinacea, Hochst. ex A. Rich. Tent.

Fl. Abyss. ii, 444.--Stegosia cochinchinensis, Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 51.—Stegosia

exaltata, Nash in Amer. FI. xvii, i, 84.

Description ; Cke. l.c.

Locality; Konkan: Dohe forest, Thana Dist. (Ryan 711!).—Deccan :

Agricultural College Farm (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!) ; Poona (Bhide!, Cooke,

Woodrow 2!) ; Purandhar 4,000 ft. (McCann 5591 !).—S. .W. Country : Dharwar,

in field (Sedgwick 5469!) —Kanara; Hattikeri, near Karwar (Hallberg and

McCann A74!).

Distribution : India, Andamans, Ceylon, China, Malaya, Australia, Africa.

var. robusta, Hook. f. in F.B.1. vii, 156.

Description ; Leaf-base more cordately confluent with the sheath. Spikes

stouter below, slender above the middle. Spikelets in upper half distichously

imbricate, longer than the joints, fertile nearly to the tip. Pales of upper floral

glume auricled at the base.

Locality : Poona (Woodrow).—We have not seen this plant.

Distribution : Malabar, Palamcotta.

19. OPHIURUS, Gertn. partim; R. Br. (Stapf Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 74)

Annual (?) or perennial, sometimes very coarse grasses, usually much branch-

ed upwards. Leaves linear to lanceolate, short to very long, conduplicate or con-

volute in bud, then flat ; ligules very short, membranous. Racemes dorsiventral.

Spikelets solitary on the nodes of the fragile rhachis of slender cylindric spikes

which end the stems and their usually fascicled spathe-supported branches,

their pedicelled companions suppressed or rudimentary and very minute and the

pedicels completely fused with the joints, both forming together a deeply

32 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

hollowed-out cylindric receptacle ; disarticulation of the internodes at a right

angle or slightly oblique to the rhachis, their tips hollowed out. Sessile spike-

let with a very narrow callus which is fused with the base of the internode into

a rim from the centre of which protrudes a small knob fitting into the hollow

of the next lower internode, the whole plexus falling together. Florets 2,

lower male or neuter, upper bisexual, awnless. Glumes equal: Lower coria-

ceous, flat or subconvex on the back with very narrow inflexed margins, faintly

nerved with a transverse groove at the base, upper boat-shaped, hyaline,

obtuse. Valves hyaline, 2-nerved or nerveless. WValvules similar to the valves.

Lodicules 2, cuneate. Stamens 3, Stigmas short, laterally exserted. Grain

oblong, dorsally slightly compressed ; embryo 1/4 the length of the grain.

Species about 4.—From the Sudan through tropical Asia to Australia.

Stapf has described the species Ophiurus megaphyllus which forms part of

O. corymbosus, Hook. f. in F.B.I. vii, 160 (not of Gzrtn. f. and not of

Rottbellia corymbosa, Linn. f.). What is Jeft over of Hook. f’s O. corymbosa

after the separation of O. megaphyllus has to go under O. corymbosa, Geertn.

I. Leaves ensiform, very hairy. Robust, 1‘5-1‘'8m. 1. O. megaphyllus.

II. Leaves linear, glabrous. Slender, 0°6-1'2m. ... 2. O. corymbosus.

1. O. megaphyllus, Stapf in Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa pt. V (1924),

1058.—-Ophiurus corymbosus, Hook. f. in F.B.I. vii, 160, dartim (non Geertn. f.);

Cke. ii, 951, artim ; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 317 (partim).

Description: A large stout grass, 1°5-1‘8m. high, very leafy to the top.

Leaves narrowly ensiform, tapering from base to apex, upper 10-18 mm. wide,

lower much wider, flat, very hairy as are the sheaths, but more or less glabres-

cent with age, hairs with small tubercle bases, margins of sheath hirsute.

Spikelets 2-4 mm., slightly shorter or longer than the joints, in very numercus

peduncled spikes 7°5-10 cm. long, from the leaf-axils. Peduncles 7°5-12'5cm.,

sheathed at the base, finally far exserted, each solitary on a branch with a vill-

ous node, often geniculate at the node. Sessile spikelets: Glumes 4: Lower

involucral glume oblong, glabrous, with rounded tip, smooth or with few lines

of small pits, not becoming recurved, sometimes bearing a small appendage.

Upper involucral glume white, becoming inclined forward, quite free from the

rhachis when the spikelet opens. Pedicelled spikelets: the lowest are some-

times free at the top and bear a small brown free appendage.

Locality : We have not been able to examine all the specimens which were

formerly put under O. corymbosus, Hook.f. and we are, therefore, not in a

position, to assign any specimen to O. megaphyllus, Stapf.

Distribution : To make a definite statement all the herbarium material of

O. corymbosa, Hook. f. would have to be examined.

2. ©. corymbosus, Geertn. f. Fruct. iii, 4, t. 181 f. 3 a. (Ophzuros) ;. Haines

Fl. Bihar and Orissa, pt. V (1924), 1058 ; Aottballia corymbosa, Linn. f. Suppl.

114.—O.. corymbosa, Hook. f in. F. B. J. vii, 160, parvtim ; Cke. ii, 951,

partim.

Description: Perennial. Stems very numerous, glabrous, erect, slender,

0:6-1:'2 m. high, bulbous at the base, the bulbous bases connected into a

horizontal rhizome. Leaves linear, glabrous, up to 5 mm. broad, margins

minutely tubercled at base, the tubercles bearing cilia when young. Spikes

very slender, 5-12°5 cm. long, sometimes ending ina small tail like that of a

rattle-snake (Haines), spikelets 2°>5 mm. long, equalling the joint. Lower

involucral glume of sessile spikelet glabrous, with many longitudinal lines of

small pits, narrowly oblong, tip rounded, finally recurved.

Locality: Deccan: Deolali (Blatter and Hallberg 4564!) ; Nasik Road

(Blatter 9624!) ; Talezgaum (McCann !)._ aor 3

20. CC@LORRHACHIS, Brown. (Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 78)

Mostly tall, coarse, perennial grasses, much-branched upwards. Racemes

with - the sessile spikelets which are often imbricate, placed anticously and

pedicelled laterally. Spikelets 2-nate on the nodes of the fragile rhachis of

slender, more or less compressed conspicuously dorsiventral spike-like racemes

_ whiecn end the stems and their usually fascicled, spathe- supported branches,

different or very rarely alike in sex, similar in shape or the pedicelled more or

less or very much reduced ; joints and pedicels similar or the latter more slender,

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF BOMBAY PRESIDENCY. 33

linéar to cuneate or subclavate, dorsally compressed, glabrous, contiguous or

nearly so; disarticulation of the joints at a right angle to the rhachis, their

tips more or less hollowed out, with or without an ear-shaped appendage.

Sessile spikelet dorsally compressed, the narrow transverse callus fused with

the base of the adjacent joint and pea‘.e]l into an obscure rim from the

centre of which protrudes a knob fitting into the hollow of the next lower

joint, the whole plexus falling together. Florets 2, the lower usually reduced

to the valve with a small valvule, always neuter upper bisexual, awnless.

Glumes subequal; lower flat or slightly convex on the back, smooth or

variously sculptured, with narrow inflexed margins, 2-keeled upwards and

more or less winged from the keels, obtuse or emarginate, very faintly nerved ;

upper chartaceous, keeled, acute, 1-3 nerved. Valves hyaline, of lower floret

2-nerved or nerveless, of upper 3-1-nerved or nerveless. Valvule hyaline, similar

to the valve, 2-nerved or nerveless Lodicules 2. cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas

shortly laterally exserted. Grain oblong, dorsally compressed ; embryo about

half the length of the grain. Pedicelied spikelet very varied, similar to the

sessile or more or less reduced or rudimentary, male or neuter, very rarely

bisexual.

Species about 12. Tropics cf both hemispheres.

1, Celorrhachis Clarkei comb. nov. Blatter and McCann. Aotitbellia

Clarket, Hack. in Oestr. Bot. Zeitschr. 41 (1891), 8; Cke. ii, 954. ARottbellia

gibbosa, Hack. ex Lisboa in Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. vi. (1891), 195.

Locality : Kanara: Bircny (Talbot 2820!, 2072) ; Jugglepet (Talbot 1566 !)

Distribution ; Chota Nagpur, W. Peninsula.

( Zo be continued)

THE MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS

AND SPORTSMEN

Satim A. ALI

PART if

(With tour plates)

(Continued trom page 861 of Vol. XXXT)

THE WILD Ass (£auus onager indicus)

According to Abul Faz]! the Wild Ass was hunted in the Sarkar

of Tattah (Sind). He gives an account of a hunt by the Emperor

Akbar (civca April, A.v. 1571) which took place at Harhari near the

River Sutlej (in the Punjab) as follows : ‘‘ Thescouts having reported

that there was a herd of wild asses (Gorkhar), the sovereign proceed-

ed to hunt them attended by three or four special huntsmen. When

he came near the plain, he dismounted and proceeded on foot.

At the first shot he hit an ass and the rest of the herd fled far away

at the report of the gun. That Divine World Hero took his piece

in his hand and proceeded rapidly on foot over the burning sand

attended by the same three or four huntsmen. He soon traversed

the plain and came up with the herd and killed one after the other

with his gun; he continued to follow them up and on that day he

shot thirteen wild asses. Whenever he killed one the others went

farther off than at first (before).” The chronicler tells us that

Akbar followed this herd till thirst brought about such exhaustion

that he lost the power of speech.

One of the items appearing on the list of game shot by Jehangir

in the course of a gamargah hunt at Girjhak (in the neighbourhood

of Kalpi?) is ‘“‘ ten Wild Asses’’.* By the Emperor’s orders the

largest and strongest of these was weighed and found to be

9 maunds 16 seers equal to 76 Persian (Vz/aye/z) maunds (equivalent

to 3244 lbs.). Regarding the qualities of its flesh as a table delicacy

Jehangir observes: ‘ Though the flesh of the wild ass is lawful

food (halal) and most men like to eat it, it was in no way suited

to my taste.’

THE YAK (Sos grunntens)

Abul Fazl mentions? that this animal was found in the northern

mountainous parts of the Subah of Kumaon. Further on he

describes the animal as follows: ‘The Yak approximates

to the domestic cow, but of its tail is made the ‘ kutas’ or fringed

tassel and many they join together.”’

2 Ain, vol. ii, p. 338. 2 Jel: vol. 1,4. 103" 5 Ain, vol. ii, p. 280.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 35

Jehangir records! that one day two Yaks out of the offerings

of the Zamindar of Tibet were brought before him and regarding

these he observes: ‘All the limbs are covered with wool which

properly belongs to animals in a cold country. For instance the

Rang goat ([bex) which they brought from the country of Bakkar

(Sind) and the hill country of the Garmsir (Afghanistan) were very

handsome but had little wool, and those that were met with in

these hills (Tibet), on account of the excessive cold and snow are

covered with hair and ugly. In form and appearance they (the

Yaks) closely resemble the buffalo.”

Jehangir is here doubtless, differentiating between the close-

haired Ibex of the Sind Hills and its congener the Himalayan Ibex

of the high altitudes of the Central Asian region.

According to Blanford the Yak in the wild state is only found

within Indian limits in Northern Ladak in the neighbourhood of

Chang Chenmo. Hodgson described it as occurring in the northern

region of Nepal in the immediate vicinity of the snows. It is

possible that the Subah or province of Kumaon in Akbar’s day

extended into Tibet which was a dependancy of the Moghul

Empire.

THE WILD BUFEFALO (Bos bubalus)

Babur describes * the animal thus: ‘‘ It is much larger than the

common buffalo. Its horns go back like those of the common

buffalo, but not so as to grow into the flesh. It is a very ferocious

and destructive animal.’’

Babur’s view is upheld by Blanford and by most sportsmen of

the present day that the wild buffalo is by far the most savage

and the boldest of Indian Bovide.

The habitat of this beast at present is mainly Nepal, Assam,

Bengal, Orissa and certain portions of Central India where it is

locally distributed. In Akbar’s time, according to his historian*

wild buffaloes were numerous in Oudh. ‘‘ When the plains are

inundated,’’ he informs us, ‘‘the animals take to high ground

where people find sport in hunting them. Some of the animals

remain all day inthe water and only at night approach the dry

ground and breathe in freedom.”’

According to the same author * various methods were employed

in hunting the wild buffalo, the commonest being to decoy a bull

by means of a tame cow on heat and to entangle him with nooses

slipped round his legs by hunters lying in ambush.

MountvAIN SHEEP (Oorial or Burhel ?)

Jehangir records * that in the course of two Qamargah hunts,

one at Girjhak and the other at Nadina (somewhere in the neigh-

bourhood of Kalpi?) one hundred and eighty mountain sheep were

killed. The Emperor ordered a large ram to be weighed and it

came to 2 maunds 3 seers (Akbari) equal to 70 Persian (Vilayeti)

maunds which would be equivalent to 714 Ibs. It will be noted that

the Moghul Emperors invariably appraised their game by weight,

ibid. vol. ii, po 151. 2 Babwr, volaii,p. 211, ? Ain, vol..ii, p, 125.

4Ain, vol. i, p. 293: 5 Jéeh., vol. i, p. 83.

36 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NAUTRAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1/

only in a very few instances is any attention paid to the length of

horn and other dimensions so dear to the heart of the modern

sportsman. |

Continuing on the subject, Jehangir observes: ‘I have fre-

quently heard from hunters and those fond of the chase that at

a certain regular time a worm develops in the horn of the

mountain ram, and this causes an irritation which induces the

ram to fight with its hind, and that if he finds no rival he strikes

his head against a tree or rock to allay the irritation. After

inquiry it seems that the same worm appears in the horn of the

female sheep, and since the female does not fight, the statement

is clearly untrue.”’

The reference no doubt is to the larva of the parasitic fly @strus

ovis L. which occurs in sheep causing the well-known giddiness.

THE ‘ RANG’ OR IBEX (Capra sp.)

Jehangir+ thus describes an ibex shot and brought to him: “ It

is like a mountain goat and there is a difference only in its horns.

The horns of the ‘Rang’ are bent (backwards) and those of the

goat (obviously meaning Markhor) are straight and convoluted.”

In regard to 24 ibex which were captured alive in the course of a

Qamargah hunt near Kabul, the Emperor observes? : ‘“ I had never

till now seen a Xazg antelope alive. It is in truth a wonderful

animal of beautiful shape. Although the Black-buck of Hindustan

looks very finely made, the shape and fashion and appearance of

this antelope is quite a different thing. They weighed a Rang

and it came to 2 maunds 10 seers (Akbari) (equal to 774 ibs.). The

Rang although of this ‘size ‘(1-e., heavy) ran -so that’. 10ior12

swift dogs were worn out and siezed it with a hundred thousand

difficulties.”’

Jehangir describes his experiment of crossing the ibex witha

Barbary goat in the following terms. The translation speaks of

the former animal as ‘‘ Markhor ’’ but from the sketches of the goats,

both parents and hybrids, made at the time (A.D. 1619) under the

Emperor’s orders it is apparent that the ibex and not the markhor

was the species experimented with. Says Jehangir,* ‘‘ At Ahmeda-

bad I had two markhor(?) goats. As I had not a female in my

establishment to pair with them, it occurred to me that if I could

pair them with Barbary goats which they bring from Arabia,

especially trom the port of the city of Darkhar* young of their form

and qualities might be obtained. In short | paired them with seven

Barbary ewes (she-goats) and after six months had elapsed each of

the latter had a young one at Fatehpur. There were four females

and three males very pleasing in appearance, of good shape and

good colour. In their colour, those kids which resembled the male

were dun coloured with black stripes on their backs. ... Of

their liveliness and laughable ways and their manner of gamboling

and leaping what can be written? Some of their ways are such

that the mind derived uncontrolled pleasure from looking at them.

When one month or even 20 days old, they would leap

2 Jeh., vol.i, p. 109. ?J6id.,p. 121. — % Lbid., vol. ii, p. 8&

* The ancient Dhafar on the south coast of Arabia, known as Mirbat.

‘UMROAG MI4AT — “SNY SOT ay, Aapun

GULUIDY UDIPUT , SABYSIIQNGY 3Y) fo AsapAénors AG

‘sllvg ‘9}j0MI9q "J JO UOT}DaTIOD { BTOT ‘av pejuled )

(,X8a1, AHS) SdIMH#AH LVOD-XHaI AO SHHDLANS

wg a 5 =

(‘Avquog ‘wmnasnyy savy — : ae

a Sg , ee :

JO IDUIAT IY] Ut SUIJUIDE JNYSO]{T V M01,7) 3 oh we

‘IVOTIN :

‘90C ‘ISILy ‘1eAr Avawiod Cumor

;

CGE AE

‘UMOAT AIAIT— <SINYSOPY IY) Aapun BuUlUWY UDIpUT, ‘S4aYS1]QNY aYy2 JO Asajanos tg

(AIBIqY] 90WO PIPUl ‘ yoyIYS vieq soullg jo wnq[y ‘ OE9l ‘d'v pe}Uleq) NOUHH LHOIN GNV GuvIIVvA

‘20G "}sIH{ ‘Weyy Aequiog

“umor

MOGHUL EMPEROKS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 37

apon high piaces and throw themselves on the ground in a way that

if any other but a kid were to do so, not one limb would be left

entire. As it pleased me | ordered them always to be kept near

me, and I.gave each of them an appropriate name. I am much

delighted with them and pay much attention to bringing together

markhor (ibex) males and well-bred she-goats. I desire to have

many young ones from them that they may become well known

among men. After their young shall have paired, most probably

more delicate ones will be obtained. One of their peculiarities is

that ordinary kids, immediately they are born and until they begin

to suck, make a great bleating, whilst these on the contrary make

no sound and stand quite contented and without wailing. Perhaps

their flesh would be very pleasant to the taste.”

‘Lhe agility of the ibex appears to have particularly excited the

Emperor’s amazement. He mentions’ in regard to a tame ibex

fawn eight days old that ‘“‘ it jumped down from the terrace of the

palace which is 8 gaz (20 ft.) in height on to the ground and began

to leap about, no sign of injury or pain being perceptible in it.”’

It is interesting to compare Jehangir’s ibex-goat hybrids in the

plate here reproduced with the photo illustrating a similar cross

which appeared with a note by Col. A. E. Ward on page 519 of vol.

xxxi of the Society’s Journal.

THE MARKHOR (Capra falconert)

I have no doubt that the animal referred to as ‘‘ Mountain Goat ”’

in Jehangir’s memoirs is no other than this. The Emperor

mentions that as compared with the Aazg (ibex) whose horns are

bent backwards, the horns of this animal were straight and

convoluted. This clue alone would suffice to establish its identity.

Jehangir? continues on the subject: ‘‘I found the flesh of the

Mountain Goat more delicious than of all wild animals; although

its skin is exceedingly ill-odoured, so much so that even when

tanned the scent is not destroyed. I ordered one of the largest of

the Hill Goats to be weighed ; it was 2 maunds and 25 seers equal

to 21 foreign (Persian or Vilayeti) maunds.”’ ,

The weight would be equivalent to 90% ibs.

THE NILGAI OR BLUE BULL (BSoselaphus tragocamelus)

The first Moghul emperor to refer to this animal was Babur, who

described it in his Memoirs*® thus: ‘‘ Its height is equal to that of a

horse. It is somewhat slender. The male is bluish whence it is

called the Vzl-gau (Blue Ox). It has two small horns and on his

neck has some hairs, more than a span in length, which bears much

resemblance to the mountain-cow’s (yak) tassels.* Its tail is like

the bull’s. The colour of the female is like that of the ‘Gawazen’

deer (Red Deer).”’

All the Moghul emperors appear to have been extremely fond of

hunting the Nilgai. Jehangir in particular was devoted to it, and

mae a ee

* Jeh., vol. ii, p. 204. ? Llbtd., vol. i, p. 83.

“Nol. 1i4-p. 211. * Known as &uZas or gutas.

38 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

makes repeated references to the sport in his memoirs. -I give an

account of one such hunt in the Emperor’s own words which

will suffice our purpose. He writes: ‘On this day (in a.p. 1610)

was killed a Nilgau of the weight of 9 maunds and 35 seers

(equivalent to 3403 lbs.). The story of this nilgau is written because

it is not devoid of strangeness. In the past two years during

which I had come to this same place to wander about and hunt, I

had shot at him each time with a gun. As the wounds were not in

a fatal place, he had not fallen but gone off. This time I again saw

that nilgau in the hunting ground and the watchman recognized

that in the two previous years he had gone away wounded. In

short I fired at him again three times that day. It wasin vain. I

pursued him rapidly on foot for 3 kos but however much I exerted

myself I could not catch him up. At last I made a vow that if this

nilgau fell I would have his flesh cooked, and for the sake of

Khwaja Muin-ud-din (who was Jehangir’s patron saint) would give

it to eat to poor people. I also vowed a muhr (gold mohur) and a

rupee to my revered father. Soon after this the nilgau became

worn out with moving and! ran to his head and ordered them to

make it lawful (cut its throat in the name of Allah) on the spot, and

having brought it to the camp I fulfilled my vow as I had proposed.

They cooked the nilgau, and expending the muhr and rupee on

sweets, I assembled poor and hungry people and divided these

among them in my own presence.

Two or three days afterwards I saw another nilgau. However

much I exerted myself and wished he would stand still in one place

so that I might fire at him, I could get no chance. With my gun

on my shoulder I followed him till near evening until it was sunset

and I despaired of killing him. Suddenly it came across my tongue

‘ Khwaja, this nilgau is also vowed to you.” My speaking and his

sitting down were at one and the same moment. I fired at him and

hit him and ordered him like the first ave au to be cooked and given

to the poor to eat.’’?

From the above account it will be seen that unlike so many

potentates of the present day, the Moghul emperors spared no

personal exertion in pursuit of sport.:

The killing of female game was apparently not looked upon as

unsporstmanlike in Jehangir’s time. He tells us that he once shot

a female nilgau from the stomach of which two fully formed foetuses

were obtained. ‘‘ As I had heard,’’ writes the Emperor, ‘‘that the

flesh of nilgai fawns was delicate and delicious, I ordered the royal

cooks to prepare a dupiyaza (a kind of rich fricassee,*) and he

remarks that ‘‘ certainly it was not without flavour.”’

THE FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPE (Tetracerus guadricornis)

Jehangir® writes : ‘‘ On the road to the village of Qasim-khera in

the Subah (province) of Malwa a white (probably meaning pale

brown) animal was killed which resembled the Kotah-payeh (Hog

Deer) ; it had four horns, two of which were opposite the extremities

of its eyes and two finger-breadths in nee and the other two

eS SE a ne ~ eee ee

EWEN. VOU. 1)-p. leo: 2 Ibid. 8 Jes, VOli 1, ip. aoe.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 39

norns 4 finger breadths: towards the nape of the neck. These were

4 finger breadths in height. The people of India call this animal

Diudhadhérit. The male has four horns and the female none. It

was said that this kind of animal had no gall-bladder, but when they

looked at its intestines the gall-bladder was apparent, and it became

clear that this report has no foundation.”’

One of the Hindustani names for the four-horned antelope is

Doda, which may be an abbreviated form of that mentioned by

Jehangir.

THE INDIAN ANTELOPE OR BLACK BUCK (Azdézlope cervicapra)

In dealing with the fauna of Hindustan, Babur’ refers to this

animal in the following terms: ‘‘ There is a species of deer that

resembles the male huneh or iran.” Its back is black, its

belly white, its horns longer than those of the Auneh and more

crooked. The Hindustanis call it kal/haveh. ‘The word was probably

kala hivan (black deer), which they have corrupted into kalhareh.

The female is white (meaning doubtless, pale brown). They take

the deer by means of this kalhéreh. They make fast a running net

to its horns and tie a stone larger than a football to its leg, that

after it is separated from the deer it may be hindered from running

far. When the deer sees the wild kalharch it advances up to i*

presenting its head. This species of deer is very fond of fighting

and comes onto butt with its horns. When they have engaged

and pushed at each other with their horns, in the course of their

moving backwards and forwards, the net which has been fastened to

the tame one’s horns gets entangled in those of the wild deer and

prevents its escape. Though the wild deer uses every effort to flee,

the tame one does not run off and is greatly impeded by the stone

tied to its leg which keeps back the other also. In this way they

take a number of deer which they afterwards tame. They likewise

take deer by setting nets. They breed this tame deer to fight in

their houses. It makes excellent battle.”

Writing in the reign of the Emperor Akbar, the historian Abul

Fazl, after enumerating a number of methods then in vogue for

hunting and capturing black buck, the most popular of which has been

so graphically described by Babur and is still employed, informs us

that regular deer studs were maintained where black buck were

bred and trained as decoys for catching and hunting wild antelope.

While on the subject of black buck, Jehangir recounts an incident

which he says ‘‘ has been written because it is not void of strange-

ness. At Chandwalah I had wounded in the belly a black antelope.

When wounded a sound proceeded from him such as I have never

heard from any antelope except in the rutting season. Old hunters

and those with me were astonished and said they never remembered,

nor had they heard from their fathers that such a voice issued from

an antelope except at the rutting season.”’

1 Babur, vol. ii.

2 It has been suggested that this may be either Gazella subgutturosa or Saiva

tartarica,

4) JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

He further relates’ that while hunting in the pargana of

Karnal (Punjab) with about 30 of his huntsmen (cz7ca 1618 A.D.)

they came in sight of a black buck with some does. ‘‘ We let

loose a decoy antelope to fight him. They butted two or three

times and then the decoy came back. A second time I wanted to

put a noose on its horns and let it go that it might capture the wild

one. Meanwhile the wild antelope in the excess of his rage, not

looking at the crowd of men (i.e., unmindful), ran without regard

to anything, and butting the tame buck two or three times, fought

with it tili it fled. The wild antelope thereupcn made its escape.’’

The traveller Mons. de Thevenot, who visited India during the

regime of Aurangzebe, writes of the black buck and the methods

of capturing it as follows:—-‘‘ The Indian Antelope are not altogether

like those of other countries; they have even a great deai more

courage, and are to be distinguished by their horns. The horns of

the ordinary antelope are greyish, and but half as long as the

Horns of those in the Indies which are blackish and a large Foot

and a half long. The Horns grow winding to a point like a screw;

and the Faquirs and Santons carry commonly two of them pieced

together ; they are armed with iron at both ends, and they make

use of them as of a little staff.

When they use not a tame Leopard for catching of Antelopes, they

take with them a male of the kind that is tame, and fasten a Rope

about his Horns, with several nooses and doubies, the two ends

whereof are tied under his belly ; so soon as they discover a Heard

of Antelopes, they slip this male and he runs to join them. The

Male of the Heard advances to hinder him, and making no other

opposition but playing with his horns, he fails not to be pestered

and entangled with his rival, so that it being uneasy for him to

retreat, the Huntsman cunningly catches hold of him and carries

him off ; but it is easier to catch the male than the females.”’

Here again we find that the favourite method of capturing

black buck was the same as employed in Babur’s time, over a century

previously. The dodge as practised to-day shows very little modifi-

cation.

THE CHINKARA (Gazella bennett?) OR MuntTIAC (Cerviulus muntjac)?

Sir Lucas King, the annotator of Erskine’s translation of Babur’s

Memoirs, in a footnote conjectures that the animal described by the

Emperor in the following words may be a Chinkara. If this view is

correct, it appears curious that Babur should not have remarked

upon the similarity of this animal to the Persian Gazelle (Gazella

subgutturosa) which was evidently familiar to him (cf. Black Buck)

and closely allied to this species. Babur states :—‘‘ There is on the

skirts of the mountains another deer which is smaller; it may

be equal in size to a sheep of a year old.’’

In view of the somewhat vague account, I think it may be

permissible to hazard a guess that possibly the Muntjac is what

is meant.

1 Jeh.,'vol. ii, p. 42.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 4]

RED DEER (?)

The identity of this animal is uncertain. According to Jehangir!

they were plentiful in the hills of Rohtas (Punjab) ? and were found

nowhere else in Hindustan except at Girjhak and Nandaneh (near

Kabul ?) The Emperor writes :—‘‘ I ordered them to catch and keep

some of them alive in order that possibly some of them might

each Hindustan for breeding purposes.”’

Unfortunately no further records are available regarding this

proposed introduction of the deer.

Is it possible that the Emperor is here referring to the Eastern

Red Deer, misnamed the Maral, (Cervus elaphus maral) whose

range extends from the Caucasus to Northern Persia and may have

in Babur’s day included Afghanistan and the neighbouring

provinces of the Punjab ?

The only mention of Sambar (or Barasinga ?) made in Jehangir’s

notes is in his game register. In the list cf game killed by him

which appearec with the first part of this article, one of the items

is Maka which for the reason stated in my footnote, may refer to

either to Sambhar or Swamp Deer (4avasinga). As mentioned by

Blanford, /aéhé is the Hindi name for the Swamp Deer and Maha

the Terai for Sambar.

THE Hoc DEER (Ayelaphus porcinus)

Babur describes this deer which he calls Kotah paicheh (i.e.

‘“ Shortlegged ’’) as follows: ‘Its size may be equal to that of the

white deer. Its forelegs as well as its thighs are short whence

its name. Its horns are branching like those of the gawazen (Red

Deer) but less. It is a bad runner and therefore never leaves the

jungle.’’

Akbar’s chronicler, Abul Fazl, mentions? that the sport of

hunting this deer was much pursued in the Sarkar of Tattah—the

present Sind. The animal is still plentiful in the tamarisk forests

in the Indus and canal areas of that province and the zamindars

display considerable fervour and ingenuity in hunting it.

THE Musk DEER (Moschus moschiferus)

Abul Fazl ° refers to this little animal in his Fauna of Hindustan

thus: ‘* The deer from which the musk is taken is larger than a

fox, and his coat is rough. He shows two tusks or protruberances

in place of horns. ‘They are common in the northern mountains.”’

Jn regard to its distribution the same author observes* that the

- Musk Deer was found in the Subah of Kumaon.

The Emperor Jehangir mentions > that while in Kashmir, the

Zamindar of Tibet brought him a Musk Deer as offering. About

this he writes: ‘‘ As I had not tasted its flesh, I ordered it to be

cooked ; it appeared very tasteless and bad for food. The flesh

of no other animal is so inferior. The musk bag when fresh has

no scent, but when it is left for some days and becomes dry it is

sweet scented. The female has no musk bag.’’

ICM VOI. pe 1120; 2 Ain; Vou. i. p. 338. 2 AU NOly Wi,

* Ain, vol, ii, p. 280. “JEM NOla ly, Dy Lol,

42 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXi1

It is interesting to compare Jehangir’s verdict on the flesh of

this species as an article of food with Blanford’s, who considers it

as excellent and free from any musk flavour.

THE INDIAN WILD BOAR (Sus cristatus)

According to Abul Fazl! the Wild Boar was much hunted in the

Sarkar of Tattah (Sind) where it is still plentiful and a serious

pest to cultivation.

Jehangir mentions ? that two pigs formed part of his bag in a

Qamargah hunt which took place at Rawalpindi.

Sir Thomas Roe, the English Ambassador from James I to the

court of Jehangir, writes in his journal ? that on one occasion the

king returning from a hunt ‘sent me a wild boar so large that

he desired the tusks might be sent him back for their extra-

ordinary size, sending word he had killed it with his own hand and

bidding me eat it merrily.’’

Some time later, he again notes: ‘‘ The king returning from

hunting sent me a wild boar.”’

THE GANGETIC DOLPHIN (Platantsta gangetica)

The animal referred to by Babur as Ahik-e-abz is doubtless this

species. From the fact that he describes it along with his crocodiles

and fishes, it may be doubted if the Emperor realized its true position.

Of course, by analogy of habitat alone it has at least as much right

to be classed with the fishes as Babur’s Flying Fox had to be with

his birds.

The cetacean is thus described : ‘‘ It is found in all the rivers of

Hindustan. Itsprings up from the water with a jerk, puts up its

head and plunges it down again, leaving no part of its body visible

except the tail. The jaw of this animal too is like that of the

crocodile. It is long and has the same kind of ranges of teeth;

in other respects its head and body are like that of a fish. While

playing in the water it resembles a water bag (mushak). The

khik-e-abi (water hogs) that are in the River Saru (the Sirju or

Gogra) while sporting leap right out of the water. This animal

too resembles the fish in never leaving the water.”

BIRDS

THE Crow (Corvus splendens ssp. ?)

In dealing with the birds of his new dominions, Babur describes *

what he calls the ‘‘ d/a-khurgeh of Hindustan’’ as follows: ‘‘ It is

slenderer and smaller than the Ala-khurgeh of my native country

and it has some white (? whitish) on the neck.’’ Babur undoubtedly

refers to the Hooded Crow (Corvus capellanus) in speaking of the

crow of his country.

In a footnote, Sir Lucas King suggests that the bird referred to

may be the Carrion Crow (Corvus cornix sharpi) but as this is by

: Ain, vol. il, p. 338. 2 Jeh Wola, peo:

’ Pinkerton’s Travels, vol viii, * Babur, vol. ii, p. 221,

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 43

no means a common species (being a somewhat rare visitor to

the extreme north-west of India only) and besides has no grey or

white about the neck which is glossy black, I am _ inclined to

believe it highiy probable that Babur’s bird is no other than our

vulgar friend the House Crow—possibly C. s. zugmeyerz the

Sind Crow, which has a particularly pale, almost whitish neck.

THE TREE Pir (Dendrocitta ruta ssp. ?)

‘¢ Another is the Aakeh of Hindustan; they call it mzfa. It is a

little smaller than the common aakeh (magpie) which is particoloured

black and white, while the #zfa is particoloured brown and black.”’ !

THE GREEN MAGPIE (Cissa chinensis chinensts)

Babur’s description of what may possibly be this bird is very

vague. He compares it in appearance to the Skhigraqg which

according to King, is the Arabic name for the Green Magpie, and

says, ‘It lives close among and about trees, and may be about

the size of a shtkrak. It is green-coloured like the parrot.’’

Abul Fazl’s reference to it is somewhat more definite. Among the

birds found in the Sarkar of Sylhet (Assam) he mentions one as the

Sherganj and says, ‘‘It is of the same kind (as the Racket-tailed

Drongo) but its beak and legs are red; in imitating sounds it

matches the other, and pursues sparrows and the like and eats

them.’’ Among the vernacular names of this bird in the -.2./. Azrds,

vol. i, Ist and 2nd editions, both Oates and Stuart Baker give

Sivganj as the Bengali. The latter states that its food consists of

insects, small unfledged birds, etc.

THE RACKET-TAILED DRONGO (Dissemurus paradiseus ssp. °)

Abul Fazl? describes this bird from the Sarkar of Sylhet (Assam)

thus: ‘‘ The Bhangra is a bird of biack colour with red eyes and a

long tail. Two of the feathers extend to the length ofa gaz. They

are snared and tamed. It catches the note of any animal that it

hears and eats its flesh.’’

THE SCARLET MINIVET (Pertcrocotus speciosus )

Another bird which Babur compares in size to the Sazdulaj-

mamula, (which according to King is the Arabic for Wagtail) is

probably this bird. The Emperor says ‘‘ It is of a beautiful red, and

on its wings has a little black.’’

THE DIPPER

Jehangir writes in Kashmir as follows: ‘‘I rode to see Sukh Nag."

It is a beautiful summer residence (//ag). The waterfall is in

the midst of a valiey and flows down from a lofty place.

-UBOUOUs NOL, 11, Dy 2226 Sage VOlnis, 2a.

3 Perhaps this is the Shakar Nag of Jarrett (Az, vol. ii, p. 361). The Sukh

Nag River is mentioned by Laurence, 16. It may also be the waterfall mentione

by Bernier who says Jehangit visited the place and had a rock levelled in order

to see properly.

44. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

There was: still ice on its sides.... In this stream I saw a

bird like. a Sa7...The Sa7 is ‘of a’ black colour with white

spots, while this bird is of the same colour as a bulbul (brown)

with white spots, and it dives and remains for a long time

underneath and then comes up from a different place. I ordered

them to catch and bring two or three of these birds that I might

ascertain whether they are waterfowl! and were web-footed, or had

open feet like land birds. They caught two and brought them.

One died immediately and the other lived fora day. Its feet were

not webbed like a duck’s. I ordered Nadir-ul-asr Ustad Mansur

(the celebrated animal painter) to draw its likeness. The Kashmiris

call it Galkar that is ‘ Water Sa7’.”’

This bird is either the Kashmir Dipper (C7zzclus c. cashmertensts) or

the Indian Brown Dipper (Czzclus pallasi tenutrostris). The Sa7 to

which it is compared may be the Spotted Forktail. Unfortunately

I have no access to a reproduction of Ai Mansur’s painting referred

to. This would doubtless have set the matter at rest.

STARLINGS, MYNAHS, ETC.

Babur mentions! the Skdérak whichhe says ‘‘ abounds in the

Lamghanat and everywhere lower down over the whole of

Hindustan. The Sha@rak is of different (various) species. One is that

which is found in great numbers in the Lamghanat. Its head is

black, its wings white, its size is rather larger than the Chughur and

slenderer. It learns to speak.’’

In a footnote to this, King says: ‘‘ The Persian has /a@/ which is

the Bokhara lark—Jelanocorypha torquata—-a common cage bird in

India. Chughur is a large species of lark: ‘The bird referred/to

here must be some sort of stariing, possibly Sturnus humzz.’’? I can

hardly imagine that King is correct in his conjecture. I have never

heard of Sturnus humii sporting white wings! Mrs. A. S. Beveridge,

in her translation of the Wemoirs, remarks ‘‘ Chughur-chug in E. D.

Ross’s Polyglot List of Birds (p. 314) is the Northern Swallow.

The description allows it to be Sturnus humti—the Himalayan

Starling.” (? ?)

Babur proceeds: ‘‘ There is another sort which they call Pzzda-

wel1. They bring’ it from Bengal. It.is:all black. It is much

larger than the other Sharak. In its two ears are yellow leathers

which hang down and look vety ugly. They call it the Wyuna. It

learns. to speak well and fluently.’’

This bird is obviously the Hill Mynah (4ulabes intermedia), a

favourite cage bird, talker and mimic.

“There is another kind of Sarak a little sienderer than this last

(the Persian adds, they call it Wan Shadrak). It has red round the

eye. This kind does not talk.” King suggests in a footnote that

this is possibly Calornis chalybeius—the Glossy Starling or Tree

Stare. It is possible that his surmise may be correct though this

species has no red round the eye, unless the irides are meant. To

my mind the description suggests Acridotheres ginginianus, the Bank

Myna.

1 Babur, vol. ii, p. 216

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 45

THE Baya (Ploceus baya)

Abul Fazl says, ‘‘ The Baya is like a wild sparrow but yeilow. It

is extremely intelligent and docile ; it will take small coins from the

hand and bring them to its master, and will come to call from a

long distance. Its nests are so ingeniously constructed as to defy

the rivalry of clever artificers.”’

THE SPARROW

Abul Faz] remarks upon the scarcity of these birds in the Province

of Kashmir, and ascribes it to the general use in that country of

pellet bows fitted with bow strings. Some doubt may be pertinently

expressed as to the bird referred to in this note.

One of Akbar’s diversions was to catch sparrows by the

agency of frogs trained for the purpose.

THE WAGTAIL

One of the things Jehangir records from the fortress of Mandu

(in the present Dhar State) which he had never seen before in

Hindustan was ‘‘ the nest of a Wagtail (//a@mzila) which they call in

Persian Dim-sicha (‘Tail wagger’). Up till now, none of the hunters

had pointed out its nest. By chance in the building I occupied there

was its nest, and it brought out two young ones.”’

This wagiail would obviously be Motactlla lugubris maderas-

pbatensts-—the Large Pied Wagtail, which is the only resident species

that breeds in India south of the Himalayas. This is the species,

moreover, that is especially partial to holes in walls atid buildings

both empty and occupied for nesting sites.

THE Prrp CRESTED CuCcKOoO (Clamator jacobinus }

Jehangir says,‘ ‘‘ In Hindustan there is a bird called Papiha of a

sweet voice, which in the rainy season utters soul-piercing (7a-siz)

lament. As the Koyel lays its eggs in the nest of a crow and the

latter brings up its young, so I have seen in Kashmir that the paptha

lays its eggs in the nest of the ghaughdz (probably some species of

babbler) and the ghaughai brings up its young.”

Abul Fazl writes about this cuckoo as follows: ‘‘ It is a smaller

bird than the koel with a shorter and slenderer tail. Its love is

chanted in story. It is in full song in the beginning of the rainy

season and has a peculiar note, and its plaintive strain is heard

oftenest at night and makes love’s unhealed wounds bleed anew.

It is from its note that the word pzu is taken, which in Hindi

signifies ‘ Beloved.’ ”’

THE KOEL (Audynamis scolopaceus scolopaceus )

Babur says about it :—‘‘ Its length may be equal to the crow but

is much thinner. I[t has a kind of song and is the nightingale of

Hindustan. It is respected by the natives of Hindustan as much as

the nightingale by us. It inhabits gardens where the trees are

close planted.’’

t Jeh.; Voli, pi. 164.

146 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX1}

At a later date, Abul Fazl in his fauna of Hindustan refers to the

bird as follows :—‘‘ The Koel is like a myna, jet black with crimson

irides and a long tail. The romance sings of its loves as of those

of the bulbul.”’

Jehangir’s observations on the bird and its parasitic habits are

remarkably thorough. He writes:—‘‘ The koel is a bird of the

crow tribe but smaller. The crow’s eyes are black and those of the

koel red. The female has white spots but the male is all black.

The male has a very pleasant voice quite unlike that of the female.

It is in reality the nightingale of India. Just as the nightingale is

agitated and noisy in Spring, so is the cry of the koe) at the approach

of the rainy season, which is the Spring of Hindustan. Its cry is

exceedingly pleasant anda penetrating, and the bird begins its

exhilerations (#astz) when the mangoes ripen. It frequently sits on

the mango trees and is delighted with the colour and scent of the

mango (a fruit of which the emperor himself was inordinately

fond !) A strange thing about the koel is that it does not bring up

its young from the egg, but finding the nest of the crow unguarded

at the time of laying, it breaks the crow’s eggs with its beak and

throws them out, and lays its own in the place of them and flies off.

The crow thinking the eggs its own, hatches the young and brings

them up. I have myself seen this strange affair at Allahabad.”’

THE CROW PHEASANT (Centropus sinensis)

Babur describes the bird! as follows :—‘‘ This (bird) bears some

resemblance to the Carrion Crow. Inthe Lamghanat they call it

the Wood Fowl. Its head and breast are black, its wings and tail

red; its eyes a very deep red. From its being weak and flying ill,

it never comes out of the woods whence it gets its name of the

Wood Fowl.”’

PAROQUETS

On the subject of the Paroquets of Hindustan, Babur writes?

‘There are many species of parrot; one is that which they carry

into our countries (i.e. Turkestan) and teach to talk (Palgornis

nepalensis ?). There is another species of smaller size which is also

taught to speak. They call it the ‘Wood Parrot’ (P. torgquatus ?).

Great numbers of this species are found in Bajour, Sawad and the

neighbouring districts, insomuch that they go in flights of five or

six thousand. These two species differ only in bulk—both have

the same colours. There is another species of the parrot which is

still smaller than the wood parrot. Its head is red as well as its

upper feathers ; from the tip of its tail to within two fingers’ breadth

of its feet it is white. ‘The head of many of this species is lustrous,

and they do not speak. They call it the Kashmir Parrot.’’

I am afraid this last bird cannot be placed with any degree of

certainty though it may of course be P. cyanocephalus, the Blossom-

headed Paroquet. This species, however, has none of the white

mentioned in the description, unless the pale yellowish-green

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 47

undertail coverts are so described. Moreover, the upper feathers

are not red, unless the reference is to the wing-patches only.

Babur continues: ‘‘ ‘here is another species of parrot like the

wood parrot but a little less. Its beak is red; round its néck is a

broad black circle like a collar. Its upper feathers are crimson ; it

learns to speak well.’’ ‘This would appear to be P. zepalensts, the

Large Indian Paroquet, a favourite cage bird in India, though in

size it is larger, and not smalier, than P. torguatus.

‘‘ There is another kind of parrot of a beautiful red colour, it has

also other colours, as I preciously do not recollet its appearance, |

therefore do not describe it particularly. It is a very elegant bird

and learns to talk; it has one great defect that its voice is particularly

disagreeable as if you rubbed a piece of broken china on a copper

plate.”’

The identity of this bird is obscure. It certainly does not appear

to be Coryllis vernalts as suggested by King, as the colour of this

species is green with scarlet patches on the rump and uppertail

coverts only. Besides, I have never heard of a Lorikeet learning

to talk, and its voice cannot be said to agree with Babur’s graphic

description. The only Indian bird that strikes me as being possibly

referred to is P. fasciatus the Red-breasted Paroquet, which is found

throughout the lower Himalayas, although its cry according to

Blanford is much less harsh than that of either FP. forguatus or

P. nepalensts.

LORIKEE? (Coryllis vernalts)

Once, when Jehangir was at Ajmere he narrates that ‘ they

brought a bird from the country of Zerbad (Arrakan, Sumatra, etc.)

which was coloured like a parrot but had a smaller body. One of

its peculiarities is that it lays hoid with its feet of the branch or

perch on which they may have placed it and then makes a

somersault and remains in this position all night and whispers to

itself. When day comes it seats itself on top of the branch.

Though they say that animals have worship, yet it is most likely

that this practise (whispering ?) is instinctive. It never drinks

water and water acts like poison upon it, though other birds

subsist on water.”’

A curious observation indeed! In captivity at least the bird

drinks freely without dire consequences.

EAGLES, KirEs, FALCONS, ETC.

The Zumej described by Babur as being of the size of a burguat

or falcon and of a black colour, may for all we know be the Black

Hawk-eagle (/etinactus malayensts) as suggested by King. According

to the commentator Zume; is the Arabic name for Dubara or

Du-baradaran (i.e. ‘‘ Two brothers ’’) so called because they hunt in

couples. He thinks éwzquat, to the size of which the Emperor

compares the bird, may be the Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaétus). In

Hindi the Imperiai Eagle (4. heliaca) is known as JSimiz or

Barajumtz,

48 JOURNAL; BOMBAY NATORAL HIST. SOCIETY, Volw XXX

Babur? refers to another bird, the Sav and all he teils us about it

is that ‘its tail and back are red.’”’ I am unable to conjecture what

grounds King has for suggesting that it may be the Rosy Pastor

(Pastor roseus). According to Mrs. Beveridge the word Sas in Turki

means a buzzard, and this, coupled with the fact that it is inciuded

by Babur with his birds of prey, is I think good justification

for the alternative surmise that the description may refer to the

Brahminy Kite (Afalzastur indus), a bird held in some esteem

by the later Moghuls and looked upon as favourable omen in time

of battle.

Abul Fazl, after a brief account of ithe birds and animals found in

Kashmir, goes on? to enumerate the various aitractions of the

country and says: ‘‘ The people take pleasure in the skiffs upon the

lakes, and their hawks strike the wildfowl in mid-air and bring

them to the boats; sometimes they hold them down in the water

with their talons and stand on them presenting an exciting

spectacie.”’ |

Fr. Monserrate, the Jesuit already referred to in the foregoing

pages, writing about the popularity of the sport of hawking in the

reign of the Emperor Akbar states: ‘‘ The Moghuls are not very

fond of hawking. it is regarded however, as a mark of royal

dignity for the King to be accompanied on the march by fowlers

carrying many birds on their wrists. These birds are fed on crows

to save expense.’’ It would appear from another statement of the

same writer elsewhere that hunting leopards were much more popular

at this period, though Abul Fazl’s accounts indicate that both forms

were equally in vogue.

Jehangir chronicles’ that about the year 1618 A. D. an ambassador

he had sent to tne King of Persia sent him an adshyauz falcon.

meaning ‘‘ a bird from the uest’’—evidently much prized by falconers.

He remarks that in the Persian language, such a bird is known as

Ukna (an Arapic word signifying ‘‘nest’’). ‘‘Outwardly’”’ the

Emperor observes, ‘‘ one cannot distinguish between these and the

baz-e-dami falcons by any particular mark, but after they have been

flown the difference is clear.’’

Baz-e-damt apparently means hawks reared in captivity. It is

maintained that birds taken young and trained by man never attain

the standard of wild birds trained by the parents.

Whenever the king visited a nobleman at his house, which, as

Jehangir puts it, ‘‘increased his dignity among his equals and

neighbours,” it was customary for the host to otter the monarch

horses, daggers, hawks and falcons the very best he possessed—

which were usually exchanged by the emperor with similar presents.

Describing Kashmir, Jehangir* mentions that ‘‘among the ex-

cellencies (of that Province) are the Hawks (/andwar-e-shtkar1).

Hawks and Falcons are taken in netss...-s. lt has alsom (nest

(zkna) sparrow-hawks (dasha) 1.e. taken from the nest and not reared

(in captivity) and the nest sparrow-hawk is not bad.”’

1 Babur, vol. ii, p. 221. 21272, VOL, Jit pool,

° Jeh., vol. ii, pp. 10-11 * Tbid., p. 178.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 49

The information which Abul Fazl furnishes with regard to the

prices current for hawks and falcons in the time of Akbar is interest-

ing. The historian writes! ‘‘ From eagerness to purchase and

from inexperience, people pay high sums for falcons. His Majesty

allows dealers very reasonable profits ; but from motives of equity

he has limited the prices. The dealers are to get their gain, but

buyers ought not to be cheated.”’

We learn that the hawks were divided into various classes accord-

ing to their merits, and their prices scheduied accordingly as follows :

First Class—Ahana kurz, i.e. Birds that had moulted whilst in

charge of experienced trainers and had got new feathers. These

baz (hawks) cost 12 muhurs (equivalent to 192 rupees). There was

also a second grade in this class of falcons.

Second Class—Choz, i.e. Birds that had not yet moulted. The

price fixed for this class was 10 muhurs (Rs. 160).

Third Class—7arinak, i.e. Birds that had moulted before

capture. These were somewhat cheaper than Choz.

It will be seen that the ubiquitous profiteer is not a product of

modern times, but that his nefarious activities needed curbing

legislation as long ago as Akbar’sday !

GREEN PIGEON

In his avifauna of Hindustan, Abul Fazl mentions the AHaria/

(Crocopus phenicopterus?) which he describes as having green

plumage, a white bill and crimson irides and as being smaller than

the ordinary pigeon.

He states: ‘‘ It never settles upon the ground, and when it alights

to drink it carries with it a twig which it keeps beneath its feet till

its thirst is quenched.”’ | 7

This fanciful notion no doubt owes its origin to the exclusively

arboreal habits of the bird.

Mons. de Thevenot* who visited India during the reign of the

Emperor Aurangzebe, writes: ‘‘ There are pigeons in that country

all over green, which differ from ours only in colour: The Fowlers

take them with Birdlime in this manner; they carry before them a

kind of light Shed or Screen, that covers the whole Body and has

holes in it to see through; the Pigeons seeing no man are not at

all scared when the Fowler draws near, so that he cunningly catches

them, one after another, with a Wand and Birdlime on it, none

offering to fly away. In some places Parrocquets are taken after

the same manner.”’

It will be noticed that the method described by the traveller differs

little from one in vogue at the present day.

THE PIGEON

. The Emperor Akbar was a fervent pigeon fancier, and Abul Faz).

informs us? he kept more than 20,000 pigeons, divided into ten

classes at his court.

BAD eV Olea. 04.200.

50 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

In reference to these pets, Fr. Monserrate writes : ‘‘ Not a little is

added to the beauty of the palaces by charming pigeon-cotes partly

covered with rough cast and partly showing walls built of small

blue and white bricks. The pigeons are cared for by eunuchs and

servant maids. Their evolutions are controlled at will when they

are flying, by means of certain signals, just as those of well-trained

soldiery are controlled by a competent general by means of bugles

and drums. It will seem little short of miraculous when I affirm

that when sent out, they dance, turn somersaults all together in the

air, fly in orderly rhythm, and return to their starting point, all at

the sound of a whistle. They are bidden to perch on the roof, to

conceal themselves within their nesting places and to dart out of

them again, and they do everything just as they are told.”’

This flighting of trained pigeons was known as J/shgbazi.

On the subject of these pets, Akbar’s chronicler writes:

‘In former times pigeons of all kinds were allowed to

couple ; but His Majesty thinks equality in gracefulness and perfor-

mance a necessary condition in coupling and has tuus bred choice

pigeons. The custom is to keep a male and a female pigeon, if not

acquainted with each other, for 5 or 6 days together, when they be-

come so familiar that even after a long separation they will again

recognize each other.’’ Further: ‘‘ At the time of departure and

breaking up of the camp, the pigeons will follow, their cotes being

carried by bearers (Auzhar). Sometimes they will alight and take

rest for a while and then rise again.”’

Jehangir makes the following observations concerning Carrier

Pigeons.2 —

‘¢ Tt had been stated to me in course of conversation that in the

time of the Abbaside Caliphs they taught the Baghdad pigeons,

who were styled ‘ letter carriers’ (zama-bar) and were one half larger

than the wild pigeon. I bade the pigeon fanciers to teach their

pigeons and they taught some of them in such a manner that we

let them fly from Mandu in the early morning, and if there was

much rain they reached Burhanpur by 24 pahars (watches) of the

day, or even 14 pahars. Ifthe air was very clear, most of them

arrived by one pahary in the day and some by 4 gharzs of the day.”’

_A ghar according to Babur was equivalent to about 24 minutes.

Four gharts would therefore mean 1 hr. 36 minutes. As the

crow flies, Burhanpur is about 100 miles $.S.E. of Mandu in the

Central Provinces, and this would make the speed of the birds a

trifle over 60 miles an hour: According to Thomson? a carrier

pigeon can keep up 40 miles per hour for a considerable time,

but this will be halved against the wind, and nearly doubled with

the wind in the bird’s favour. It will be noticed at once how very

accurate Jehangir is on this point.

Writing some years later, in the reign of the Emperor

Shah-Jehan, Manucci states with regardto pigeons:* ‘‘ The

Mohomedans are very keen on breeding pigeons in large numbers ;

tVAUH, , WOl. 1, Py eoo: 2 Jeh., vol. 1, p. 387.

> A Biology of Birds. * Storio do Mogor, vol. i, p. 107.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 5]

they make them fly all together, calling out, whistling and waving

with a cloth fastened at the end of a stick, running and making

signals from the terraced roofs, with a view to encouraging the

pigeons to attack the flock of someone else. In this way the

flocks are so trained that they fight in the air. Then when the

Owners whistle and make the signs above described, the pigeons

assemble and fly away to their homes, except a few, who losing

their way in the confusion, allow themselves in their innocence to

be carried along with their adversaries. It is for this end they fly

these flocks, and over and over again they send them out to win

more pigeons. Every owner is overjoyed at seeing his own

pigeons the most dextrous in misleading their opponents.’’

Manucci further describes a use to which trained carrier pigeons

were put by the nobles of Shah Jehan’s court which, being a substi-

tute for the modern telephone, is both amusing and ingenious. Says

he,? ‘‘ As I have said the Moghuls rear pigeons for amusement, it

is necessary for me to inform the reader how they employ these

pigeons to give intelligence if the King leaves his house and comes

into the public hall to hold audience. Let the reader be aware then,

that these nobles are very pleased not to have to move from home

uselessly. Many have their dwellings far from the royal palace,

about a league away. They order their retinue to be kept in

readiness, first of all having sent to court a servant with two

pigeons of different colours.

If the King leaves his house or holds audience, the noble’s servant

releases one of these pigeons at court and by reaching its home it

serves as a messenger. If it is the one that denotes the King’s

leaving home or sitting in audience, the noble at once rides with his

cavalcade in all haste to be present as is his duty. If the other

comes it notifies the contrary, the retinue are dismissed and the

master takes his ease at home.’’

THE SAND GROUSE

Babur includes in his avifauna what he calls Saghri-kara of

Hindustan which, he remarks, ‘‘ is less than the Bagh7t-kara@ of the

west and slenderer ; its cry too is sharper.’’

King suggests that the Indian bird is probably the Common

_ Sandgrouse (Plerocles exustus) and the western species to which it

has been compared the Black-breasted or Imperia: (P. orzentalts).

In the absence of a description of Babur’s bird, any conjecture as

to its identity is a difficult one. Perhaps King was acquainted with

the Turki name of the bird.

THE PracocK (Pavo cristatus)

Babur writes 2 at some length about this bird. Hesays: ‘‘ The

peacock is a beautifully coloured and splendid animal; it is less

remarkable for its bulk than for its colour and beauty. Its size may

be about that of acrane, but it is not so tall. On the head of the

peacock and of the peahen there may be about twenty or thirty

* Storio do Mogor, vol. ii, p. 467. 2 Babur, vol. ii, pp. 214-15.

52 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

feathers rising two or three finger-breadths in height. The peahen

is neither richly coloured nor beautiful. The head of the male has

a lustrous and undulating colour. Its neck is of a fine azure.

Lower down than the neck its back is painted with the richest

yellow, green azure and violet ; the flowers or stars on its back are

but small; below they increase in size, still preserving the same

colour and splendour down to the extremity of the tail. The tail of

some peacocks is as high as a man. Below the richly painted

feathers of its tail it has another smaller tail like that of other birds,

and this ordinary tail and the feathers of its side are red. It is found

in Bajour and Sawad and in the countries below, but not in the

Kuner or Lamghanat or in any place higher up. It flies even worse

than the karkawel (pheasant) and cannot take more than one or two

flights ata time. On account of its flying so ill, it either frequents

a hilly country or a jungle. It is remarkable that wherever there

are many peacocks in a wood, there are also a number of jackals in

it, and as they have to drag after them a tail the size of a man, it

may easily be supposed (? imagined) how much they are molested

by the jackals in their passage from one thicket to another. The

Hindustanis call it #oov. According to the doctrines of Imam Abu

Hanifa this bird is lawful food. Its flesh is not unpleasant: it

resembles that of the quail but is eaten with some degree of loathing

like that of the camel.”’

The Emperor would appear to share the modern depreciation of

the peacock as a bird for the table though in earlier days it was

highly esteemed as such. Classical works contain many allusions

to its high appreciation at the most sumptuous banquets, and

medizval bills of fare on state occasions nearly always included it.

In the days of chivalry one of the most solemn oaths was taken on

‘‘'The Peacock ’’ which seems to have been served up garnished with

its gaudy plumage.

THE JUNGLE FOWL (Gallus ferrugineus)

Babur observes ! that on the outskirts of the hillocks in Dun—

the Jaswan or Una Dun—a fertile valley in the Hoshiarpur District

‘‘ there are many fowls resembling barn-door fowls ; they resemble

them in shape but are generally of a single colour.”’

By ‘‘ single colour ’’ is presumably meant they were not of different

or various colours as is the case with domestic fowls.

The Emperor after mentioning it as one of the common birds of

Hindustan describes it thus: ‘‘ The difference between the mzrgh-e

-sahr@ (or ‘fowl of the wild’) and the barn-door fowl is that the

‘fowl of the wild’ flies like a karkawel (pheasant) ; it is not of every

colour like the barn-door fowl. It is found in the hill-countries of

Bajour and the hill-countries lower down. It is not met with above

Bajour.”’

Jehangir notes! that this jungle fowl was plentiful in the

neighbourhood of the fort of Nirpur * where one day he captured

1 Babiur, vol. ii, p. 173. ® Jeh., vol. ii, p. 226.

3 See Imperial Gazetteer, new edn., vol. xix, p. 232.

n., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

| A FALCON.

rom a Moghul painting in the Prince of Wales

| Museum, Bombay.)

PEA FOWL.

(Probably painted by Mansur, c. A.D. 1625; from the

collection of Baron Maurice Rothschild, Paris.)

By courtesy of the Publishers ‘ lndian Painting

under the Moghuls’,—Percy Brown,

‘UMRO0AG AIsAJ—*, SINYBOPL IY] Aapun

suyulwg uowpuy , ‘saaysygud 34, jo dsajano7 Ag

(‘slivg ‘p[iqosyjoy soliney woleg Jo UoHoe][09 ‘ SZOT

“a'v ‘2 ‘ansuey Aq A[qeqoid pojuieg) ‘“INVSVHHd YdaHo

(‘Avquog ‘mnasnyy

SAD JO a2UIAg 9Y] UL SuIuiog ynysoyy Y

‘SQUVS AO UlVd V

ULOAL )

"20 ‘3s'3H{, ‘FeN Aequiog ‘“uanor

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 53

four birds. He says about them: ‘‘ One cannot distinguish them

in shape and colour from domestic fowls. One of the peculiarities

of these birds is that if they are caught by the feet and turned upside

down wherever they are taken, they make no sound and remain silent

contrary to the domestic fowl which makes an outcry. Until the

domestic fowl is plunged into hot water its feathers do not come off

easily. The jungle fowl like the partridge or fodna (quail) can be

plucked when dry. I ordered them to roast them. It was found

that the flesh of the full-grown ones was very tasteless and dry.

The chickens had some juiciness, but were not good to eat. They

cannot fly farther than a bow-shot. The cock is chiefly red and the

hen black and yellow.”

PHEASANTS

Jehangir remarks that ‘‘Of the wild birds they call Zadru

(Pheasants) till now it has never been heard that they breed

in captivity. In the time of my revered father (Akbar) they

made great efforts to obtain eggs and young ones, but it was not

managed. I ordered them to keep some of them male and female

in one place, and by degrees they bred. I ordered them to place

the eggs under hens and in a space of two years 60 or 70 young

were produced and 50 or 60 grew up. Whoever heard of this

matter was astonished. It was said that in the Vilayet (Persia)

the people there had made great efforts, but no eggs were produced

and no young were obtained.’”’

Elsewhere Jehangir inentions that a certain Zamindar of Tulwara

(which according to Abul Fazl was situated in the Bari Doab Sarkar)

brought him a bird which the hill people cailed J/an-bahan. ‘lis

tail’’ he observes, ‘‘resembles the tail of the gurgawul (pheasant)

which is also called tazru (or tadru as above) and its colour is

exactly like that of a hen pheasant, but it is half as large again. The

circle round the eyes of this bird is red while the orbit of the

pheasant is white. The said Basoi(the Zamindar) stated that this

bird lived in the snow mountains and that its food was grass and

other stuff. I have kept pheasants and have reared young ones and

have often eaten the flesh of both young birds and mature ones.

One may say that there is no comparison between the flesh of the

pheasant and this bird. The flesh of the latter is much more

delicate.”’

The bird referred to in the above narrative is no doubt the Cheer

Pheasant (Catveus wallicht). One of the vernacular names quoted

by Blanford is Cha man which may well be a corruption or variation

of Jehangir’s Jaz-bahan. As abird for the table it may be noted

that Blanford considers it far inferior to the Koklass.

The Emperor had asketch of the bird made at the time.

The plate—here reproduced—is said probably to be the handi-

work of the ceiebrated animal painter Al Mansur. Though the

picture may appear somewhat stiff and ‘‘ wooden ”’ if judged from the

modern Gronvodldian standard, it leaves little doubt as regards

the identity of the species.

54 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

THE MONAUL PHEASANT (Lophophorus impejanus)

Babur ! mentions the Lujeh or Lukeh which bird according to him

was also called Bikalemzn. It is described as follows: ‘‘ From the

head to the tail it has four or five colours. Its neck has a bright

glancing tinge like a pigeon’s. Its size may be equal to the Kabk-e-

durrt (Tetrogallus casptus). It may be regarded as the kubk-e-dirri of

Hindustan. As the kubk-e-dirr7 inhabits the summits of mountains,

this also inhabits the tops of mountains. They are met with in the

country of Kabul and the hill-country of Nijrau and from thence

downward, wherever there are hills, but they are not found any

higher up.”’

In a footnote, Sir Lucas King comments on the above as follows:

“This may be the Monaul Pheasant (Lophophorus impeyanus), though

Bukalemun is the Persian word for the turkey. The kabk-e-dirrz is

much larger than the common fabs of Persia and is peculiar to

Khorasan—/TZetvogallus caspius. It is said to be a beautiful bird.

The common kadbk of Persia is the Chukor of India (Caccabis

chukor).”’

The present habitat of this bird, which was tillnot very long ago

common about Mussoorie and Simla, is throughout the Himalayas

from Bhutan to Kashmir and even further west. The bird has

been recorded from Chitral and from the Safed Koh in Afghanistan.

It occurs also in Sikkim. 4

What Jehangir? refers to in the following words may also very

probably this bird. He says, ‘‘ Another bird is of a golden (res-

plendent ?) colour called in Lahore Shax. The Kashmiris cali it

Put. Iis colour is like that of a peacock’s breast. Above its head

is a tuft (kakul). Its tail of the width of 5 fingers is yellow, and is

like the long feather (Sah par) of the peacock, and its body is as

large as that of a goose. The neck of the goose is long and

shapeless; that of this one is short and has a shape.’’

THE TRAGOPAN (T7vagopan, sp.)

Babur? describes this pheasant as follows: ‘‘Another bird is the

Pulpetkar (i.e. ‘Flower-faced’). Its size is equal to that of the kubk-

e-durvi(Tetrogallus caspius). Its figure resembles the dung-hill cock,

and in colour it is like the hen. From its forehead down to its breast

it is a beautiful scarlet colour. The Phulpetkar inhabits the hill-

country of Hindustan.”’

Jehangir* describes the Phulpetkar—one of the birds he saw in the

hill-country (of Kashmir)—which the Kashmiris called Sonlu, as

follows: ‘‘It is § less than a peahen. The back, tail and wings

resemble those of the bustard, and are blackish with white spots.

The breast to the end of the bosom is black with white spots and

some red ones. The ends of the feathers are fiery red and very

lustrous and beautiful. From the end of the back of the neck it

is also brilliantly black. On the top of its head it has two fleshy

1 Babur, vol. ii, p. 216. 2 Jeh., Ol; 11, =p: 220:

3 Babur, vol. ii, p. 218. + Jen. MOL ip. 220-

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 55

horns of a turquoise colour. The skin of its orbits and round its

mouth is red. Below its throat there is a skin round it enough to

cover the palms of two hands, and in the middle of this the skin

is of a violet colour of the size of a hand, with blue spots in the

middle. Around it, each streak is of a blue colour, consisting of 8

plumes (?); round the blue streak it is ‘red to the breadth of two

fingers like the peach flower, and again round its neck is that blue

coloured streak: it has red legs also. The live bird which was

weighed came to 152 tolas. (3 Ibs. 13 OZ.) After it was killed and

cleaned it weighed 139 tolas.’

QUAILS

On this subject Babur says: ‘‘ The Budineh (Quail) is not peculiar

to Hindustan, but there are 4 or 5 species of it peculiar to that

country. There is one species that visits our countries.! Itis larger

and more spreading than the common dudineh that visits us. Its

wings and tail are reddish. This dudineh goes in flights like the

chir (Catreus walichtt).”’ The bird referred to is no doubt the

Bush Quail (Perdzcaula sp.).

Babur continues: ‘‘ There is still another species which is smaller

than the dudineh that visits our country. They are generally black

on the throat and breast. There is another species which seldom

visits Kabul. It is small, somewhat larger than a kharcheh (wagtail).

In Kabul they cail it Auvatu.’’

The former bird is obviously the Rain Quail (Corturnix

coromandelica) and the latter may be—it is difficult to say——the

Lesser Button Quail (7uruzx dussumiert). The thoroughness with

which Babur has dealt with this family of game birds is apparent,

and bespeaks an interest and knowledge possessed only by an

Bia ally keen observer.

THE SEE-SEE PARTRIDGE (Ammoperdix griseigularts)

Writing from camp at the fort of Rohtas (Punjab) Jehangir notes

in his diary as follows :—‘‘ At this stage 772% were obtained. The

flesh of the 77a is better than that of the kadk’’ (partridge or

chukor).

It may be mentioned that 77hz is still one of the names by which

this little partridge is known in some parts.

THE BLACK PARTRIDGE (/vancolinus vulgaris)

The Emperor Babur refers to this bird as the Darraj? and says

‘Tt is not peculiar to Hindustan. It is found everywhere in the

countries of the Garmsil* but as certain species of it are found only

1 i.e. the countries northof the Oxus. Assuggested by King, this metry

species may. probably be the Common Grey Quail (Coturnix coturnix).

Babur, vol. ii, p. 219, footnote.

z According to Mrs. Beveridge, Dirra7 in Arabic means ‘‘ one who repeats

what he says ’’; a “‘ tell-tale.’’

S Afghanistan

56 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

in Hindustan, I have included it in this enumerative description.

The partridge may be equal to the kabk-e-dirri in size.1_ The colour

of its beak is like that of the female of the mérgh-e-dashti (Jungle

Fowl). Its neck and breast are black, with white spots. On both

sides of both its eyes is a line of red. It has a cry of shir-darem-

shakrek (‘1 have milk and a little sugar’). From its cry it gets its

name. It pronounces shzy short, dadvem-shakrek it pronounces

distinctly. The colour of the hen resembles that of a young

karkawel (pheasant). They are found below Nijrau.’’

Jehangir records having met this bird in the stony country near

the village of Bakkar (Sind) in the course of one of his periodical

marches to Kashmir about the year A.p. 1620.

THE GREY PARTRIDGE (francolinus pondicertanus)

What appears very likely to be this bird is described by Babur

thus :—‘' There is another kind of fowl! of the partridge kind which

they call kazjel. It is about the size of a kabk. Its cry is very like

that of a kab& (chukor) but shriller. There is little difference in

colour between male and female. It is found in the country of

Peshawar, Hashnagar and in the countries lower down but in no

higher district.’’

Abul Fazl mentions that partridges in Kashmir afforded good

sport. They were probably hunted with hawks—a form of sport

which is still extremely popular in Hindustan.

Jehangir relates that one day while hunting, he saw a tuyghun

or albino partridge suchas he had never before seen, which he caught

witha hawk that likewise happened to be an albino. He? continues:

“T ascertained by trial that the flesh of the black partridge (ordinarily

coloured ? ) was better than that of the white.

THE CRANE

Jehangir describes a Aulang* hunt with falcons, a sport, he

states, of which his son Shah Jehan was particularly fond. The

birds employed on this occasion were Shahin (either Falco peregrt-

nator or f. barbarus) He relates: ‘‘ At Shah Jehan’s request I rode

out early in the morning and caught one dé#rna (crane) myself

whilst a falcon my son had on his wrist caught another. Certainly

of all good hunting amusements this is the best. I was exceedingly

pleased with it. Although the Sarus is large, it is lazy and heavy

on the wing. The chase of the d#rva has no resemblance to it. I

praise the heart and courage of the falcon that can sieze such

strong bodied animals, and with the strength of his talons subdue

them. Hassan Khan, chief huntsman of my son was honoured

with an elephant, a horse and a dress of honour as a reward for his

exhibition of sport, and his son also received a horse and a dress of

honour.’

1 Apparently here only kads (chukor) is meant, as we have been told above

that the £uvbk-e-dirri is the size of the Monal Pheasant.

2 Jeh., vol. ii, p. 284.

* Kither Grus communis or Anthropoides virgo.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF [NDIA AS NATURALISTS 57

The Emperor records! that once while hunting waterfowl in

Kashmir, a boatman caught and brought him a young Demoiselle

Crane (?)

‘‘ It was very thin and miserable’ continues the royal naturalist,

‘Tt did not live longer than a night. The gargara (Demoiselle

Crane ?—perhaps from its cry) does not live in Kashmir. This had

became ill and thin at the time of coming from, or going to

Hindustan and had fallen there.’’

The last passage would tend to indicate that the Emperor was

well acquainted with the fact of bird migration.

THE SARUS CRANE (Gras antigone)

Babur? describes this bird asfollows: ‘* The Turks who are in

Hindustan call the Sarus 77zweh turneh(Camel crane). It is alittle

less than the dzzg (Adjutant). Its head is red. They keep it about

their houses and it Lecomes very tame.’

Jehangir appears to have entertained a special regard for

this bird, concerning which his observations and notes are

particularly exhaustive. The reputed devotedness of the pair to

one another and their attachment to their young seems to have

particularly arrested his fancy. He relates that once when encamped

in the neighbourhood of Deogaon (Gujerat) one of his eunuchs

caughttwo young sarus on the bank of a large tank hard by. ‘* At

night’’ he notes, ‘‘ two large sarus appeared making loud cries near

the ghusal khana (lit. ‘Bath chamber’) which they had placed

(erected) on the edge of the tank, as if somebody were exercising

oppression on them. They fearlessly began their cries and came

forward. It occurred to me that certainly some kind of wrong had

been done to them, and probably their young had beentaken. After

enquiry was made, the eunuch who had taken the young sarus

brought them before me. When the sarus heard the cries of the

young ones, they without control threw themselves upon them, and

suspecting they had had no food, each of the two sarus placed food

in the mouths of the young ones and made much lamentation.

Taking the young ones between them, and stretching out their

wings and fondling them, they went off to their nest.”

The Emperor has recorded some extremely useful and interesting

notes concerning the breeding habits of the sarus, from pairing

onwards, to the time the young were hatched, which I think deserve

to ce quoted zz extenso. They bespeak the keen and lively interest

of the writer in his subject, and their minuteness and accuracy are

such as would do justice to any modern work on Natural History.

He writes:* ‘At this time the pairing of the sarus which

I had never before seen, and is reported never to have been

seen by man, was witnessed by me. The sarus is acreature of

the crane genus, But somewhat larger (dah diuwazdeh, \it., ten,

twelve; i.e. its is + larger).’ On the top of the head it ‘has

no feathers, and the skin is drawn over the bones of the head.

——_—_—_—._

PIE. NOle ll, Pal /G. 24 iBabur, vol. ii, p 220.

Jer. “Vol, it, pe 16:

58 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

From the back of the eye to six fingers breadths of the neck it is

red. They mostly live in pairs on the plains, but are occasionally

seen in flocks. People bring a pair from the fields and keep them

in their houses and they become familiar with men. In fact there

was a pair of sarus in my establishment to which I had given the

names of Laila and Majnun (the ‘Romeo and_ Juliet’ of

Persian story and song). One day a eunuch informed me that

the two had paired in his presence. I ordered that if they showed

an inclination to pair again they should inform me. At dawn

he came and told me that they were about to pair again. I

immediately hastened to look on. ‘The femaie having straightened

its legs, bent down a little: the male then lifted one of its feet from

the ground and placed it on her back, and afterwards the second

foot, and immediately seating himself on her back paired with her.

He then came down, and stretching out his neck, put his beak

on the ground and walked once round the female. It is possible

they may have an egg and produce a young one. Many strange

tales of the affection of the sarus for its mate have beentold. ‘The

following case has been recorded because it is very strange. OQiyam

Khan, who is one of the Ahanzadas (house-born ones) of this court,

and is well acquainted with the arts of hunting and _ scouting,

informed me that one day he had gone out to hunt and found a

sarus sitting. When he approached, it got up and went off. From

its manner of walking he perceived signs of weakness and pain.

He went to the place where it had been sitting. He threw a net

round it and drew himself into a corner, and it tried to go and

sit in the same place. Its foot was caught in the net and he went

forward and siezed it. It appeared extremely light, and when

he looked minutely he saw there were no feathers on its breast and

belly ; a handful of feathers and bone came into his hand. It was

clear that its mate had died, and that it had sat there from the day

it lost its companion. Himat Khan, who is one of my best sevants,

and whose word is worthy of reliance, told me that in the Dohad

Parganna (Gujerat) he had seen a pair of Sarus on the bank of

a tank. One of his gunners shot one of them and in the same

place cut off his head and stripped it of its feathers. By chance we

halted two or three days at that place, and its mate continually

walked round it and uttered cries of lamentation. ‘My heart,’ he

said, ‘ached at its distress but there was no remedy for it save

regret.’ By chance, twenty-five days afterwards he passed by

the same spot and asked the inhabitants what had become of

the sarus. They said it died on the same day and there were still

remains of feathers and bones on the spot. He went there himself

and saw it was as they said. There are many tales of this kind

among the people which it would take too long to tell.”

A few days later, Jehangir continues his diary: ‘“‘.... the

sarus, pairing of which has been related in the preceding pages,

collected together some straw and a little rubbish in the little garden

and laid first of allone egg. Onthe third day after this it laid a

secondegg. This pair of sarus were caught when they were about

a month old and had been in my establishment five years. After

54 years they paired and continued doing so for a month; on the

' MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 59

21st ofthe month of Amurdad, which the Hindus call Savan

(Shravan: August-September) the hen laid the eggs. The female

used to sit on the eggs the whole night alone, andthe male stood

near her on guard. It was so alert that it was impossible for any

living thing to pass near her. Once a large weasel (mungoose)

made its appearance and he ran at it with the greatest impetuosity

and did not stop till the weasel got into ahole. When the sun

illuminated the world with its rays the male went to the female and

pecked her back with his beak. The female then rose and the

male sate in her place. She returred and inthe same manner

made him rise and seated herself. In short the female sits the whole

night and takes care of theeggs and by day the male and female

sit by turns. When they rise and sit down, they take great

precautions that no harm shall come to the eggs.’

The Emperor continues his observations as follows: ‘‘ From

Sunday 3rd till the eve of Thursday the 7th rain fell. It 1s

strange that on other days the pair of sarus sate on the eggs five or

six times in turns, but during this 24 hours when there was constant

rain and the air was somewhat cold the male, in order to keep the

eggs warm, sate from early in the morning till mid-day, and from

that time till the next morning the female sat without an interval

for fear that in rising and sitting again, the cold air should affect

them and the eggs become wet and be spoilt. Briefly, men are

led by the guidance of reason, and animals according to Divine

Wisdom implanted in them by Nature. Stranger still is it that at

first they keep their eggs together underneath their breast, and

after 14 or 15 days have passed they leave a little space between

them for fear that the heat should become too great from their

contact with each other. Many become addled in consequence of

(too great) heat.” |

Further, ‘‘Onthe eve of Thursday the 2lst the sarus hatched

one young one, and on the eve of Monday the 25th a second;

that is, one young was hatched after thirty-four days and the other

after thirty-six days (from the time the first egg was laid or also

thirty-four days for this). One might say that they were },th

larger than the young of a goose, or equal to the young of a

peafowl at the age of amonth. Their skin was of a blue colour.

On the first day they ate nothing and from the second day the

mother taking small locusts (grasshoppers) in her mouth sometimes

fed them like a pigeon, or sometimes like a fowl threw them before

them to pick up of themselves.

If the locusts were smallit went off well, but if they were large

she sometimes made two or three pieces of it so that the young ones

might eat it with ease. AsIlhada great liking for seeing them I

ordered them to be brought before me with every precaution that

no harm might happen tothem. After I had seen them I ordered

them to be taken back to the little garden inside the royal enclosure,

and to be preserved withthe greatest care, and that they should be

brought to me again whenever they were able to walk.’’

The diary continues afew days later: .... At frst the male

sarus used to hold its young one by its leg upside down in its beak,

and there wasa fear that he may be unkind to it and it might be

60 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

destroyed. I had accordingly ordered them to keep the male separa-

tely and not allow it nearits young ones. I now ordered by way of

experiment that it should be allowed near them, that the realdegree

of its unkindness or affection might be ascertained. After allowing

it, it displayed much attachment and kindness, and his affection was

found to be no less than that of the female. I thus knew that this

performance was out of real love.’’

[Further on, the following entry made at Agra(?) appears: ‘The

pair of sarus that had had young ones had been brought from

Ahmedabad on Thursday the 25th. In the court of the royal

enclosure which had been placedon the bank of atank, they

were walking about with their young ones. By chance both the

male and the female raised acry and a pair of wild sarus hearing it,

and crying out from the other side of the tank, came flying towards

them. Themale with the male andthe female with the female

engaged in afight and although some people were standing about

the birds paid no heedto them. ‘The eunuchs who had been told off

to protect them hastened to sieze them. One clung tothe male

and the other tothe female. He who had caught the male kept

hold of it after much struggling, but the one who siezed the female

couJd not hold her and she escaped from his hand. I with my own

hand put rings inits beak and on his legs and set him free. Both

went and settled in their own place; whenever the domestic sarus

raised a cry they responded.’’

THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD (Choriotes edwards?)

‘The Kharchal’”’ (or Bustard) according to Babur ‘ which may be

about the size of a ¢wghdak is in reality the taghdak of Hindustan.

Its flesh is very savoury. The flesh of the leg of some fowls and of

the breast of others is excellent; the flesh of every part of the

kharchal is delicious.’’

The real tughdak it would appear isthe Great Bustard (Otzs

tarda) with which Babur seems familiar from his Central Asian

home. The Indian bird above referred to is no doubt the Great

Indian Bustard, which in some parts of India is known as 7Zughdar

or Tugdar, a possible corruption of the original tughdak, as

suggested by King.

THE FLORICAN

. Babur says:! ‘“ The size on the Charz is somewhat less than a

tughdari. The back of the male is like that of the taghdarz; its

breast is black. The female is of a single colour. The flesh of the

charz is very delicate. As the kharchal resembles the tughdak, the

charz resembles the /aghdar7.”’

This bird can be either the Likh or Lesser Florican (Sypheotzs

auritra) or the Bengal Florican (Sypheolis bengalensis). Most

probably, however, the reference is to the latter species as it seems

hardly credible that the peculiar elongated feathers of the upper

throat and ear coverts of the former bird, should have escaped

mention at the hands of a keen naturalist like Babur. From the fact

——

1 Babur, vol. ii, p. 219.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 61

that no description of the twghdarz is furnished it may be concluded

that this bird also (undoubtedly the Houbara—Chlamydotts undulata

macqueent) was familiar to the Emperor and his readers at home.

Writing of this bird, Jehangir1 says: ‘“‘ I formerly thought that

there were two species, one a mottled black and the other dur (a

kind of dun colour). I now discovered that there are not two kinds

but that which is a mottled black is the male and that which is dun

coloured is the female. The proof is that in the piebald there are

testicles and inthe dun one there are eggs (ovaries). This has

repeatedly been found on examination.’’

Jehangir’s personal research is laudable, but it seems strange

that though Babur recognized at first that ‘‘ the female is of a single

colour’’ his naturalist great-grandson should have made this disco-

very only at a comparatively late stage.

The Emperor further observes as follows: “ Itis a strange thing

that the windpipe in ali animals (Aaztwanat) which the Turks call

hulq, is single from the top of the throat to the crop (chzza-dan), while

in the case of the charz it is different. In this case it is four fingers

breadths from the top of the throat single and then it divides into

two branches and in this form reaches the crop. Also at the place it

divides into two branches there is a stoppage (sav-band), and a knot

(girth) is felt by the hand.”’

Ido not know what peculiarity Jehangir is referring to. I can

find no mention anywhere of anything extraordinary in regard to

this part of the florican’s anatomy.

THe Wuairte Isis (/b7s melanocephala)

Another bird, which Babur cails the White Buzek, is no doubt this

species. Its Hindi name is Safed baza. The Emperor says: ‘“ Its

head and bill are black. It is considerably larger than the dbuzek of

our country” but less than the duzek of Hindustan.’’*

Another species of Ibis is also described by Babur whichI am

unable to place.

Tur WHITE-NECKED STORK (Dissoura episcopa episcopa)

Babur * observes. ‘‘ There is another sort of stork which has a

white neck while the head and all the rest of its body are black. It

migrates to ourcountries. It is rather less than the common stork.

This stork the Hindustanis call Yakding.”’

King suggests that this may be the Painted Stork (Pseudotantalus

leucocephalus). 1 do not see precisely what justification he has for

doing so, as the description appears to fit this species much better

though it must beadmitted that the underparts of our bird havea

considerable amount of white in them.

eee

Pete VOl. M5 Pa 292.

2 Which according to Mrs. Beveridge may be Plegadis falcinellus, the

Glossy Ibis, a winter visitor to most parts of India.

3 King suggests that by this last may be meant the Spoonbill (Platalea

leucorodia) called in India Chamach-buzek. .

* Babur, vol. ii, p. 220.

62 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

THE ADJUTANT STORK (Leptoptilus dubtus)

Babur! writes: ‘One of the fowls that frequent the water and

banks of rivers in the Vizxg, which is alarge bird. Each of its

wings is the length of a man; on its head and neck there is no hair.

Something like a bag hangs from its neck; its back is black, its

breast white; it frequently visits Kabul. One year they caught and

brought me a dizg which became very tame. The flesh which they

threw it, it never failed to catch in its beak, and swallowed without

ceremony. On one occasion it swallowed a shoe well-shod with

iron: on another occasion it swallowed a good sized fowl right

down, with its wings and feathers.”’

The Emperor also records the popular superstition, prevalent

even in his day, that if you split the head of an Adjutant before death,

you will extract from it the celebrated Zahir mohra (Poison-killer)

or ‘‘ Snake stone’ of great virtue and repute and a potent antidote

against all kinds of poison. ;

Tue PAINTED STORK (Pseudotantalus leucocephalus)

Babur describes this bird as ‘‘ nearly the height of a sarus, but

its size.is less. It resembles the stork (Lalag—Czconza alba) but is

much larger. Its bill is longer than a sarus’s and black. Its head

is polished and shining, its neck white, its wings parti-coloured.

The edges and roots of the feathers of its wing are white and the

middle biack.’’

Both King and Mrs. Beveridge are of opinion that this may be the

White-necked Stork (Dzssuva episcopa). From the clue however that

its head is ‘“‘ polished’ (although the bill certainly is not black) it is

possible that the Painted Stork is meant. Babur is unmistakably

clear in other places when describing shine or gloss of feathers (cf.

Pigeon and Monal Pheasant) and the word rendered as ‘“ polished ”’

by the translators would appear to indicate the bare facial skin of

this bird which extends back to the crown. The description of the

plumage, moreover, points more to its identity as this rather than to

the species suggested by King and Mrs. Beveridge. Babur called the

bird Minkisa.

THE OPEN BILL (Anastomus oscitans)

The bird described by Babur as follows may be this species: ‘“ It

reseinbles in colour and shape the stork that visits our countries.

Its beak is generally black and white, and is much smaller than the

other.”’ .

GREETS

In view of much recent interest and the proposed legislation for

licensing egret farms in Sind and elsewhere so as to make it a com-

mercially profitable industry without detriment to the birds produc-

ing the plumes, it is interesting to read Abul Fazl’s account 2

relating to the Sarkar of Kashmir where he says: ‘“ In the village of

Matalhamah is a wood which is a heronry. The heronries are

Lb a i

*Babur, vol. ii, p. 220. ? Ain., vol: ii, p. 362.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 63

strictly guarded and in the Spring when their long feathers fall from

their necks, there is a watchman in attendance who picks them up.

The feathers are taken for plumes and the birds here are regularly

fed.”

Jehangir remarks that ‘‘ among the excellencies of Kashmir are the

plumes of feathers (falgz)’’ presumably from these very heronries,

‘© of which as much as 10,700 feathers are yearly obtained.”’

THE NuKTA OR ComsB Duck (Sarcidiornis melanonotus)

Babur’s Shah-murgh described as follows, is obviously this duck.

‘There is another waterfowl which they call Shah-margh. It may

be rather less than a goose. It has a swelling above its nose. Its

breast is white, its back black and its flesh is excellent.”’

THE SPOT-BILLED Duck (Anas pectlorhyncha)

Babur describes a species of duck as follows: ‘‘ There is a water-

fowl which they call Gheret-paz. It is larger then the Sona-burchin.

The male and female are of the same colour. It is always found in.

Hashnagar and sometimes visits the Lamghanat. Its flesh is very

delicate.’’ ee

In a footnote, Sir Lucas King suggests that this may be the Spot-

billed Duck, which is called Garm-pai by the falconers. Sona

according to him is the name for the Mallard. Mrs. Beveridge in her

translation of Babur’s Wemozirs, renders the word as Gharm-pat and

remarks that Dr. Ross’ notes from the ‘‘ Sanglakh’”’ that Szza is the

drake and Burchin the duck of Anas boscas, and that it is common in

China to call a certain variety of bird by the combined sex names.

This practice, it may be mentioned, is frequently adopted in India

also, thus Chakwa-chakwi is the name by which the Brahminy Duck

(Casarca rutila) goes in many parts of the peninsula.

(To be continued )

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN

CLAUD B. TICEHURST, M.A., M.R.C.S., M.B.O.U., F.R.G.S.

Part III

(With a plate)

(Continued from page 881 of Volume XXXT)

Tyto alba javanica (Gmel.) The Indian Barn Owl.

Murray says he obtained the White Owl at Siri Bolan in the Pass on May 18,

1880. W. D. Cumming informed me that one was seen about the Telegraph

Station at Ormarra fora week in March 1902. No other record. Possibly a

rare resident.

Asio otus otus (L.) The Long-eared Owl.

The Long-eared Owl is a rare vagrant in the north; one was obtained at

Quetta on December 2, 1908 and Murray records it also from the Quetta

Valley. Huttoa and St. John both obtained it at Kandahar.

Asio flammeus (Pont.) The Short-eared Owl.

A wicter visitor in small numbers, the Short-eared Owl kas been obtained on

several occasions in the Quetta Valley, Mach, Gulistan and Fort Sandeman

between January 10 and April 21.

In the Mekran Hotson met with it twice, in the Hingol Valley on September

3 and at Dizak on November 18; probably scarce. I saw one on the Sind

side of the Habb River on November 14.

Strix aiuco biddulphi, Scully. Scully’s Wood Owl.

Col. Venning obtained this owl on January 10, at O!d Shinghar in the Zhob

Valley ; the specimen is in the Bombay Museum. No other record. ? Rare

resident in extreme N.E.

Strix butleri (Hume.) Hume’s Owl.

The type of the species was collected. ‘in Mekran by Nash for Butler ; it is in

the British Museum. Nash was for many years stationed at Ormarra and so

possibly this bird came from there.

This Owl, which was described by Hume in 1878, has never been met with

there since. There is in the Liverpool Museum an earlier bird obtained by

Claude Wyatt in Sinai in 1864. In the /dzs 1870 Wyatt no doubt refers to this

Owl as Phasmoptynx capensis ; he says one of his men was working at the ruins

of Feiran when he saw this owl looking out of a hole in the wall and by closing

the hole with a stone he captured it. This was the only specimen Wyatt got

though he heard what was apparently this species in the Wadi Hebran and

‘nerhaps half a dozen times in the Peninsular.’ This was in January. In

September 1911 Schrader heard this ow] in the Wadi Feiran and on the 23rd

obtained one which was so blown to pieces that only parts, just sufficient for

identification, could be preserved. A fourth example was obtained by Philips

in tne Wadi Feiran on March 31, 1914. (Zhe Auf, 32, p. 282 and plate). Pro-

bably too it was this Owl which Kaiser got in August 1891 and July 1892 in the

Wadi Bedr and in the Wadi Arka on March 31, 1893. (Le Roz Jour. f. Orn., 1923,

pp. 65-66). It seems clear then that this Owl’s home is the Sinai peninsula

where it is evidently not uncommon though perhaps very local and that it is resi-

dent there. How comes it then that Nash got iton the Mekran coaSts ? ; it seems

unlikely that it is a normal resident there. Cumming tried at various places

there for years and did not come across it and other naturalists—Blanford,

Zarudny, Zugmayer, Hotson—all failed to meet with it. If it is very local

and also very scarce it yet may have possibly eluded all these people. On the

“*STAJSOALINID VIJIAPUBID) AO LUOSHA

ALIMNOAVA V ‘IHAMT MAdINAL MOING STIIH HUVE

‘"VILHNO ‘Ssvd VWNNVH

"90G ‘ISIF] ‘WeN Aequiog “usanoe

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 65

other hand. cyclones occur sometimes on this coast and bring birds which are

not usually met with and this may account for its occurrence but even then one

must suppose it occurs somewhere in Arabia nearer than Sinai. Unfortunately

there are no details of the capture of this bird at Ormarra.

Bubo bubo turcomanus (Evers.) The Turkestan Eagle Owl.

‘ Boom ’, Bal.

The Eagle Owl is resident and sparsely distributed in the hills of N. Baluchis-

tan. Marshall received a young one taken from the nest and there are two half

grown young in the Quetta Museum taken near there on June 3, 1915, where there

are also three adults. It has been obtained at Khozdar in S. Kalat and at

Kandahar. Besides those in Quetta Museum I have examined three in the

British Museum obtained at Quetta, Kandahar, and Kalat and they appear to

be typical ¢urcomanus which is very near ruthenus—W. 450-460 mm.

Neither Bubo \bengalensis nor Bubo coromandus are recorded from Baluchistan

put 1 have seen the former between Karachi and the Baluch boundary.

Otus scops pulchellus (Pall.) The Eastern Scops Owl.

The distribution and status of the three species of Scops Owl is not clear and

there are very few records of any of them. It seems fairly clear however that

this Scops Owl is a summer visitor in small numbers and locally distributed in

N. Baluchistan. It apparently arrives about the middle of April. St. John says

itis common in the juniper hills and Swinhoe records it (as Sennatus) in the

orchards at Kandahar. I have examined specimens obtained at Chaman on

April 16, at Kandahar on April 11 and 12 and a half-grown young one from

Ziarat on July 2. Murray records this bird in several places between Quetta

and Kandahar and says pennatus (rectius sumia) occurs at Mach, Dozan and

Quetta, however there are no specimens to bear this out or that the Indian

Scops Owl occurs at all in Baluchistan.

The only record from the south is from Ormarra on the coast where Cumming

obtained one on passage in September.

Otus brucei (Hume.) The Striated Scops Owl.

The Striated Scops Owl must be resident (or a summer visitor) in small

numbers. I have seen one (in British Museum) from Chaman obtained on

April 23 and also a half-grown young one from the same place on June 6.

These are the birds recorded by Barnes and St. John. One from Toba

Achahzai obtained in June is in the Bombay Museum and W. D. Cumming

sent me a full grown young one from Sheik Mandah on August 16, 1923.

In Central Mekran Hotson obtained one at Shireza Patk (Kharan) on the

Panjegur-Kalat road.

Otus bakkameena deserticolor (Ticehurst.) The Desert Collared Scops Owl.

The only certain record is a bird obtained by Murray (now in British

Museum) at Killi Abdullah (5,100 ft.) on the road from Quetta to the Khojak

on May 3, 1880, where it must have been breeding.

Scops Owls (? this) are said to occur in Las Belas.

Athene brama indica (Frankl.) The Indian Spotted Owlet.

Meinertzhagen obtained two specimens at Quetta on Apri! 6 and June 7,

Swinhoe says it is common in the lower parts of the Boian but he did not find

it west of Mach ; he obtained an adult and a young bird at Pir Chowki at the

entrance on May 15. Murray, on the other hand, says itis found as far as

Gulistan and is replaced beyond the Khojak by éactriana. The distribution is

not quite clear but it can be safely said that this owl comes up as far as Quetta

where it breeds and is resident. Common at Sibi in the plain.

It is fairly common throughout the Makran in suitable places and is resident ;

it occurs as far west as Bampur in Persian Baluchistan and Hotson obtained it

far as north in the Makran as Gajar in the Mashkai valley.

Athene noctua bactriana (Hutton.) Hutton’s Little Qwl.

The Little Owl is fairly common and resident over the whole of N. Baluchis-

tan inhabiting banks, rocks, old walls, etc. Barnes records young in a hole in

atreeon June3 at Chaman while at Kandahar Swinhoe found several nests

with young in the fort walls early in April. J have examined numerous adults

and young in the Quetta Museum obtained in that district. It apparently does

not-occur in the Bolan, and it is curious that St. John does not refer to it in

66 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATCORATVAIST “SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Kalat as it certainly occurs, as Hotson obtained it at Surab in S. Kalat on

July 1. i

In the Makran there are no records of it but Hotson obtained it at Magas just

over the Persian boundary on December 3, where he says it was scarce.

Pandion haliaetus haliaetus (L.) The Osprey.

It is remarkable that there is no record of the Osprey in N. Baluchistan. On

the Makran coast it is common enough in winter and according to W. D. Cum-

ming it is found throughout the year but he had no evidence of its breeding

there, though there is no reason why it should not do soin such places as

Ormarra Head, as it certainly breeds at the eastern end of the Persian Gulf.

On the other hand non-breeding birds may be seen on the Sind coast all

through the hot weather.

AEgypius monachus (L.) The Cinereous Vulture.

The Black Vulture is resident in small numbers throughout the higher hills

of the north (8,000-10,500 ft). The huge nest is nearly always built in the top of

a large juniper, a single egg in March orearly April is laid, though a much

incubated egg is recorded in May. In winter it spreads out to the lower plains

and valleys and so reaches Sibi and Kandahar.

It wanders to the Makran coast where Cumming has noted it in the hills near

Ormarra but its status in S. Baluchistan is not known.

Gyps fulvus fulyescens (Hume.) The Griffon Vulture.

The earlier writers considered the Griffon to be less common than the Black

Vulture but the concensus of opinion now seems to be that it is the commoner

of the two in N. Baluchistan. It is resident and breeds at the higher elevations.

Betham records an egg on April 5 and Marshall one young hatched on April

25. Itisacliff breeder. During the Afghan War of 1879 Swinhoe noted that

vultures became much com:moner than before.

Probably a winter visitor to the Makran coast ; Cumming has noted it at

Ormarra ; status elsewhere not known, but almost certainly breeds in the

Khirthar Range.

Gyps himalayanus (Hume.) The Himalayan Griffon Vulture.

A bird in Quetta Museum obtained at Quetta on February 10, appears to be

a young bird of the species. A wanderer ?

Pseudogyps bengalensis (Gmel.) ‘The Indian White-backed Vulture.

St. John records that in 1878 the White-backed Vulture followed the troops

marching from Sukkur to Afghanistan, profiting by the numerous dead animals

left ez route. The laying of the railway across the Sibi plain in 1879 depriving

them of food on the first part of the journey, they disappeared. Murray how-

ever records it at both ends of the Bolan Passin 1880. There are no recent

records of this ‘ Plains’ bird, nor did I nieet with it even at Sibi in December.

It wanders tothe Habb Valley doubtless from Karachi where it is common

and may go further into Las Belas but I have no record of it from anywhere

else in Makran; but Zarudny lists it as a breeding species in Persian

Baluchistan.

Neophron percnopterus percnopterus (L.) ‘The Egyptian Vulture.

The Neophron isa very common summer visitor to the hills of N. Balu-

chistan arriving at the beginning of March. It appears to breed all through

the higher hills ; young are recorded as hatched at the end of April and both

cliffs and trees are utilized as nesting sites. The birds have left the hills by

September and young appear in the Quetta valley by the end of July, in which

locality and others of similar altitude some birds may be seen into November.

It is common in the Sibi plain in winter.

Throughout Central and Coastal Makran it is probably more or less resi-

dent ; it breeds round Ormarra in March making its nest usually on a ledge

near the top of the lower hills and difficult of access; fresh eggs were found

by Cumming en March 1 and March 31.

Zarudny anc Harms described the Neophron from S, Persian Baluchistan as

N. bercnopterus rubripersonatus (Orn, Monats., 1902, p. 52) differing from the

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 67

typical race in having the bare parts of the head orange-red instead of yellow.

W. D. Cumming who found Neophrons conimon at Charbar in 1920 paid parti-

cular attention to this point at my request and sent me a description and water

colour painting of birds examined at close quarters and he added that he could

see no difference between these Charbar birds and Karachi ones, and judging

by the painting and description I agree. He never saw any with orange-red

onthe head. Zarudny’s race cannot be, I think, a good one and must be

founded on stained birds.

Gypaetus barbatus grandis Storr. The Lammergeier.

One of the ornithological sights of N. Baluchistan is the quantity and tame-

ness of the Bearded Vultures. It isa constant resident and breeds in all the

higher hills from the Suleimans westward. It lays early in March, the nests

being on ledges of (mostly) inaccessible cliffs. It is common in the Bolan Pass

but does not reach the Sibi plain. Round Quetta it is distinctly a scavenger and

attends at carcasses with Neophrons and ravens and may be seen often enough

right in the Cantonment swooping round low down in search of morsels ;

Meinertzhagen records attempts of one to carry offa puppy from a barrack

room verandah! At Ziarat, too, I have had this magnificent bird sailing round

within few feet of my head.

Not recorded in central and coastal Makran.

Aquila chrysaetus daphane (Menzb.) The Golden Eagle.

Locally in the higher hiils of N. Baluchistan the Golden Eagle is not un-

common and is resident, wandering to the lower valleys in winter. At Ziarat

in the autumn one or two of these magnificent birds were seen almost daily

soaring high overhead. Radcliffe records that a young one taken from an

eyrie was sent to the Karachi Zoo and that he received an egg taken by natives

which was thought to be of this species. Marshall too had eggs brcught to him

and saw an eyrie and obtained an adult. They hunt in pairs for Chukar and

readily take wounded birds; Meinertzhagen records that one even swooped on

a covey and took a bird on the wing. Inthe Quetta Museum are specimens

from Quetta on January 29, and Harboi August 30 and I have a young one

just. out of the nest picked up dead near Quetta in my collection.

No record in S. Baluchistan for I am doubtful if the bird recorded by Hume

at Gwader on February 18 could belong to this species.

Aquila heliaca (Savigny.) ‘The Imperial Eagle.

Swinhoe records the Imperial Eagle as common in winter at Kandahar whence

there are specimens in the British Museum ; it is therefore rather surprising

that there are no records of it in Baluchistan except Murray’s statement that

Dupuis collected several at Quetta on May 2, 1880 and July 7, 1888.

Aquila nipalensis nipalensis (Hodg.) The Steppe-Eagle.

Hotson obtained a Steppe-eagle at Hazarganji in the valley of the Dhor

(Hingol R.) Jhalawan on September 19.

No other record ; scarce winter visitor ?

Aquila rapax vindhiana (Frank].) The Indian Tawny Eagle.

Meinertzhagen records that the Tawny Eagle is not uncommon in the plains

of N. Baluchistan between February and September; a local specimen

obtained on July 22 is in the Quetta Museum.

Hotson obtained one at Gidar in S. Kalat on June 29; I have seen it in the

Habb Valley in June and Cumming says it is occasionally seen at Ormarra

from October to May. How much further west it occurs is not known. Nor

is its status clear ; Zarudny lists it as nesting in Persian Mekran.

-Aquila clanga (Pall.) The Greater Spotted Eagle.

The Spotted Eagle should be commoner than records indicate. Murray records

it at Siriab in March, at Nuskhi and at Kirta on May 22! Cumming obtained

one at Ormarra on October 29.

No other records.

68 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXU

Heraetus fasciatus (Vieill.) Bonelli’s Eagle.

Bonelli’s Eagle is doubtless resident in small numbers throughout Balu-

chistan. Marshall records nests in the Quetta district with one egg on May 14

and with two eggs on May 26. Meinertzhagen noted several at Ziarat in July.

Cumming informed me that it is resident at Ormarra on the Mekran coast and

breeds there in January whence there is a specimen in Bombay Museum.

Hieraetus pennatus (Gmel.) The Booted-Eagle.

The Booted Eagle is not uncommon in Kalat and the Quetta Valley to the

Khojak whence it is recorded by St. John, Murray, Meinertzhagen and seen by

myself. The records range from March to August so it is apparently a summer

visitor. No nesting records.

Duke obtained it at Nal in S. Kalat on May 18 but there are no certain

records from Mekran.

Circaetus gallicus (Gmel.) ‘he Short-toed Eagle,

All there is on record concerning the Short-toed Eagle is St. John’s statement

that it is not uncommon in Kalat and 8. Afghanistan; there is a specimen of

his in the British Museum from Kandahar obtained 0 August 24.

Butastur teesa (Frankl.) The White-eyed Buzzard.

Radcliffe records that the White-eyed Buzzard is fairly common in the Quetta

Valley in winter, not seen in summer; but St. John’s records one obtained in

Quetta in the summer of 1887. I think it must be only a wanderer up to that

district.

All through Central Mekran and as far north as Baghwana, N. of Khozdar,

it is resident or at the most a local migrant. In coastal Mekran too from Las

Belas to Gwader and on to Charbar and Jask in Persian Mekran it is fairly

common and is said to occur as far west as Bunder Abbas. Cumming

found a nest with three eges at Jask on April 15 and he informs me that a bird at

Charbar attacked a brown dove which had accidentally got under some netting,

and he has seen one try to catch a sparrow.

Haliaetus leucoryphus (Pall.) Pallas’ Fish Eagle.

There is very little information as regards Pallas’ Fish Eagle ; Barnes records

an egg which he supposed to be of this species, which was brought to him at

Chaman on March 18.

It occurs at Ormarra between December and April according to Cumming,

but he did not know whether it bred there.

Haliaetus albicilla (L.) ‘Che White-tailed Eagle.

Only recorded from the Mekran coast where Planiord saw it at Gwader in

December and Hume in February. Cumming has seen it at Ormarra occasion-

ally in winter and I saw a magnificent adult bird at the Habb River on

November 14.

There are no records in the north. I have no certain record of Halzastur

Indus in Baluchistan but it is almost certain to occur at least in Las Belas.

Murray lists it without comment.

Milvus migrans migrans (L.) The Black Kite.

The Black Kite is a fairly common summer visitor to N. Baluchistan. Barnes

says it arrives at Chaman early in the spring and breeds at the end of March ;

Marshall obtained eggs in the hills near Quetta on Aprii 12, and Meinertz-

hagen found young in Murdan on May 4. Other breeding places mentioned

are Khojak, Kushncb and Ziarat. It would seem that this race replaces

govinda in the higher hills but the distribution of both wants further working

out. It is said to visit the Quetta Valley on passage and I found all had left

Ziarat by the third week in September. Five adults examined—Chaman,

Quetta, Khawash, and ‘S. Afghanistan’ appear to be typical mzgrans.

Whether it breeds throughout Kalat and at all in Central Mekran is not

known ; Hotson obtained one in Panjjur District on April 1, and I saw one at

sea off Gwadar on March 13, so that some must pass through W. Mekran on

passage.

Milvus migrans govinda, Sykes. The Pariah Kite.

Most observers are agreed that the Indian race is resident and breeds in the

Sibi plain, Quetta valley, north to Pishin. Meinertzhagen says a number visit

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 69

the Quetta vallev too from the south during the rains ; this would be when

young are on the wing. It breeds in April. Some may leave in the winter as

Marshall noted they were scarcer at that season. Swinhoe records migrans

from Kandahar on February 14, 1881, but this specimen, an adult, is in the

British Museum and I consider it to be, by its drown streaked head, govinda,

as may be alsoa young one thence on November 17. The status at Kandahar

is not certain as many kites wandered thither during the Afghan War.

At that time our knowledge over the rest of Baluchistan is not at all full. This

Kite is common and resident in the Habb Valley and probably too in the Las

Belas plain; Cumming says it wanders to Ormarra in winter, Blanford noted

that kites were scarce in West Coastal Mekran at the end of January but he un-

fortunately obtained no specimens. Hotson too unfortunately got none there

and made no notes concerning the species which however he met with at

Ornach in the Hingol Valley (EK. Central Mekran) in September and obtained

a specimen. The status, if it occurs at all throughout Mekran, needs working

out, though Zarudny lists it as a rare breeding species in Persian Mekran,

Milvus lineatus (Gray.) The Black-eared Kite.

Though unrecorded in Baluchistan this kite must surely occur. Kites were

unusually common during the Afghan War of 1879 and three obtained (Juv.)

at Kandahar September 13, December 18, and February 23, by their size and

new brown feathers on the crown I judge to be /zmeatus. W. 480, 495, 495. In

British Museum.

Elanus ceruleus?ceruleus ( Desf.) The Black-winged Kite.

A straggler in N. Baluchistan of which there are three or four records, adult

seen July 7, immature obtained April 7, adult seen August 16, and one

obtained by Griffith in ‘ Afghanistan ’ was perhaps in what is now Baluchistan.

_St. John obtained it at Baghwana near Khozdar (S. Kalat) in August ;

Blanford obtained it at Sonmeani on February 20, and Zugmayer at Las

Belas on March 18. No records elsewhere ; status uncertain. :

Circus macrourus (S.G., Gmel.) The Pallid Harrier.

A fairly common winter visitor to the lower plains and valleys but commoner

as a passage migrant ; Barnes noted it as very common at Chaman in the wheat

fields. It passes through in March to the end of April in the Quetta valley and

at Kandahar. St. John records it on spring and autumn passage in Kalat.

Murray thought that it bred on the Khojak—‘ building in May’ — but this

requires verification. ? |

On the Mekran coast Cumming records it at Ormarra in winter and spring and

Blanford obtained it at Gwadarin December. Zugmayer got it in Las Belas

in March and April; it is probably not uncommon throughout the Mekran in

winter and on passage.

Circus pygargus (L.) Montagu’s Harrier.

Montagu’s Harrier is probably a passage: migrant in small numbers in the

north. ‘There is in the Quetta Museum one obtained at Baleli on April 19, 1914

(lab. macrourus) and there is one from Quetta in the British Museum ; St. John

obtained one on the Khojak on September 9, 1881—perhaps the same bird.

Circus cyaneus (L.) The Hen Harrier.

The Hen Harrier is recorded as a fairly common winter visitor from mid-

October to April and also on passage though I doubt if sight records can be

trusted. I have seen several'specimens obtained in the Quetta district in

winter, and one from Kandahar.

There is no record in the Mekran but Hotson obtained it at Bampur in

Persian Baluchistan in Deceinber, so it should occur.

Circus zruginosus (L.) The Marsh Harrier.

- The Marsh Harrier is fairly common in suitable spots in N. Baluchistan and

Kandahar from October to March.

It occurs here and there in the’ Mekran in winter.

Buteo ferox ferox (S.G., Gmel). The Long-legged Buzzard.

_ The statusin the north’is not clear. Radcliffe says it is resident and breeds

in the Ziarat District; Barnes believed that it bred in the Chaman District ;

70 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXi)

Murray says she found it common at Gulistan in May and obtained on May 7,

two young about two weeks out of the nest. On the other hand Meinertzhagen

considered it to be absent from March to August though odd birds were seen

in May and St. John says that it is not seen in Kalat in the summer. I know

of no actual nest having been found. If it breeds at Ziarat all had gone from

there in September. Itis certainly found throughout the plains and lower

valleys during the non-breeding months.

Throughout central and coastal Mekran and in Kalat it is a common winter

visitor.

Accipiter badius cenchroides (Severtz.) The Shikra.

Duke and Meinertzhagen both record the Shikra from the Quetta valley in

spring and autumn ; it is not a very common bird in the north where however

it must breed here and there. Thus Cumming flushed a bird off the nest in

Woodcock Spinney near Quetta on June 16, 1922, and St. John cbtained it at

Kandahar on June 9, where Swinhoe also got one on April 17.

So too it must breed in S. Kalat as Duke secured one at Khozdar on June 12.

Throughout Central Mekran it is not uncommon at least .in winter; Hotson

obtained four between September 1 and December 12 and Blanford one at

Bahu Kalat on the frontierin February where he found it not uncommon.

It is not certain whether it breeds in central Mekran. In coastal Mekran it no

doubt occurs here and there; Cumming noted it at Ormarra in March and

September.

Birds from central Mekran, S. Kalat, Quetta, and Kandahar (8 sp.) all

belong to the race cenchroides and not to the Indian form, as also one from Wana

in S. Waziristan (N.W.F.P.).

Accipiter nisus nisosimilis (‘Tickell.) The Asiatic Sparrow Hawk.

This race of sparrow hawk which is so widely distributed through Asia is a

common winter visitor to and double passage migrant through N. Baluchistan

in October and April.

It is rather a scarce winter visitor to coastal Mekran and there are no records

of it, though it must occur, in central Mekran.

Accipiter nisus melanoschistus (Hume.) ‘The Indian Sparrow Hawk.

Radcliffe records that he thinks Sparrow Hawks breed in the juniper forest

at Ziarat, where Meinertzhagen also found them in June. However, I think that

it is not 2zsoszmilzs which is said to breed there as the latter suggests, but this

Himalayan race. There are birds in the Quetta Museum from Ziarat in July,

doubtless breeding birds, and resemble well birds I obtained there in September

when it was very common. All these adults are very dark blue above and also

very large in size and match quite well birds from the Himalayas. M7zsoszmzlis

from the plains of India are paler than the typical European race and a series

measure W. ¢ 207-216, 2 240-258, and this is about the range of measurement of

melanoschistus which is darker than the European bird.

It is interesting to find this Himalayan bird extending to N.E. Baluchistan

together with others of the Himalayan fauna. Its chief prey I found to be

/smberiza stewartt.

Laubmann records 4.7. pallens from Pishin-Quetta and Loralai but remarks

that they are not so grey as Japanese birds. Pallens seems a somewhat

doubtful race and probably his birds are mzsoszmlis. A female too from Panjgur,

central Mekran with a wing of 198 mm. obtained on July 8, is also recorded as

pallens. If this is sexed correctly it can hardly be a sparrow hawk at all but a

Shikra which too is much more likely to be at Panjgur in July.

Acctpiter virgatus said to have been obtained by Murray, I do not credit, oe

two birds from Quetta recorded by St. John as Accipiter breripes are in the

British Museum and are in fact Accipiter nisus nisosimtilts.

Falco peregrinus calidus (Lath.) ‘The Siberian Peregrine Falcon.

Peregrines are recorded as occasional winter visitors from the end of October

onwards wherever jheels exist in N. Baluchistan. It would seem to be scarce

and possibly some records refer to dabylonicus. There is one from Quetta in the

British Museum.

Cumming has noted it at Ormarra in winter, otherwise there are no records in

the Mekran.

——=

LTE BERS OF BRI TISE BALOCEHISTAN 71

Falco peregrinus babylonicus, Sci. The Red-capped Peregrine.

This is the common falcon of N. Baluchistan and is no doubt resident

though I have no records of actual nests. Meinertzhagan obtained it at Ziarat in

July and saw others in June where I too saw it in September. St. John consider-

ed it common in Kalat and at Kandahar. I saw it in the Quetta Valley on

August 17 and there is one from there in the Quetta Museum obtained on May

24 and several in the British Museum from Kandahar, Quetta and Kalat,

It occurs at Sibi in winter.

At Ziarat I watched for some time some very pretty play-acting by a Shahin

which was stooping in turn at each successive magpie which crossed the valley

to its roosting haunt.

I saw a shahin at the Habb River on November 14 and Cumming records it

from Ormarra on October 21; probably a winter visitor throughout the Mekran

as it is in Sind.

~Meinertzhagen records that he obtained /. peregrinator at Kushdil Khan on

October 26, but, as he no longer has the specimen, he informs me he is not sure

that he is correct in his identification.

Falco cherrug milvipes (Hodg.) The Saker Falcon.

The ‘ Cherrug’ is apparently a scarce winter visitor to N. Baluchistan.

There are two specimens from Quetta in the Quetta Museum obtained in

January and another from Kushdil Khan on May 17. Murray records it in May

and September. No records elsewhere. All examined areof the above race,

Blanford (F. B. I., iii, 422) states that St. John obtained one at Quetta ; the

latter does not record it nor can I trace the specimen now.

Falco jugger (Gray.) The Laggar Falcon.

The status of this falcon in the north is not clear. Barnes records it as very

rare at Chaman but says he sawa pair in April; St. John regarded it as not

uncormmon and says he obtained it twice at Quetta; Marshall too thought it

fairly common in the cold weather and located a pair nesting in a cliff in April.

Swinhoe records it from Chaman in May and Murray records it in this month

at several places between the Bolan and Chaman. Of recent years however

no one has met with it.

In S. Kalat it probably is not uncommon. Duke obtained it at Nal on May ?

and Hotson too at Chuttok near Nal on August 26 ; in central Mekran at Jebri

in the Mashkai Valley on August 31, and west of Kolwa on April 8; so

presumably in S. Kalat and central Mekran it is resident as it must be too in

Las Belas. Cumming has noted it at Ormarra. Zarudny does not list it for

Persian Baluchistan whichis apparently beyond its limit of distribution.

Falco subbuteo subbuteo (L.) The Hobty.

I have examined a specimen in the Quetta Museum shot at Pishin-Quetta on

October 1. Murray records it from Nushki and Meinertzhagen saw a pair at

Ziarat on July 24. Rare; status unknown.

Cumming records it as a winter visitor to Ormarra ; no other records.

Falco concolor (‘Temm.) The Sooty Falcon.

The addition of this falcon to the Baluchi avifauna is remarkable and un

expected. Labelled as F. amurensis, I found in the Quetta Museum an

undoubted specimen of /. concolor—an adult male-—; it was obtained by

W. D. Cumming at Charbar cn August 31, 1912 (not October 24, 1912, as

labelled). Mr. Cumming tells me that he saw another about the same time in

the hills near there ; he further tells me that on May 4, 1901, after a cyclone he

took two falcons alive at Ormarra, which he thought at the time were, and of

course may have been, /. amurenstis ; however, they were not preserved.

This is the first record north of Arabia; one recorded from Muscat (/6zs, 1886,

p. 163) is in such a bad condition that it is hard to say whether it has been

correctly identified or not.

The Charbar bird measures W. 278, T. 133. Bill from cere 13. Ts. 33.5 Md.

toe 32.5. It hassince been sent to the British Museum where Mr. Kinnear

kindly compared it with Madagascar specimens, and he finds that it is a verv

pale bird, but there are insufficient skins in England to define any races, ‘

72 JOURNAL, ‘BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Falce esalon insignis (Clark.) The Merlin.

Swinhoe records the Merlin as common in winter at Kandahar: Murray says it

is common everywhere north of Quetta and probably breeds in the Khojak, but

this requires confirmation. He however says that a bird he examined from

Mundi Hissar was a young one with underwing coverts not fully grown. Not

recorded of recent years, and no records elsewhere. I have examined two from

Kandahar in January and February and two from Pishin-Quetta in December

and all are referrable to the above race.

Falco chiquera chiquera (Daudin.) The Red-headed Merlin.

Nicoll Cumming records the Red-headed Merlin from the Sibi plain where

it may well oecur. Murray says he obtained it at Bibi Naniin the Bolan and

also at Kili Abduila in May but even if this is correct I cannot credit his

statement that it is fairly common throughout the country, if by this he means

hill Baluchistan. No one has since met with it. No records elsewhere.

Falco tinnunculus tinnunculus (L.) ‘The Kestrel.

The Kestrel is common ‘throughout N. Baluchistan and is resident asa

species though very likely some are winter visitors and some summer visitors

or passage migrants. It breeds plentifully in cliff faces, holes or ledges in

perpendicular river banks at 5 te 10,000 feet and in old Magpie nests. Marshall

records 4 fresh eggs on May 14, Betham a clutch of 5 on April 12, but at the

lower elevation of Kandahar Swinhoe notes young by the beginning of April.

It breeds as far south at all events as S. Kalat; in central Mekran it is

common enough at least in winter and Blanford met with at as late as March

31, and I see no reason why it should not breed there since according to

Cumming it is common on the Mekran Coast range round Ormarra and breeds

on the headland at the end of March or early in Apri}. To the Las Belas

and Sibi plains it is probably only as a winter visitor.

The question is what is the breeding race of Kestrel in Paluchistan? In the

North I have only seen birds from Kandahar which at the end of March one

may suppose are breeding birds and these are undoubtedly of the typical race

até W. 249, 250 T. 172; 2 W. 253, T. 165. All winter birds from Quetta-Pishin

and Kandahar in the north and from the Mekran I consider also to belong to

the typical race but whether the Mekran breeding bird is also, remains to be

proved. Hlartert and Zarudny record fF. ¢. saturatus as resident in Persian

Baluchistan but none from British territory appear to be of this race 6 44 W.

236-250 ; IT’. 163-172 ; 5 92 W. 244-268, T. 164-185.

The largest and the smallest birds are precisely alike in colour.

Columba livia neglecta (Hume.) The Rock Pigeon.

’ Kapoth’ s(Bal.).* Kattar aers) :

Throughout the whole of N. Baluchistan, except perhaps in the forest area,

the Rock Dove is common in most places and especially in the valleys and

cliffs while in winter it congregates into huge flocks. Besides cliffs, etc., it nests

freely in the underground water channels (Karezes) which at intervals have

shafts leading into them ; eggs and young are recorded in May but probably

as elsewhere the breeding season is a prolonged one but not extending to the

winter months.

Throughout central and coastal Mekran it is likewise common and _ resident

and one of the characteristic birds of a small resident avifauna ; Hotson records

eggs on August 21.

I have examined a fair number of these birds, eight from N. Baluchistan and

three from the Mekran and I consider all belong to the race weglectus the type

of which came from Ladak; in Ladak are found Rock Doves with white

rumps, /zzza of older authors, alongside birds with blue-grey tinged rumps

(zntermedia of some authors) ; the same obtains in Kashmir, Gilgit, Punjab, Sind

and in Baluchistan. In size their wings vary from 219 ‘in females to 238

in males and Baluchistan birds have the same range of measurement and

colour.

Laubmann records zatermedia from Gwadar ; I have seen no intermedia from

Baluchistan or plains of N. W. India; it is the bird of the Indian

Peninsula with dark slate rump and I should much doubt its occurrence, at

Gwadar. Laubmann’s specimens (four) are small W. 211-214 but perhaps

THE BIRDS. OF BRITISH BALUCHISTFAN iV. 23:

they are not in good feather. North of Gwadar, near Dizak in Persian Mekran,

I have seen two typical neglectus with wings 231 and 235 and here too may be

found whitish or greyish rumped birds ; in the extreme east in the Habb. valley

neglectus also breeds.

Columba palumbus casiotis (Bonap.) The Eastern Wood Pigeon.

The Wood Pigeon is fairly common in the juniper forests at 8,000 ft. at

Ziarat and breeds there as it probably does on Harbdéiin Kalat ; Cumming

records it from Zarghun in summer. A good many must leave the forest for

the winter as very few were to be seen at Ziarat early in October ; St. John too

says in the autumn it is found in the lower hills. Barnes records it at

Chaman in winter, leaving for the hillsin June. Radcliffe noted it in the Zhob

Valley from March to May. It seems to be only a straggler to the Quetta

Valley ; Murray recorded it from Kirta, Dozan in the Bolan and Sagee.

Swinhoe met with it between the Khojak and Kandahar in April.

South of Kalat the only record is of one obtained at Turbat in Southern

Central Mekran on November 27 by Hotson.

Columba eversmanni (Bonap.) The Eastern Stock Dove.

It is strange that this bird is unrecorded in British Baluchistan. One was

obtained and another seen at Charbar on September 24, 1912 by W. D.

Cumming and it has been obtained in April at Kandahar.

Streptopelia turtur arenicola (Hart.) The Persian Turtle Dove.

A straggler on passage in N. Baluchistan. Swinhoe obtained one at

Quetta on May 7. Murray records it at Chaman on April 7 and on the Khojak

on May 5

Streptopelia senegalensis cambayensis (Gm.). The Little Brown Dove.

Chiefly a summer visitor to N. Raluchistan and widely distributed in

cultivated parts up to 8,500 ft.; here and there in the lower valleys some

winter while in the Sibi plain it is doubtless resident, as it is at Kandahar

breeding there at the end of February. Barnes says it is absent from Chaman

from October to March, which probably represent the months of departure and

arrival, and breeds in April. Throughout the Nuskhi district it is a characteristic

bird. ‘At Sheik Mandah near Quetta eggs are recorded on April 17 and

a late brood of young on August 28.

In central and coastal Mekran and in Las Belas it is one of the commonest

and one of the few well distributed species and is resident ; it is particularly

common in the date groves and cultivation. It extends further west than the

Perso-Baluch boundary and iscommon at Charbar, Bampur, said to occur at

Bunder Abbas and has been recorded even in Iraq.

Eleven examined from Baluchistan and Kandahar; there is no doubt that

the breeding bird belongs to the race cambayensis,; their wings measure

125-131'5 as in a topo-typical series. ‘lwo from Kandahar in March .may

belong to the larger Turkestan race ermannz ; they measured 135 and 139 mm.

but a female shot also at Kandahar on the same day is the smallest of any

—125 mm.

Streptopelia decaocto decaocto (Fulv.) The Indian Ring Dove.

‘Jungli-Kapoth.’ (Bal.).

A summer visitor to N. Baluchistan arriving in the second week of March

and leaving in October, the Indian Ring-Dove is very common: eggs are

recorded from end of April to end of June. It is not found above 6,000 ft.

and only occasional birds are seen in winter. In Kandahar and Sibi plains

however it is resident ; it is common enough in the Nushki district in April.

A common and characteristic bird of central and coastal Mekran and

Las Belas and is resident; its distribution extends a long way westward

of course.

Streptopelia orientalis meena (Sykes.) The Indian Rufous Turtle Dove.

Meinertzhagen informs me that he obtained two on passage at Quetta on

October 1 and June 3.

74. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

(Enopopelia tranquebarica tranquebarica (Herm.) ‘The Red Turtle Dove.

Murray recorded this Dove from Sibi where it may well occur as a hot weather

visitor ; it is quite likely to occur in Las Belas too.

Pterocles orientalis (L). The Imperial Sand Grouse.

The Imperial Sand Grouse is a resident and also a passage migrant in N.

Baluchistan. During September and October enormous numbers pass through

the Quetta District doubtless bound for the Punjab and N. Sind, etc., the return

passage taking place in March and April. At lower elevations however it is

common in winter; Swinhoe records it as plentiful all the year in the plains

west of the Khojak and Hotson found it in numbers coming to water at

Nushki on December 15, when a bag of 67 was made; it is common too in the

Sibi plain at this season. It is he common winter Sandgrouse in the Zhob and

Loralai districts from early September to mid-March.

Some breed round Quetta ; there is a half grown chick in the Quetta Museum

obtained on September 12, and Capt. Hanna tells me he saw chicks there in

July. Numbers breed at Chaman in May (Barnes) and eggs are recorded

thence on June 29. Meinertzhagen has seen them in pairs at Kushdilkhan on

July 29, where too W. D. Cumming saw numbers coming to drink on June 28.

In the Zhob Valley it is recorded in Apriland May. Under Harbéi Hotson met

with it on July 2.

South of Kalat it must breed also; Zugmayer obtained it on July 13, at

Panjgur and Hotson found pairs in several places in this district at the end of

April. It is the common Sand-Grouse of the Persian Highlands.

Pterocles lichtensteini tichtensteini (Temm.) The Close-barred Sand Grouse.

In North Baluchistan the status of this Sand Grouse is not clear; D. Radcliffe

believes that he saw it once. Tufnell records that two were shot and several

seen on the Bhor Plain (locality?) in 1879. Newnham records it from near

Quetta. It must I think be rare and Kalat and N. E. Baluchistan mostly too

high for it.

Throughout central and coastal Mekran however it is in places common and

resident affecting as elsewhere rocky desert and scrub at the foot hills. Hotson

met with it at Mand and at many places in the Panjgur and Kolwas Districts in

April and July and records it as far north as Zayah in Kharan where it must

breed (obtained June 27). Cumming has found it in rocky nullahs near

Ormarra and it occurs on the Pabb Hills in Las Belas up to the Sind boundary.

It extends to Persian Mekran on the one side and to Sind west of the Indus

on the other.

I cannot recognize an Asiatic race of this Sand Grouse ; the markings are

subject to great individual variation, some are coarsely barred, others more

finely in both Asiatic and the typical bird and in both sexes also there isa

yellowish and a greyish type in both ; in both the size is alike; I have examined

all the specimens in the British Museum and Tring Museum and my own

collection—a large series in all.

Pterocles coronatus atratus (Hart.) The Coronetted Sand Grouse.

Barnes considered the Coronetted Sand Grouse to be less common than the

Imperial in the neighbourhood of Chanian but a few breed there. He found

two nests on April 30 and in May ; the nests were just depressions scratched out

by the birds in the open plain. It appears nowhere to be common in the north ;

it is recorded from the Zhob Valley in January and Lt. Searight met with two

flocks there on October 4, 1924. ‘There is a specimen in the Quetta Museum

from Said Hamid obtained on December 23 ; Tufnell in 1881 recorded it from

‘Vitakri years azo.’ St. John on the other hand says this is the only small

Sand Grouse in S. Afghanistan and generally distributed in smail lots and

that between Kandahar and the Helmund in July it was common. I havea

recent record of it at Chaman in July and there is an egg in the British Museum

taken there on May 27, 1908.

In central and coastal Mekran it is according to Hotson the commonest small

Sand Grouse, moving about locally in the cold weather. Apart from winter

records he met with it at Teghat W. of Khozdar in the valley of the Dhor on

August 26th and saw several flocks at Harbud S. E. of Panjgur on April 27.

Barnes’ eggs measured 38 X 26°75 and 41-* 27:3; shell fine with moderate

gloss, creamy white with blotches and streaks of washed-out yellow-brown and

———

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 75

pale sepia. Anegg in the Quetta Museum obtained (addled) at Panjgur by

Mr. Wilson of the I. E. T. may be of this species also; the ground colour is

almost white and it has a few pale lilac grey spots all over ; it measures 42 X 29.

Pterocles alchatus caudacutus (Gmel.) The Large Pin-tailed Sand Grouse.

Barnes thought that this Sand Grouse was resident at Chaman though he

never found its nest, but in suitable places throughout N. Baluchistan it is a

common Spring and Autumn passage migrant in early March and in November ;

Meinertzhagen gives Said Hamid as the best place in the Quetta District.

St. John considered it not so generally distributed as the Imperial and a more

strictly desert bird ; it must breed on and over the Afghan boundary as he noted

it between Kandahar and the Helmund in July. To the Sibi plain it is

probably a winter visitor as it is found in enormous flocks round Jacobabad at

that time.

In Lower Baluchistan records are lacking save that Laubmann records one

from Panjgur, Central Mekran, on July 13, 1911 so it apparently breeds there too.

Pterocles senegalensis erlangeri (Neum.) ‘The Common Sand Grouse.

There is very little information concerning this Sand Grouse in N. Baluchistan

Marshall says it passes through the Quetta District in September and October

and D. Radcliffe also mentions it as a Spring and Autumn passage migrant ; it

is doubtless found as a resident in the Sibi plain.

All along the Mekran coast and in Las Belas plain it is common and resident.

Hotson obtained it on the Persian boundary at Mand otherwise I have no

records of it in central Mekran, Jhalawan or S. Kalat ; it would appear to avoid

the more hilly country.

Pterocles senegallus (L.) The Spotted Sand Grouse.

‘Kuttu’ (Bal.)

There are very few records of the Spotted Sand Grouse in the hill country of

N. Baluchistan ; one in the Quetta Museum was obtained at Said Hamid on

November 26. However at the entrance to the Bolan Pass and in the foot hills

of the Sibi plain it is common enough and doubtless resident. In S. Kalat

Hotson met with it at Surab in August. Throughout Coastal Mekran

it is met with here and there and is resident moving about but locally. Hotson

came across it in the valley of the Nihing in May; it extends into Persian

Baluchistan (Jask, Pahrah) and to Bampur but not to the Persian Highlands.

Ammoperdix griseogularis griseogularis (Brandt.) The See see.

The See see is common and resident in N. Baluchistan in all suitable country ;

it avoids the open plains of course and is not found as high as the forest area but I

have seen it at 7,000 ft. and it may be found at much lower elevations than the

Chukar is. It especially delights in broken rocky ground at foot hills and the

borders of cultivation in the smaller valleys. It occurs too all the way down the

Bolan Pass to an elevation very little above that of the Sibi plain. It nests in

mid April and May.

Throughout central and coasta) Mekran it is common enough also,

especially in the lower hills and stony ravines about the bases of the higher

ranges. In the hills near the coast it may be found at quite low elevations.

During the heat of the day Hotson found that these birds shelter in the Karez

pits or openings to the underground water channels. In the south nests may

be found by the middle of March.

I have examined a good series from Baluchistan. They vary very much in

coloration but are not distinguishable from the typical race.

Alectoris greca koraikovi (Zar.) The Chukar.

‘Kabak.'’ - (Pers. Bal.)

In the North the Chukar is common throughout the hill country up to 11,000

ft. and in some places exceedingly abundant ; it is very resident hardly moving

down at all in winter and so is not found in the lower valleys and plains. The

home of the Chukar may be said to be the hillsides above 7,000 ft. where a

few bushes, grasses, and other plants are dotted about on the boulder strewn

slopes of the higher ranges ; from here they work their way down to some

“76 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1

stream in the hill valley to drink about 8 a.m. and also to feed in the adjoining

cultivation. But in some seasons they are equally at home in the juniper forest

(8 9,000 ft.) ; in 1919—a bad Chukar year—they were practically absent from

the Ziarat forests. The breeding season begins in mid-April and 6 to 9 eggs are

recorded but nests of 15-20 which are said to occur (Barnes) may be the

_product of two hens. Chukar may still be found, but not so commonly as of

yore, on Gatacre and Kitchener Hills close to Quetta and they certainly breed

there (6,000 ft.) The gathering together of coveys to drink at favourite places

is made use of in Chukar. shooting ; the birds must water every day and so if

kept off their drinking places by beaters all the Chukar on the hillside may be

found scattered about in coveys on the lower slopes near the stream. This does

not sound a very sportsmanlike procedure but if a bag isto be made at all it

is the only way ; the area is so vast and climbing and walking so difficult and

exhausting that without some concentrating of the birds but few coveys would

ever be found. In good years some exceptional bags have been made on the

best grounds ; thus near Khawash Col. Ramsay informed me that he and two

other guns shot over 700 in two mornings shoot. In 1919, a bad year, I shot

with Col. Ramsay and the late Major Finnis on the same ground and our bag

was only 54. Heavy spring rains are one cause of bad Seasons and the other is

a very dry winter and spring. Thus in 1902 the birds kept in packs all the

summer and never bred as there was no grass seeds, etc. for the young ; the old

birds subsisted by digging up roots and the hillsides were scored by burrows

4 to 6 inches deep in places which they had excavated out for this purpose.

Throughout the hills of Central Makran and in the Coastal Makran ranges

as low as 3,000 ft. (in Persian Baluchistan as low as 1,600 ft.) this Partridge is

common while in Las Belas it occurs in the Khirthar and its outliers, the Pabb

and Khuda ranges.

I have examined the following specimens, Quetta District6, Kalat 6, Panjgur

1 Khirthar (Sind) 3, Persian Makran 2 (topotypes) and all appear to me to be

the same though there is some individual variation, and I assign them all to

Zarudny’s race koriakov1. Wings 148-164 mm. Birds from the Suleiman

Range in the extreme N.E. I have not seen.

Francolinus francolinus bogdanowi (Zar.) The Black Partridge.

‘Port.’ (Bal.)

In the North the Black Partridge is found in cultivation and suitable jungle,

in some places, up to 3,000 ft. It is common enough on the Sind frontier and

at the other end of the plain in the Sibi District and is found in the Marri and

Bugti country below 3,000 ft. In the Loralai District it apparently reaches up

to 5,000 ft. and is found at Gumbaz, Mekhtar, Musa Khel, Toi Sar and

eastward of this line according to Lt. Searight. I have no records from the

“Bolan but it occurs as far as Babar Kach in the Harnai Valley ; odd records

of birds in the Quetta Valley are doubtless due to escapes. It occurs again in

the Kandahar District.

In S. Kalat it occurs as far north at all events as Khozdar (3,000 ft.) and

St. John says even to 4,000 ft. In central and coastal Mekran it is common in

many of the valleys such as those of the Habb, Dhor, Mashkai, Hingol and

Nihing Rivers.

The Sibi plain and Las Belas birds are almost certain to belong to the Sind

‘race henrici but I have not examined any. I have examined twelve birds, those

from W. Coastal Makran. (Dasht. R.) Central Makran (Mand, Nihing River,

Buleda District, Kolwa District), are dogdanowz ; 3 birds from Hingol River S.

Kalat and Jhalawan are rather intermediate between henrici and bogdanowt.

Many of Zarudny’s points of diagnosis of this race do not hold good but I think

that d0gdanowz7 is distinguishable through its paler coloring and paler neck ring

from henrici. Wing 10 ¢¢ 153-164, 2 29 156-160.

Francolinus pondicerianus mecranensis. (Zar.) The Grey Partridge.

The Grey Partridge is found in suitable spots round the Sibi plain and in the

lower end of the Bolan to Kundilani: Col. Ramsay informs me that it occurs

too in the lower hills of the Marri and Bugti country. Ball records it from the

valleys of the Suleimans and Lt. Searight informs me it is very numerous on

the Rakhni plain below Fort Munroe and is found in the Loralai District in the

same localities as given for the Black Partridge.

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 77

Common in Las Belas it extends throughout coastal and central Mekran in

suitable scrub jungle to Pe1sian Baluchistan and on to Lars and Bunder Abbas

in E. Persia. It occurs in S. Kalat and Hotson found it at Wad 4,000 ft. in

Jhalawan and in the valley of the Mashkai at Pirander 2,000 ft., but it does

not as arule appear to ascend as high as the Black Partridge does.

Ten examined from Jhalawan and Mashkai Valley west to Persian

Baluchistan and all belong to the paler greyer form described from the last

locality. None seen from the Sibi district or Las Belas which may be zuter-

positus or .intermediate between the two races as are some from S. W.

Sind. |

Coturnix coturnix coturnix (L.) The Quail.

‘Kurrak’ (Bal.)

In the North the Quail is chiefly a passage migrant and in small numbers, a

few however must breed as a nest with eggs 1s recorded by Meinertzhagen |

taken by anative near Quetta at the end of May; at Kandahar Swinhoe

recorded that the Quail arrives at the end of March and St. John says it breeds

there in April and May inthe cultivation and in similar places elsewhere as

perhaps at Fort Sandeman, where birds have been seen in May though it is

chiefly a passage migrant there in April and September.

In Coastal Mekran it is a passage migrant in mid-August to the end of

September, at times fairly plentiful while a few over winter. W. D.

Cumming tells me that on August 20, 1901 a flight attracted by lights entered

the offices of the telegraph station at Ormarra and many were also killed by

the wire cable round the compound. In Central Mekran it has only been noted

on passage.

Coturnix coromandelica (Gm.) The Rain Quail.

The Rain Quail is only recorded from the Habb Valley where Le Messurier

saw old and young on September Ist. Probably some occur every good

monsoon.

Marshall records in the Quetta-Pishin Gazette that another Quail, other

than the common, is occasionally seen in the hills but none has been shot.

On October 2, 1912 W. D. Cumming saw at Charbar a Quail of a species quite

unknown to him.

Rallus aquaticus korejewi (Zar.) The Water Rail.

A straggler in winter to N. Baluchistan; only records :—one near Pishin

January, 1899, Quetta two in November, one in December, one March 1].

Porzana parva (Scop.) The Little Crake.

St. John obtained the Little Crake in the autumn at Quetta. Swinhoe found

it rather common near Kandahar and obtained specimens in February and

March. There is in the British Museum one from the Bolan Pass where Murray

records it as common. There is a specimen in the Quetta Museum from

Quetta August 31. (lab. puszlla).

Porzana pusilla pusilla (Pall.) The Eastern Baillon’s Crake.

Baillon’s Crake isa passage migrant in N. Baluchistan in August and

September, probably not uncommon. Barnes noted it as abundant at Chaman

in September ; St. John met with it at Quetta in the autumn. Two specimens

obtained August 24 in different years are in the Quetta Museum. It has been

obtained at Nushki in September and at Chagai on October 7. |

Status in Lower Baluchistan unknown ; probably a winter visitor as in Sind.

One was obtained by Butler in Mekran, ‘and one by Hotson on September

10 at Sib on the Persian side.

Porzana porzana (L.) The Spotted Crake.

Status probably similar to last. There are specimens in Quetta Museum

October 1 and November 1. W. D. Cumming obtained it at Ormarra in

Mekran on September 20. Zurudny’s Porzana p. maculipennis described

from Seistan appears to be an aberration.

78 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXII

Gallinula chloropus parvifrons (Blyth.) The Waterhen.

St. John obtained one at Kandahar in April; Barnes had several brought to

him at Chaman in March; Murray got it there April 31.

In Lower Baluchistan, Blanford obtained it on the Persian side at Sibi March

26, and Hotson saw it at Harbud Central Mekran on April 27.

Mr. Ludlow has a clutch of 6 eggs from Sirunda jheel, Las Belas, taken on

June 20, 1915 which certainly seem to be of this species.

Porphyrio poliocephalus poliocephalus (Lath.) The Purple Waterhen.

‘ Bistuni.”: (Pers:)

Porphyrio poliocephalus seistanicus Sar and Harms. The Seistan Purple Water-

hen.

It is possible that afew Purple Waterhens may be resident in the Quetta

district ; Marshall records seeing 7 or 8 in thick reeds in a small river near

Quetta in August and thought that they bred there; Barnes records that it is

a straggler at Chaman after rain (September 10). St. John says a few occur

yearly in the autumn at Quetta. Swinhoe obtained it at Kandahar in March

whence Murray also received specimens. In suitable jheels in the Sibi District

it doubtless occurs. It is recorded from Nushki in January.

Further south, however, it is commoner. Hotson met with it numerously in

August and September in the valley of the Mashkai and northwards to Kalat

as high as 5,190 ft. Hemet with it too in the valley of the Hingol at Korak

(Kolwa) and Rekin (Arawan) on April 18. It is common also in Las Belas.

I have examined 4 Baluchi specimens ; two females near Kalat measure W.

268 and 258, and must, if sexed correctly, be sezstanicus and a Nushki male.

W. 269 is probably also of this race.

One from the Hingol River however, is too small W. 242 and must be placed

under the typical race as almost certainly too will be found to be the Las

Belas and Sibi birds.

Fulica atra (L.) The Coot.

The Coot is a non-breeding visitant to N. Baluchistan, common enough on

larger sheets of water (Kushdil Khan, Seranan, etc.) while odd ones occur in

the small rivers also. At Kandahar and Cnaman it has been noted on passage

in February and March. Common in suitable spots in the Sibi district.

Though no doubt, the majority are winter visitors quite a number remain

throughout the summer; it has been noted on Khushdil by Meinertzhagen

and W. D. Cumming in May, June and July, and it has been obtained at

Sibi at the end of May. One which Cumming obtained at the end of June

was flightless through moult.

In Mekran it doubtless occurs in suitable waters though there are few

records; W. D. Cumming obtained it at Ormarra in November and December,

Megalornis grus. ‘The Common Crane,

Cranes are recorded migrating north over the Quetta district. In the

Mekran too Blanford saw them performing a similar migration. Hotson

noted the first arrivals in S. Kelat on September 24 to 30. Probably here also

a passage migrant; but there are so few records anywhere that the status

is uncertain.

A. virgo probably also occurs, but there are no positive records.

Tetrax tetrax orientalis (Hart.) The Little Bustard.

Swinhoe obtained a Little Bustard at Kandahar; Murray records one from

near there on November 13. Cumming obtained one at Ormarra in Mekran

in 1904 and its wings are inthe British Museum. Evidently a rare straggler

anywhere.

Otis tarda has been obtained in S. Afghanistan at Bala on the Murghab R.

but not so far in Baluchistan.

Chiamydotis undulata macqueeni (Gray.) The Houbara.

‘Charz’ and‘ Charras.’ (Bal). ‘ Thukder,’ ‘ Thukderri.’ (Pers.)

The Houbara occurs in N. Baluchistan mostly as a passage migrant, but

here and there in the valleys and plains some may be met with in winter.

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 79

It has been found at the end of March and in April in large numbers especially

on the plains between Pishin and the Kwaja Amran ; Meinertzhagen records

that 60 were shot there in one day by 4 guns. It passes through again in the

autumn, while to the Sibi Plain it is a winter visitor in suitable places, as also

noted by Masson over eighty years ago.

Throughout the Mekran it is found in winter in fair numbers wherever there

are sandy plains and scrub jungle, and it even frequents the sandhills of the

coast, while cultivation such as rape, etc., or date groves are an attraction ;

so too is water. Cumming tells me he has seen 12 or 15 of these birds at a time

in the vicinity of shallow rain-pools in the sandhills waiting to come to drink

(5.30 p.m.). When the water fails they will come in to drink at spills from

wells But in the Mekran some, however, nest. Hotson obtained one at

Nikin Daf, 53 miles out on the Panjgur-Kalat road on June 8, and had a half

grown young one brought in alive oa June 11 at Panjgur. Cumming

too has met with a family party; he tells me that once at Ormarra six were

driven towards him, two adults and four small ones; unsuspicious of his

presence, the male ran on and went behind a bush and then faced round to the

others, working his neck plumes to cover and uncover the white in front,

waiting until the female ran up which then went through a similar performance

whilst the male took charge. Cumming further informs me that his predecessor

at Ormarra had Houbara chicks brought in.

Sypheotides indica (Gmel.) =aurita auct. The Florican.

The Florican occurs at least in the eastern part of Coastal Mekran in some

years. Le Messurier records that on October 3, 15 were shot on the Baluchi

side of the HabbR., and that one at least was only ‘ nearly fledged’ and all

were in brown dress. Cumming once came across a couple at Ormarra and

obtained one. Hotson too obtained one in the river bed of the Hingol R.

at Gilion September 10. Probably it is a rain visitor as in Lower Sind.

(Edicnemus edicnemus astutus (Hart.) The Stone Curlew.

‘Kurwanak ’.

In N. Baluchistan the Stone Curlew is probably not so rare as records

indicate and its status is doubtful. Marshall obtained it in March,

Meinertzhagen got a pair in the Popalzai Forest on April 9; W. D. Cumming

tells me he has seen recent footprints of this bird at Sheik Mandah near

Quetta on July 16. Lt. Searight informs me that he saw these at Loralai on

March 13, 1925, and that one at Kuria Wasta on May 23, 1924, certainly had

young. I have examined two in the Quetta Museum obtained at Saranan on

October 12, and at Mithri near Sibi October 25, and both these belong to the

race astutus, as does one in the British Museum from Gandaka (Sibi plain) ;

in this last locality it is probably not uncommon and resident.

In Central Mekran it must be fairly common as it was well known to

Mr. Wilson of the Indo-Persian Telegraphs at Panjgur, and the natives there

nad the above name for it. Throughout Coastal Mekran it is fairly common ;

Cumming met with it fairly often at Ormarra and Charbar, and found a nest

at the former place on April 16. The only Mekran bird I have seen comes

from Gili in the Hingol valley ; this is a tresh moulted bird and is far more

rufus than any astutws 1 have ever seen, and I cannot pick it out from a series

of sahare / It isa male W. 236 B. 32. It may benoted I have recorded both

these races from Iraq; these Asiatic Stone Curlews want further study with

more material.

Esacus recurvirostris (Cuv.) The Great Stone Plover. :

The Great Stone Plover extends its range at least as far as Ormarra along

the Mekran coast where W. D. Cumming has met withit. It breeds at Sonmeani

whence I have seen eggs in Mr. Ludlow’s collection taken in June. Swinhoe

found a nest in the Habb R. near Minad Khan on May 24. It doubtless breeds

in other suitable places. aad

Dromas ardeola Paykuki. The Crab Plover.

Bishop obtained three on the Mekran coast in°January and Cumming shot

one on the beach at Ormarra on September 4. Probably a rather uncommon

winter visitor.

80 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Cursorius coromandelicus (Gmel.) ‘The Indian Courser.

The only record within our area relates to birds shot by Cumming at Roumii

in the Pabb Hills, Las Belas. It should occur throughout Las Belas in suitable

places as it is common in the plains on the Sind side of the Habb Valley.

Cursorius cursor cursor (Lath) = gellicus. The Cream-coloured Courser.

Brahui. ‘ Askalo’.

This courser would seem to be uncommon, judging by the records, in

N. Beluchistan ; Barnes says it was not often met with at Chaman; Marshall

obtained it in September ; W. D. Cumming has seen it near Quetta in September

and October ; St. John met with it at Pishin in August. Meinertzhagen came

across a few pairs near Quetta in April and one in the Quetta Museum was

obtained therein March. At Sibi it occurs and might well breed in the plain

and the same applies to the Nushki plain where Hotson found it at Munchi

Chah. T.P..on April 18.

In S. Kalat and Central Mekran it is evidently not uncommon as Hotson

came across it there a good many times in August and September. Along the

Mekran coast it occurs in suitable places and Cumming notes it as a winter

visitor August to April at Ormarra but at Jask on the Persian side he had eggs

brought him on March 1 which he considered were of this species.

I cannot differentiate an Indian race of this courser.

Glareola pratincola pratincola (L.) The Pratincole.

Swinhoe obtained one at Bibi Nani in the Bolan Pass on May 18, 1881 and St.

John got another at Kandahar, April 23, 1879. Otherwise no other records in

N. Baluchistan, though Cumming tells me he thought he saw it at Khusdil-

khan June 27, 1923. It probably breeds at the Sirunda theel in I.as Belas, as a

shikari, whom Mr. Ludlow sent there, and who knew the birds well in the Sind

colonies, reported that he saw them there in May.

Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scop.) The Pheasant-tailed Jacana.

One was seen near Quetta by Meinertzhagen, doubtless a straggler, on

July 11. It should, however, occur in jheels near Sibi, as it is common in

N. Sind.

Arenaria interpres interpres (L.) The Turnstone.

Not uncommon on the coast of the Mekran, associating with other surf-

feeding waders. Latest date May 25. No records inland.

Lobivanellus indicus aigneri (Laub.) The Red-wattled Lapwing.

Falco ix, p. 30, 1913—Sonmeani in Las Belas.

The Red-wattled Lapwing is not very common in N. Baluchistan, but a few

pairs are probably resident in the Quetta district. Both Meinertzhagen and

myself have met with pairs on the Lora R. in August, and Cumming has seen

them there in June and also at Khusdilkhan. Radcliffe saw a few at Ziarat in

June and July. Barnes considered it uncommon at Chaman owing to lack of

water but founda nest on May 10. Ball records it from the higher parts of the

Suleimans 3-5,000 it. in July where it must also breed. It is common and

resident on the Anumbar River from Wahar to Gumbaz (Loralai District).

There are scattered records from Quetta in winter. According to Swinhoe it is

common at Kandahar and in the Bolan Pass, while at Sibi it is of course,

plentiful, as it is in parts of Kalat.

As regards Central Mekran, information is lacking, but it is sure to occur.

From the Habb R. through Las Belas and along the Mekran coast it is resident

in suitable places and thence extends to Persian Baluchistan, Persia (Henjam,

Bunder Abbas, Shiraz,) Muscat and to Iraq. I have already (/dzs, 1923, pp. 665-6)

dealt. fully with this race. Briefly it has less green and purple sheens than the

typical race and averages very slightly larger.

Murray records the Yellow-wattled Lapwing Sarciophorus malabaricus from

Soriab and Quetta as not uncommon in the last week of March ; as by this date

the fivst have only just reached Lower Sind, and asI have on records of this

species from Upper Sind at all, it isextremely unlikely to be found at 5,000 ft. in

the Quetta valley. It may, however, well occur in Las Belas.

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 81

Vanellus vanellus (L..) The Lapwing.

The Lapwing occurs in the Quetta Valley, Kandahar and in suitable spots in

Kalat as a winter visitor, sometiznes in large flocks; earliest record August 2.

In Mekran, Hotson met with it at Turbat in the Nihing Valley on November

28, otherwise there are no records though it probably occurs in suitable places.

Chettusia gregaria (Pall.) The Sociable Lapwing.

Barnes noted the Sociable Lapwing as very uncommon at Chaman ; Murray

records it thence in April.

Chettusia leucura (Licht.) The White-tailed Lapwing.

The. White-tailed Lapwing occurs in the Quetta Valley chiefly as a spring and

autumn passage migrant, but it has also been obtained in December. To

Kandahar, however, it is a common witter visitor, as it is in Kalat and probably

to the Sibi plain in suitable spots; earliest record September 11. it should

occur in winter in the watery parts of the Mekran and Las Belas, but the only

records come from the Persian Mekran in March and Noveinber.

Squatarola squatarola squatarola (L.) The Grey Plover.

A not uncommon winter visitor to the coast of the Mekran. Mostly singly or

in pairs as a rule.

Pluviatis apricarius (I..) The Golden Plover.

One was obtained by Blanford at Gwadar in December. Murray records that

he saw. P. d. fulvus near Sibi. It should occur, but I have no positive record ;

it has been obtained at Kalati-Ghilzai in S. Afghanistan and at Karachi. The

European bird is but a vagrant.

Charadrius leschenaulti (Less.) Geoffroy’s Sand Piover.

Charadrius mongolus atrifrons (Wagler.) The Mongolian Sand Plover.

Both these Sand-Plovers were obtained according to Mr. Finn on the 1896

Baluchi-Afghan Boundary Expedition ; no locality given. The larger species

has been obtained at Quetta in March, a flock of six were noted, doubtless on

passage. Poth species are common on the coast of the Mekran in winter,

Charadrius dubius curonicus (Gmel.) The Little Ringed Plover.

Charadrius dubius jerdoni (Legge). The Indian Little Ringed Plover.

The Little Ringed Plover is fairly common in suitable spots throughout

N. Baluchistan ; to the Quetta District it is a summer visitor arriving at the end

of February or early March and leaves in August; it breeds freely round such

waters as Khushdil Khan and on the gravelly stretches of the Lora R.

Meinertzhagen thus records them and noted eggs in the first half of June. At

lower altitudes, St. John indicates that it is a winter visitor, as he says that

this and the Kentish Plover are common in cold weather ‘ beyond the passes ’.

Swinhoe too found it at that season at Kandahar whence it disappears in April.

Throughout Central and Coastal Makran and S. Kalat it certainly occurs not

uncommonly, but all records and specimens relate to dates between August 25

and April 15 so it is uncertain whether it breeds or not. In Las Belas I believe

it .breeds, however. I shot a pair in the Habb R. on June 16, which had the

appearance of having bred.

As regards the races which occur ; three March birds from the Quetta District

which I have examined are certainly curonicus, as are two April birds in

Meinertzhagen’s collection, and he tells me that he was in error in recording

them as jerdoni ; spring and autumn birds from S. Baluchistan also are all

curonicus. The only jerduni I have seen from Baluchistan are the above

recorded birds from the Habb Valley.

Charadrius alexandrinus alfexandrinus (L.) ‘Tne Kentish Plover.

The status of the Kentish Plover in N. Baluchistan is much the same as

that of the Little Ringed Plover; it arrives according to Meinertznagen in

the Quetta District early in April and leaves in September. It nests freely at

Kushdil Khan on the dried muddy margins and islands of the Jheel; eggs

were. found by Meinertzhagen on May 18 and June 2, on the latter date a

82 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX1

clutch of four. Cumming found several nests with 1 to 3 eggs on June 26.

To Kandahar it is a winter visitor.

In the rest of Baluchistan it is recorded from the Mekran Coast where it

appears to bea common resident though the only note of an actual nest is

from Jask on the Persian side (young 10 days old on May 24). In Las

Belas I found a pair or two on June 16 in the Habb Valley which seemed to

have finished breeding. It must occur here and there in Central Mekran

but the only record is from Isfandak on the border where Blanford obtained

one on March 8.

Hoematopus ostralegus longipes (But.) The Oyster-catcher.

The only record inthe north is Meinertzhagen’s who has seen this bird at

Kushdil on April 29 and May i7.

A winter visitor to the whole of the Mekran Coast in variable numbers.

Himantopus himantopus himantopus (L.) The Stilt.

To the very few suitable localities the Stilt is a summer visitor in variable

numbers in the north. It breeds at Kushdil Khan where Meinertzhagen found

nests in 1913 and 1914 and Cumming in 1923. It arrives early in March and

leaves in August; at Kandahar it is common too in March but there is no

information as to whether it breeds there Full cultches are recorded on June

10 and June 17 in different years. Many eggs get taken by natives and at

times many are destroyed by sudden rising of the waters.

I have no record of the Stilt breeding on the Mekran Coast except in Las

Belas ; here at the great Sirunda Jheel at Sonmeania good many nest on the

dried margins. Ludlow has eggs taken there on May 20 and I have young in

down thence taken July 13 ; here it is practically resident but in the rest of the

Mekran it is a fairly common winter visitor.

Recurvirostra avocetia avocetta (L.) The Avocet.

Meinertzhagen records that a tew pairs arrive at Khushdil early in March

and that in 1913 one pair bred; after disturbing the nest the eggs were

transported by the birds across the lake (600 yards) to the other side ! None

bred in 1914 and in 1923 Cumming saw a fairly large flock on June 26 which

was very wild so presumably were not breeding. No doubt variations in local

conditions determine whether any breed or not. Murray records it at Sibi in

March otherwise there are no other records in the north.

To the Mekran Coast it is said to be a winter visitor in smali numbers.

Limosa limosa limosa (L.) The Black-tailed Godwit.

It is peculiar there are so few records of this bird in N. Baluchistan ;

Marshall obtained one at Babar Kach in March. Murray records it in the Bolan

Pass in March and April; at Kandahar Swinhoe found it numerous on passage

in March. Noone seems to have met with it in recent years but surely it

must occur?

It is fairly common in Central and Coastal Mekran in suitable spots in

September and October (earliest September 4) and probably it overwinters

but records are lacking.

Limosa lapponica lapponica (L.) The Bar-tailed Godwit.

There is specimen from Baluchistan in the British Museum ; doubtless from

the Mekran Coast where it should be numerous in winter.

Numenius arquata lineatus Cuv. The Curlew.

The Curlew does not seem to halt much on passage in N. Baluchistan as

Meinertzhagen considered it uncommon, he met with it only on April 9, August

12 and September 30. Capt. Hannainforms me he heard many passing over

Chaman on the night of July 31, 1919. There is one in the Quetta Museum

from Saranan on April 9.

There are no records from the rest of Baluchistan save from the Mekran

coast where it is fairly common in the mangrove swamps in winter.

Numenius pheopus pheopus (L.) The Whimbrel.

I can find no record of the Whimbre! in the north where it surely must

sometimes occur on passage. Some winter on-the Mekran Coast but it

THE BIRDS'OF BRITISH BALOCHISTAN®~ 83

probably is commoner on passage there. W. D. Cumming informed me

that both Whimbrel and Curlew on the Mekran sometimes come inland and feed

in the sandhills. Hotson obtained one at Sibi on the Persian Mekran on

September 9.

Phalaropus lobatus (L.) The Red-necked Phalarope.

The Red-necked Phalarope must occur annually on autumn passage in N.

Baluchistan. Barnes met with itin September and St. John on October 19 at

Chaman ; there is a specimen from Kusndil in the Quetta Museum obtained on

September 10 and Cumming picked up a dead bird near Quetta on Septem-

ber 23 ; at Sibi I haveseen it on October 8. On spring passage it is recorded

on March 6 and 28, April 30 and on May 5.

As in Sind so in S. Kalat, Jnalawan, and Central Mekran it is not uncommon

on autumn passage, Hotson meeting with several small lots at various places

between September 2 and October 4. Having reached their winter

quarters few linger on land on the Mekran coast but Cumming once saw a pair

in a rain water pool at Ormarra. At sea off the Mekran coast it is an excessive-

ly abundant winter visitor though its distribution is patchy ; onemay steam

for hours and never see one and then come across flock after flock each con-

taining 100 or more individuals and they are always very wild allowing no boat

to come within 200 yards asarule. Sometimes they come as near the land as

Ormarra May but they are more often met with 4 to 10 miles and even to 30

miles from the coastline, as soon however as very deep water (over 200 fathoms)

is reached not one is to be seen. Butler records them from this coast as late as

May 20 but asin Sind few or none appear to halt on spring passage inland

in Mekran. Numerous off the coast by mid-November Hume’s notes under

Phalaropus fulicarius (S.F. vol.i) and Blanford’s (Eastern Persia, vol. ii,

p. 284) all refer in reality to the above species.

Limicola falcinella falcinella (Pont.) The Broad-billed Sandpiper.

Occurs throughout the Mekran Coast in winter where it is probably quite

common. Hotson obtained it on passage on the Rhotak River on August 3

but there are no other records away from the coast, but it is likely to occur

on passage.

Terekia cinerea (Gulden.) The Terek Sandpiper.

Recorded from Sonmeani and Ormarra on the Mekran in winter; probably

common along the whole coast line. No records elsewhere.

Erolia minuta minuta (Leisl.) The Little Stint.

‘ Tanki’, Baluch for small waders.

A double passage migrant in N. Baluchistan, passing in numbers in April

(latest date May 28) and again in September and October; a few are said to

over-winter. In Central Mekran the only records refer to September and April

so it is probably a passage migrant ; on the Mekran Coast it winters in numbers

having arrived there by mid-September.

Erolia temminckii (Leisl.) Temminck’s Stint.

There are curiously few records of this very common Indian bird but this is

probably due to its being overlooked. Hotson obtained it on the Nihing River

in winter and Blanford and myself met with it in the Habb Valley in October

and November.

Erolia alpina alpina (L.) The Duntin.

In N. Baluchistan it has only been noted at Khushdil Khan and Quetta on

passage on November 30 and in third week of May; it may be commoner on

passage than records indicate. Very common on the Mekran Coasts in winter

but unrecorded elsewhere.

Erolia ferruginea {Briin.) The Curlew Sandpiper.

Meinertzhagen found it common at Khushdil Khan on May 16 to 20 ; Murray

records it from Quetta on March 22. It occurs in winter on the Mekran Coast.

Erolia canutus canutus (L.) The Knot.

Meinertzhagen obtained a solitary bird at Khushdil on March 26 the only

record for Baluchistan and India.

84 JOURNAL; BOMBAY NATORATA IHS TSO GlEATIG. Veln XOGay)

Erolia tenuirostris (Horsf.) he Great Knot.

The Great Knot was seen by Hume near Gwadar in winter ; this is the only

record but it probably occurs in other places on the Mekran Coast although it is

unknown anywhere west of Gwadar.

Calidris alba (Pall.) The Sanderling.

Only recorded from the actual coast line of Mekran where it is abundant in

winter. The Sanderling must be capable of immense flights, it has never been

found on passage on land in India.

Machetes pugnax (L.) The Ruff.

A spring and autumn passage migrant in N. Baluchistan, not uncommon in

suitable spots. Marshall obtained one in February but most pass through the

Quetta Valley in March and the same applies to Kandahar. Odd birds are

recorded from Khushdil Khan in December ; it has been noted on passage again

in October. Both in Central and Coastal Mekran it has been obtained in

September and in winter.

Totanus totanus eurhinus (Oberh.) The Redshank.

In N. Baluchistan the common Redsnank does not appear to be very com-

mon. Meinertzhagen only noted it twice—small flocks at Khushdil on October

26 and May 19. St. John considered it common in winter till mid-April but

this very likely referred to the Kandahar plain whence Swinhoe recorded it as

comimon in winter. W WD. Cumming saw non-breeding birds at Khushdil on

June 26.

To Coastal Mekran it is a not uncommon winter visitor, earliest noted on

August 20, and it occurs in Central Mekran also in winter. Meinertzhagen

must have made a slip in recording as 7. erythropus a bird he shot at Khushdil

on October 26; this bird is in the Quetta Museum and is undoubtedly a com-

mon Redshank ; specimens of erythropus in the Quetta Museum reccrded by

D. Radcliffe were in fact obtained in Sind. However this bird should eceur in

Baluchistan and Murray lists it without comment.

Totanus stagnatilis (Bech.) The Marsh Sandpiper.

There is one in the Quetta Museum obtained on August 15, at Saranan.

W. D. Cumming informed me that it occurs at Ormarra in winter. ‘These

are the only records and like the Greenshank it is probably overlooked or badly

recorded.

Totanus nebularius (GGunn.) The Greenshank.

St. John records the Greenshank as not uncommon in Kalat and 8. Afghanistan

in winter and Swinhoe considered it a winter visitor to Kandahar. In the

Quetta District it appears to be uncommon as there is only one record —a bird

obtained at Bostan on November9. In Coastal Mekran Cumming noted it at

Ormarra in winter and I have seen it in the Habb Valley; it probably occurs

here and there throughout the Mekran.

Tringa hypolencus (L.) The Common Sandpiper.

During spring and autumn passage the common Sandpiper is common on the

streams and waters of N. Baluchistan ; the birds pass through from early April

to the end of May returning again in August. Delmé Radcliffe thought it

possible that odd pairs breed at Khushdil but no further evidence has been

obtained of this. Meinertzhagen however has brought forward strong circum-

stantial evidence that a pair bred on the Arak stream at 9,000 ft. in 1914. it would

not be surprising to find that here and there at that elevation a pair or two do

nest in the forest area.

To the Sibi plain and the rest of Baluchistan it is a-winter visitor in fair

numbers.

Tringa ochropus (L.) ‘The Green Sandpiper.

The Green Sandpiper is probably the most generally distributed and least rare

of all the waders in N. Baluchistan since it can adapt itself to the merest puddle

or trickle; moreover besides being a bird of both passages it is also a winter

visitor, Odd birds also may be seen throughout the summer months as obtains in

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 85

many parts of N.W. India, though none of course breeds. It has been recorded

at 8,000 tt. but is equally at home in winter in the Sibi plain.

Throughout Kalat, Central and Coastai Mekran it isa common winter visitor

wherever there is any water and here too some over-summer.

Tringa glareola (L.) ‘The Wood Sandpiper.

In N. Baluchistan the Wood Sandpiper is a common passage migrant in April

and May, rather less common on autumn passage in August ; odd ones are

recorded in winter. In Kalat St. John remarked that it is common in summer

but he probably meant in May and August.

In Central Mekran it must be common enough at least on passage but records

are very few and relate to March, April and September.

Scolopax rusticola rusticola (L.) ‘The Woodcock.

A few occur every year in N. Baluchistan from 5-8,000 ft. Newnham records

20-30 were shot in the winter of 1888 and that the main arrivals came early in

December, earliest November 11. Swinhoe states that 5 were obtained in one

day. Meinertzhagen gives October and February as the extreme dates. No

records elsewhere.

Capella solitaria (Hodg.) ‘The Solitary Snipe.

An annual visitor to N. Baluchistan in October, earliest September 29, but

more appear to come in some years more than others. In Quetta it has been

found in gardens in the cantonment, suitable places being few, while at Ziarat

one for several days haunted a piece of swampy grass a few feet square caused

by a leak in a water pipe. Some must over winter as Duke obtained one at

Kalat in December and I have heard of one shot in January somewhere

between Quetta and Fort Sandeman while another was obtained near Loralai

on March 13, 1925.

Capella gallinago gallinago (L.) The Common Snipe.

A common passage migrant in N. Baluchistan while a few over-winter in

suitable places. Meinertzhagen gives mid-August as the earliest date, most

arriving in September and passing through again in March and a few till the

end of April: 83 couple is the largest bag for one day. To the Sibi plain,

Central and Coastal Mekran it is a winter visitcr arriving at the end of August

(24 and 28 in two years), corresponding pretty well with the first arrivals in

Lower Sind. A creamy white specimen obtained at Sibi on March 22 is in the

Quetta Museum. I have no record of the Pin-tailed Snipe in Baluchistan

(C. stenura) but odd ones are almost certain to occur.

Limnocryptes minima (Briinn.) The Jack Snipe.

Occurs throughout Baluchistan in suitable places arriving in mid-October

(Quetta and Mekran; as also in Sind) ; it is particularly conimon on spring

passage in the north according to Meinertzhagen who has seen al00inaday. At

Kandahar Swinhoe noted it asa weather migrant at the end of December, I

know of no certain record of the Painted Snipe though Murray lists it without

comment.

Larus fuscus taimyrensis (But.) ‘Che Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Larus argentatus cachinnans (Pall.) ‘The Yellow-legged Herring Guil.

Both these Gulls are very common along the Mekran Coast in winter from

carly November at all events up to March 24 and probably later. They act as

scavengers at all the coastal villages.

Meinertzhagen records a flock of cachinnans at Khushdil Khan on April 17

otherwise there is no record in N. Baluchistan for either species but they doubt-

less do halt on passage on suitable waters.

Larus ichthyaetus, (Pall.) The Great Black-headed Gull.

One shot at Saranan on March 29 is the sole record of this bird in the North.

It is fairly common along the Mekran coast in winter; Hume obtained one on

February 17, which had already attained breeding dress.

86 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Larus brunneicephalus Jerd. The Brown-headed Gull.

Marshall records a large flock at Khushdil in March: in the Makran W. D.

Cumming has noted it as a winter visitor as far west as Charbar, so it probably

occurs here and there along the whole coast.

Larus ridibundus ridibundus (L.) The Black-headed Gull.

A commom winter visitor throughout Baluchistan wherever suitable spot

exist. Meinertzhagen says it arrives in the Quetta Valley by mid-October, most

leave in April but some remain till the end of May. Hesavs that he has never

seen any near Quetta in breeding dress, which is curious since many assume

the brown head before leaving Sind.

It is of course especially common throughout the Makran Coast where it arrives

by mid-October.

Larus genei(Breme.) The Slender-billed Gull.

‘Kothar ’ Bal.

The Slender-biiled Gull is one of the commonest gulls on the Makran Coast

and it isa constant resident though very likely their numbers are augmented

in winter. Large flocks may be seen fishing a mile or so nut at sea on surface

swimming fry. Considerable numbers breed at least in some years on the

large island in the Sirunda jheel at Sonmeani, Las Belas. Mr. Ludlow has

eggs taken there on May 15 but most are nct laid till the first week in June.

I have both eggs and young in down obtained there on July 16. The nests are

quite considerable structures and Caspian and Gull-billed Terns breed in the

colony with them. In some years when the jheel is very full few or perhaps

none breed there. It doubtless breeds in several other places in Makran. On

May 28, 1878, Mr. Nash of the I. E. T. found a small colony in a swamp at the

head of a creek about 8 miles N. N. W. of Ormarra called Moorputti. The

nests contained 1 to 3 fresh eggs on that date. The nests were solid pads of

seaweed about 8 inches in diameter.

There are no records elsewhere in Baluchistan of this bird.

Larus hemprichii (Urach.) HWemprich’s Gull.

This is probably the commonest Gull on the Makran Coast and is resident.

It is a tame confiding bird and may often be seen round boats scavenging fish

offal, but unlike the larger gulls does uot frequent the villages for this purpose.

Early in June these gulls begin to draw in along the Sind coast to the breeding

grounds and they congregate in thousands to breed on the island of Astolah,

24 miles S. W. cf Pasni. Butler who landed there on May 29, found the

plateau of the island already covered from end to end with gulls which were

absurdly tame but breeding had not commenced ; scrapes in the sand were

plentiful but these may have been for dusting purposes (?) He subsequently

sent on August 6 a boat tothe island and the natives obtained many fresh

eggs for him. The nests were said to be large affairs composed of twigs built

in bushes and well concealed! This is a good example of the inability of the

native to describe accurately anything he has ‘seen; asa matter of fact the

nests area slight depression with afew bents of grass and salsola scrub

situated at the szde of and sheltered by a tuft of salsola, according to Sir Percy

Cox who visited the island on July 17, 1907. The maximum number of eggs

appears to be 3,

Chlidonias leucopareia indica (Stev.) The Whiskered Tern.

Meinertzhagen records that several were seen on Khushdil Khan in May 1914

there is onein the British Museum from Quetta May 22. Evidently a passage

migrant, as it also is in Central! Makran ; Hotson found it on the Rohtak R.

near the Persian boundary on September 24, andin the Hingol valley on the

19th. W. D. Cumming observed it at Charbar on August 6.

Hydroprogne caspia caspia (Pall.) The Caspian Tern.

‘ Kothar ’ (in Makran.)

The Caspian Tern visits such waters as Khushdil Khan and Saranan on pas-

sage. Meinertzhagen has noted them from April 30 to May 17, and a pair

till June 20. No evidence of breeding.

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 87

On the Makran coast itis common and resident. It breeds with the Gull-

billed Terns and Slender-billed gulls on a large island in Sirundha jheel in Las

Belas ; laying had just begun on May 15, many eggs were obtained on June 14,

and by July 16, most were hatched ard some young were nearly ready to fly.

A great many eggs I believe are addled by the heat, and the mortality in

young too appears to be great. The legs and feet of newly hatched chicks are

vellowish-flesh colored.

Geochelidon nilotica nilotica (Gm.) The Gull billed Tern.

‘ Kothar’ (in Makran.)

No record in N. Baluchistan.

Common and resident on the Makran Coast: a very large colony breeds in

the Sirunda jheel (sse above). Mr. Ludlow had many eggs brought him

thence on June 16, and I had a few eggs and young up to half grown birds on

July 13. Both adults and young had fed on locusts.

Sterna sandvicensis sandvicensis (Lath.) The Sandwich Tern.

The Sandwich Tern is a winter visitor to the Makran Coast in fair numbers.

Barnes was informed that it bred there. However this suggestion is not as yet

confirmed, nor is it ever likely to be. Unrecorded elsewhere.

Sterna bengaiensis bengalensis Less. ‘Che Lesser Crested Tern.

The Lesser Crested Tern is common all along the Makran Coast in winter

and at all events up to the end of May. Birds shot at the latter date are in full

breeding dress. It is however not known to breed in the Makran Coast as yet.

Sterna bergii velox Cretz. The Greater Crested Tern.

The Greater Crested Tern is common and resident on the Makran Coast

breeding in large numbers onthe island of Astolah off Pasni. Butler who

landed there on May 29, 1877 found that this Tern had just commenced to lay.

The colony consisted of four large groups nesting together on the bare ground

on the most exposed part of the island; each nest was about one foot apart

from the next and he actualiy found 47 eggs in a space of 8 feet square. As

many as 7,000 fresh eggs have been gathered there by natives early in June.

As is well known the eggs of this tern vary so much that hardly two are

alike. Asin other Tern colonies elsewhere the eggs are liable to be pillaged

by Gulls—in this case by Hemprich’s Gulls.

From an examination of a large series of this Tern from the Makran Coast, I

am of opinion that S. dergiz bakert described thence is not a good race and is

indistinguishable from 7é/ox.

Sterna melanogaster Temm. ‘The Biack-bellied ‘Tern.

Barnes records that this Tern is not uncommon inthe Bolan Pass and he

obtained a straggler at Chaman on June 3. St. John obtained another at

Quetta in the autumn 1881. ' Murray lists the Indian River Tern (S. seena) but

I have no definite record.

Sterna repressa Hart. (= aléigena auct). The White-cheeked Tern.

Butler met with the White-cheeked Tern in flocks commonly along the

Makran Coast in the latter half of May and he remarks that it is one of the

commonest terns at that time. Zarudny records it at Charbar on March 16, I

think that itis probable that this tern is only a passage migrant on the

Makran Coast, to and from its breeding grounds in the Persian Gulf, though

there seems to be no reason why it should not breed there.

Sterna hirundo hirundo (L.) The Common Tern.

Meinertzhagen has recorded this tern as plentiful in May and early June on

Khushdil Khan.

It must be a passage migrant in Lower Baluchistan but the only record refers

toa bird obtained by Hotson at Sib on the Persian side on September 10.

Like the Sind birds the Baluchi ones appear to belong to the typical race.

Sterna albifrons. The Little Tern.

Little Terns are only recorded from the Mekran Coast; Butler mentions

seeing this species at Jask in May. W. D. Cumming informed me that

88 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

saundersi may be found throughout the year at Ormarra and he has noted it

at Charbar in November but as no specimens were obtained it isnot certain. I

saw two or three on the Habb River on June 16 but failed to get a specimen.

A little tern is very common on the Sirunda jheel in Las Bela nesting in a

different part to that occupied by the Caspian Terns, etc.; Mr. Ludlow had

eggs brought him thence on May 28, 1915 which Mr. Stuart Baker identified

as saunderst and on June 16, 1916 he received further eggs and a parent bird,

the latter was identified by Mr. Baker as aédifrons so that it still seems quite

doubtful which race breeds on the Mekran and there are no specimens in the

British Museum. One from Muscat belongs to the typical race. Major Cheesman

obtained saunders: from Bahrein Island in April, from Handramaut Coast on

May.8 in which month I have seen birds from Port Sudan.

Sterna anetheta fuligula (Licht.) ‘The Red Sea Sooty Tern.

Butler noted this Tern as common on the Coast at Gwadar in the last half of

May; Mr. W. D. Cumming has seen it in small flights at intervals during the

winter and probably it is only common on passage to its breeding haunts in

the Persian Gulf. It frequently roosts on ships passing up to the Gulf.

Anous stolidus pileatus (Scop.) The Phillipine Noddy Tern.

Butler noted a few between Pasni and Jask two or three miles from land at

the end of May. W. D. Cumming caught five alive at Ormarra ‘after a cyclone

on May 4, 1901 ; they had taken shelter in some tamarisks.

Evidently a wanderer tc the Mekran Coast and its status is not known ; it

does not breed so far as is known in the Persian Gulf. One of Butler’s

specimens in the British Museum is of this race.

Murray in his vague way said Ahynchops albicollis occurred on the coast; I

know of no record; it may however be found as Zarudny records it from

Rud-i-Sarbas in Persian Baluchistan.

Stercorarius parasiticus (IL.) Richardson’s Skua.

Richardson’s Skua is not very uncommon along the Mekran Coast where Hume

met with it at sea off Ormarra, Pasni, Gwader, etc., from the middle to end of

February. Butler too saw about a dozen between Pasni and Gwader as late

as May 13-17. Hume obtained one and made it the type of his S. aszaticus ; it

is in the British Museum where I have examined it ; it is a young light-barred

bird moulting body, wings and tail (February 16) to the light adult phase. I did

10t see this bird for certain along this coast in Marchand November. Curiously

enough the oldest record of a Baluchi bird must refer to this species and

perhaps is the earliest record of the Skua’s habits. Early in the year 1604 a

Portuguese mariner, one Pedro Texeira, of the coast off Oman ‘saw certain

‘ birds chasing others from natural enmity. The weaker soar upward to escape

‘from the stronger and in terror void the contents of their stomachs. The bird

‘ below hunting the others to this end or from natural spite as fast as this

‘happens, opens his beak, catches the same droppings and eats them. I have

“it from natives that on this matter he subsists.’

Pelecanus onocrocotalus onocrocotalus (L.) The White Pelican

‘Phe White Pelican is said to be resident in suitable places such as Kbushdil

Khan and Saranan in N. Baluchistan by which presumably is meant that birds

may be seen there at any time of year; actual records relate however to the

months December, February, April (latest 29). I have examined two in the

Quetta Museum ; one is certainly onocrocotalus, the other is smaller (W. 635 mm.)

but it is a mounted bird and certainly the wing would measure more ;if

straightened out; it is said to have 22 tail feathers but Pelicans’ tails seldom

have the full number of feathers ; this bird probably is a small female onocroco-

talus. ‘This species is unrecorded in Mekran where it surely must occur.

Pelecanus crispus (Brtich.) The Dalmatian Pelican.

‘ Mesh-murg ’,

Common in the bays and inlets on the Mekran Coast in winter : it has also

been obtained at Sonmeani in Las Belas.

Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis (Shaw and Nodder). The Eastern Cormorant

‘Sth-murgh’.

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 89

Some Cormorants are always to be met with at Khushdil Khan and Saranan

from November to July but apparently they do not breed there. This species

is an abundant winter visitor to the Mekran Coast, and is also found in suitable

rivers in Central Mekran such as the Mashkai, Nihing, etc. and on the Sirunda

Jheel in Las Belas. Latest date April 26.

Phalacrocorax javanicus (Horsf.) The Indian Little Cormorant.

The Indian Cormorant was obtained in the Valley of the Mashkai by Hotson

on September 3. It probably occurs commonly in suitable spots in the eastern

part at all events of the Mekran, as may also P. fuscicollis which is common

in the Karachi mangrove swamps.

Anhinga melanogaster (Penn.) The Indian Darter.

Murray records a pair from Pir Chowki at the entrance to the Bolan Pass on

March 10: it may well occur in the Sibi Jheel.

Sula dactylatra melanops (Hartl.) (= cyanops auct ). The Masked Booby

Hume recorded this Gannet from Gwadar in February and Butler too met

with it in May at intervals along the Mekran Coast. He noted that it fed on

flying fish and was often in company with Phaéton indicus. A young bird

which hit the telegraph wires at Charbar on July 3lis in the Quetta Museum

so W. D. Cumming informed me. This bird is not known to breed on the

Mekran Coast but I think it may possibly nest on one of the Kurya Muria

Islands off the Arabian Coasts; one of these islands (Haski) is covered with

guano. Two obtained by Butler on May 14 are in the British Museum. It

breeds according to von Henglin on Burda Rebschi, Somali Coast.

Phaeton etherius indicus (Hume.) ‘The Indian Tropic Bird.

Hume found this Tropic Bird commonly off Ormarra in February and Butler

met with it from there to Gwadarin May. I too saw it between Pasni and

Gwadar fairly often and again off Ormarra Head in March; Cumming has

noted it there in September. Sir Percy Cox has seen it off Astola in July.

Though not yet proved to breed on the Mekran Coast I think it most likely

does so on Ormarra Head ; it breeds in the Persian Gulf in March.

Oceanites oceanicus oceanicus (Kuhl.) Wilson’s Petrel

Butler saw several of these small Petrels along the Mekran Coast between

May 13 and 29 and obtained oie ; it was nowhere common but more were seen

between Pasni and Charbar than elsewhere. Zarudny too saw it at Charbar on

March 12. Cumming has met with it at Ormarra, mostly storm driven birds on

various dates between July 7 and September 23. It is of course a non-breeding

visitor from the southern hemisphere.

Puffinus persicus (Hume.) The Persian Shearwater.

Hume found the Persian Shearwater at Korebutt on February 15 and

obtained it between Gwadar and Muscat on February 21 (the type). Butler

noted it commonly along the Makran Coast to Henjam in the Straits of Oman

on May 13-20 and remarked on its shyness. I did not actually see this bird off

the Baluchi Coast but found it very abundant in the Straits of Oman on

March 22. Numbers were seen sittiig on the water and in one place we

passed a flock of quite 200 but they never allowed the steamer to approach

within 200 yards. The type specimen in the British Museum is in full moult

wings, etc.; the breeding quarters are still unknown but must be on islets in

the eastern part of the Persian Gulf oron the Arabian Coast.

Birds suggestive of a species of Prion have been recorded from the Makran

but so far as no specimens have been obtained.

Puffinus tenuirostris tenuirostris (Temm.) The Slender-billed Shearwater.

In the Bombay Nat. His. Soc. Journal, xii, p. 767, W. D. Cumming records

a Shearwater as P. chlororhynchus which had been brought to him at Ormarra,

May 1899; it had been shot by Mr. Walter Scott of the P. G. Telegraph,

Cumming tells me ‘that strong S. W, winds were blowing at the time and

90 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

the weather generally had been unsettled for two or three days. This

Shearwater is now in the British Museum where I and Mr. Kinnear have ex-

amined it and it is undoubtedly P. fenuirostris and not chlororhynchus.

Its breeding ground is unknown. Ridgeway records it from the N. Pacific

and cites a specimen from Kotzebue Sound. In the British Museum there are

specimens from Japan in May, Behring Island in June, and Bonin Island

in May. It has not been recorded: from Indian seas before. On March 14

I saw off the Mekran Coast a Shearwater in the distance which was not

P. persicus.

Threskiornis melanocephalus melanocephalus (Lath.) The White Ibis.

Mr. Ludlow’s shikari found a colony of the White Ibis in tamarisks at the

Sirunda Jheel in Las Belas and brought back a breeding bird and eggs on

July 8, 1915. There is no other information regarding this bird in Baluchistan.

Murray lists the Black Ibis for Baluchistan but I know of no certain record.

Plegadis falcinellus faicinellus (L.}) The Glossy Ibis.

The Glossy Ibis is not uncommon in suitable spots in the Quetta district on

spring passage; D. Radcliffe says it occasionally occurs in winter. Large

flocks visit Khushdil Khan and Saranan in April and May and Meinertzhagen

records non-breeders. there on July 12 and W. D. Cuniming in another yéar

saw them there on June 28. There is onein the British Museum from Pishin

on August 27. No records trom the rest of Baluchistan where it must occur

in suitable spots.

Piatalea leucorodia major (Temm and Schleg.) The Spoonbill.

The Spoonbill visits Khushdil Khan on passage; Meinertzhagen records a

flock of 100 there on October 26, a few in November and again on May 17.

Cumming saw a flock there on June 28 doubtless non-breeders. A specimen

from Nushki in the Quetta Museum was obtained on Noveniber 9. Murray

records a single bird from Pir Chowki in the Bolan on March 10.

On the Mekran Coast Cumming has noted it at Charbar in winter but at

the Sirtnda Jheel in Las Belas a few apparently breed in some years as

Mr. Ludlow’s shikari brought in an egg which was said to be and certainly

seems to be that of a Spoonbill on July 8, 1915; the nest was in a large

tamarisk standing in the Jheel.

Ciconia ciconia (L.) The White Stork.

The White Stork does not appear to be common. St. John noted it as

occasional at Pishin and Kandahar in spring and autumn. There is one

specimen in the Quetta Museum from Kahan shot on September 12.

It must occur occasionally at all events in lower Baluchistan. Hotson

met with it at Magas on the Persian boundary on December 5, where Zarudny

has also noted it. Zeugmayer obtained one at Panjgur on August 20. Meinertz-

hagen records the Kahan bird as aszatica; I have not examined it but

Zeugmayer’s bird, a female, measures W. 520, B. 154 (Laubmann) and so

it must belong to the typical race. Aszatica does not seem to be at all a

well-marked race.

Ciconia nigra (L..) The Black Stork.

Occasional odd birds occur in the Quetta district in winter; Meinertzhagen

has seen such in October—November and at the end of April. There are

specimens in the Quetta Museum from Saranan, November 16, Bolan River,

March 18, and Quetta, January 10.

There are only two records from the rest of Baluchistan ; a bird was shot by

Cumming on the Vindar R. Mekran coast on November 19 and one was seen

by Hotson near Pasni on February 23.

[Zarudny records Dzssoura episcopa (one obtained and three seen) in

Persian Baluchistan but I have no record in British territory. Murray lists

the Painted Stork and the Open-bill for Baluchistan. Both might wander

to Las Belas and Sibi plains but I have no definite record. |

Ardea purpurea manillensis (Meyen.) The Eastern Purple Heron.

Ardea purpurea purpurea (L.) ‘The European Purple Heron.

Purple Herons do not seem to be common in Baluchistan. ‘There is one

in the Quetta Museum from Sibi, March 26, which I have examined and belongs

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN ‘ 91

to the eastern race manzllensis ; Meinertzhagen refers to two birds from Quetta

and Nushki as belonging to the typical form A. purpurea purpurea.

Purple Herons are not uncommon at Ormarra in winter according to

Cumming ; they should occur elsewhere in Lower Baluchistan but there are no

records and no specimens.

Ardea cinerea cinerea (L.) ‘The Common Heron.

The Grey Heron is not uncommon as a winter visitor in N. Baluchistan and is

commoner as a passage migrant in October and again in March and April.

Some however spend the summer as Cumming has seen it at Khushdil Khan

on June 28; there is no evidence of its breeding there. Meinertzhagen has

seen this Heron at times far from water searching for lizards and toads.

So far as-is known it is a winter visitor to the whole of the Mekran area

on suitable streams and pools and ‘is numerous on the coast; it is said

to breed at Kalmat but this is only native information.

Egretta alba (lL.) The Large Egret.

The Large White Egret is not very common at Khushdil Khan in winter ; it ts

recorded thence in February, March and November by Marshall and Mein-

ertzhagen. It occurs occasionaily at Kandahar.

Odd birds may be seen from time to time on the Mekran Coast in winter and

probably elsewhere. No specimens examined.

Egretta garzetta garzetta (1..) The Littie Egret.

Murray records the Little Egret from N. Baluchistan, probably from Sibi

district.

Blanford says it occurs occasionally on the Makran coast and Cumming too

has noted it at Ormarra.

Bubulcus ibis coromandus (Bodd.) The Cattle Egret.

Noted by Murray at Pir Chowkiin the Bolan and at Sibi. St. John records

that he got a dubulcus at Quetta in May 1887.

Demiegretta sacra asha (Sykes.) The Indian Reef Heron.

The Reef Heron is common along the Mekran Coast and is doubtless feene

Blanford noted the blue phase only ; I have seen both white and blue phases in

the Habb River which they ascend to at least fifteen miles from the mouth.

Ardeola grayii (Sykes.) The Indian Pond Heron.

Outside the plains it is only recorded at Chaman iene Barnes saw several

on July 15, after rain; in the Sibi plain however it is common and doubtless

resident. -

In the south Cumming has seen it at Ormarra in winter and I have found it

in the Habb Valley in November ; it is probably resident in Las Belas.

Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax (L.) The Night Heron.

‘ Machi Giratch ’ (Bal.)

The Night Heron occurs occasionally in the Quetta Valley; there are

specimens thence in the Quetta Museum obtained in March, April and

September. It certainly occurs in winter at Sibi and is possibly resident in

that district as Murray records that a small colony were building in Pistachio

trees at Bibi Nani in the Bolan on May 21, where hill streams formed a small

marsh. St, John recorded that there was a colony in a garden near Kandahar.

It occurs here and there in suitable spots throughout Coastal and Central

Mekran but its status is not clear but it is known well enough to have a native

name.

Ixobrychus minutus minutus (L.) ‘The Little Bittern.

So far as is known the Little Bittern is a passage migrant in small numbers

in the Quetta District, records and specimens relating to August and September

April and May. Meinertzhagen however obtained one at Khushdil Khan on

July 11, and St. John recorded it as not uncommon at Kandahar in summer.

Cumming informed me that one hit the telegraph wires at Ormarra on

October 11, and that he has sometimes heard them passing over at night,

92 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX11

Blanford found it in spring at several places on the Persian side of the

boundary.

[Ixobrychus sinensis (Gmel.) The Yellow Bittern.

Mr. J. W. N. Cumming records that he obtained a Yellow Bittern at Quetta

in March 1907 ; both I and Meinertzhagen have failed to find this specimen in

the Quetta Museum and so possibly there has been some mistake. ]

Botaurus ste!laris stellaris (L..) The Common Bittern.

In suitable spots especially near Khushdil Khan the Bittern is a common

winter visitor ; Meinertzhagen records that fifteen were flushed in ove day when

snipe shooting there ; he further states that ne has good reason to believe that a

pair bred there in 1914, as on June 19, he heard a bird booming and the next

morning flushed an adult and a young one just able to fly.

From Lower Baluchistan there is only one record—from Las Belas in March

but suitable spots are doubtless few,

Pheenicopterus ruber antiquorum (Temm.) The Flamingo.

The Flamingo visits N. Baluchistan chiefly on passage ; thus Marshall records

a large flock at Khushdil Khan‘in March; Meinertzhagen in early May and at

Saranan in April, while it has been noted at Abigum, Harnai and Nari Bank.

A flock which settled on Khushdil Khan were so exhausted that six were captured

alive. Cumming has seen a flock there on June 28, but there is no evidence

that it breeds anywhere in the north.

It is very common at the Sirunda Jheel in Las Belas and all along the

Mekran Coast but I could never hear of anything which suggested that they

breed on Sirunda. The status is not clear; W. D. Cumming was informed by

the telegraph officer at Ormarra that in one year some bred near there,

probably at Kalmat and this was confirmed by the natives ; it appears however

that the swamp there is not always in a suitable state.

Pheenicopterus minor (Geoffr.) The Lesser Flamingo.

W. D. Cumming informs me that he saw one at Ormarra on September 16,

1903. A rare straggler as elsewhere.

Cygnus minor (Keyser and Bl.). (= 7ankowskiz, But). Alpheraky’s Swan.

A female was shot by Aitken on Khushdil Khan on December 17, 1913 and is

in the Quetta Museum.

The evidence at present seems to show that this swan is a separate species

and distinct from Bewick’s Swan. W.D. Cumming in 1914 took measurements

of this speciinen anu made a coloured drawing of the head and sent them to the

British Museum from which this specimen was identified as above by Ogilvie-

Grant. Cumming’s measurements :—W. 19 in., B from frontal feathers 32 in.,

from gape 3; in. Black narrow edging on bill bordering the frontal feather.

Cygaus olor (Gm.) The Mute Swan.

Mute Swans visit N. Baluchistan from time to time. In 1900 when there was

quite an invasion of these in N.W. India eight were seen and four shot at Bostan

and others were seen on Kushdil about this time where single birds were noted

by Meinertzhagen in February 1911, and November 1913.

On January 10, 1900, nine were seen on the Habb River in Las Belas and two

obtained by Mr. Jones, I.E.T.; at Jask in Persian Mekran two were shot by

Mr. Griffith on February 11, 1911.

Anser anser (L.) The Grey Lag Goose.

The Grey-lag is a regular winter visitant to the waters of Khushdil and Saranan

arriving at the end of October and the bulk leaving in April; not very seldom

however some may spend the summer there ; thus Meinertzhagen records six in

the summer of 1913 and Cumming saw some there on June 28, 1923. Mr. A.

Gordon informs me that geese always halt at the smal! tanks at Jhatpat in the

Sibi plain at the migrating season, these being the last waters before the hills

are reached. Geese were particularly abundant at Saranan in the winter of

1918-1919 in which year water in Sind was reduced to a minimum by failure of

the monsoon.

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 93

It visits the Mekran Coast in winter but not in any numbers except perhaps

at Sirunda.

Anser albifrons (Scop.) The White-fronted Goose.

Recorded by Murray from Sagee.

Dendrocygna javanica (Horsf.) The Lesser Whistling Teal.

There are no records of Lesser Whistling Teal in Baluchistan but it must

occur at least in Las Belas. A shikari whom I sent to the Sirunda Jheel at

Sonmeani brought back an egg, one of a nest of seven, which he took there on

July 13,1918. The nest was situated in thick reeds. The egg is nearly pure

white and measures 47 X 35°55 mm. My identification has kindly been confirmed

by Mr. Stuart Baker.

Tadorna tadorna (L.) The Common Shelduck.

The Shelduck is not common but it occurs in winter at Khushdil Khan and

once as late, according to Meinertzhagen, as May 19, other records come from

Said Hamid, Fort Sandeman, and Nushki.

The only record from S. Baluchistan comes from Turbat in the Nihing

Valley where Hotson got one and saw others in the last week of November.

Casarca ferruginea (Pall.) The Ruddy Shelduck.

A few visit Khushdil and other waters on passage more especially in

February and March. To Kandahar and Nushki Districts it isa not very un-

common winter visitor.

No records from Mekran.

Anas platyrhyncha platyrhyncha (L.) ‘Che Mallard.

The Mallard is common in suitable places arriving in early September and

leaving at the end of March. Three pairs remained in Khushdil during the

summer of 1914 and a flock was there on June 28, 1923; such over-summering

non-breeders probably led Capt. Aoosmalcocg to believe that they bred there ;

I know at all events of no actual proof of breeding beyond the latter’s bare

statement in the Proceedings of the Quetta N. Hist. Soc.

It must occur throughout the Mekran in favoured spots in winter but I only

have records from the coast.

Anas pacilorhyncha pecilorhyacha (Forst.) ‘The Spotbill.

Recorded from Baluchistan by Murray without comment; the Sibi: plain is

the only likely place.

Anas strepera (L.) The Gadwall.

The Gadwall is a common winter visitor from late September 15 to early

April, a few lingering on till mid-May.

It occurs in suitable spots throughout Central-Coastal Mekran.

Anas penelope (L.) The Wigeon.

Common in winter from late September to April; a pair at Khushdil were

seen by Meinertzhagen on June 20.

It occurs here and there throughout the Mekran ; earliest October 3.

Anas acuta, L. The Pintail.

The Pintail in the north is chiefly a passage migrant, most passing through

in October and November and not recorded after April but at lower elevations

as at Nushki, Kandahar and Sibi a good many winter. It is found here and

there throughout the Mekran, earliest September 10.

Anas angustirostris, Ménét The Marbled Duck

‘Mow’ (Bal.)

To North Baluchistan Meinertzhagen considers the Marbled Duck to be 4a

winter visitor in small numbers and a summer visitor at irregular intervals.

Aitken saw a pair in June 1913, frequenting a small island in Khushdil and

saw others apparently not paired ; later on he found an old bird with 14 duck-

lings. Meinertzhagen saw 6 pairs in June and July 1914 but could get no

evidence of nesting.

94 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

At Ormarra Cumming tells me that he has met with this bird and it is said

to have bred occasionally there in the rain water tanks; Butler obtained what

were evidently eggs of this duck from Moorpatti, north of Ormarra, taken by

a native on June 19, 1878 ; the nest was under a babool bush in a large salt

marsh.

Ludlow secon that He received eggs of this duck with the parent bird taken

by his shikari on June 14, 1915 at Sirunda Jheel, Las Belas; according to his

shikari it breeds freely there and the eggs are gathered for eating. The nests

were in thick tussocky grass, well concealed and with a tunnel through the

grass leading to the nest. Two nests contained 9 fresh and 14 incubated eggs.

I too received eggs and an adult thence on July 16, 1919.

Querquedula crecca crecca (L..) The Common Teal.

The Teal is common everywhere in suitable places and is the best distributed

of allthe ducks. The first few arrive in the last week of August, most come

early in-September and they have left by the end of April, latest record May 9.

It forms 30 to 50 per cent of most ‘ bags’. Webb-Ware records that between

Nok Kundi and Tratoh near Munshi Chah Telegraph Post, he picked up

3 ducks and a Teal with broken wings apparently injured against the telegraph

wires and the natives informed him that such birds were often found at this

spot at the migratory season.

In winter it is found throughout the whole Mekran, earliest August 31.

Quefquedula querquedula (L.) ‘The Garganey Teal.

A few Garganey visit the waters of N. Baluchistan mostly on passage but. it

is never very common ; it is recorded as late as May 15.

Small numbers visit the Mekran on passage, earliest September 1, last

October 23, and again in spring. Some were still on the Sirunda Jheel in the

middle of May one year but had gone in June.

Spatula clypeata Ge The Shoveler.

The Shoveler is common as a winter visitor inthe north but more so as a

passage migrant; latest date May 19 and three stragglers were seen on the

Zhob River on June 1, 1924.

It occurs on the Mekran Coast as a winter visitor and is very common on the

Sirunda Jheel where some were still present in the middle of May.

Netta rufina (Pall.) The Red-crested Pochard.

Though Meinertzhagen records the Red-crested Pochard as an uncommon

winter visitor from October to March others have considered it not so rare.

St. John regarded it as commoner than the common Pochard as did Radcliffe,

and Marshall found it to be one of the commonest ducks in Khushdil at the end

of February. Cumming saw some there on June 28, 1923. Probably its status

varies in different years according to the state of the jheels, a circumstance I

have already noted in the Sind jheels.

It occurs in the Mekran Coast but suitable spots are very few except the

Sirunda jheel.

Nyroca ferina ferina (LL.) The Common Pochard.

The common Pochard is very common on the few open waters of the north ;

it arrives at the end of September and leaves at the end of April. On Khushdil

it is perhaps the commonest duck and Marshall records that at the end of

February it composed a third of the bag of 110. Some appear to annually

over-summer there without breeding as with other ducks; Meinertzhagen has

noted hundreds in May and June and a few in July ; Cumming too saw a flock

there at the end of June.

It occurs on the Mekran Coast, no doubt commonly on Sirunda Jheel.

Nyroca nyroca nyroca (Giildenst ) The White-eyed Pochard.

A not uncommon winter visitant ; Swinhoe regarded it as the next commonest

duck to the Gadwall and says that he flushed many pairs from reeds and

tamarisk on water courses from Pishin down to Kirta in the Bolan during May

and thought that they might breed there. This however wants confirmation,

though it would not be very surprising.

Not recorded in Mekran but sure to occur.

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 95

Nyroca fuligula (L.) The Tufted Pochard.

A fairly common witter visitor from late September to April. Meinertzhagen

records it as early as August 14 and as late as May 17, Swinhoe also noted it in

May and says it was very common at Kandahar and from Pishin to the Bolan in

that month,—doubtless still on passage.

It is recorded from the Makran Coast.

Of ducks generally it may be said that the numbers are greatest in October

and November and in March and April as the winter birds are reinforced by

passage migrants to and from the plains; aiso opinions will vary as to the

commonness or otherwise of any particular species according to where and when

the sportsman looks for it and to a less extent perhaps from year to year. The

chief duck haunts are Khushdil Khan and Saranan in the Quetta District, Zangi

Nanar in the Nushki District and Sirunda Jheel in Las Belas.

Glaucion clangula (L.) The Golden Eye.

A few Golden-eyes annually visit Khushdil from December to March and they

are also recorded at Saranan and Zangi Nanar. Not recorded in Mekran.

Oxyura Ieucocephala (Scop.) The Stiff-tail.

The Stiff-tailed Duck is not very common but is more often met with than

the golden-eye and when it occurs quite a flock may be met with ; most records

relate to the months of November to February but Meinertzhagen records it

also in April. Though met with from time to time on Khushdil and Saranan it

seems to be a fairly constant winter visitor to Zangi Nanar in the Nushki District

whence there are numerous specimens in the Quetta Museum. On waters where

they occur they are very local keeping all the time to one particular spot.

Further west in Seistan it is common.

Not recorded in Mekran.

Mergus albellus (L..) The Smew.

Fairly common winter visitor in the north, more abundant in some years than

in others. Recorded as late as May 19 by Meinertzhagen and May 24, by

Murray.

Not recorded in Makran.

Mergus serrator (L.) ‘The Merganser.

One was obtained at Khushdil on April 3, 1902.

A not uncommon winter visitor in small ‘flocks to the Mekran coast keeping

much to the bays ; it is recorded from Ormarra, Charbar and Jask in December

and January. Birds recorded as Mer ‘gus merganser by Bishop. (S. F. iv, 496)

as occurring every winter on the Mekran coast undoubtedly refer to this species.

Podiceps cristatus cristatus (LL.) The Great Crested Grebe.

‘Though D. Radcliffe records the Great Crested Grebe as a winter visitor to

Khushdil Khan it undoubtedly in some years at all events breeds there. In 1913

three nests were found on August 12, by Mr. Aitken one containing 5 eggs ;

the following year a pair were there in June and July but breeding was not

established. Nesting doubtless depends on the state of the water. It no doubt

occurs in winter also and there is a specimen in the Quetta Museum obtained

there in March.

In winter this Grebe is common on the Mekran coast becoming quite maritime

in habit ; it is generally to be met with in small parties keeping fairly close to

the shore and especially to the bays. The earliest date is September 3 and the

latest April 23. It.is always very wary and wild. W. D. Cumming informed me

that when feeding close in these birds sometimes get washed ashore by the

breakers. Gwadar and Pasni Bays are particularly affected by them.

Podiceps ruficollis capensis (Salvad.) The Little Grebe.

‘ Birir’? (Brahui).

The Little Grebe is cominon on all the larger sheets of water in the North;

on Khushdil Khan a great many breed. Meinertzhagen records 150 breeding

there in 1913 while on June 6, 1914, he found over 100 nests, mostly with 3 eggs

several with 4, one with 6 and one with 7. The nests were all floating structures

composed of weed foliage, none exceeding 12 inches across the top. On June 8,

1923, W. D, Cumming found a.good many nests there containing 1 to 6 eggs.

96 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATORAL\ AIST. (SOCIETY, Vol. Xd

Elsewhere there are no breeding records ; it oocurson the Mekran coast in

winter and Hotson met with itin August and September in S. Kalat and in the

Mashkai R. and again at Harbud in Central Makran on April 26.

Podiceps nigricoilis nigricollis (Brehm.) The Black-necked Grebe.

The Black-necked Grebe was unknown in N. Baluchistan till 1914 when

Meinertzhagen discovered five pairs in the first week of May ; on June 20, in that

year he saw hundreds of pairs and examined over 70 nests all situated in about

an acre of water 2 feet deep. The nests contained mostly 3 eggs but two had

Seggs each. The nests, made cf weed stalk, were 15 to 18 inches across and

attached firmly to the bottom of the jheel, consequently when the water rose

after rain a week later all the nests were flooded and the Grebes deserted the

locality. ‘The Little Grebes whose nests were floating all survived the flood. I

cannot hear that the Black-necked have attempted to breed at Khushdil again

since.

On the Mekran coast it is a winter visitor and not uncommon especially in the

bays such as Sonmeani and Gwadar.

Colymbus stellatus (Pont.) (-—septentrionalis auct.\. The Red-throated Diver.

There is only one record of the Red-throated Diver ‘in Baluchistan and it has

not as yet been recorded in India proper. On November 17, 1901, a bird was

brought to W. D. Cumming at Ormarra by a native who had knocked it on the

head as it came up close to his ‘ toney’ ; it was said that several were seen and

that a few visit the coast occasionally. The bird is now in the British Museum.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Masson, Travels in Afghanistan, Beluchistan, Panjab and Kalat, 1844.

[Mentions a few birds in Las Belas and Sibi Plain. |

2. Bianford, Hastern Persta. Journeys of Persian Boundary Commission.

1870-72.

Vol. ii. Devoted to Zoology and Geology ; [a fair number of birds

are mentioned from the Perso-Baluchi boundary. |

3. Stray Feathers i-xi. Besides various notes, the chief papers are as

follows :—

1872 Vol. i. Hume’s zfer. [Karachi to Gwadar; mostly maritime

Species noted. |

1875 Vol. iii. V. Ball. Birds observed in the Suleiman Hills West’ of

Dera Ghazi Khan in July 1874. [19 species noted. |

1877 Vol. v. Butler, Astola Island in May 1877 and the Gulf of Oman.

[16 species noted. |

1881 Vol. ix Barnes on nidification of certain species in the neighbour-

hood of Chaman. [31 breeding species and a few others. |

Barnes. A list of birds observed in the neighbourhood of

Chaman. [100 species listed. ]

4. Lombay Natural History Society Journal i-xxviii. Various notes ;

chief papers as follows :—

Vol. iv. Newnham. Notes on Birds at Quetta in the winter of 1888.

Vol. xiv. T. E. Marshall. Notes on Birds near Quetta. (150

species.)

Vols. xvi and xvii. Betham. Notes on Birds nesting round

uette -

Vols. xxiii and xxiv. Delmé Radcliffe. List of the Birds of Quetta.

(224 species. )

Vol. xxiii. Meinertzhagen. Birds nesting at Quetta. (Bare lists of

68 species.)

5, bis. 1882. Swinhoe. Birds of S. Afghanistan. (Sibi to Kandahar.)

[199 species ; an excellent contribution. ]

1889. St.John. Birds of S. Afghanistan and Kalat.

[235 species ; a useful paper. ]

1920. Meinertzhagen. Birds of Quetta.

[A valuable contribution enumerating 262 species. ]

THE BIRDS OF BRITISH BALUCHISTAN 97

6. Annals and Magazine of Indian Natural History.

Murray, Zoology of Afghanistan and Beluchistan. 3 parts, the remainder

being published in pamphlet form by the Bombay Educational Society Press.

[Founded on a journey by Murray from Sibi to Chaman and back, March 7

toend of May 1880, and notes and specimens supplied to him by Barnes from

Chaman, Dupuis at Quetta, Hutchings from Nushki, Quetta, etc., and Babing-

ton Peile and E. Watson. A considerable list but not always reliable. |

7. Murray 1884, Vertebrate Zoology of Sind. Appendix. [A bare list of

257 species].

8. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Ixv. 1896. Finn. List of Birds collected by the Afghan-Beluch

Boundary Commission. [List of 56 species, mostly from

Sahib Zada Kili in Afghan territory of ‘ Shorawak ’.]

9, Trans. Linnean Society, London.

1889. Aitcheson. Zoology of the Afghan Delimitation Commis-

sion. [Nearly all the birds were collected beyond our

area. (Helmund, etc.)]

10, Gazetteer of India.

Quetta-Pishin Gazette. List of Birds by T. Marshall in

Appendix.

ll. Ornith Monber, xiii. Otto on Zarudny’s ‘Die Vogel Ost Persiens.’

[Zarudny collected extensively in several years in Persian Baluchistan ; very

few birds are mentioned as from within our area. |

12. Abh. I. Kon. Bayer. Ak. der Wissenchatten Math-Phystk. Klasse xxvt1.

Band 9. 1913. Waubmann on Birds collected by Zugmayer in Mekran in

ODT:

[Karachi to Gwadar by land thence to Panjgur and back to Pasni; 276

specimens of 89 species. Very bad specimens ; practically no field notes. |

13. Oologtist’s Record. March 2,1925. Notes from Baluchistan. Williams.

14. British Museum Catalogue and Register. [Specimens from Hume,

Blanford, Swinhoe, St. John, Duke, Barnes, Butler, Radcliffe].

15. Manuscripts. W. D. Cumming. MS. Notes on Makran Coast and

Quetta.

J. W. Nicol Cumming. MS. Notes on Quetta birds

supplied to him by various people (in Quetta Museum).

~ J. E. B. Hotson. MS. Notes on Birds observed and

collected in Makran 1916-1918. [415 specirnens of 142

: species. |

N. B. Kinnear. MS. notes on Baluchi birds in Bombay Museum.

Collections examined. Quetta Museum. Hotson’s collection.

British Museum. Meinertzhagen’ collec-

Bombay Museum (part). tion (part).

Karachi Museum, Author’s collection,

THE POTTER WASP (RHYNCHIUM NITIDULUM)

MaAsor R. W. G. Hrncston, I.M.S.

(With two plates and three text-figures)

BART

If we examine the ceilings of our rooms we are likely to dis-

cover a cluster of pots, four or five perhaps in number, all neatly glued

together so as to lie parallel side by side. Each little pot is likea

small bird’s egg, and all are fixed by their bases to the ceiling from

which the ciuster projects. It is obvious that these cells are built

of mud, but they have not that appearance of weli-kneaded pottery

which we saw in the work of the Mason Wasp ( Aumenes conica ).'

This isarough and granulated structure. Its surface is smeared

with viscid mucilage : it is studded all over with irregular nodules of

a brown sticky gum.

These pots are the work of a delightfui little species, the Potter

Wasp Rhynchium nitidulum of Smith (see Plate I).

Like Humenes conica, she is remarkably fearless, entering boldly

through open doors, hovering confidingly about the room in search

of some secluded corner for her nest. Her character is well suited

to observation and experiment. Being highly domesticated, she

sticks close to her nest. She is so fearless as to remain on her cell

while I cut pieces out of its wail. Her patience is untiring. She

will face difficulty after difficulty in order to achieve the purpose in

hand. Her industry is infinite. The work she tojis at is particu-

larly tedious, and she sticks to it the livelong day. Lastly and the

point of special importance, this wasp shows wonderful intelli-

gence. Experiment discloses arational behaviour, so clear, so in-

controvertible, that it forces me to modify established views on the

capacity of the insect mind.

Inthis paper I will describe her plan of architecture. The next

will be devoted to a series of experiments to illustrate the rational

working of her mind.

First a word on her general appearance. She is scarcely larger

than a honey-bee, and dressed in unassuming garb. Her jaws are

not unlike those of Aumenes, a pair of narrow triangular blades that

cross in the middle line. Her head is wedge-shaped with black

shining eyes. From between these spring stout antennz. Above

them is the punctured vertex studded with tiny pits. Behind comes

the thorax, free from fur, decorated in front with a pattern of points

and prolonged behind into a pair of spines. Her abdomen is pale

and silky. Her wings, which are folded along their length, glisten

with a purplish sheen. Though dark, she is patched with silver.

1 Our. B.ANOS., VOl. RE X1 NOS 2) oy

THE POTTER WASP (RHYNCHIUM NITIDULUM) -° 99

In a velvet pile it grows above her jaws; it forms a white collar

round the front of the thorax, and clothes her abdomen in a satiny

gloss.

ARCHITECTURE

Now for her cell, a delicate piece of work. As arule she fixes

her nest to wood. I have seen her build on a plastered wall. This,

‘however, is very unusual. For some reason she has a preference

for wood. Thus she often selects a rafter, or perhaps the lintel

of an open door, or the under surface of a wooden shelf. She seems

to like some structure overhead, for she often builds on a wail or

ceiling close beneath the shelter of a beam.

We naturally seek for some explanation as to why she should

prefer wood. Her nest will adhere to other materials. Like

Eumenes she might have chosen metal or glass. The explanation

I give is this. Her preference is a relic of an old instinct. Bunga-—

lows are recent innovations. There must have been a time when this

little architect had to build in more natural sites. In the jungle

these sites will be the underside of branches or the hollows in the

trunks of trees. No doubt it was there that she originally nested,

and wood was the material on which she built. Now she has

invaded human habitations. But this trace of the old instinct still

remains. She will not have the walls and plaster; only the beams

of wood.

Now let us watch her building operations. I! find a nest with

two finished celis. The wasp is about to commence athird. In she

comes with steady flight. The sound of her approach precedes

her, for like Eumenes she comes humming through the air. She

alights on her nest. Before her are two cells likea pair of eggs

side by side. <A cleft marks the line at which the cells join, and at

the base of that cleft the wasp makes a ridge of mud. This is the

first step in construction, the foundation-stone of her third cell. As

soon as it is complete she rests for a moment, then, facing her

architecture, backs away in flight.

The foundation of the cell is laid and methodical coming and

going begins. Now we must watch her with minute care, for every

architect in the insect world can teach us something new. Back she

comes to continue work. A pellet of mud is in her jaws. Alight-

ing on the nest, she clings to it perpendicularly. Her attitude is

inverted, tip of abdomen directed upward, head thrust down upon

the rising wall. Quickly and industriously she moulds her pellet.

Her tarsi give it lateral support, her antennz feel the ground

before it, her mandibles, one on either side, guide it along the edge

of the wall. How well does she perform this difficult operation of

rolling a sphere along a knife edge. By her action the globuie is

lengthened out; a film of mud 1s left behind, and this the wasp,

with a jaw on either side, deftly moulds into-the lamina of the wall.

(See Plate II). One other little point. It may seem only a trivial detail,

but later I will give it geometrical importance. The wasp, every

time she adds a layer, always commences at the middle of the wall

and rolls her pellet to one or other end. For instance, she first

places it at the centre, then rolls it to the left end. Then she lifts

i00 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

it back to the centre and rolis it to the right end of the wall. Then

_ another lift to the centre and a roll to the left. Then again to the

centre and aroll tothe right. And so on until the pellet is used

up.

Each pellet, of course, adds to the height of the wall; and the

wasp, aS she swings from side to side, shapes her edifice into a

curve. She wastes no time in this delicate work. In one or two

minutes the pellet is exhausted. Then she is off. Ina minute or

two she is back with another pellet which she moulds in a similar

way.

Her pellets are composed of the most delicate material, slightly

viscid nodules of clay. Only the very finest particles will suit.

These she scrapes together, moistens with saliva, kneads into a

mortar of pasty consistency, without a particle of grit. Such

pellets, when spread out, rapidly harden. The wall is so delicate,

only a mere shell, that each addition begins to set before the next

is ready to be laid. This is an essential mode of workmanship

when raising arampart of mud. It reminded me of Arab architec-

ture. The Arabs buildexclusively with mud. They first raise a wall

about a foot in height. This they allow to harden in the sun before

adding a second layer. They continue to superimpose layer upon

layer, but always allowing one to harden before attempting to apply

the next. So it is with Rhynchtum in her building operations. She

likewise raises layer upon layer. While she gathers mortar for the

next layer, the previous one becomes firm and dry. Thus the Arab

and the wasp are comparable architects. Both work on similar

principles, the only possible principles when raising an edifice of

mud. |

Now the cell is half built in the manner described. ‘Though only

a shell, it is fairly firm. In places its surface is marked with lines,

faint indications of successive layers. Now, unexpectedly, a change

occurs. The mason’s manner of workmanship alters. For some

reason she begins to build on a different plan. If we have watched

with care we may have noticed that on the last few Visits the wasp

has behaved in an unaccustomed way. Instead of immediately |

commencing to build, she first pushes herself into the cell. “She

probes it down to the very bottom. What is her purpose ? At first

I am quite unable to understand it. It seems so insignificant.

Perhaps it means nothing atall. But there is areason. A change

in method is about to take place, and the mason, when she pushes

her head into the cell, is determining the exact moment for the

change. For when she pushes in her head she can easily estimate

the depth of the cell, or, in other words. the height to which she has

built the wall. But at last there arrives a visit when she can push

herself into the celi just down to the base of her wings. Apparently

this is the depth required: this is the time for the change to take

piace. For at the next visit, after pushing herself in she does not

as before come out immediately. She seats herself inside, abdomen

at the bottom, head and thorax above the edge of the wall, and, in

this strange attitude, begins to apply her clay. Now let us watch

with special care. There is always some good reason for every

little fact we see. She is squatting in her half built cell. A jaw

THE POTTER WASP (RHYNCHIUM NITIDULUM) 101

and an antennz are oneither side of the wall; her front tarsi are

on the edge. She begins to mould. But now she no longer com-

mences at the centre and rolls her pellet to one or other end. Her

routine is-different. She now commences at one end of the wall,

rolls the pellet along to the other end, then rolls it the whole way

back again. ‘This is a new mode of workmanship, and she sticks to

it till the cell is complete.

I fear -that these details are a little complicated. Later we shall

see that they have some importance. The point is that there are

two phases in construction. First, the mason, hanging head

downward, rolls her pellet from the centre to the ends. Then she

reverses, sits upright in the cell and rolls from end to end.

I watch her at this work for about three hours. Layer is being

superimposed on layer to forma graceful cell. At length it is

finished. Her twenty-second visit brings the last pellet. The wall

is raised to a sufficient height.

This last visit is of special importance. Her previous ones

occupied a minute or two. This last-one is a prolonged business

for she has to inspect the whole of her work. The exterior is exa-

mined: she pushes herself inside, turns about, sits erect in the cell

with only the tips of her antennz outside. She often adds a finish-

ing touch. The inside especially receives attention. A pellet may

be cut into the smallest pieces which she uses to plaster small

irregularities until the surface is smooth. ‘Then she ceases, satisfied

that the work is well finished and sound. A rest is earned after all

this toil, so she sits for a little while inside the cell.

For ten minutes she remains idle. Her wall is raised to the full

height ; it would seem that her work wasnearing anend. But such

is far from being the case. The structure is a long way from being

finished. There are certain urgent and important duties which she

must attend to without delay. Her architecture needs thickening

and strengthening. The wall is built of the finest clay, plastered

smooth, exquisitely thin, a model of the mason’s art. But-it lacks

the’ most essential quality , it-is not yet sufficiently strong to protect

the larva that wilisheiter inside. Parasites exist that could penetrate

this chamber, thrusting. their ovipositors through the masonry in

order to lodge their eggs inside. Grace and delicacy will avail

nothing in the absence of security and strength. Hence the very

urgent need to thicken this wall of clay.

A short rest, therefore, is all she can afford. Then to work once

more. She goes off, but does not, as before, return in a minute.

I do not see her for half an hour. Something of special importance

must engage her. Otherwise she would not delay solong. At

length she returns. The reason for delay is obvious. She has

with her not a pellet of mud, but a viscid globule of gum. ‘This has

been gathered at some neighbouring tree. What exceilent material

itis! Sheis going to strengthen the building with glue.

A process of smearing now begins. It is a slow, laborious busi-

ness. Three hours were spent in constructing the masonry ; for

three days she works at smearing the gum. The larger nodules

must be cut into fragments, viscid pieces must be severed into tiny

parts; all are tenacious and hard to cieave with the simple

102 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

instruments at the disposal of the wasp. She spreads the substance

round the cell aperture, drags it about and smears it on the wall.

It maytake her half an hour to exhaust a single pellet of glue.

Her industry is indefatigable. Quiet and methodical patience keeps

her for days at this tedious work. Unless prevented by stress of

weather, she wastes not a moment of time. Bach morning finds her.

gathering gum, and often she sticks to it unceasingly till dark.

Dull weather may keep her idle, but sunshine means continuous

toil. When a deluge threatens she willnot stir abroad, but shelters

with-in her cell.

The mucilage is spread on the outside only. None is carried into

the cell. Theinside wall must be perfectly smooth. She has already

cleared it of irregularities. No rough or sticky nodules must be

applied to it which might injure the tender grub.

By means of this gum the cell is strengthened. Fragments of

masonry are bound together. The whole is hermetically sealed.

The mucilage takes time to harden. For months it remains rough

and sticky, an excellent protective coat. Not only does it add great

strength to the edifice, but also it gives protection against heat, and

acts as a kind of external mackintosh to keep out rain and damp.

But there remains, I think, a more important function. The glue

must protect the larva from parasites. It is not just a glutinous

skin. In places it is raised into sticky lumps on which a parasite

could scarcely alight. Thus the gum does not only strengthen and

shelter : it may also be a kind of glutinous trap.

I have not seen her gathering this substance. But on the mango

trunks in the garden are sticky nodules, concentrated oozings of

sap, from which the mason must obtain her gum. Think of the

tedious labour required, the digging of jaws into the glutinous

material, the kneading, the moulding, the shaping into a ball.

. Three or four days finishes the smearing. Before passing on

let us look at the pot. It is an oval receptacle, distinctly egg-shaped,

neatly rounded and broad at the bottom, truncated at the top to

receive a lid. Half an inch broad, three-quarters of an inch long ;

its widest part is at the middle from where it tapers to either end.

The wasp places it horizontally, but in this she shows particular

discernment. She gives the cell a slight inclination, raising its

mouth above the level of its base. This is a plan to secure safety.

The upward tilt will prevent material falling out when provisions

are pushed inside.

We now leave the masonry and smearing. I conclude with a

detailed table of the work.

ARCHITECTURE OF A CELL OF Rhynchium nitidulum

Architecture begins

1. Arr. 2.40 p.m. D2 Arr: 2.50 p.m. Se MAT. o.23 oti

Dep. 2.41 ,, Dep. 2.52 by; Dep. 3247.5:

oi Aryres2.42 |; OSeeATE GO 7) 1% LO Arr. 332505 4

Dep. 2.44 ,, Dep. acon Depa a.27 tees

Bic SATE: aed © iy5 TeV INTE 3.0 (oss Lmerty 3.208 8

Dep. 2.46 _,, Depa sis. 3 DED. Solan

A: At. 248° 5, 8.0) JArr, 13.10 >>; PA a PET.) 3159s

Depiuiz.49 ly, Dep niG.13: 5, Dep,.3.4k. 5;

THE POTTER WASP (RHYNCAHIUM NITIDULUM) 103

Architecturc—(contd. )

13..Arr. 3.43 p.m. 1G Paner 452° pam. [D7 t Air. 4207 p.m

Dep: 3.45" ,, Dep. 4.4. -,; Dep. 4,22 ,,

Uae Arr. 3.40% Wis pera Sore, 20, “Arr. 4.23 —,,

Mep.'3.45) v5 Deprt7 as: Dep.4.78. 45

ge ATT Sto TS) PArrs, 407 4 2S MALT ABS 5

Dep. 4.1 .,, Dep. 4:19: | Dep. 4.40 __,,

22. Arr. 4.42 p.m. and finishes cell. Dep. 5.3 p.m.

23. Arr. 5.34 p.m. with first load of gum.

Fumenes, immediately her cell is finished, introduces the egg. It

is very easy to observe the act. We see her large conica] abdomen

go down through the cell mouth. But Ahyxchtum is far more

reclusive. Her egg-laying takes place in secret, at the bottom of

her dark pot. Sodeep is the cell and she is so concealed in it, that

I fail to witness the vital act. But there comes a time when suspi-

cion is aroused. I see her absolutely motionless, rigidly fixed.

This must be the moment of emission, when she fulfils the purpose

of her life.

Of this, at least, I am quite certain. ARhynchium lays her egg

when the masonry is finished, but before the smearing of gum.

During the short interval between building and smearing I make a

hole in the cell wall. This gives light to the dark interior, and

enables me to see a single egg anchored to the bottom of the pot.

White in colour, of fusiform shape, it is gently curved, about three-

sixteenths of an inch long, and fixed by one extremity to the cell wall.

Surely this seems a strange occurrence, this egg-laying in an

open cell. For remember that all the smearing must be done

before the gate can be closed. This is a work of many days. In

the meantime the egg is exposed to any enemy which can enter the

gate. Gum smearing, I am sure, is a protective measure; then

why is the egg left open to invasion during those days when the

smearing is being done? Would it not be safer to retain it tiil all

the protective glue was applied ?

It would certainly appear so. The nature of the enemy may

explain the inconsistency. Parasites do not enter by the ordinary

route. They are not accustomed to open doors. ‘Theirs is a

more insidious plan. Armed with ovipositors, they penetrate

masonry. Perforation is part of their instinct of attack. Against

such devices Rhynchium must guard. Her enemy has probably only

one way of entrance, by driving its spear through the rampart of

mud. It does not understand the open gateway, for it is not its

instinct to enter by that route. Consequently the open gate is un-

important provided the cell is covered with glue.

The egg is laid, the wall strengthened. Now comes the storing

of supplies. Off goes the wasp in search of plunder. This is a

new and brighter occupation, so she swings and hovers in the air.

I wait her return. She arrives with a caterpillar in her jaws. She

has her victim gripped behind the head with its body supported in

her front iegs. The caierpillar is a green or brownish species,

sometimes of moderate size, but often very small, only about

quarter of an inchlong. She stuffs it skilfully through the gate-

way. First pushing it with her head, her body follows, then

grasping it farther and farther backwards, she presses it before her

104 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIATY, SVok XX

to the bottom of the cell. With her vertex as a ram she forces it

well down. A little time is spent adjusting it, screwing it about,

compressing it, packing it, making it fit economically inside. This

finished, she withraws her head and goes off to get more spoil.

If supplies are abundant she may be back in ten minutes. A

second victim is added to the store. At other times half an hour

is insufficient. In gloomy weather, or when rain threatens, she

may not get acapture for the whole day. Again there are times

when she can get nothing. On such occasions all her work may be

wasted. Famine may force her to abandon the cell. Alli this

foraging is done as quickly as possible. Whenever not engaged at

hunting she keeps strict watch on her accumulating store. For

example, she always sleeps in the cell, seated on top of the pile of

caterpillars, with body bent into the cavity and tips of antenne

projecting outside. Also, when the sky is overhung with clouds she

similarly keeps close guard over the store.

Provisioning continues till the cell is full, packed tight to the very

mouth. This may require fifty or more caterpillars, they are often

so miserably small. And not only must she find them; they must

also be paralysed. Such is the method adopted by her tribe. What

infinite labour does not this involve ? Let us make a search for her

kind of caterpillar ; if fortunate, in an hour we may find one or two.

Yet the wasp has to hunt out fifty or more of them before she can

close her cell. We have seen her industry at building operations ;

she is equally persistent at pursuing prey.

The stores are in; they are tightly packed, the chamber is

filled to the mouth. The next piece of work is to seal them down,

a lid must be placed over the gate. Here we see a rapid

operation. The mason brings a pellet of the usual type, and in a

minute constructs round the opening a narrow ledge of mud.

Sometimes there may be a slight interruption. since the wasp

may have to push in her head in order to press the squirming

larvee down. This first ledge closes the aperture partially, but

after a minute she brings a second load. ‘This is moulded to the

first ledge, and is usually sufficient to complete the lid. Then comes

the touching and testing with antennze to make sure that the work

is sound. Without a moment’s delay she proceeds to strengthen it.

She does not even go off for material, but cuts a little resin from

the outside wall and spreads it over the lid. Ten or fifteen minutes

are spent reinforcing it, and the gate is permanently closed.

Now surely is the hour of rest. Building, smearing, provisioning

are done. But this mason is indefatigable. No sooner is this cell

finished than she immediately commences the next.

What a laborious builder to toil so incessantly dav after day.

The largest nest I have seen contained twelve chambers. If we

give an average of five days for the building of each, then the work

of the whole nest must have occupied about two months.

Rhynchtum is well able to defend her nest. Her attitude within

it has protective value. She is bent double; her back thrust down

into the cavity, the end of her abdomen and tips of antennze turned

up into the gate. I bring my finger to the gateway. No sooner

have I touched it than out comes the sting which the wasp im-

vy HE. POTTER WASP (RHYNCHIUM NITIDULUM) .-- 105

mediately drives home. For a minute the pain is acute, almost

equal to that of the hive bee. But the poison of ARhynchium 1s less

lasting. There is no numbness. Her defence is just enough to

repel an enemy when it appears at the open gate.

Now that the work is finished, let us see what goes on within

the cell.

DEVELOPMENT

Cells are examined at successive intervals. I open the first after

the lid has been secured. The wasp has spent three days in provision-

ing it, but this has not prevented egg-development. The egg has

hatched, though the cell remained open. Indeed by now it is a

vigorous larva that lies curled at the bottom of the pot. Above it

are the caterpillars heaped in a solid mass. The larva has begun

to feed: From below it is eating up into the supplies. In this

particular ceil are forty-one caterpillars, and some have already

been devoured. All are of the slender kind, and are pressed firmly

together so as to occupy the smallest space.

~~ T open the next cell two days after the lid is sealed. The larva

has grown into a tiuge maggot, stout and fleshy, that almost filis the

cell. Pale yellow, curved in outline, its separate segments are’

visible as rings. Its head end is pointed with curved jaws which

are fixed in the tissues of the prey. The hind end is distinctly

larger and distended with succulent food. Its length is now three-

quarters of an inch, but its body is so neatly curved that it fits

economically into the cell. By this time the food is almost con-

sumed. Only two caterpillars remain. One is still alive. I touch

it with a pin. Its body bends, limbs twitch, it lies in the same half

paralysed state as when first pushed into the cell. The other

caterpillar is partially consumed, and the jaws of the larva are

embedded in its flank. The others have disappeared. They have

passed into the tissues of the larva and a few nodules of stercoral

matter that lie at the bottom of the pot.

Two weeks after egg-laying I open a third cell. The iarva has

changed into a pupa, a miniature of the future wasp. It rests

motionless without a sign of life. Eyes are now distinct, antenne

well formed, even the delicate mouth filaments can be distinctly

seen. It is pale white, almost colourless, with on either side a dark

stump which marks the developing wing.

Three weeks after egg-laying a fourth cell is examined. A weli-

formed wasp now occupies the chamber, filling the available space.

Its head is just within the door with jaws in position to cut through.

Now black like the adult, its wings are still unfolded as though not

quite ready to emerge. It moves freely in the narrow prison, legs

quiver, antenne tremble, it even protrudes a sting. Nevertheless

these movements are nampered since the whole body is enveloped

in a skein.

Emergence takes place on the twenty-sixth day. The young

wasp excises the lid by gnawing round the edge. She comes out

through the opening, but does not immediately take to flight. I

observe that for some days she remains on the cluster, often sitting

in the cell for hours with only the tips of her antennz outside. A

106 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX

short flight may be taken at intervals, but her wings are still weak

and she soon returns.

At length she disappears. The cell becomes an empty pot with

only some refuse inside. Still it is not useless. Humenes builds a

cell, closes it, abandons it; but Rhynchium will utilize her cell

again. She will sweep it of refuse, again lay in it, reprovision it,

and close it with a new lid.

But even more. Winter supervenes. Rhynchium disappears

coinpletely, probably to hibernate in some sheltered hole. Her nest

remains stuck firmly to the woodwork and thickly grimed with dust.

April arrives. ARhynchium awakens from her long slumber to resume

the unremitting toil. Unexpectedly I see the nest re-occupied. Surely

it is the builder of last year returning to the old cell. I cannot be

certain. A wanderer of the same species may have chanced upon it.

But Rhynchium, as we have seen, is very constant; and I prefer to

think that the original foundress remembers the first home.

Now we see how Ahynchium gains by expending such labour on

her cell. Compared with Aumenes the toil is immense. FAumenes

builds a cell in a few hours, lays in it, provisions it, then sees itno

more. But ARhynchium spends days at architecture: the buiiding of

her cluster occupies weeks. The difference is that Rhynchitum makes

a permanent habitation. She sticks to it throughout the season and

may return to it the following year.

GEOMETRY

I come now to some points about geometry. I want to show how

the mason measures, how she gets the shape and limits of her cell.

There are certain geometrical principles underlying this delicate

work.

Fic 1. DIAGRAM TO SHOW PENDULUM MECHANISM OF WASP.

Pendulum corresponding to wasp.

Surface of completed cells.

Pellet at point of pendulum.

Top of wall.

Wall of cell undergoing construction.

otter GES)

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

ENE YEP ELE TFN IL RTL PL EAN SPA LE IT LE TI IT

THE POTTER WASP.

(Rhynchium nitidulum) .

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

- !

NEST OF THE POTTER WASP] (Rhynchium nitidulum).

La |

& |

Rhynchium BUILDING LOWER HALF OF CELL.

THE POTTER WASP (RHYNCHIUM NITIDULUM) 107

I recall the method of building. First the wasp hangs head down-

ward, swings from side to side, rolling her pellet from the centre to

either end of the wail. Then she reverses, sits upright in her cell

and rolis her pellet from end to end. Now I want to explain all

this. Why are these attitudes and changes necessary to the shape

and perfection of the cell.

First the wasp hangs head downward and swings from side to side.

In fact sne isa kind of pendulum. But her swings are not quite

those of an ordinary pendulum. ‘They not only swing her from side

to side, but they also carry her forward inacurve. Thus at first we

see a simple mechanism, a pendulum that swings and eens a

forward curve. (Fig. 1.)

But there is more geometry about it than this. As the wall

grows higher the wasp does not retreat upward. In fact the base

of the pendulum remains fixed. What then must happen as the wall

rises ? Since the pendulum will not retreat, then it must tilt more

and more forward after each fresh addition to the wall. It will occupy

successively the'positions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, as shown in the accompanying

sketch. (Fig.'2.) 3 ;What will be the consequence? MThe'pendulum,

FIG. 2. DIAGRAM TO SHOW FORWARD TILT OF PENDULUM.

A. Wall of cell.

B. Line of pendulum.

C. Front wall of cell.

1-5. Successive levels occupied by pendulum.

after each addition to the wall, will swing through a larger arc than it

did on the previous swing. Each successive pellet will be moulded

into a larger curve. Hence the capacity of the growing cell will

uniformly and geometrically increase.

Another point. The pellet, as I have said, is at this stage first

placed at the centre of the wall, and from there rolled to one or other

end. Why is this? When we regard the wasp as a pendulum I| think

we can explain the act. For, as we have seen, the curve increases

108 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

at each fresh addition to the wall. But this increase in curve is

mainiy at the centre; there is little increase at the ends of the wall.

There the wall is fairly straight without very much change in

curve. Therefore when the mason is shaping her curve she will

estimate it better by commencing at the centre instead of at the ends

of the wall. By commencing there she tilts out the pendulum to

the full extent of the new curve, and then gradually diminishes the

arc as she rolls the pellet to either end. This is no doubt an easier

operation than if she were to try to draw a curve by one sweep from

end to end.

When the wall is half-built the change in method of construction

takes place. The mason now gets into hercell, sits erect with

head at the edge, and rolls her pellet along the wall.

There must be a reason for this change. I think this is the

explanation. ‘The change takes place when the cell has reached its

greatest width. During the lower half of its construction the size

has been increasing ; from now on its width becomes less. In order

to effect this change in size the mason has to alter her method of

work. The principle of the pendulum, as I have shown, increases

the curve at every swing. If she persisted at the pendulum mecha-

nism then her cell would grow -larger~and-larger; it could never

graduate into an egg shape. Hence a change of some kind is

necessary. See how it works. She gets into the cell, sits upright

in it, and rotates from side to side. She is no longer a swinging

pendulum, but a vertical pivot that rotates. Her head is bent over

the edge of the wall. Andas she turns within the cell, she draws

out the clay intoacurve. Now as the wali grows higher it becomes

necessary for her to stretch further upward in order to mould the pel-

leton the edge. In order tocompensate for this she makes each

curve a little smaller than the preceding curve. And since the curves

become successively smaller, therefore the size of the upper half of

the cell grows gradually less.

Nor need the mason now commence at the centre and roll her

pellet to one or other end. This was necessary in the lower half,

for the curves were then increasing at each swing, and the

wasp could do better by taking her measurement from the point

farthest away on the curve. But now the reverse happens. ‘The

curves are decreasing at every swing. Hence the mason must

change her method. Now she measures from the nearest

point, therefore commences at one end and rolis the whole

length of the wall.

My description may not'be sufficiently clear. I will illustrate it by

a simple comparison. Imagine a man standing upright with his

arm hanging down in front of him. The right arm represents

the pendulum, the hand corresponding to the head, the arm to the

body of the wasp. Now the hand is going to trace the building

movements, First it oscillates from side to side like the wasp lJay-

ing its first layers. As construction advances, the hand, of course,

is raised. It is at the same time tilted forward. Asa result it

traces a curve and each curve is larger than the preceding curve.

Thus the action of the hand is like that of the wasp when ea

the lower half of her cell.

THE POTTER WASP (RHYNCHIUM NITIDULUM) ‘109

At length the arm becomes horizontal. That will correspond to

the point when the cell is half built. The arm is now out at full

length and the greatest diameter of the curve is reached. A change

in direction must now take place. The wasp, I have shown, reverses

position. From working head down, it changes to head up. A

~similar reversal occurs with the arm. Follow the hand upward. It

gets above the horizontal. The shoulder is still the pivot. But up

till now the hand had worked below the pivot: henceforward it will

work above. It continues to draw out curves, but, as it rises, it

approaches the plane of the body. Consequently each curve is

smalier than the one which precedes it. If the hand were building

a cell, then the capacity of the cell will decrease. This is a very

rough comparison, but it represents the mechanism of the wasp.

Just one more point before we leave the architecture. How does

the architect estimate height? How does she know when to cease

adding to the wall? It might be thought that the problem would

present itself only at the building of the first cell. After that she

would have a standard of measurement. The first cell would serve

as a pattern, and the others could be raised to an equal height. But

a simple observation disproves this. The wasp does not compare

heights. There is one plan of measurement which she applies to all

the cells. For, sometimes, when adding a cell to the cluster, she

may. not commence at the same level as she did with the preceding

‘cells.. On the contrary, as shown in the illustration (Fig. 3), she

Fic. 3. CELLS OF ARhynchium nitidulum AT DIFFERENT LEVELS

Order of construction: 1, 2, 3, 4.

begins a littie higher up. It will then be observed that the top of

this cell is not finished off flush with the preceding cells, but is raised

as much above their tops as its point of commencement is above

their bases.

110 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

It seems, therefore, that the wasp can estimate the height of each

separate cell. Watch her and see the method of measurement. No-

thing could be more simple. During the second half of construction

she works, as I have said, within the cell. Her attitude is erect,

tip of abdomen at the bottom of the chamber, antennz at the edge

of the wall. These are the points by which she measures. She

knows that her cell is sufficiently high when the tip of her abdomen

just touches the bottom and the tips of her antenneze just reach the

gate. The height of a cell is three-quarters of aninch. That too is

the length of the wasp between these extreme points. I have

frequently shown how insects measure. Here we see one of the

simplest mechanisms. The mason employs her own length to measure

the cell height.

Honey-bees are the most skilful architects. Working in darkness

they shape pyramids and hexagons. They are geometricians in the

highest sense. These workers in clay have not their efficiency.

Nevertheless they are geometricians. The particular shapes and

dimensions of their cells depend on mathematical skill. Different

species display different methods, Aumenes, by expanding her

antennae widely, can measure out the cell base, by employing them

as a pair of dividers can shape a circular door, by using them asa

vertical plumb line can determine the cell depth. In Rhynchium

we observe the pendulum and pivot. Also the simplest of all

mechanisms, the measurement of cell height by comparing it with

body length.

(To be continued)

ptt ihe Korn Ms) i

EMCEE Sater oie mem de tomy hath gate ok aetna ales

Si oe

ee eo

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Sec.

THE LEFT OF THE PICTURE ARE

eo)

PANORAMIC VIEW OF A SMALL TORRENTIAL STREAM BELOW DUMPEP IN THE KHASI HILLS.

THE ROCKS.

CUTTING 7

TRATITIRIITT.

A De

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS!

[A Public Lecture delivered at the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of

the Indian Science Congress at Lahore on January 8, 1927.]

Dr. S. L. Hora, D. Sc.

(Published by permission of the Director, Zoological Survey

of [ndia)

(With one plate and ten text-figures)

Sir JAGDISH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

The subject which I have the honour to bring before you this

evening is that of Animal Life in Torrential Streams. I presume

that most of you are familiar with what I mean ,by torrential

streams because they are so abundant in all our hills and especially

in those hills where the rainfall is high. Just to refresh your

memory I shall take you to the Khasi Hills, which are noted for

the heaviest rainfall in the world. ‘The average annual rainfall at

Cherrapunji, a village on the southern face of the hills, is no less

than 458 inches. Enormous though this rainfall is, it is little more

than half of the maximum on record. In 1861, 905 inches fell, 366

of which were assigned to July alone. The maximum for a single

day was, however, recorded in 1876, when 41 inches of rain fell in

24 hours.’? = It will not be out of place to point out for the sake of

comparison that the average annual rainfall of the city of Lahore is

nearly 21 inches, which is approximately half of the actual rainfall

recorded on a single day at Cherrapunji. The Cherrapunji plateau

is admirably drained, and the water is quickly carried off. The

streams inthe deep gorges sweil immensely during and after a

heavy fall of rain. Mr. Oldham,?* who visited one of the streams

in these hills after a heavy and sudden fall of rain, describes the

scene thus :—‘ The water had then arisen only about thirteen feet

above the level at which it stood a few days previously; the rush

was tremendous—huge blocks of rock measuring some feet across,

were rolled along with an awful crashing, almost as easily as

pebbles in an ordinary stream. In one night a block of granite,

* The lecture was illustrated with 39 lantern slides, most of which were pre-

pared either from specimens collected by the author or from sketches

and photographs made by Babu D. N., Bagchi in the field under the author’s

supervision.

? Allen, Assam District Gazetteer, vol. x, p. 30 (1906).

$ Oldham, Mem. Geol. Surv. India, vol. i, p. 174 (1859).

112 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XXXII

which I calculated to weigh upwards of 350 tons, was moved for

more than 100 yards ; while the torrent was actually turbid with

pebbles of some inches in size, suspended almost like mud in the

rushing stream.’ We have here to consider how animals manage

to live under such adverse conditions. Besides the rapidity of the

flow of water we find that the only kind of food available consists

of algal slime covering stones and rocks, for there is little chance

of any other type of vegetation to grow as it is liable to be up-

rooted and carried away by the strength of the current. Very

rately a growth of moss and of higher plants is found in swift cur-

rents. Insect larve of various kinds are found in fair abundance in

these streams and they form a valuable supply of fish food, but it

should not be forgotten that the ultimate source of food is the algal

slime. Among other conditions that influence the fauna of hill-

streams may be mentioned the abundance of shelter, the clearness

and shallowness of water during the non-rainy season and conse-

quently intense light during the day-time and lastly the presence of

a large quantity of air dissolved in the water.

To adapt themselves to such a peculiar environment the animals

have modified their entire organization. In the case of fishes; for

instance, we notice that modifications have taken place inthe

external form, the scale covering, the fins, the mouth, the lips; the

jaws, the eyes, the gill-openings, the air biadder, the skeletal and

muscular frame work and lastly we find that special modifications

of the skin have occurred in places. I have not enough time this

evening to discuss the entire set of adaptations, but with your per-

mission I shall confine myself to the external form of the animals

and to the special structures that enable them to withstand the

swiftness of the currents. oe

In 1891, Nikolsky? dealt with the correlation between the shape

of the body of fishes and the strength of the current of streams, but

unfortunately his work is not available in India and I have not been

able to consult it. I have, however, made extensive observations

on this point and I propose to give you a summary of my views on

the subject.

In general, fishes are boat-shaped, adapted for swift progress

through water. They are longer than broad or deep and the great-

est width is in front of the middle leaving the compressed paddle-

like tail as the chief organ of locomotion. We get such forms in the

sluggish waters of our rivers in the plains and in tanks and ponds,

but at the base of the hills where streams possess rocky beds and

water flows with some rapidity, the fishes that are met with are

more or less of a cylindrical form and are provided with a strong

caudal peduncle and a weil developed tail fin. ‘The cylindrical form

probably does not present so much surface to the strong flow of

water as the usual form of the fish and the muscular tail becomes a

great asset for progression in swift currents. As we go higher up

* Hora, Aec. Ind. Mus., xxiv, pp. 33-61 (1922).

* Nikolsky. Rev. Soc. Nat. St. Petersb, pp. 137~139 (1891).

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS WS

Fig. 1.—Balitora brucei, Gray, from Nong-priang

Stream below Cherrapunji.

in the hills and study the fish fauna of the torrents, it is found

that the form is greatly depressed from above downwards, and

in some cases it has become almost leaf-like. The under sur-

face is greatly flattened and has developed adhesive organs for

clinging to the rocks in these rapid waters and the tail has

become very muscular and whip-like to enable the fish to dart

about from one rock to another in swift water. The upper surface

has assumed a stream-line form so that it presents less resistance

to swift currents.

CG b. Dh.

Fig. 2.—Transverse sections of fish showing evolution of form for life in rapid

running waters.

(a) Section of an ordinary pond fish (Ladeo).

(6) Section of a fish living in moderately swift currents and relatively deeper

waters (Schizothorax).

ate)

114 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1

Among fishes I have been able to find two types of adhesive

organs,! firstly a rounded or elliptical structure with a iarge callous

portion in the centre and a loose membranous flap all round it and

secondly an organ composed of grooves and ridges. ‘The former

functions as a true sucker by the creation of a vacuum, while the

latter in my opinion acts as a mechanical frictional device and pre-

vents the fish from slipping. The true sucker is present in the

members of the genus Garra, while some sort of a frictional device

is present in almost a]l hill-stream fishes. The latter device posses-

ses one great advantage over the former and it is this :—a vacuum

of acertain capacity can have only limited power of adhesion where-

as in a frictional device the friction increases with pressure, which

under the circumstances is proportional to the rapidity of the flow of

water. In streams subject to a sudden rush of water an adhesive

apparatus of variable efficiency is very beneficial. Moreover,

adhesion by a sucker requires constant exertion on the part of the

animal using it, whereas a frictional device acts mechanically,

meeting effectively the exigencies of the circumstances.

A powerful sucker occurs in the tadpoles of the section Rana

formosa. 1 was afforded an-opportunity of testing the efficacy of

this mechanism by making a series of observations on the living

tadpoles of Rana afghanain the Khasi Hills and at Dharmsala in

the Kangra Valley. A tadpole was held by its tail and was then

placed ona loose piece of stone in water in sucha way that its

sucker touched the stone. The animal was then lifted out of water

by the tail and it was found that the stone was also lifted with the

tadpole. By repeating this experiment with stones of different

sizes, it was found that a tadpole weighing one-tenth of an ounce

could easily, when lifted out of the water, retain a hold on a stone

having a weight of about six ounces.

I have here to refer to some very peculiar tadpoles of certain

species ofthe genus Megalophrys. Great controversy has raged

round the function of the funnel apparatus and a considerable

literature has grown round the subject. I made the acquaintance of

these tadpoles at Dumpep in the Khasi Hills and found them in

abundance in a rapid flowing, rocky stream among weeds and under

stones or in crevices in the rocks in sheltered places. To me? it at

first seemed probable that the two inwardly curved horns of the

folded funnel enable the animal to anchor itself among weeds in

fairly rapid currents. But further observations carried out in the

stream bed itself have convinced me that the peculiar funnel is only

a device for gathering plancton on which the animal feeds and that

it helps to keep the anterior end buoyant, so that the animal does

not knock against rocks if it happens to be swept away by a strong

current.

The structural modifications of the fish and of the Batrachian

larvae that inhabit our small mountain torrents afford a remarkable

instance of bara evolution or what Annandale and myself? have

* Hora, Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. xxv, pp. 587-591 (1923).

? [bid., pp. 585-587 (1923).

3 Annandale and Hora, Rec. Ind. Mus., xxiv, pp. 505-509 (1922).

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS iS

called ‘communal convergence.’ You must have noticed the great

similarity in external form and in the structure of the sucker of

Garra and of the tadpole of Rana afghana.* In the former we know

that these modifications are the results of a series of gradual

changes to be observed both in the post-embryonic development,

in individual variability and in specific differentiation. In the

larvae of Rana formosa, however, we know, so to speak, the

finished product of evolution in the highly perfected organ of

adhesion. Inthe case of Garra at any rate, we have evidence

that these changes have resulted, not through mutation or by

any Mendelian segregation of characters, but through a gradual

accumulation of small changes.t The close correlation between

these structural changes and differences in the flow of water in

which species and even individuals live is at any rate suggestive.

Whether in these particular cases we are witnessing the survival

of the fittest in the Darwinian sense, which means the evolution of

new structures through the agency of small fluctuating variations,

or must accept a frankly Lamarckian explanation, which means the

evolution of new structures by the constant use or disuse of the

parts affected, only experiment can prove.

The Gastropod molluscs that live actually in rapid waters, such as

species of Paludomus, or which live on rocks at the sides of streams

subject to a sudden rush of water, such as Cremnochonchus syhadrensts,

Neritina perotettiana, Lithotis rupicula and Turbinicola saxea, have

solved the problem of existence in their particular habitat by the

greatly increased size of the foot and a consequently increased

power of attachment. Inthe case of Paludomus the upper whorls

are usually worn and the shell comes to resemble the small rounded

pebbles among which it usually lives. Among the Gastropod

molluscs, however, special mention may be made of the various

species of the genus Azcylus which inhabit swift currents and are

limpet-like inform. They probably stick to stones or other objects

by the creation of a sucker in the strict sense of the term. Certain

bivalves, such as Corbicula, are also found in rapid water, but they

manage to live during floods by seeking shelter under rocks or by

burrowing in sand. One species of bivalve from the Surma

Valley,?, Assam, has developed this habit to an extraordinary

degree. It lives, firmly anchored by its extensive foot, in regular

burrows formed either in hard blue clay or in friable sand-stone

rocks. It has thus avoided the dangers of swift currents in a most

ingenious way. I shall have occasion to refer again later to this

mode of life in hill-streams, when dealing with the insect larvae.

Leeches are also met with in hill-streams but you are probably

aware that these animals are provided with well-developed suckers.

Those from rapid waters have these suckers better developed. I

also found a colony of Polyzoa, or moss-like animals, in rapid water

in the Kangra Valley.? This is an encrusting form, so that once it is

attached to stones it needs no further specialization. The

* Hora, Rec. Ind. Mus., xxii, p. 640 (1921).

rah Journ. Astat. Soc., Bengal (in Press).

td.

1146 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

occurrence of Polyzoa in running water is a rare phenomenon and

Annandale observed it only once, in Plumatella frutticosa, in

a small jungle stream in Travancore. My specimen from the

Kangra Valley also belongs to the same species but it is remarka-

ble that only the form stricta of this species occurs in running

water, and it seems probable, as Annandale has pointed out, that

this form is found only in those places where there is reason to

suspect a lack of minute life and, therefore, of food.4 I have

collected a number of Turbellarians or flat worms in hill-streams,

but have not so far made a special study of these animals. They

are broad, flat and leaf-like and encrust stones and rocks in rapid

waters, and Prof. Stanley Gardiner of Cambridge University

has very kindly informed me in a private communication that these

forms also possess specially modified clinging organs.

Insect larvae of various kinds occur in mountain torrents in large

numbers and are remarkably well adapted for life in such situations.”

I propose to deal with the various groups one by one.

The dragonfly larvae of our torrential streams can be divided into

four groups. The first group bury themselves in the sand at the

bottom of pools instreams. These are generally found to belong to

the Gomphines with a torpedo or stream-line body adapted for push-

ing forward through sand or facing heavy currents. The legs are

Water fall. :

Level of stream.

(From a drawing by Col. Fraser)

Fig 3.—The form and habitat of Gomphine larvae.

short and adapted for burrowing. ‘These iarvae frequent particular

spots, usually in front of the foot of a falling column of water, where

the water has scoured out the sand and heaped it up down stream.

I have illustrated this type by Macrogomphus wynadicus and Megalo-

gomphus hameyngtoni. The siphon-like tube at the posterior end of

* Annandale, Faun. Brit. India, Freshwater Sponges, Hydrozoa and Polyzoa,

pe 219 CISI1).

* Musgrave and Campbell, Austral. Mus. Mag. Sydney, iii, pp. 28-31 (1927).

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS 17

the abdomen of the former is the only part of the larva which projects

from the sand. These larvae are rectal breathers and hence the

utility of such a device is perfectly obvious.

The second group includes limpet-like forms such as /cfinus and

Zygonyx which are actual water-fall dwellers. The belly is abso-

lutely flat and is very broad, the back is highly arched like a limpet

and slopes steeply away oneither side. They live on rocks and are

able to hold their own against the heaviest torrents. It has been

believed that adhesion is due to the close application of the

ventral plates to a rock and by the creation of vacuum by contract-

ion of the plates. Personally I have no idea as to how far this view

may be correct but my examination has revealed the presence of

definite adhesive pads on the ventral plates; these pads are very

much like the lamellae on the sucker of Achenez or the ship

holder and are provided with spines, thus forming an efficient fric-

tional device. /ctzmus and Zygonyx belong to widely-separated families

but from a similarity of habitat have become modelled alike.

The former are Gomphines and the latter Libellulines but the

resemblance is so close that an expert might be deceived. These

two provide another instance of communal convergence.

The third group comprises root-dwellers and these are found

clinging to roots along the river banks, swayed from side to side

with every eddy of the current. These are long, thin, attenuated

larvae resembling stick-insects. They lie close to the roots and

Fig. 4.—Root-dwelling dragonfly larvae of torrential streams.

(a) Macromzia ida, Fraser ; (6) Matrona basilaris, Selys.

thus offera very small surface to the force of the current. I shall

mention here two instances illustrating this group, firstly M/atrona

bastlaris, a Calopterygine larva, and secondly the spidery-legged

Macromia ida a Libelluline larva.

There is yet a fourth group which is found hidden amongst the

leafy debris collected in deep pools in the course of mountain

streams. These are broad, flat and leaf-like.

I must express here my great indebtedness to Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser

118 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

for sending me valuable notes regarding the habits of the

fly larvae of hill-streams and for supplying me with specimens

for illustrating this lecture.

Among the mayfly nymphs we find adaptations similar to those

that | have already shown you in the dragonfly larvae. Here we

have burrowing larvae such as those of Palingenia and Polymitarcys,

creeping larvae that anchor themselves on water weeds and stones

in swift currents and lastly those larvae that possess flattened

bodies. These last are of the Ecydurus and the Heptagenia type

and are usually met with either on the under side of stones in swift

current or on the upper sides of rocks in deeper waters. Some of

these larvae, both of the clinging type, which are long and thin,

and of the flattened type which possess a limpet-like form, frequent

bare rocks in very rapid waters. In all these forms very strong

claws are developed for grappling on to the rocks and stones, but

in certain larvae of the fiattened type that frequent the upper sides

of rocks in strong currents the tracheal gills are greatly enlarged

and are arranged in such a way that a complete or a partial sucker

is formed on the under side of the animal when needed. In addition

they are provided with a series of pads beset with spines on the

under surface of the tracheal gills. A combination of these two

devices makes the under surface thoroughly non-slippery. The

highest development of the sucker is reached in the nymphs of the

archaic genus Prosopistoma, which, according to Eaten? ‘is excep-

tional in having the body oval in outline, convex above and flattened

beneath ; and it possesses the faculty of adhering firmly by suction,

like a limpet, to stones.’

The stone-fly nymphs usually occur in situations similar to those

of the mayfly larvae of Ecydurus and Heptagenia types. They are

fairly common, but always on the under side of the stones, in such

places where water runs swiftly over a bed of comparatively small

pebbles. The nymphs cling closely and lie flat with legs outspread ;

they hold on by means of stout paired claws that are like grappling

hooks. Their legs are flattened and laid down against the stone

in such a way that they offer little resistance to the passing current.

The efficiency of the claws for grappling can be readily tested by

allowing a larva to crawl on the back of one’s hand or on one’s

arm. They are very quick in their movements and are known to

be the worst carnivores of torrent fauna.

The larvae of the 7vichoptera or the so-called caddis-worms are-

found in all sorts of inland waters. They build a shelter for them-

selves and drag it along wherever they go. ‘The case or shelter is

held fast by the two very powerful, hooked claws at the hinder end.

Several of them are found in rapid waters where they have devised

several interesting ways to withstand the rush of water. Some

fasten their cases to rocks in swift currents by means of their salivary

secretion in such a way that a stream-line form is presented to the

current and the animal lives with the open end of the case up-stream.

The case itself is greatly flattened on the under surface to come

1 Eaton, Zrans. Linn. Soc. London. Zoology (2), iii, p. 13 (1888).

ANIMAL LIFE [IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS 119

in close contact with the support. Some weave a sort of a conical

web on the rocks or on water plants growing in swift currents and

themselves sit comfortably in its pointed portion and wait for any

booty that the current may bring into their web. I have observed

Fig, 5.—Trichopterous larvae (caddis-worms) from torrential streams in India.

certain others that live on the under side of rocks in swift water

forming a barricade of small stones and spinning a web over it with

a hole for the animal to come out through. Most remarkable

among these worms are those in which the case has taken a

limpet-like form and the animai is thus enabled to cling fast in very

rapid waters.

From among beetles I want to draw your special attention to the

remarkable larvac of the genus Psephenus, commonly known as

‘water-pennies.’ They occur in swift streams chiefly on the under-

side of stones and are known to be especially abundant in the

rapids of Niagara, but are by no means uncommon in our Himalayan

streams from Darjeeling to the Kangra valley and in the Khasi Hills.

They are greatly depressed from above downwards and are almost

120 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1L

scale-like in appearance. Their form is either rounded or ovoid.

The whole of the under surface of the body appears to act asa

sucker and itis very difficult to dislodge these larvae with the

fingers.

Fig. 6.—Psephenus larva and pupa from the Kangra Valley, Punjab.

(a) Three views of a larva; (6) Pupa soldered on toa rock; (c¢c) Scars

left on a rock after the pupal skins are washed away.

The pupae are more or less similiar to the larvae, but they are

soldered down to the rocks. After the emergence of the beetle,

when the pupal skin becomes disintegrated and is washed away, a

black oval ring is left to mark the place. The black outline shows the

marginal region along which they had been soldered down to the

stones. This sort of a permanent adhesion is effected by the secre-

tion of some sticky substance, which leaves black marks on the

stones.

‘The beetles of the family to which Psephenus belongs are found for

the most part near running water or clinging by means of their strong

claws to water plants or other submerged objects. Certain other

beetles have also been observed in similar circumstances, but they

do not possess any special organs of attachment other than their

powerful claws. The under surface is more or less flattened in all

beetles, but it is more so in those that frequent rapid waters.

Among the Diptera, Nematocera or the midge-like flies, there

are two remarkable families, whose larvae live on bare rocks in the

course of very rapid waters. I here refer to the blood-sucking

biack-flies (Szmultidae) and the net-winged midges (Blephars-

ceridac). A Sitmulium larva is a small bag-shaped, cylindrical

creature somewhat broader at the posterior end. It is usually found

sticking by its so-called posterior sucker either to water plants that

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS 121

grow in swift currents or to the upper surface of rocks and stones

in rapid waters. It hangs from its support with the head pointing

Fig. 7.—The larvae and pupae of the blood-sucking black-flies! (Szsallidae) .

(a) Larvae and pupae on water weed (Ariocaulon miserum) growing in very

swift current. (The artist has not been able to do full justice to the number of

larvae that are usually found in similar situations.)

(6) A blade of the same weed showing larvae and pupae in various

postures.

(d) A portion of the track left behind by a Szmulium larvae on a glass slide

(highly magnified) .

down-stream in such a way that a stream-line form is presented to

the current. Its posterior appendage, or the so-called sucker, has

received considerable attention. The earlier writers considered it

a sucker in the same sense as that found at the posterior end of a

122 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

leech, but Tonnoir?! not finding any muscles inserted in the middle

of the disc doubted its utility as a sucker. Dr. Puri 2? who has

quite recently published a monograph on the structure of these

larvae, has found definite muscles and has observed ‘ that they con-

tract when a larva fixes itself by its posterior end.’ He further

points out that ‘in spite of the presence of these muscles the larva

cannot fix itself effectively without the further help of the sticky

salivary secretion.’ A very close study of the habits of these larvae

enables me to say that the posterior appendage does not act as a

sucker, and the larva fixes itself with the help of hooks and the sali-

vary secretion alone. The larva spins out this salivary secretion into

a fine silk thread which is very sticky and very strong. I have

watched a fairly large specimen of a mayfly nymph struggling to

free itself from the silk thread of a Szmulium,and it has been

observed time and again that if a larva is disturbed it lets go its

hold and is carried away by the current for some distance but all

the time it keeps hanging on to its support by a fine silk thread.

By means of this rope-way the larva can crawl back to its former

support. The consistency of this thread must be very remarkable

for it can bear not only the weight of the animal when it presents an

inverted stream-line form to the current (for the larva climbs with

the head pointing up-stream), but also the tremendous rush of the

current at one and the same time. The posterior ‘sucker’ is

provided with a rosette of hooks and the function of these hooks

and, therefore, of the ‘ sucker’ is to grip firmly acluster of silk

threads which the animal secretes on the spot where it wants the

posterior appendage to be fixed. The necessity for the presence of

muscles in connection with this appendage is obvious, for in order

to disengage the hooks from the salivary secretion a strong and

sudden muscular pull is needed. The muscular action noticed by

Dr. Puri at the time of the attachment of the sucker is a manipula-

tion on the part of the animal to enable it to fix its hooks properly

in the secretion.

Needham and Lloyd ° give an interesting account of the general

habit of the Blepharocerid larvae. They say that though ‘ Not the

most Jimpet-like but yet the best adapted for hanging on to bare

stones in torrents is the curious larva of the net-veined midge,

Blepharocera, an inhabitant only of clear and rapid streams. The

depressed body of this curious little animal is equipped with a row

of half a dozen ventral suckers, each of which is capable of powerful

and independent attachment to the stones. So important have

these suckers become that the major divisions of the body con-

form to them and not to the original body segments. On these

suckers, used as feet, the larva walks over the stones under the

swiftest water, foraging in safety where no enemy may follow.’

They further observe that ‘the naked pupa is found in the same

situation and is attached by one strongly flattened side to the

1 Tonnoir, dun Biol. Lucustre, xi, pp. 163-172 (1923).

2 Puri, Parasitology, Cambridge, xvii. pp. 311, 312 (1925).

% Needham and Lloyd, Life of Inland Waters, p. 368 (New York : 1916).

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS 123

supporting surface.’ These larvae are indeed the most highly

specialized of ali the torrent-inhabiting animals, but in a suitable

habitat they are found in countless numbers. I have observed the

young larvae in comparatively calm waters either at the side of

tpg ser aT

2 , Ss 7 H “ > 2

’ us a - BA j ‘ bs ul Ye =

BO. he, — HY yy Nj ra %

; ‘s 'y py fi)! MY, Yen fie Yj),

As rama | bnQ pete ey UY

a] \ i ed i = ie gf YL

We / Wf ee =

ry yl 'f iff ik ca ro

¥ ~ UMA Wy; a ie a nd PT Ph = rad

Oy, tLe

ents Me GEE: :

Fig. 8.—Habitat of Blepharocerid larvae and caddis-worms.

At the head of the waterfall a large number of larvae of the net-veined midge

were found, while on the sides of rocks in the course of the fall were found

caddis-worms in their peculiar cases.

the strong current or actually in places where the current does

not run very fast. There appears to be a regular correlation

between the stage of growth of a larva and the rapidity of the

current in which it lives. The pupz were also found along with

very young larve or in small nooks and corners where they were

comparatively safe. They usually occurred on vertical rocks over

which the water fell and thus kept them moist.

Ladies and gentlemen! You must yourselves have noticed from

what I have said, and from what has already been pointed out by

Needham and Lloyd,‘ that ‘ the impress of environment is seen not

only in the form of a living animal but also in that of the non-living

shelter that it builds. In this there is a parallel of form in the secreted

shell on the back of the snail,-Azcylus, and in the manufactured

shell of the back of the caddis-worm, Helicopsyche. One would have

to search widely to find better examples of the effects of environ-

ment in moulding to a common form these representatives of

many groups of very diverse structural types. ‘Two of them, at

least, were sufficiently like lotic mollusca to have deceived their

* Needham and Lloyd, op. ¢2¢., p, 374 (1916),

124. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

original describers. Psephenus was first described as a limpet and

FHlelicopsyche as a snail.’

With your permission may I avail myself of this opportunity

to thank the successive Directors of the Zoological Survey of

India who have given me every possible encouragement and

facility to pursue the study of this subject. I am _ especially

Fig. 9.—Showing impress of environment on the form of the non-living

shelter. .

(a) Ancylus, a snail; (6) and (c) cases of two caddis-worms from Pashok in

the Darjeeling District.

indebted to Major R. B. Seymour Sewell, who very kindly allowed

me to tour in the Kangra Valley, the Khasi Hills and the Darjeeling

Himalayas in the course of the last yearto check my results gained

from the study of the ‘lotic’ fauna in previous years. It has thus

been possible for me to present to you this evening fresh views on

the various aspects of the life of the animals that inhabit the swift

currents of our torrential streams.

ADDENDUM

In my public lecture I had to content myself with a few typical

instances illustrative of adaptations for life in rapid waters. In this

note I propose to complete my account of ‘ Animal Life in Torren-

tial Streams’ by citing examples from three other groups of insects

whose larvae, pupae or adults frequent swift currents.

Caterpillars of certain moths of the sub-family Ay drocampane

are known to lead an aquatic existence. Our familiar examples?! of

such larvae are inhabitants of sluggish or stationary waters; they

make a shelter out of the leaves on which they feed and which they

fasten together by means of silk. In recent years, however, a third

type of aquatic larvae has been found in rapid-running streams. In

1908, Muir and Kershaw? found caterpillars of Aulacodes simplicalts

1 Miall, Zhe Natural History of Aquatic Insects, pp. 226-235 (London) : 1895 ;

Needham and Lloyd, Lzfe of Inland Waters, pp. 218-220 (New York: 1916);

Imms, 7ext Book of Entomology, p. 492 (1925) ; Needham in Ward and Whip-

ples’ Fresh Water Biology, p. 903 (New York : 1918).

2 Muir and Kershaw, Proc. in Trans. Ent. Soc. London, pp. x1-xlv (1909).

ANIMAL LIFE IN TORRENTIAL STREAMS 125

Snell in a very fast current at Lappa, a mountainous island on the

western side of the harbour of Macao in China, and Lloyd! has

described larvae of EAlophila fultcalts that live on stones in rapid

streams of Ithaca, New York. I have found larvae of similar habit

both in the Darjeeling Himalayas, 2 miles below Pashok, and in

the head waters of the Nerbadda River. ‘These larvae weave an

irregular shelter of thin-spun silk which is attached to a piece of

stone at irregular intervals leaving a series of holes for the larva to

come out through for the purpose of feeding, etc. Each larva at

the time of pupation manufactures a dome-shaped pupal shelter

under some portion of the larval cover and this it fastens very care-

fully to the rock leaving rows of marginal openings on either side

for free circulation of water and air through it. When the pupal

case is completed the unused portion of the larval shelter is washed

away. The pupal case shows a remarkable similarity to the limpet-

like non-living shelters to which 1 have referred:to already.

On reference to the Museum Collection I have found similar

caterpillars collected by Dr. F. H. Gravely at Hoshangabad and

Pachmarhi in the Central Provinces and provisionally referred to the

genus Aulacodes. Dr. B. Chopra collected a number of these

larvae at Kurseong in the Darjeeling Himalayas. Al] these are

a b

Fig. 10.—Larval and pupal shelters of a Pyralid moth.

(a) Larval shelter; (6) Pupal case.

* Lloyd, New York Journ. Ent. OC. ! XXii, pp. 145-152, pp. iii, iv (1914).

1246 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

flattened from above downwards and are provided with branchial

filaments for aquatic respiration.

Drs B. Chopra and H. S. Rao have drawn my attention to

certain creeping Water-Bugs (Family Maucoride) recently col-

lected by them in Burma from underneath stones in swift currents.

These insects are flat-bodied and are oval in outline. The femora

of the front legs are greatly enlarged and are fitted for grasping,

while the middle and hind legs are suited for crawling about. The

under surface of each half of the posterior segments is provided

with a group of strong spines, which probably act as adhesive pads

in the same way as the spines on the sucker of Achenezs.

Neuropterous larvae of various kinds are found in swift currents,

but they are not by any means specially modified for such an exist-

ence. They live under stones and are not affected by the rapidity

of the current. Several other kinds of beetle and dipterous larvae

are found under stones and are not modified for stemming the

swiftness of a current except for the fact that they possess very

strong claws.

I want to express here my great indebtedness to Mr. S. Ribeiro

for the valuable assistance he has rendered to me in sorting out

my insect material and in looking up references for me on various

points.

WILD ELEPHANTS IN THE UNITED PROVINCES

F. W. CHAMPION, I.F.S.

(With four plates)

All along the forest belt at the base of the United Provinces’

Himalayas wild elephants are to be found in small numbers and a

few also occur in the terai forests of Oudh, as well as in the Zemin-

dari forests of Bijnor and elsewhere ‘The iargest number live in

the dense bamboo forests of the Garhwal Bhabar, in the Lansdowne

Forest Division, where there are probably about fifty permanent

residents, but elsewhere the numbers are smaller and the total head

of wild elephants in the whole of the United Provinces probably does

not exceed some 250 individuals, divided up into anumber of small

herds, with numerous semi-solitary tuskers and maknas scattered

about in the forest areas. A fairly large herd has recently

appeared in the terai forests of the Pilibhit Forest Division, in Oudh,

and it is probable that this herd has recently emigrated into British

India from the neighbouring forests of Nepal.

In the earlier part of the last century these wild elephants were

greatly persecuted by sportsmen, particularly in the neighbourhood

of Dehra Dun, and it is probable that they were saved from anni-

hilation only by the Elephant Preservation Act of some fifty years

ago. This Act prohibits the shooting or killing of elephants

entirely, except in the case of proclaimed rogues, and it is a great

pity that some of the other species, such as rhinoceros, were not

saved from destruction in the same way. Elephant-catching opera-

tions have taken place afew times since elephants have been pre-

served, but certainly not more than 100 have been caught, whereas

the number of proclaimed rogues that have been shot could not

exceed twenty, yet the number of elephants at present in existence

seems remarkably small after fifty years of protection, and it would

appear that they are not breeding as prolifically as one would have

expected under the circumstances. ‘The number of young calves to

be seen is extremely small and it has been suggested that this may

be due to in-breeding as the result of segregation from the large

numbers of elephants in Nepal, of which these United Provinces’

elephants originally formed a part. At one time large stretches of

the Nepal terai forests adjoined the forests of the United Provinces

and there were then numerous opportunities for wild elephants to

pass from one country to the other, but much of the Nepal elephant

country has since been opened up for cultivation and few elephants

now come over from Nepal to inter-breed with the survivors in the

United Provinces. The new herd in Pilibhit already referred to has

apparently come from Nepal, and itis to be hoped that these

animals will spread over the Province and infuse new blood into

what seems to be a dying race.

The ordinary wild elephant of the United Provinces appears to be

a very inoffensive individual and does not ordinarily do any harm

128 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL FIST SOCILTY SVol ees,

to mankind, although he is held in terrible awe by the local inhabi-

tants and men working in the jungles. Indeed, in Lansdowne

Forest Division—the main home of the wild elephants—there has

been no casualty from them for the last ten years, although one

rogue killed a number of people about the beginning of the Great

War, before he was finally shot by the then Divisional Forest Officer,

Mr. R. St. G. Burke, within a few hundred yards of the Forest Rest

House at Kotwara.

These wild elephants are, however, extremely destructive to

bamboo forests and also destroy a considerable number of young

sal trees, so that some Forest Officers are of the opinion that

they should be caught or destroyed in the interests of Forestry.

The Balrampur trackers consider that the number of animals at

present in the forests is insufficient to justify the heavy expense

of ‘khedah’ operations, and it would indeed be a pity if Govern-

ment were to allow the few remaining wild elephants in Northern

India to be slaughtered for the sake of the very slight increase in

forest revenue which might result upon their destruction. How-

ever, one is glad to be able to write that there is no immediate

prospect of such a calamity occurring.

The United Provinces’ elephants do not appear to carry very

large tusks and I have never seen one with tusks which I should

estimate at over 50 lbs. each. There is, however, said to be one

famous tusker, known locally as the ‘ Paiak-danta,’ which wanders

about in the Reserved and Zemindari ferests of the Bijnor District,

and this animal is reported to be one of the very finest elephants

in India, worth a huge sum should it ever be captured. Once or

twice agitations have been made by interested people to have this

animal proclaimed as a rogue, but fortunately the evidence against

him is very weak, and, so far, it has been possible to protect this

magnificent creature from an ignominious death at the hands of

some local sportsman. Ihave never had the good fortune to see

this beast, or try my camera on him, although I have been in his

neighbourhood a number of times and still hope that we may yet

meet one day.

Even though large tusks are rare in the United Provinces, the

elephants often grow to a large size and two rogues have been

shot within recent years measuring well over ten feet at the

shoulder, the details of these two animals being recorded in the

current numbers of the /nzdian Forester at the time. Of these,

one was shot in the Ramnagar Forest Division in 1914 and

measured 10 ft. 4 in. high, the tusks being 6 ft. 4 in. and 6 ft. 34 in.

in length and each 56 Ibs. in weight. The other was much the

same size and was shot at about the same time in Haldwani Forest

Division.

Wild elephants make a most interesting and exciting subject for

the animal-photographer and I have managed to make some 50

negatives of individual elephants during the last five years, although

IT have yet to succeed in making a satisfactory picture of a herd.

Some of these pictures have already been reproduced in Country

Life and elsewhere and some typical examples—which have not

yet been published—are included in this article. The first picture

“14 BIAAGOD

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Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

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AN OLD TUSKER WITH ONE TUSK BROKEN

F. W. Champion.

WILD ELEPHANTS [N 1HE UNITED PROVINCES 129

represents a young tusker whose ear fringe has not yet begun

to turn over; the second, a middle-aged makna (tuskless

male)—a fine muscular elephant; and the third, an old animal in

which the ivory was worn and yellow and one of the tusks broken

off in the middle. These elephants were all photographed with a

reflex camera used from the back of a staunch tame female Forest

Department elephant which does not exhibit the fear of wild

elephants so common among tame elephants. Indeed, many tame

elephants cannot be induced or driven to approach anywhere near

one of their wild cousins and the mahawats are often even more

afraid. It is somewhat difficult to understand why tame elephants

and mahawats should be so afraid of wild elephants, which are

normally not dangerous, and which have allowed me to approach

within a few yards on numerous occasions without any damage

resulting therefrom. True, we were once charged viciously by a

‘masth’ bull in charge of a herd, and on this occasion we were

saved from a bad accident only by firing two barrels of a shot gun

over his head, thereby causing him to swerve and rush past us

at two or three yards’ range; but this was an exception as the

‘masth’ discharge was clearly visible at some distance, and we

were simply asking for trouble by attempting to photograph this

particular beast. The usual semi-solitary bull will either bolt the

moment one attempts to approach him on a tame elephant, or else

he will stand and watch one’s approach with deep interest. Indeed,

he will sometimes advance towards one as one is taking photo-

graphs, and such was the case with the old tusker figured with this

article, who approached so close that his whole body could not

come within the field of my camera. It is somewhat nervous work

taking photographs of a wild elephant—who after all is never fully

to be trusted—approaching one in this way; but if one’s mahawat

fires a shot gun over his head whenever he comes uncomfortably

close, in most cases he will retreat, or, at least, not advance any

further, so that such photography provides one with a good deal

of excitement without being unduly dangerous. I have not

attempted to photograph wild elephants on foot, as one’s view-point

is so low that intervening branches and grass more often than not

utterly ruin one’s chances, which at all times are none too numerous

owing to the bad lighting in the denser forests which the elephants

frequent during the daytime. It is, however, perfectly practicable

tc photograph wild elephants on foot when they are bathing or

drinking in open pools, but they seem to prefer the night for such

operations and I have never been sufficiently fortunate as to catch

one in the act in photographically-possible daylight.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature connected with wild

elephants—a feature which has puzzled all who are intimately

acquainted with them—is the extraordinary paucity of records of

elephants which have been found dead after having died a natural

death in the forests. Indeed this subject has been exploited by

novelists to a considerable extent in the shape of romances dealing

with the hidden stores of ivory which are supposed to exist in

Africa and elsewhere as a result of the accumulations of centuries

of remains of elephants which have all collected in the same place

130 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

when they felt death approaching upon them. It is said that

expeditions have actually been financed in Africa with the sole

object of finding these supposed treasure-troves of ivory, but none

has ever been found, and the mystery still remains as to what

happens to the bodies of wild elephants when they die. It is to be

noted that even Mr. Marius Maxwell, whose recent splendid book

Stalking Big Game with a Camera is practically a monograph

on the African elephant, never found a dead wild elephant during

his expeditions, and in his writings seems rather studiously to

avoid this subject, which is of such extreme interest to all who are

interested in these magnificent creatures.

I have therefore attempted to collect all records of wild elephants

which have been found dead in the United Provinces forests during

recent years and have tried to ascertain the cause of death in each

case. The particulars of each record are as follows :—

(1) A dead middle-aged bull elephant with biggish tusks was

recorded in 1921 by my brother, Mr. H. G. Champion, 1.F.s., from

Harai, in Haidwani Division, where it was found on a fireline about

two days after death. The distance from water was about half a

mile and the cause of death was uncertain, there being no sign

of externalinjury. Some arsenic had been used in the neighbourhood

for killing Rohini (/allotus philippinensis) trees, but, as elephants

do not eat either the leaves or bark of Rohini, it seemed unlikely

that this was the cause of death.

(2) A second dead elephant, a small female, was also found

some four days after death at Goria Rau in Haldwani Division the

same year. It was not inspected by any officer, but it was said

to show a number of wounds on the throat and neck, and may

possibly have been killed by a tiger, although such an occurrence

is very rare in these forests, however frequent it may be in Burma

(vide Mr. Hopwood’s recent article in the /udian Forester).

(3) A third case is recorded by Mr. E. A. Smythies, 1.F.s., also

from Haldwani Division—which, incidentally, appears to be a very

fatal place for wild elephants. This animal was a fine solitary tusker

with six feet tusks and was found in November 1925 by a marking

gang. He had apparently died about the beginning of October in a

patch of what would have been swampy ground—but not quicksand—

at that time of the year. His legs were embedded in the ground

about 24 to 3 feet deep, and he was half-squatting, half-lying, on his

left side. It did not appear that he had been caught in a quick-

sand—elephants are very clever in avoiding such danger-spots—as .

there was a solid bank with trees and shrubs about two yards in

front of him, and he was not so deeply embedded that he could

not have struggled out somehow. He was not an old or feeble

elephant, and it is possible that he may have been sick at the

time and thus have temporarily iacked the strength to struggle out,

or he may have been bitten by a hamadryad.

None of these elephants, however, was a particularly old beast,

so that the finding of their carcases does little to help towards a

solution of what happens to old elephants when their time comes to

depart from this world. ‘The same remark applies to the two dead

elephants recorded by Lt.-Col. Faunthorpe in his articles entitled

‘VNMVN GHOV-HICGCGIN HOUAVI V

‘uorgueny) “Mf

"2Yyslitgo7D

Ee ae

SEE

"206 “}SIH{ ‘WWN Avquicg ‘'uanor

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

FY. W. Champion.

A FEMALE ELEPHANT WHICH PRESUMABLY DIED OF OLD AGE,

WILD ELEPHANTS IN THE UNITED PROVINCES 131

‘The Most Dangerous Sport,’ which were published in the Proneer

during 1926; but a dead elephant has now been found in this

(Lansdowne) Division which appears to be a genuine case of a wild

elephant dying of old age. A photograph of the corpse is published

with this article, and the case is sufficiently interesting and remark-

able to justify my giving a full description of it here.

At the beginning of November, 1926, I received a report from

one of my Range Officers to the effect that on October 28, 1926, a

female wild elephant had died in the Zemindari’ Forests of the

Bijnor District and that he had gone to see it on October 30, 1926.

I instructed him to see that the corpse remained as intact as

possible so that I could come to inspect it personally as soon as

opportunity offered. This occurred on November 5, 1926, so that

I saw the corpse exactly a week after death. It was lying on its

side in open grass-forest containing a few scattered trees, and was

only about 400 yards from the huts of some graziers, -who had

brought in the news of its death. Decomposition had already set

in and the meat had been attacked by vultures, pigs and hyzenas,

but, owing to the very thick skin, they had not been able to eat

very much of it. I had one shady Ber (Zizyphus Jujuba) tree

removed and then took the accompanying photograph of it exactly

as it was lying. It was a large female in a very emaciated condi-

tion, and the general appearance suggested advanced age. ‘There

was no hair on the skin, which was very light in colour, and the

upper rims of the ears were very markedly turned over, although

the lower fringes were not frayed. At the time of death there had

not been any diarrhoea, which generally occurs with cattle disease,

and there was no blood or any sign of an external wound. The

graziers who found the corpse said that they had known this

elephant for the last year and that she was so old and weak that

she could not run away with the other wild elephants when driven

from the crops of the neighbouring villagers. To prove their

statement they pointed out the droppings, which contained whole

leaves and pieces of grass quite undigested, this being one of the

main signs of old age and failing teeth. I then had the jaws cut

open with an axe and found that, in the upper jaw, only one molar

remained, the grinding surface of which was worn right down toa

perfectly smooth surface, whereas the molars in the lower jaw

were mere stumps. Under these circumstances it is remarkable

that the beast could have managed to remain alive as iong as she

did, and, to my mind, this appears to be a clear case of a wild

elephant dying of old age in open tree forest, which it had fre-

quented for a year or more before death. It is to be noted that,

unless death overtook her suddenly, which seems unlikely under

the circumstances, no attempt was made to seek seclusion in the

very dense and mountainous Reserved Forests which border on the

site of death.

A remarkable feature of this case is that the Ranger saw the

corpse on October 30, 1926, and noted its position carefully, but when

he came with me on November 5, 1926, we found that it had been

moved to a different position. A dead elephant weighs something

in tons, and the spot is practically uninhabited except for a few

132 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

graziers, so that I am certain that the corpse was not moved either

by man or by scavenging animals such as pigs or hyenas. The

graziers state that one or two other wild elephants visited the place

while the corpse was lying there and it appears that they almost

certainly tried to move her away or to lift her up. Wild elephants

are very long-lived animals so perhaps they do not understand what

death is and thus attempted to help one of their fellows in distress.

I would suggest that the tradition of wild elephants collecting in

some secret place to die has little foundation in fact, and that the

hidden treasure-troves of ivory exist only in imagination. Elephants

live in very sparsely-populated districts in tropical forests and their

life-span is very long. Deaths are therefore not common and may

occur anywhere within immense tracts of forest. In tropical coun-

tries corpses are attacked by innumerable scavenging creatures

such as vultures, crows, hyzenas, jackals, pigs and porcupines,

whose work is soon supplemented by ants, termites and fungi.

Foliowing upon these agents comes the annual monsoon, which

produces in afew months, grass and other rank vegetative growth

twenty or more feet high, so that a single season may easily

remove the entire body and muchof the skeleton of an animal

even as large as an elephant. The tusks may easily be covered

with vegetation and they are certainly largely gnawed by porcu-

pines ; they must also be very old, worn and broken by the time an

elephant dies of old age, so that they also might easily disappear

. after a few year’s exposure to a tropical climate and its attendent

decomposing influences.

However, records of wild elephants which have died of old age

are extremely scanty and one cannot argue from a particular case.

Perhaps some of the numerous readers of this Journal can throw

more light on this subject ?

SCIENTIFIC RESULTS FROM THE MAMMAL SURVEY

Now XLV Ii

On THE GENERIC POSITION OF THE AFGHAN JERBOA

(Alactaga indica)

OLDFIELD THOMAS, F.R.S.

(By kind permission of the authorities of the British Museunt.)

In his valuable Summary of the Indian Mammal Survey, Mr.

Wroughton placed the Afghan Jerboa, the only Indian member of

the family, in Nehring’s group Alactagulus.* But this placing

appears to have been done by a misunderstanding of Nehring’s

paper on the subject, a misunderstanding which I may have been

partly responsible for, and in any case it is better to put the proper

position on record for the benefit of Indian naturalists.

Nehring formed the subgenus Alactagulus to contain Alociaea

acontion, contrasting the species throughout with A. elater, which

he rightly took as representing true Alactaga. But it is not to

acontion but to A. elater that the Afghan Jerboa is allied, indeed

very closely allied, and it is certain that the two are congeneric,

while acontion is quite a distinct animal, with a different dental

formula.

In consequence the proper name of the Afghan Jerboa is, as

stated by Blanford, Alactaga indica, Gray.

' Journal, Bombay Nat. His. Soc., vol. xxvi, p. 777, 1919.

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR

B. B. OSMASTON, M.B.O.U.

PART WT

(Continued from page 999 of Volume XXX1)

(With a plate)

122. Motacilla alba personata. The Masked Wagtail.

This is not a common species in Kashmir but it occurs in the valley as also in

Ladakh. Females and young of Hodgson’s Pied Wagtail (the common Pied

Wagtail of Kashmir) are so like this species that they are very apt to be

mistaken for it.

A nest of the Masked Wagtail with 4 eggs, was found by a stream at Shusha

in Ladakh at 14,000’. It contained 4 eggs which resemble those of Hodgson’s

Pied Wagtail.

The average of 4 eggs is 20°3 by 14:5.

123. Motacilla alba hodgsoni. Hodgson’s Pied Wagtail.

This is the common Pied Wagtail of Kashmir and Ladakh. It is a migratory

bird, the great majority leaving Kashmir in the late autumn and returning in

March. A few birds may, however, be seen occasionally near Srinagar in

winter. They are very numerous throughout the main and side valleys of

Kashmir proper frequenting waterways, canals, big and small streams and the

margins of lakes and jhils from 5,000’ up to about 10,000’.

In Ladakh they are found on the Indus and its tributaries up to about 12,000’.

They breed in May and June, the nest being placed generally under a stone

or dense low bush on a stony island or in part of the dry river or stream bed.

Five, more rarely 6 eggs are laid which resemble those of the English Pied

Wagtail.

The average of 10 eggs is 21'9 by 15'6.

124. Motacilla cinerea melanope. The Grey Wagtail.

This is a common species bothin Kashmir and Ladakh. ‘They arrive in the

valley in March and gradually move up to their breeding grounds up the side

streams.

Nidification commences in May at altitudes of from about 8,000’ up to

13,000’ Nests are composed of dry grass and weeds lined with hair, and are

placed among stones, under a stone, in a stone wall or in any pile of rubbish

generally near a stream.

Five is the ordinary full complement of eggs which are freckled all over with

pale yellowish or greyish-brown and which measure (average of 15 eggs) 18°2

by 14°10.

125. Motacilla citreola citreoloides. Hodgson’s Yellow-headed Wagtail.

This is an exceedingly common bird in the summer both in Kashmir and in

Ladakh. In Kashmir they chiefly breed in the big swamps and jhils, e. g.

Hokar Sar at about 5,100’ above in sea-level. Here they are very numerous.

The nests are placed on the ground in tufts of grass, a few inches above the

swamp level and are well concealed. They were alsofound breeding at about

11,500’ in an extensive patch of swampy ground near the Gangabal Lake

(Haramukh.)

On crossing the Himalayan Range into Ladakh they are found again breeding

in large numbers in the Dras and Suru Valleys at from 10,000” to 12,000’as well

as in the Indus Valley and around Shushal, etc., at 14,000’. Also at Puga in

Rupshu, at 14,000’.

The breeding season is May and June in the Valley of Kashmir, June, July

and August of Ladakh.

Cock birds are very striking and handsome with their lemon-yellow heads

and breasts and black backs. The hen birds are found in two distinct phases

of plumage.

BIRDS OF KASHMIR

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist Soc

MIR pucerers

PATH NEAR SONMARG.

A CORNER OF WULAR LAKE,

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 135

(1) Young birds, presumably one year old, where the yellow of the male

bird is replaced by very pale yellow, almost white.

(2) Birds of two years and over much yellower than (1) but paler yellow

than the males.

Both these varieties are found breeding. Nests are well concealed on the

ground among grass, rushes, etc., often on the ‘ bunds’ alongside irrigation

channels between cultivated fields.

Four is the ordinary full clutch of eggs but 5, 3 and 2 incubated eggs are

found,

They are of a mottled pale khaki or yellow-brown with often a black streak

at the broad end. Eggs from Ladakh average larger than those from the

Valley of Kashmir as will be seen from the following comparative figures :—

Ladakh Hokra

Average 80 eggs. Average 60 eggs.

20°9.><15°1. 20°15 14:5.

ho sa 22S 10 pee Wace 0-0 oo 9,

Sip ice L/°O OG Lae] Na sc. 204 Xi IFC,

126. Anthus trivialis haringtoni. Witherby’s Tree Pipit.

Not uncomnion in the summer just above the tree limit at from 11,000’ to

12,000’ on the Kashnuir side of the Himalayan Ranve.

A nest found on the open mountain side above Zogpal in the Lidar Valley at

about 11,500’ was made of grass and lined with finer grass. It contained three

fresh eggs on July 12, the average measurement of which is 19°3 by 15:2,

127. Anthus similis jerdoni. The Brown Rock Pipit.

This is a common bird in the summer months on the lower, base, rocky and

stony slopes of the hills bordering the Kashmir Valley from 5,000’ to 6,000’.

They frequent rocky slopes devoid of shrubs as well as those upon which

there is a certain amount of low scrub, but they never enter the forest.

They are early breeders, nests with eggs being found from April throughout

May and June. Nests are composed of dry grass, lined with the same and

are placed on a steepish slope under atuft of grass or at the base of a low

bush. ‘Three or four eggs are laid which are white rather heavily marked with

spots and blotches of brown, greyish-brown or reddish-brown—which measure

as follows :—

. . 92. .

bm HEISE Bo BASIS average ee, 200206

The bird has no song, only asingle note, uttered at short intervals, sometimes

higher and sometimes lower in tone.

128. Anthus roseatus. Hodgson’s Pipit.

This is a fairly common bird in Kashmir. In winter they are to be found

in damp ground in the Valley of Kashmir and in summer on the open grassy

slopes on the Himalayas and Pir Panjal Range at from 10,000’ to 13,000’

above the tree limit, and here they breed in June. A nest found above

Liddarwat in the Lidar valley at 10,500’ was placed under a small tuft of

grass on a steep grassy slope. It was composed of dry grass, lined with

the same material, and contained 4 fresh eggs very handsomely marked with

dark purplish-brown.

They measure (average) 21°8 by 16:0.

129. Otocorys alpestris longirostris. The Long-billed Horned Lark.

This large, handsome lark is common in summer at high altitudes on both

sides of the Himalayan Range but especially so on the Ladakh side, and less

common on the Pir Panjal Range. They occur chiefly between 11,500’ and

13,500’, on open dry sandy hillsides with scattered tufts of grass and her-

bacious plants, especially where there is much artemisia.

The male bird has a short rather loud and sweet song of afew notes uttered

from a fixed perch generally from the top of arock. ‘These birds do not ever

soar in the air like the skylark.

Nests are placed in a small depression in the ground scraped out by the

parent bird, which is placed under the shelter of atiny Artemisia or other

small herbacious plant. The nest is composed of a few bits from of dry neatly

lined with very fine cottony down from the Artemisia plant.

136 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX.

Three or 2 eggs only are laid, which resemble generally those of the skylark,

but are larger. They measure :—

Lig 3 SIRT 6 B. ... 27°S X 776) Average (11 eggs), 24°5 X

GS. oar. 92d 0X 1679 NE Pace cou pK 17°4.

130. Otocorys alpestris elwesi. Elwes’ Horned Lark,

This species is common throughout Ladakh at high elevations, from 13,000’

to 17,000’, except in Western Ladakh, on the slopes of the Himalayas, where it is

replaced by the preceding species. They prefer stony, sandy ground, especi-

ally where there is a sprinkling cf weeds or grass, and they are specially

fond of localities where Artemisia is found.

The male has a short, rather shrill, song of a few notes, uttered from the top

of a rock or stone, which somewhat resembles the song of the corn-bunting.

Nidification commences early in June, and 2 more rarely 3 and sometimes

only one, eggs are laid. Nests are placed in small circular depressions

scratched in the ground, often in the shelter of a small plant or stone and are

lined with soft vegetable down.

The eggs are more or less densely mottled all over with yellowish or greyish-

brown with a darker cap or zone at the broad end.

Eggs give the following measurements :—

L:, from 26°1 to 21°6. ~ B., from 17:4 to 16:2. Average (24 egos), 24:4 oby

163,

131. Alauda guigula guttata. The Small Kashmir Skylark.

This is a very common bird in ;Ladakh in the Indus and Nubra Valleys as

well as in the Dras and Suru Valleys. They arrive in Ladakh in the end of

April and are found wherever there is permanent cultivation between 10,000’

and 12,000’. They frequent the barley, lucerne and grass meadows. The

song of the male resembles that of the English skylark and it is uttered while

soaring, as well as from a fixed perch on a bush or rock. They may often be

heard singing before sunrise, but chiefly a little later in the day. Breeding

commences in the end of May and fresh eggs are obtainable throughout June

and July.

Nests are placed on the ground in a slight depression among grass, lucerne

or young barley. Four is the usual full complement of eggs laid, but sometimes

3 only, and more rarely 5 are found.

Fees resemble those of the English skylark in colour. They measure :—

Ton etn te ee Be 2 425°6 X777 lAverage (Ai coos) 28clmy.

SR 9 ev Oe Toes) Nietpase 22 WPA oes ahig LG oe

A very similar skylark, which appears to be the same sub-species, is found

breeding in the Kashmir Valley at 5,200’.

The eggs of this bird are similar, but smaller on the average as is shown by

the following measurements :— ;

Lit un 2A XK 164 By ts: 420°9-X 7701). Averace 4(1s:eges) 22115

Cu tent? OY AD Ne ie cl ea ely 16,5,

132. Calandrelia acutirostris tibetana. Brook’s Short-toed Lark,

This is an exceedingly common bird throughout Ladakh being found almost

everywhere from 10,500’ to 16,000’, except on steep ground. They are also

found in the Dras and Suru Valleys, where however they are not so common.

They affect sandy plains and gentle hill slopes dotted with stones and small

rocks and with here and there scanty herbacious vegetation. The song, emitted

from the top of a rock or stone, is poor and monotonous.

The nesting season commences in the end of May and fresh eggs may be

found throughout June and the first half of July. Nests occupy slight de-

pressions in the ground scantily lined with a little dry grass and finished

with a dense, warm lining of very fine vegetable down. They are placed

in the shelter of a stone or small plant, more rarely quite exposed.

Three eggs is the full clutch, but not infrequently 2 only are laid. They

are rather elongate ovals, spotted all over with pale greyish or yellowish ~

brown, occasionally in a zone at the broad end.

They measure :—

Pe CHES WO Bae soo 5.

x is's

2°0 'K°75*0 ae (49 eggs), 21°0 by

Sit ee ag INGE eee e3'O DK ASO 14°6,

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 137

‘133. Zosterops palpebrosa elwesi. ‘The Western White-eye.

This is not a very common bird in Kashmir, but it is found occasionally in

fhe valley and on the lower wooded slopes of the hills up to about 6,000’, where

it breeds. It is also occasionally seen in the spring and autumn in Srinagar.

It is probably common on the lower south-west slopes of the Pir Panjal, in

Jummoo and Punch.

134. Picus squamatus squamatus. The Scaly-bellied Green Woodpecker.

Occurs in Kashmir, in wooded areas up to about 8,000’ altitude, but is not very

common. In winter they descend to the lower hills and valleys and may some-

times be seen in and near Srinagar.

135. Dryobates himalayensis. The Western Himalayan Pied Woodpecker.

Common in well-wooded areas on the slopes of the main and side valleys and,

hills generally up to about 9,000’. They are found both in fir and in mixed

forest. ‘They are early breeders, i

Two nests, each containing 4 fresh eggs, were found in the Sind Vailey

in the third week of April in holes in willow trees about 12 from the ground,

Eggs glossy, and of course pure white. They measure :—

L. and B. ... 28:0 X 19°9 |

S. aad No. 24°5 Ms ta \ Average of 8 eggs, 26°5 by 19°1.

136. Dryobates auriceps. The Brown-fronted Pied Woodpecker.

Occurs on the lower wooded slopes in the main oe but is not common.

137. lynx torquilla japonica. The Kashmir Wryneck.

This is a common bird in Kashmirin the summer, especially in and around

Srinagar. They are most numerous in the willow copses in the main valley,

but they ascend the valleys and hills up to 11,000’. A bird was heard call-

ing at Kargi! 9,000’, but they are very rare in Ladakh.

They arrive in the last week of March and‘are very noisy, calling throughout

April and May. Their call is identical with that of the European Wryneck.

Breeding commences in the middle of May, eggs being laid in holes in trees,

chiefly in rotten portions of willow trees, excavated by the parent birds. ‘The

eggs are laid on the bare wood, or on a layer of fine chips.

Two nests found on May 23 and 24, contained 6 ang 7 nearly trésh eggs

respectively, pure white with slight gloss.

They measure :—

Wey eee e ce lL Oe L4G B. foe 72

; ‘0 x 16'1 oe tee of 13-eggs,

Se we 207K 1S'9 N.

21-1 by 15:5,

138. Coracias garulla semenowi. ‘The Kashmir Roller.

A fairly common bird in the valley of Kashmir and in the side valleys up to

about 6,500’. ‘They arrive in the spring and leave again, in the autumn, gener-

ally in October. In their habits they resemble the Indian roller and are

often to be seen perched on the telegraph wires or on the dead branch of a

tree from which they have a commanding and uniterrupted view (of their

surroundings.

Breeding commences in June, a hole in a steep bank, often the river bank,

or in a hollow tree being selected as a nesting site.

Five or 6 eggs are laid, pure white and rather elongate ovals, with conside-

rable gloss. The eggs are not infrequently speckled all over with small

dark brown spots, which are readily removed by washing. The origin of

these spots is not known but exactly similar spotting has been observed ‘in

the case of the eggs of Ceryle rudis and Melittophagus erythrocephalus in

other parts of India.

Kees’ measurements are as follows : —_

eee to Lee O Dita cecevoOr ds OG. 29: ee (16 eges),, 36°3

Deb. poe co K29°4 IN er cep BOL OM CL" by 29°0.

139. Merops apiaster. The European Bee-eater.

This is a common bird in the main valley of Kashmir and for a short distance,

only up the larger side valleys during the summer months. They arrive in the

end of April or early in May and leave in thefend of ‘August or early iy

138 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

September. They frequent the foothills and the lower slopes of the Takht-i-

Suleiman, especially wherever there are soft alluvial banks or cliff. Breeding

commences early in June and the birds usually nest in small scattered com-

munities. For the reception of the eggs a hole about 2 inches in diameter

is excavated in moderately soft alluvium or clay-loam. The hole slopes gently

upwards for a distance of about 3 ft. at the end of which there is a spacious

egg-chamber 9 inches or so in diameter, which is unlined.

Five or six rather spherical, glossy, white eggs are laid which measure as

follows :—

Lind sae Hee 2 (2h 1 B: .. 2699 96) 22x2. | Amenage, (23 eggs) 25°8 by

Smee Vcore hell N..... 28° Mer i e2aco:

140. Ceryle rudis leucomelanura. The Indian Pied Kingfisher.

A fairly common bird in the main valley of Kashmir, along streams and the

borders of lakes, e.g. the Wular, Dal and Anchar Lakes. This isa resident

species, and an early breeder, fresh eggs having been observed on March

1, while snow was still lying about.

Nest holes are excavated in steep banks often but not always near streams.

The hole is about 3’ long and the nest cavity contains as arule a Jayer of

fine fish bones, doubtless thrown up in ‘ castings ’ by the parent birds.

Five or 6 eggs are laid, not very spherical, nor very glossy. ‘They are, of-

course, pure white and measure :— ne

ee Seats a oe eee ous .4 ) Average (15 eggs),

S andB.... 282 X 22:45 N. .., JOB XK 224 1 3.03% hy 23-6.

141, Ceryle lugubris guttulata, The Himalayan Pied Kingfisher.

This is rather a rare bird in Kashmir, being only occasionally met with along

the larger rivers and side streams, up to about 6,000’ altitude.

This handsome bird, the largest of all the Indian Kingfishers, would un-

doubtedly be commoner in Kashmir if it were not for the ruthless persecution

they are subjected to in the interests of fish preservation.

They are early breeders, nesting in holes excavated in the banks of streams

and rivers. Unlike the preceding species they never hover in the air but dive

after fish from a fixed perch.

142. Alcedo atthis pallasii, The Central Asian Kingfisher.

This is an extremely common bird throughout the Valley of Kashmir being

found along every river, stream and water course as well as along the borders of

the lakes and in the larger jhils. They are resident birds but they do not appear

to be so numerous in the winter, so possibly some birds move down to more

congenial altitudes in the frosty weather. They are found up the side valleys

to about 7,000’ elevations, rarely higher but a single bird was seen near

Dras (Ladakh) on May 2, at 10,500’ and a second bird above Leh at 12,000’

towards the end of May. With these exceptions the species was not met with

in Ladakh.

Breeding in Kashmir commences in April and fresh eggs may be found till

the end of May. From 5 to7 glossy, rather spherical, pure white eggs are laid

measuring :—

pete cove OS 1729 Bs ees 6 20U2 yo 2 te (37 eggs), 21:2 by

Sn 4! ee ed the Nis sit a COS xe 700. 1726;

Nest holes are excavated in clay or alluvial banks, sometimes close to water,

but not infrequently at a considerable distance away, nests having been

observed on the slopes of the Takht-i-Suleiman, at least a quarter of a mile

from the Dal Lake 200’ to 300’ above the level of the same. This beautiful

little Kingfisher is very tame and confiding in Kashmir, perching on the house

boats and other river craft in complete disregard of its human occupants, and it

would be a good deal commoner than it is were it not that large numbers are

destroyed annually by the staff of the Fishery Department.

Such slaughter is to be deprecated, in that it is improbable that this King-

fisher, even if unchecked, would perceptibly affect the stock of trout, and the

bird is undoubtedly a great asset to scenery of lake and stream in Kashmir,

and one probably more generally appreciated than the fish.

143. Upupa epops epops. ‘The European Hoopoe.

This is a very common bird in the Valley of Kashmir, especially in and

around Srinagar, It is also found up the larger side valleys, where it may he

———————————

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 139

seen occasionally as high as 9,000’ or even higher. It is also toutd, though

much less common, in Ladakh, especially near irrigated land and about

villages and in Leh, up to about 12,000’. It is probably commoner in Kashmir

than anywhere, certainly than anywhere in the east, an abundance of food

being everywhere and always available in the ever-moist grassy meadows and

ardens.

They feed largely in Kashmir on the grubs of Cockchafers which they dig up

in the grass lands, but they are often robbed of their prey as soon as they have

obtained it, by the cheeky and ubiquitous Sparrow.

The majority arrive in March and leave in September, but a few birds may be

seen occasionally even in winter. Breeding commences in April, 6 or 7 eggs

being laid on the ground with no nest, sometimes in a hole in a mud wall, often

in a stone wall, and less frequently in a hole in a hollow tree.

More than once eggs have been found laid on the floor of a large dark

‘ godown ’ to which the bird has found access through some small hole.

The eggs are pale skim-milk blue when quite fresh, but they become rapidly

discoloured even after 24 hours, and they are then a dull pale dirty greenish-

grey.

They measure :—

Weieiacs 2 1/59 Bae geet 20:5. 6 eon Average (26 eggs), 26°2 by

Sie ae e420, 16°7 25°4 X 16°7 17°6.

144. Micropus melba melba. The Alpine Swift.

Not common, but occasionally seen at high elevations in flight.

145. Micropus apus pekinensis. ‘The Eastern Swift.

Not uncommon between 9,000’ and 12,000’, both in Kashmir and in Ladakh,

breeding in precipitous rocky ground.

Many were observed in the last week in May in the Indus Valley near Leh at

10,500’, hawking flies. They had probably only just arrived. Later they

were noticed in the Shyok Valley at 10,500’ in July and below Khardong,

near Kharchar, they were breeding in cliffs at 11,000’. They also breed

in the crags above Sonamarg (10,000’) and near, Tosha Mundan (in the Pir

Panjal) at 10,500’.

146. Micropus pacificus leuconyx. Blyth’s White-rumped Swift.

Occasionally seen on the wing at higher elevations on the great Himalayan

Range.

147. Micropus affinis galilegensis. The Kashmir House-Swift.

Fairly common in and around Srinagar.

148. Cuculus canorus telephonus. The Asiatic Cuckoo.

This is by far the commonest cuckoo found in Kashmir. ‘They arrive

towards the middle of April and leave during September. They are found

throughout the summer, in fairly large numbers, on the Pir Panjal, as well as

on the Himalayan range, alike in the valleys and on the higher hills. They

breed during May, June and July from about 6,000’ up to 13,000’.

At the lower elevations they chiefly parasitize the Indian Bush-Chat

(Saxicola torguata indica) and at higher levels, the Himalayan Ruby-throat

(Calliope pectoralis pectoralis) the Redstarts (both Phenicurus frontalis and

Pheenicurus ochrurus pheenicuroides) and Hodgson’s Pipit (Anthus roseatus).

In Ladakh they are very scarce except in the western portion i.e., in the Dras

and Suru Valleys and slopes of the great Himalayan divide, where they are

common from 10,000’ to 13,000’. Their call which exactly resembles that of the

european cuckoo, is heard throughout May and June and even as late as

July 24.

An egg obtained on? July, in the Lidar Valley at 7,000’ elevation in the

nest of the Indian Bush Chat was white with rusty spots. It measured

24°0 & 17-4.

A second egg, from the nest of Calliope pectoralis was found on July 26, at

the head of the Wardwan Valley below the Bhotkhol Glacier at 11.000’. It was

of a uniform blue, and measured 25°4 by 19°5.

140 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXL

_ 149... Cuculus optatus. ‘The Himalayan Cuckoo.

This cuckoo, so common in Garhwal and Kumaon is relatively scarce in

Kashmir. Its characteristic note—Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoo—resembling somewhat

the call of the Hoopoe—was heard occasionally below Gulmarg and in the Lidar

Valley in June, at about 8,000’.

150. Cuculus poliocephalus poliocephatus. The Small Cuckoo.

This species is decidedly commoner than the last being found from about

8,000’ up to 12,000’, on all the higher ranges including the Pir Panjal, but

chiefly at about 10,000’ to 11,000’.

The call of this Cuckoo is peculiar and unmistakeable. It consists of a

rather unmusical cackling call of from 4 to6 notes, first 4, then 5 and then 6 the

call of 6 notes being repeated several times in a gradually descending scales

I agree with Colonel MacGrath that the call of the bird resembles the syllables

‘ That’s your smoky pepper.’

This cuckoo lays two distinct kinds‘of eggs, viz. (a) pure white and (6) uniform

chocolate pink one would expect to find the latter type of egg laid in the nest

of Horornis, but although I have found many nests of this bird in Kashmir in

localities where this cuckoo was in evidence I was never fortunate enopgh to

discover its egg.

In the Darjiling District several eggs the chocolate pink type were found in

nests of the Short-wing (Heteroxenicus) and again in Garhwal in the nest of

Puepyga squamata ; in both cases in company with whzfe eggs.

151. Clamator jacobinus. The Pied Crested Cuckoo.

1 was surprised to find this species, so characteristic of the plains of India, as a

Summer visitor to the Valley of Kashmir. They are local and not common. 1

found them frequenting the lower bush-covered slopes of the hills near Sri-

nagar between 5,000’ and 6,500’.

In the plains of India they parasitize chiefly the common Babbler, Argya

caudata, but this bird is not found in the Valley of Kashmir.

It is most probable that in Kashmir this cuckoo lays in the nest of the

Streaked Laughing-thrush (Zvochalopterum lineatum) which is common in

the jungle frequented by this cuckoo. j 2

152. Penthoceryx sonneratii souneratii. The Bay Banded Cuckoo.

I never personally met with this bird in Kashmir but Mr. S. L. Whymper

obtained one in the Lidar Valley in July 1905.

It must, I think, be a rare bird in Kashmir.

153. Psittacula schisticeps schisticeps. The Slaty-headed: Paroquet.

Fairly common in the lower mixed forests of the main and side Valleys up te

about 6,500’, and occasionally higher.

154. Tyto alba:javanica. The Indian Barn Owl.

Not uncommon in the vicinity of Srinagar where it ay) be heard calling a

hight.

155. Strix alice biddu!phi. Scully’s Wood Owl.

This Owl is common in Kashmir in all wooded areas from the level of the

main valley (5,100’) up to the tree limit at 11,000’. It also occurs in Srinagar

and a specimen was obtained in the winter in Peshawar.

They are nocturnal in their habits, and, when discovered, are mobbed in

the .day time by crows and other small birds. One was seen near Srinagar

being chased and eventually killed, by a pair of Hawk Eagles. The ordinary

call'.of this Owl is a loud Hoo......... OOs San Hoo-o00-00-00. With an interval

of some four seconds between the first and the second Hoo, and about half

a second between the second Hoo and the final rolling note a loud ‘ Quack’

is also sometimes heard as well as a_ soft ‘coo’ very similar tothe call of

the Ring Dove.

156. Bubo bubo bengalensis. The Rock Horned Owl.

Fairly common on the lower rocky hillsides on all sides of the main Kashmir

Valley between 5,000’ and 6,000’. A couple of pairs are resident on the

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 144

Takht-i-Suleiman near Srinagar. These birds are not very nocturnal and they

may often be seen in the mornings or evenings perched on a rock on

precipitous hillside, but they avoid direct sunlight.

They feed almost entirely on rats, with an occasional Musk Shrew, as may

by seen from their castings. The call, heard in the dusk before dawn or

after sunset, is a loud. Hoo (a single, not a double note.)

Nidification commences in March, three eggs being laid in sheltered holes

or small caves among rocks on steep, almost percipitous, rocky hillsides.

On one occasion a jungle crow was observed in close proximity to a nest con-

taining three fresh eggs. On being scared away it was found that he had just

broken into one of the three eggs, all of which would doubtless have been

sucked in due course.

The eggs are large broad ovals without gloss measuring :—

PandsBe ic. 613 G47 ae

Sand N. 2. 587% 464 | Average (6 eggs), 60°1 by 47°3.

157. Bubo bubo. (2 subsp.)

A large Horned Ow! was observed on three occasions in Ladakh.

(1) In the ruins of the Lamasery at Basgu (Indus Valley) at 10,000’.

(2) On the rocks above Puga (Rupshu) at 14,000’.

(3) On the Lamasery Hill at Nimu Mud (Indus Valley) at 13,500’

‘They undoubtedly breed in all these three localities.

158. Glaucidium cuculoides cuculoides. ‘The Large Barred Owlet.

A pair were seen in the olive grove near Garhi (elevation 3,000’) on the

Jhelum Valley road.

159. Glaucidium brodiei. The Collared Pigmy Owlet.

This Owlet, so common in the upper hill forests in Garhwal and Kumaon,

from 8,000’-9,000’ is decidedly rare in the Kashmir. It was heard calling on

2 or 3 occasions only below Gulmarg on the Pir Panjal Range. Thecallis a

clear bell-like whistle repeated four times, with a short pause between the

first and second and again between the third and fourth notes thus:

Hoo—Hoo-Hoo-Hoo.

160. Pandion haliaetus haliaetus. The Osprey.

Not infrequently seen on the Wular Lake and along the Jhelum River as far

up as Srinagar. They are chiefly seen in the cold weather months but a pair

were seen as late as April 24, and the birds are reported to have bred in the

neighbourhood of the Lake. .

161. AAgypius monachus. ‘The Cinereous Vulture.

This bird is rarely seen in Kashmir.

162. Gyps himaiayensis. The Himalayan Griffon.

Common in Kashmir from the level of the valley up to at least 12,000’.

As many as fifty were counted round the carcase of a buffalo at 10,000’ in

the Lidar Valley. They are much less common in Ladakh but a few were

seen in May near Dras. ‘They breed on rocky precipices from 6,000’ to

8,000’ nests being usually inaccessible without ropes.

Two nests were obtained on February 11 and 15, at 6,500’ while

snow was still on the ground. ‘They contained one fresh egg each, spotless

white, which measure 96:0 X 69°0 and 88°4 X 69:7 respectively.

163. Neophron percnopterus percnopterus. The Egyptian Vulture.

Not common in Kashmir, but is found generally distributed in the valley.

Two pairs breed on preciptous ground on the Takht, Srinagar, at 5,500’.

These birds appear to be summer visitors only, presumably retiring to the

plains in winter.

Two eggs are laid in a nest composed of sticks and lined with dead leaves,

rags,, paper, etc. They are white richly marked with deep reddish brown

They measure (average of 6 eggs) 66°4 by 51°8.

Fresh eggs are obtainable about the middle of April.

142 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

164. Gypactus barbatus grandis. The Eastern Bearded Vulture.

This great bird is found commonly in Kashmir on all the hills surrounding

the valley from about 6,000’ upto 13,000’ and also in Ladakh, where however

it is rare. They are usually to be seen quartering the open hillside on

motionless wings, only rarely having recourse to a few measured wing-flaps.

They may frequently be observed to rise upwards of a thousand feet in a few

minutes in big circles, without a single stroke of the wing evidently taking

advantage of rising currents of air.

They feed on carrion, including bones, and have never been observed by the

writer attacking or threatening a living animal.

165. Aquila nipalensis nipalensis. The Eastern Steppe Eagle.

Occasionally seen in the vicinity of Srinagar and elsewhere in the Valley in

the winter months.

166. Hieraetus fasciatus. Bonelli’s Eagle.

Not common but occasionally seen singly or in pairs in the main and side

Valleys of Kashmir below 7,000’.

167. Hieraetus pennatus. The Booted Eagle.

Not uncommon in the Valley of Kashmir where they breed in May. At least

two pairs breed near the tops of very big chenar trees in Srinagar and they

are responsible for most of the thefts of domestic fowls, attributed to the black-

eared kite.

A single egg, obtained on May 15, was pure white, fresh, and measured

51°7 by 41°9.

168. Cuncuma leucorypha. Pallas’ Fishing Eagle.

A fairly common bird in the vicinity of lakes and jhils in the main valley

of Kashmir, where they are resident, nesting in early spring or late winter on

the summits of huge chenar trees.

They also occur in Ladakh, a pair having been seen at 10,600’ in the Indus

Valley and another pair near the Tso Moriri Lake at 15,000’ in Rupshu. This

was in June. Col. Meinertzhagen informs me that he found a pair ensconced

near the jhil at Shushal (14,200’) which had killed off practically all the young

zeese (Anmser indicus) on the water.

169. Milvus migrans lineatus. The Black-eared Kite.

This is the common kite of Kashmir. It is found throughout the main

valley, and is specially numerous in and around Srinagar, They are also seen

on the surrounding mountains up to at least 11,000’, but they probably all

breed in the valley between 5,000’ and 6,000’.

A few were seen also in Ladakh, especially near Leh, where they also breed.

This kite is resident in Kashmir throughout the year. Breeding commences

about the middle of March. Nests are usually placed high up in a fork of a

big chenar tree, from 50’ to 100’ from the ground and are generally difficult

to reach. ‘They are occasionally also built in poplars and large mulberry trees

and are there more easily accessible.

The nest is a large mass of sticks, lined with wool, hair, rags, paper, etc.

‘'wo eggs—more rarely 3—are laid which resemble those of the common

pariah kite, but are larger on the average. The ground colour is white, and

the eggs are blotched, spotted or sometimes lined in various degrees, with

chestnut brown.

‘They measure :—

e See eee ae SY7 X 47-4 Average of 59 eggs, 57°9 by 45°3.

The average of 47 eggs of WM. migrans govinda taken in Rawalpindi is

52°4 by 43:0.

170. Circus macrourus. The Pale Harrier.

171. Circus cyaneus. ‘The Hen Harrier.

Both the above species may often be seen during the autumn winter and

early spring months quartering the ground in the valley.

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 143

172. Circus exruginosus xruginosus. ‘The Marsh Harrier.

This is a common bird in all the jhils and marshes in the Valley of Kashmir.

They arrive as a rule early in September and leave again in April or May,

but occasionally a bird may be seen in summer and it is probable that rarely a

few stop and breed in the valley.

173. Buteo ferox. The Long-legged Buzzard.

This bird is not rare at high elevations on the Himalayan and Pir Panijal

Ranges, on both sides of the vailey. They are usually found near the upper

limit of the forest or well above it up to about 13,000’.

They usually place their nests in precipitous rocky ground.

They feed to a large extent on small voles. The cry is a loud ‘ mewing’

call.

174. Accipiter nisus melanochistus. The Indian Sparrow Hawk.

This hawk is not uncommon in Kashmir at all elevations up to about 11,000’.

A pair was also observed at Khalatze on the Indus, at 9,500’ in Ladakh.

They breed in Kashmir.

175: Falco peregrinus calidus. ‘The Siberian Peregrine.

Occasionally seen in Kashmir in the cold weather. A single bird was seen

in the Indus Valley, Ladakh at 13,500’. It had captured a chough. ‘This was

early in July.

176. Falco subbuteo subbuteo. The European Hobby.

With the exception of the Kestrel this is the commonest falcon occurring in

Kashmir. It is found in the main valley as well as on the hills and mountains,

and on rocky mountain sides as well as in rather open forest. It is also found

in Ladakh where it is not rare. ae

July is the month when nidification takes place. The nest is placed fairly

high upinatree. A nest found in the Indus Valley at 10,500’ above Chushot

was in a poplar grove. The nest was incomplete in June. A second nest at

Kargil 9,000’ in Ladakh was also in a poplar tree, in the nest of a carrion

crow from which I bad previously (in May) removed the eggs. On August 4,

it contained three young in down. A third nest was half-way up a spruce fir

standing on an island in the Lidar River near Pahlgam at 7,000’. It contained

3 fresh eggs on August which resemble kestrel eggs in colour. A fourth

nest was at the top of a silver fir in Gulmarg, in July. The average measure-

ment of 3 eggs is 39°5 by 31°'5.

177. Falco tinnunculus. ‘The Kestrel.

A kestrel, possibly the Indian Kestrel, is common throughout Kashmir at all

elevations from 3,000’ up to at least 14,000’.

They breed on rocky cliffs.

A kestrel, possibly the same species, is found throughout Ladakh up to

16,000’. They are common in Leh where they buildin poplar trees. Two

nests taken in the first week of June contained 4 fresh eggs in each, rather paler

in marking than those of the European kestrel.

They vary in length from 41°2 to 38°7 and in breadth from 33°8 to 30. The

average of 7 eggs being 40°0 by 32°3.

178. Columba livia intermedia. The Indian Blue Rock Pigeon,

Common in the Kashmir Valley, as well as in the lower and upper hills, up

to about 9,000’. They are chiefly found on the lower rocky hills, where they

breed from May to August. Their eggs average about 39°8 by 28:0.

179. Columba livia neglecta. Hume’s Blue Rock Pigeon.

Common in Ladakh, in the Indus, Shyok and their side valleys up to about

11,000’ They are chiefly to be seen in and around cultivation, where they often

associate in large flocks, mixed with the blue hill pigeon and occasionally also

with the snow pigeon.

They breed in rocks and ruined buildings. A nest in the Basgu ruined Fort

in the Indus Valley at 10,500’. Contained a single fresh egg on May 1] and

another single egg in the same nest on July 23.

These eggs averaged 40°6 by 28°5,

144 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

180. Columba rupestris turkestanica. The Indian Blue Hill Pigeon.

This is the high-level pigeon found throughout Ladakh, including the Dras

and Suru Valleys at elevations of from 10,000’ to 16,000’. They frequent

rocky, precipitous ground, but often come down to feed in the fields or aniong

stony ground by streams. They were observed drinking the brackish water

of the Tsomoriri Lake.

They breed in holes in rocky cliffs, caves, etc., and several old nests were seen

near the Tsomoriri and Tsokar Lakes in Rupshu at 15,500’. These nests were

solitary, and fairly easily accessible. They are probably rather late breeders,

as no eggs were seen in June.

181. Columba leuconota leuconota. The Snow Pigeon.

This is a common bird in the higher hills and valleys of Kashmir, being

found to a less extent in the eastern slopes of the Himalayas, towards Ladakh,

at the head of the Dras and Suru Valleys. ‘They are generally to be seen in

small flocks feeding on the grassy slopes, among rocks below the snow-line.

They breed in rocky precipices, often near rivers and streams between about

10,000’ and 13,000’.

182. Streptopelia orientalis meena. The Himalayan Turtle Dove.

This isacominon species in the well-wooded areas on the slopes of the

mountains throughout Kashmir, chiefly between 6,000’ and 10,000’ a few are

also to be seen on the Ladakh side of the Himalayan Range in the Indus Valley

as well as in the Suru and Dras Valleys, where they also breed.

The breeding season is from Mayto August. Nests are built in small

trees or dense bushes in forest generally at no great height lose the ground.

Eggs average 32°3 by 24°0.

183. Streptopelia decaocto decaocto. ‘The Indian Ring Dove.

Very numerous in the Valley of Kashmir being found also up the side valleys

to about 6,500’ only. This species is not found in Ladakh, except on migra-

tion. A party of about 10 birds was seen at Dras 10,000’ on May 2, but they

move evidently only on passage.

They breed in the Valley at 5,000’ in May and June, the nests bieng placed in

small trees or large bushes.

The eggs average 30°2 by 23°4.

184. Syrrhaptes tibetanus. The Tibetan Sand Grouse.

This species is found in the stony sandy desert areas in the higher parts of

Ladakh. ‘They were met with by the writer only in Rupshu near the. Tsomoriri

Lake where a pair of freshly hatched chicks in down were found on June 18.

About 10 pairs of these birds frequented the stony level plain at the south end

of the lake, but no eggs were discovered.

185. Catreus wallichii. The Cheer Pheasant.

This is rather a local bird in Kashmir, not being found in the main Valley,

but is believed to be not uncommon towards the Kishenganga and on the outer

slopes of the Pir Panial Range.

186. Lophophorus impejanus. The Monal.

This handsome pheasant is found generally distributed on the mountains

surrounding the Kashmir Valley, in summer between 8,000’ and 11,000’. They

are not common, except in the less frequented parts, e.g., the Kishanganga

Valley, the Wardwan Valley; etc.

Young just able to fly were seen with their parents above Battal (9,000’ ) in

the Sind Valley on June 29.

187. Pucrasia macrolopha biddulphi. ~The Kashmir Koklas.

Generally distributed but not very numerous in the big fir forests of northern

Kashmir. ‘They are chiefly found between 7,000’ and 10,000’. The ‘ crow’

of the male bird is similar to that of the common koklas. This latter bird is

said to be found in South Kashmir.

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 145

188. Gennzus hamiltonii. ‘Che White-crested Kalij.

This pheasant is not found in the main valley of Kashmir nor on the

surrounding hills. It occurs however in South Kashmir and on the outer lower

slopes of the Pir Panjal.

189. Alectoris greca chukar. ‘Che Chukor,

Extremely common on the lower slopes of the hills bordering on the main

valley, and found up to at least 11,000’. They afford excellent shooting in the

cold weather months.

Breeding commences early in April. About 12 or 13 eggs are usually laid

under a rock or bush often on a steep mountain slope, and generally well

concealed. Eggs are laid at intervals of 48 hours. In one nest 21 eggs were

found, probably the property of two hen birds!

Eggs measure as follows :—L., 46°3X31:0. S., 37°9X28'9. B., 444K 32° @,

INS AC Lx 25°O Average, 38 esos, 42° 1X 30:7.

190. Alectoris greca pallescens. The Northern Chukor.

This chukor takes the place of the common chukor in the drier portions

of Ladakh proper, and is found at elevations of from 9,000’ to 14,000’ more

especially in the neighbourhood of cultivation. A pair of birds shot near Gya

weighed respectively 184 and 14 ounces, the male being the heavier bird.

A nest concealed at the base of a dwarf berberis bush near Khardong

Pass at 13,000’ on the Shyok side of the Khardong Pass in Ladakh was dis-

covered on July 22. It contained 12 nearly fresh eggs, indistinguishable

from those of the common chukor.

They measure :—

L., 45°4XK31'4. S., 437X309. B., 44°4&K37°6. N., 43°4%&30°0. Average

of 12 eggs, 44:2 by 31°0.

19]. Francolinus francolinus asia. ‘he Northern Indian Black Partridge.

Not found in the Valley of Kashmir but occurs in the Jhelum Valley below

Uri and on the outer lower slopes of the Pir Panjal Range.

192. Francolinus pondicerianus. The Grey Partridge.

Not found in the valley of Kashmir, occurs in the plains and foothills only.

193. Perdix hodgsonie hodgsonia. The Tibetan Partridge.

Found at high elevations, 14,000’ to 17,000’ in Ladakh, but is local and rare.

It is not uncommon in Rupshu, especially from the Polokonka Pass down the

Puga Valley, and also towards Hanle. It is found on rocky hillsides,

especially in patches of caragana scrub.

194. Tetraogallus himatayenis himalayensis. The Himalayan Snow-Cock.

This large, handsome bird is found at high elevations throughout the

mountains of Kashmir including the Pir Panjal Range. In Kashmir proper it

is found fror 12,000’ up to the snow line, and frequents open rocky or grassy

slopes above the tree limit. It is also found in Ladakh especially Western

Ladakh.

They are noisy and pugnacious birds in the spring. The call of the cock

bird is of two kinds: (1) A clear whistle repeated 3 or 4 times at regular

intervals of about a second, the notes rising in the scale so that the 4th or last

note is an octave above the first. (2) Acry beginning with kuk, kuk, which

is repeated about a dozen times, gradually quickening and also rising in the

scale until the last high pitched notes follow each other so rapidly as_ to

remind one of the acceleration of a ping-pong ball.

Two lots of eggs were brought to the writer from the hills above Leh at

about 14,000’. They consisted of 7 slightly incubated eggs probably a full

clutch, and two fresh eggs,

In the first lot the ground colour is cafe-au-lait, spotted and speckled all over

with chocolate markings. In the second lot the ground colour is a dull pale

green, and these are marked with pale pinkish brown.

The eggs vary in length from 71°0 to 62°5 and in breadth from 47°5 to 45°0,

the average of one clutch being 70°7 by 47:2 and of the other 65°6 by 46:1.

1446 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURALFATS 1.550 CIETY. Wooly OT

195. Tetraogallus tibetanus tibetanus. ‘The Ladakh Snow-Cock.

Occurs in Eastern and Southern Ladakh at even higher elevations than the

last species, which it much resembles generally in its mode of life and habits,

196. Rallus aquaticus aquaticus. The Water Rail.

Common throughout the summer months and possibly resident in Kashmir.

It is found throughout all the extensive jheels such as Hokar Sar, Anchar Lake,

etc. They call chiefly in the early morning, a curious cry somewhat reminding

one of the squeal of asmall pig. They are extremely shy and wary keeping

to long grass and reeds standing in shallow water.

They breed throughout June, July and August, 6 to 8 eggs being laid in-a

nest composed of reed-leaves on the ground in a swamp. well concealed in

standing grass and water plants.

The birds are difficult to flush and specimens are therefore difficult to

obtain.

The eggs are pale cafe-au-lait rather sparingly spotted—chiefly at the broad

end, with pinkish brown. They measure :—

Veet CO9. Kaeo 1 B. ... 36°6 X 27:1) Average-of 34 eggs, 3673

Des Rue XZ Ni: ies. B3!2 Ceo a DY {25 10. |

197. Porzana pusilla pusilla. Eastern Baillon’s Crake.

This is a common bird inthe Valley of Kashmir, being found throughout the

summer months in all the swamps, edges of lakes, etc. It is however much

more frequently heard than seen, being a skulker in grass and swamp vegeta-

tion, and one that is flushed with difficulty. On one accasion, when searching

for nests of this bird, one was seen running through the grass at the writer’s

feet and was mistaken for a rat. It was captured in the hand with some

difficulty.

Nests are placed on the ground, in a swamp, well concealed in compara

tively short grass and dwarf rushes, etc.

From five to eight eggs are usually laid from May to August which are dull

greenish brown in ground, mottled with dusky brown on markings.

They measure :—

Ls Wie DOS Seal B.- ... -28°7 XK 27°5 1 Average of S2vecos 28:4

Se, ssecoto X< 2083 INS Pree 729 OK 19:2} by 20°6.

198. Amaurornis fuscus bakeri. The Northern Ruddy Crake.

This species is even commoner than the last being found in paddy fields as

well as in swamps. In its skulking habit it resembles Porzana. Breeding

commences in June, but July and August are the chief months.

Nests are composed of dry grass and the leaves of aquatic plants placed ‘on

the ground among grass, reeds or rice plants.

Six to9 eggs arelaid which are pale cafe-au-lait spotted all over chiefly

at the broad end with pinkish-brown and pale purplish-grey markings.

Eggs measure :——

Teer tye Sonex see B. «.... 32°0 X'24:5 ) Avetage: (92 e009) 5 732°6

Sr Reo CORO el LO INGE Be eu 0 x, a6 f by223°5.

199. Gallinula chloropus parvifrons. ‘Che Indian Moorhen.,

Very common on all the lakes and larger jhils in the main valley, especially

where beds of bulrushes abound, as in the Dal and Anchar Lakes.

In their habits they do not differ from the common moorhen of Europe.

Breeding commences in May and extends on into July. Hight or 9 eggs are

commonly laid, but occasionally as many as 12. They resemble those of

the Western Moorhen.

The nest is composed of a mass of bulrush leaves and is placed in dense

patches of standing bulrushes, about a foot above the level of the water.

Eee meesurements are as follows :—

Looe cs UPSESEX Lb B. ... 44°8 X 32:9) Average (71 eggs), 41°4

Sao BO DK COW IN; 2d. SO9UO RK 2/eF by229°6..7.

(A pigmy ege measures 22'5 X 18°5)

200. Fulica atraatra. The Common Coot.

Not uncommon on the lakes and jhils of the main valley, but not nearly

so numerous as the Moorhen. A nest of the usual type was found in rushes on

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 147

the Anchar Lake on May 20. It contained 8 eggs which measure (average)

52°4 by 35:0.

201. Porphyrio poliocephalus poliocephalus. The Purple Coot.

A rare bird in Kashmir, but a few are usually to be found in the Anchar and

doubtless other lakes in the valley. They undoubtedly breed in Kashmir but

I have not seen a nest.

202. Megalornis nigricollis. The Black-necked Crane.

Occurs in Ladakh, in summer, at high elevations wherever the conditions

are suitable. Three birds were seen early in June near the Tsokar Lake

in Rupshu: at 15,000’, and a pair near the Tsomoriri Lake at the same eleva-

tion in the third week of June. They did not appear to be breeding then.

Later in the first week of July several pairs were seen in the swamps near

Shushal at 14,000’ east of the Indus, but no nests were seen and no young

birds. They undoubtedly breed in these swamps, but exactly when I was

unable to ascertain.

‘The call of these birds is trumpet-like and resembles that of the Sarus Crane.

203. Hydrophasianus chirurgus. ‘The Pheasant-tailed Jacana.

Fairly common throughout the summer months onthe extensive jheels and

weedy lakes in the main valley, especially in Hokar Sar and the Anchar Lake.

The cry of the bird is loud and peculiar.

Breeding commences in May and continues until July, the eggs usually 4

in number but sometimes only 3, are peg-top shaped and of a dark olive-

brown colour.

The nest isa slight accumulation of aquatic plant stems, placed in among

floating plants, the eggs being only just above the water level.

Eggs measure :—

Te een Sone 2S) GOL) et, OORen ON pee (14 eggs), 37:2

Dene JOU ow 20.0 IN eee OO OS CO 7 by 27°8.

204. Lobivanellus indicus indicus. The Red-wattled Lapwing.

The ‘ Did-he-do-it’? is not a common bird in Kashmir, but it is found

occasionally in the main and larger side valleys up to about 6,000’.

A nest found near Shalabug in damp waste land contained four fresh eggs

on May 25. The average measurement of these eggs is 42°9 by 31°].

205. Vanellus vanellus. The Peewit.

A not every common winter visitor, found in the neighbourhood of wet

ground inthe main valley.

206. Charadrius mongolus atrifrons. The Central Asian Lesser Sand-Plover,

This pretty little plover is not uncommon in South and East Ladakh in

summer between 13,000’ and 15,500’. They are found near lakes and streams

as well as along the Indus River, and are very partial to stony or sandy

plains provided water is not toofar away. _

The note of this bird is a peculiar one, a vibrating call, reminiscent of the

note of the ice-bird (Caprimulgus indicus).

These birds were found breeding in Rupshu near the Tsokar and Tsomoriri

Lakes (about 15,000’.) On the Indus at 13,000’ between the Indus and

Shushat at 14,000’ to 14,500’ and along the Pangkong Lake at 14,000’. They were

also found breeding in the upper portion of the Suru Valley at about 13,000’.

Egg laying commences about the middle of June and continues to the

middle of July. ;

Three eggs only are laid in a slight depression scraped in the sand among

stones or shringle.

The nest or rather nest cavity, for there is no nest, is very difficult to locate.

The parent bird if disturbed by the approach of a man when incubating, gets

up off the eggs very quietly and slinks away with lowered head after the

manner of many other plovers. When returning toits eggs the approach is

made very cautiously, and great care is necessary, even with the aid of a

pair of field glasses, not to lose sight of the bird in the stretch of sand and

stones among which it moves in a series of short runs.

1448 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

The eggs are slightly pyriform and without gloss. The ground colour is

café-au-lait, sometimes with a distinct warm tinge, speckled more or less all

over with dark brown markings.

Eggs vary in length from 38:2 to 35'4 and in breadth from 27:2 to 25'6, the

average of 12 eggs being 36'°7 by 26°3.

207. Charadrius dubius jerdoni. Jerdon’s Little Ringed Plover.

Not very common in Kashmir, but found by some of the larger streams

where they enter the valley. A nest with four fresh eggs was found by the

Sind River near Ganderba! (5,000’) on sandy, shringly ground on May 28.

They also breed earlier than this, as on the same date a fully fledged young

bird was observed.

The eggs are drab or pale khaki in ground finely speckled with very dark

brown. They measure (average of 8 eggs), 28°9 X 21°5.

208. Himantopus himantgpus himantopus. ‘The Black-Winged Stilt.

This bird is not common in the Valley of Kashmir and its distribution is

local. The only place where the writer met with this species was in swampy

ground near the mouth of the Lidar River, but they undoubtedly occur in

other parts of the valley.

They breed in the swamps in the valley.

209. Ibidorhynchus struthersi. The Ibis Bill.

This remarkable bird is not rare on some of the larger rivers of Kashmir

and Western Ladakh. They frequent stony, sandy shores and especially

islands. They emit when disturbed, a rather shrill mournful cry, something

resembling that of the green shank.

They breed on stony, sandy islands often difficult of access in the summer,

owing to the swollen condition of all streams from the melting snow. They

were observed breeding on the Sind and Lidar Rivers at from 7,000’ to 8,000’

and again on the Ladakh side of the Himalayas in the Suru Valley from 9,000’

to nearly 12,000’.

Eggs, usually 4in number, are laid in May and June on islands of sand,

shingle and stones, with or without bushes of tamarisk, etc. The eggs are

large for the bird, broad ovals, the ground colour being drab grey, and they

are spotted and speckied, chiefly towards the broad end, with dark brown.

The eggs are laid in a slight depression in the sand, excavated by the

parent bird, among stones or shingle. The nest cavity, in oneinstance, was

found completely surrounded with hundreds of small stones, the size of a

small split pea.

Two eggs found in the Lidar River {a full clutch) on June 14 (probably

a second nest, the first having been destroyed by a flood) measure 49°8 X 38°6

and 52:0 X 38:9 respectively.

210. Tringa hypoleuca. The Common Sandpiper.

Common in Kashmir throughout the summer months breeding up all the

shief streams and rivers, and especially in the Sind and Lidar, between 6,000’

and 9,000’. They also breed on the Ladakh side of the Himalayan Range

in the Dras and Suru River beds from 9,000’ to 11,000’.

Eggs are laid during May and June chiefly on low islands in mid-stream,

especially such as bear low shrubby vegetation of tamarisk, coarse grass.

wild indigo, etc. Nests are composed of dry leaves and grass scraped together

in a depression under the shelter of some small tamarisk or indigofera bush

and are well concealed.

Eggs, 4in number, are pyriform and slightly glossy, creamy white, spotted

chiefly at the broad end with reddish-brown and sepia markings.

They meastire :—L., 37°39 X-25°G. S;, 32°95 X 25"2.. BG 5015 X12 077 IN ee

cows

Average of 16 eggs, 35'5 X 26°0.

211. Tringa glareola. The Wood Sandpiper.

A fairly common winter visitor to the Valley of Kashmir.

212. Tringa ochropus.

Seen cheifly on the spring and autumn migration, both in Kashmir and

Ladakh. They apparently return very early from their breeding haunts, birds

having been noted in the Suru Valley at 12,000’ as early as July 18.

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 149

213. Tringatotanus eurhinus. The Eastern Redshank.

A not uncommon winter visitor in the Valley of Kashmir, breeding in

Ladakh in swamps at from 13,000’ to 15,000’.

They are wild and wary birds and their nests which are generally placed in

tussocks of grass in a swamp are difficult to locate.

They were found breeding by the Tsokar Lake and in the Puga Valley, at

15,000’ and 14,000’ respectively, in Rupshu. Also in the extensive swamps

near Shushal, at 14 000’ and in the Rungdom swamps at 13,000’ in the Suru

Valley.

Eggs both fresh and incubated, were taken in the first week of July near

Shuskal, and freshly hatched young in down were also seen. Eggs are

elongated, pyriform and rather glossy, pale yellowish café-au-lait, marked

with dark reddish-brown, chiefly at the broad end.

They vary in length from 48°9 to 43°9 and in breadth from 33°0 to 31°2, the

average of 5 eggs being 46°1 by 31°8.

214. Tringa nebularia. ‘Che Greenshank.

A not uncommon winter visitor to the main valley.

215. Philomachus pugnax. ‘The Ruff and Reeve.

A regular winter visitor but rather rare.

216. Erolia temminckii. Temminck’s Stint.

A small party met with by the Indus River in Ladakh in May at11,000’.

217. Erolia minuta. The Little Stint.

Occasionally seen in small parties on mud flats by the Jhelum River and

Wular Lake in autumn and winter.

218. Scolopax rusticola rusticola. The Wood-Cock.

A resident in Kashmir but not so common as in Kulu and Garhwal,

In the summer they are found in fir and mixed forest, chiefly on northern

aspects, both on the Pir Panjal and Himalayan Ranges, but especially the

former and also in the Kishanganga Valley.

They breed in June and July at from 8,000’ to 10,000’. A nest near

Gulmarg was in silver fir forest among dead leaves, etc., in the shelter of a

skiminia bush, It contained 3 incubated eggs on July 20.

Eggs are dull whitish in ground marked with large pale reddish-brown and

grey blotches.

The average of 5 eggs is 40°9X33'8.

219. Gallinago gallinago gallinago. The Fantail Snipe.

This is mainly a bird of passage, being found in fairly large, but varying,

numbers, in the main valley in the early spring and late autumn, a certain

number of birds remaining to breed. By April and early May birds may be

seen ‘drumming’ over the marshes around the Hokra Jhil, which is carefully

preserved.

Fresh eggs, four in number, may be found in these swamps from the middle

of May. They are pale ereenish- -buffin ground, more or less richly marked

with umber brown and grey spots and blotches. Eggs give the following

ineasurements :—

ee 59°OX27°2e Sy 30:76 25'04 B., SO'SKES/< NN... 38:5 X%25°9! (average,. 29

eggs), 37°1XK 26'8.

220. Lymnocriptes minima. ‘Che Jack Snipe.

A fairly common winter visitor.

221. Rostratula benghalensis benghalensis. ‘Che Painted Snipe.

This species is common and resident in the swamps of the main valley.

They are found breeding in the Hokra Jhil along with the common snipe.

They chiefly breed in May, the nest being placed in similar situations to that

of the common snipe. Although the bird is larger than the common snipe

its eggs are decidedly smaller. They are yellowish in ground boldly and

heavily marked with dark brown almost black blotches, and are glossy.

150 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

‘They measure :— ne

Li, 370K 252. 955,928 XK 24:8. 1B, oS XC IN oo 4X 250. eA Vee ene

eves, 35°4X 25'3.

222. Larus ridibundus ridibundus. ‘The Black-headed Gull.

A common winter visitor in the valley, especially in the vicinity of the Wular

Lake.

223. Larus brunnicephalus. The Brown-headed Gull.

This gull is occasionally seen inthe Valley of Kashmir as a cold weather

visitor. In the spring they leave for higher altitudes and in summer they are

found breeding in coloniesin Ladakh by the salt lakes. In Rupshul, by the

Tsokar and Tsomoriri Lakes they are fairly numerous, but no eggs had been

laid up to June 21st, but judging from the behaviour of the birds, they

were then about to commence “breeding. ‘The cry,-of these birds ‘on their

breeding grounds is very like that of the jungle crow.

A few birds were seen near the Pangong Lake in July but no breeding colony

was met with.

224. Childonias leucopareia indica. ‘The Indian Whiskered Tern.

Exceedingly common throughout the summer on all the lakes and larger

jhils in the Valley of Kashmir. Most of the birds arrive in April and breeding

commences towards the end of May.

Two or three eggs are laid on an apoiogy for a nest consisting of a collection

of the stems of water plants among floating water lilies, lotus and other aquatic

plants. The nests rise and fall with the water, upon which they float, and

the eggs are usually only a fraction of an inch above the water level.

Two or three eggs constitute a full clutch, but four or five have more than

once been found in one nest, but in such cases the eggs were evidently the

joint property of two hen birds. The eggs vary in size and colourto a great

extent. They are, in ground, usually some shade of yellowish-brown or pale

green, marked chiefly in a zone at the large end with deep brown chocolate

brown or purplish sepia spots. The eggs are collected in large numbers

by the villagers and sold to the European visitors in Srinagar as ‘ Plovers’

eggs !

Eggs measure as follows :—

., FLEXT. 29.5: 32582017 ea, POORe ON Ate Nas pOOLO ONC D TO ae VET Ae

(72 eggs), 37°0X27'4. )

225. Sterna hirundo. hie

A tern which is either S. 2. hirundo or S. hk. tibetana was seen fairly

frequently by the Tsomoriri Lake in Rupshu, at Puga, on the Indus and along

the Pangong Lake between 13,000’ and 15,000’. This was in June and July.

They were also seen in July on the upper reaches of the Suru river at about

13,000’. They evidently breed in all these localities, but no nests were seen.

226. Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis. The Indian Large Cormorant.

Comunon in the lakes and larger jhils in the Valley of Kashmir. Probably

resident.

227. Plegadis fatcinellus fatcinellus. The Glossy Ibis.

A solitary bird was seen feeding by the Dras River, near Dras, at 10,000’ on

May 3. It was evidently a straggler. .

228. Ardea cinerea cinerea. The Common Grey Heron.

Very common and resident in the Valley of Kashmir, being found near all

the lakes and larger jhils, and penetrating up the larger side valleys, e.g. the

Lidar up to about 7,000’.

They breed in colonies in the largest and most inaccessible chenar trees.

Breeding commenees in Marci, at which time many fresh eggs may be found

lying broken below the trees in which they are nesting. Possibly these eggs

are ejected in the struggle for nesting sites.

229. Ardeola grayi. ‘he Indian Pond Heron.

This bird is locally common, e.g. on the Anchar Lake where they are resident.

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 15]

They breed in May in the willows around the edges of the lake, usually in

small colonies.

Four or five eggs are laid, which are blue and glossless.

Eggs measure :—

Na AL OO 2976 Bet radeu oO ls sae | Average (27 eggs), 38°0 by

Siu shop doy Oe 29°21 INAS tS XG 270 ot Oo.

230. Nycticorax nycticorax nycticorax The Night Heron.

Very common in the lakes and larger jhils in Kashmir.

They breed in large colonies, either alone or in company with the grey

Heron, in May, laying 4 eggs similar in colour to those of the pond heron.

They measure :—

i Bee 2a KOOL 0 BD. (2. 023 oor Wl Averace (1S esos), 49°5 by

Dy ote OF Koo 32 IN seu (494 XS: Oarf 34°8. .

231. Ixobrychus minutus minutus. The Little Bittern.

Extremely common in the beds of bulrushes in the Dal and other lakes

and jhils in the valley.

They breed throughout May and June in the bulrush beds, which stand

in water about 2 feet deep. The nests are composed of the leaves of the rush

and are attached to the rushes about a foot above the water level. From

5 to 7 eggs are laid which are rather elliptical in shape, pure white and

elossless.

They measure :—

ieee OT OG oe f. Be eee SOS es 2 \ Average (78 eggs), 34°5 by

Se agen | Soll rood INA bt do OL Oe 2on% 29'3)

232 ~+Botaurus stellaris stellaris. The Bittern.

This is not a common bird in Kashmir but it occurs in some of the denser,

more extensive reed beds e.g. near Shalabug. The natives assured me that

they had found the nest and eggs on several occasions and it is probable that

the bird does breed in the valley though I failed to find a nest.

233. Amser anser. The Grey Lag Goose.

Visits the Kashmir Valley in winter in huge flocks,

234. Anser albifrons albifrons. The White-fronted Goose.

Also a winter visitor to Kashmir, but not usually common.

235. Amser indicus. ‘The Bar-headed Goose.

This small goose is found in fairly large numbers in Ladakh in summet

where they breed between 12,000’ and 15,000’. Eggs are laid from the last

week in May to the first week in June. They were found breeding near the

Tsokar and Tsomoriri Lakes in Rupsht: at 15,000’ elevation between the

June 8 and 21. Acolony of 15 pairs had nests on a silt island in the

Tsomoriri lake. The nests were in slight depressions scraped in the silt or

3” or 4’ above the water level and were not concealed, the island heing

absolutely devoid of vegetation.

Six appears to be the maximum full clutch. The eggs are large for the size

of the bird ; a goose shot from the nest weighing 45 lbs. and her 6 eggs, 29

ounces !

They are rather elongated ovals, pale creamy white where fresh, but

becoming much discoloured as incubation proceeds. When islands are not

available as nesting sites, these birds will lay on rocky cliffs. One such nest

was found in a deserted raven’s nest on a vertical cliff near the Tsokar Lake.

In every case the eggs are surrounded or covered with down.

Other breeding localities noticed were the Indus River near Nimu Mut

(13,500’) and a small swampy lake near Shushal at 14 200’.

Egg measurements give the following figures :—

In length, from 87°2 to 72:3. In breadth from 58°5 to 51°2.

Average 47 eggs, 82°6 by 55°3.

236. Casarca ferruginea. The Branminy Duck.

A not very common winter visitor to Kashmir, retiring to Southern and

Eastern Ladakh in summer to breed, Fairly large numbers were found

152 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

breeding in the hills in Rupshu around the Tsokar and Tsomoriri Lakes, as

well as at Puga.

Breeding commences early in May, ducklings being first observed on the

water on June 12.

Nests ate usually at a considerable distance from the water, in holes in the

rocky hillside or among boulders, on rocky cliffs. ‘The young ducklings are

brought down to the water by their parents as soon as they are hatched.

They appear to bring them down two at atime, for on one occasion I saw

a pair fly down from the hills and alight on the water and then noticed they

had 2 ducklings with them. I did not unfortunately see how the transporta-

tion was effected.

When at Puga, in Rupshu, where there are hot springs and sulphur and

borax deposits, I saw niany families of these ducklings running about among

the swamps. They were of various ages—some very young, others fully 2 or 3

weeks old, but none could fly. This was on June 26. The maximun: number

of ducklings in one family was 8. No eggs were found.

237. Anas platyrhyncha platyrhyncha. The Mallard.

One of the commoner ducks which visit Kashmir in the winter. A fair num-

ber of birds remain in Kashmir to breed.

Breeding commences about the middle of April and fresh eggs may be

found throughout April and May. a

The nest is usually well concealed in reeds or rushes—as many as 12 eggs are

laid which are very pale greenish ‘ khaki’ in colour. hea

They measure :—

Ly 59°F X 42°2.S.5 532 Ali2, Bo, 58:3 XK eere uN. oo X39? average

(11 eggs) 56°3 by 41°3. é

238. Chaulelasmus streperus. ‘Che Gadwall.

A fairly common winter visitor.

239. Mareca penelope. ‘he Wigeon.

Also fairly common in winter.

240. Querqueduia querquedula. ‘The Garganey.

Common on the spring and autumn migrations.

241. Nettion crecca crecca. The Common Teal.

Very numerous throughout the winter months. A few are occasionally seen

also in summer and possibly they may rarely breed in the valley. ‘These are

probably ‘ pricked ’ birds.

242. Dafila acuta. ‘The Pintail.

Common onthe spring and antumn migrations. A few birds remain

throughout the winter.

243. Spatula clypeata. ‘The Shoveller.

Fairly common in the winter.

244. Marmaronetta angustirostris. The Marbled Duck.

Rather a rare winter visitor. I have onlyseen two birds shot in three years.

245. Netta rufina. The Red-crested Pochard.

Common in winter.

246. Nyroca ferina ferina. ‘The Dunbird,

Fairly common in winter.

247. Nyroca marila marila. The Scaup.

A rare winter visitor.

248. Nyroca rufa rufa. ‘The White-eyed Pochard.

Common and resident. Breeding commences in May, and fresh eggs may

be found throughout May and June. ‘The nest is placed on or near the ground

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF KASHMIR 153

in dense reeds, grass or bulrushes and is well concealed. About 11 eggs is the

full clutch. They are coloured a rather warm café-au-lait.

Ege measurements are as follows :—

ioe ce On Suro) SO°S XK ONS. Bey oe. do, 379s. Nig 4ST 95'S.

Average (27 eggs), 50°5 by 36°9.

249. Nyroca fuliguia. The Tufted Pochard.

Not uncommon on the spring migration.

250. Glaucionetta ciangula clanguia. ‘The Golden-eye.

A rare winter visitor.

25. Erismatura leucocephala. The Stiff-tailed Duck.

Not common but a regular winter visitor.

252. Mergus albellus. The Smew.

Not common, but occasionally seen in the winter months on the Wular Lake.

Colonel Ward found them breeding on the Shyok river in Ladakh.

253. Merganser merganser orientalis. ‘The Eastern Goosander.

Occasionally seen in Kashmir, it isa regular summer visitor to Ladakh where

it breeds on the Indus river and near the lakes in Rupshu, as well as near the

Pangong lake in June.

254. Podiceps cristatus cristatus. ‘The Great Crested Grebe.

Rare in Kashmir (Ihave seen one bird shot). They were found breeding

in a colony by Col. Meinertzhagen by the Tsokar Lake at 15,000’ in Rupshu

(Ladakh).

255. Podiceps ruficollis albipennis. ‘The Indian Little Grebe.

Very common throughout the Kashmir Valley in jhils and reedy lakes in

summer, Not nearly so numerous in winter.

Breeding commences from early May and continues till July. From 4 to 6

eggs are iaid which are pure white the day they are laid, but they very rapidly

become stained, but not uniformly a dirty brown, occasionally they may even

become a deep chocolate.

The eggs are laid on a floating mass of decaying vegetable matter collected

by the birds, and the eggs are only raised an inch or so above the water.

When the parent bird leaves the nest she covers the eggs with a portion of the

nest material.

Eggs give the following measurements :—

iO OM 2 Oh ey FS eo l. B., 363 KX 265.0 'N., GSS Xe 2s;

Average (32 eggs), 36°6 by 25'1.

ON THE BREEDING HABITS AND FECUNDITY OF THE SNAIL

LIMNAL:A LUTEOLA.* LaMarcK (FORMA-TYPICA)

R. V. SESHAIVA, M.A.

Natural Science Assistant, Mahaut’s School, Tirupati (South India}

(With two plates and two graphs)

‘he breeding habits and fecundity of Limnea luteola Lamarck forma

typica * were the subject of my observations during the past three years. The

observations were made on (1) individuals reared in the aquaria in the laboratoy,

(2) individuals kept isolated in the laboratory, (3) individuals kept in big

troughs of water in the open air (in a garden), and (4) individuals in their

natural haunts.

The species in question is the only species available in Tirupati and iy

observations are practically confined to it. But I had an occasion once to get

live specimens of Limnca acuminata from elsewhere and they also were under

observation for some time. So far as fecundity is concerned Limucu acuminata

also presents the same features as Limuca luteola.

Limnea luteola seems to attain sexuai maturity in about ten months. It is

not definitely known how many times an individual breeds during its lifetime.

In attempting to find out this, two difficulties were experienced. One was that

the exact duration of life of individuals could not be definitely ascertained, for

the adult individuals could not be kept alive in the aquaria for over five or six

months in spite of all possible care bestowed on them. Young individuals

hatched from the eggs could however be kept alive much longer. But from

observations made on the rate of growth of the individuals, on the size attained

in a year by individuals kept under natural conditions in open surroundings,

and judging from the maximum size attained by individuals we may assign to

this species of Lzmnuca three years as the duration of life. On the strength of

my observations, | can confidently asser: that it is more than two years.

Ine other difficulty was that of ascertaining the exact breeding season. I

could collect eggs at all times of the year. At first it seemed.as though the

species was breeding right through. But! kept the individuals isolated in the

laboratory and observed that they breed for about four to five months. Indi-

viduals lay eggs in abundance for a time and then gradually cease their

breeding. That eggs are found in abundance at all times of the year is to be

explained as due to different sets of individuals reaching sexual maturity at

ditferent periods of tae year, and thus some individuals or other in a tank

are found breeding right through. We cannot therefore speak of any definite

breeding season for this species of Lzmn@a. ‘The individuals of the species

have each their own breeding period of life, but there seems to be no breeding

season for the species as a whole.

Limnea is of course oviparous like the majority of Mollusca. An individual

about to lay eggs attaches itself by its foot to a leaf, or in the aquarium, to the

wall of the aquarium. It remains steady for a short while and as the mass of

egys embedded in the jelly-like substance issues out, the animal recedes very

slowly. It takes about twenty to twenty-five minutes for an animal to lay a

batch of about 120 eggs.

1 From a paper read before the Indian Science Congress (1927) held at Lahore.

2 My thanks are due to Major Seymour Sewell and Dr. H. S. Rao for the

identification of species.

BREEDING HABITS OF THE SNAIL LIMNAA LUTEOLA 155

The eggs are laid as indicated above in capsules embedded in a jelly-like

gelatinous substance. This jelly is more abundant than in the case of egg

masses of /udoplanorbts exustus and the egg capsules are unlike those of Zzdo-

pblanorbts exustus in not being tough. Each batch of eggs contains usually

three or four rows of oval eggs capsules. The egg masses are laid on some

substratum like leaves, stones, shells of other Mollusca like Vivipara, Pula

globosz, etc. The length of the batch varies according to the number of eggs.

] have often come across batches nearly 2” long. The average number of eggs

in a batch is about thirty-two. '

For observations on their fecundity, I kept a number of individuals isolated.

The statistics for the frequency of laying eggs and for the variation in the

number comprising a batch are given in the end. It will be sufficient here to

refer simply to the general feature of the fecundity of Lzmnca luteola.

(1) Average frequency of laying eggs per individual :—Once in two days.

(2) Average number of eggs individuals per batch :—Thirty-two.

Generally speaking an individual under normal conditions lays eggs once in

about two to three days, sometimes more frequently, sometimes with regularity.

In the course of about three months an individual could iay as many as forty-

seven batches. The average number of eges per batch for this individuai was

thirty-four.

Mr. Ramanan? speaking of the Madras specimens, says that the spawn was

laid once in a fortnight. Professor J. A. Fhomson? speaking of Limuca stagnallis

says, ‘the eggs are laid through the summer and attached in clumps of about

thirty to water weed, each clump being surrounded by a curved mass of jelly

about an inch Jong. ... -They hatch out in a month.’ It is evident that

Limnea luteola of Tirupati differs in these respects not only from its British

cousin but also from the Madras cne, for in the species under consideration,

eggs hatch out in about ten days and the egys are laid throughout the year.

The number of eggs in the successive batches laid by an individual alter-

nately rises and falls—(vzde statement and the graph, page 160). Hf, for

example a large number of eggs, say fifty in number, are laidina batch, the

number in the next batch will be something less; and after one to three

batches it usually goes up again, only to fallagain. Below are noted the

number of the eggs in the successive batches laid by an individual. More or

less the same phenomenon has been noted in a large number of individuals.

Batch No. No. of eggs | Batch No. No. of eggs

1 39 | 14 28

Z 54 15 6

6) 39 16 Zn

4 20 17 30

N) 60 18 30

6 2) 19 42

7 45 20 25

8 ag Zk 30

i) 51 22 16

10 33 23 23

fa 2 24 29

12 on 25 19

13 a2

Another feature worth noting and which has been observed in some of the

individuals examined, is that with the increase in the number of batches laid

* Non-marine Mollusca of Madras and Its Vicinity by V. V. Ramanan

(1900), Premier Press, Madras.

* The New Natural History, by J. A. Thompson, page 906 (1926). George

Newnes, Ltd... Lendon. /

156 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

by the individual, the number of eggs in the batch generally tends to decrease.

The following figures show the average for every successive batches of eggs

laid by an individual.

Ist five batches .... sae Bas 5 42

2nd ,, 5 see oe sine HN 38

SUG. # sere sae ee aa 33

4th ,, Ae dials sie eae Ce 25

tlt .,5 ese ae mae Ae 25

It is clear that the average tends to fall with the rise in the number of

batches laid by the individual.

Taking three years as the minimum duration of life of Lzmuca it is possible

to estimate the number of eggs laid by asingle individual. An individual

seems to breed for about four months in the year, though all the individuals in

a tank do not breed at the same time of the year. During these four months

about forty to fifty batches of eggs are laid, with about thirty-two eggs in

each batch on the average. Thus in three years a single individual might lay

about five thousand eggs. This is quite a prolific breeding. In their natural

environment the Pecos appears to be more prolific, for, I come across egg

masses which are often much longer than those laid in captivity. Ordinarily

one embryo is contained in an egg, but rarely two, three, seven or even nine

embryos are found. The young ones hatch in about ten to eleven days in the

cold season and in about nine to ten days in the summer season.

Limnea are hermaphrodite. Annandale and Prashad? state that certain

species are functionally protandrous and pair when the male organs are ripe.

Annandale and H. S. Rao? state that they have much indirect evidence to

show that this condition prevails in most species. They also state that pros-

trate and spermatheca are fully developed in the same individual only rarely

and that egg masses are rare in tanks in which the snails are mating and

conversely, when individuals are mating, egg masses are not common. 1

cannot speak the same of the species in Tirupati. I find the egg masses are

common right through the year but the mating of the individuals takes place

only from March to August. That is, even when the individuals are mating,

the egg masses are quite plenty. I have closely watched the mating individuals

and after separating them immediately after mating, kept a record of their

subsequent behaviour.

First as to mating :—-Of the two individuals that pair one is frequently slight-

ly bigger and this is usually the functional male. The other is a little bit

smaller and is the functional female. The copulation between the individuals

lasts for about forty minutes and is not reciprocal. The individuals that are to

mate come to the surface of the water. The functional female attaches itself

by means of its foot to some foreign object, the side of the jar in my aquarium,

and remains steady. ‘lhe other individual attaches itself to the shel of the

former and protrudes the whitish penis sheath and introduces it into the other

animal. The movements of the penis as the sperm passes along are clearly

visible through the translucent penis sheath. The mantle opening which can

be seen by the side of the penis sheath is opened about every three minutes to

renew the air in the mantle cavity. Sometimes the air is renewed at much

longer intervals. On one occasion three individuals were found copulating

together. Sometimes both fioat to the surface.

After mating both the individuals sometimes lay egys that very day: some-

times one day or two later but never much later. So we cannot always con-

ceive of the sperms being stored up for any length of time before the ova are

fertilized.

1 Reccrds of the Indian Museum, vol. xxvii, p. 138 (1925).

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Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Nv Oven a ue

Pr. = Prostrate Gland ; S. = Spermatheca.

SKETCHES SHOWING RELATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF MALE AND FEMALE GENITALIA AT DIFFERENT

PERIODS OF LIFE,

BREEDING HABITS OF THE SNAIL TLIMNAA LOUTEOLA 157

Below is the record of two individuals that mated on the 23rd August, 1925.

COPULATING INDIVIDUALS

Inte Functional female Functional male

: No. of eggs No, of eggs

23rd August, 1925 mo Ae 23 a7

24th oF ae sie be

25th a Re ae me ee 2

26th . a mae se ~ 49

27th iG a Bee ae 20 on

29th 3 - oe Mee iW 24.

31st ss af Bed ot 14 13

2nd September, and so on ane 16 19

29 21

2Q) 16

16 ilies

1] 15

12 18

7 13

es) 12

6 16

clied 13

Then again the reproductive organs of two mating individuals were examin-

ed. In the functional female the prostrate and the spermatheca were both well

deveioped. The spermatheca and its duct contained sperms. ‘The herma-

phrodite gland showed sperms and ova well developed.

In the functional male also both the spermatheca and prostrate were well

developed but in the spermatheca there were no sperms as in the functional

female.

This would show that in both the mating individtials both sperms and ova

are ripe and the male and female genitalia are equally ripe. And we have

already seen that both the mating individuals begin to lay eggs soon after

mating.

A few individuals that had been laying eggs for a long time were examined.

They showed both sperms and ova well developed in the hermaphrodite gland,

The spermatheca also contained sperms.

Young individuals of about four months or a little younger were examined.

‘The spermatheca was minute and the uterus was small. In the hermaphrodite

gland, sperms were developing but noova. Again individuals of about 7 or 8

inonths were examined. ‘The spermatheca was not yet of its maximum size but

the prostrate was well formed. The hermaphrodite gland showed sperms but

Ova were not quite ripe.

Individuals are certainly protandrous in the first year of their life, but con-

siderable time does not lapse between the development of the two sets of

genitalia. In older individuals both ova and sperms are ripe and both the

genitalia are ripe at the same time. This suggests the possibility of self-fertili-

zation, for I note that isolated individuals can breed for a long period of four

months and of the mating individuals, the functional male also lays eggs soon

after mating, though it does not show signs of having received sperms from

another individual prior to laying eggs. This problem needs a thorough in-

vestigation probably from a cytological standpoint.

The fact that isolated individuals can lay considerable number of eggs for a

long period would show that the ova get fertilised batch after batch. And as

the stock of germ cells gets exhausted there is a decline in the number of eggs

laid. But the significance of the interesting features shown elsewhere about

158: JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL ATSTNSOGIETY) Vol Xe]

the fecundity is not known. Sometimes I find that the number of eges laid

by an individual having come very low, suddenly rises up.

Sedgwick mentions of cases of Limnee that have been kept isolated for

life and that have laid eggs. These, he says, might be cases of partheno-

venesis. But there is no parthenogenesis in the species I have been observing.

Another interesting feature of breeding of Limne@ has been noticed. The

fecundity seems to be susceptible to environmental influences. Though I am

not in a position te give detailed statistics at present to show the relation

between fecundity and environment, yet sufficient evidence is available for me

to state that environmental variations do affect the breeding of Lzmncea

/uteola.

For a month anumber of individuals were kept isolated in separate jars.

The water was not changed and the food which consisted of leaves of Vallis-

nevia was not renewed. Many of these individuals had been laying eggs

regularly but under the changed conditions the breeding ceased abruptly.

Again a number of individuals were kept crowded for about a week without

food. The number of eggs laid was verylow. But the same individuals after

being placed in fresh water with a fresh supply of leaves, began laying eggs

regularly. This was observed on many occasions. It is worth finding out

what exactly is the connection between fecundity and nutrition here.

In fine the breeding habits of Lzmnca luteola present many problems of

interest which need elucidation. The regular rise and fall of the number of

eggs laid, the capacity of isolated individuals to breed tor a prolonged period,

the phenomenon of both the mating individuals laying eggs soon after mating,

though mating is not reciprocal, the influence of environmental changes on

breeding,—these are some of the problems that require explanation. It is

also necessary to find out where in the genitalia, and how, when, and how

often, the fertilization of ova takes place.

NOTE ON THE STATEMENTS AND GRAPHS APPENDED

TO: THIS: ARTICLE,

STATEMENT A, PAGE 160

This statement shows the variation in the number of eggs in the successive

batches laid by an individual.

STATEMENT B, PAGE 162

'This shows the total number of eggs in the batches recorded and the average

per individual per batch.

STATEMENT C, PAGE 162(A)

This shows the frequency with which eggs are laid.

(FRAPH I

‘This graph shows the variation in the number of eggs in successive batches

laid by an individual. It will be seen that after rising high the number of eggs

per batch comes low and after one to three batches rises again. Then it comes

low and so on.

GRAPH II

This graph will give an idea of the frequency with which the eggs are

‘aid. It will be seen that eggs are laid successively for two to four days and

then there is a break after which eggs are again laid regularly.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Graph |

100

990

Number of evgs in a batch

[

Ceased laying eggs

o 40 &O 30 ‘40 50

GRAPH SHOWING‘ THE NUMBER OF EGGS IN SUCCESSIVE BATCHES

“LAID BY INDIVIDUAL C.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Graph II

iS)

Successive Days

BY)

2.0

O 5: \o 1S Ao ons 30 35 40 45 50 55 5

Successive batches of eggs laid by an individual

GRAPH SHOWING THE FREQUENCY OF EGG LAYING BY INDIVIDUAL C.

0 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol XXXII

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BREEDING HABITS OF THE SNAIL LIMNASA LUTEOLA 161

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NAME OF INDIVIDUAL

<a S ae | fl | | ql f | REMARKS

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A B Cc D E F G H I Jj K L|M N oO Pil Q R NS)

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19 FTOYLAT PX NWIT TIFNS FHL AO SLIGFH ONIGTIAL

162 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL ATST SOOLEI YY, Vol = Xegi.

B. STATEMENT SHOWING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF EGGS AND BATCHES

RECORDED AND THE AVERAGE PER INDIVIDUAL PER BATCH

Name of Individual Barer eee coe pet Bunge ae

RNA Ae Gd SUL ae ek “ |

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26 853 33

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1D 18 763 42

F | 12 302 25

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H 23 426 19

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J 16 259 16

K | 34 1,576 46

iv ce a 25 887 35

M 25 680 27

N 28 1,182 42

O 15 379 25

P 22 836 38

@ 18 470) 26

R 16 755 47

S 26 955 37

Average per Individual per batch = 32,

76 | 77

162 A

C. STATEMENT SHOWING THE FREQUENCY OF LAYING SUCCESSIVE BATCHES OF EGGS BY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS

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Average

frequency

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Total

Number

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Anse o De mH 4 A

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIMALAYAS

BY:

J. W. BoRRADAILE

(With four plates)

Looking northwards from Simia, the great Himalayan chain

appears to form an unbroken barrier, yet at this point it is crossed

by one of its oldest caravan routes, one branch of which goes to

Tibet ; the other passes through Kulu, Lahouland Ladak. In order

to save time on my journey to Lahoul, I did not take the road from

Simla, but motored from Pathankot through the beautiful Kangra

Valley, and after crossing the Bubbu Pass over the outer Himalayas,

I descended through aforest of huge pines and joined the road in

the valley of Kulu.

Kulu is the basin of the River Beas. It has a wide cultivated

area overhung by giant forests, above which in a complete ring can

be seen the snows of the Central Himalayas. It can be reached at

any time of the year and it is famous for its orchards. Kulu Valley

is soon to be opened up by a first class road and then the difficulties

of reaching it during the winter will be at an end.

There are always traders’ camps on the banks of the Beas and an

inspection of their wares is interesting. Traveiling in the valley is

very comfortable as the road is good and there are dak bungalows

at each stage.

Kulu canbe reached in six days from Pathankot by ordinary

stages. Cost ofmotoris Rs. 20 per seat ; mules Rs. 1-4-0 per stage ;

coolies have tehsilrates according to the length of the march, ap-

proximating at 8 as. with a bonus for the high passes. . Eggs and

chickens are large andcheap. The trout fishing is excellent though,

early in the year, it is spoilt by the snow water. In addition there

is pheasant and woodcock shooting during the winter, also red and

black bear. Unfortunately the number of licences issued each year

is very limited, so the Forest Officer should be applied to early.

After four days I reached the foot of the Rohtung Pass, and

although I had intended to camp some way up, I was compelled to

spend the night at Kahla rest house, on account of the heavy rain,

and this caused me many difficulties on the following day.

The Rohtung Pass is only 13,500 feet above sea level, but it is

famous for its daily hurricane, which starts at nine every morning.

I had engaged two mules at the start of my journey and had since

got a third with which to crossthe pass. Owing to a latefall of

snow, the pass, though casy for foot traffic, was very difficult for

mules, which do not take to the snow nearly so well as the little

Yarkhandi and Spiti ponies.

In spite of repeated warnings that I should be over the pass be-

fore sunrise, a start was not made until4d a.m. The summit was

gained without any difficulty about an hour after dawn, and it seem-

ed as if the passage would be a very easy one.

164 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Voi. XXXII

Looking over into Lahoul from the Rohtung Pass is like entering

anew world. Gone are the forests and cultivation, and in their

place, as far as the eye can see in every direction are peaks and

glaciers without so much as a blade of grass.

It was on the far side of the summit, that we met a man from the

Lahoul side, whotold us that there were three miles of snow in

front of us, which were impassable for mules. Very soon after this

the thaw started, and the mules beganto flounder. However, by

unioading them and dragging the baggage along the snow, we

managed to force them on some way. But at last the animals be-

came quite exhausted, and their knees were bleeding from repeated

falls, so that we could neither move them towards Lahoul nor back

towards Kulu. Moreover, the daily hurricane had just started.

Accordingly we made for a refuge hut which had been built after a

disaster some years ago, for travellers caught by a blizzard.

We found that this hut was packed with ice, so I decided to make

for Koksar, the first village of Lahoul and get assistance. I only

succeeded in producing four coolies, and returned to the top of the

pass with these, to find that the foolish mule drivers had tried to

continue the journey on their own, and could now neither get down

the pass nor could they regain the refuge hut. The coolies took

some of the baggage down and left some food for the mules and we

did not get back to Koksar until after dark. There I was glad to

get ameal, having eaten nothing since the previous evening except

a chapatti and a cup of green tea, which atrader had kindly prepared

for me during my first visit to Koksar.

At midnight I started up the pass again, having been assured by

the headman at Koksar that he would send the coolies up after me.

I managed to lose my way in the dark and did not reach the mules

until daybreak. Needless to say, only two of the coolies arrived

and it took us eight hours to get off the pass. ‘This was at last

achieved by tobogganing down the snow on the baggage and lead-

ing the mules down unloaded. At last, after crossing two difficult

ice bridges, we reached Koksar.

We now had four very pleasant days along a rock road to Kyelang,

the capital of Lahoul. The first of these I travelled with a

Buddhist lama, with whom I conversed in broken Urdu. He was

preceded by a woman, who carried a trident with which to drive

away the devils. When we parted my lama gave me a turquoise

ring with his blessing. On the third day we reached Gondla opposite

a colossal precipice, which is said to rise 11,000 feet sheer above the

bed of the river, with two glaciers at the top, portions of which are

constantly breaking away and descending with a roar into the valley

below.

It had been my intention to cross from Lahoul into Chamba by

the Kukti Pass, which although 17,400 feet above sea level was five

days shorter than any of the other routes. At Gondla I heard such

discouraging stories about the state of this pass, that it seemed as

if I would have to give up theidea. However, I determined to make

further enquiries on my arrival at Kyelang; and so, having crossed

an easy 14,000 feet pass, from which I got a marvellous view of the

Spiti mountains, I met my mules, which had been sent round by

Journ., Bombay: Nat. Hist. Soe.

l. NOMAD CAMPS ON BANKS OF BEAS, KULU

2. THE RIVER BEAS BETWEEN SULTANPUR AND KATRAIN, KULU.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

3. VALLEY OF THE CHENAB ON THE WAY TO KYELANG, NEAR SISSUE,

OVER 10,000 FT. ABOVE SEA LEVEL.

& S 38

S e es LS

ae OY EN ra EO SO ORR IOS IDR ORIN Fat re Seana:

4. BRIDGE OF TWIGS (J/hoola) OVER THE CHENAB AT GOHBRUNG,

LAHOUL. MY BEDDING IS SEEN CROSSING.

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE AIMALAVAS 165

road to that metropolis. Here I met Thakar Abai Chand, Wazir of

Lahoul, to whose kind assistance I owed the comfort of my return

journey.

About 1,000 feet above Kyelang is the Sher-Shah monastery,

which is the centre of Lahoul Buddhism, there being an exception-

ally holy hill on the opposite side of the valley, a circuit of which is

said to be an act of great merit. The only other monastery in the

country is placed in the face of a cliff at Koksar. The great event

of the year at the Sher-Shah monastery is the devil dance, which

was due to take place two weeks after the day of my arrival. This

festival is very interesting, as all the inhabitants from the surround-

ing country are present.

Lahoul Buddhism is somewhat influenced by Hindu beliefs, which

is not surprising as many pilgrims pass through the country every

year on the way to Trilognath, a notable Hindu centre in Chamba

territory. There are still devil worshippers in the country.

In the winter 1924-1925 there was a certain amount of discord

between the lamas and the laity ; this was partly due to a par-

ticularly holy incarnation, who was resident in the valley at that

time and who behaved in a manner not at all in accordance with his

calling. It is even said that the chief lama of a distant monastery,

upon his death bed, named as his own incarnation an unborn child,

rather than have this man as his successor. As a result of this

friction the lamas had lost much of their influence.

Another notable feature in the country are the Chummoos or nuns,

who wear red gowns and have close cropped hair. They work in

the fields during the summer months and only return to the

monasteries during the winter. Two of these were employed by me

as porters during my return journey ; they were remarkably strong

and very cheerful lasses. As a whole the women of Lahoul are of

very powerful physique and walk with a long, easy, graceful stride.

The lay women wear a peculiar silver ornament on their heads.

The Lahouls are polyandrous and their women have considerable

influence in the nousehold.

The men are of comparatively smaller physical development, but

the whole population are of Mongolian type and remarkably hardy,

their chief affliction being cataract, which is probably due to snow

blindness. Lahoul is completely cut off from the world during the

winter months, in fact very little movement takes place in the valley

itself at that time. The chief transport animal is the zho, a cross

between a yak and a cow.

I now decided to visit Patseo and the Baralarcha Pass. Patseo

lies some fifteen miles beyond the last human habitation in the valley

of Lahoul, at an altitude of 12,000 feet. Each year the traders from

Central Asia and Tibet meet the traders from India at this place,

which is the lowest point to which the Tibetans, in their great fear

of Indian heat, can be induced to carry their wares.

The fair at Patseo had not yet started owing to the state of the

Baralarcha Pass, upon which a large caravan was then snowed up,

and many ponies had died. However a great mixture of people had

already arrived, including many representatives of that fine race

of mountaineers the Gaddis, with their kilt-like smocks wound

166 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL FIST. SOCTETY (Vol, XXII.

round with a great length of rope and their great mushroom-like

pugarees.

Beyond Patseo is the serai of Zing-Zing-bar from which the pass

is crossed. After a long ascent over the snow-clad slopes and

past the Suraj Dal Lake, noted for its weird beauty, the top is

reached 16,000 feet above sea level. |

Crossing the pass opens another new world, one of utter desola-

tion. Even the 20,000. feet mountains are dwarfed by the

tremendous mean altitude. There to the north, beyond the famous

grazing grounds of the Lingti Plain, lies the road to Leh, and

somewhere in the wilderness of snow tothe west is Togpo Gogma,

the first serai on the road to Spiti. Zasker can be reached by

turning off at Darcha some fifteen miles on the Lahoul side of the

pass.

To proceed in any direction over the Baralarcha (‘cross road’)

Pass it is necessary to have a special permit. These are not difficult

to get, but the expenses of travelling will be very great, as every-

thing necessary for the journey must be taken from Lahoul, the

country on all sides being devoid of life and vegetation. Spiti can

also be reached by two other routes. Theruler of the country is

called the Nono. Helivesat Dankar. Bhurral can be shot in Spiti,

Ovis ammon and bhurral in Ladak, ibex in Lahoul, though the

average heads are much smaller than the Kashmir variety.

On my return to Kyelang, I got news that the Kukti Pass was

now open and that the annual migration of flocks had begun. Each

year vast herds are driven over the passes to the wonderful grazing

grounds of the high Himalayas, returning again in the winter to the

warmer valleys of the foothills.

I had made arrangements to go up the Billing Nullah, where I had

hoped to shoot an ibex before returning, when | sprained my ankle,

and was detained by this for the rest of my stay in Lahoul. My

servant was fortunately a good masseur, and 1 was soon fit to travel

with the aid of a tight bandage. By this time the monsoon had

broken and as I feared the loosening of the boulders would prevent

my reaching Chamba, I determined to set out at once.

As the road was impassable for anything else, I engaged foot

coolies half of whom were men and the other half women, including

the two nuns already mentioned. After a Sunday morning service,

conducted in Tibetan, by Mr. Peters, the Moravian missionary, I

followed the coolies along the beautiful banks of the Chenab, which

were covered with wild roses, bluebeils and other English flowers,

and on the second day I reached the bridge of twigs at Johbrung.

This bridge consisted of three ropes of interlaced twigs, to cross

which you walked on the centre one and held the other two with

your hands. ‘Toward mid-stream the hand ropes got so far apart

and so low that it necessitated a sort of tight rope performance to

get along at all. Also the whole bridge was swinging and if you

looked down at the torrent below, severe sea sickness was the

result. A good yard from the end the foot rcpe stopped altogether

anda long stride had to be made from an insecure footing to

reach tevva firma. After I had crossed with three of the men, I got

news that the women had laid down the baggage on the opposite side

‘AVG UVHIOD V NO WIWIS WOU

AIGISIA ‘“AASSIS WOUA (‘LA 006‘6T) ONVdUVD “LIN °9

‘206 ‘}SIp] ‘yeyy Aequiog ‘‘uanor

‘Ld OFE'OZ ‘HHA YVAIHS

‘LN AO UAIOVID HLIM ‘AVNAHHO ONIMOOTAAAO

AONVU IVECNVd Ud AO SNIVINOOW ‘8

‘205 “TY ‘3e&N Aequiog “armor

A JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIMALAYAS 167

and refused to go further down. So it was necessary to get recruits

from Johbrung, and even whenall the baggage was across the women

refused to come for their money, which had to be sent back to them.

The next day with a new train, which included the headman of

Johbrung, I started the ascent of the pass. We only covered six

miles on this day, camping low so as to be clear ot the avalanches.

On the following day we had to remain in camp owing to a storm

on the pass above us.. Mindful of lessons learnt on the Rohtung

Pass, | started at midnight. This caused much pain and sorrow to

the coolies, as the going was not nearly so good as on the other

pass.

Presently we reached the snow line, and ascended a steep tongue

of snow in two parties. Those in front would shout Om manz

padmt hom, at about every hundred yards and this was re-echoed

by the party behind, to be taken up again at regular intervals. As

we neared the top, the ascent became steeper, and as a late fall of

snow had covered the ice, it was very hard to get a decent foothold.

Fortunately I was wearing the grass shoes of the country, and I

believe that I could never have proceeded in ammunition boots.

We were relieved to reach rock again as we could cross this at a

better speed. The headman and I, who were teading were busy

cutting steps across the ice at the top, when the first coolie disturbed

a large boulder which came bouncing down on the top of the rest,

like an overgrown football. I have never seen men take cover so

quickly, but a shepherd who was with us moved just too late and

had his shoulder smashed. The only woman coolie lost her footing

and went down several hundred ieet. Fortunately she fell into a

snow drift, and when we got her up again she was able to continue

the journey.

Now that the top was reached we called a halt, and after the

Shepherd had been attended to as well as possible and sent back, a

sheep was sacrificed to the accompaniment of much horn blowing

and bell ringing.

Soon, gathering clouds and a slight sleet warned us that we

should be moving. Accordingly we began the descent to the glacier

over a sheer drop of ice-covered rock. This was very slippery and

we proceeded with great caution sometimes even hand in hand.

Here my bearer was delighted to find some crystals. The glacier

presented no difficulties as the crevasses had not yet fully opened.

The danger being that once these have opened and been covered

with a light fall of snow, they are invisible until trodden over.

We now had an easy climb down the rest of the pass and camped

at 4 p.m. in a cave well clear of the roiling boulders. The altitude

of 17,4060 feet had given me a severe headache and I was glad to turn

in.

On the next day we reached Kukti, the first village in Chamba.

In this state I had expected transport difficulties, as everything had

to be arranged from the wrong end. But thanks to the kindness of

H. H. the Raja, I was met by the headman of each village about a

mile before reaching it and was supplied with everything I required.

From Kukti I had two very trying marches down a gorge. ‘The

track, after passing through a splendid pine forest, narrowed

168 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, V@. XXXII

considerably as it crossed the face of the cliff and then, widening

again crossed the Saralla Pass, and so after six days to Chamba

town. The monsoon had by this time started in earnest, but after

the first two marches there were always good rest houses in which

to get dry after the day’s march. From Chamba it is only two

short marches past the beautiful valley of Kajiar to the canton-

ment of Dalhousie.

Chamba State suffers from a peculiar disadvantage of being

divided in half during the winter months, as a snow range cuts off

the whole of the northern area. All shooting and transport

regulations can be had on application to the Secretary to H. H. the

Raja. Of all the parties which were shooting in this state during

the early part of the year, I did not hear of one which returned

empty-handed. ‘The inhabitants at Chamba are somewhat mixed in

race and are strict Hindus.

The whole journey of over four hundred miles cost me just as

many rupees, exclusive of stores bought at Delhi. These included

a medicine chest, a very necessary item, for the inhabitants look

upon every white man as a qualified doctor, and though I practised

to some extent, I fear that I was a very sorry quack.

PRINCIPLES AND EXTENT OF THE EDUCATIONAL

SERVICE RENDERED TO THE SCHOOLS BY MUSEUMS

IN AMERICA

>. JE PRATER, 2 C.MiZ.s.

Curator, Bombay Natural History Society

(With four plates)

Perhaps the most impressive phase of museum activity in

America is the work done by these institutions for the public

schools. The Museum has become a vital factor in the educational

life of the people and this ideal of service has developed and is

developing so rapidly, that, with new facilities anda fuller com-

prehension of the scope of museum responsibility, the museums of

the country will become to an even greater degree one of the leading

agencies for the culturai development of the nation.

The main principle which governs the teaching service the

museum offers to the schools is that this teaching shouid not add to

the work of the school teacher, but on the contrary, should be

planned to assist him in the work he actually has to do. It should not

add to his burden but is intended to lighten it both by affording him

such information as will simplify his task and by giving him greater

facilities for conveying this information to his pupils. In short the

museum’s teaching service does not add to the school curriculum

but conforms to it—this is the secret of its success—success which

can only be achieved by the closest co-operation between the museum

and the educational department. Every phase of museum instruction

to be successful must be the result of experiment and discussion

between the museum authorities and the schools, and the growth

and development of this service, if it is to be effective, must follow

the helpful suggestions of school teachers who have previously

associated themselves with museum educational work.

EXTRA-MURAL SERVICE

In America the scope of the museum’s service has not been

confined to assisting the teacher in the museum galleries but is

extended to afford him facilities for instruction in the class room.

This is effected by placing at his disposal information which will be

of service to him in the teaching of various subjects prescribed by

the school syllabus, in the shape of lantern slides, prepared lectures,

and special exhibits and also by sending museum lecturers to the

schools to assist the teacher and to simplity the work he has to do.

Lantern Slides and Lectures

The lectures and the slides illustrating them cover a wide range

of subjects dealing with History, Geography, Hygiene, English

Literature, Domestic Science, Nature Study and High School

Biology ; in brief, the subjects selected conform to the courses of

170 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

study prescribed for the schools. The effectiveness of this ‘ visual

instruction’ which the museum is in a position to offer to the school

can be readily recognized. We are most of us visual minded, any-

thing that has been presented to the eye has the best chance of

being retained and recalled. By putting an idea into visual form

we increase its power both by the swiftness and clarity with which it

is received and the ease by which it isrecalled. Visuai instruction,

by bringing the pupils in visual, and therefore more graphic, contact

with the-subjects about which they are learning, helps to drive the

lesson home and simplifies the task of the teacher. The object of

the museum’s lecture service is a means to an end—not the end.

Its object is to plant the seeds of desire for knowledge, to suggest

to the children many interesting things that lie about them, to give

them some idea of the cities they live in, to interest them in the

world without, both animate and inanimate, to plant in them ideals

of good citizenship, to help them to realize what the public ins-

titutions of the city are doing for them and the duties they owe to

those institutions; in fine it aims at giving the child a saner outlook

and a better understanding of life, its principles and relationships.

Some idea of the magnitude of the service rendered in this

manner by various museums in the country to the schools can be

arrived at by a study of the figures. In New York city the lectures

and slides placed at the disposal of the schools by the American

Museum of Natural History reach over 50,000 children annually.

In 1915 40,000 slides were issued by this museum to the public

schools, while in 1926the number rose to 726,028. The material

is delivered tothe schools by a fast messenger service and the

American Museum maintains a fleet of 4motor trucks and motor

cycles for this purpose. At Buffalo between 1925 and 1926 a total

of 113,776 slides in 3,346 sets were loaned to the public schools.

The service is also extended to private schools and institutions. In

Buffalo the loan service is extended to the general public. The

museum maintains, in addition to a stock of slides and lectures,

a set of lanterns which may be borrowed by private individuals

wishing to use them. ‘The extent of this service may be gauged

from a passage in the report of the Buffalo Society of Natural

Sciences which indicates that a total of 1,941,827 or nearly 2 million

slides were issued by the museum to the educational Institutions

and to the general public during the 7 years the department was

in operation.

Lectures in the Schools

The second method of extra-mural service adopted by museums

is the system bywhich lecturers, attached to the museum staff by

the Board of Education, visit the schools during class hours and

deliver a definite and systematic programne of lectures covering both

school terms.

A word about the museum lecture. Dr. Fisher, Curator of

Education at the American Museum of Natural History, in speaking

to me about museum lectures said ‘It requires a special type of

lecturer to handle and interest an audience of school children as it

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICE IN AMERICA 171

does to handle an audience of adults. The best lecturers are born

not made, others achieve the art through training and experience.

Though many of our lecturers are university men, the ablest men are

quite often found amongst those who have not had the advantage

of a university career.’

The subject matter of the lectures, selected by the museum for

delivery in the schools, is again entirely correlated with the courses

prescribed by the Board of Education, for use in schools. ‘The

advantage of the system is that it affords facilities for instruction

which the schools would not ordinarily have—and which a museum

is well able to provide, that it enables a larger number of schools to

benefit by the museum’s educational work and thus permits the

museum to extend largely its sphere of utility. In 1925, more than

200 schools in Cleveland were visited by the museum lecturers and

the museum was thus able to be of service to more than 60,000

children. At the Field Museum, Chicago, the school extension

service covered 259 schools with an attendance of 96,158 children.

Circulating Collections

The third method by which a museum can increase its utility as a

medium of popular education is by sending properly prepared

exhibits to schools where they become a medium of instruction.

A museum cannot perform its full mission for the welfare of

school children by merely maintaining its galleries, however well

they may be equipped, and inviting the school children to visit

them. Whatever pains and trouble the museum authorities may be

put to in their endeavours to induce the school children to visit

their institution, 1t will generally be found, especially in the larger

cities, that the number of children who actually visit the museum

is small in comparison with those attending the schools.

The system of circulating suitable material from their collections to

aid in the teaching in the schools is therefore generally adopted by

museums in America as a direct method of increasing the scope of

their educational work. These circulating collections are made

available to the schools day after day, month after month, thus

becoming an infiuence in the lives of thousands to whom the

museum might otherwise have been a stranger. This direct method

of effectively associating the museum with the schools is in harmony

with the views and desires of progressive school teachers, who

realize that the method not only adds to the reality of the teaching

but becomes an aid to a better understanding of the subject taught.

thereby lightening the task both for the teacher andthe pupil. In

general the cases are designed to show the pupils examples of

local animal and plant life. The exhibits are usually mounted in

natural surroundings with painted or photographic backgrounds,

showing the environment in which they are found. Besides natural

history specimens, the circulating collections also include exhibits

illustrating industrial and commercial products a: d the methods of

their manufacture, etc. The subjects selected being products that

are in daily use or observetion by the child.

The educational value of these exhibits lies mainly in their

realism. I append a series of photographs showing exhibits

172 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

circulated among the schools by the Field Museum, Chicago and

by the American Museum of Natural History, New York. The

photos illustrate the different methods employed in the treatment

of these exhibits.

In addition to the public schools these circulating collections are

also loaned to various public institutions such as public libraries,

art institutes, Y.M.C.A., etc. The libraries co-operate by having

on hand books relative to the subject of the display. The direct

influence of these exhibits is to stimulate a desire for knowledge of

the subject on the part of users of the library and it results in the

more extensive use of educational literature.

The report of the Field Museum, Chicago, for 1925-26, shows that

the total number of cases prepared for the use of schools is 908, of

this number 706 were in daily circulation and 353 schools benefited

by the scheme. It is estimated that nearly § million pupils had the

opportunity, every day of the school year, of studying two of these

cases and as the cases are changed at regular intervals, thirty-six

different cases were placed at the disposal of each school during the

period under review. It will be seen that the system makes it

possible for the museum to reach a large number of pupils than it

could otherwise have reached and, besides providing pleasurable

instruction, it creates a greater interest and a greater appreciation

of nature; it increases the friends and frequenters of the museum

and rouses in them a spirit of enquiry and a keener desire to make

use of the many advantages the museum affords.

Circulating collections offer greater advantages than permanent

loan collections. The latter are apt to deteriorate, and being

permanent objects in a class room, the interest they occasion is apt

to wane. Circulating collections are better looked after, they cover

a wider field and the interest in them is constantly renewed.

Damage to the specimens occasionally occurs, but no great heed is

paid to this, mainly to encourage the teachers to take and make

use of them.

I have tried to indicate the principles that govern the educational

work carried on by the museums of America outside the walls of the

museum andto give an idea of the extent and magnitude of this

extra-mural service. In the great cities not everyone, and parti-

cularly the little ones, can go to the museum but the museum can

go to them and by means of its stores of slides and lectures placed

at the disposal of the school teacher, by its direct lecture service in

the schools and by its circulating collections it can become a direct

influence in the lives of thousands it might otherwise never have

reached. The benefit the children derive from sucha logical and

intimate connection between the museum and the schools can

readily be realized ; its influence goes beyond the mere teaching of

natural history, for every agency which directly increases the

attractiveness of knowledge and the ease of acquiring it becomes

an agency for national culture, for better citizenship, and for

greater stability in civic conditions. And therein after all lies the

secret of what we, as human beings, are after. We make life

increasingly successful as we are able to minimize the time spent

on certain tasks in order that our energies may be released for other

worthwhile tasks and opportunities.

EINE

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PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICE IN AMERICA 173

SERVICES WITHIN THE MUSEUM

So much for the extra-mtural service of museums in America, |

will now pass to a review of the principles and systems in use for

carrying out educational work within the walls of the museum.

The teaching offered by the museum in its galleries must foliow the

lines of the work it conducts directly in the schools. Here again

the system demands the closest co-operation between the museum

authorities and the teaching staff in the schools. We must look to

the teacher for guidance both in the selection of our subject and the

method of presenting it. The type of visual instruction the museum

offers is comparatively new and museum instruction has not arrived

at that degree of science reached in school instruction. The school

instructor instructs chiefly through words, and uses pictures to

illustrate his word-formed ideas. The museum teacher instructs

chiefly through objects, and uses words to develop in his pupils

ideas formed through a study of these objects; but all museum

instructors must labour under the disadvantage of having been

themselves educated mainly through verbal instruction. Till the

visual instruction offered by museums, by experiment and practice,

can be made to attain its fullest effect so long will it be dependent

for guidance and inspiration on the methods of instruction used in

the schools. It should be remembered that all educational work is

largely experimental; it is useless to formulate a fixed policy, the

system must be elastic and the methods employed must be discussed

from time to time with people who have actual experience in

education in order that a true judgment might be formed as to the

measure of its effectiveness.

Teachers’ Guides

One of the methods by which the exhibits in the museum galleries

are brought into the service of the school teacher is revealed

by the system in vogue at the Field Museum, Chicago. The Museum

has prepared a leaflet which gives an outline of the public school

syllabus and shows the correlation between the courses laid down

for study in the schools and exhibits in the museum galleries. The

leaflet covers History, Geography, Natural Science and Manual

Arts. The teachers are thus made conversant with the material in

the museum galleries which will directly assist in the teaching in

the schools. This classification of museum material places the

museum collections more effectively at the service of the schools.

A teacher is able to select his subject and bring his class for

instruction to the gallery where this subject is illustrated.

Museum Lectures

Apart from lectures to the pupils in the galleries, the majority of

the museums provide a regular lecture hall or auditorium where a

systematic programme of lectures is delivered to school children.

An idea of the scope of the museum lecture service to the schools

is obtainable from a study of the numbers of school children

attending these lectures at the various museums.

174 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

In New York over 30,000 pupils from the local schools attend the

lectures annually.

At the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in 1925-1926, 831

classes were held for schools in the museum which were attended

by 27,557 children; while at the Field Museum, Chicago, 348

lectures were given last year, with an attendance of 11,821 children.

In selecting the subject matter for the lecture it is essential that

the lesson should have a definite aim, the object of the lesson is

not to make a scientist out of the child but it aims at instruction in

‘the art of life’; at affording both food and training for the mind.

This cannot be done by marshalling whole series of facts—these

will soon be forgotten but the principles governing these facts will

remain—-the teacher must keep in mind the principle and select the

best medium by which he can develop his subject and drive his

lesson home. Take for example the principle that life is absolutely

dependent on food. We can broaden the child’s concept of this

principle by showing how the structure of an animal is adapted to

the conditions and manner by which it obtains its food. A lesson

on adaptations in Nature is indicated. Can the subject be best

taught and illustrated to children through the medium of a lecture

on mammals? If so, we might develop the theme as follows :—

1. A review of the various types of vertebrate animals.

Il. A discussion of the importance of food to all forms

of life.

Ill. Grouping of mammals according to food—Carnivorous,

Herbivorous, etc.

IV. Examination by the class of the teeth of each of these

groups of mammals.

V. Study of the feet of these animals.

VI. Summarize the lesson and draw conclusions how these

various animals are adapted to fit into their environment and to

obtain the food they require.

Museum Examination Courses and Games

An important feature of the lecture is that the teacher should be

able to judge its effect on the class. At the American Museum of

Natural History examinations are held for the children at the

museum. A series of printed questions 1s prepared, the answers

to which are to be found not in the text books but in the exhibits

and their labels in the Museum galleries.

At the Cleveland Museum the lectures are concluded by what is

knownasa‘ Museum game.’ The pupils are given a printed card of

questions which bear reference to the subject matter of the lecture.

A definite time is set for answering the questions at the end of

which the percentage of correct answers obtained is recorded.

The museum is thus able to judge the efficiency and influence of

its teaching. At Cleveland the children attending the schools are

subjected to an intelligence test and the pupils in the various classes

are divided accordingly i.e. an ‘X’ class would mean children

of high intelligence, ‘ Y’ class less intelligent and ‘ Z’ dull children.

It necessarily follows that the lectures at the museum and the

games that follow must be suitedto the grade of children attending

them.

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICE [IN AMERICA 175

An ‘xX’ class of children was given problems of its own to

work out. A clever child will jump at an answer and if his mind is

not given something to worry him further he will quickly lose

interest. So the idea was to give them something difficult which

would take sometime worrying out, to leave them at it and to keep

them at work. The less intelligent children were treated quite

differently, they were given simpler tasks and told to take plenty of

time over them and encouraged to find out the answers themselves,

made to try again and again and only helped when necessary. The

success which met their own unaided efforts gave the children a new

confidence in themselves and had a remarkable effect on their

outlook. The value of these museum courses is that they force the

child into independent enquiry for the information he or she

desires. Their object is to help the pupil by permitting him to

work independently and by inducing him to find out things for

himself, and to the naturally curious and inquisitive mind of the

child this method of instruction is both attractive and effective.

Work tor the Scouts

Apart from their work with the schools the museums in America

take a deep interest in the field of activity offered by the Scout

organizaticns. At the Brooklyn Museum and at other museums a

special Scout instructor is retained on the staff of the museum

and a branch of the museum is generally established at the Scout

training camps. The museum spirit is even carried out of doors

by the establishing of what are known as ‘trail museums’. A

certain trail or path through a forest is treatedas a museum. The

trail is divided into two sections the ‘training trail’ and the

‘testing trail’. Inthe ‘training trail’ chatty labels and classical

quotations draw attention to the objects of interest to be seen on

the way. The ‘training trail’ leads to the ‘testing trail’ where

the labels take the form of aseries of questions. The visitor walks

through the ‘ training trail’ and then answers the questions in the

‘testing trail’. Contests were held by this means between Cifferent

troops of scouts.

Finally the musuem helps the scout in carrying out his nature

tests and obtaining his merit badges. Special demonstrations are

also held at the museum for local troops. The programme of

entertainment on these occasions is made up of Nature talks,

motion pictures, etc., in short the museum is able to offer the scout

wholesome and instructive entertainment and amusement.

Work for the Blind

The last and perhaps most sympathetic feature of Museum

educational activity in America is the work done for the blind,

and the crippled. One of my photographs shows a class held at

the American Museum of Natural History for blind children. The

method adopted is to give a lecture to the blind pupils and to

illustrate it by something which they can handle, and feel. The

plate illustrates special exhibits suitable for study by blind children.

The specimens are arranged on trays and placed at the disposal of

176. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCTETY, ‘Vol: XXXII

the class who are thus able to study and handle them. A lecture by

Commander Peary, the discoverer of the North Pole, given especi-

ally for blind children, was illustrated by a raised map of the Polar

region, showing the route taken by the expedition, and by the actual

sleigh used on the trip which was equipped with its full complement

of dogs and with its driver in Polar costume. The audience was first

permitted to examine the exhibits, they then heard the lecture after

which they re-examined the material with greater interest.

I have endeavoured to review the principles and the extent of

the service rendered by museums to the cause of popular edu-

cation in America. They are essentially museums for the people,

seeking every channel of activity whereby their sphere of useful-

ness might be increased, entering into every sphere of the people’s

lives and working with all the resources in their power for their

people’s betterment and uplift. One cannot help but realize that the

museum in America has developed and is developing into a great

and powerful instrument for moral and spiritual development; it

is to be reckoned among those great civilizing influences that are

helping man to a broader understanding of life, to an appreciation

of its interest and its beauty and to that conception which

engenders the spirit of love to all things created. The great

religons of the world are doing that, the great writers, poets and

painters have done that and the museums are endeavouring to

follow in their wake by an ably organized, definitely controlled and

far reaching system of service to the people.

I have submitted for consideration of the committee detailed

working plans showing how the various systems outlined in the

above report are made to operate—unfortunately space does not

permit of their being included here. I will therefore pass to the

recommendations as to methods we should employ in establishing

a service for the schools in our own museum.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Before making my recommendations on the lines we should fol-

low in establishing an efficient educational service it would perhaps

be as well to study the methods employed by one of the museums

preparatory to launching its educational programme.

The educational service rendered to the city of Cleveland by the

Cleveland Museum was built up gradually. The museum authori-

ties, having a desire to take up a programme of educational work

among the schools, worked on a system which had for its policy the

idea that the schools themselves should say what they required and

the museum would do its best to meet them. They had to feel

their way: it was no use drawing up a definite programme and

forcing it upon the teachers; such a policy, they believed, would

end in failure or, at best, obtain very limited support. It 1s difficult

to force a new system on to teachers and useless to dictate to

people who have no, or perhaps very little, interest in the pro-

gramme you have to offer. The first essential to success is to make

the teachers understand that you are not proposing to add to their

work by forcing on them new subjects but that you are out to help

‘ANIIG AHL YOA SLIAIHXA

YAOX MAINT ‘ISLEY JVANIVNI JO Unasny{y uUvILAIULE ASIJANOZ AIF

‘20G “ysIpj ‘yex_y Aequiog ‘‘usanor’

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

By courtesy

BLIND

American Museum of Nat.' Hist.,: New York.

CHILDREN STUDYING THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICE IN AMERICA 177

them by simplifying for them the teaching of subjects they are

actually engaged in.

The Curator of the Cleveland Museum first held at the museum a

very informal meeting forteachers and principals of the local school

at which meeting he outlined his programme and told them what he

had to offer; he then asked their advice as to the methods by which

he could best co-operate with them. To awaken their interest still

further a preliminary lecture was given to the teachers

and principals in the local schools. It was a purely informal

affair which concluded in the cordial atmosphere produced by tea

and light refreshments. After the lecture suggestions came from

the teachers that the same lecture, in a modified form, might be

given in their own schools ; requests came from so many schools

that the curator was no longer able to cope with the work. A

special lecturer was then appointed from the regular staff of the

education department to take over the work. The system grew

and in a year or two they had two lecturers who visited each school

in the city at least twice during each term. This led to the forming

of a very definite and systematic service of lectures at: the

schools whereby more than 200 schools in the city were visited and

the museum reached some 60,000 children. As the lectures

were illustrated either with museum material or with photos of

museum material, naturally a new interest in the museum was created

which resulted in a desire on the part of the teachers to visit the

museum and bring their classes there. This led to classes for

children being held at the museum. The lecture service at the

museum thus grew up normally; it was not forced and there was

nothing compulsory about it. This system of classes at the museum

was started in a small way, the schools telephoning for an appoint-

ment or writing; gradually a considerable proportion of the

local schools commenced to avail themselves of the service the

museum offered and it became. necessary to draw up a regular

schedule whereby four classes were held for each school during the

year, i.e. two classes during each term. More schools came into

the scheme till in 1925-26, 831 classes were held at the museum

attended by 27,577 children. As the system grew two lecturers

were appointed to the museum staff who lectured alternately to the

children each giving three lectures per day. This briefly explains

how the museum’s school extension service was established and

placed on a firm footing.

Now a consideration of the policy and methods employed by

museums in America in their educational work for the schools

reveals the main principle that all such service should be correlated

to the courses of study prescribed for the schools by the Board of

Education, that the service should not add to the burden of the

school teacher but should assist him, and that the development and

growth of this service is dependent on a natural desire on the part

of the school teacher to make use of the opportunities and advant-

ages the museum offers him.

The first step would be therefore to consider, by a study of the

Syllabus prescribed by the Education Department for the use of

Primary and Secondary schools, the ways and means by which the

178 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1

teaching service the museum proposes to offer can be correlated

with and be made to conform to the courses of study laid down by

the department.

The points for consideration would be whether the different

sections of the museum can obtain and supply information that

would be directly helpful to the teacher in the teaching of such

subjects as History, Geography, Nature Study, Civics, Hygiene,

etc.

Can the Art and Archeological sections help in the teaching of

History by making available for the use of teachers in the local

schools an outline of the exhibits in their collections which would be

directly helpful in the teaching of this subject and by supplying

information in the shape of lectures and lantern slides relative to,

let us say, places of historical interest in the city of Bombay,

historical monuments in India, the Moghul period, the Peshwa

dynasty, etc. ?

Can the Natural History Section help in the teaching of such a

subject as Geography by supplying information through its exhibits

and by lectures relative to the natural resources, and industries of

the country ? i.e. Rice-growing, Wheat, Tea, Coffee, Forestry, Coal

mining, Cotton and Cotton manufacture, Fisheries, Iron and Steel,

etc. How far and by what methods can it co-operate in the teaching

of Nature Study and High School Biology ? As regards Geography

very little can be done at the present time as the space at our dis-

posal in the museum is inadequate for the development of such

sections as would particularly lend themselves to the task; but as

regards Nature Study and Biology much may be achieved.

Can the Museum help the schools by offering information on

what the great Public Departments of Government and the

Municipality are doing for the welfare of the country and the people

in the city ?

Our programme of work, whatever it is, can only be effectively

arranged by consultation with the educational authorities who should

be in the best position to advise the museum as to the lines on whiich it

should proceed. It is recommended therefore as a preliminary that

this report should be circulated for opinion and advice among those

who would best be able to offer it. A meeting could then be

arranged at which the proposals put forward could be further

discussed.

The next step would be to awaken the interest of the schools, by

holding a special entertainment (I purposely call it entertainment

because the gathering should be perfectly informal and conclude

with refreshments) for the principals and teachers of the local

schools where we could tell them briefly how we propose to help

them. A lecture on the work of museums in America might serve

as an introductory eye-opener.

The lines on which we could help are as follows :—

School Catalogue of Museum Exhibits

The preparation by each section of the museum an outline of the

exhibits in its galleries which could be of direct assistance to the

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICE IN AMERICA 179

teacher in the teaching of various subjects prescribed in the curri-

culum for Secondary schools. From this outline the teachers would

be able to know exactly what exhibits in the museum would be

helpful in the teaching of a particular subject and could arrange with

the museum for aclass to see them under the guidance of the Cura-

tor or his assistants.

Lectures to Classes at the Museum

The preliminary lecture should always take the form of a

conducted tour through all the galleries of the section, as, before

interesting a child in a particular part of the museum, it would be

necessary to satisfy his curiosity as to the contents of the museum

asa whole. The ultimate aim of the guide lecturer should be to

prepare a specific programme of lectures which should follow as far

as possible the courses of study laid down in the school syllabus.

This programme should be available for circulation among the

schools at the commencement of each term. While this is in

preparation classes might be held in the museum with the object of

interesting the children in local forms of animal and plant life and

other material the museum contains. These talks could be illus-

trated with museum material and should be givento the children in

the lecture room. Butin developing his programme of lectures

the lecturer should remember that his objective is to establish a

sympathetic relationship between the children and their environment

viz. the city child’s relationship with the world in which he lives.

Subjects which concern the health, habits of life, the skill, intelli-

gence, building, food getting, and other activities of man are as of

vital interest to the child as the study of the lower forms of animal

life. The schedule of lectures should be so arranged so as to give

pupils from each school the opportunity of attending them at

definite intervals during the school second term. During the

present year while these classes are being held and the interest of

the schools in the projects is being roused, work might continue on

the preparation of a definite programme of lectures which should be

ready for circulation among the schools at the commencement of

the school term in 1928. In the preparation of this programme the

lecture programmes of various American museums which are avail-

able might be studied with benefit. The guide lecturer will go

through a list of the schools who are co-operating in the scheme, he

will give each school certain hours and dates at which lectures can

be arranged for. ‘he principal of the school will receive this

notice specifying the time and the dates at which his classes could

be accommodated and will signify his approval or suggest a change.

The lecturer will thus know what his programme of lectures is to

be, the time and the dates and the number of pupils he can expect.

Museum Courses

When the system of lectures has been developed sufficiently a

eommencement might be made with museum examination courses,

180 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol: XXXII

when sets of printed questions might be given to the pupils, the

answers to which are to be arrived at by examination of museum

material exhibited in a particular gallery. The examinations should

be conducted as in aclass room and attendance should be com-

pulsory. A prize might be offered to the pupil obtaining the

highest percentage of marks, or classes from various schools might

compete.

Museum games, as described in the body of this report, might

also be held at the close of the lectures as a valuable method of

judging the efficiency of the teaching and giving good brain-stretch-

ing exercise to the child.

Museum entertainment

We should consider the possibility of holding at the museum

during the year one or two entertainments to which as largea

number of children from the local schools as possible should be

invited. The programme should be made up of motion pictures

of educational interest, i.e. travel films, nature and health films, etc.

(I feel certain that the local firm of Pathe Freres would help if

properly approached. The Haffkine Institute also has some suitable

films and I believe the Railway companies also have suitable films

of trave] in India which they might possibly loan). Lantern

lectures and nature talks could help to fill the programme.

EXTRA-MURAL SERVICE

As [have already stated, a very important phase of the museum’s

extra-mural service is the providing of lantern slides, and lectures

for the use of teachers in the schools. We should endeavour there-

fore, while developing our lecture service in the museum galleries

gradually to amass the material for this purpose.

The cheapest way would be for the museum to prepare its own

slides by engaging a photographer and giving him the material and

the facilities for carrying out this work. A large amount of

material could probably be collected by appealing to various public

departments, railway and transport companies, and commercial

and industrial concerns. The American Museum built up a large

proportion of its stock of slides in this manner. As the museum was

offering publicity to these organizations in the work it proposed to

do there was a natural desire to co-operate on the part of those to

whom the museum appealed. Lastly a number of slides might be

obtained through exchange. The American museums are anxious

to obtain Indian material for their collections. Specimens illus-

trative of American animal life which they would normally give us in

exchange would not be of much use to us as our sphere is limited at

present to the Oriental Region but they could and are willing to help

by supplying us with material from their Education Department.

A glance through their catalogue of slides will show how many of

the subjects covered would be directly applicable to our own use.

After consultation with the Director, I am able to state that the

PRINCIPLES OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICE IN AMERICA 181

American Museum, New York, would be glad to enter into this

system of exchange which would be mutually helpful.

In collecting the material a definite policy should be adopted, viz.,

that the subjects selected should have a direct bearing and relation

to the teaching in the schools. In the appendix to this report

which I am unable to publish here, | have endeavoured to indicate

the lines on which we should collect our slide material, I have

grouped them under subject headings, and have tried to show the

possible sources of supply.

I have already indicated the various methods adopted for

cataloguing and storing these slides but this is a matter which can

be more fully considered when we have amassed a sufficiency of

material.

Lectures delivered by the Museum Lecturer in the Schools

The advantages of this method, which enables the museum

considerably to extend its sphere of utility and to reach a far larger

number of pupils than it would by its normal lecture service in the

galleries, need not be stressed. We could perhaps commence by

setting aside one day in the week on which our lecturer could visit

say three schools, the next week three others could be visited. We

would by this means be able to take in a large percentage of the

schools. The system would have the direct effect of increasing the

interest of the schools in the museum and would also have a good

effect on our lecture service in the galleries. I recommenda trial

of the system and the formation of a programme of work suitable

to conditions in the city.

Circulating Collections

The tormation of suitable exhibits for circulation among the

schools is purely a question of funds. I propose during the year to

prepare one or two cases suitable for this purpose, as an experi-

ment. At the Field Museum the whole cost of preparing these

cases was covered by a single donation. At the Brooklyn Museum

the circulating collections for the schools were established and

financed by the Women’s League, an organization similar to our

Bombay Women’s Council. Here is a field of activity which might

be offered to the local Women’s Council by which they could

actively co-operate in the education of the children of the city. Itis

possibly a source from which we might obtain assistance and is

worth trying.

The Museum and the Scout Organizations

The Boy Scout and Girl Guide organizations in Bombay present a

very suitable tield for our activities and it is recommended that the

passages in this report which have reference to the work done by

museums in America and thes organizations be forwarded to those

who have control of the movement in Bombay. A meeting might

182 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX]

then be arranged at which we might formulate pians by which we

could co-operate with the scouts both in the museum and in the

training camps. The holding of classes and demonstrations for

Boy Scouts and Girl Guides at the museum and the methods by

which we could help at the training camps are points which might

be considered.

Work for the Blind

Finally we should consider the possibility of holding at least once

or twice during the year a class for the children from the local blind

school. Examples of corals, shells, mounted birds, mammals and

reptiles might easily be arranged in trays so that the children could

handle them. They would then be given a talk on these specimens

and then be allowed to re-examine them. It would bea means of

bringing pleasure into their otherwise colourless lives.

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES

Lt.-CoL. F. C. FRASER, I.M.S,, F.E.S.

Part XXVII

(With one Text-figure and four plates)

(Continued from page 889 of Vol. XXXT)

Suborder-——Z YGOPTERA

Head transversely elongate; eyes more or less widely separated, usually

more so than in genus Gomphus ; vesicle usually absent, ocelli lying free in

middle of vertex ; labium with middle and lateral lobes approximately equal,

the midlobe deeply fissured ; wings usually identical in shape, the hind dilated

occasionally at their middles, never at the base: trigones represented by a

foursided, irregular structure (hereafter called the dzscotdal cell), which may

be squared, or obtusely or acutely pointed outwardly; pterostigma usually

present, occasionally absent in one or all wings, variably shaped; antenodal

nervures numerous or reduced to the two primitive pairs ; winys usually held

closed together when at rest ; a pair of superior anal appendages at end of 10th

abdominal segment, and a pair of inferior anal appendages at sides of anal

orifice ; female with well-developed ovipositor somewhat similar to that of

Gynacantha. ‘

Larve variably shaped, possessing caudal gills, two to three in number

which show a great variety in shape and size, spine-like, vesiculated or padddle-

shaped ; breeding in still or running water, more often in the latter.

[Since this series of papers was started in 1918, our ideas on the venation of

a dragonfly’s wing has undergone very radical changes, and this the result of

the finding of several mest important fossil dragonfly wings which throw a flood

of light on the problem. We now find that instead of a many branched medius,

we have a many branched radius, and that the vein we have known as Cuz is

really Cuzz, the former being absent in living Odonates, and further that the

vein we have been accustomed to regard as Cuz is in reality 7A. We are

indebted to Lameere and Dr. R. J. Tillyard for this interpretation, and as it

now brings the dragonfly venation into line with other orders of insects, and is

certain to be generally adopted in the future, I prepose to take the opportunity

offered by the introduction of a new suborder, to introduce the new nomen-

clature.

The following table and figure will assist the reader in rearranging his ideas

on the venation and will be amplified from time to time. |

New Notation (Tillyard’s) Old Notation (Needham-Comstock )

Costa... nt eran Costa oe eet wes

Sabcosta ses yee. Subcosta see ia, OC:

Radio-median ... eee ee Mie Radio-median .. R+M.

First Radius (main stem) ... Ri. Radius a ae ce

Arc. is pe AGT Cs Arc ar see) AEC

Second Radius (first branch). Rii. First branch of median... Mi.

Intercalated branch of Azz ... IRii. First intercalated branch

of median ... ia ita,

Third Radius (second branch) _ Riii. | Second branch of median Mii.

Intercalated branch of A7zzz... IRiil. | Subnodal sector bee NSE

Fourth and fifth Radius com- |

bined ee ..» Riv-+v. Third branch of median. Miii.

Anterior median (medius ant.) MA. Fourth branch of median. Miv.

Posterior median (medius Absent in

post.) ed vee, MP: all dragonflies.

184 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURALVATST SOCIETY, WV ol Xe

New Notation (Tillyard’s) Old Notation (Needham-Comstock).

First cubital nervure seas Coll | (Absent in all dragonflies)

Second cubital nervure eee Ci | First cubital meryure ... Cui.

First Anal nervure er AN | Second cubital nervure... Cuil.

Cubito-ana! nervure we (Coie TAR | Cubital nervure igual

Second Ana! neryure NG: ' Postcostal nervure Be ey a

The Zygoplera are divided up into two large families distinguished by the

number of antenodal nervures, as follows :—

1. Only two antenodal nervures : discoidal cell usually entire ; arc midway

between base of wing and node, or nearer node than base; usually smail

insects. 7

Cenagrionide.

2. More than two antenodal nervures, never less than five ; discoidal cell

usually traversed but sometimes entire ; arc nearer base of wing than node ;

larger insects.

Agrionide.

The Agrionide are divided up into three large sub-families as follows :—

1. Sectors of arc arising from the lower third of arc ; discoidal cell convex

coastalwards and as long as or nearly as long as the basal space ; pterostigma

often absent in both sexes, or much reduced or false in character.

Agrionide.

2. Sectors of arising from the middle or above the middle of are ; discoidal

cell rarely convex costalwards and shorter than basal space ; pterostigma

elongate and well developed in both sexes.

Epallagine,

3. Wing characters same as last, but male sometimes with the pterostigma

occasionally absent in forewing; abdomen much shorter than wings;

epistome (or nose) enormously developed so as to form a tumid nasal structure

on the front of face.

Libellagixne.

Subfamily—LIBELLAGINA, Laid.

RaNt

%.. aie

Ke >.

Wiig > : ony SEEN

SAO Ce ony ee

SASSO

mas ey ef J “an ira.

qureest® iN j Si : abel TTT

me,

et)

Toate

Tal Pt" Sl

Fig. 1.—ARhinocypha spuria, Selys, male

Mt.==Mesothoracic triangle

Head robust, triangular ; eyes oval, large, projecting posteriorly, moderately

separated from one another; frons horizontal, rather longer than broad ;

occiput linear, very narrow ; face projecting, as long as the head is broad,

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 185

ante- and post-clypeus very tumid and projecting, rounded and vesiculated ;

labium slightly longer than broad, split nearly to its base into two narrow

triangular parts; labrum oval; antenna with rudimentary first segment,

second segment cylindrical, the most robust of all, third segment slenderer and

longer, with its apex slightly tumid, terminal or apical segment longer than

the third.

Prothorax elongate, narrower in front than behind, the anterior border

raised, the hind with a large lobe, tumid and oval in shape.

Thorax moderately robust, compressed, forming about one quarter the total

length of body, elongate, the dorsum flattened, the midthoracic carina often

bifid so as to enclose a triangular space variable, in length, extending from

one-fourth to the whole length of carina (when present, known as the ‘ midtho-

racic triangle,’ and important for differentiating species).

Legs long and slender, extending to the apical end of segment 4 in males, to

the end of segment 7 in females. Femora and tibiz with long hair-like

spines; tibiae sometimes dilated, often densely pulverulent on the flexor

surface ; tarsal claws with 2 small spine at end, barely visible in some

(Rhinocy pha).

Wings hyaline or opaque, metallic or iridescent in the males, usually

uncoloured in the females, of the same shape and size, but in some genera, the

hindwings distinctly broadened, always longer than the abdomen, especially in

the female long and narrow, markedly petiolated ; reticulation close, cells

tetragonal in shape. zz and J Azz vot fused with Azv 4+- v- node nearer base

of wing than apex; basal space entire, slightly longer than half the cubital

space; discoidal cell straight, very narrow, traversed by one or several

nervures, about one-third shorter than the basal space, its ends squared or the

outer oblique; are nearly straight or markedly bent, its sectors arising from

near the middle from a single point or moderately separated ; Cuzz neariy

straight or making a costal-wards curve after leaving the discoidal cell; /4

without an inferior branch, straight or curved posteriorwards or undulated ;

no intercalated sectors between Cuzz and /A , most sectors running straight,

with but a little curve towards the termen of wing ; many intercalated sectors ;

4 to 20 antenodal nervures, the first and second or third being the primaries,

all others not coinciding in the costal and subcostal series; pterostigma

present in all wings, except in the forewings of J/icromerus males, long and

narrow.

Abdomen broad, depressed, especially in the male, short, segments ] and

2 very short, the remainder nearly equal in length, squared.

Anal appendages all very similar, the superiors twice as long as segment 10,

cysindrical, slightly broader at base, curved pincer-like towards one another at

apices ; inferiors very short, more robust, cylindrical, blunt at apices.

Genitalia variable in the genera.

Distribution. Africa, S. Asia, the Philippines and Australia.

Four genera found within Indian limits :-—

Wings uncoloured in both sexes; /A unduiated

from its origin ... Mes i ... Ltbellago, Selys.

Genus—RHINOCYPHA, Ramb.

Rhinocypha, Ramb. Ins. Nevrop., p. 232 (1842); (Libellago, pars) Selys,

Mone uibs. Hur, py. 200 (1840): Id. Syn. “Calop:;,. p. 759 :(1853) + Id.

( Sectors of are separated at origin; a pterostigma

| present in all four wings of both sexes wes 2

1 4 Sectors of arc arising from a common point ; fore-

| wines of male without a pterostigma... ai Micromeris,

| Ramb.

( Wings stalked (petiolated) to far distal of the nervure

| ac (cubital nervure) ee Ns 4a Calocypha,

ae gen. nov.

| Wings petiolated to slightly proximal of the cubital

| nervure aa ee fan ee 3

( Wings (at least the hind, except in zmmaculata)

| coloured in the male; /A not undulated at its

3 J origin = Lehinocy pha,

Ramb.

{

186° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURALGTIST SSOCTE TY Vol axes

Mon. Calop., .p.-198, (1854); Walk. List; Neur. Ins. B-- Ms, “iv, pii645

(1853);;, Burm.) (Calopiteryx,. pars) Hawlbs Bat... 11, fps! S820) (1sso)e

Percheron (Agyzon, pars); Gen. Ins. Neur-3i220(1835).; “Guerin (eyo,

pars) Mag. Zool. i. Ins. t., 15 1831).

Characters as for the subfamily ; wings of male, less rarely of female also,

coloured vividly with metallic blues, violet, green or fiery coppery, at least in

the hindwings, often with clear vitreous spots and stripes on hindwings which

glow with opalescent rainbow tints; antenodal nervures numerous, always

more than six in number; /4 not unduiated at its origin ; petiolation always

ending proximal to ac ; shape of wings very variable, either all four very long

and narrow, or the hindwing considerably dilated. Mesothoracic triangle

nearly always present and brightly coloured in most species, of variable length,

sometimes extending up to the alar sinus, but often much shorter than this.

Legs long and slim, the hind pairs of tibize nearly always pruinosed white or

yellow. Anal appendages as for subfamily.

Larva. Body short and robust, head squarish, the eyes representing the

outer angles, antennze seven jointed, the segments becoming progressively

smaller from base to apex; prothorax small, furnished with feur small

protuberances on the dorsum ; wing-cases lying parallel along the dorsum ;

abdomen short and cylindrical; legs of great lengthin the earlier instars, of

moderate length in the adult, hind tibize extending to a short distance beyond

anal end of abdomen, minutely spined, striped with pigment; mask deeply

bifid in the final instars, the edges of the fissure usually overlapping to enclose

asmall foramen, very long and flattened, extending as far as base of middle

pair of legs in the adult, furnished with two lateral setze and three hooks

which may be bifid at the apex, moveable hook of great length; caudal

gills two in number, triquetral in shape, heavily spined, the 11th abdominal

tergite present as an appendix dorsalis unmodified as a gill. Gizzard with

sixteen folds each bearing four to five teeth. Found in running water, usually

montane or submontane streams, clinging to weed or submerged twigs, etc.

The Rhinocypha as a whole, forma large genus of medium sized dragonflies,

which possesses some of the most beautiful insects of the world. Not only do

their wings display an inimitable play of scintillating colours, ranging through

blues, greens, violet, pink to gorgeous fiery coppery red, but the bodies in most

cases are also gaily decorated with red and blue or yellow of many shades.

‘The picture afforded by a couple of males, circling round one another, their

wines glittering with multitudinous rainbow hues, as they compete for the

affections of an admiring female, is not readily forgotten. They are the living

eems of tropic streams and delight the eye of even a casual observer.

When mating, the males perform a kind of nuptial dance before the female,

during which they make a great display of the white pulverulent flexor surface

of the hinder pairs of tibize. The legs are trailed and show up dazzlingly

white in the strong sunshine.

Meanwhile the forewings flutter rapidly to support the insect, whilst that

the hinder pair are held flat to display their wealth of colour. The female,

perched on a prominent twig beside the stream, appears to be totaliy un-

concerned by its mate’s efforts to attract her. One very rarely sees a pair in

cop, althougk vast numbers of both sexes may be present on the banks of the

stream.

Less rarely a female may be seen ovipositing on a floating twig or broken

reed:

In spite of the large number of species, it is extremely difficult to establish

relationships, and their distribution presents many apparently insoluble

problems. Roughly the whole genus may be split up into two large divisions.

Those with narrow wings, the hind scarcely broader than the fore, and in

which /e777 is widely separated and distad from the subnode.

(E.g.,—bzforata, perforata, bisignata, etc.).

‘Those with broader wings, the hind usually being much broader than the

fore, and in which #2277 comes off from the subnode.

(E.¢.,—cuneata, spuria, guadrimaculata, ignipennts, etc.).

Lenipennts, trimaculata and unimaculata are clearly fairly closely related,

not only from the colour of the wines, coppery in all, but also from the fact

that all have an aborted mesothoracic triangle.

/ridea which shares this latter character, I am inclined to view also as closely

related as the forewings are often coppery.

(*}x9] 94} UI UAALS UOTVION Jo 91GB, 94} 9as ‘uoleJeid19}UI 104 )

AINO SHYNANAN GHSOdUAINI GNV NIVW AHL ONIMOUS ‘SATHS ‘v7V]NIvIUUL VYPAIOULYY AO INIMANIH

I °3%Id "20S *FSIpT ‘ey Aequiog “uainor

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Plate II

PiG.7 1

gqguniies 2

gettin wnat

cane

Fie. 2

Fic. 1. Wincs oF Rhinocypha cuneata, SELYS, MALE.

Fie. 2. Wincs oF Rhinocypha guadrimaculata, SELYS, MALE.

The black areas are steely blue or green, the shaded areas are vitrified and glow with

blue, green, violet reflex according to the angle from which viewed.

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES ; 187

A quite natural series, which may indicate a possible line of evolution is as

follows :—

R. timmaculata—hilarye —bitasciata—trifasciata—bifenestrali—s puria—and

so on to the fenestrella group.

So far as the seventeen Indian species are concerned, it is possible to place

them in four more or less natural groups, of which group perforata appears to

be the most primitive.

Group Il. Fenxestrella

The third branch of radius (A272) arising at the subnode; wings opaque

black with iridescent vitreous spots of blue, violet, or emerald green; hind-

wings considerably broader than the fore ; ‘mesothoracic triangle very large,

extending to antealar sinus, coloured .—cuneata—spuria—fenestrella—quadri-

maculata.

Group il. Fasczata

The third branch of radius arising at the subnode or very slightly distad to

it; wings hyaline or the hind marked with one or more opaque black bands

running from costa to posterior border ; hindwings only slightly broader than

fore ; mesothoracic triangle very large, extending’ to antealar sinus, coloured.—

tmmaculata—hilarye — bifasciata—trifasciata—bitenestrata.

Group Ill. Onimaculata

The third branch of radius arising from the subnode or slightly distad of it ;

wings fiery coppery metallic with iridescent vitreous spots ¢f pink, violet or

vreen (zvz7dea has the hind wing and costal border of forewing opaque black

with golden, or violaceous vitreous spots and stripe); hindwings usually

broader than the fore; smesothoracic triangle obsolete.—unimaculalta—ignti-

pennis—trimaculata and iridea.

Group lV. Perforata

Third branch of radius arising well distad of the subnode ; hindwings not

broader than the fore, both pairs very narrow ; hindwings cpaque only in the

outer third or half, this area marked with one or two rows of iridescent vitreous

spots ; mesothoracic triangle short, not extending more than half-way towards

the antealar sinus.—perforata—biforata—bisignata—whitehead?. (To ‘this

eroup also belongs deatifica, Fras., a race of perforata, and beesont, Fres.,a

race of bzforata.)

For the rest adamantina, Forst., is synonymous with cuneata, or at the most,

merely a race of that species, whilst Aemzhyalina, Fras., is a race of guadrimu-

culata. Lastly /atdlawi is transferred to a new genus.

Key to Indian species of AAznocypha.

1. Wings uncoloured in both sexes zmmaculatu, Selys.

(Assam. )

Wings colowred, at least partly, in the male. Z

2. Dorsal mesothoracic triangle extending as far as root

of wines xe an ae 3

Dorsal mesothoracic triangle either absent, un-

coloured or extending not more than half-way up

to root of wings ... bs bee 5

3. Hindwings of male with opaque bands 4

Hindwings of male opaque with vitreous spots of

4. Hindwings of male with the apex narrowlv black

and an incomplete (more rarely complete) black

band just proximal to pterostigma .... us . Mlarydé, Pras.

(Upper Burma.)

Hindwing with the apex narrowly black and a black

band lying about midway between pterostigma

and node ve fa ee ... Otfasciata, Selys

(Assam.)

Similar to last but witha third, incomplete black

band at the level of node ... oat Ae 5

188 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

io al

10.

—y

Le)

Apical, medial and noda! bands separated ... tvifasciata, Selys.

(N. W. Provinces.)

All three bands connected narrowly along costal and

hinder borders of wing, thus enclosing two large

spaces .. oe xe aie ... ifenestrata, Fras.

(Assam. )

The large apical vitreous spot separated from the

costal border by not more than one or two rows of

celisne. sie re aa ... CUNCALA, SelYS:

(Assam and Bengal.)

Apical vitreous spot separated from costal border by

at least three or four rows of cells si 7

Apical vitreous spot moderately small, lying exactly

under pterostigma, medium-sized species .. fenestrella, Ramb.

(Burma, Indo-

China, Borneo.)

Apical vitreous spot large, lying almost entirely

proximal to line of pterostigma, large species,

hindwing 27-28 mm., mid row of vitreous spots

more or less confluent wt ay sae e SPUILE PCL YS.

(Bengal, Assam

and Sikhim.)

Apical vitreous spot moderately iarge, lying partly

proximal to line of pterostigma, small species,

hindwing 20-24 inm., mid row of vitreous spots

always well separated, the costal one extending

much nearer to node than the middle spot .. guadrimaculata,

Selys.

(N. India.)

Mesothoracic triangle uncoloured, or entirely obso- .

lete ; hindwing distinctly broader than forewing... 9

Mesothoracic triangle coloured, extending from one-

third to half-way Up dorsum ; eye nearly the

same breadth as fore es eZ

Wings fiery burnished coppery “metallic ; ‘no Opaque

ares in forewings.. 10

Wings opaque black, the hind with a sickle- shaped

vitreous spot at distal end, which partially encircles

the outer row of vitreous spots; costal border of

forewing narrowly black nearly asfarasnode ... «vided, Selys.

| (Upper Burma.)

Hindwing witha large subquadrate violety green

vitreous spot at its centre ; very large species .. unimaculata,Selys.

(Bengal and Assam.)

Hindwing with a medial row of vitreous spots and

an inner linear spot Aon lat

Small species, hindwing 23 mm. or ‘less ; inner

vitreous spot very elongate .. .«. Lrimaculata, Selys.

Larger species, hindwing 26 mm. or more ; inner

vitrecus spot much shorter ... he .. tgnipennts, Selys.

| (Both from Assam. }

Only the apical third of hindwing opaque; a single

row of vitreous spots ae ee air 13

The apical half of hindwing opaque, two rows of

vitreous spots ras ae ae se SPEFLOKALG, Perehey

and race dcatifica.

(Assam, Burma,

S. Asia. )

Mesothoracic triangle very small, pink ; vitreous spots

elongate; only extreme apex of forewing tipped

with black Ee a mh ... btforata, Selys.

(Burma.)

Mesothoracic triangle larger, extending half-way

along dorsum, pink ; vitreous spots shorter: apex

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 189

of forewing tipped with black as far as inner end

of pterostigma ... ae shy ... Otforata, race,

beesont. Fras.

(Burma, Assam.)

Similar to the last, but nearly the apical third of

forewing black ... ... Odtsignata, Selys.

(Peninsular India, south of the Himalayas. )

Mesothoracic triangle small, blue; an isolated

vitreous spot distal to the row of vitreous spots ;

opaque area of forewing equal to that of hind,

intensely black, the vitreous spots peacock blue ;

wings markedly rounded at apices... ... whiteheadi, Kirby.

(Assam. )

1. Rhinocypha cuneata, Selys. Syn. Calop. p. 60 (1853); Id. Mon. Calop.

p. 206 (1854) ; Walk. (Lzbellago cuneata), List. Neur. Ins. B.M., iv,

p. 650, n. 14 (1853) : Kirby, Cat. Odon., p. 113 (1890) ; Will. Proc.

DES: Nat. Mus., vol, RKVilign PPaelioe 174 (1904) ; Laid., Rec. Ind.

Mais.,, vole. xiit, D. 36 and Pl. 11 (1917). Forst. (adamantina), Ann.

Mus. Nat. Hung., p. 547 (1903).

Male. Abdomen 24mm. Hindwing 27-28 mm.

Head. Ground colour velvety black, labium black, labrum black witha pale

blue spot on either side, rest of head unn:arked save for a tiny spot of rust red

on the outer side of the ocelli, and another smaller, bluish, on each side of

occiput. Eyes brown.

Prothorax black with a pale blue longitudinal streak on the middorsum of

posterior lobe.

Thorax black, the mesothoracic triangle very large, extending as far as the

antealar sinus, pointed at apex, palest blue in colour, a tiny humeral point just

behind the upper end of the humeral suture, a linear streak along the anterior

border of the second lateral suture, not extending up as far as wing roots, and

dividing into two small spots below ; lastly an upper short streak on the mete-

pimeron, all reddish yellow.

Legs black, the two hinder pair of tibice pure white on flexor surfaces from

dense prtiinescence, the distal portion of the hind femora less so,

Wings opaque from apices to about 5-7 cells proximad of node, the bases

hyaline, palely saffronated. The opaque area in forewings occupying roughly

about the costal half of the wing, the hinder border of this area serrate. In the

hindwings this area begins 4-5 cells proximad of node and runs obliquely back

and out from this point in a very irregular and serrate manner, leaving a

vitreous streak of pale violaceous anterior to the discoidal cell, which deeply

indents the opaque area and runs inward to a little beyond the inner end of

discoidal cell. The inner border of the opaque area, posterior to the dis-

coidal cel! is also violaceous vitreous. The opaque area presents a medial

row of spots, all more or less confluent and presenting an infinite variety of

patterns. The anterior or costal spot lies between “Az and A777 (first and

second branches of radius) and is usually separated from the hinder two, it

extends inward well beyond the others. The hinder spots usually confluent,

extending to within one cell row of hinder border of wing. In addition to this

medial row, a very large preapical spot extending from Az nearly to hinder

border of wing, oval in outline, its inner and outer borders serrate, its outer

border in line with the inner end of pterostigma. The latter black with an

elongate spot of pale blue at its centre. The iridescent spots and vitreous hinder

area of forewings peacock blue or pale violaceous according to which angle

viewed from. Abdomen black, unmarked. Superior anal appendages slender,

sub-cylindrical, simple, curved in at apices; inferior half the length,

moderately separated, slightly curved in at apices.

Female. Hindwing 28-30 mm. Abdomen 21 mm.

The female has hitherto been undescribed. The following description is

made from specimens from T'urzum, near Darjeeling :—

Head marked as for male but with the following additional spots, all bright

gamboge :—a small pot on each side of the anterior ocellus and just anterior

to its level; a large spot at the base of antenne, a pyriform spot on each side

of the frons, the cheeks narrowly, the bases of mandibles, and finally a small

spot or stripe on each side of rhinarium.

19) JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Prothorax black marked with bright gamboge as follows:—a median streak

on dorsum of posterior lobe as in male, a short streak on sides and a large oval

spot laterally, just below posterior lobe.

Thorax black marked with bright gamboge as follows :—fine lines on the

humeral and median lateral sutures, incomplete below, the same markings as

seen in the male but considerably broader, especially the metepimeral marking

which is broad and roughly triangular, finally a minute antehumeral streak on

the lower part of thorax. The mesothoracic triangle mapped out in lines of

yellow.

Legs black, not pruinosed. Wings hyaline, evenly enfumed throughout, so

that they appear brown when overlapping and folded over dorsum.

Abdomen black marked with gamboge as follows:—the dorsal carina finely as

far as segment 7, a zigzag lateral stripe on segment 1, a lateral basal longitudinal

stripe and an apical spot on segments 2 to 4, and the spot only on segments 5 to

7. A ventro-lateral stripe on segments 2 to 6. In some specimens many of

these markings are more or less obsolete, the younger specimens being as a

rule the better marked.

Anal appendages black, pointed, cylindrical as long as twice the length of

seginent 10. Vulvar scale very robust, extending to end of abdomen.

Pterostigma brownish black clouded with enfumied white, oblique and rather

squared distad, pointed within.

Distribution. Northern Bengal and Assam. I possess specimens from

Gopaldhara, Assam and Turzum, Darjeeling District, also from Mangpu, in the

latter district, collected by Messrs. H. Stevens, Oscar Lindgren, and Chas. M.

Inglis. The type is said to have come from Thibet and may weli have done so,

it is a male in the Selysian collection.

R. adamantina Forst. (Ann. Mus. Nat. Hungarici, p. 547 (1903), is obviously

inerely a variety of this species.

The species is easily distinguished by the apical vitreous spot encroaching to

within one or two cells of the costal margin of the wing.

2. Rhinocypha spuria, Selys., Bull. Acad. Belg. (2), xlvii, p. 388 (1879) ,

Kirby, Cat. Odon., p. 113 (1890) ; Selys, Ann. Mus. civ. Genov. (2)

x (Xxx), p. 59 (1891); Will. Proe..U. S.) Nat. Mus.) volo xxvitiipp:

173, 174 and 177 (1904) ; ‘Laid...Rec. Ind Mus.; vol. xutspo;367and

37 (1917).

Male. Hindwing 27-28 mm. Abdomen 24 inm.

Head black marked with citron yellow as follows :—a small oval spot on, the

outer side of each posterior ocellus and 2 tiny occipital spot on each side, these

markings being similar to those of cumeata. Labium black, labrum unmarked.

Prothorax black marked with citron yellow as follows:—a linear streak on

the middorsum of posterior lobe and a small spot at each of its outer angles,

another larger spot below this anda large triangular spot on each side of

middle lobe.

‘Thorax black marked with yellow :—an upper linear antehumeral spot, an

upper humeral stripe breken above, hugging the hinder border of humeral

suture, a broad irregular stripe on the sides on the hinder part of the mese-

pimeron and an elongate triangular streak on the hinder part of metepimeron,

which is often broken in two ; lastly and occasionally a small spot on the upper

part of mesepimeron and a tiny streak along the upper part of first lateral

suture. Ail these markings, both prothoracic and thoracic subject to variabi-

lity, the prothoracic and the smaller markings on the thorax often obsolete.

Mesothoracic triangle very long and broad, lilaceous.

Legs black, the two hinder pairs of tibize snowy white from pruinescence on

the flexor surface.

Wings opaque black with a steely blue or green reflex in the outer three-

fourths, marked with vitreous spots and areas of lilaceous or purple. In some

lights these spots have a mother-of-pearl] reflex.

In the forewing, the opaque area covers the costal three-fourths of the wing,

the vitreous area posterior to it having a beautiful violaceous reflex, the border

of the opaque area markedly serrate Inwardly it begins four cells proximad

of node and has a markedly jagged border. In the hindwings the same area

begins about 2-3 cells proximad of the node and is indented by two vitreous

areas, the anterior of which extends in for a distance of 4-5 cells, the hinder,

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 191]

which is on the wing border, for a distance of 3-4 cells. The vitreous areas in

this wing consist of a middle row of spots and an apical, the latter lying with

its outer two-thirds under the pterostigma, and nearly quadrate in shape, being

bounded by /Azz and //722.

The middle row of spots are rather variable, consisting of four linear spots,

the anterior or costal one made up of 2 rows of cells, the next of 2 or 3 at its

outer end, the third of some isolated cells and the hinder of 2 o0r3 rows at its

outer end. The inner border of these four rows form a slightly convex outline,

the second being a little more distad than the others. About 20 antenodal

nervures in both wings; four to five traversing nervures to the discoidal cell.

Pterostigma blackish brown, marked with a very large elongate lilaceous spot

in the hindwings.

Abdomen black with dark metallic reflex, Segment 1 with a small lateral

yellow spot, 2 and 3 with a linear streak along the ventral border. Anal

appendages similar to those of cuneata.

Female. Abdomen 22mm. Hindwing 30 mm.

Head velvety black marked with bright ochreous spots, labium black, the

lateral lobes white, labrum black, the whole of the central area yellow, deeply

notched by a tongue-like prolongation of the black at base of labrum.

In addition to the spots found in the male, the basses of mandibles broadly, the

cheeks and basal segment of the ntenne, a small triangular Spot on each side

of rhinariuin. a large triangular spot on each side of upper surface of frons, a

small spot on each side of the anterior ocellus and lastly a Small medial oval

spot on occiput yellow.

Prothorax marked as for the male but rather more extensively.

Thorax with similar yellowish markings as in the male but these greenish

yellow in hue and much more extensive. The upper and ariterior lines border-

ing the humeral and first lateral sutures are generally complete and the

antehumeral marking becomes a well-marked stripe extending in a curved

manner inwards from the upper end of the humerai suture towards the antealar

sinus and then straight down the whole length of the dorsum parallel to the

mesothoracic triangle which is finely outlined in yellow.

Wings evenly enfumed and palely saffronated throvghout, hyaline, unmarked.

Pterostigma black, its central area ochreous. Fourteen to sixteen antenodal

nervures in hind and forewings. Legs black, the two hind pairs of tibie

pruinosed.

Abdomen black metailic with the following yellow markings : -segments 2

to 7 with the middorsal carina narrowly yellow, segment 1 with its apical

border and a large curved or angulated lateral spot, segments 2 to 5 with a

longitudiual basal stripe and an apical spot, as well as a ventro-lateral stripe.

On segment 4, and sometimes 7, the apical spot only. Segments 2 to 6 with

the apical border laterally yellowish.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale as in cuneata.

Distribution. Shillong, Assam, Kalaw, S. Shan States, Upper Burma, and

Chin Hills. This species is one of the largest and most beautiful of the genus.

It is specifically distinct from guadrimaculata, which is one of the smallest

species of the genus. The difference in size isso striking, that when placed

side by side, there 1s never any doubt as to which is which. Both Williamson

and Laidlaw however express the opinion that, so far as descriptions go, the

two are conspecific, so that it seems advisable to settle this point once and for

all by pointing out thé differences. In a large number of species 1 find :—

R. spuria

Distribution. Assam and Burma.

Reticulation of wings rather open.

Vitreous stripes in hindwing invad-

ing the opague black area for a

distance of 3-5 cells.

Apical vitreous spot nearly square,

limited. posteriorly by the nervure

/ Ri.

Middle row of spots always 4 in

number, the second spot from costal

border equal in length to the hinder,

inset but slightly, the inner border of

pots shallowly concave.

R. quadrimaculata

Distribution. Kashmir to Burma.

Reticulation verv close.

Vitreous stripes extending distal-

wards into opaque area for a distance

of 7-8 cells.

Apical vitreous spot transversely

elongate, much narrower than long,ex-

tending one celi row posterior to /A777.

Middle row of spots almost always 3

in number, the middlespot much

shorter than the hinder and inset

markedly to the others so thatthe

inner border of spots is deeply concave.

192 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Abdomen 24mm. Hindwing28mm. Abdomenl9mm. Hindwing 21mm.

‘The extent and shape of the apical spot is the best guide.

3. Rhinocypha quadrimaculata, Selys. Syn. Calop., p. 60 (1853) ; Id. Mon.

Calop. p. 202 (1854) ; Walk. (Lz6ellago quadrimaculata), List. Neur.

Ins..B. M., iv, p. 651; sa.015 9(1853) sa Kinby,"CatOdon qpallZ ans

(1890) ; Will. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxviii, pp. 153, 174, 175 and

177. (1904) ; Gaid.; (Ree: pind. Mus volt@xiil, «pp. 9 cGy 37. &

Fras. Mem. Pusa, Ent. Series, vol. vi, p. 54 (1921).

Male. Abdomen 19mm. Hindwing 21mm.

Head black with a small spot on the outerside of each posterior ocellus and a

smaller spot on each side of the occiput. Labium and labrum black, unmarked.

Prothorax black unmarked. ‘Thorax black marked with yellow as follows :—

a fine humeral line interrupted below, and a moderately broad lateral stripe on

the anterior border of the hinder lateral suture.

Occasionally a small elongate spot on the metepimeron, but this, as weil as

the humeral marking, usually absent (Teneral specimens have markings very

similar to those of sfurza, both on the prothorax and thorax, but although re-

tained in adults of this species, they are invariably lost in adults of guadrz-

maculata, excepting the broader lateral stripe.) Mesothoracic triangle narrow,

long, pink in colour.

Legs black, the distal halves of the two hind pair of femora and the tibiz

snowy white on the flexor surfaces from pruinescence.

Wings shaped as for cuneata and spuria, the hind considerably more broad

than the fore, and dilated at the middle, opaque black with dark plum coloured -

steely reflex, and marked with vitreous areas and spots as follows :—an apical

spot much broader than long, bounded by Azz costalwards, overlapping by one

row of cells /Az7z posteriorly, its inner and outer borders serrate. A medial

row of spots usually 3 in number but occasionally 4, the anterior or costal spot

made up ot 2 rows of cells, and extending in towards the node much nearer

than the other two spots of the series, the second or middle spot much shorter

than the other two, and situated more distal than either. The third spot, when it

exists, made up of 2or3cellsonly. Lastly the posterior spot situated obliquely,

so that its outer posterior corner may be in apposition with the hind border of

wing, made up of 3 rows of cells. At the inner border of the opaque area,

which is very irregular, are seen two deep indentations due to invasion of

hyaline vitreous areas. These vary in extent but usually invade the opaque

area for a distance of 6 to 8 cells. In the forewing, the opaque area covers the.

costal three-fourths of the wing, its hinder border being markedly serrate, and

its inner border, which extends 4-5 cells proximad of the node, markedly

dentate. The area posterior to the black area, vitreous and peacock blue or

purple in colour according to the angle of view. The vitreous spots and areas

in the hindwing purple or emerald green according to the angle from which

viewed.

Antenodal nervures 16-18 in number: discoida! cell traversed 4-5 times.

Abdomen black with a vestigial lateral spot on the sides of the first segment

and ventro-lateral stripes on third and fourth. Anal appendages as for

spuria.

Female. Abdomen 20mm. Hindwing 25mm.

Head velvety biack marked with ochreous spots as follows :—a reniform spot

on the outer side of each posterior ocellus, a iargish rounded spot on each side

of the occiput and a medial oval or linear spot between and behind them on the

hinder border of occiput. An oval spot in front of and on each side of the

anterior ocellus, a large triangular spot on each side of the frons, a large spot on

each side the rhinarium and a larger on the summit of that structure. The

cheeks, bases of mandibles broadly, the second joint of the antenne, and lastly

two larger triangular spots on the labrum, Labium black, inner borders of

lateral lobes yellowish white.

Prothorax black with a longitudinal medial stripe on the posterior lobe, and

another rounded or triangular at each of its outer corners. A large oval medio-

lateral spot.

Thorax black marked with ochreous as follows :—the mesothoracic triangle

finely mapped out in yellow, an antehumeral fine stripe, which begins at the

upper end of the humeral suture, curves rapidly in and then down to anterior

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 193

border of thorax, running parallel to the mesothoracic triangle. A fine’ post-

humeral line, complete, running close to and behind the humeral suture,

another finer line running close to the first lateral suture and separated

narrowly from an upper spot on the mesepimeron. A broad irregular stripe

bordering the anterior aspect of the second lateral suture and finally an elongate

spot on the metepimeron.

Legs black, hind two pare of tibia and femora sparsely pruinosed.

Wings moderately, deeply and evenly enfumed with brown ; pterostigma

blackish with a diffuse yellowish centre more conspicuous distad.

Antenodal nervures 14 to 15 in number.

Abdomen black marked with yellow as follows :—a very large spot on each

side of segment 1, a broad elongate spot at the base and an apical spot on the

sides of 2, which are repeated on the sides of 3 to 7, but the elongate longi-

tudinal basal spot linear and gradually shortening from segment to segment,

segments 8 and 9 with only a lateral spot, largest on the latter segment. The

dorsal carina narrowly yellow from segment 2 to 7.

Segment 10 unmarked, anal appendages and vulvar scale similar to cuneata.

Distribution. Rare in Burma, its zoo-centre seems to be about Nepal. I

have seen specimens from Almorah in Kumaon, Falodhi, and there is a speci-

men in the Vienna Museum from Kashmir. Mr Chas. Inglis has taken it in

Sikhim and around Darjeeling, but sparingly, whilst Col. F. Wall, has sent me

specimens from Maymyo, Upper Burma. It has also been collected around

Dehra Dun.

It would appear therefore that guadrimaculata is gradually replaced east-

wards by sfuria and fenestrella, but that itis specifically distinct from both.

The differences between the former are set forth above under the description of

spuria.

Race hemihyalina. Fras. Pusa Mem.,1.c., p 64 (1921).

Male. Abdomen 23 mm. Hindwing 23 mm.

Differs from typical guadrimculata by the opaque area of the forewing cover-

ing only the costal half and by the apical vitreous spot in hindwing extending

back to 3 rows of cells posterior of /A7zzz, instead of only one. The mesothoracic

triangle is lilaceous as in spurta. The opaque area of the hindwing is sharply

bevelled off proximad so that the vitreous spots indenting it are merged in the

adjacent vitreous area, and the border appears regularly indented or serrate.

There is a fourth row of cells vestigial in nature in the medial row of spots.

Female. Abdomen 21 mm. Hindwing 28 mm. Not differing from the type.

A pair from Shillong, Assam collected by Mr. T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, now

deposited in the B.M.

It is uncertain where the type of guadrimacutata is, but it is probably in the

Brussels Museum, in the Selysian collection.

In a male from the Naga Hills, in my own collection, the apical spot is similar

to that of hemihyalina, but the forewing is as broadly opaque as in typical

guadrimaculata.

4. Rhinocypha fenestrella, Ramb, Jns. Nevrop., p. 236 (1842) ; Selys. Syn.

Calop., p. 60 (1853) ; Id. Mon. Calop., p. 204 (1854) ; Bull. Acad.

Belg. (2) xlvii, p. 387, (1879); Walk. (Lz6ellago fenestrella), List.

Neur. Ins. B.M., iv, p. 650, n. 15 (1853) ; Kirby, Cat. Odon., p. 113

(1890) ; Will. Proc. U.S. Nat. Hist. Mus., vol. xxviii, pp. 173-179

(1904) ; Laid. Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. xiii, p. 35-37 (1917).

Male. Abdomen 19mm. Hindwing 21 mm

Head velvety black with an oval ochreous spot on the outer side of each

posterior ocellus and another rounded spot cn each side of the occiput. In the

type, the former of these spots is vestigial and the latter obsolete, but in

specimens frcm Borneo and Burma which I have examined, they are clearly

visible.

Prothorax black with a longitudinal middorsal stripe on the posterior lobe,

white. (Absent in the type.)

Thorax black with a bright citron yellow irreyular stripe bordering the second

lateral suture anteriorly, aud an elongate spot on the metepimeron. The

type has also a fine incomplete line on the humeral suture and another on the

upper part oi the first lateral suture. The mesothoracic triangle extending to

the antealar sinus, palest pink or lilaceous. Four yellow spots beneath

thorax.

194 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Legs black, the two hinder pairs of tibize pulverulent white on the flexor surface.

Abdomen glossy black with steely reflex, the first segment with a small

bright citron yellow spot on each side.

Wings hyaline at base, opaque black for the distal, three-fourths, the hyaline

area tinted yellow, the opaque area steely green or blue, marked with vitreous

spots which glow emerald green, lilaceous, mother-of-pearl or a beautiful rose

pink according to the angle from which viewed. The opaque area in the

forewing occupies variably the anterior three-fourths or half of wing, and in

specimens from Sintang, Borneo, the vitreous area extends up at the apex as

far as the pterostigma.

The hyaline area posterior to it in this wing and for some distance proximad

at the base, is a beautiful vitreous peacock blue. The dark area has a very

irregular border basad, and is markedly serrate behind.

In the hindwing, the opaque area begins about 5 cells proximad to the node

and extends back in a very ragged manner as in guadrimaculata, leaving two

deep indentations made by the bordering vitreous area exactly similar to

guadrimaculata. In the Bornean examples the opaque area has a very oblique

border, as seen in hemzhyalina, so that these two indentations are barely visible

from the other irregular serrations, and the bordering vitreous area is corres-

pondingly broadened, At the apex of wing, and situated exactly beneath the

plerostigma is a variably sized spot, but usually much smaller than the corres-

ponding apical spot found in cuneata, spuria and guadrimaculata, being rarely

more than 4rows of cells in depth. Costalwards it is bounded by /Azz, and

posteriorly it extends about one row of cells beyond 722, but is subject to slight

variation from this.

The middle row of spots shows even greater variability, consisting of 3 or 4

spots, the two middle of which are often confluent. The spots do not vary

markedly in length as arule, as in guadrimaculata, and their inner and outer

borders form a regular curve.

Pterostigma black, broadly lilaceous beneath, in the hindwing. Antenodal

nervures 13 to 16 in number ; discoidal cell traversed 3 to 4 times.

Anal apendages similar to those of guadrimaculata.

Female. Abdomen 17mm. Hindwing 24 mm. (Rambur type).

a 19 min. 5 25.1m. Prom Upper Burren:

Head black, marked exactly the same as in guadrimaculata, Prothorax

similarly marked to guadrimaculata, but the two lateral spots much larger.

Thorax witn an antehumeral fine line broadening below, and curved out above

along the border of the antealar sinus as far as the upper end of the humeral

suture ; a fine line which starts above and behind the humeral suture, crosses

its middle and ends shortly before the anterior border of thorax. Laterally

the markings are similar to those of guadrimaculata. Below are found two

long yellow spots shaped like the broad head of a stabbing spear. (These two

spots serve to separate this species from the female of gzadrimaculata.)

~ Legs black, the two hind femora distinctly pruinosed white.

Wings faintly and evenly entumed tinted with yellow at the _ bases.

Antenodal nervures 16-17 in number; discoidal spaces traversed four times ;

pterostigma black, dark yellow for the greater part of its centre.

“Abdomen black marked with ochreotis spots as follows :—a largish lateral

‘spot on segment 1, a smaller apical spot on segments 2 to 7, and a ventro-

lateral stripe on segments 2 to 4. The middorsal carina very finely from

segments 2 to 7.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale similar to cuneata.

Distribution. The type, a male taken in 1825 is supposed to have come from

‘Malacca, and is in the Paris Museum. A second male was taken at Pulo-Penang

Isle— Prince de Galles. A third male, which was in the Dale collection, now in

the B.M., is labelled ‘India.’ The co-type female described by Rambur, is in

the Paris Museum and is labelled as coming from China. I have males from

Sitang, Borneo and a pair from Gokteik, just above Maymyo, Upper Burina,

‘collected by Col. Wall. It is apparently found scattered throughout Southern

Asia in submontane areas. The Rambur female is teneral and incomplete, the

description given above is the first complete one and was made from Col, Wall’s

specimen.

Fenestrella is easily determined by the position of the apical spot on the

hindwing, situated exactly under the pterostigma, whilst the female may be

‘yécognized by the markings on the underside of the thorax,

Plate II]

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

SOT?

TPP RLIT =

aes

ing, tian

Tape

oe <O ATTUUUU mannan

Pr LL

A — un

A tl

BiG

Pic. 2

WINGS OF Ahinocypha trtdea SELYS., MALE

WINGS: OF RAinocypha fenestrella, RAMB., MALE

‘The black areas are steely blue or dark green, the shaded areas are vitrified and glow with

i 2 ) ; ‘ g

peacock blue, gold, green or violet reflex according to the angle from which viewed.

Brew

FIG. Z,

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Plate IV

Fic. 1. vIEW OF ROCKY BED OF A MONTANE STREAM IN SHILLONG;"

ASSAM, WHERE Ahinocypha tgnipennis AND spuria ARE FOUND.

OTHER ZYGOPTERA TAKEN HERE ARE JMatrona basilaris

,AND Echo margarita.

FiG. 2. ANOTHER TYPICAL STREAM FOR /hinocypha ignipennis.

Pool below Seven Falls, Shillong, Assam.

(Photos taken by Mr. Bainbrigge Fletcher.)

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES | 195

Rhinocypha iridea, Selys., Ann. Mus. civ. Genov. (2) x (xxs), pp. 492-494,

(1891) ; Will. Proc. U.S. Nat. Hist. Mus., vol. xxviii, pp. 173, 181 (1904);

Laid. Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. xiii, p. 37 (1917).

Male. Abdomen 20-22 mm. Hindwing 25-26 mm.

Head velvety black marked with yellow as follows :—a small spot on the outer

side of each posterior ocellus, a. rounded spot on each side of the occiput

and an oval spot on the posterior border at its centre. Labium black, the

basal halves of the middle and lateral lobes yellowish white. Bases of:

mandibles bluish ; labrum with a broad transverse stripe pale blue, indented by

a small prolongation of the basal black in the midline.

Prothorax black marked with azure blue as follows :—a medial, longitudinal

stripe on the posterior lobe, a large lateral spot on each side of the middle lobe

and asmall spot at the outer angle of the posterior lobe. In teneral specimens,

these markings yellowish, the hinder margin of the posterior lobe being

narrowly yellow.

Thorax black marked with azure blue as follows :--a fine antehumeral stripe,

curved outwardly above, expanding slightly below, an equally narrow humeral

line lying along the hinder border of the humeral suture, a similar line adjacent

to the first lateral suture, a broad oblique stripe on the hinder half of the

mesepimeron not extending to the root of wings and broadening abruptly and

markedly on the lower half of the mesepimeron. Finally the whole central part

ot the metepimeron.

Legs black, the two hinder pairs of tibize and distal two-thirds of the same

feinora densely pruinosed white.

Wings partly opaque, the hind distinctly broader than the fore. Forewings

hyaline at base, vitreous towards the apex, the costa for a depth of two cell-

rows opaque black as far as 10-12 cells distad to node, behind which the wings

glow with an iridescence of many colours according to the angle from which

viewed. The extreme apex is dull violaceous, the greater part of the wing

golden green as far proximad as the node. The opaque area along the costa

often extends nearer the node in the space between Az and Azz, than between

the costa and Az. Inthe hindwing, the opaque area extends irregularly in

as far as the middle of discoidal cell at that level, and for about 3 cells

proximad of node along the costa. This area marked by vitreous spots and

stripes as follows :—an elongate sickle-shaped stripe made up ofa single row

of cells, margined costalwards by Azz and beginning about 15 cells distad of

the node, it extends distad to the level of middle of pterostigma at which point

it turns down in a regular sickle-shaped curve. ‘This end of the stripe made up

of 12 rows of cells, broad at the costal end, tapering towards the hinder border

of wing, which it nearly meets. The costal end of this curved stripe nearly

continuous with an elongate spot which lies in the angle formed by Azz and

Rit at the subnode, and which is about 18 cells long. Lying within the angle

or curve formed by the curved band is another vitreous spot, which lies between

lRi and Riv + 2, is irregularly quadrate and very broken and jagged on its

inner and outer borders. Immediately posterior to the first spot is a third,

separated from it by 4 rows of cells and bordered behind by Cwzz, equal in

length to the subnodal spot. The whole posterior border of wings from the

nervure ac to the outer end of Az narrowly vitrified and hyaline. Finally an

elongate spot which begins adjacent to the arc, bordered behind by Azv + »,

and extending distad into the opaque area for a distance of about 18 cells. The

sickle-shaped band and the border of wiug glow golden green, the spots rose

pink or purple or emerald green according to the angle from which viewed.

Pterostigma black, yellow outwardly.

Abdomen black marked as follows with azure blue :—a triangular spot

on each side of segment 1 and its apical border, an elongate spot and

an apical point on each side of segments 2 and 3, the long spot abbreviated

on 2, long and tapering to a point on 3, segments 4 to 8 with the elongate

spot only.

Anal appendages similar to those of Cuneata.

(This description differs in several points to the original Selysian one, which

was made from a sub-adult specimen. Thus the markings of the labrum,

protnorax and thorax are yiven by Selys as yellow instead of azure blue. In

this species, probably better than in any other known dragonfly, one sees the

gradual development of colour, especially in the wing markings which develop

gradually in the course of several days like the details of a developing

196 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

photograph. Mature specimens are comparatively rare in collections, most show-

ing a thin greyish marking like an insufficiently exposed and under developed

photograph. ‘The fully adult insect is probably the most beautiful insect in the

world, if one considers the combinations and harmony of colouring, together

with the delicacy and artistic nature of the design in the hindwings.)

Female. Abdomen 20mm. Hindwing 28 mm.

Head black marked with yellow spots as follows :—similar spots as found in

the male, and in addition, a large rounded spot on summit of epistome, obsolete

in adults, the bases of mandibles, a triangular spot on each side the epistome,

two large subtriangular spots on the upper surface of frons, an oval spot on each

side of the anterior ocillus, and lastly the cheeks narrowly. The middle and

lateral lobe of labium yellowish white except the extreme tips.

Prothorax and thorax similar to the male but the mesothoracic triangle

outlined in yellow instead of pink, and the markings more of a greenish yellow

instead of blue.

Legs black, tibiee and femora pruinosed white on flexor surfaces.

Wings entirely hyaline, tinted with greenish yellow; pterostigma framed

narrowly in black, clouded with blackish inwardly, yellow outwardly; 14-15

antenodal nervures: discoidal cell traversed 3-4 times in both sexes.

Abdomen black marked with azure blue as in the male, but the spots con-

fluent to form a single stripe on segments ] to 4, and segments 8 and 9with an

apical lateral spot. Segment 3 with a ventral stripe.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale similar to cuneata.

Distribution. Upper Burma only. Type in the Selysian collection, Brussels

Museum, from Leito. It occurs from May to August at Maymyo, S. Shan

States, Upper Burma, where Col. F. Wall found it comparatively common.

Paratypes in the B.M., Pusa Museum, etc. The species is related to group

unimaculata by the primitive condition of its mesothoracic triangle, which

resembles that of the female.

( Zo be continued)

REVIEWS

1. ANATURALISTIN EAST AFRICA. By G. D. Hale Carpenter, p.m.

(Oxon.), M.BE., Oxford University Press, 1925. Price 15s. 187 pages. Illustra-

tions, Map and 7 Plates.

We have read Dr. G. D. Hale Carpenter’s latest work with interest and can

unhesitatingly record the opinion that it is a worthy successor to his A

Naturalist on Lake Victoria.

Although primarily an entomologist the author finds plenty of time fer the

meticulous study of the fauna and flora in general with which he comes in

contact, and many of his observations are of the greatest value.

The volume under review deals principally with insect colouration and

mimicry described from various view points, but there is much else of

absorbing interest to the field and scientific naturalist, and the subject matter,

though in reality highly technical, is set forth in such pleasing fashion that

it at once becomes acceptable to all.

Dr. Carpenter draws attention to a distinct link between Africa and America

and quotes how he had the good fortune in Portuguese East Africa to procure

a specimen of an exceedingly rare African Earth Snake belonging to a South

American genus. He also instances certain snakes and day-flying moths which

furnish interesting links between the two great Ethiopian aud Neotropical

areas.

The author has introduced a subject of the utmost importance, which has as

yet received but scant attention from the field naturalist and scientist alike.

Much can be learnt about the past from the distribution of the flora

and fauna of the present—much more than one is apt to realize.

The picturesque photographs and carefully prepared plates are a welcome

portion of the book a copy of which should bein the hands of every naturalist

in Africa and we congratulate the writer on its general excellence.

It speaks volumes in favour of having a hobby, especially in tropical countries

and still more so in time of war, and we hope that this work will be the mears

of inducing many others to take up natural science pursuits.

We have one quarrel with Dr. Carpenter and that is his use of an English

nickname for acommon African bird. ‘ Paddy-Bird’ sounds extraordinarily

out of place in a book of this class and is, we understand, used in reference to

Bubulcus ibis (the Cattle Egret). Confusion is apt to arise from such nomen-

clature for the ‘ Paddy-Bird’ or ‘ Pond-Heron ’ of Asia is also found in East

Africa and Uganda. .

We can visualize the author’s horror at the use of the word ‘ Iguana’ for

Varanus niloticus (the Nile Monitor), so the ornithologist may well be forgiven

his momentary shudder at the expression ‘ Paddy-Bird.’

Ca Rawk.

2. NOVITATES MACROLEPIDOPTEROLOGICA. By Otto Bang-

Haas. Published in German by Dr. O. Standinger and A. Bang-Haas of

Dresden Blasewitz, Volume I. (Price 15s., 9 X 6. xx. plus 238 pages.)

A catalogue of Palzearctic macrolepidoptera described since the publication

in 1907 of Seitz ‘ Macrolepidoptera of the World’, Palearctic section, up to

the year 1920. Volume II will deal with 1921-23 and Volume III with 1924-26 ;

subsequent volumes will be issued as time goes on. The catalogue is arranged

exactly in accordance with Seitz’s work and for each new species; etc., described

it gives the reference to the publication and the locality.

In the introduction the author admits that the Zoological Record furnishes

year by year a list of all new names, but he does not like the arrangement,

finds it incomplete, inaccurate and that localities are omitted. He acknowledges

that all collectors and students owe a great debt to Dr. Seitz for his great work

and since no revision or similar publication is likely to be issued for at least

198 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

a generation, he considers that the keeping it up to date by the means he has

adopted is a necessity. .

He comments on the multitude of names now possessed by the better known

species under the designation of pro-species, super-species, vice-species,

sub-species, geographical races, generations, varieties, mutations, forms,

aberrations, modifications, hybrids, etc., and the consequent chaos as far as

the collector is concerned. For instance Parnassius apollo had eight names in

1901 and now has 400. ;

He points out the difficulties attendant upon the making of a catalogue of

this nature and how greatly the work would be facilitated, if every author

would draw particular attention to the new names he had coined and describe

the locality of the type specimen, so that it could be found easily on an

ordinary map. In separates the publication wherefrom taken should be clearly

specified and the original paying used.

The catalogues will be of the greatest assistance to systematic workers and

their use may prevent to some extent the manufacture of new names, which

for butterflies has assumed alarming proportions of late : in fact it is degenera-

ting into stamp collecting and the truly scientific aspect is becoming obscured.

Doubtless in years to come the League of Nations will take the matter up.

The catalogue is by no means free from errors ; a cursory glance has revealed

the following amongst others :—

Page 76. Jlerda viridis is given as from Thibet: it should be Eastern

Himalayas.

Page 91. Lycena orbitulus wallit is given from Thibet: it should be

Chitral.

It is a pity that the author could not take in a little more of India into his

Palearctic zone: he gives North Jndia as a locality in several cases, but he

omits butterflies described fromi Kumaon, the Naga Hills, etc., where the

Palearctic elements are very pronounced. An improvement suggested for

future volumes is to draw attention to specific names by setting them towards

the margin, underlining or bolder printing.

W. iH. E.

EDITORIAL.

GAME PRESERVATION.

We should like to bring to the notice of members the work of the Society

for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire. The Society was formed in

1903 by the late Mr. E. N. Buxton and a number of fellow nature lovers with

the main object of awakening public interest in the wonderful assemblage of

wild fauna which still survives in many of the dominions and colonies of the

Empire and of taking such steps as were possible to save them and also some

of the rarer indigenous fauna of the British Isles.

The ideals of the Society are to impress upon every colony and dominion

in the Empire the vital need of taking measures to ensure that the wonderful

fauna of the lands which constitute the British Empire shall not be destroyed.

It forms no part of the Society’s programme to interfere with legitimate sport

or to obstruct economic development, neither of these things being incompatible

with the permanent existence of wild life. All that the Society desires to

ensure is that beautiful and rare species of living creatures shall, so far as

possible, be saved from extermination with which, owing to ruthless exploita-

tion for personal gain and wholesale destruction by ignorant persons frequently

equipped with all the latest resources of civilization, many of them are

threatened to-day.

One of the main objects of the Society is the establishment of game

sanctuaries in every dominion or colony where the fauna indigenous to the

country can live in restricted freedom. To attain this goal the Society desires

to make its membership as wide and as influential as possible and therefore

appeals to all who may be in sympathy with the preservation of wild life

whether at home or abroad to join its ranks. We feel certain that there are

many of the readers of this journal who are in sympathy with the objects

and purposes of this Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire

and would be willing to assist it in carrying out its aims and purposes by

joining its ranks. The minimum subscription is 10 sh. but it is hoped that

those who feel that they are able to do so will subscribe a larger amount.

Communications from those who intend to join, should be addressed to the

Secretary, Society for the Preservation of the Fauna of the Empire, c/o Zoologi-

cal Society of London, Regents Park, London, N. W. 8

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH.

The Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, held an important place in the

deliberations of the Royal Commission on Agriculture which recently toured

India. We feel certain that much of the criticism levelled against the

Department would be silenced if its labours were more fully known and received

the publicity they merit. The recently published Scientific Reports of the

Institute are an illuminating record of the work accomplished in various

sections of the Imperial Institute of Agriculture. The improvement of the

wheat and other cereal crops of India has occupied much of the attention of

the Botanical Section of the Institute and practical evidence of the work is seen

in the good yields of Pusa wheat in the Central and United Provinces and the

extension of the distribution of these famous wheats to Bihar and Orissa.

Trials with imported tobacco varieties have also been successful, and with

suitable curing methods the possibility of producing cigarette tobacco in Bihar

suitable for the overseas market is within reach. Other beneficial activities

of the Institute include experimental work on the nature of soils and manures

and the attacking of such practical problems as diseases of leguminous crops,

sugarcane, and cotton and on the most effective methods of controlling serious

insect pests. The efforts of the Department to improve the yield and quality

of Indian milch cattle will meet with general approval. The policy now being

adopted is to cross the half-bred Ayrshire-Sahiwal cows with pure Sahiwal

bulls in order to adapt the imported Ayrshire milking strain to the needs of

the country. The milk yield per lactation period of 300 days of 16 cows in

200 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

the half-bred Ayrshire-Sahiwal herd was over 6,000 lbs. Very important and

valuable experiments on the nutrition of growing animals and the nutritive

value of Indian coarse fodders were carried out by the Physiological Chemist

at Bangalore. One important phase of the activities of the Institute is the

provision of facilities for training Indian students in different branches of

Agricultural Science at Pusa and at Bangalore. That an extension of this

side of the work of the Imperial department is urgently required is seen in

the evidence given by Mr. Bainbrigge Fletcher, Imperial Entomologist, before

the Agricultural Commission. Mr. Fletcher emphasised that research work

in Entomology should be carried out by a properly organised and centralised

Entomological Institute. He showed that the total losses caused by insect

pests in India could be estimated at the enormous total of 200 crores of

rupees. The main need for the moment is more skilled workers and greater

co-operation between workers. Mr. Fletcher referred to the inadequacy of

the two years’ course of training at Pusa and added that if training to the Imperial

Service standard was to be given, a proper teaching staff must be provided.

Entomology must be considered as a whole and entomology as applied to

Agriculture could not be divorced from Entomology as applied to forestry,

medical and veterinary work. Mr. Fletcher was of opinion that a _ proper

course for training in Entomology should be so arranged as to give the

student a general course in this subject for two or three years after which he

could specialise in any special or particular phase of the subject. In Biological

work it is the man who counts far more than any training and, unfortunately,

the supply of really keen entomological workers is practically non-existent in

India.

Wo.rF CHILDREN.

From time to’ time reports appear in the Press regarding the finding of

human children in the lairs of wolves, living amicably side by side with their

foster brothers and sisters—the wolf cubs—and being fed and tended by the

parent wolves. The theme is of great antiquity: it recalls the celebrated ‘Twin

Brethren,’ and has enjoyed credence through many ages.

Two stories of this nature have made their appearance before the public

in the course of the last few months. One relates to two aboriginal girls, 2

and 8 years old respectively, who were found in a wolf’s den at Midnapore,

West Bengal. Bishop H. Pakenham Walsh, whose private letter on the subject

was quoted by the newspapers, when written to for further particulars of the

case, informs us that the Rev. Mr. Singh, (who according to the press report

was present on the occasion of the digging out of the children from the lair,)

only had the children given him by one of the rescue party a fortnight after-

wards who also told him their story. The Bishop writes to say that Mr.

Singh has photos of the children taken at various times after their recovery

and he intends to write a book on the subject later, but to obviate the troubles

of notoriety, he does not wish, in the interests of the children, to divulge

anything further at this stage.

Evidently no clue is available to indicate the length of time the children

had been with the wolves, but from Mr. Singh’s statement that the girls had

acquired animal habits, such as sitting down like quadrupeds, taking no food

or drink without first smelling it, finding their food by smell, rolling

their eyeballs and moving their jaws from side to side making a

peculiar sound with tongue and teeth, would go to show that they

had lived in these surroundings for some considerable time. This being

the case, it is very probable that the younger girl was added to the lupine

household at a later date, as we are told she was only about two when

rescued. If it be assumed that both the children had been carried off simul-

taneously and had been with the wolves for a year or a year and a half, it

would hardly account for the elder girl acquiring the canine habits to such

perfection within so short a time, considering that she must have been 6} or

7 years old at the time of adoption by the wolves.

Since the appearance of this report, there has been a good deal of corres-

pondence and some controversy on the subject through the press. One

physician argued that it would be physically impossible for a human child to

subsist on an exclusive raw meat diet which is presumably what the. foster

parents fed them on.

EDITORIAL 201

Whatever the merits of this argument, the fact that human children have

repeatedly been found in the lairs of wolves must be faced, and it seems difficult

to imagine that the foster parents could feed the children on anything but the

food they gave to their own cubs—i.e. raw meat—often regurgitated. The

question arises, can human children subsist on such a diet? If the answer is in

the negative how can one explain the persistent recurrence of reports of this

nature?

It must be owned, however, that stories like the above are rarely based on

reliable first hand evidence, and most of them gather such proportions as they

are ‘passed down the line’ as to cast reflections on even the few verified instances

on record.

On page 142 of Volume IV of the Society’s Journal will be found a very

interesting account of a wolf-boy by Shams-ul-ulema Dr. Jivanji Jamshedji

Modi and a reference to two other reliable instances of a like nature which

were recorded in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1875.

Still more extraordinary is the case reported by Mr. E. C. Stuart Baker in

Volume XXVII, page 117 of this journal where he relates the incident of a

child that had presumably spent three years of its life in a leopard’s den.

When seen by the author of the note the child exhibited many distinctly animal-

like traits—squatting like an animal, putting his head in the air and sniffing

about, bolting on all fours and when frightened backing ‘like a small wild

beast returning into its burrow’. According to the history of the case—as

reported by the father of the child—the baby had been carried off by a

female leopard whose cubs had been killed by villagers; attempts to recover

the child were unavailing but three years later a female leopard was killed

in the vicinity and two cubs, together with the child, were captured by the

villagers in her lair. The child was at once identified by the parents and their

claim admitted by the whole village.

A Biarritz paper recently published an interview with Mr. Rudyard Kipling

where commenting on the recent discovery of a wolf child in India, he said,

‘It is by no means impossible and there have been other instances of it

already.’ ‘But they say,’ continued Mr. Kipling, ‘that the child crawls on the

knees and hands. I think it would be much more likely that it would be on

the knees and elbows, for that was the way of the other children like Mowgli

who were adopted hy wolves and knew all the mysteries of the jungle, so that

their hands were free to seize their prey or defend themselves.’

It may not be generally known that Mowgli—famed far and wide through

the Jungle Book—was a living igdividual and not merely a product of Mr.

Kipling’s imagination. According to the version of Mr. B. Ribbentrop, the

lad, after he was reclaimed from the ‘jungle log,’ came under the notice of Mr.

Ribbentrop’s father during the latter’s Inspector-Generalship of Forests in India,

who was so struck with the boy’s almost uncanny knowledge of jungle life and

lore that he straightway appointed him a forest guard. We wrote to Mr. A.

Rodger, the present Inspector-General, for corroboration and he very kindly

caused a search to be made in the departmental records of the Central

Provinces, but unfortunately without success.

Such stories always give rise to a great many difficulties and there is a line

of argument, which compels one to a conclusively negative verdict! For

instance, why is it that a monkey caught soon after birth and living the whole

of his life among human beings without perhaps seeing another monkey during

its life time, never learns to walk and behave like a human being, while, on

the other hand, a human child reared, even for a comparatively short period,

by wolves, in every known case has acquired the methods of progression and

behaviour of its foster parents !

We should be very happy to hear of any first hand records our readers may

be in possession of.

Poona NaTurRE Stupy CLus.

We have just received the first number of a magazine entitled ‘Out-of-Doors’

issued by the above club.

The club was started in July 1924 mainly through the initiative of Miss

Payne, Inspectress of Girls’ Schools, and we welcome its decision to publish

its magazine which was considered essential ‘to keep the club together and to

make certain of its healthy development.’

202 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

The magazine is intended for recording the doings at rambles and meetings,

for publishing observations and questions of members and for furnishing a

means for members bringing to the notice of others, literature and methods

in Nature Study. It is to be run on popular and not technical lines which

is in our opinion one of its greatest attractions.

Popular Nature literature is sorely lacking in this country, a country which has

been especially endowed by Nature with superabundant material for study, and

we hope the good example of the Poona Nature Study Club will be followed

by towns and cities all over the country. There never can be a glut in the

ranks of such clubs and it can be said of them with more aptness than of

many another institution that the more we have of them the merrier. More

members are wanted by the Poona Club, and we would recommend all

interested in the subject to communicate with the Honorary Secretary, Miss

Fielding, High School for Girls, Huzur Paga, Poona City.

THe GamME Birp Booxs IN MONTHLY ParTs.

In our last editorial we referred to the need of popular books on Natural

History and the publication in the near future of the ‘Book of Indian Birds’

which we propose issuing on the lines of the book on American Birds issued

by the Geographical Society of America. The popularity of the book seems

assured because it appeals to the many and will be cheap. There are other

publications of the Society which appeal to the many but which are not

popular because they are not cheap. We refer to the Game Birds of India series

by Stuart Baker. Taking the first and second editions of the first volume—

that on Indian Ducks—there are at present some 1181 copies reposing in Mess,

Club and private libraries and there are 319 copies awaiting sale—of the second

volume on Woodcock, Snipe, Bustards and Sandgrouse, 747 copies have been

sold and 353 are awaiting sale. Is it to be wondered ‘at that the Committee say

“We must sell more copies of the first two volumes before we publish the

third’? But members of the Society who have the first two volumes are if

not turbulent at least clamorous. If they want a thing they say so and

amongst the clamorous ones, there are also those with ideas. The first two

volumes are not selling, not because they are not wanted but because their

capital value is too high. Many a man will buy a £1 share and increase his

holding to £100 who would never have invested a penny had the share been

£25.

So it is they say with our Game Bird books—bring out volume iii (Pheasants)

in monthly parts, each with a plate, and when the parts are all issued issue a

binding cover. The cost of each part will be within the purse of all. Some

can buy outright and get benefit by doing so. But bring the Game Books

within the reach of the many by reason of its price and you will obtain

subscribers.

The idea has merits and has possibilities. In fixing the price not only

' would a concession be given to members but a concession would be given

to those who owned Volumes 1 and 2 of the Game books.

We will imagine that the published price of the bound third Volume is

£3-10-0 and that it is also brought out in 12 monthly parts at Rs. 4-0-0 per part.

Very well, the member of the Society who has not got the previous books

pays £3-0-0 for the bound third volume. He pays £2-10-0 if he has one

of the two previous volumes and £2-0-0 if he has both. The monthly parts

are only to be sold to members. If they are not owners, or do not become

owners of either of the previous volumes they pay Rs. 4-0-0 per part. If

they own one volume they pay Rs. 3-8-0 per part. If both Rs. 3-0-0 per

part, or with binding say Rs. 45-0-0 in instalments. Does it appeal or is it

too commercial? Does it sound too much of the Encyclopedia? It is in the

interest of members themselves. We must translate our dead stock of books

into the live stock of Government paper. If members wont have them, we,

unfortunately know who will and that is the Termite. Termites have already

got through one tin lined case and destroyed £100 worth of volumes. Well

there is the suggestion and we shall be glad to have the opinion of members

on it. The third volume of the Game Bird series which we propose to issue

in parts will deal with Pheasants, Jungle fowl and Spur fowl and contain

sixteen coloured plates and six black and white plates. The fourth volume will

deal with the Partridges and Quails. The letterpress of the above volumes

EDITORIAL mee . 203

first appeared in Volume XXIII No. 4 of this Journal and concluded in

Volume XXX No. 2. A series of articles on the Waders and other semi-

sporting birds is now in course of publication and will comprise when concluded

the fifth volume of the series.

A PROBABLE CHANGE IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE SOCIETY.

The Society as at present constituted, or rather unconstituted, suffers from

several disabilities especially where the holding of property—whether or no

in the form of Government securities—is concerned. The Committee have

under consideration therefore the registration of the Society under the Act for

the registration of Scientific Societies of 1860. The various clauses in the

articles of Association have to be carefully considered and care taken that

nothing is left out which ought to go in and nothing put m which, except for

the lawyers’ fees for getting repealed, would be the better left out.

One problem is the Rule and Governance of the Society. Every member

who can record a vote has a right to vote for the Committee of Management and

certainly all in India and Burma should be able to vote. The Committee of

Management should however be composed of those who can meet together and

discuss matters in person. This looks as though the Committee of Management

must be composed of those who live within two hundred miles of Bombay and

there will have to be—or it will be of advantage for there to be—an Advisory

Committee of members from the Mofussil (Dare we include Calcutta and Madras

within that word? We admit they are not mofussilites but they, like dwellers in

Dusteypur, have not the good fortune to be Bombayites!) We shall thus

still retain the useful services of many old friends. The proposals will in

due time be sent to each member and amendments considered. There

is one change which we do not anticipate any one will wish to make.

The Society is not a Society of Bombay Naturalists (there are far too few of

them). It is a Society of men and women studded over the face of India,

Burma, Ceylon and many other countries, all working for the improvement

of our knowledge of the fauna and flora of the Oriental region, but the

Society started in Bombay and it has made the name of the Bombay Natural

History Society well spoken of throughout the world. Let its maiden name

remain unchanged even though it be wedded to the law. |

Tue Deyra Dun FIsHInG ASSOCIATION.

In our last editorial we referred to the work of the Dehra Dun Fishing

Association and published a request made by that Association to all interested

in angling.

The Honorary Secretary is athirst for more information. The scales of the

Salmon haye been a mine of information to students of their life-history. Why

should not the scales of the Mahseer also yield valuable information? He

Writes -—

‘I recently read an article in one of the monthly Magazines (Pearson's)

‘on “Solving the riddles of the Sea’’ and, inter alia, there was a section dealing

‘with the markings on the scales of Salmon, by which its age, and almost

‘its life history could be ascertained.

‘It occurred to me that possibly the same could be done in the case of

“Mahseer. Accordingly I send you a scale of a Mahseer caught on 10th April,

‘1927 for favour of any information you can give me on the subject. The

‘fish from which it was taken, weighed 2 lbs., dry, and its probable weight,

‘wet, would be 2} Ibs. Its length over all was 1 ft. 6 in. and to the fork of

‘the tail 1 ft. 43 in. Its girth, dry, was 8} inches (probably about 9 inches

‘wet). The weight does not conform to Thomas’s rule that the Mahseer’s

‘weight is the cube of the length in feet from the snout to the fork. The rule

‘does not take into consideration the condition of the fish and there should

‘I think, be a girth factor.

“On the scale sent, I can decipher only one ring, though under a magnifier two

or more may be discovered.

‘I propose keeping a record for a short while of various weights and sizes

‘of fish and their scales to see if any information can be obtained regarding

‘the relation of weight and age.

‘Any hints in this connection would be thankfully received.’

204 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Our acknowledgments are due to Major G. T. Fisher H. B. M.’s Consul

at Seistan and to the British Vice Consul at Birjand for the very

great assistance that they have afforded to V. S. LaPersonne, our

collector, during his collecting expedition in Persia. Mr. LaPersonne has been

in Persia since September where he has done good work; unfortunately in

February this year he met with an accident which resulted in a broken left arm

which was followed up by an attack of malaria. The British Vice Consul at

Birjand to whom we cabled in reference to LaPersonne’s iliness replied that

‘There would be no medical charges as Mr. LaPersonne was his guest.’ Practical

assistance of this nature is both helpful and encouraging and on behalf of the

Committee we extend our thanks to this gentleman for his generous aid to our

collector.

OBITUARY.

Epwarp MaxweELt WEST.

We much regret recording the death of one of our members and an

appreciated contributor to this journal, Capt. Edward Maxwell West of the

2/3 Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles who was killed by the Kachins

whilst on a Government mission in connection with the suppression of slavery

in what is known as the Triangle in Upper Burma.

We echo the words of the Government of Burma Despatch ‘The Governor

in Council greatly regrets that one of the parties emancipating slaves has been

attacked and that Capt. West, a very gallant officer, a Lance Naik, Agam Singh

and one follower have been killed, three wounded and a civil interpreter

reported missing.

It appears that Capt. West who was with an advance party was treacherously

betrayed by two sons of the Chief of Nankhum, who were acting as guides, into

an ambush of some 50 Kachins armed with muzzle loading guns, who opened fire

killing Capt. West on the spot. Capt. West was buried at Kritaw, apparently

some 14 miles south-east of Punbhum the military police outpost on the west

of the river.

Capt. West’s article on Takin Shooting which appeared in Volume XXXI

No. 2 had made us look forward to many more articles by the same pen, and

his untimely death is our very great misfortune.

AnGcuSs PETER KINLOCH.

Mr. A. P. Kinloch joined the Natural History Society in the year 1912. He

was an enthusiastic naturalist and a keen contributor to the pages of this

journal.

Among the articles which have appeared under his name are the following :—

Rough notes on the Avifauna of the Nelliampathy Hills, vol. xxvii, p. 939.

The Avifauna of the Nelliampathy Hills, vol. xxviii, p. 279.

The Large Mammals of the Nelliampathy Hills, vol. xxix, p. 552.

On the Birds of Nelliampathy Hills, vol. xxix, p. 564.

Phe Nilgiri Tahr, vol. xxxi, No 2.

Mr. Kinloch was also of great service to the Society during the Mammal

Bae! and was always ready to render assistance to our collectors in the

eld.

In an editorial published in No. 4, Volume XXVII we made a reference to

the death of his father, the late Mr. A. M. Kinloch, also a very keen naturalist,

who met his death while hunting, having been killed by a wild boar which he

had wounded and followed through the scrub, and we have now, with regret,

to record the death of his son. Mr. A. P. Kinloch died at Seetagundy Estate,

Ae ecunbathy Hills, Malabar, S. India, on the 10th February, 1927, from heart

ailure.

Angus Peter Airlie Hamilton Kinloch, age 31, was the son of the late Mr. A. M.

Kinloch and grandson of Major-General A. A. A. Kinloch. Mr. A. P. Kinloch

was a fellow of the Zoological Society, and a member of the B. O. U. He

served in France in the Great War with distinction, being wounded twice,

from the effects of which he suffered up to the time of his death. .

He was a very keen naturalist, a good planter and a very hard worker, and

his death is regretted by a very wide circle of friends,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1.—OBSERVATIONS ON THE HABITS OF THE SLOW LORIS

LORIS LYDEKKERIANUS

(Reprinted from the Mysore University Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1,

January, 1927)

(With a plate)

The South Indian Slender Loris, formerly described under the name Lorts

gracilis, is now recognized as comprehending two distinct species which have

been named L. lydekkerianus (the Mysore Loris) and ZL. malabaricus (the

Malabar Loris). Sometime ago, a large number of the local form were kept in

captivity for long periods of time and it occurred to the present writer that most

of their habits, which are practically unknown to the zoologists on account of the

exclusively nocturnal mode of life adopted by them, might possess great interest

in several particulars,

Two cages, 53’ X 3’ X 2’ and 4’ X 3’ & 3’, with wire netting all round and

above, were provided, and branches of suitable size stripped of leaves were

planted in the centre. They were placed in a dark and less frequented portion

of the laboratory, thus securing for the animals as far as practicable the condi-

tions of their naturai environment.

In nature, these prosimize are not colonial in the sense that the members of

the genus Macacus are, and we find them leading almost a solitary life ;

occasionally a male is found in company of the female on the same branch.

They invariably select shady, inaccessible recesses in the trees and spend the

day in profound sleep with the head and hands tucked well under the abdo-

men,—an attitude not unlike that of the foetus in the uterine chambers. I have

never discovered them suspended from the trees in nature, though in confine-

ment they are occasionally found hanging from wire-netting or branches in

sloth-like fashion for a short time and as soon as they are freed from distur-

bance, they double up in corners. They are heavy sleepers and at the same

time are extraordinarily wary. On the approach of man, the little creatures

slowly elevate their heads, cautiously look round, and stare wildly, climbing

up the termina! twigs whence they are dropped by long poles. Capturing them

is by no means easy, for, if in the course of their involuntary descent, they touch

another branch, they simply glide over to the next tree and entirely vanish from

sight. The trees they most affect are the peepul, mango and tamarind whose

barks their fur resembles so closely that the animals nearly escape detection

from a distance. In the nights they leave their hiding places under dense

foliage or holes and fissures in the stems and enter the lantana bushes of whose

berries they are passionately fond, and when thus browsing, it is out of the

question to capture them. They eat nearly every fruit with a hard rind, but in

confinement they have steadfastly declined to touch potato, sweet potato, fresh

and cooked ; they would, however, greedily devour plantains, cooked rice and

milk. Eggs broken and entire, minced meat and insects like grass-hoppers and

beetles do not attract them. No doubt the dentition of these primitive creatures

is usually described as insectivorous, chiefly because of the comb-like lower

incisor teeth and the sharp projecting cusps on the pre-molars and the molars.

The dental formula is Iz, C+, P.M. 3, M § = 36, certainly a more generous

allowance than is allowed to the other South Indian monkeys. The upper

incisors are vestigial and are rounded at the tips, besides being separated

medially by a wide gap. The lower incisors point forward, which tne lower

canines resemble. When the jaws are pressed together, it is noticed that the

incisors do not meet at all and under these circunistances it is really difficult to

imagine how these teeth can be employed for crushing the hard horny invest-

ments of beetles on which they are reported to feed. Nor is the statement of

Blanford that these prosimiz find all the food on the trees they affect, —birds,

birds’ eggs, lizards and insects,—quite correct, for they have been noticed to

change their habitation as often as they descend to the ground for the purpose

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

ALL HUDDLED TOGETHER IN A CORNER OF THE CAGE

(Miscellaneous Note No. i)

MISCELLANEOUS 507

of feeding, and it is my experience that none of the animals, which are said to

form part of their food, excite the least interest. The sharp cutting cones on

the grinding teeth might suggest a carnivorous diet and indeed the modification

has gone so far that the first pre-molar of the lower series assuines the form and

proportions of the upper canines against which it abuts. But the most extra-

ordinary feature of the feeding habits of these animals is that they become so

perverse in their tastes that they develop cannibalistic instincts in the presence

of a dead companion of theirs. The soft snout, eyes, the external genitalia and

other bare portions of the body are greedily devoured and still more puzzling

is the fact that the female, totally devoid cf maternal impulses, may be found

making a nieal off her own dead offspiring. In this respect these prusimiz are

totally opposed to the common female monkeys which are frequently observed

to carry tondly in their hands their lifeless babies though in an advanced state

of putrefaction. It seems to me that the real explanation of this debased

character does not lie in the theory that these animals, normally carnivorous,

develop cannibalism in captivity, but on the other hand, it is an expression of

their mutually exclusive antipathies and jealousies which are avenged after

death. In support of this view I might instance that after severe fights among

the males which sometimes terminate fatally, the victor pursues his vengeance

even after death by quietly making a meal of his erstwhile adversary. These

habits are peculiar to animals leading a solitary life and subject to sudden

fits of passion as in the feline tribe.

The slender loris has a curious drinking habit: exercising the utmost cir-

cumspection, he approaches the dish containing milk, and standing on three

limbs, dips the fourth into the nilk as suddenly as he withdraws it and licks

the moistened hand leisurely. He repeats this a dozen times or more, soon

after the milk is poured into the vessel in the evening, using the right or the

left front limb indiscriminately but never the two together. When a powerful

male is engaged with the dish, the others in the cage keep at a distance,

moving about and setting up a plaintive cry not unlike that of a half-dreamy

crow Suffering from a nightmare. The younger and the female inembers may

be seen drinking together in this odd fashion from off the same dish with few

quarrels. I know of no mammal which uses the front limb as a spoon and no

primate like the lemur which does not use it in eating,—the loris applying the

mouth straight to the food in a quadrupedal fashion. Likeall the rest of the

mammals, the loris drinks profusely before proceeding to feed.

The Loris is a packed essence of pugnacity. When freshly captured and

put into a cage, he objects to your presence by hissing and spitting in a wild-

cat fashion, and if the hand is incautiously put in a wrong place, he will bite

with great malice. When thoroughly roused, he will inflict a series of bites,

chewing the fleshand holding firmly the opposing finger, until you squeeze

the neck to release the grip. The wounds have to be touched with iodine

immediately, else they heal with difficulty and sometimes suppuration may

result. When trying to terrify you, he makes short leaps forwards rubbing

his snout against the wire-netting and raising the whole body the while; but

when thoroughly frightened, he will utter a piercing volume of yells like a

wounded dog. ‘These little creatures have a variety of ‘ voices’ expressing

their different emotions. After a comfortable feed on bananas, cooked rice

and milk, they will be moving about for the pure love of exercise, uttering little

cries of nappiness very nearly expressed by the crows when they compare notes

in the evenings or plan foraging expeditions early the next morning. When

two males fight, they literally mew like cats and the sense of victory and defeat

is expressed by a series of guttural sounds very similar to the chattering of

monkeys. As I have stated already, fear or alarn: is denoted by a low moan

rising in a crescendo until it attains a fearful yell. Though the courtship

of these animals is not an elaborate affair it is interesting owing to the fact that

at the breeding time the males utter a series of short yelping cries as the little

pups do when they rub their noses against your legs, —which noises are apparent-

ly musical to the ears of the female but perfectly ludicrous from the human

standpoint. When happily perched in safe shelters, both males and females

screech very like the little owls Athene, apparently going through a piece of

unrehearsed musical composition, each member vying with the other in

musical ability. It seems to me that these musical duets are in the nature of

defying challenges, for they are abruptly brought to a close by two males

locked. in deadly grips.

208 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXTI

Hunting for lice in which Macacus indulges his leisure so scarce in a life

excellently adapted for larceny, is not a relaxation with the Loris. Like other

solitary animals his coat is comparatively clean and in the evenings when he

attends to his toilet, he is seen combing his fur with his pectinate lower incisors

and moistening it with his tongue. He cleans his face, by no means pretty,

with his hands and arms in a pecfectly cat-like fashion. When there is peace.

and understanding, I have noticed two adults of opposite sexes, s»fty combing

each other’s coats with their teeth,—a habit which we associate with the Dhobi’s

animal. Young lemurs are attended to by the mothers who keep them per-

fectly clean. I have found few lice and mites and ticks in their skin, but in

captivity the bare portions of the limbs develop a kind of scab which is

scratched persistently by the claw on the second digit of the leg till the

surface bleeds. ‘he limbs are sufficiently long to reach any part of the body

for the purpose of scratching the irritating surface.

I have not succeeded in humanizing these little Ishmaelites into softer

domestic ways ; they retain their temper throughout confinement like the wild

cats. But a friend of mine who has kept one or two of these lemurs as pets informs

me that the animal can recognize its master and would come out to receive

food at his hands without biting them. Heasserts that beyond calling for

food these little dreamy animals whicn look more metaphysical than poetic

are incapable of expressing any other emotions towards man : and no psycho-

logy will avuil in teaching them the simple lessons which are well within the

scope of the orlinary simean cortex. The volume of education and the

length of training are in direct proportion to the nature of life led by an

animal, and in the present instance the wants of the loris being simple and

easily satisfied, it has preferred to remain in comfortable dullness.

In South {ndia these lemurs breed twice in the year. The sexual season falls

in April-May and October-November. ‘This is usually heralded by a wide-

awake alertness on the part of both sexes in seeking out a mate. The period

of pro-cestrum is marked by a sanguineous discharge through the genital orifice

and the pendant clitoris and the margins below become swollen. On the

conclusion of the pro-cestrum which lasts 7 to 10 days the male is received.

But by far the most inexplicable part of the whole affair is that about this time,

it is quite common to find two or three males stationed on the back or on the

abdomen of a single female individual with perfect peace among them all.

The female thus burdened may be seen moving about and the males are

difficult to dislodge. When forcibly separated, however, instead of seeking

another female, he runs after the old one who is already overburdened. In an

animal whose life during the rest of the year is marked by mutual intolerance,

a peaceful habit of this description is extraordinarily curious. The cestrum

lasts for about a week and I must draw attention here to the fact that during

coition the male holds the neck of the female by his teeth,—a feature which is

prevalent among the cats. Apart from the low calls of both sexes which

resemble the gentle cawing of early crows occasionally rising to chatterings by

which the sexes are attracted to each other, they develop a peculiar odour,

weak but unpleasant, which must have a recognition value. After this brief

lucid interval, they revert to sleepy ancestrum. The period of pregnancy lasts

from five to six weeks, and usually two young ones are born at a time, rarely

one. Atthe time of birth, the female parent is covered with a yellow sweet

smellise thin paste in the region of the mammary glands which are four and

are now uncovered. ‘The young ones crawl up clutching the hair of the mother

and without any assistance on the part of the parent seek out and apply the

mouth tothe teat. In the earlier periods of growth the mouth is scarcely

removed from the teats. It takes nearly a week or ten days for the baby to

leave its station andtry clutching the twigs. In captivity if the young ones

are handled, the mother runs away instead of rescuing them or even resenting

the action. It seems to me that the Slow Loris is a vast riddle.

C. R. NARAYAN RAO, .a.,

Department of Zoology, Central College, Bangalore.

[Mr. Narayan Rao’s remarks in reference to the female Slender Loris being

devoid of maternal! impulses corroborate Mr. Shortridge’s statement that an

angry female when irritated ‘ would even vent its rage on its own young which

would chatter and bite back but never let go its hold ’ (Mammal Survey Report,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 209

No. 9, Journ., B.N.H1.S., vol. xxii, p. 286). In his note on the Malabar Slender

Loris (Journ., B.N.H.S., vol. xxvi, p. 836) Mr. Kinnear mentions the incident

of a newly born loris dropping off its mother one morning and ‘ after a few

attempts to pick it up from a branch too high above, the mother gave up and

retired with the remaining one to another corner of the cage.’ As regards

the food of the Slender Loris the same note records that a pair of Jerboas

which occupied the same cage as a female loris in the Society’s rooms, were

killed and partly eaten by the latter. A Slender Loris kept alive in the

Society’s rooms fed readily on grasshoppers. Mr. Shortridge in his note

mentions the same fact. He states that they are ‘specially fond of grass-

hoppers, which they would hold in one hand and take bites from.’ The

pugnacity of these animals is confirmed by most writers who have had

experience of them. Shortridge writes, ‘ They are extremely pugnacious and

when several were kept together would fight and keep up a continual squealing

throughout the day and night, while every day one or more would get killed

probably more from exhaustion than anything else. Their method of fighting

was very peculiar, it consisted of gripping each other by the fur of the head in

order to keep the other’s head away and then biting each other on the feet and

hands drawing blood freely.’

Commenting on the noises made by the animal, Shortridge likens the sound

made when fighting to the screech of the Spotted Owlet (4thene brama), he

also traces a similarity in the appearance of the loris to the bird when in a tree

especially among foliage, and remarks that the likeness is further manifested in

their ow!-like habit of swaying their heads from side to side. The only other

sound ascribed to them by Shortridge is a faint chattery noise rather like that

ittered by a monkey when irritated. Mr. Narayan Rao’s description of the

alarm note of the animal culminating in a ‘ fearful yell’ appears a remark-

able feat for so small an animal! EDps.}

IIl.—MAN-EATING TIGERS

I wonder if it is common fora tiger to make a solitary human kill and then

renounce such food ?

About two years ago a gang of coolies were regulating shade in a young tea

clearing on these hills. At mid-day they went to their lines for food leaving one

of their number behind. He presumably fell asleep. On their return all that

was left of him was his cloth and bill-hook. They noticed tiger tracks and ran

off to call the writer (the spot was about 10 yds. froma public road in full

view and very much within hearing of a set of cooly lines). The writer some

hours later pluckily (or foolishly) followed the tracks out of the tea and into

some dense lantana where the top of the man’s skull was found and further on

the headless and limbless trunk. A friend then arrived upon the scene

and as unfortunately neither of us was able to sit up, we, with the consent

of the man’s relatives, poisoned the corpse with strychnine (we could not allow

such a danger to our labour to live) and carried it through a dark, gloomy

ravine. It was nearly dark by now and following the tiger’s tracks with our

eruesome burden in that eerie light was jumpy work and when a monitor rushed

off through the dry leaves my heart stood still! At last we left the corpse at a

spot near water. Next morning an old, almost toothless panther was found

dead and the tiger had also eaten and rolled about, but had vomitted and

cleared off. Hewasseen the next day crossing a grass hill. Since then there

have been no human kills (possibly his painfnl experience of the poison deterred

him from further experiments ?) and this was the first one on record in the last

50 years or so.

NELLIAMPATHY HILLS, A. P. KINLOCH, F.z.s.

Janury 10, 1927,

Il.—A PANTHER TREEING ITS KILL

(With a photo)

I enclose a'photo of a panther’s kill up a mango-tree, which might be in-

teresting enough to publish in the Journal. The circumstances are as follows :---

On December 26 I sat up over a panther’s kill (a small cow), the panther

came on at dusk and I got him dead with one shot (with a 280 Ross), he prover!

ra |

210 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

to bea good-sized male, 7 feet linch. Next morning at7a.m. I came along

the scene of the kill and disturbed another panther off the remains, I could not

get a shot as only its head was visible for a second. That evening, 27th,

a friend of mine sat over the remairs in the same machan, a hollowed out

cactus bush, but the panther did not appear up to 8 p.m., so he came back. I

went there the pext morning at about 6.30 a.m. and on approaching the place,

saw the panther jump froma mango-tree overlooking the killand on getting

up to the tree I found the remains of the cow placed as shown in the photograph

at a height of 8 feet from the ground ; as can be seen there was very little left

of the cow, only its head, legs, skin and bare ribs and piece of the backbone, all

devoid of meat except the head which was intact. There were claw marks up

the trunk showing how the panther had sort of swarmed up it dragging the

remains. which [ estimated weighed about 20 lbs.

My friend sat up over the remains, which we pulled off the tree, but nothing

came except two large mungoose and he returned to camp at 9 p.m.; next

morning there was nothing to be seen of the remains, they had ail been

carried off or eaten, a panther’s tracks were plentiful all round, also those of

two cubs, so the beast was evidently a she-panther ; it was curious the cubs

had not been with her before.

AJMER, W.M. LOGAN-HOME,

January 14, 1927. Mazjor,

4th Bombay Grenadiers.

[Several notes have appeared in the Journal on the well-known habit of

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 41

panthers ‘treeing’ their kill. A photograph appears with a note on the subject

by Mr. Coleridge Beadon on p. 744, vol. xix. EDs. |

IV.—WILD DOGS ATTACKING CATTLE

Recently a pack of Wild Dogs attacked a herd of my cattle here, devoured

four calves and half-killed a cow. This isthe first instance I have ever known

of Wild Dogs attacking grazing cattle: though they have killed cattle that have

been tied up as baits for tiger last year and this year.

These cases prove the increasing boldness of these dogs. ‘Their increase in

numbers, and diminishing numbers of deer, which they are exterminating, are

causing them to harm cattle. On top of this the rewards previously given

for their destruction have been withdrawn.

ATTIKAN PY O.,

MvySORE, RANDOLPH C. MORRIS.

March 2, 1927.

[The reason for the withdrawal by the Madras Government of the rewards

paid for the destruction of wild dogs was, we understand, a matter of retrench-

ment. Whether the saving effected by this means is sufficient to justify Govern-

ment’s action is a matter for speculation.

The Nilgiri Game Association have however found it possible to recommence

the payment of rewards for the destruction of these vermin and the keeping

down of Wild Dogs within due limits is more or less assured in the area under its

control. Europeans resident in other areas subjected to the depredations of

these pests will do well to destroy wild dogs irrespective of whether rewards are

paid for them or not. The most effective way of dealing with the wild dog is by

destroying the litters. The jungle man mostly knows where the whelps are

dropped but he likes the Wild Dog, who often provides him with food, and is

reluctant to aid in its destruction, still by paying liberally for whelps it is possible

to get a good number brought in provided that the jungle man has not to travel

too far to claim his reward and provided he is certain of receiving payment in

full. Europeans residing in a district infested by Wild Dogs might band them-

selves together to secure prompt and easy payment for the destruction of litters.

EDs. |

V.—JACKALS IN RESIDENTIAL COMPOUNDS

Reference a note by Mr. C.M. Inglis on jackals in a compound. Two

jackals inhabit the extensive compound of the bungalow I reside in, presum-

ably a male and female, and are very tame, appearing during most hours of

the day. I frequently see the male chasing the female in the manner described

by Mr. Inglis.

The hair on the male’s neck is erect but his tail stands straight up ai does

not curve over his back. I imagine it is the preliminary stage of courting.

One afternoon J saw a pie-bitch slink out of a patch of high grass followed

by the male jackal, who, with bristling hair and bared teeth, made short runs

at the dog hissing like a tom-cat. The jack never actually closed with the

dog. Ina-short time the female jack came out of the grass and trotted off in

another direction whereon the male left the pie-dog and followed her.

DALTONGANJ, RODNEY FOSTER,

PALAMAN DISTRICT, Major.

December 15, 1926. No. 1! Party, Survey a India.

VI-—THE MATERNAL INSTINCT IN THE DWARF PIPISTRELLE,

(P. MIMUS MIMUS)

Owing to the almost purely nocturnal habits and swift movements of bats,

as an order, it is not often that the opportunity is presented to us and we are

enabled to gain an insight into the more intimate life of any one of the species

that we so often see flying around us in the dusk.

212 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Such opportunities occasionally do occur, however, and as so little beyond

the general outline is known of the habits of most of our Indian species, it

seems worth while putting on record any new facts concerning their lesser

known ways that may come to light ; especially so when as in the present case,

we meet with a phenomenon that we do not altogether understand,—lI refer to

the sense or ‘instinct’ that enabled the mother bat to discover her lost

offspring.

One morning last month on returning to the bungalow after a morning

spent on a Rubber estate, I was presented with a wee small bat—a very young

Dwarf Pipistrelle, scarcely a quarter grown—alive but hardly yet able to

crawl about freely. It had apparently fallen down from the roof outside the

dining rooin windows from a colony of these bats, known to live in a hole

beneath the eaves.

The young bat was placed in an ash tray on my writing table in the

dining room to remain there until its fate should be decided upon and it could

be disposed of.

In the evening, just as dusk fell and the lamps were lighted, forgetful of its

presence, I sat writing at the table on which it lay, when I became aware of a

bat fluttering round me and flitting about the rooms, an unusual, occurrence

calling for remark. After watching this bat for a few!' moments it became

evident that my desk was the centre of attention and it then dawned upon me

that, possibly there was the mother come for her lost offspring—the young bat

reposing in the ash tray.

Keeping quite still therefore I watched intently the movements of both, the

young one being within 18 inches of where I sat, and a few minutes later, after

a number of abortive attempts and much fluttering of wings, the mother bat—

for so she must have been—dropped and alighted upon the ash tray beside her

young one, which with her aid immediately scrambled round until it could

cling to her and be suckled from her nipples.

After a few moments of this, and after having moved it about until it was

comfortably settled and attached to her, with a laboured flap or two the mother

rose into the air again, carrying her young one with her, and disappeared out of

the open window after circling round and round the room for several

minutes.

® * * *k ‘ *

Curiously enough almost the same performance was repeated again a few

weeks later with the difference that on this occasion there were several people

present to witness it and the young one—a lively half-grown one this time—was

put in a more easily accessible place. In this case, having returned late from

Colombo, I noticed and remarked upon two bats flying round the room during

dinner—to be told that a young bat had been found upon the floor and had

been placed in a closed box to await my return.

Upon releasing the young bat which was well able tocraw! but quite unable

to fly, and placing it upon a book on a near-by table, one of the adult. bats flew

round and down towards it and after many attempts and much flying to and

from eventually settled beside it and commenced to suckle it.

Seeing her engrossed thus, I switched on an electric torch and approached

within a few feet, standing and watching while she suckled her young one

which she continued to do for several minutes without taking the least notice

of my close approach or of the strong light of the electric torch.

Eventually she too adjusted her young one and with it hanging to her breast

launched herself off (with some difficulty, being much impeded by its weight)

and disappeared out of the room into the night. |

The foregoing would seem to indicate a degree of maternal _aftection

unsuspected in this species of bat, the smallest in the Indian Empire. Not

only has the mother bat sought out and discovered her straying offspring but she

has ignored the close proximity of haman beings and has continued to minister

to its needs in spite of abnormal conditions.

I am however at a loss to understand how in both cases, the mother was able

to discover the whereabouts of her young one. In the first case the young one

was close beside me on my desk and I can vouch for it that it neither moved

nor uttered any sound audible to human ears, until the mother alighted beside

it and yet she appeared to know perfectly weli where it was to be found

although it had been on the desk since the morning and had been carried 10

or 15 feet from where it had been first discovered on the floor.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 213

In the second case the whereabouts of the young bat were discovered by its

mother while it was actually still shut up in a box, for when first seen she was

circling over the table on which the box stood, and the table was some distance

from where the young bat was picked up in the first instance.

In both these cases the mother would appear to have been guided to its

offspring by some sese of which we are ignorant or else, alternatively, by a

wonderfully developed sense of smell or hearing.

MATUGAMA CEYLON, W. W. A; PHILLIPS, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.

January 20, 1927.

[The sense of hearing is very acute in bats and they are believed to be able to

‘take in ’ sounds not ordinarily perceptible to the human ear. In no mammals

are the ears so developed or so variable in form as in bats: in most of the

smaller insectivorous species they are longer than the head and in one species

the length equals that of the whole head and body. In several families of

insectivorous bats a process called the tragus, or inner ear, rises inside the

anterior margin of the ear. The tragus in some species is so large that if

extends nearly to the outer margin of the conch. The function of the tragus

appears to be to intensify and prolong the waves of sound by producing

undulations in them. Eps.]

VU.—NOTE ON THE DESERT GERBILLE

(CHELIONES HURRIANZ)

These pretty little animals which are desert dwellers, as their name implies,

are commonly to be met with in places where the sand has consolidated,

living in colonies in burrows. These burrows are usually deep and made in

bunds and dunes, both far from and near cultivation. A common haunt of

these gerbilles is the flats where Salvadora persica, a small tree, grows.

It is a common sight to see them out at all parts of the day, sitting at the

mouth of the holes and performing their toilet duties both in winter and in the

height of the hot weather.

They possess a luxuriant growth of whiskers and these glisten and reflect the

sunlight as they are moved about. ‘This part of the animal arrests one’s atten-

tion first.

If approached quietly they will permit one to come within a few feet, but on

the slightest alarm will all disappear into their holes. Now if one sits quietly

in a bush, soon one head and then another will peep out and then pop in again.

As soon as they realize the danger has passed they will all come out and the

whole colony will again be quite active on the surface.

A peculiar drumming noise is made with the hind feet a very quick tu tu du

fu, etc., when the animal is alarmed or curious. This point I observed with

specimens in captivity. Six specimens of this interesting animal were forward-

ed alive to the Society by Mr. Laird-MacGregor from Gujerat. Three of them

died but the survivors are doing very well. Their chief diet was Jowari and

paddy until one day I gave them grasshoppers by way of a change and found

that they were eaten with great relish. They drink water freely.. They are very

fond of gnawing and have in consequence almost eaten through their cage.

The arched tiles under which they live are not spared.

The burrowing habit is inherent in these animals and even in the cage they

are shifting the sand about from one place to another. Often I fill up the tile

and watch them burrow. ‘The sand is removed to the rear with the forelegs and

is from there kicked away in turn by the hind legs in a galloping motion, when

the mouth of the tile is open the animal goes in and continues kicking the sand

out untilit makes its appearance on the other side. It now turns round and

goes out by the same hole through which it went in and removes the sand

again from the mouth of the tile. I have not observed them to make any noise

beyond a faint squeeking sound when held up by their tail.

When handled they very rarely if ever bite.

BOMBAY, C. McCANN.

April 12, 1927.

2714 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

VIIL.—HABITS OF THE PORCUPINE (@Vs7iRiX LAUCOURA)

This Porcupine, like the Hedgehog, is commonly found tenanting the

crevices in the lime stone conglomerate of the hilly area in Tatta, Karachi

District, Sind. The main point of this note is to illustrate the fact that the

Poreupine shares with the Rhino and some of the deer the habit of resorting

to the same spot to deposit its excreta. The place is visited night after night

by these animals resulting in a cone shaped accumulation of excreta which

in one instance measured about a foot anda half high and a yard across. The

animals are exceedingly shy of traps and avoided the spot when I set traps

around it—as I was able to judge from the condition of the droppings when I

visited the spot the next morning. I strewed pieces of potato over the heap to

attract them and laid traps afresh but with no better results. The next night

I removed the traps and placed a fresh stock of bait which was immediately

consumed. I might say that the traps were in each instance buried and yet the

animals easily detected their presence.

BOMBAY, C. McCANN.

April dl, 1927:

IX.—A WHITE ELEPHANT CALF

Reprinted trom the ‘ Field’ of December 16, 1926

Much interest has been aroused recently in this district by the birth of

a supposed white elephant calf to one of the Borneo Company’s timber

elephants working teak in the Muang Fang Forest, north of Chiengmai. The

calf was born on May 6th last and rumours at once spread among the native

population that it had the attributes of a true white elephant, and this reaching

the ears of the Chao Luang or Chief of Chiengmai and the Siamese Commis-

sioner here, the calf and its mother, at their request, were brought down to

Chiengmai, where the calf was pronounced to be atrue ‘ Chang Peuak ’ or

white elephant by local experts and entered the city in procession with the

usual ceremonies. An official from the Reyal White Elephant Department in

Bangkok was also sent up to inspect the animal and report on it, and I am

informed that his verdict supports that of the local elephant ‘ mors’ or experts.

The chief ‘ points ’ looked for, in such elephants, appear to be (1) a light red

skin, the lighter the better, with still lighter coloured patches on belly and

inside of legs ; (2) white hairs on body and tail ; (3) a very light pink palate or

roof of mouth ; (4) eyes a light bluish-pinky colour ; (5) white toe nails. The

number of toes does not seem to matter materially, but five on each foot, fore

and hind, is considered, I believe, a mark of high caste. The calf with its

mother, has’ been handed over by the Borneo Company to the Chao Luang of

Chiengmai to look after, pending the visit of His Majesty the King of Siam to

Chiengmai in January next when it will be inspected by him.

THE BORNEO COMPANY, LTD.,

N. SIAM. D, FP. MACEIE:

X.—TWIN ELEPHANT CALVES

(With a plate)

The following will correet inaccuracies contained in note No. viii, p. 813, of

VOle-xex1, NO,13:

“The twin elephant calves referred to by Major Stockley were born in

June 1920, and ‘other’ calf in September 1921, so that the latter is some

fifteen months younger than the twins and not older.

The ‘other cow’ elephant had produced four calves at the time Major

Stockley saw her, not three only, and she has now another calf at heel born

last month. This dam was about twenty-five years old when I saw her first and

she may have produced other calves before this, of which I know nothing.

The twins at birth measured 2’ 10” at the shoulder each whilst the other

measured 3’ 1”.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

sae

THE TWIN ELEPHANT CALVES IN HARNESS.

(ALiscellaneous Note No. X.)

KS ---»~-~-~-~-~—-~—

— RIE I

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 215

All three are now ‘in harness’ and their measurements are as follow :-—

Male twin, aged say 63 years, height 5’ 9”, girth 9’ neck girth 5’ 5”,

Female twin EO Si ly 4’ 10”.

Other calf (female) By. Whe Se SOs

I had intended to send you a series of photographs of the twins but have been

unable to put my hand upon all the necessary films. These contain also one

film showing three generations.

C/o STEEL BROTHERS & Co., LTD., GORDON HUNDLEY.

RANGOON CAMP,

January oy 1927,

[Since this note was written we have received a number oi very interesting

photos from Mr. Hundley of the twin calves, two of which are here

reproduced. Eps.]

X[.—SOLITARY COW GAUR

With regard to Mr. Salim A. Ali’s experience with a solitary cow gaur

(vide note No. viii, vol. xxxi, No. 2), the only case of a solitary cow gaur |

have ever come across occurred some years ago. I was asked by some Sholagas

of these hills to shoot a solitary ‘ bull’ bison which was giving trouble near

their ‘ podus’ in the tract of jungle (a Jaghir) they lived in. I had no difficulty

in doing this—but found to my surprise that the solitary wasa cow. It was

very emaciated, and was evidently suffering from some disease. 1 learnt from

the Sholagas that it had been in the same neighbourhood for three or four

years but had only a short time previously commenced to be aggressive,

probably due to increasing ill-health.

ATTIKAN P.O., MYSORE, RANDOLPH C. MORRIS.

January 1, 1927.

I was very interested by the note on the solitary cow gaur by Mr. Salim A,

Ali in the last issue, as two years ago I was ‘stung’ inthe same way. I had

heard of a solitary bull near a village in the hills bordering the Nmai Kha,

Upper Burma and went out after him. The first day I found large tracks of a

solitary bison which I presumed was the bull, there being no tracks of anv other

bison in the jungle I had searched. I came up with the animal when its head

was hidden by a clump of grass, but being a big beast and coal black I shot it.

On examination I found it was very old and emaciated and I was astonished at

the formation of its horns, which were the cow type but exceptionally large.

On turning it over I was disgusted to find that it was a cow. | unfortunately did

not measure the animal but it was as big as many shootable bulls I have seen.

‘The measurements of the horns are :—-Length of longest horn 271”, girth 15”,

span 28”, tip to tip across forehead 667”. The Kachins with me were equally

astonished at finding a solitary cow like this. She was covered with scars,

apparently from fighting, and | took two spherical lead bullets out of her, the

wounds being quite healed up, also she had lost the end of her tail.

MVITKVINA, EK. MAXWELL WEST,

November 25, 1926 Captain.

XII.—BISON AND CULTIVATION

Most shikar books emphasize the extreme aversion bison evince for the

proximity of man.

There is an estate near here with a grass-jungle-topped hill rising about 400

feet behind the bungalow. From the hill people are of course clearly visible

around the bungalow and every sound therefrom is clearly audible.

This hill is the favourite resort of what my friend the owner of the estate,

calls his ‘tame herd’ and which he never molests. ‘They constantly come out on

that hill, usually in the early morning, and graze till about 9 a.m. As recently

as this morning (I had been over for the night) we counted a sizeable young

bull, 7 cows and 3 young calves, This is an increase of 4 in the last 2 or 3 years.

NELLIAMPATHIES, A. Ps KINLOCH :.2.s,

January 10, 1927, .

216 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

[There is a record in the Society’s Journal of a pair of Gaur appearing on the

rifle range at Kamptee, C. P., during musketry practice. One of the beasts made

off in the direction of a neighbouring village while the other, after an eventful

chase, was shot in Kamptee Bazar. Mr. Dunbar Brander who comments on the

incident in ‘ Wild Animals in Central India’ states that the animals were by

all aceounts trekking from the Chanda Forest to the Satpura Hills. He

mentions two old bulls which he bagged with a right and left when leaving a

village tank in Chanda. Eps. ]|

XIII.—WORN DOWN TIPS OF BISON HORNS

Dunbar Brander, among other writers, records that old bull bison (Gaur) use

their horns as implements, with the result that their horns are worn down

considerably. I cannot believe however that the wearing down of the tips of

bison horns as one sees in old bulls, is entirely due to this and I think that it is

due mostly to a failure of lamination after a certain age, and a close examination

of heads with worn horns has strengthened my belief in this.

HONNAMETTI ESTATE,

ATTIKAN P.O., via MYSORE, RANDOLPH C. MORRIS.

April 4, 1927.

XIV.—A FINE MUNTJAC

I send some photos of a fine muntjac shot by Major G. L. Lamotte, D.s.o.,

at Woodroffee Estate, Nilgiris, on April 16, 1910.

Left horn. Right horn.

Girth 4 way up : : , : a” bye

Length of horn ; : ; i i a” 62”

Pedicles . : . : : : R 35” 34”

Girth above burr. : : ‘ 4i” 4i”

spread... ; : : : : ra

NELLIAMPATHY HILts, A. P. KINLOCH,’ F.z:s:

January 10,1927.

[Rowland Ward’s ‘ Records of Big Game’ give 73” as the length of horn of

the best Indian Head. It was obtained in the Siwalik Hills, U.P.—Dunbar

Brander mentions a head of 7” secured by him in the C. P. The photos un-

fortunately are not suitable for reproduction. Eps.]

XV.—‘ CLICKING NOISE’ MADE BY MUNTJAC

In Miscellaneous Note No. I, vol. xxxi, No. 1, Lieut.-Col. R. W. Burton

asks whether I have heard the clicking noise (which I described in

Miscellaneous Note III, vol. xxx, No. 3) made by muntjac when moving

guietly away ata walk. I have, andI have found that chital seem to make

this noise more than muntjacor sambhur. I have had several of these animals

together tame, and the quiet clicking sound they made as they walked round

inside their enclosure was very noticeable. ‘The noise was undoubtedly made

by their feet, and gave me the impression that their lower joints were stiff.

This clicking, however, is not the noise I have previously described which is

very much sharper and louder, and ov/y made by the muntjac as it bounds off.

Where muntjac are as numerous as they are in these parts this noise is heard

with great frequency and i cannot understand how it is that Col. Burton has

not heard it himself: unless it is a characteristic of the muntjac on these hills

only, which is highly improbable.

ATTIKAN P.O., MYSORE, RANDOLPH C. MORRIS.

December 18, 1926.

XVI.—PECULIAR CRIES EMITTED BY SAMBHUR

STAGS FIGHTING

I recently watched a couple of sambhur stags fighting, and was struck by

the extraordinary sounds they made. I was sitting ona hillside overlooking a

Shola and first heard the cries in the Shola itself, and the noises somewhat

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 217

resembled the whines of a pack of wild-dogs fighting over their kill, and I was

preparing to descend to the Shola when out came two small stags and

immediately commenced fighting in the open, and at the same time, emitting

the cries described above. A _ better description perhaps would be the

squealing of large puppies half playing and half fighting. The stags were not

worth shooting, and | spent a most interesting hour watching a prolonged

series of bouts accompanied by these strange sounds, which I have not heard

sambhur emit before.

ATTIKAN P.O., MYSORE, RANDOLPH C. MORRIS.

April 1, 1927.

XVII —MATING OF THE JUNGLE CROW (CORVUS CORONOIDES

INTERMEDIUS)

Seeing an article inthe Miscellaneous Notes by Mr. Salim A. Ali, on page 823,

vol. xxxi of the Journal on the above subject, perhaps the following may be of

interest to some ot your readers.

Some few years back I happened to go out very early in the morning

for a ride round Jakko. It was about March 15, the time being

5.45a.m. AsI approached the Ladies’ Mile I put my horse into a sharp steady

trot, and had not gone many yards, when I noticed a party of Jungle Crows

(about seven in number) in the centre of the road. As I drew near the birds,

the majority flew out of my way, leaving just a pair of them who were in the

act of copulation, this being the first time I had witnessed these birds in this

act. On the 19th of this month (March), I got up very early the time being

5.30 a.m. to take my morning walk. Whilst dressing I chanced to look out

of the window and I noticed two pairs of Jungle Crows, within a few yards of

each other both pairs engaged in the above-mentioned act. The birds were

on a flat cement roof just opposite my rooms. Prior to the act the hen-bird

shakes her wings, exactly in the same manner as the young of most birds are

apt to do when being fed by their parents. I have now been in Simla many

years and have always taken a very keen interest in the ways and habits of

birds, so that it would appear that the mating of these birds in particular

only takes place soon after daybreak, hence it is so rarely observed.

SIMLA, ARTHUR H. BERRIFF.

March 22, 1927.

XVIII.—THE BEARDED TIT, PANURUS VIARMICUS RUSSICUS

(BREHM)—AN ADDITION TO THE INDIAN LIST

In the wide bend of the River Indus between the old moribund town of Attock

in the Punjab and the mouth of the Kabul River there is a large island

sandbank on which grows a dense thicket of sarpat grass and tamarisk scrub ;

this thicket is at least half a mile long and about 300 yards wide and its average

height must be 12 to 15 feet, and it is so dense that to force a way through

it is a matter of great exertion and difficulty. Bare sands surround the thicket

and these are edged with stretches of large stones and pebbles where they

border on the channels of the river. . a

On December 30, 1925, I visited the island expecting to find that it was the

home of Argya earlit and Laticilla burnest. I wandered about in it for some

time and could find no signs of bird life save for an occasional faint squeaking

note which was not identified though | attributed it as probably a note of

Prinia gracilis lepida. However while proceeding along a rough trampled

cattle path that ran down the centre I suddenly came upon a number of Reed

Buntings (Amberiza scheniclus pallidior) that were feeding on the tall seed

heads of the sarpat grass, and under them a flock of Bearded Tits. There were

eight to a dozen of the latter and they were perching in the clumps of sarpat

and peering at me and calling. They were quite tame and I had no difficulty

in obtaining three specimens before the party moved away.

Time was limited and a hasty search did not show the presence of any more

parties but the thicket was so dense that anything in it was easily warned of

my progress.

The specimens procured were a male and two females. Their organs were

quite undeveloped, they were not fat and there was no moult. All had been

feeding on the tiny seeds of the sarpat grass.

218 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

I searched the island again on February 28, but could find no trace of

Bearded Tits. Mr. A. E. Jones visited the island on January 16, 1927, with some

friends, one of whom saw and described a bird that may have been a Bearded

Tit. Mr. B. B. Osmaston on my suggestion has also searched the reed beds of

the Kabul River near Peshawar without finding any trace of the species. At

present therefore it is difficult to say whether the birds I saw were residents or

stragglers from further north. It is usually regarded as a strictly sedentary

species and it very easily escapes notice from the nature of its habitat so I still

hope that ultimately it may be found to be a resident in the extreme north-west

of India.

The specimens procured belong to the pale eastern race Panurus viarmicus

russicus of which there is a good series in the British Museum from E. and W.

Turkistan (Ferghana, Tianshan, Yarkand, Lobnor) and Mongolia; these are

the nearest localities to Attock in which the species has been hitherto recorded

and it is difficult to see how birds of this type could have crossed the Karakorum

into the watershed of the Indus as mere stragglers. They are known to be

resident in the swamps of Turkistan.

BATTLE, SUSSEX, HUGH WHISTLER.

February 11, 1927.

XIX.—OCCURRENCE OF THE PAMIR HORNED LARK

(OTOCORIS PENCILLATA ALBIGOULA) IN THE PUNJAB

On March 1, 1926, 1 was motoring into Rawalpindi from the direction of Attock

when we disturbed a Horned Lark which was feeding on the road about

2.30 p.m. This was between Serai Kala and the Nicholson monument at

Margala at an altitude of about 1,800-1,900’. It settled on barren ground at the

side of the road and we stopped the car and went back to look for it. It was

fairly tame and allowed me to get within 10 or 15 yards of it several times,

merely rising and flying round with a strong rather swaying flight to settle again

in the vicinity. The unbroken black gorget was very marked in life. I secured

the bird and found it to bea fine male of the Pamir Horned Lark Ofocoris

penicillata albigula which is said to swarm in winter in Gilgit down to about

5,000’, but does not seem to have been procured south of that locality.

BATTLE, SUSSEX, HUGH WHISTLER.

November 2, 1927.

XX.—THE ROCK-SPARROW (PETRONIA STULTA) IN THE PUNJAB

When writing in vol. xxx of our Journal on the Finches of the Punjab I was

unable to include the Rock-sparrow in my list as all the Indian records related

to localities north and west of the Provincial boundary. It may now, however,

be included in the Punjab list.

On December 30, 1925, I was staying at Attock and walked down to the edge

of the Indus from the Public Works Department Rest House that overlooks the

river. On the patch of rough sandy ground studded with Bir trees that lies at

the foot of the Rest House knoll I disturbed a party of twelve to fifteen birds

which flew down and settled amongst the reef-like rocks that line the shore of

the river. They were rather shy and rose and settled again two or three times

amongst the rocks before flying away to the hills behind the Rest House.

Although I failed to secure a specimen I had a good view of the party with the

glasses and was satisfied that they were Rock-Sparrows a species that I know

well in Spain, Corsica, and the Pyrenees.

BATTLE, SUSSEX, HUGH WHISTLER.

November 2, 1927.

XXI.—THE MATING OF PAROQUETS

On the morning of February 27, at Cambay, I had the opportunity of observ-

ing for the first time a pair of the Rose-ringed Paroquet (Psittacula torguata)

in copulation, and in view of the extraordinary antics indulged in by the birds—

especially the cock—I think the following note will prove of interest. !

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 219

I was staying in a somewhat crowded and antiquated part of the town, where

the holes in the ancient walls provided excellent nesting sites for Mynas—

Common, Bank and Brahminy—besides numerous Rose-ringed Paroquets.

Close to my window was an electric wire post and on this the sundry occupants

of the holes were to be seen at all hours of the day.

On the present occasion a pair of paroquets were sitting on the cable close to

one another paying delicate attentions in the way of tickling each others heads

and so on. In a little while the male sidled up closer to the female who

responded by squatting herself flat, neck extended in front, flattening her back

by slightly opening and raising her wings. The cock-bird now complacently

climbed on tothe hen’s back with the help of his beak and there commenced

a series of some extremely odd proceedings, difficult to describe. At first he

kept to the left side of the females back only and commenced jerking his head

up and down so that at each downward stroke of the head the culmen of his

beak rubbed against the left side of the hen’s head. After twenty jerks or so in

this manner, he stepped over to the right half of the female’s back and the

jerking of the head was repeated, this time the culmen stroking the right side of

her head. In the course of these proceedings the female frequently turned her

head round and touched the cock’s beak with hers.

This performance continued for fully five minutes. The cock now shifted

himself to the centre of his spouse’s back and with his wings open and drooping

low on either side of her, tilted himself backward and the act was accomplished.

During the half hour I was watching the pair, copulation took place thrice,

the birds moving off a little distance after each act, and sidling up again after a

while. The lasttwo ‘transactions’ occupied a much shorter time than the

first.

It would appear that early morning is the time selected by the birds for this

phase of their nesting operations, as though they kept to the neighbourhood

throughout the day, no more of the business was noticed.

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, SALIM A. ALI.

6, APOLLO STREET,

March 1, 1927.

XXII.—HABITS OF THE INDIAN SPUR-WINGED PLOVER

(HOPLOPTERUS VENTRALIS)

1. Protective devices.—The Indian Spur-winged Plover haunts the sands in

river beds. It has the plover-like habit of making forward rushes, then short

halts during which it often stands on one leg.

It makes remarkable use of its protective colouring and behaves as if it

understood the advantage of its dress. The following are the parts of its

colouration which concern us. Its back is sandy brown, under parts white,

crown black with a long crest throat with a black patch, wings largely black

and white. The black and white of the wings would be very conspicuous were

it not that when folded these colours are hidden by the inner coverts which are

coloured light brown.

A bird clothed in this striking dress is certainly very obvious when in flight.

It is equally conspicuous against a dark background or when standing on green

grass. But the spur-wing keeps mainly to river beds, and so conducts itself

in the face of danger that its colours blend remarkably with the sand. At the

edge of the water it is conspicuous enough, for the sand is there wet and dark

owing to the moisture sucked into it from the stream. And the spur-wing

seems to know that the edge is dangerous, for, on my approach, it runs inward

to the drier area where its light brown plumage blends with the paler sand.

Let us approach closer and watch how the bird behaves. It reaches the

paler tract of sand, then halts, bends its legs, dips its head, depresses it crest,

and lowers its body ciose to the ground. Its gait, if it moves, is very stealthy,

and it is obviously trying to make itself look small. Sometimes it crouches very

low and flattens its body down on the sand. Perhaps it may find a small

hollow in which it can conceal itself completely from view. Thus the spur-wing

seems to know that it must make itself inconspicuous, that its safety is secured

by blending with the sand.

Other plovers adopt this ruse. The Little Ringed Plover, #gzalitis dubia,

for instance, sometimes crouches in a similar way. It likes sandy places and

is protectively coloured. Hence crouching conceals it in the same way as it

does the spur-wing.

220 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

But the spur-wing shows other points of interest. If we try to make a circle

round the crouching bird we will notice that it stubbornly refuses to face us.

It will not show its breast. If it runs to another spot it may turn its tail to us,

but its main object is to present to us a flank. As we circle round the bird

turns also, with the result that we can get only a side view. If something

forces it to turn the opposite way and make it present its head towards us, then

it makes the movement sharply and rapidly, and we see it head-onwards only for

an instant. Clearly the spur-wing will not face us, but compels us to look on its

flank. ‘The reason is that the bird-is trying te conceal its most conspicuous

part. its black throat and white breast would be visible on the sand miles

away. Its side view is a perfect blend. By the way in which it crouches and

dips its head it manages to conceal its neck and throat partially, but it cannot

hide them altogether. Hence the determination to show only a flank.

The Red-wattled Lapwing makes some attempt towards this same flanking

ruse, like the spur-wing, its breast is the most conspicuous part. Its upper

surface is dark brown which blends fairly well with the ploughed fields which

this plover is accustomed to haunt. But if it is disturbed by someone approach-

ing, it usually turns so as to present a flank. And if the observer makes

a circle round it, the lapwing will repeatedly adjust its position so as to show

only a flank.

Another point about the spur-wing’s behaviour is this. While it is in the

crouching attitude we notice that from time to time it gives its head a quick

jerk. The act is momentary. Only for an instant is the head elevated, then It

is immediately drawn down. This behaviour is linked with the protective

attitude. For when the bird is crouching with head lowered so as to conceal

the breast then its range of vision is much reduced. It must, however, watch

the intruder. If it stands erect it makes itself conspicuous, and its main

object is to avoid this. So it jerks up the head, takes a momentary elimpse at

the intruder, then pulls the head down ayain. By so doing it makes the shortest

possible exposure, and gets black to the protective attitude once more.

Thus we see that the spur-wing behaves as if it understood its protective

disguise. The way it runs to the pale sand, the stealthy gait, the crouching

attitude, the manner in which it persists in exposing a flank, the momentary

glimpse that it takes with its head: all these are particular points of behaviour

made to fit in with the colour scheme.

2. Display.—The spur-wing indulges in an interesting display which, had it

occurred at another season, I would have associated with the sexual act. I

observed it at the end of September. The swollen river had then shrunk

leaving larze patches of sand exposed. Spur-wings were accustomed to collect

on these flats, sometimes in small flocks. Certain of these flats seemed specially

attractive. One morning I saw a flock of spur-wings at one of these chosen

spots. An unusual commotion was going on. Four of the birds stood apart

from the rest. Three of them were making conspicuous display while the

fourth seemed quite uninterested. They-stood erect after the fashion of

penguins, with heads thrust high in the air, breasts and white under parts

ostentatiously exposed, especially the conspicuous transverse bands. In this

peculiar attitude straight as a man upon his legs, they strutted about with

an aspect of pride. Their affected gait was very amusing, the slow, measured,

unnatural paces ; they looked as if showing themselves to best advantage at a

kind of elaborate parade. Sometimes one would make a quick run; the

other two would immediately follow; then the three would halt and start their

strutting competition once more. At intervals they made bowing movements

with their heads so as to hide momentarily the conspicuous breasts ; at other

times they would spin themselves round in circles, making half a dozen or

more turns. These evolutions were accompanied with clamour. The birds

chattered continuously. It seemed as if a music competition was added to that

of show. The fourth bird appeared to take no interest in the proceedings. It

stood upon the sand a little distance away, balanced on one leg. Perhaps this

uninterested spectator was the female; but why should an ostentatious sexual

display take place at this season of the year !

R. W. G. HINGSTON.

XXII1.—COMMENTS ON MR. J. K. STANFORD’S ‘OCCURRENCE OF

THE SHELDRAKE AND LAPWING IN UPPER BURMA ’

Reference Mr. J. K. Stanford’s note on the occurrence of the Lapwing in

Upper Burrna, published on page 823 of vol. xxxi, No. 3. .

————

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 221

It may be of interest to you to know that Lapwing are quite numerous at

Fort Hertz in Putao District, Upper Burma. In November 1923 I often saw as

many as 20 in a flock on the grass fields bordering the Nam Palak and other

neighbouring streams. They were very wary and I only managed to shoot one

bird,

Capt. Fraser, who was at Fort Hertz, informs me that Lapwing were quite

numerous during the cold weather of each year he was there. During the time

I refer, to November 1923, I saw about half a dozen mallard, all drakes in full

plumage, on the Nam Palak in company with a flock of Chinese Grey Duck. [

shot three of the mallard and one Chinese Grey Duck.

The much lighter coloured throats of the latter were most conspicuous and

the difference between the Burmese and Chinese variety of Grey Duck is very

noticeable in this respect.

MANDALAY, UPPER BURMA, J.R. MUSGRAVE HANNA,

December 31, 1926, Captain,

Burma Military Police

XXIV.—OCCURRENCE OF SWINHOE’S SNIPE IN NORTH

LAKHIMPUR

It may be of interest to the members of your Society to know that at a duck

and snipe shoot got up by Capt. G. S. Lightfoot, Assam Rifles, at ‘ Demarjee’

in North-Lakhimpur (Assam) a Swinhoe’s snipe was shot by that gentleman

on November 28, 1926, and further that of the 623 couple shot, with the excep-

tion of one Painted and this Swinhoe’s, all were Fantails.

T see that in Mr. Stuart Baker’s book, he records one shot in 1903.

NAGAGHOOLIE, T. E., W. M. LEMARCHAND.

OAKLANDS P. O., DIBRUGARH,

ASSAM,

December 6, 1926.

XXV.—THE BREEDING OF THE SPOTBILL DUCK (ANAS

PE CILORHYNCHA)

On November 8 last I found a Spotbi!l duck’s nest with eleven fresh eggs in

it, and to-day, some eighty miles north of the place. flushed another Spotbill

which had nine ducklings with her, not three days old.

I have also heard of a third brood being found early in this month, near

Udaipur. Thetime of year seems rather out of the ordinary, sol report these

dates.

It has been an exceptionally wet monsoon in these parts, and the amount of

water about is quite out of the ordinary. So isthe number of duck on the

tanks. Nor, in the past four cold weathers, have I ever come across unfledged

young of the Spotbill in the shooting season, here in Udaipur or anywhere

else.

CamMP UDAIPUR, MEWAR, C. G. CHEVENIX TRENCH.

December 8, 1926,

{The Spotbill frequently has two broods a year. According to Hume, in Sind

it regularly lays in April and May and again in September and October. In

Gujerat and further south eggs are laid later. Whitehead saw tiny ducklings

in November at Sehore (Central India), and it is possible that what

Mr. Chevenix Trench supposes was the third brood may after all only be a

belated second. Under exceptionally favourable seasonal conditions however,

such as mentioned by the writer of the note, there appears no reason why a

third brood may not be produced and it would be interesting to have conclusive

evidence on the point. Enps.]

XXVI.—OCCURRENCE OF THE SHELDRAKE IN BEHAR

On January 20, while out shooting in the Monghyr District of Behar,

about five miles from Damana Station, B.N.W.Ry., one of the party shot a

Common Sheldrake (Zadorna tadorna) out of a batch of six flying over. I

think the occurrence of this bird is sufficiently rare to cause the shooting of it

to be recorded in your Journal,

PAKSEY, P. MURPHY.

February 6, £927.

222 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

XXVII.—FURTHER RECORD OF OCCURRENCE OF THE

SHELDRAKE (TADORNA TADORNA) IN BEHAR

- In vol. xxxi, No.1, Isee an article No. 9 on the occurrence: of Sheldrake

in Bihar.

While I was Manager of Japaha Factory in the Bhicaupur Concern, on two

occasions I had the Common Sheldrake brought in to me by duck-netters from

‘whom I purchased the birds and kept them with wings pinioned for quite

along time. They used to roam ad /z6 about the garden.

Also on the Attara Chainpur Chanar in the Kattra thana elakka my brother

Mr. P. G. Munns and myself have seen flocks of over 20 birds and have killed

quite half a dozen or so during our stay in Bihar.

I have never seen them on any other Chanar nor heard of any more being

seen in this District. In this Chanar I have also seen large flocks of Comb

Duck, Lapwing and Curlew, which are also not very common birds in this

part of Bihar. The Attara Chainpur Chanar is now nearly dried up and most

of the birds seen there are now found on the Burthua Chanar, some two

miles distance.

SOOGONG, SEGOULIC P.O.,

CHAMPARAN, F. A. C. MUNNS.

December 28, 1926.

XXVIII.—MIGRATION OF WILD FOWL

Since the publication of the record of recoveries of ducks winged in Dhar

State (Central India) in February 1926 by the late Maharaja on page 1034 of

vol. xxxi of the Society’s Journal we have received the following communica-

tion from Prof. B. M. Shitkow of the Zoological Museum, Moscow, through the

courtesy of Major R. Seymour Sewell of the Zoological Survey of India.

The letter refers to a second duck obtained in Asiatic Russia, regarding

which we had asked for fuller particulars.

‘In reply to your letter of December 9, 1926, I have the pleasure to inform you

that the duck mentioned in our letters (No. 38—Anas penelope) was killed on

August 1, 1926, nearthe River Kargat in the environs of the station Kargat

(Railway' Omsk,—Tomsk on the west of Nowonikolajewsk), approximately

Lat. = 553°, Long. == 80°. The duck was killed with young.’

This information is very interesting indeed. It is hardly permissible to draw

conclusions at this stage, but the five records go to confirm the observations

of other naturalists that the course taken by migrating birds is more or less

directly north to south. In the case of our ducks the migration belt wouid

appear to range between longitude 70° and 90°.

The distance between where the birds were ringed and where the last record

comes from is approximately 2,300 miles in a straight line. Allowing for

minor deviations on the route to circumvent natural obstacles such as deserts,

high mountain ranges, etc., besides taking into account the fact that a great

many birds go further down to the southernmost extremity of the Peninsula and

into Ceylon, we would probably not be far out in conjecturing that many of

our migrants must travel 3,000 miles or more each way. Additional interest is

lent to this valuable record by the fact that the Pigeon killed was with young.

Breeditge marks the culmination of the outward journey and we would

therefore consider this the most northerly point this particular bird was

destined for.

Meagre as these records are, they show what important discoveries it is

possible to make by employing the method of ringing wildfowl and we would

appeal to all sportsmen in general, and to our sporting princes in particular to

follow the lead given‘ by the late Maharaja of Dhar.

We shall be happy to give any other information prospective experimenters

may desire.

EDITORS.

XXIX. _—LARGE FLOCKS OF THE COMB DUCK (SARCIDIORNIS

MELANONOTUS)

Reference several notes on the size of flocks of Comb-duck, in 1925-27.

I came across large numbers of these duck in Bandelkund. On two occasions

the numbers were very large. (1) On a tank with a village at one end and a

<->

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES een 0h 298

small hill at the other when the first shot was fired large numbers rose, flew

round the tank and passed overhead. I counted upto 50. There were

numbers of Brown Coot on this tank but no other duck or teal. (2) Ona

shallow tank the deeper end of which was surrounded by the huts of a village,

a number of Comb-duck and Ruddy Sheldrakes were found on the mud at the

shallow end. On the first shot the Sheldrakes flew off: the Comb-duck circled

round several times and then perched on the tops of high mahwa trees which

were growing round the village. I counted 25 on the trees and others had flown

off. These duck looked very awkward on their high perches and struck me as

unnatural.

DALTONGANY, RODNEY FOSTER

PALAMAN DISTRICT, Major,

December 15, 1926. No. I Party Survey of Indta.

XXX.—A CASE OF SNAKE-BITE DUE TO CANTOR’S VIPER

(LACHESIS CANTORIS)

Reprinted from‘ The Indiax Medical Gazette,’ vol. lxt (No. 3, March, 1926)

Many cases of snake-bite are annually treated in the hospital at Haddo, but

as is usual the snake is never brought for identification and the majority of

patients have failed to observe any particulars, or characteristics of the

creature that has bitten them. An exception to this rule however occurred on

July 30, 1925, when prisoner No. 32315 came to hospital after being bitten by a

Lachesis cantoris, identified as such.

He had been bitten between the third and fourth fingers of the right haiid at

3 p.m. on July 29. At nine o’clock that night he had severe vomiting which

according to his statement was of a bitter greenish-coloured fluid. He had

spent a sleepless night due to excruciating pain in the arm.

On arrival at the hospital (11.15 a.m. on July 30, 1925) the whole of the right

arm was found to be very swollen, tense, and cedematous. Bulle were found

around the elbow joint, also posteriorly along the upper arm above, and the

back and ulnar half of the forearm below. Temperature 98°, pulse 100,

respiration 30; the patient was in great pain and was very restless. No

abdominal pain was complained of nor was any tenderness elicited on palpation.

The pain extended up the arm from the fingers, then across the shoulder

under the clavicle ; also the course of the bulle appeared to follow the line of

the ulnar nerve, going up into the brachial plexus.

5 p.m.—Temperature 98°, pulse 98, respiration 20. There was a general

reduction in the pain, and a slight abatement in the swelling around the

shoulder. Patient was still restless. Suffered from constant eructation, the

abdomen was slightly distended, and flatus was being passed. The bowels

had not moved, but he had urinated twice. There had been no vomiting. since

admission. Iam not certain whether the abdominal discomfort (eructation and

flatulence) was due to involvement cf the splanchnic nerves.

July 31, 1925.—Morning temperature 98°, pulse 88, respiration 20. Patient

did not sleep till after midnight because of the pain. This morning he has

none, but is still restless. The treatment adopted so far has been free

incisions, and arm baths in a warm 5 per cent. potassium permanganate

solution, one intravenous injection of calcium chloride (1 in 20), drinks of hot

milk, and 2 oz. of rum b.d. A purgative of calomel grs. 6, followed by

magnesium sulphate 6 drs. was also administered.

July 31, 1925 (continued).—Evening temperature 98°4°, pulse 84, respiration

20. Bowels were moved thrice after the calomel, the stools being loose and

yellow, there is no flatulence now. Restlessness has also gone. There has

never been any epistaxis or sub-cutaneous hemorrhages.

August 1, 1925.--Morning temperature normal, pulse 86, respiration 20. The

only swelling to-day is in the forearm and fingers, and that too is rapidly going.

From to-day only antiseptic compresses are being used. The anxious expres-

sion has also left the patient.

Evening temperature 101°, pulse 92, respiration 22, benign tertian malarial

parasites found in the blood.

August 2, 1925.—From this date onwards there is nothing further of interest

to record about the case. Noslough came away from the forearm and hand

where the incisions had been made. The patient was finally discharged from

hospital on August 20, 1925.

224 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

The course of the pain from the fingers upwards seemed to have travelled

along the course of the ulnar nerve and then the brachial plexus. I think it

possible that the abdominal discomfort. flatulence, distension and eructation

may have been due to involvement o; the splanchnic nerves, but why so long

after the bite I cannot understand.

From the notes on the case it will be seen that the respiration and pulse

were both slightly accelerated. How much fright accounted for this cannot be

said. That there should have been no sloughing is also a point to note. One

other common snake in these Islands is the Lachesis purpureomaculatus (Gray’s

pit viper), and lam hoping before long to have the opportunity of recording

the effects of the poison of this viper also.

Postscript,—Since writing this article I have been in correspondence with

Colonel F. Wall, 1I.M.S., who is of the opinion that the three snakes L.

gramineus, L. purpureomaculatus and L.. cantoris can hardly be considered

distinct species, and that the two latter are merely insular forms. A careful

analysis of the lepidosis of the three shows only differences in the scale rows.

A. BAYLEY-DE CASTRO,

Juntor Medical Officer, Haddo, Port Blatr.

XXXI.—SNAKES OF SHOLAPUR

I give below a list of the snakes found in Sholapur during the years 1923-

1926, as you would like to have a record of them in the Natural History

Society.

2. The late Mr. R. E. Macpherson of the Laxmi Mili in Sholapur, who was

a keen shikari and a naturalist had made a collection of some snakes in

Sholapur in the years 1912 to 1914. He had sent these to the Bombay Natural

History Society for identification. They were the following :— j

Eryx conicus i oe Z,

Macropisthodon plumbicolor ... ste oy fe 10

Dipsadomorphous trigonatus ... sas a. aie 12

Lycodon aulicus ey ae cn oe 5S. 5

Simotes arnensts 2

Oligodon subgriseus a ae et At 2

Tropidonotus piscator 5 as ash te 1

Coluber helena s Fee ad ]

Nuia tripudians Lae Me BAR bee 3

Bungarus ceruleus ... ne res ie A 1

3. Ihave been here as Civil Surgeon since 1923 and during the four years

though no special attempts were made to catch or collect snakes, a good many

were brought to me, since it was known that Il was interested in them. The

following species mentioned before were seen and found. They were :—

Macropisthodon plumbicolor a :

Dipsadomorphous trigonatus

Lycodon aulicus

Simotes arnenstis

Tropidonotus piscator

Coluber helena

Nata tripudians

Bungarus coeruleus . es aA fe th

4. Many of the Lycodon aulicus brought to me were killed or found in the

compound of the Civil Hospital or that of the Civil Surgeon’s Bungalow.

5. Coluber helena appears to be a very common snake, not only here, but

also at Pandharpur. <A few dozen live snakes were caught in 1925 at Pandhar-

pur and sent to you to prepare casts for the Prince of Wales’ Museum, Bombay.

‘Nearly two-thirds of these were Coluber helena. Sholapur is about 1,800 ft. sea-

level. (Coluber helena is usually found above 1,500 ft.)

6. In addition to the above, the following species not recorded by Mr.

Macpherson were seen :—

Typhlops sp. 2 cea

Lycodon flavomaculatus

Zamenis mucosus

Lycodon striatus

Vipera russelli

KH oe tn © Gn Ge

He ht OS et pe

MISCELLANEOUS 225

7. Lycodon flavomaculatus and Lycodon striatus were identified at the

Bombay Natural History Society and some others were sent there also to con-

‘firm their identification. The 7yp/lops were killed in ray bungalow and in the

hospital.

8. The Russell’s Viper was not known as occurring here to the present

European Officers in the station. One beautiful specimen with black hollow

rings on the back, was brought to me killed in the fodder stacked for Municipal

bullocks on May 25, 1926. On July 19, 1926, ababy Russell’s Viper 10” long

was seen and killed at about 8 p.m. in the verandah of the Officers’ club where

table-tennis is played. It was expected that the parent would be somewhere

near. It was a curious coincidence that a big Russell’s Viper (female) was

killed in the open place in front of the District Judge’s Bungalow near the club

on October 3, 1926, and the District Judge, Mr. Broomfield, [.C.S., told me

that an exactly similar snake was killed in his bungalow compound on

October 10, 1926. This probably was the male. The bungalow has a cactus

hedge round it.

9. ‘Two other species should be added as occurring in Sholapur. These

were found in January this year. Inthe bie Sankrant Fair held here, there

was a local snake charmer exhibiting snakes. He had 2 specimens of Dryophis

mycterizans Which were seen by meon January 19, 1927. Hesaid he caught

them in a field about 4 miles from here. The other is an Achis carinata

(Phoorsa) which was seen and killed in the hospital verandah at 8 p.m., on

January 25, 1927. It was very clearly marked specimen 16 inches long and

looked fresh as if it had recently cast its skin.

SHOLAPUR, K. G. GHARPUREY, /.44S.,

February 21, 1927. Lt.-Col.

[Lt.-Col. Gharpurey makes no mention of a saw-scaled viper (Achts carinata)

obtained by his collector in the Sholapur District and brought down to Bombay.

Our recollections of it. are sti!l very vivid as we took it out of the bag which

it shared with other perfectly innocuous snakes! Eps. |]

XXXII.—LARGE BROOD OF EGGS OF THE CHECKERED

WATER SNAKE (NARODIA PISCATOR)

An example of the Checkered Water Snake (/Verodia piscator) was sent to us

on March 22, by Lt.-Col. F. P. Mackie, 1.m.s., of the Haffkine Institute,

Bombay. The snake shortly after her capture laid 88 eggs. The eggs were

not free but adhered to each other in a mass by means of a sticky fluid

apparently secreted by the oviducts of the parent.

This is possibly the largest number of eggs in one brood recorded of this

species. The eggs are soft shelled creamy white—not glossy-—and the average

measurement is 1,4” 35”.

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Da dda RATER,

April 11, 1927.

XXXITI.—NOTES ON THE LIFE AND HABITS OF THE COMMON

CARPENTER BEE (XYLOCOPA AMETHYSTINA)

The following notes were made on this small Carpenter Bee (20 mm. in

length) in the Palni Hills (7,000-8,000’ ) of Southern India.

During the months November- -January a few males, sex recognizable on

account of yellow clypeus, were seen about in the broken and scattered rhodo-

dendron outside the pine plantations along the top of the steep southern

escarpment. No females were seen and no nests looked for.

In February-March females were seen cutting out passages in the rhodo-

dendrons. Dry branches from 1 to 2 inches in thickness were selected.

The opening is as a rule on the lower or sheltered side of the branch and the

burrow first made downwards. . Edward Step, F.L.S., has stated that a second

entrance or rather exit, is made at the lower end, but this is not the case with

Xylocopa amethystina which has a much more curious arrangement to which

I shall return.

226 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vok ZOO!

The material was thrown out and allowed to blow away. When the nest

tunnel was complete, material to close the bottom cell was taken from a new

‘living room’ tunnel which was started upwards above the entrance. This

upper tunnel was not kept at an even diameter like the nesting tunnel but

often took a pear shape.

I opened a large number of nests in different states of construction and in

every case found no sign of the upper ‘living room’ tunnel until the first cell

was constructed at the bottom of the nest tunnel. The greater the number of

cells found complete so comparatively larger was the upper living room tunnel.

I conclude that the material from the living room tunnel was required for the

partition placed above each cell but, of course, was unable to see the act.

Cells numbered from six to ten the lower three or four first built, being notice-

ably larger than the top ones which ceased 1 to 3 cm. below the entrance. No

signs of cells were ever seen above.

On March 8. I took two completed nests home for observation. Each had

an elderly female sitting quiet in the entrance.

If a nest were watched for a few minutes and no traffic observed it was

either complete or an abandoned old one. In the former case a light tap with

a pencil would bring the owner to look out of the entrance hole. The black

face of the female and her ragged edged wings and generally ‘ part worn ’

appearance are sufficient to tell who she is and I imagine that my killing bottle

did not anticipate nature by very long.

Of these two nests one top cell (the /as¢t completed) was opened sufficiently

for me to see the inhabitant—a white larva—some 2 mm. long on a sticky

yellow ball (pollen and honey ? sweet to taste but not agreeably so).

On April 4. Inspection showed a yellow colour and signs of wings and legs

which were darkening on April 25.

On May 12 a male with wings undeveloped broke down the composition parti-

tion and emerged. My observation hole was made by removal of a replaceable

bit of side of tunnel and had not touched the partition. }

From 13 to 16 my victim walked about the stick in a slow and sickly manner,

often returning to h's cell and sitting looking out of the opening. ‘The wings

did not develop and he died on May 17 having refused to look at the various

forms of food offered.

The inhabitant was large and on May 24 legs were black. This, a female,

died immature in the cell on June 19.

I presume that in spite of my careful handiing and attempts to maintain the

natural angle at which the branch had stood, that movement had been too much

for those that died. But the two that lived explained the absence of the lower

exit door to nest tunnel. It is a case of ‘ the first shall be last and the last first ’

and I shall be very pleased if any one can tell me howit is done. How exact

must be the arrangement that allows these beasts to arrive at maturity in

inverse order to that of their production as eggs, for if one arrived at maturity

out of turn it would probably not be able to break down the obstruction caused

by brothers whose order of precedence was attacked, even if the motive force

would drive it to attack a second partition where one only isnormal. Such an

accident would raise an obstacle against the sisters whose turn was still to come

and probably destroy the whole brood.

Further observation brought confirmation.

The nest is completed in about seven to ten days. Average number of cells

eight. The imago appeared in strict inverse order to the egg The last laid

egg and first imago were male and the first laid egg and last imago were

female. Where sexes were not divided the extra one was generally a female.

When the extra one was a male there were over the average number of cells in

the nest. The appearance of the imagos from a nest completed in ten days

was Spread over some six weeks or more.

Xylocopa amethystina is a friendly bee easy to watch and very interesting.

‘The larger size and black face of the female and the yellow clypeus on the face

of the male making the sexes easily distinguishable. Fabre, on wasps, remarks

on the larger cell and food supply and longer grub life required to produce the

female, more—robust to perform her harder work than the male—whose business

it is to be there ready to function when she appears.

But how is it done? It cannot be a matter of larger cell and more food

only

During June and July I examined a number of nests, best found at this time

by lightly tapping likely looking branches, an answering buzz giving every

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

Diagram A.

Diagram L.

Diagram A.

Nest under construc-

tion, a cylindrical tun-

nel downwards’ with

the grain. Rounded at

bottom (i.e., working

surface). Entrance on

lower surface of branch.

Magram C.

Diagram B.

First cell completed

with bali of food and

first partition made of

materia! taken from

above entrance.

Diagram C.

Nest complete with 8 cells

and ~-livire, “room from

which material for partitions

has been taken. The adult

emerges in inverse order to

the building Nos. 8,7, 6, and

perhaps 5 being male and

Nos. 4, 3, 2and 1, the last to

emerge being female.

Nothing happened for a week, so I opened all cells and all inhabitants were

dead but one in the bottom cell (note :—the Frrst cel! completed).

227

228 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

thing away. ‘Tie a leaf over the entrance or stick a rolled one in the hole and

you have the members of the family who are at home, at your pleasure.

The following points were noted.— :

As each cell is opened the debris is cleared out. I never saw this being

done but I never found any debris in the tunnel. The partition is so completely

removed that one can feel no signs of it but it leaves a dark mark on the wall of

the tunnel so that one can count how many cells a nest has contained. The

family does not desert the nest on emergence from the cell. One sees members

coming and going. Il have taken four to six individuals of both sexes at the

same time in the same nest using the lower nesting tunnel and upper living

tunnel as a communal residence, sometimes with immature individuals always

females in the yet unopened lower cells. Their fresh and brisk appearance is

very different to the elderly female builder of the nest. They were seen to visit

flowers in the neighbourhood and [ presume that the community sheltered in

their snug nest through the rains and cold weather until the opening of the

season again in the following February. I saw no act of mating throughout

the year.

CANNANORE, A, G. FRERE,

December 13, 1926. Major, F.Z.S.

XXXIV.—NOTES ON A COLLECTION OF BUTTERFLIES MADE IN

JODHPUR AND MOUNT ABU DURING THE YEARS 1924,

1925 AND 1926

PAPILIONIDZ

&yasa hector. Several specimens seen and a couple taken in Jodhpur during

the rains of 1924. None seen subsequently in Jodhpur or at all in Mount

Abu.

Byasa aristolochic. “Exeedingly common in Jodhpur almost throughout the

entire year. Rather rare in Mount Abu.

Papilio polytes romulus. Fairly common in Jodhpur and rather rare in

Mount Abu. Havetaken the aristolochie as well as hector form of female in

both Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

Papilio demoleus. Very common in Jodhpur and fairly so in Mount Abu.

Pathysa nomius. 1 obtained a very poor specimen taken by one of the

Lawrence Scheol boys at Mount Abu in 1925. Am informed that in some years

it is fairly common in the spring. Have never seen any myself however eithe1

in Mount Abu or Jodhpur.

Zetides agammemnon. Rare but a few specimens can usually be taken in

October at Mount Abu. Not seen in Jodhpur.

PIERIDA®

Delias eucharis. Have only seen and taken one specimen in two year’s in

Jodhpur—uncomnion also at Mount Abu.

Anapheis mesentina. Very common in Mount Abu and Jodhpur. Some of

the wsf specimens in Abu are very richly coloured both above and below.

Huphina nerissa. Very common in Mount Abu, less soin Jodhpur.

Appias libythea. Not seen at allin Jodhpur and rare in Mount Abu, but a

few specimens can usually be taken in the early spring and also after the rains.

In nearly all the females taken (both wsf and dsf) the upper portion of the

rear half of the abdomen was found markedly red.

Catopsilia crocale. Common both in Jodhpur and Mount Abn.

Catopsilia pomona. Very common in Mount Abu—rather uncommon in

Jodhpur.

Catopsilia pomona. & V.catilla. Have seen a few specimens in both Mount

Abu and Jodhpur, but they are rare in both places.

Catopsilia pyranthe. Very common both in Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

Catopsilia flovella. Nery common in Mount Abu and less so in Jodhpur.

Terias libythea. Uncommon in Jodhpur and none taken or seen in Mount

Abu.

Tevias venata. Common in Mount Abu and Jodhpur.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 229

Terias leta. ‘Common in Mount Abu and Jodhpur. I took one specimen

in Mount Abu in which the ground colour was completely white.

Terias hecabe. Common in both Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

lxvias marianne. Very common in Mount Abu. Noneseen in Jodhpur. The

female varies considerably both in size and markings, the ground colour of

some specimens being strongly suffused with yellow.

Ixtas pyrene. Almost the commonest butterfly in Mount Abu. None seen

in Jodhpur, The type appears to be a local one as the females are practically

exclusively white (I have only seen one yellow one in several years collecting),

while in the male the base of 3 upf is yellow only in the dry season forms.

In the wsf specimens the dark discal band practically cuts across the base

of 3 upf.

Colotis amaia. Fairly common in Jodhpur—uncommon in Mount Abu.

Colotis protractus. Not seen in Mount Abu. Common during the late

autumn and winter months in Jodhpur.

Colotis vestalts. do. do.

Colotis fauwsta. I have seen a few specimens in the late autumn in Jodhpur

but never succeeded in taking any. Have only come across one specimen in

Mount Abu.

Colotis etrida. Fairly common in Jodhpur and less so in Mount Abu.

Colotis dane dulcis. Fairly common in Jodhpur—am told it is also

occasionally taken in Mount Abu but have never come across any myself.

DANAIDZ

Danats limniace. Very common in Mount Abu, and also found during the

rains in Jodhpur.

Danais plexippus. Fairly common in Jodhpur. Rather uncommon in

Mount Abu.

Danais chrysippus. Exceedingly common in Jodhpur—rather uncommon

in Mount Abu.

Eupleca core. Fairly common as a rule in both Jodhpur and Mount Abu but

1 did not see a single specimen during 1925 in: Jodhpur.

SATYRIDA

Mycalesis mineus polydecta. Uncommon in Mount Abu. None seen in

Jodhpur.

Lethe rohria nilgiriensis. Very common during 1925in Mount Abu. None

seen in Jodhpur.

Ypthima asterope mahratta. Very common in Mount Abu—rather rare in

Jodhpur.

Melanitis leda ismene. Fairly common in Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

NYMPHALIDZ

Charaxes fabius. Rarein Mount Abu. None seen in Jodhpur.

Euthalia nats. do. do.

Pantoporia perius. Am told this species is quite common in some years

during the spring in Mount Abu, but have never come across it myself either

there or in Jodhpur.

Hypolimnas misippus. Fairly common in both Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

The females of this species were exceedingly common in Jodhpur in the

autumn of 1925 ovipositing all over the lawns of the Residency at a time when

hardly any other butterflies (including Danais chrysippus) were flying.

Hypolimnas bolina. Very common in some years in Mount Abu, especially

after the rains. In Jodhpur uncommon at all times. I have also noticed in

the latter place that while the females are of the usual large type, nearly all the

males are very small.

Precis hierta, orithyia and lemontas. ‘These are all very common in both

Jodhpur and Mount Abu, as is also almana in Jodhpur. I have come across

very few of the latter however in Mount Abu.

Vanessa cardut. Exceedingly common in Mount Abu. Rather uncomnion

in Jodhpur.

Argynnis hyperbius hyperbius. None seen in Jodhpur and only one specimen

(a female) taken during 1924 and 1925in Mount Abu. This year, however, I

have taken quite a large number of females and also a few males in the autumn

in Mount Abu.

230 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Voi. XXXI11

Alella phalanta. Very common in Mount Abu. Fairly so in Jodhpur.

LYCZENIDZ

Tarucus theophrastus. Common in Jodhpur but rather rare in Mount Abu.

Enchrysope cnejus. Common in both Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

Etnchrysope contracts. do. do.

Chillades latus. Only one specimen taken but not recorded whether in

Jodhpur or Mount Abu, probably Jodhpur.

ZLizera trochilus putli. Common in Jodhpur—rather rare in Mount Abu.

Zizera maha maha. A few specimens taken in Udaipur but none seen either

in Jodhpur or Mount Abu.

Zizera lysimon. Commonin both Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

ZAtzera gatka. Common in Jodhpur, fairly so in Mount Abu.

Zizera otis decreta. Common in Mount Abu after the rains. None taken

Jodhpur.

Syntarucus plinius. Common in both Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

Catachrysops strabo. Common in Jodhpur—apparently none taken in Mount

Abu,

Lampides boeticus, Common in both Jodhpur and Mount Abu.

Nacaduba nora. Only taken in the spring in Jodhpur, none seen in Mount

Abt:

Janudes bochus. Only 1 specimen taken in Jodhpur—none seen in Mount Abu.

Azanus ubaldus. Only taken in Jodhpur where common.

Azanus uranus. do. do.

Vivachola tsocrates. A very few specimens only taken during the spring of

1925 at Mount Abu—not seen since.

Rapala melampus. Very common in Mount Abu during the spring. I

think I have also seen a specimen of this insect in Jodhpur but am not sure.

Spindasis ictis. Common during the autumn of 1925 in Mount Abu, none

taken in Jodhpur or during 1926 in Mount Abu.

Spindasts vulcanius. do. do.

N.B.—A few other species of Lycenide were also taken but as I am

uncertain of their identification I have not inciuded them.

HESPERIDZ

Badania exclamationis. Common in Mount Abu.

Hlasora lexis. Common in Mount Abu.

N.B.—I have seen either Badamia exclamationis or Hasora alexis also in

Jodhpur but am not sure which species, probably the latter.

Suastus grvemius. Commonin Mount Abu. None taken in Jodhpur.

Baoris bada. do. do.

Bavorts mathias. Commonin Mount Abu, also in Jodhpur.

Baoris colaca. Apparently only one specimen taken in Mount Abu.

Arnetta vindhiana. Common in Mount Abu, not taken in Jodhpur.

Telicota dara. do. do,

Hesperida galba. Rare in Mount Abu. None seen in Jodhpur.

Savangesa purendra, Very common in Mount Abu after the rains.

Savangesa dasahara. do. do.

Caprona ransonnettit. Rare in Mount Abu, none seen in Jodhpur.

Coladenia dan. Only 1 specimen seen and taken in Mount Abu. None

in Jodhpur.

Udaspes folus. Only 1 specimen seen and taken in Mount Abu. None

in Jodhpur.

A. D. MACPHERSON, ¢.1.£.,

Lieut.-Colonel,

XXXV.—THE OCCURRENCE OF THE WOOD MASON BUTTERFLY

(PARANTIRRHG A MARSHALLI) IN COORG

On October 3, 1926, I caught a single perfect example of Parantirrhawa

marshalli on the Periyambadi Ghat Road, Coorg. This is of interest, as

hitherto this very rare butterfly has only been recorded from ‘Trivandrum,

Travancore some three hundred miles away.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 231

Although in the neighbourhood fcr a fortnight longer, I saw no further

examples.

BANGALORE, H. C. WINCHWORTH,

February 14, 1927. Major, R.A.M.C.

{The record is of great interest and seems to show that this peculiar species

may be spreading, since it was not obtained in Coorg by the late Mr. F.

Hannynegton, whose list of Coore butterflies is published in volume xxiv.

Ens. |

XXXVI.—THE NORTH-WEST LOCUST IN SIND

The present has been a season in which, for the first time for a number of

years, there has been very serious damage to many crops in Lower Sind by the

attack of the North-West Locust (Acridium peregrinum). The damage was

particularly serious in two areas, that on the east of Sind where as the result

of unusually good rain the irrigated crops chiefly bajri in the desert portion

of the Thar and Parkar district were better than is usually the case,—and that

in the neighbourhood of Karachi, where the locusts swarmed down during the

month of November, in swarm after swarm, and did a very great deal of

damage to aimost all crops that were standing. ‘Though these were perhaps

the two areas where the damage was greatest, yet there was very serious injury

to crops up to about the latitude of Sehwan in Central Sind. Beyond that

point northward no swarms were noticed, as far as Ican hear. The cotton

crops in particular suffered considerably.

My object in writing this note is, however, to draw attention to the behaviour of

the swarms in Central Sind (Sakrand) not on crops, but on the jungle trees. In

this area it is well known that in the jungle there is usually practically no

herbage: all the vegetation consists of trees and shrubs. The swarms of

locusts which came over near the end of November were in the swarming

coloration. ‘The direction they were taking was not by any means constant.

In the jungle, to my surprise, the plant on which the locusts settled most

abundantly was the leafless Khirir (Capparis aphylla). Nearly all the

extremely abundant bushes of this shrub and tree were covered with them, and

the ground round them was covered with them to an extent that no other part

of the area was covered. They were vigorously gnawning the outer layer of

succulent material from the green stalks of this plant,—and as a result, a few

days later, almost all the shoots of many of these shrubs turned yellow and

died.

The second plant which they seemed sometimes to attack in great abundance

was the Khabhar or Jhar (Salvodora sp.), perhaps the most common jungle tree

in this area. The young shoots were often completely defoliated on some trees .

only,—and the trees which the locusts favoured were in many cases so covered

as to be weighed down as if covered with fruit. Only the leaves on the young

shoots were usually taken and the trees seemed to be selected by the insects,

tor many of them were almost free.

Curiously enough, two other very common trees in this jungle,—the babul

(Acacia arabica) and the kandi (Prosopis specigera), both of which were

valuable fodder trees and which I should have expected to be relished by the

insects, seemed hardly attacked, only avery few locusts were noticed sitting

upon them. The same was the case with the species of Tamarix (Lai) which

forms the other important constituent of this jungle.

I should be glad to know any other observations on the jungle plants

favoured by the North-Western Locust, at the same or at other stages of their

life history.

CAMP, SAKRAND SIND, HAROLD H. MANN,

December 15, 1926. Director of Agriculture.

XXXVII.—ON THE VITALITY OF THE CENTIPEDE

(SCOLOPENDRA, sp.)

The following notes made by Prof. J. P. Mullan of the Department of

Zoology, St. Xavier’s College, are interesting and convey some idea of the

vitality the centipede is notorious for possessing.

232 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

‘September 23, 1926. Placed a living Scolopendra (Specimen A) in a cage.

September 24. In the same cage was introduced another living Scolopendra

(Specimen B) slightly smaller in size than Specimen A.

September 25. In the morning it was found that Specimen A had devoured

everything of Specimen PB except the head with poison claws and the posterior

portion of the body. The last four segments—(there are in Scolopendra about

twenty-one segments bearing legs—) were intact. Everything within six seg-

ments preceding this portion had been eaten up leaving only the exoskeleton of

these six segments.

On tapping the cage or touching this mutilated creature it was found that the

legs of the last four segments commenced moving. I suppose it could have

walked had it not been for the presence of the dead six segments in front of the

living portion.

It remained in this condition for two full days (September 25 and 26). On the

morning of the 27th no sign of life was visible.’

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, SALIM A. ALI.

6 APOLLO STREET,

April 6, 1927.

XXXVIII.—THE POISON OF CENTIPEDES—BEING A SPECIAL

REFERENCE TO THE ANDAMAN SPECIES

(Reprinted from the Indian Medical Journal, June 1921)

As | have had some experience, on the pathological effect of the poison of the

centipede, both on human beings and animals, a short description of the

phenomena will, I hope, be of interest.

The poison apparatus is formed by a modification of the first segment to

form a pair of jaws, at the base of which is situated the poison gland, which

communicates with the tip of the clawlike process by means of a duct.

The poison is an acid opalescent liquid, which has an intensely corrosive

local action.

According to Castellani and Chalmers (Manual of Tropical Medicine, 2nd

edition) ‘Small children have been known to die from the effect of a sting,

adults as arule recover in about 24 hours at most.’ On the first point I am

thoroughly convinced of the great possibility of the fact, but on the second point

} entirely disagree.

One of my cases, who was in hospital for three months is, at the time of

writing, still attending the out-patient department, with an ulcer, the result of

, asbite:

In India and Burma I have not known dire results to follow a bite, but the

reverse is the case in the Andaman Isles, where I have seen specimens of

centipedes varying from 7” to 13” in length and from 4” to 14” in breadth and

from a light yellow to a dark greenish blue in colour. ‘These facts I conceive

to be proof of a great metamorphosis which has taken place due to natural

environments. It is of some interest to note, that Burma, which is said to have

been in some long by-gone days, connected with the Andamans and of which

there is said to be some geographical proof, has centipedes not nearly so deadly

as those in these isles, while the scorpionidee there, are deadly, if I may so use

the word, and they certainly are where children are concerned—are quite

harmless here. There too the majority of scorpions met with are large and dark

green in colour, here they are small and almost white. I have not come across

many above 2”.

There has been no single case in my hospital who did not develop intense

lymphangitis with cedema and inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous

tissue, and in most cases a localized necrotic process was started at the site of

bite, while in other cases there was set up in addition to this a process not

unlike the old time phagedenic ulceration.

I must confess that most of the cases received into my hospital were always

several hours after the bite, but even then they invariably had some sort of

‘first aid’ treatment, such as an application of tr. iodine, or the rubbing in of

crystals of pot. permang. after making a nick between the two punctures of the

bite, so that there is no reason to believe that means for combating evil

consequences were not adopted.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 233

The man was bitten on the night of January 27, 1921, at ll p.m., by 11.45

he was in the detention ward and had received treatment; but pain being very

severe he was sent to me at 6a.m. (January 28, 1921). On February 1, 1921,

an enormous necrotic ulcer nad developed. Apart from this, there was con-

siderable lymphangitis, inflammation, and odema of the leg up to the middle of

the thigh. Pain of a constant and gnawing character was now complained

of and ordinary bromide and chloral draughts had little or no effect.

On February 3, 1921, a gangrenous slourhing process had started from the

lower end of the wound to beyond and below the internal maleolus.

On the February 5, 1921, a good deal of the slough came away. At the time

of writing this wound represents a healthy, clean, granulating surface, there

Was no pain or any constitutional disturbance.

It is said that the poison ‘when injected into the veins of a rabbit causes an

inimediate paralysis with coagulation of the blood, while under the skin it

forms a large abscess’ (C. & C. Manual of Trupical Medicine, 2nd Editicn).

The effects of the poison, both local and general, are very pronounced and the

development in symptoms can easily be followed stage by stage. Locally at

first there is a simultaneous sensation of heat and tingling, which is rapidly

superseded by intense pain, radiating up and down the limb. At the points of

inoculation twe red spots of blood appear, which, within 24 hours, enlarge and

disclose a necrotic area. l.ymphangitis, with odema, and inflammation extend-

ing as far down as the deep fascia, soon supervene and is a commen symptom.

At times inflammation of the lymphatic glands takes place, bet I have not

found the process leading to suppuration in any of my cases. The necrotic

ulcer keeps enlarging till about the fourth day when it is circular or oblong in

shape, exposing about 3” of slough with a further undermining of the skin for

about 1” all round.

Occasionally, however, as in three of my cases, very extensive and rapid

sloughing takes place. Once the slough is cast offor cut away, a healthy

granulating surface appears, but the process of ultimate repair is slow. One of

my cases was three months in hospital, is an out patient now for more than a

month, but still has an ulcer about the size of an eight-anna piece. Another

of the bad cases came into hospital on January 24,—at the time of writing

this, March 1, 1921, he is still in hospital with an ulcer 2 in. in diameter, with

undermined and unhealthy edges. This man had a rise of temperature for

three days, the highest rise being 102°8° on January 25, 1921. In almost all

the cases that have come under my personal observation, tissue destruction has

been most rapid and extensive. A jailor who has been here for many years

affirms this observation too, and instances one particular case of another

European jailor who was bitten in the upper left arm and in 3€ hours

had a 4” sloughing ulcer, with excruciating pain of the whole arm and a high

temperature.

The sloughing of the skin, subcutaneous tissue, fascia, muscle sheaths, and

in some cases muscle fibres, is of a very acute necrobiotic process, while all the

symptoms concomitant with an acute toxic condition are at the same time

present.

Another point that is rather interesting is that in those cases in whom the

phagedenic process was extensive, the pain was not of that extremely excessive

nature as in other cases, but the patients were at times found to be in a dull

semi-stuporous condition as was the case photographed. Some of these cases

were undoubtedly of an acute gangrenous nature, and here probably a

euphrobic condition was present. The ordinary general symptoms are hurried

pulse, and slightly hurried respiration, headache, anxiety and pyrexia.

Apart from the knowledge gained in the wards, I carried out a few experi-

ments, by causing live centipedes to bite, or, by injecting the poison with a

hypodermic syringe. A record of some of these may be of interest.

A.—Guinea pig, female—bitten on the right shoulder by a large greenish

yellow centipede at 10 a.m. Great restlessness, and whining—latter due to

pain presumably. Noon: Great swelling and cedema extending un right side

of face ; 12.10 had a fit ; 12.35 died.

#£.—Guinea pig, young male, intravenous injection of the poison in saline

solution. Developed a comatose condition almost at once. Died in 7} minutes.

C.—A frog injected with a solution of the poison developed no bad effects

that were apparent, but 24 hours later the web of all four feet were noticed to

234 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

be black. When let out of his cage he croaked and hopped away quite

unconcerned.

D.—Pup, 43 months old, bitten on the upper lip. Rapid heart, followed by

irregularity and slowing. ‘Developed a stuporous condition. Intense cellulitis

followed in 12 hours and in 2 days.an ulcer developed which took more.-than

1! months to be completely healed. The pup during this period was very ill.

On one occasion she passed a few drops of blood in her urine.

E.—Duck, adult, bitten at 10 a.m. below left eye, was deadin ten minutes.

J 6h _Drake, old, bitten on left thigh. Developed paralysis of limb in about

10 minutes. Unable to stand and refuses all food. Looks ill, does not mind

being handled. Lethargic. In the afternoon it shuffled away toa cool ne

under a rose bush.

Next morning there was a nasty slough of the thigh. Antiseptic applied.

Bird had to be fed.

Next morning a bit brighter, ate a little cocoanut pap, wound was thorough-

ly cleaned and all slough removed.

Recovery was uneventful, but up to date the bird limps.

Note.—Of course none of these phenomena are observed in the case of a bite

from a young scolopendra, from whom I also failed to extract the poison.

As regards treatment, I have found nothing to be of any avail if the period

between bite and active treatment is delayed beyond an hour. After that

incisions, and antiseptic baths, or compresses will be found good, but before

that the crystals of pot. permang. rubbed into the wound after niaking a small

incision, is as effective as liq. ammonia, or a paste of liq. ammonia and pulv.

ipecac.

Haddo, Port Blair. A. BAYLEY-DE CASTRO,

Junior Medical Officer.

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Proceedings of the Annual General Meeting held on March 8, 1927

The annual general meeting of the members of the Bombay Natural History

Society was held on Tuesday at 6.15 p.m. in the Reptile Room of the Natural

History Section, Prince of Wales’ Museum. The Hen’ble Mr. J. E. B. Hotson,

I.C.S., ¢.1.e., in the chair. One hundred and five new members were elected

since the last. meeting.

The appointment of officers for the ensuing year was as follows :— President

—H.E. the Right Hon. Lt.-Col. Sir Leslie Wilson, P.c., G.C.1.E., C.M.G.,

D.S.0.; WVice-Presidents—H. H. the Maharao of Cutch, "G.0.8.1., C.C.LE.,

the Rev. E. Blatter, $.J., ph.D., F.L.S: and the Hon. Mr. J. E. B. Hotson,

rotate Gl Ooi Is

Managing Committee.—(Mofussil).--Mr. T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, F.E-.s.,

Pusasvrs/D. Ros Bell, C.1.&.,: 1.F.S.(retd.),. Karwar; Col. W. H: Evans;, R-E.,

C.1.E., Quetta; Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser, 1.mM.s., Waltair; Dr. F. H. Gravely, D.sc.

Madras; Mr. C. M. Inglis, M.B.O.U., C.M.z.S., Darjeeling ; Lt.-Col. C. H.

Stockley, D.S.0., M.C., O.B-E., Shanghai; Major R. B. Seymour-Seweil,

iM Se Calcuttas (Bombay)—Mr..R.. D. Bell, C.hn., : 1.C.S..7,MrH. A.W:

Brent, Prof. V. N. Hate, M.a., Mr.J.G Ridland, Mr. P.M. D. Sanderson,

Lt.-Col. F. P. Mackle, I.m.s., Mr. J. B. Greaves (Honorary Treasurer), Sir

Reginald Spence, Kt. (Honorary Secretary).

The annual statement of accounts for the year ending Deceniber 31, 1926,

were presented by Mr. J. B. Greaves.

Sir Reginald Spence, the Honorary Secretary, then introduced Mr. S. H.

Prater, the Society’s Curator on his return from his deputation to some of the

larger museums of America and Europe.

Mr. Prater delivered a lecture on ‘ The Services of Museums to the Public’

which was based mainly on the results of his studies and observations in

Museums in America and Europe. The lecture was fully illustrated with an

interesting series of lantern slides.

Printed by George Kenneth at the Diocesan Press, Madras and published by

A. Spence for the Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay,

Vol.

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CONTENTS OF VOL, XXXII, No. 2

PAGE

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE. (With a.coloured Bake. )

By E. C. Stuart Baker, F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.0.U., H.F.A.O.U.

THE POTTER Wasp. By Major R. W.G. Hingston, I.M.S. ...cc.ccsccscereee

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISHES FROM BOMBAY. By H. W. Fowler ...

THE MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS. NATURALISTS AND SPORTSMEN.

Part III. By Salim A. Ali

THE CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES. By Joseph Pearson ........ccsccscseees

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY. Part IV.

By cline battens (Sd. e PIN Ds, Rae. Sei acscsue- sssledecdniescses o6css stew ecnecsscnleeeets

A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND, 1926. (With. six plates). By

ISU UO Wi DOLGAU CIC: « caps cccneceebbecss0sisiecs saul acecticsehs vendeeassecusees es

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES. Part XXVIII. (With three plates). By Lt.-Col.

eG EOS Re Set HARES ei oe oo sisin gn see va gaaaaaet os oibipnnesesedeshinesssiecesees >

BirD NOTES FROM THE MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION OF 1924

(With a plate). By Major R. W. G. Hingston, TENE SUA « Mrccenes oss

Tur Rick RATS OF LOWER SIND AND THEIR CONTROL. (With a plate

ONE ARILE GLO CLUS), BY: Biz Ni; NVAGIC, MAG: 9 ncnspcececesiegecserssccens

GAME PRESERVATION IN THE NILGIRIS. By Major E.G. Phythian-

ENGAIS MOU HA Me (INC CON ln, cae ccacecatesccceseccsstesvccessecisscterecssesssetersestecser’

SoME FURTHER NOTES ON THE SECOND EDITION OF THE FAUNA OF

BRITISH INDIA—BirRDS, VOL. III. By C. B. Ticehurst, M.A., M.R.C.S.,

PVE OMW apmeEG REG sO ghecssie cae neseaccestaes\ om eacseseeverioess s0isicvuceeeesedeelagessceucseses

Two NEw SPECIFS OF GRASSES FROM PANCHGANI. ((With two panes)

Byeikever be smlattenmandy'C. MeCab1is.. s..ssietesdccess=sotdseresysnseue reset sve

GAME PRESERVATION IN INDIA. By the Editors

FSU UGE OR ANIME aera ec rea eer aca hes vo ae arene Saisie bia ciciole ods ke% de becdbaee sds vamscuebeecdeGewes eee

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES :—

I.—Tigers and Elephants. By A. J. W. Milroy

Il.—Tigers preferring Carrign to Live Bait. By W. H.O. Shortt

III.—A Panther committing Suicide. By W. H.O. Shortt

IV.—The Colour Change and Sexual Differences in Colour in the

| Long-armed Sheath-tailed Bat (Zaphozous longimanus).

By W. W.A. Phillips

000080 08S FHF 220 GHATS HHT HHL OHHTHHT88GHT020G881 0209080

V.—Habits of the Flying Lemur (Galeopterus peninsule). By

W.S. Wood

eeoeteoeest2oseseeeeees Or SOKCHSHHCHHKESHHHHH*FSHHHGHFTHOSHLHHKRHFTHHKHEOHHBD GH HOD

VI.—Flying Squirrels in Tenasserim. By W. S. W000 ..........cceceeesees

VII.—Albino Goral (Nemorrhedus goral) in Chamba. By Raja Ram

stl Meer cace doses ten Ms eeees Secteeee co eedicsesesvesusrteccssscdceeooesee saadeautle

VIIl.—Is the large Hornbill (D. dtcornis) Carnivorous? By W. S.

Wood

eer ceess senor ce ne COOP M HM Seve Ee Oe a OCHT ED HOSEL OHO OOHTE TFET OOO HELD O TEE ERLOHOOD

237

246

253

339

344

357

359

366

370

371

374

il CONTENTS OF Vol. XXXII No. 2

PAGE

IX.—A Jungle Fowl Problemy” By Rii@. Mortis finest esse eeceee 374

X.—A Lost Snipe. By Capt. R. H. Stable, ra. ............ San eeecees 374

XI.—‘ The Arrival of Snipe in Mysore.’ By George Brown ............ 375

XII.—Addenda tothe Avifauna of Sind and of British India. By

C.B: “Bicehurst, (F.Z:S., M-B.OUs, HOUREG:Sa seats. csc ssete acne eee 376

XIII.—Corrigendum to Fauna of: ae By C. B. Ticehurst,

FiZ.S.5 M.BsO.Ui, MoR«GiSe cece eeecaastncewendeensnn: decesc cate caacteemient 376

XIV.—Birds ‘eatine “Butterflies:- By'G. “Ev Shaw —ce..c.cstececeateces tere 377

XV.—A _ Short-cut by Birds to the Honey in the Flowers of

Sesbanta srandttlora.. By Ne K: Tiwary, MSCs oii. .as otenseuies 378

XVI.—Artificial and Natural Mimicry. By H. Jouguet ............... 372

XVIIL—A List of Snakes and Lizards from crus By J. P.

Mita." icas voncececeacete s eaaut cone cocec tanec ace aerate saan meee pk eae, 380

XVIiIl.—Preying Habits of the Tent-building Spider. By H. F.

Knight, TCS .05 or kisticactenatic senate ata naecncenaccnen ce ee ceeene tes 381

XIX.--Some Observations on the Common Indian Millipede Spzros-

treptus Brandt. (Witha plate.) By M.L. Bhatia, m.sc. and

S, S. (Chatid hurry, sMcAs a MaSC,. ccc nesoneutas caters cectme steerer 382

XX.—A Plague of Green Bugs (Nezara viridula). By R. C.

MOLrvis \dsecccss sasdvsciessnhecaaslnoesaecesscduas swactsetmauecnaee sonata tenets 384

XXI.—The Use of Patent Bulletsin Shot Guns. By W.H.O. Shortt. 384

MEMORANDUM. “OF -ASSOCEATION( so05ccecss0 cules avctcisce nee ceessaseace ate 385

PROCEEDINGS cance: cabcnie stctecets wt nat teceees cnuce cece cusces cee tt aesen rome arenas 394

JOURN. BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC.

THE EASTERN BAILLON’S CRAKE

Porzana p. pusilla

; natural size

VITTY & SEABORNE LTD

LONDON ; =

JOURNAL

OF THE

Bombay Naturai History Society

OcToBER, 1927 VoL. XXXII No.2

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

| BY

EB. C. STUART BAKER, F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.O.U., H.F.A.0.U.

Vou. V

THE WADERS AND OTHER SEMI-SPORTING BIRDS

BART LY,

(With a coloured plate)

(Continued from page 13 of this Volume)

PORZANA PORZANA

The Spotted Crake

Rallus porzana, Linn., Syst. Nat.,.12th.ed., 1, p. 262° (1766)

(France). |

Porzana maruetta, Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 166.

Vernacular Names.—Gurgurt-khatvt (Beng.); Venna-mudi-kodt.

(Tam.).

Description.—Centre of crown, nape and neck and whole upper

plumage rufescent olive-brown, each feather from crown to tail with

broad back central streaks ; hind neck and upper back spotted with

white; the lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts, scapulars and

innermost secondaries streaked narrowly with white; outer wing-

coverts immaculate except along the edge ; inner wing-coverts with

arrow-shaped white streaks edged with black ; inner secondaries the

238 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

same but with golden rufous margins to the inner webs; quills

brown, the first primary edged with white ; lores and round the eye

blackish; a line behind the eye rufescent; supercilium, sides of

the head and neck and whole breast grey, speckled with white and

washed with brown across the breast ; centre of chin and throat and

abdomen white ; flanks brownish-grey barred with white; vent and

under tail-coverts buff; edge of wing white; remaining under

wing-coverts and axillaries barred brown and white.

Colours of soft parts.—Iris reddish-brown to red; bill yellow,

orange at the base and darker, more greenish at the tip and along

the culmen ; legs and feet bright olive-green.

Measurements.—Length about 200 to 220 mm.; wing 112 to

119 mm. ; tail 47 to 52 mm.; tarsus about 33 to 35 mm. ; culmen 19

to 21 mm.

Young birds are more brown below and have the white on the

chin and throat more extensive.

Nestling.—Down all black.

Distributton.—EBurope and West Central Asia. In Winter it

migrates into Northern Africa and into India. It is not uncommon

in Northern India from Sind to Bengal. Both Coltart and I found

it in Assam and it has been recorded as far east as Arrakan. To

the south it has occurred in Belgaum, and Jerdon stated that it

occurred almost all over India but it is probably an exceptional

visitor south of Bengal or to the east of Bombay in Southern

India.

Niditication.—-The Spotted Crake is only a migrant to India and

it does not breed within our limits. In Central Europe it breeds

principally during May and early June, but in Finland eggs may be

taken as late as the middle of July. The nest is the usual rail-like

affair of coarse grass and rushes lined with finer grass, placed in

amongst vegetation around the edges of swamps, at other times in

a dry patch in a marshy field and, less often, away from water in

amongst long grass or standing crops. The eggs generally num-

ber 8-10 but frequently larger clutches are found, up to 15 having

been recorded. The ground colour varies from greyish to greenish-

buff and they are profusely marked all over with small spots and

blotches of reddish-brown or purplish-brown with underlying spots

of neutral tint and lavender grey. The eggs though quite galline in

character can be separated at a glance from any of the other rails’

either resident in India or migratory. The average of 100 eggs is

given by Witherby as 33°62 & 24:57 mm., maxima 37:5 XK 24:8 mm.,

33:0°* 26°38 mm., 772777720 '29-1 23:0 and 32:0 > c2-2eimim.

Hlabits.—-Generally speaking there is little to record about the

Spotted Crake which is different from that of its nearest allies. It

arrives in North India in early October, the first few birds coming

in some ten days earlier and they leave again in March or April.

Like all the family it is a confirmed skulker and one but seldom

sees it except when out Snipe shooting with a good line of beaters.

It runs well, and in spite of the long distances it has to migrate, it is

neither a very fast nor a very powerful flier. Like all the rails it

swims well. Its food is both insects, small mollusca and worms

as well as all sorts of seeds and shoots of aquatic inland plants.

;

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 239

PORZANA PARVA

The Little Crake

Rallusparvuss scop: Ann. 1, “His, Nat., ‘p..108 (1769) (Karn-

then).

Porzana parva, Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 164.

Vernacular Names.—None recorded.

Description.—Male: Centre of crown and neck dark, slightly rufous-

brown ; remainder of upper parts more olive-brown, darkest on the

rump ; upper back, scapulars and innermost secondaries with broad

black streaks and a few narrow white streaks, these latter also

extending to the lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts ; wing-

coverts light brown ; quills darker brown; supercilia, sides of head

and neck, chin and throat and whole lower plumage rather dark

ashy-grey, the extreme posterior acdomen, flanks and under tail-

coverts banded brown and white; under wing-coverts and axillaries

light slaty-brown.

Colours of sott parts.—Iris red, brown in young birds; bill green,

the base red in summer; legs and feet yellowish-green to dull pale

slaty-green.

Measurements.— Total length about 200 mm. ; wing 95to 106 mm. ;

tail 50 to 60 mm. ; tarsus 90 to 31 mm.; culmen 18 to 20 mm.

Female.—Supercilia and face paler grey; chin, throat and fore

neck almost white becoming isabelline-buff on the rest of the lower

parts, the vent and surrounding parts with under tail-coverts barred

white and brown.

Very young birds have the supercilia, face and whole lower

plumage white, barred with blackish-brown. These bars gradually

disappear and in a more advanced stage the young become replicas

of the female with very pale, almost white underparts.

Nestling.—AI\ black.

Distribution.—-Throughout South and Central Europe and South-

Western and Central Asia migrating in winter to Northern Africa and

to India into Sind and Baluchistan ; Scully also obtained it in Gilgit.

Niditication.—The Little Crake breeds throughout South and

Central Europe as well as in Western Asia, probably as far East as

Persia and Turkestan. The breeding season lasts from early May

to the end of June though a few continue to breed as late as the

middle of July. The nest differs in no way from that of the other

rails, and like them is placed in any thick vegetation around lakes,

swamps or the banks of streams. The eggs number from 6 to 12,

generally 7 or 8. The ground colour is a pale ochre or buff brown,

sometimes with a rather greenish tint, whilst the markings consist

of numerous blotches and spots of darker brown scattered fairly

numerously over the whole surface. There are also a few under-

lying spots of neutral tint and in some eggs these are rather more

numerous and make the general tone of the egg more dull and grey.

The surface is smooth and generally glossless. The average of

100 eggs is 30°45 K 21°73 mm., maxima 30°5 K 23:0 mm., minima

28:0 & 19:0 mm.

Habits.—The Little Crake must be a very rare visitor to any part

of India, but it is such an inveterate little skulker that it is quite

240 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

possible that it is not so rare as its very scanty records would make

it out to be, so that sportsmen shooting on the borders of Baluchistan

and the North-Western Frontier Provinces anywhere in the vicinity

of water, should be on the look-out forit. Like all rails, it will not

rise until almost trodden on and then gets up with a soft whirr of

wings and flies rapidly away for two or three hundred yards when

it drops suddenly into cover. In flight it rather reminds one ofa

quail but it has the usual littie rail habits of keeping its legs hang-

ing down until it gets well on the wing. Apparently this bird is

almost entirely insectivorous in its diet and it appears to be especi-

ally fond of coleoptera and aquatic insects and in search of its diet

it keeps almost exclusively to swamps and marshes, very seldom

being found in dry grass or crops away from water.

PORZANA PUSILLA PUSILLA

The Eastern Baillon’s Crake

Rallus pusiilus; Pallt,, (Reis; Russ.) Weich.4. 211, Vp. \A00m Clie)

(Dauria).

Porzana pusilla, Blanf. and Oates, iii, p. 165.

Vernacular Names.—J/hiliz (Nepal).

Description.—Upper plumage rufous-brown, the feathers streak-

ed with black, the streaks on the hind neck inconspicuous and the

wing-coverts without any ; scapulars, back, rump, upper tail-coverts

and inner wing-coverts curiously streaked or marked with white as |

if smeared with white paint; quills brown, the first primary conspi-

cuously edged with white; lores next the eye and a small streak

behind it rufous brown; supercilium, sides of head and neck, breast

and anterior abdomen grey sometimes tinged ashy: posterior

abdomen, vent and under tail-coverts barred brown and white.

Colours of soft parts.—lIris red in adults, red-brown in younger

birds and dull blue-brown in nestlings; bill horny-green to green,

the culmen and tip darker; Jegs and feet yellowish-green to dull

green, claws horny-brown.

Measurements.—T otal length about 200 mm. or less; being 84 to

91 mm.; tail 40 to 46mm.; tarsus 27 to 28 mm.; culmen 14 to

16 mm. |

Young birds have the underparts almost white, the sides of the

neck, breast and flanks suffused with pale ruddy-brown ; the brown

eye streak is broader.

Nestling.—All black, a greenish tinge to the tips of the down.

Distribution.—Ceylon, all India, Burma and the Andamans ; as

far West as Afghanistan and East te the Indo-Chinese countries and

all China. It occurs through the Malayan Archipelago to the

Philippines.

Niditication.—Baillon’s Crake breeds in Kashmir in all the larger

swamps and lakes, and Osmaston, Betham and others have taken

many of their nests. Osmaston found it breeding almost entirely

in and round the lakes and swamps, the nests, made of grass and

weeds, lined with dry grass, being well hidden amongst thick cover

either of reeds or of grass and weeds. In some cases the nest is

built amongst reeds actually standing in the water, the bottom of

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 241

the nest resting on debris or on some of the broken reeds. They

are very difficult to find for the bird sneaks away as arule before one

has a chance of spotting her or, if seen, it is not until she has got

some yards away from her home. The eggs number 5 to 8 and

differ from those of the Little Crake in being much darker and more

richly coloured and also in the surface of the shells being much

more glossy. In the plains this Crake often breeds in rice fields as

well as in swamps and lakes, whilst Butler took one nest built ina

small clump of bullrushes in a bank three or four feet above the level

of the water, a very unusual position for a crake’s nest. ‘The breed-

ing season in Kashmir is from the end of April to the middle of

June but many birds continue to lay up to the middle of August,

though possibly some of these may be second nests. Inthe plains,

like all other water birds, they do not set about their domestic

affairs until after the rains break in June.

Habits.—Baillon’s Crake is a common bird in suitable localities

practically all over India and Ceylon but itis very seldom seen

except when out snipe shooting or perhaps when after quail or on

bits of dry cultivation between swamps. Its flight is exactly the

same as that of the Spotted Crake already described, but its flights

seldom last longer than 100 yards or so and once down it is extreme-

ly difficult ever to get a sight of it again. They are very fragile

little birds and fall easily to very small shot at great distances but

of course are quite unworthy of being shot and practically unfit to

eat when they have been brought to bag. As arule these birds are

found singly, occasionally in pairs and, being resident in India, they

do not congregate in small parties as most crakes do on their first

arrival and prior to their departure from India. At the same time

itis quite possible that a large percentage of our Indian birds do

not breed in India or, if they do, they wander up from the plains into

the swamps and lakes of the Himalayas for the purpose of nesting.

Their diet is both vegetarian and insectivorous and they feed large-

ly on tiny shoots and seeds of aquatic plants. One shot by myself

had its stomach full of grasshoppers, these ranging in size from the

smallest to others more than half an inch long. Mixed with these

were a lot of tiny white roots, probably of a water plant, and one

or two small land shells. Another bird seemed to have fed princi-

pally on very small black round seeds, but what these were I have

no idea. They are very quick runners and moving amongst the

grass from one place to another it is often very difficult to convince

oneself as to which quarter their call is coming from. The

call itself is distinctly crake-like, rather high pitched, it starts

with a single loud ‘Crake’ and then after a pause another and

yet another in quick succession until the last few notes seem to run

into one.

CREX CREX

The Corncrake or Land Rati.

avuss\crex,) Lint, yet. “Nats: lOth: eds, 1,7 p. 153-1758)

(Sweden).

Crex pratensis, Blanf. & Oates, iv, p. 163.

Vernacular Names.—None recorded.

942 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Description.—The feathers of the crown, hind neck, back and

scapulars to tail with blackish centres and ashy margins, the two

colours linked by chestnut brown; upper and under wing-coverts

and axillaries chestnut ; primaries, secondaries and primary coverts

rufous-brown edged and tipped lighter; supercilium, lores, cheeks,

chin, throat and breast ashy-grey, the chin and throat almost white

and a darker brown line through the eye to the neck; flanks and

sides of abdomen rufescent-white with rufous-brown cross bars;

centre of abdomen almost white and unbarred.

In summer the supercilium, sides of the head, neck and breast

are browner and less grey.

Colours of sott parts.—Iris hazel to red-brown; bill pale horny-

brown, a little darker on the terminal portion of the culmen; legs

and feet pale brown or fleshy-brown.

Measurements.—3% wing 135 to 150 mm.; tail 40 to 50 mm.; tarsus

34 to 43 mm.; bill 20 to 23mm.; & wing 130 to 145 mm.; culmen 19

to 23 mm. (Witherby).

Young birds have the wing-coverts barred with white.

Nestling.—Black, the tips of the down in the upper parts dark

buff.

Distribution.—Practically the whole of Europe and West and

Central Asia. In winter it migrates to North Africa and a speci-

men was obtained by Scully at Gilgit.

Nidification.—The nidification of this bird is almost too well

known to require description. It of course never breeds within our

Indian area but it is still comparatively common in many parts of

Great Britain. The eggs number anything from six to fourteen

whilst clutches of eggs of eighteen have been recorded. The

ground colour varies from a yellowish-or greenish-stone colour to

light reddish whilst the spots consist of primary blotches of rather

dark reddish-brown with others underlying them of neutral tint

and grey.

Witherby gives the average of 100 eggs as 37:26 & 26°75 mm.,

maxima 41°6 XK 25:9 and 38°3 K 29:0 mm., minima 34:0 X 25:0 and

34°3 &K 24:1 mm.

The breeding season is principally during June but eggs are

occasionally taken both in May and in July. The nests of the Land

Rail are almost invariably placed in fields of grass and are often

destroyed when these are cut for hay. Occasionally they will be

found in nettle beds or masses of weeds alongside hedges, but such

sites are exceptional.

Habits.—This rail is a migratory bird and the only really authentic

instance of its occurrence within our limits is that of a specimen

obtained by Scully in Gilgit. It is one of the most confirmed

skulkers imaginable and even with dogs is extremely hard to put

up, so that though one may hear its loud harsh crake sounding on

all sides, one may hunt long and hard without successfully obtain-

ing a sight of the birds uttering them. Its food is almost entirely

insectivorous, but it occasionally eats seeds and will also eat any

caterpillars, larvee or earth-worms it may come across whilst hunt-

ing for food. Small grasshoppers form a very favourite article of

diet.

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 243

HvYPOTANIDIA STRIATA

The Blue-breasted Banded Rail

There are three well marked forms of this rail; the typical form

from the Philippines and Borneo, a small dark bird with a moderate

sized bill, which is A. s. stviata; a large dark race with a large bill

from the Andamans, 4. s. obscuriora and, thirdly, a paler form first

described by Horsfield from Java which is found all over India,

Burma, Malay Peninsula to Java and East into South China and

Formosa. The titles and first references to these birds are as

follows :—

(1) HyporTa:NIDIA STRIATA STRIATA

The Philippine Blue-breasted Banded Rail

Rallus ‘striatus; Lann.; syst. Nat., 12th ed., 1, p. 262. (Phi-

lippines).

(2) HyPOTANIDIA STRIATA OBSCURIORA

The Andaman Blue-breasted Banded Rail

Hypotentdia obscuriora, Hume, Str. Feath., ii, p. 302 (1874)

(Andamans).

(3) HYPOTANIDIA STRIATA GULARIS

The Indian Blue-breasted Banded Rail

Rallus gularis.—Horsf., Trans., Lin. Soc., xiii, p. 196 (1821)

(Java).

Vernacular Names.—Kana kolit (Tam.); Wadi-kolt (Tel.); Yay-

gyet (Burm.).

Description.—Malée: Crown to hind neck rufous ; upper parts dark-

brown marked with wavy white bars, broken into spots on the lower

back and primaries, and each feather edged with olive-brown, much

abraded in worn plumage; chin and throat white; sides of the

head, foreneck and breast ashy-grey ; abdomen flanks, under tail-

coverts, axillaries and under tail-coverts dark brown barred with

. white.

Colours of sott parts.—Irides light brown in younger birds to

Indian red in old adult breeding birds, upper and tip of lower

mandible horny-brown to dark brown, lower mandible and com-

missure dull yellowish-red to bright red; legs and feet olive-grey,

olive or fleshy-grey.

Measurements.—H., s. striata, wing 100 to 118 mm.; tail 38 to 41 mm.;

tarsus 34 to 39 mm. ; culmen 31 to 36 mm. #4. s. gularis, wing 108 to

131 mm. JZ. s. obscuriova, wing 129 to 134mm.

Females are a trifle duller, the chestnut of the head more inclined

to be streaked with blackish and the abdomen paler, more whitish.

Young birds have the feathers of the back streaked with dark

brown and the white bars and spots obsolete or absent; the crown

and neck are rufous brown freely streaked with dark brown.

Distribution.—The Indian form is found practically throughout

Ceylon, India and Burma in suitable localities where there are

sufficient marshes and swamps and it extends, as already noted, to

South China and Formosa. The Andaman form is restricted to

244 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

the Andamans and Nicobars whilst the Philippine bird is also

found in Borneo and the Celebes.

Nidtfication.—This Rail commences to breed as soon as the rains

are fairly set in and the various swamps and jheels which it inhabits

have begun to fill up. Over the greater part of India and Burma,

August and September are the principal months during which eggs

are laid, but I have found them as late as the end of October and also

in the last week of June. The nest is generally a well-built one, a

mass of weeds and rushes and, although that part of the material at

the bottom of the nest may be decayed and wet, the upper layers

seem to be always warm and dry. It may measure anything from

five to seven inches in diameter whilst the depth varies according

to the site. If built on dry ground, it will probably be only two

or three inches deep but if on wet ground or in amongst rushes and

plants in the water, I have seen them as much as a foot in depth.

As a rule it is built either well in the swamps where there are

plenty of weeds and vegetation or amongst the reeds, grass or

bushes on the edge. Occasionally, however, it is built some

distance from water but always amongst thick vegetation and well

hidden. A pair of these birds built every year in a dry ditch

running alongside the bungalow of-the Police Officer at Jalpaiguri

in Bengal, laying each year five or six eggs from which one or two

chicks at the outside ever reached maturity. Unless the eggs are

hard set the bird is not a close sitter but sneaks quietly off the nest

whilst intruders are still at some distance. The number of eggs

laid varies from five to eight, but six seems to be the normal full

clutch. They are decidedly handsome eggs, the ground colour

varies from almost pure white with just a faint tinge of cream

or yellowish-stone to a warm salmon buff. The markings consist

of reddish or purplish blotches and spots scattered rather sparsely

over the whole surface of the egg but rather more numerous at the

iarger end though they seldom tend to form either a ring or cap.

Some eggs have the markings feebler and paler consisting more of

freckles and small longitudinal blotches of light red plentifully

scattered all over the egg. In shape the eggs are generally

rather broad ovals occasionally somewhat longer and rather pointed

at the smaller end. The texture is strong, smooth and close and

some few eggs have quite a fair gloss. Incubation is said to take

from nineteen to twenty-two days but I have no personal ex-

perience about this.

The nesting of the Andaman form differs in no way from that of

the common Indian bird. It is extremely plentiful in several of the

islands and Mr. B. B. Osmaston during his stay in the Andamans

took a wonderful series of their eggs. These are decidedly |

handsomer on an average than the eggs of its Indian cousin.

Many eggs are a most beautiful salmon-pink in ground colour,

others of light brick-red and others again are of pinkish-buff. The

markings also are rather bolder and richer in tint, whilst eggs of

the profusely but feebly marked type seem to be very exceptional.

200 eggs of the Indian bird average 33:7 & 25:8 mm.; maxima

36°6 X 286 and 36:3 XK 28:8 mm.; minima 30°6 K 25:0 and 33°9

x 23:9mm,; 150 of the Andamans eggs average 36:0 K 27:5 mm.,

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 245

maxima 39:2 X% 28:7 mm., 37:0 K 29:4 mm., minima 32:7 K 25°0 mm.

Habits.—The Blue-breasted Banded Rail is one of the most

familiar water birds over the whole of the Oriental region and there

is hardly a village pond which does not contain a pair of these birds.

In such places they become extremely tame and familiar and even

on the larger swamps and lakes they seem to be aware that they are

of no use as food and that consequently nobody cares to shoot or

trap them. They are of course adepts at swimming and are quite

capable of diving, but seem very seldom to resort to it. They are

excellent walkers and may very often be seen, especially in the

early mornings and evenings, wandering about the edges of swamps

and even in the fields some distance therefrom. They progress

with rather long deliberate steps, bobbing their heads and jerking

their tails up as each foot advances. When undisturbed their

carriage is very upright, their tail being held almost at right angles

to the body, but if disturbed, they at once slink off, crouching low

down amongst the grass or, if there is no cover, scuttle rapidly

along for a few paces and then take to flight. Their flight is poor

and laboured and they never seem to care to travel far at a time.

They feed both on small water snails, insects, etc., as well as on

seeds and shoots but |! think their diet is mainly insectivorous.

When searching for water insects or those which are found on

floating vegetation, it moves about very nimbly upon the latter,

constantly picking here and there as it goes. In the stomach of one

bird I examined which was shot in Mymensingh on the banks of one

of the big tidal rivers, I found a mass of tiny scarlet crabs, measur-

ing barely 4” across the carapace. I have also found worms, beetles

and grubs in their stomachs. The only notes I have heard uttered

are a short jerking scream, not however very loud, and a deep low

note probably uttered only by the male and quite inaudible to the

human ear at a very short distance. They are pugnacious birds

and I have often seen the males fighting during the breeding season,

but the fights never seem to be long sustained and no damage ever

appears to be the result. Their methods of courtship seem to be

much the same as that of other rails. The male approaches the

female with wings held low and vibrating constantly whilst the head,

instead of being held upright as at ordinary times, is held compara-

tively near the ground and the tail very erect as usual. When

within a few inches of the female, the cock draws itself up to its full

height, spreads the wings still more and then crouches again, after

which the performance ceases, perhaps to be gone through again in

a few seconds.

_ They are resident birds wherever found though local movements

may occur in times of excessive drought or of excessive rainfall.

(Zo be continued)

THE POTTER WASP

Major R. W. G. HINGSTON, I.M.S.

Part II

(Continued from p. 110 of this volume.)

EXPERIMENTS

I now pass to a series of experiments. They have been made

with the usual purpose of investigating the psychology of the

wasp.

I remind the reader of the architectural sequence as detailed in

the last paper. It consists of four stages: First, a cell is built

of clay; second, the cell is coated with gum; third, the cell is

stuffed with caterpillars; fourth, the cell is closed with a lid.

Our experiments may be divided into two classes—(1) experiments

relating to instinct, (2) experiments to prove intelligence. It is the

old question. Is the wasp moved by instinct only, or can she

view a problem. intelligently; in other words, must her actions

follow a strict routine, or can she alter her mode of behaviour

in order to meet some particular need?

Let us see what the experiments disclose.

EXPERIMENTS RELATING TO INSTINCT

Experiment 1.—I find a nest of four cells. The fourth cell was

finished two days ago. Since then no more work has been done.

I cut away this last-built cell, excise it completely, and, of course,

leave a deep gap in the nest. I watch to see what the potter will

do. On the next day she discovers the damage, and sets about

building her fifth cell in the place from where I had excised her

fourth. So much for the first experiment. There is nothing very

particular about it. It is a plain manifestation of instinct. For

the wasp had recently finished a cell. Her next operation in the

ordinary routine would be the commencement of the fifth in the

series. Therefore when she builds in the gap that I had made,

she is only doing in a different place what she would otherwise

do elsewhere.

Experiment 2.—I wait till she has finished this fifth cell. When

the lid has been secured I excise the chamber. That is, I open

up the gap a second time. The wasp sets to work, and builds

her sixth cell in the gap. I cut away the sixth cell, thus opening

the gap for the third time. The wasp now does not seem so eager.

She waits for seventeen days before rebuilding, then constructs her

seventh cell so as to fill the empty gap. In all this we again see

plain instinct. The wasp is following ordinary routine, But it

THE POTTER WASP 247

shows us how persistent instinct is, and how stubbornly the

architect sticks to her work.

Experiment 3.—Let us proceed. A wasp is building the cell

wall. While the wall is undergoing construction I cut a strip of

mud out of the edge. The deficiency is filled up without much

trouble. When the wasp comes with her next pellet she just rolls

in into the gap. This again is mere instinct, for when I remove

the strip the wasp is engaged at building, the continuation of the

act of building will of itself fill up the gap.

Experiment 4.—When the wasp is building her wall I cut a V-

shaped piece from the middle of the edge. The damage is greater

than in the previous experiment. The wasp, on returning, seems

a little perturbed. She uses her pellet to fill the V. This we

might expect. It is in accordance with the course of instinct.

But the point of interest was that she did not thus employ the

whole of her pellet. Her ordinary behaviour is to roll her pellet;

that is her way of spreading it on the wall. In this experiment

she puts part of her pellet in the V, and the remainder she rolls

in the usual way. Thus the one pellet fulfils two purposes. One

part repairs the gap; the other part increases the height of the

wall. Again I see nothing in this but instinct, or at most just a

trivial deviation from the course of ordinary routine.

Experiment 5.—A cell is built. It is being stuffed with cater-

pillars. While the wasp is away in search for a caterpillar I cut

a wedge from one side of the gate. The wasp brings her cater-

pillar, stuffs it in, and returns again and again with more. But

she never notices the broken gate. Yet the breach is large and

the damage inconveniences her. For she now cannot fill her cell

completely owing to the caterpillars falling out through the breach.

Nevertheless she takes no notice, nor makes any attempt at repair.

Nothing is done till provisioning is finished. Then she fills up the

wedge-shaped deficiency when the time comes to close the lid.

Blind instinct, we may say, is the moving impulse. The wasp

is provisioning, collecting caterpillars. This is not her time for

masonry, hence she cannot repair the gate. Such might be the

conclusion were our experiments to cease here.

Experiment 6.—Here is more convincing testimony. Not only

does it show the blindness of instinct, but the futility to which it

leads.

A cell is about half-built. The mason is busy at work. During

her absence I fix to the edge of her wall a tiny pellet of mud. The

nodule is no bigger than a pin’s head, and I place it on the edge

just at the point where the mason begins to roll her clay. The

wasp returns. The strange excrescence strikes her immediately.

She has been accustomed to an even edge. Here is something

quite out of her experience; she has never met with anything like

this before. What will she do? I expect to see her grip it and

throw it to the ground. But this does not happen. She becomes

agitated, first thoroughly examines the nodule, then withdraws

into the cell and seems disinclined to build. Clearly she is very

concerned at the unexpected state of affairs. But the nodule

remains; she makes no effort to cut it away. Then she does

248 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol.\XXXI1

something quite peculiar. She climbs out on one of her completed

cells, tears from it a particle of gum which she smears on her

half-constructed wall. Now this is very unusual behaviour. I

have described how Rhynchium builds first her masonry, then

applies the layer of gum. That is her ordinary sequence. Yet

here, because of my nodule, she smears gum over a cell that is

only half built. She fetches more gum, brings piece after piece,

works with extraordinary energy, smearing as she never smeared

before. This strange occupation keeps her busy till nightfall.

By then the wall, though only half built, is thoroughly smeared

and studded with gum. Her night is spent clinging to the nest.

Next morning she takes up the task. The useless gum-smearing

now ceases, and the work of building is resumed.

Now for the interpretation. The wasp will not ordinarily com-

mence smearing until the cell is completely built. Yet here, because

of my nodule, she begins to smear feverishly a cell that is only

half-built. Is not this a fruitless mode of behaviour? What

purpose can it have in view? I regard it as misguided instinct.

Its meaning is as follows. The application of gum is a protective

instinct, a device to keep parasites out of the cell. The wasp,

when she finds the strange nodule, feels immediately on guard.

To her it indicates intrusion. An enemy has been here. Her

natural instinct of protection is aroused. This consists in collect-

ing gum and spreading it on a cell. The instinct is most valuable,

no doubt essential, when employed at the correct time. But here

it is called forth by a strange experience introduced at an unexpected

time. Hence the futility. The wasp is involved in many hours of

utterly fruitless toil.

Experiment 7.—One last experiment, another display of blind

instinctive force. <A cell is almost built; only one or two more

pellets are required. I place a fragment of camphor inside while

the wasp is away collecting mud. Soon she returns. The

unpleasant smell immediately distracts her. She tries to build,

but the odour overpowers her, and she soon desists. She cannot

work in this noxious fume. Her head goes down into the cell,

with the pellet still in her jaws. The odour drives her back. She

makes another effort, and soon her whole body disappears inside.

But she has not the pluck to seize the camphor and cast it out of

the cell. On the contrary I observe that same futile behaviour

which took place in the previous experiment. She falls back on

instinct, misguided instinct. Gum is torn from adjoining cells

and smeared with persistent energy over the uncompleted wall.

Till sunset this ineffectual toil continues ; then she abandons the nest

for the night.

Surely, as in the previous experiment, this spreading of gum

is useless toil. It cannot remove the nauseous camphor, yet she

sticks to it half the day. Such behaviour is misguided instinct

Rhynchium, indeed, is little better than Ewmenes, though Eumenes

sealed camphor, egg and caterpillars all together in one cell.

These experiments explain my point. They indicate how strong

is the instinctive force controlling the behaviour of the wasp. If

experiment now ceased we might regard the wasp as a rigid

THE POTTER WASP 249

mechanism compelled to work in an unchanging course. But such,

I feel sure, would be a wrong conclusion. Further experiment

will alter our opinion. It will show that something higher than

instinct has a place in the insect’s mind.

EXPERIMENTS TO PROVE INTELLIGENCE

Experiment 1.—A cell is built; the layer of gum is being applied.

I remove the rim all round the gate, in fact amputate the upper

fourth of the cell. Now I see a surprising result. I expect the

mason to continue gumming; that was her business when I cut

off the rim. But no. Without apparent disconcertion she gives

up gumming, goes off, fetches mud, and rebuilds the edifice to

the top. This is something quite unexpected. Certainly not in

the course of instinct, but behaviour outside ordinary routine.

Let us reserve the explanation. We must apply more rigid tests.

Experiment 2.—I have told how I excised a completed cell in

order to see if it could be restored. But on one occasion I did

additional damage. For clumsily I not only excised the chamber,

but also happened to break the partition that separated it from an

adjoining cell, A ragged breach was left through which the young

wasp could be seen inside. What will Rhynchium do now?

Certainly I did not anticipate her action. I imagined that she

would follow routine, would ignore the damage, and set about

building a new cell. Such is the accustomed action. When routine

behaviour is interrupted an insect recommences at the point where

the routine was broken. But not so in this experiment. The

wasp is aware of the damage immediately, discovers the breach,

tests it, gauges it, goes off for pellets of mud, and soon makes

the rent secure. Not till this is finished does she commence build-

ing a new cell.

How can she be in strict bondage to instinct? Such behaviour

shows a clear appreciation of conditions and a capacity to modify

her actions in accordance as such conditions require.

Experiment 3.—I put her to a further test. A cell is built. The

egg is inside. The wall has been smeared with gum. I make

a hole in the bottom of the pot. It is about the size of her

gateway, large enough for me to push in a forceps and extract

the egg. What will her behaviour be now, in face of an experience

altogether new? I expect to find her completely at fault. More

than likely she will take no notice, just continue the instinctive

round. Again I am mistaken. The wasp arrives, quickly finds

the conspicuous rent. Perhaps she is aware of the stolen egg.

At any rate a careful examination follows. Her antennz investi-

gate the edge of the hole; at intervals she bites at it as if testing it

with her jaws. She stands astride the perforation, thrusts her

head into it, then walks through it into the cell. But now see what

happens. She pulls from the wall a bit of gum and smears it on

to the edge of the rent. She digs out another nodule which she

spreads in the same way. For an hour she continues trying in

vain to close a hole by smearing gum around the edge. The

operation was delightful to witness, the very hopelessness of it,

the futility of employing gum to close a gaping rent.

950 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NAUTRAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

The explanation is simple. When I broke into the cell the wasp

had just finished smearing gum. This was the type of work on

which she was last engaged. She finds my rent, endeavours to

repair it, but, being under an instinctive impulse, strives to con-

tinue the same type of work. Hence she persists in gum-smearing

and tries to mend the hole with gum. For two hours I watch her

at this fruitless task. By evening nothing has been effected. The

wasp spends the night in a perforated cell.

So far we see nothing but blind futile instinct. But wait.

Instinct may have caused her much futile labour, but something

better is about to take place. Next morning she takes an early

flight. At her first return she examines the chamber and again

carefully investigates the breach. She departs, and, at her second

visit, brings with her a pellet of mud. Entering the cell, she

commences repair. Clay is moulded round the edge of the breach.

Working with infinite neatness, she first fills in all notches and

irregularities, and thus converts my ragged opening into an evenly

rounded hole. Then she extends more mud all round in the same

manner as when closing a gate. The curved surface of the cell

seems to cause her some difficulty. When closing the gate she

places a flat lamina, but here she has to curve the clay. Neverthe-

less in the end she succeeds and accurately mends the hole. The

work too is done with excellent finish; it is neat, smooth and

gracefully moulded into the natural rotundity of the cell. Nor is

she content with just a patch of mud. For when that is applied

she goes off for gum which she smears all over the patch until it

is indistinguishable from the rest of the cell.

Surely this act implies intelligence. It is a display of individual

resource. Nor must it be imagined that the wasp was misled, that

she confused the repair of a hole with the ordinary closing of a

gate. For she did the repair in quite a different way. When

closing the gate she sits on the outside and from there introduces

the clay. When repairing the hole she first examined it from both

surfaces, and then, having made a choice, elected to work from the

inside. This, to my mind, is clear ingenuity. First she attempts

repair with gum. This is mere instinct, the continuation of a

psychic course.. The act is futile; it fails utterly. A night’s rest

brings new realization. Now she breaks away from the bondage

of routine, attacks the difficult problem intelligently, and repairs

the damage with remarkable success.

Experiment 4.—Now for an experiment while the mason is

building. <A cell is under construction; the wall is three-quarters

built. While the wasp is absent I make a hole in the wall. It is

a ragged gaping rent, large enough for the wasp to crawl through

into her cell. On her return she sees it immediately. Her actions

show no sign of hesitation; she seems instantly to realize the right

thing to do. In her jaws is a pellet, intended, of course, for build-

ing the wall. But the mason immediately diverts it from this

purpose, carries it into the interior and applies it to the edge of

the rent. Then she goes off for more material, at each visit

moulds it round the edge until the hole is completely closed.

Satisfied with this, she resumes and finishes building the wall.

THE POTTER WASP 251

Can we claim this as intelligent behaviour? Certainly the wasp

was engaged at masonry when I broke into her cell. True enough

she repairs the hole. But, after all, what is this? Is she not

just continuing her work as a mason, though building in a different

place? I grant it. Nevertheless I think there is something more.

Some spark of intelligence must be given to the action. Unforseen

circumstances have arisen, circumstances which are quite foreign

to her life. She recognizes them, understands them, desists from

the labour on which she is employed, and straightway puts things

right. However I do not press the interpretation. Let us experi-

ment still more.

Experiment 5.—From one cell of a cluster I excise the lid. This

lid had been secured sixteen days ago, since when the wasp had

not attended to the cell. Rhynchium soon finds out what I have

done. Again she shows that swift appreciation which I have

described in the last experiment. In five minutes she is off, returns

soon to make a re-investigation, a desire, I take it to judge with

greater accuracy the nature of the repair required. This second

visit lasts only a moment. At the third she brings a pellet which

she moulds round the edge of the gate. Others follow, and in a

few more visits a new lid is built into the cell. Later in the day

she gives it a finish, and smears it all over with gum.

Experiment 6.—Here is a more convincing result. Six weeks

ago a Rhynchium had finished a cell. A young wasp had emerged

from it, and the parent had replenished it a second time. For

Rhynchium, we may remember, is attached to her nest, garnishing

it, laying in it, replenishing it more than once throughout the

year. For three weeks the wasp had been engaged at this

replenishing, during which time she had done no masonry except

for two small pellets which some days ago she had used for the lid.

I make a hole in the bottom of this cell. It is a small perfora-

tion, only the size of a pin’s head. Later in the day the wasp

discovers it, goes off to the trees, gathers some gum, and plugs my

small hole. Gum is sufficient for this small aperture; three or

four globules do the work. I now make a larger breach, one

which she cannot repair with gum. Now see what happens. For

days she has done no masonry. Her last act was to mend a small

hole with gum. Yet she is not in the slightest disconcerted. Off

she goes, collects clay, and builds a patch into the breach.

This, to my mind, is clear intelligence. There is nothing routine

about behaviour of this kind. The wasp understands the problem

before her; she appreciates the relation between cause and effect,

and this stamps her as a rational being.

Let us sum up the result of these experiments. We are trying

to demonstrate intelligent behaviour. What is_ intelligence?

Without entering into technical definitions, surely an intelligent

action is this. An insect is confronted with some new experience;

it adopts an unusual behaviour in order to meet the requirements

of that experience; then it must understand the nature of the

experience; it must realize that a particular cause is capable of

producing a particular effect, and that is the mind of an intelligent

being.

252 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Do our experiments demonstrate intelligence? Consider a few

of them. |

I made a hole in a cell three-quarters built. The wasp quickly

repaired the damage. This, I think, requires some intelligence.

The wasp must appreciate new conditions, must halt in the progress

of her work in order to make the damage good. But I do not

press the point. There is no change in actual routine. The wasp

was plastering and the act of mending is a continuation of the

plastering. If you like, it is only a diversion, only a kind of

higher instinct. The mason is placing the mud on the rent instead

of on the edge of the wall.

I made the hole when she was smearing gum. She began by

behaving stupidly, trying in vain to close it with gum. This was

a pure instinctive impulse. The wasp was just continuing the

actions on which she had been engaged. Certainly she realized

the damage, yet she stuck to her psychic course. In time however

this stupidity ceased. She gave up smearing gum, went off for

pellets, and built clay into the breach. In this we see intelligent

behaviour, a clear recognition of changed conditions, a complete

alteration in routine.

I made the hole in a cell that had been built six weeks ago.

Here we have a crucial test. But the result is exactly the same.

The wasp has not forgotten her old structure, for she soon builds

up the hole.

Surely the meaning is this. A hole is made in the architect’s

wall. A strange experience is laid before the wasp, an experience

she has never met with before. She recognizes it, deals with it,

and repairs it in a rational way. Had she done so only when

employed at masonry, then, I agree, it is instinct, or, at least,

little more. The wasp would be only a living machine. But the

facts are different. It matters not what the wasp is doing, whether

plastering, smearing or provisioning, as soon as she finds a hole

she repairs it in some suitable way. If it is large she mends it

with masonry, if small she plugs it with gum. The point is that

she repairs it on all occasions, sometimes slowly, sometimes injudi-

ciously, but in the end does so efficiently and makes the damage

good. In order to do this she alters her behaviour and breaks

away from ordinary routine. There is only one conclusion.

Rhynchium appreciates the meaning of new difficulties and takes

rational steps to overcome them.

What is the mental force that underlies the architecture of the

wasp? Unquestionably instinct, that wonderful knowledge,

unlearnt, untaught, an innate inherited impulse handed down along

the stream of time. But not this alone. I have tried to prove that

there is something more, that there is the capacity to appreciate

new experiences, the power to generate new thoughts, in fact the

possession of intelligence and reason,

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISHES FROM BOMBAY

HENRY W. FOWLER

Of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

The fishes included in this paper were all obtained off Bombay by Prof.

F. Hallberg in 1925. They form part of the series of Indian fishes purchased

from Prof. Hailberg for the collections of the Department of Ichthyology in the

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. A series of duplicate specimens

has been reserved for the Bombay Natural History Society. The species are all

of the littoral shore fauna of Western India, apparently representative of the

more frequent forms, though several are of special interest none are new.

EULAMIIDA

Scoliodon acutus (Rtippell).

Two from open sea, 177 and 198 mm. Originally in formaline mauve to brown

above, below light or paler,

TORPEDINIDZ

Narke dipterygia (Schneider).

Disk subcircular, about wide as long; snout short, greater than interorbital,

slightly convex across front profile as seen from above; eyes small, about half

spiracle length, about 33 in depressed interorbital ; mouth small, protractile,

width equals space to front profile ; teeth broad low cusps in about 15 rows in

each jaw, small size likely due to youth; internasal slightly less than mouth

width. Spiracles continuous with eyes, greatly larger, ovate, edge entire.:

Skin smooth. Dorsal inserted behind tips of ventrals or little nearer origin of

upper caudal lobe than ventral origin ; tail little longer than rest of body.

Brown above, with several diffuse blackish cloudings medially. Dorsal and

caudal brown, also upper surface of ventral. Under surface of body and

ventral below white. Length 135 mm.

This species may be known by the deeply incised outer margin of the ventral

so that the front rays form an anterior lobe. Also it differs further from Marke

japonica (Schlegel), which has the raised rim to the spiracles.

CHIROCENTRIDZ

Chirocentrus dorab (Forskal) :

Depth 5 to 54; head 33 to 4, width 3% to 4. Snout 33 to 32 in head from

snout tip; eye 44 to 44, 14 to 14 in snout, greater than interorbital ; maxillary 12 to

2 in head, reaches eye centre, slender ; interorbital 5 to 5z, scarcely elevated,

level ; cheek and preopercle with radiating venules. Gill rakers 7 + 18, finely

lanceolate, more than twice gill filaments or 14 in eye. Scales minute most all

fallen. Abdominal myomeres 24 + 13. Dorsal rays iii, 14 to iii, 16, first

branched ray 2% to 37) in total head length ; Anal rays iii, 26 to iii, 30, first

branched ray 23 to 23; caudal 14 to 1g; least depth of caudal peduncle 23 to

3x; pectoral 12 to 2; ventral 3% to 44.

Brown, paler to light below. Neutral brown diffuse streak from above gill

opening to middle of caudal base. Head with brown tint. Fins all pale. Iris

gray. Length 81 to 92 mm., three examples.

ENGRAULIDIDZ

Engraulis dussumiert (Valenciennes).

Depth 33 ; head 3$, width 24. Snout 6 in head; eye 4%, greater than snout,

equals interorbital ; maxillary reaches ventral origin ; interorbital 4} in head.

Gill rakers 17 + 18. Abdominal scutes 16-+ 8. Dorsal rays iii, 9, 1; Anal

rays iii, 32, i, origin close behind base of last dorsal ray. Length 138 mm,

254 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIf

Engraulis valenciennesi (Bleeker).

Depth 32 ; head 4% to 5, width 22 to5. Snout 53 to 5$ in head ; eye 43 to 5},

greater than snout and subequal with interorbital, lid not free; maxillary

reaches slightly beyond pectoral base, 3$ to 3£ in combined head and body,

expansion 1$ to 1z in eye; interorbital 4 to 4g in head, convex. Gill rakers

10 + 14, lanceolate, slender, 14 in eye. Scales caducous, thin, cycloid, mostly

fallen, 38 or 39 from above gill opening to caudal base and three more on

latter, 12 or 13 transversely, 19 or 20 predorsal to occiput; 6 to 10 vertical

strie, interrupted at median axis and circeuli fine; axillary pectoral scale

slightly less than half of fin. Dorsal rays iii, 9,1, first branched ray 1g to 14 in

head; Anal rays iii, 41 to iti, 44, i, first branched ray 14 ; least depth of

caudal peduncle 1g to 2; ventral 23 to 23; caudal forked, 3 to 3 in combined

head and body : pectoral 3% to 4}.

Edge of back olivaceous brown, sides and below silvery white. . Gray

ventulose area at shoulder moderate. Irisslate. Fins all pale or whitish, hind

caudal edge gray. Length 150 to 177 mm., two examples.

Comparison with an example from Padang, Sumatra, shows it to vary as

follows :—

Depth 3§; snout 5; eye 4; maxillary expansion 13 in eye; interorbital 32 in

head. Gillrakers12-+17. Scales 10 transversely ; abdominal scutes 16 + 9.

When fresh in arrack largely silvery, back dull olivaceous brown. Sides of

head silvery white, also iris. No silvery lateral band. Humeral venules yeliow-

ish green, with horizontal waved line. Peritoneum silvery. Dorsal and

caudal pale gray to dusky, mediaily tinged yellowish green. Other fins pale or

whitish. Length 148 mm.

Engraulis tri, Bleeker.

Depth 43 to 44; head 4 to 42, width 2} to 22. Snout 5 to 53 in head ; eye 32

to 3§, greater than snout, equals interorbital ; maxillary variably not quite to

hind preopercle edge, usually not to gill opening, length 174 to lg in head;

interorbital 3} to 3%, very slightly convex. Gill rakers 15 -++ 25, finely lance-

olate, twice gill filaments or equal eye. Scales very deciduous, all fallen,

(pockets) 28 to 30 to caudal base and 2 or 3 more on latter, 9 transversely,

18 or 19 predorsal ; 4 or 5 vertical striae with 10 or 11 reticulated marginally and

circuli fine ; scutes 5 or 6 between pectoral and ventral. Dorsal rays iii, 12 or

iii, 13, first branched: ray J, to 12-in -head); Analyraysail, 15 toai,@7, shrst

branched ray 12 to 12, length of fin less than 5 in entire length of fish ; least

depth of. caudal peduncle 23 to, 23; pectoral 17 to 12; ventral “210 423%

caudal 3g to 4 in combined head and body.

Faded pale brownish. Iris light slate. Cluster of dusky dots on top of

head posteriorly, row along dorsal base, edges of caudal peduncle and anal

base. Indistinct diffuse whitish median lateral band from humeral region above

to caudal base medially, widest along sides of caudal peduncle though greatest

width not greater than eye. Fins all pale or whitish. Caudal greyish terminally.

Length 53 to 63 mm., four examples.

Differs from the closely related Augraulis indicus Van Hasselt in the longer

anal, which said to be 5§ to 6 in total according to Weber and Beaufort.

Coilia dussumiert, Valenciennes.

Depth 43 to 53 ; head 43 to 54, width 2§ to 23. Snout 42 to 53; eye 474 to 44,

greater than snout, 12 to 1g in interorbital, without lids; maxillary reaches

nearly or quite to edge of gill opening, expansion 2 to 22 in eye, length 1¢ to 14

in head ; interorbital 33 to 34, broadly convex, cavernous. Gill rakers 20 + 23,

lanceolate, slender, 1} in eye. Scales rather thin, caducous, cycloid ; 65 to 70

from above gill opening to caudal base, 10 or 11 transversely, 11 or 12 to

occiput ; 5 or 6 largely radiating basal striz and rest of scale with large, open

reticulations, most distinct apically ; scutes 5 or 6+-6 to 8, begin behind pectoral

base. Dorsal fin iti, 10 to iii, ]2, with small spine before dorsal, first branched

ray 14 to 1% in head; Anal rays iii, 98 to ili, 103, first branched ray 33 to 32);

caudal 14 to 1%, pointed ; Pectoral iv to vi, 8 to 11, filaments all free, reaching

nearly or at least half way to caudal base, variably 4 to 6 even on same fish ;

ventral 23 to 23, inserted opposite dorsal origin.

Faded largely very pale brownish, lighter below, evidently with silvery

reflections in life. Fins all pale, gray on anal posteriorly and on caudal Iris

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISHES FROM BOMBAY. 255

slaty. Head with some brownish dots above. Length 160 to 178 mm., five

examples.

These differ a little from Weber and Beaufort’s figure in that the caudal is

shown as 33 in head.

CONGRIDZ

Uroconger lepturus (Richardson).

Depth 22 to 24; head 77 to 8, width 3. Combined head and trunk 2} to 22

to end of tail; snout 33 to4 in head; eye 7 to 8, 2 to 24 in snout, greater than

interorbital in young to 13 with age; mouth cleft 23 to 2% in head, reaches

beyond centre of eye though not quite opposite hind edge; about 10 teeth on

lower face of upper jaw external or before end of included lower jaw, upper

laterals biserial also lower laterals but with short inner row anteriorly each side ;

vomer with several large anterior teeth and median row of small ones down

shaft ; front nostrils large, each side of snout end, with slight cutaneous rim

and hind nostril rather large horizontal slit close before eye; interorbital 64 to

% in head, but little elevated, depressed, Gill opening 43 in head. Skin

smooth. Close above and along upper lip 3 large horizontal slits. Dorsal

begins over pectoral base, becomes higher than depth of tail posteriorly, which

long, tapering and slender; anal similar; caudal about long as eye; pectoral

44 to 53.

Brown, paler below on head and trunk. Iris slate. Lips whitish. Sides of

head and body dusted with brownish. Dorsal, anal and caudal neutral

blackish or former brown anteriorly. Pectoral pale. Length 222 to 348 mm.,

two examples.

MURANHSOCIDA

. 4)

Murcenesox cinereus (Forskal).

Depth 233 ; head 72, width 44. Snout 4 in head ; eye 9%, 23 in snout, greater

than interorbital, center opposite last 2 in mouth cleft, which 1it in head;

mandibular teeth erect ; interorbital II, slightly convex. Head and trunk

combined 13 in tail. Caudal 6 in head; pectoral 3. Drab gray, little lighter

below. Vertical fins posteriorly dusky to blackish. Pectoral pale. Iris slate,

Length 258 mm.

TACHYVSURIDA

Osteogentosus militaris (Linneus).

Depth 4% to 5£; head 32 to 3g, width 13. Snout 2g ta 3 in head ; eye 63 to

2 rather low and lateral, 23 to 23 in snout, 34 to 42 tn interorbital ; mouth

width 22 in head ; maxillary barbel to middle of pectoral spine ; broad band of

villiform teeth in each jaw, of about 7 irregular rows; on palate 2 broad

semioval areas of obtuse, low teeth; nostrils large, together, posterior little

larger, both near snout end laterally ; interorbital 1 to 1g in head, elevated

convexly ; median fontanel wide, nst reaching occipital buckler, which twice

wide at base as long and rugose striate, bony bridge complete to dorsal. Gill

rakers 2+ 7, lanceolate, slender, 12in gill filaments or2in eye. Skin smooth ;

lateral line complete and median laterally. Dorsal fin with front and hing

edges of spine antrorsely serrate, rays 7, first 13 to 15 in head ; adipose fin large,

2 Anal tin rv ot v, 16, 1,. first branched ray 1§ to 2; caudal 14, forked ; least

depth of caudal peduncle ¢ 3 to 34; pectoral 14 to 1% ; ventral 1% to 2

Back and head above nearly flax flower blue, below becoming pearl blue to

white. Sidesof head and body with obscure gray dots. Irispale gray. Dorsal

terminally gray, whitish basally. Adipose fin whitish, with gray above. Caudal

pale to whitish, with gray above and below. Anal and paired fins whitish.

Barbels pale. Length 158 to 180 mm., two examples.

Tachysurus sona (Buchanan-Hamilton).

Depth 5 ; Hea 34 to 32, width 1g to 14. Snout 2g to 3 in head ; eye 6. to. 63,

2 to 24 in snout, 22 in interorbital ; mouth width 1, fo" 22 1 head ; maxillary

barbel reaches $ to § in pectoral, outer mental 2, inner mental g or to pectoral

origin ; bands of villiform teeth in jaws of about Os 0te6 transverse irregular

series ; on palate 2 small closely approximated patches of villiform teeth and

2 large rounded posterior areas more separated ; interorbital little elevated

convexly, width 2! to 23 in head ; head above and occiput striate ; occipital

fontanel not quite reaching base of keeled occipital buckler, basal width of

2956 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

which 1# its length, though bony bridge complete to dorsal. Gill rakers

5 + 10, lanceolate, 14 in gill filaments, which 17 in eye. Skin smooth. Lateral

line complete, midway along side. Dorsal fin I, 7, compressed spine with

antrorse serree along front and hind edges, first ray 14 to 1g in head; Anal fin

Iv, II, first branched ray 1;% to 2; caudal forked, 14 to 1¢; least depth of

caudal peduncle 3g to 44; pectoral 14, compressed spine with outer and inner

edges with antrorse serree, 10 along inner edge ; ventral 1$ to 2%.

Leaden gray, little paler below. Iris gray. All fins dusky to blackish terini-

nally. Length 108 to 120 mm., two examples.

The above agree with Day’s figure of an example 192 mm. shown with the

front margin of the dorsal spine antrorsely serrate. They further show the

lower front serree more as close set granules.

Tachysurus célatus (Valenciennes).

Depth 42 to 43; head 33, width 17 to 12. Snout 27 to 3 in head, eye 4 to

64, 1# to 28 in snout, 2 to 32 in interorbital; mouth width 2g to 2% in head;

maxillary barbel reaches 2 to in pectoral fin, outer mental to pectoral origin

or 3 in fin and inner mental little shorter; teeth in villiform bands in jaws of

about 5 or 6 irregular rows and ovate areas of similar teeth on each palatine ;

front nostril larger, close to snout end in profile and hind one about midway

in snout, higher, without barbels; interorbital elevated convexly, 2 to 23 in

head ; sides and upper surface of head, as occipital bones, buckler and humeral

process rugose striate ; broad occipital fontanel narrows behind and extends to

base of keeled occipital buckler, base of which 14 its length and bony bridge

complete to dorsal. Gill rakers 6 +8, lanceolate, slender, 13 in gill filaments

or2ineye. Skin smooth; few venules on side of head and front of lateral

line ; lateral line complete anteriorly, in young many short waved venules.

Dorsal fin I, 7, compressed spine with antrorse serree along front and hind

edges, with age most of lower serre as granules, first ray 14 in head to 32 in

combined head and body with age; Anal 13 vii, or 14, first branched ray 1?to

1¢ in head; adipose fin large, 2 in head; caudal I, forked ; least depth of

caudal peduncle 3 to 4; pectora! 1 to 14, spine with antrorse serrze along both

edges, 12 to 17 on inner ; ventral 1? to li.

Back dusky brown, lower surfaces white or soiled brownish. Young with

back drab gray clouded with brownish; also along lower side of trunk and

tail obscure brownish dustings. Fins all pale, blackish terminally with age.

Barbels dusky. Length 90 to 165 mm., two examples.

Smaller example with a large isopod crustacean 21 mm. lone, attached on

the belly of the fish just before the ventrals. In my examples the dorsal spine

ends in a long cutaneous filament.

PLotosipz

Plotosus anguillaris (Bloch).

Depth 7; head 43, width 12. Snout 23 in head; eye 7, 3 in snout, 22

in interorbital ; mouth width 24 in head ; teeth conic, triserial above medially

to uniserial laterally, biserial below medially to uniserial laterally ; maxillary

barbel to eye centre, nasal barbel § to eye, outer mental barbel to middle of

eye and inner mental barbel to front of eye; interorbital 22 in head, but

slightly elevated and widely depressed. Gill rakers 8+ 23, lanceolate,

equal gill filaments or eye. Skin smooth ; lateral line complete, median on

tail. Dorsal fin I, 5, first ray 23 in head; second dorsal with about 82

rays; Anal fin 65? ; caudal 34 in head; pectoral 23; ventral 23.

Brown, lighter to drab or whitish on lower surface of head and belly. Pale

median lateral band from above maxillary to caudal base, another parallel

from above eye along back. Fins all blackish brown, at least terminally,

edges of vertical fins very narrowly whitish. Irisslate. Nasal and maxillary

barbels brown, mentals whitish. Length 182 mm.

FISTULARIIDZ

Fistularia villosa, Klunzinger.

Depth 14 in orbit, 153 in head; head 23 to caudal base, width about 83;

snout 14, from snout tip ; eye 133, 10 in snout ; maxillary slightly longer than

orbital socket, 83 in snout; bony interorbital 23 in eye. Gill rakers not

a7.

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISHES FROM BOMBAY © 257

developed or as few minute papille. Skin largely smooth te touch; median

vertebral row of narrow keels to dorsal about 36 and about 20 between dorsal

and caudal ; similar ventral row from behind ventral to vent and behind anal

to caudal. Lateral line distinct, with rough keel its whole length, showing 27

spines from opposite dorsal origin to caudal base. Dorsal rays 15, fifth ray 53

in total head length ; Anal rays 13, fifth ray 53; caudal 74, well forked, lobes

pointed ; caudal peduncle depressed, least depth equals its least width or 4 in

eye ; Pectoral rays 16, length 72 in total head length ; ventral 14 in eye.

Brown, beak and under surface paler. Iris slate. Caudal and filament with

deep grayish, fins otherwise all pale. Length 335 mm. to caudal tip and

filament 135 mm. longer.

It appears to agree in every way with an example from Natal except that its

skin is smooth.

POLYNEMIDZ

Polydactylus sextarius (Bloch).

Six examples, 74 to 130mm. All have 7 pectoral filaments each side except

one, which has 6 on the right side.

SCOMBRIDZ

Scomberomorus kuhlit (Cuvier).

Depth 4% to 43; head 3} to 32, width 2g. Snout 24 to 23 in head ; eye 47,

to 43, 12 to lg in snout, Jy, in interorbital; maxillary reaches opposite

hind pupil edge, length 13 to 1g in head; lower jaw slightly shorter ; teeth

about 28 above, 34 below ; narrow band of fine teeth on each palatine and across

vomer ; interorbital 33 to 3$ in head, but slightly elevated convexly. Gill

rakers 2 + 9, low, small, rudimentary tubercles. Scales not evident; lateral

line superior on trunk, midway along side cf tail posterior to dorsal] and anal

lobes. Dorsal fin XVI—iii, 15 + 7, third spine 22 in head, first branched ray

3 to 37,5; Anal fin v, 14-++ 7, first branched ray 2% to 34; caudal 1s, widely

forked ; least depth of caudal peduncle 6;}, to 63; pectoral 23 to 2; ventral

oy to.35.

Back clove brown, pale drab to whitish below. Iris pale slate. Fins all

pale, spinous dorsal blackish anteriorly or over first 4 membranes at least.

Length 61 to 78 mm., two examples.

These evidently the young, the adult described as uniform.

TRICHIURIDZ

Trichiurus muticus, Gray.

Depth 153; head 84, width 53. Combined head and trunk 32 in tail; snout

221n head from snout tip; eye 6, 2g in snout, greater than interorbital ;

maxillary reaches eye, length 2$ in head; interorbital 8, convex. Gill rakers

Il + 16, very slender, short, 33 in gill filaments, which 12 in eye. Skin

smooth ; lateral line slopes down to lower third in body depth at anal origin.

Dorsal begins at first fourth between hind eye edge and pectoral origin, rays

112 so last fourth of tail free of rays, greatest dorsal height 23 to 34 in head

including mandible tip; Anal spines about 90, all low, short, little distinct,

first one little developed or rudimentary ; pectoral 3 in head; ventrals as 2

approximated small scales on ventral median line of abdomen posterior to head

space equal to postocular region.

Brown above, sides and below silvery white. Iris slate. Length 361 mm.

Trichiurus savala (Cuvier).

Depth 214; head 8, width 53. Combined head and trunk 3¢ in tail ; snout 23

in head from snout tip; eye 7, 24 in snout, greater than interorbital ; maxillary

reaches opposite front pupil edge, 23 in head; interorbital 83, depressed

concavely. Gillrakers 5+ 9, short, very slender, ? of gill filaments or 4 in eye.

Skin smooth ; lateral line slopes down to lower fourth in body depth at anal

origin. Dorsal begins about midway between hind eye edge and pectoral

origin, 115 rays so last % of tail free of rays, greatest dorsal height 23 in total

head length; Anal spines 67, first equals eye, others all short though distinct;

pectoral 2% in head ; no traces of ventrals.

Pale brown, with leaden to silvery reflections, edge of back slightly more

brownish than rest of body. Iris slate. Fins whitish. Length 305 mm,

258 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

CARANGIDZ®

Cavanx kalla (Valenciennes).

Eight examples, 82 to 114 mm.

Carangoidcs oblongus (Valenciennes).

Four examples, 38 to55 mm. These show depth 1$ and all are deeper than

the Calicut example I reported. They also show 6 deeper gray vertical bands

on the body, the vertical fins and ventrals with more or less dusky terminally,

while pectoral alone entirely pale.

A polectus niger (Bloch).

Four exarmples, 62 to 80 mm. For comparison one from Padang, Sumatra,

68 mm. long agrees in every way. Compared with the figure of Apolectus

stromateus Cuvier? they agree in most every way except darker in colour,

especially the fins. My larger examples show ventral 14 to 1j in head. Dorsal,

anal and ventral blackish. Also caudal dusky gray on each lobe basally.

STROMATEIDA2

Pampus cinereus (Bloch).

Depth 13 to 13; head 3 to 34, width 2. Snout 32 to 4 in head, protruded

beyond mouth; eye 3% to 4, subequal with snout, 13 to 12 in interorbital ;

maxillary reaches front eye edge or eye center, length 2 to 23 in head ;

interorbital 2g to 2%, greatly elevated convexly. Gill rakers 4 + 9, short

points, about 4 of gill filaments, which nearly equal eye. Scales extremely

minute; lateral line arched, partly like dorsal profile of back, not extending

beyond soft dorsal. Dorsal fin VIII, iii to v, 39, i or 40, i, short spines truncate

terminally, longest ray 23 to 3g in combined head and body to caudal base ;

Anal.V, iii to v,. 33, 1,to 37, 4, longest. ray 23 to 3; caudal: 23:\to\3;.stronely

forked, lobes end in long, slender points; pectoral 2¢ to 23; least depth of

caudal peduncle 35 to 34 in head.

Body drab brown, belly with gray tinge. Opercle with dusky tinge. Dorsal,

anal and caudal with dusky tinge. Iris slate gray. Length 60 to 122 mm.,

8 examples.

LEIOGNATHIDZ2

Secutor insidiator (Bloch).

Depth 2), to 2¢; head 33 to 33, width 23 to 2¢. Snout 3 to 34 in head from

snout tip; eye 3 to 33, subequal with snout, greater than interorbital ; maxil-

lary reaches in vertical till below nostril, length 2 to 274 in head ; interorbital 33 to

32, slightly convex ; small antero-supraorbital spine; lower precpercle edge

finely striate. Gill rakers 7 + 19, finely lanceolate, long as gill filaments or

half of eye. Scales very minute, mostly fallen ; lateral line nearly parallel with

dorsal profile, reaches middle or little beyond in soft dorsal length. Dorsal fin

VIII, 16, i, second spine 13 to 1g in total head length ; Anal fin III, 14, i or 15, i,

second spine 3 to 37,; caudal I 1,4, to 1%, forked; least depth of caudal

peduncle 5#-to 53; pectoral 14 to 14; ventral 23 to 3.

Pale brownish generally. On back above median axis of body dozen

transverse dusky bars, each formed of 3 or 4 spots. DBlackish streak from

below eye and along maxillary sheath vertically. On trunk and tail below

median axis sprinkling of dusky dots. Iris slate gray. Spinous dorsal

broadly tipped black. Fins all pale, some grayish on caudal. Length 57 to

69 mm., four examples.

CHEILODIPTERIDZ

Amia ellioti (Day).

Depth 2% to 3; head 2} to 24, width 24 to 2%. Snout 44 tc 5 in head from

snout tip; eye 32 to 43, greater than snout or interorbital ; maxillary reaches

opposite eye center or hind eye edge, expansion 1} to 1# in eye, length 2 to 23

in head; narrow bands of minute teeth in jaws, on vomer and palatines ;

interorbital 44 to 43 in head, slightly convex ; lower and hind preopercle edge

rather weakly and irregularly denticulate, also but few weak points about

angle of preopercle ridge. Gill rakers 4 -- 11, uppermost as 3 rudiments,

—

1 Hist. Nat. Poiss., Atlas, vol. 2, plate 258,

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISRES FROM BOMBAY — 259

other slender, lanceolate, equal gill filaments or 1¢ in eye. Scaies 23 or 24

in lateral line to caudal base and 2 or 3 more on latter, 2 above, 5 or 6 below,

3 predorsal; cheek with 2 rows, venulose, also opercles above and occiput with

venules; 12 or 13 basal radiating striz, small weak apical denticles 5 to 10

with 4 or 5 transverse series of basal elements and circuli fine. Dorsal fin

VII—I, 8, i or 9, i, fourth spine 2? to 2% in total head length, third ray

12 to 14; Anal fin II; 7,-1, or 8, i, second: spine 33 to 4, third ray 2 to 2};

caudal 13 to 12, little convex behind ; least depth of caudal] peduncle 23 to 23;

pectoral 14 to 23 ; ventral 13%, to 2.

Uniformly pale brown. Iris slate. Dark streak from below eye on cheek.

Tep of head with dusky dots. Black median streak on chest. Outer 2? of

spinous dorsal black. Soft dorsal with dusky border and median horizontal

dusky band. Anal with blackish median longitudinal band. Caudai grayish,

with whitish submarginal band and black border. Ventral dusky basally and

median dusky gray area. Length 77 to 105 mm., four examples.

Amua frenata (Valenciennes). ;

Depth 23; head 22, width 23. Snout 43 in head from snout tip ; eye 34,

greater than snout or interorbital ; maxillary reaches opposite hind pupil edge,

expansion 2 in eye, length 2 in head ; teeth fine, minute, narrow bands in jaws,

on vomer and palatines ; interorbital 5, nearly level; preopercle edge minutely

denticulate, ridge entire. Gillrakers 4-+ 10, slender, lanceolate, twice gill

filaments or 1#in eye. Scales 23 (pockets) in lateral line to caudal base and 2

more on latter, 2 above, 6 below, 5 predorsal; 2 rows on cheek; 15 basal

radating striz, 78 biserial apical denticles and circuli fine. Dorsal fin VII—y,

9, i, third spine 2,4, in total head length, first ray 14; Anal fin II, 8, i, second

spine 2%, second ray 2; caudal 1%, emarginate; least depth of caudal peduncle

3§ ; pectoral 14; ventral 13.

Pale drab brown generally, scales on back with dark edges, under surface

paler. Dusky brown line from occiput till below end of soft dorsal. Dark

brown band less than pupil in width from side of snout through eye across

postocular to caudal base medially and out over caudal. Middle of side of head

and body sprinkled with dusky dots. Fins all whitish, terminally grayish, also

upper and lower caudal edges grayish. Pectoral uniform whitish. Iris slate.

Mandible dusted with brownish terininally. Length 70 mm.

ACROPOMATIDA

Acropoma japonicum (Giinther).

Depth 3; head 24, width 2. Snout 4 in head from snout tip ; eye 4, greater

than interorbitai; maxillary reaches opposite first third in eye, length 23 in head,

expansion 2 in eye; teeth fine, minute, in narrow bands in jaws, on vomer

and palatines, also front pair of small canines in each jaw, depressible, lower

smaller (accessory canine both above and below) ; interorbital 53 in head, level ;

preopercle ridge and edge entire. Gill rakers 6 + 14, slender, lanceolate, greater

than gill filaments or 2 in eye. Scales very caducous, about 40 (pockets) in

lateral line to caudal base, 4 above, 8 below, II predorsal; 4 rowson cheek ;

4 to 6 basal radiating striae, apical denticles 40 to 44, uniserial, small circuli fine ;

lateral line high along back, slopes down to caudal base medially. Dorsal fin

VIII—I, 10, i, third spine 21 in total head length, first ray 27, ; Anal fin ITI, 7, i,

third spine 44, first ray 22; caudal 13, forked; least depth of caudal peduncle

32; pectoral 1¢ ; ventral 21 ; vent at last 2 in depressed ventral.

Drab gray above, below similar. Diffuse neutral slate area from pectoral base

to base of lower caudal lobe. Iris gray. Fins all pale. Soft dorsal rays basally

and rudimentary caudal rays sprinkled with dusky dots. Length 105 mm.

SPARIDZ

Sparus spinitfer Forskal.

One example 110 mm. Dorsal filaments reach emargination of caudal fin.

MULLIDZ

Upeneoides vittatus (Forskal).

One example 147 mm. Differs a little from Day’s figure in that the last

membrane of spinous dorsal dusky or blackish, Dorsal with apex dusky or

260 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

blackish. Soft dorsal also with apex dusky, then median longitudinal dusky

band and finally imperfect basal dusky band which continues to end of last ray,

Lower cauda] lobe with 4 oblique dusky bands.

SCLENIDZ

Otolithus ruber (Schneider).

One example 163 mm.

Johnius miles (Lacépéde).

Dorsal 33 ; head 3, width 1,2,. Snout 32 in head; eye 44, 14 in snout, 17 in

interorbital ; maxillary reaches opposite hind eye edge, expansion 1} in eye,

length 2in head; bands of villiform teeth in jaws, above with outer row of

rather wide spaced enlarged teeth, anteriorly 3 or 4 each side largest and all

external to closed mandible; mandible also with outer row of enlarged well spaced

teeth, though shorter than largest upper ones ; chin with 4 pits; interorbital 33

in head, slightly convex; preopercle edge denticulated. Gill rakers 6 + 14,

lanceolate, equal gill filaments or half eye. Tubular scales 42 in lateral line

to caudal base, each tube rather large, with short branch above and another

below ; 7 scales above, 7 below, 25 predorsal; 11 to 15 basal radiating striz,

apical denticles 32 or 33, with 5 to 7 transverse series of basal elements and

circuli fine. Dorsal fin X1, 30,1, third spine 1 in head, first ray 23; Anal fin II,

7,1, second spine 24, second ray 1# ; caudal 11, obtusely cuneate ; least depth of,

caudal peduncle 4; pectoral 13; ventral 14, first ray ending in short filament.

Back pale olive brown, below pale to whitish. Also back sprinkled with

minute dusky dots and opercle also with dusky dots. Iris slate. Inside gill

opening dusky. Spinous dorsal with membranes sprinkled with blackish. Soft

dorsal with white base, greater outer portion of fin sprinkled with dusky gray.

Caudal grayish. Other fins whitish. Length 92 mm.

Johnius glaucus (Day).

Depth 33 to 33; head 2% to 31, width 1¢ to 2. Snout 3§ to 34 in head ; eye

34 to 47, 1 to 12 in snout, 1 to 14 in interorbital ; maxillary reaches 2 to } in eye,

expansion 1# to2 in eye, length 2% to 2¢ in head ; chin with 5 pores ; interorbital

33 to 4, broadly convex ; preopercle edge denticulate. Gill rakers 5 or 6 + 12

or 13, lanceolate, short, half of gill filaments, which half of eye. Tubular

scales 45 to 47 in lateral line to caudal base, 6 scales above, 7 to 9 below, 19 to

24 predorsal forward nearly to snout tip; 8 basal radiating striz, apical

denticles 22 to 28 with 8 or 9 transverse series of basal elements and circuli

fine ; each tube of lateral line with short branch above and below. Dorsal fin

XI, 27, i to 32, i, second spine 12 to3 in head, third ray 22 to 23; Anal fin II, 7,

i, second spine 27, to 3, first ray 14 to 13; caudal 1 to 14, cuneate ; least depth

of caudal peduncle 33 to4; pectoral 14 to 11; ventral 1} to 18, ends in short

filament.

Mauve brown above, paler to whitish below. Iris slate. Inside gilli opening

neutral dusky. Opercle neutral brown. Spinous dorsal dusky terminally, soft

dorsal and caudal grayish, other fins whitish ; sometimes vertical fins all more

or less dusky to dusky gray terminally. Sometimes paired fins sprinkled with

dark dots. Pectoral with gray blotch within axil close behind origin of fin.

Length 70 to1l4 mm., seven examples.

Johnius belangeri (Cuvier).

Depth 33 to 34; head 33 to 3¢, width 1f to 2. Snout 3} to 3} in head ; eye

3 to 43, 14 to 14 in snout, equals interorbital ; maxillary reaches opposite eye

centre, expansion 24 in eye, length 3 to 3, in head ; outer row of upper teeth

slightly enlarged, lower uniform; chin with 5 pores ; interorbital 3g to 4% in

head, broadly convex; preopercle edge flexibly serrate. Gill rakers 4+ 9.

short, lanceolate, half of gill filaments, which 22 in eye. Tubular scales 43 to

47 in lateral line to caudal base, 6 or 7 scales above, 8 or 9 below, 23 or 24

predorsal ; 7 to 10 basal radiating strie, apical denticles 31 to 37 with 2 or 3

transverse series of basal elements and circuli fine. Dorsal fin IX or X, 29, ior

30, i, third spine 13 to 2 in head, first ray 22 to 23; Anal fin Il, 8,i or 9, i,

second spine 23 to 27, second ray 11 to 12; caudal I, cuneate, ends in median

point ; least depth of caudal peduncle 3} to 31; pectoral 1} to 1}; ventral 1}

to 1d, first ray ends in filament. )

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISHES FROM BOMBAY 21

Brown above, below whitish. Spinous dorsal, anal and ventral more or less

blackish terminally, other vertical fins dusky terminally. Pectoral pale brown.

Iris slate. Length-100 to 114 nim., two examples.

Sci@na russellit (Cuvier).

Depth 3} to 33; head 3 to 3g, width 2 to 2%. Snout 3% to 3%; eye 33 to 4,

subequal with snout, slightly greater than interorbital; maxillary reaches 2 to

2% in eye, expansion 22 to 2% in eye, length 22 to 2£ in head ; mandibular barbel

12 in eye, 2 pores each side ; bands of minute villiform teeth in each jaw, palate

edentulous; interorbital 43 to 43 in head, slightly convex; preopercle edge

denticulate. Gill rakers6 + 10, low, short points, 14 in gill filaments which

24 in eye. ‘Tubular scales 45 in lateral line to caudal base, 7 above, 8 below,

28 predorsal ; anteriorly in lateral line each tube with 2 short branches; basal

radiating striz II, apical denticles 25 or 26 with 7 or 8 transverse series of basal

elements and circulifine. Dorsal fin XI, 26, i or 27, i, third spine-2 }, to 23 in

head, first ray 24 to 23; Anal fin II, 7, i, second spine 23 to 22, first ray 12 to

1g ; caudal 1), to 1g, cuneate ; least depth of caudal peduncle 3 to 3% ; pectoral

14 to 12; ventral 12 to 14.

Light brown generally, little paler below, back and head above dusted with

dusky brown. Opercle largely dusky. Iris slate. Barbels pale or whitish.

Spinous dorsal largely blackish over upper portions. Soft vertical fins with

grayish on outer portions, Paired fins whitish.

EPHIPPIDZ2,

Dyrepane punctata (Gmelin).

Three examples, 68 to 70 mm.

GOBIIDZ

Trypauchen vagina (Schneider).

Depth 7# to 83 ; head 52 to 54, width 2§ to 27. Snout4to 4g in head from

snout tip; eye 114 to 12, 23 to 3; in snout, 1¢ to 2 in interorbital ; maxillary

reaches opposite eye, 3 to 3g in head ; band of fine teeth in each jaw and outer

row of enlarged ones, lower larger and as pair of anterior canines and several

laterals ; interorbital 6; to 7, convex. Gill rakers 1 + 5, short, low, rudimentary

papillz. Scales 70 to 75 between gill opening in median lateral series to caudal

base, 15 to 17 transversely at anal origin ; predorsal largely scaleless ; 12 or 13

basal radiating strize, circuli moderately fine. Dorsal fin VI, 48 to 50, height

33 to 4 in total head length ; Anal fin 48, height 33 to 42 ; least depth of caudal

peduncle 3 to 33 ; pectoral 2% to 3% ; ventral 3 to 3}.

Light gray brown generally. Iris grayish, Fins all pale brown. Length

113 to 137 mm., three examples.

PLEURONECTIDZ

Pseudorhombus russelliu,-Gray.

One example, 110 mm,

SOLEIDZ

Paraplagusia bilineata (Bloch).

Depth 4 ; head 4, width 42. Snout to upper eye 22 in head ; upper eye 10},

advanced # its diameter from lower eye, 44 in snout, equals interorbital ; mouth

cleft 41 in head, little curved, rictus reaching opposite hind eye edge; left

(colored side) lips each with fringe of fleshy tentacles, lower better developed

and right lips entire ; rather broad band of villiform teeth on right side of each

jaw, left side edentulous. No gill rakers. Scales 76 in median lateral line from

opposite end of hind edge of gill opening to caudal base, 14 above median

lateral line to upper and 22 below to lower body edge; no lateral line on right

side ; left scales with 22 to 25 basal radiating striz, apical denticles 21 to 23,

large and 4 or 5 transverse series basally, circuli fine ; right scales with 27 to 29

radiating striz, 19 to 21 large apical denticles and circuli fine ; small scales

crowded along body edges and over caudal basally. Dorsal fin 98, height 33

in head ; Anal fin 73, height 4 ; caudal 24, pointed.

Left side brown clouded little with darker. Fins all deeper brownish,

Right side pale. Length 130 mm, '

262 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Cynoglossus macrolepidotus (Bleeker).

Two examples 144 to 167 mm. Scales 52 to 58 in median lateral line counted

from opposite hind edge of gill opening.

BREGMACEROTIDZ

Bregmaceros atripinnis (Tickell). .

Depth 63 to 64; head 5 to6, width 1¢to1¢%. Snout 4 in head from snout

tip; eye 4, equals snout, 13 to 13 in interorbital ; maxillary reaches 4% to 3 in

eye, length 24 to 24 in head; narrow bands of fine teeth in jaws and large

examples with narrow bands across vomer but none on palatines ; interorbital

2% to3, convex. No gillrakers. Scales 63 to 64 in median lateral series from

above gill opening to caudal base, 16 or 17 transversely : no lateral line ; scales

with moderate circuli, all ending marginally basally and narrow interspace

between each line studded with minute rugosities. Dorsal fin 1—56 to 60,

dorsal spine 37 to 44 in combined head and body, height of rayed dorsal 42 to

43; Anal fin 55 to 58, height 42 to 43; caudal 12 to 1$ in head ; least depth of

caudal peduncle 3 to 4; pectoral 1g to 14.

Brown, back with each scale pocket bordered with dusky dots so whole back

above darker. Under surface of body whitish. Head grayish. Iris slate

gray. Front dorsal lobe blackish, rest of fin with dusky, at least terminally.

Anal whitish, terminally lobe blackish and fin grayish posteriorly. Cauda

dusky gray. Pectoral] blackish, Ventral white. Length 73 to 93 mm., four

examples.

TETRODONTIDZ

Spheroides lunaris (Schneider).

Depth (retracted) 2$; head 2%, width 1%. Snout 2} in head ; eye 34, ld in

snout, 1j in interorbital ; mouth width 3% in head; interorbital 23, broadly

convex ; gill opening 32. Top of head from behind nostrils and predorsal

finely spinescent, also inflatable abdomen below, body otherwise smooth ;

slight lateral fold along lower side of tail; lateral line high at first, drops

midway on tail behind dorsal and anal lobes. Dorsal fin 11, II, first branched

ray 2in head; Anal fin 11, 10, first branched ray 2; caudal 12, lunate ; least

depth of caudal peduncle 5% ; pectoral 1.

Drab above, grayish to whitish below. Iris slaty. Fins pale brownish,

pectoral and anal whitish. Length 77 mm.

Spheroides viridipunctatus (Day).

Depth (retracted) 23 to 23 ; head 23 to 2%, width 1; to 12. Snout 27, to 23 in

head ; eye 4 to 53, 1§ to 2g in snout, 23 to 3 in interorbital ; mouth width 3 to

44 in head ; nasal aperture large, with short cutaneous rim ; interorbital 1,9, to

2,4, broadly convex, depressed medially. Gill opening 33 to 4in head.

Occiput from behind interorbital space about half-way in predorsal with fine

spinules ; abdomen up till level with lower pectoral base and backi about eye

diameter to snout length before vent with fine spines, body otherwise naked ;

lateral line arched high to predorsal, falls median on side of cauda peduncle

posteriorly. Dorsal fin iii, 7, i, or iii, 8, i, first branched ray 1g to 2 in head ;

Anal fin ii. 6, ior i, 7. ii, first branched ray 24 to 23}; caudal 14 to 1%, trun-

cate ; least depth of caudal peduncle 2% to 3 ; pectoral 2 to 23.

Back gray brown, lower sides and under surface whitish. Sides with dark

reticulations leaving many rather large pale longitudinal whitish spots. Fins

all pale. Caudal blackish terminally. Iris slate gray. Length 64 to 102 mm.,

three examples.

Apparently the young, these examples differ in that Day describes the

nostrils as 2 solid tentacles. Likewise they do not show 4 black spots under

the throat or the anal tipped with black. There is however the median trans-

verse pale band across the posterior interorbital. Some also showa dark

blotch before the dorsal.

Leiodon cutcutia (Buchanan-Hamilton).

Depth (retracted) 3; head 23, width 14. Snout 22in head; eye 43, 1? in

snout, 2, in interorbital; mouth width 4$ in head; nasal tube bilobate :

interorbital 27, broadly convex; gill opening 43. Skin entirely smooth,

NOTES ON SOME SHORE FISHES FROM BOMBAY 23

Dorsal fin 1, 15, sixth branched ray 2; in head; Anal fini, 12, sixth branched

ray 27 ; caudal 12, truncate ; least depth of caudal peduncle 23; pectoral 2.

Gray brown above, clouded darker. Side medially with more or less

whitish, marked with many rather large rounded blackish brown spots. Belly

before vent blackish. Faint light band across interorbital. Iris slate gray.

Fins all pale brownish and caudal blackish terminally. Length 103 mm.

ANTENNARIIDZ

Antennarius hispidus (Schneider).

Depth 1 to 1$ ; head 13, width 2% to 2%. Snout 54 to 54 in head from snout

tip ; eye 10 to 123, 2in snout, 24 to 24 in interorbital ; maxillary 2] to 34 in

head ; mouth width 2% to 2% ; interorbital 43 to 4%, convex. Gill opening equals

eye. Skin covered with wide set villose points. Dorsal fin I-I-I-11 or 12, first

spine depressed equals length of second spine, with fleshy terminal bulb ; Anal

fin 7 ; pectoral 9 to 11; ventral 5.

Drab brown, slightly paler below. Back and sides above with variable

dusky to blackish brown lines or bands, more or less vertical and others

radiating from eye, alsosome breaking in places to spots and bars. Dorsal,

anal and caudal more or less spotted with blackish. Iris pale slate. Ventral

with several dusky spots. Length 52 to 55 mm., three examples.

THE MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS

AND SPORTSMEN

SALIM A. ALI

Part III

(Continued trom page 63 of this volume.)

REPTILES

THE CROCODILE

Babur + mentions that ‘‘ One of the aquatic animals is the Sherabz

(i. e. ‘Water lion’). It dwells in standing waters (i.e. lagoons left

on the banks of the great rivers after an inundation, etc.) and

resembles the Gz/as (lizard). They say it carries off men and even

buffaloes.

‘‘ Another is the SzfJsar.2. This too is like the crocodile. It

inhabits all the rivers of Hindustan. One was caught and brought

tome. It may be four or five gaz (10 or 124 feet) in length and

Some are even larger. Its snout is upwards of half a gaz long.

Both in its upper and lower jaw it has several very small ranges of

teeth. It comes out and sleeps on the edge of the water.”’

The reference no doubt is to the two species of crocodiles found

in India, viz. the Marsh Crocodile (Cvrocodtlus palustris) and the

Estuary Crocodile (C. porosus), though it is difficult to ascribe the spe-

cies with any certainty. The former is the common crocodile of our

inland waters and attains an average length of 12 ft. while the

latter, in India, is practically confined to the East Coast and is

reputed to grow up to 33 ft.

Babur continues: ‘‘ The Gharial is a large fish. Many cf the

army saw it in the River Saru (Gogra). It carries off men. During

the time we remained onthe River Saru, one or two slave boys were

siezed by it and carried down. _ Between Ghazipur and Benares it

also carried off 2, 30r4of our men. In that vicinity I saw a gharial

from a distance, but I could not get a distinct view of it.”’

There is a general belief that the Ghariai (Gavialis gangeticus)

lives exclusively on small fish, and in fact the structure of its mouth

apparently is not such as to admit of its negotiating larger prey.

The discovery however, of brass rings, bangles and other

human adornments in its stomach from time to time, indicates

that it can thrive comfortably enough on human food, and Babur’s

records of its appropriating several of his men may be quite in

* Babur, vol. ii, p. 223.

? As King suggests, this may be a corruption of Szyah-sar (*‘ Black head ’’}

the Persian for Crocodile.

MOGAHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 265

order, though it is equally possible that these finds may be attributed

to the reptile’s habits of feeding on corpses. An instance of human

ornaments being found in a ghariai’s stomach along with the entire

hind quarters of a donkey is recorded on page 703, vol. xxx of the

Society’s Journal. The slender character of the gharial’s snout and

its comparatively fine teeth seem little adapted to the pulling down

and overpowering of larger animals such as might easily fall a

prey to the mugger. |

The Jesuit Fr. Monserrate writing during Akbar’s reign of

the Sutlej states: ‘‘ This river contains crocodiles. They are called

cissares, that is ‘three headed’. ‘They have six feet on which they

crawl, and they swallow unawares from below when they are

swimming in the water. They sieze by the foot and drag down

under water oxen, buffaloes and sheep and other animals whilst

drinking at the side of the river.’’

The name czssares which the worthy Father interprets as ‘‘ three

headed” is I think obviously a corruption of Szpsar or Siah-sar,

the Persian for crocodile and has nothing whatsoever to do with

‘‘three’’. The description of this amazing six-legged monster leaves

one wondering if Monserrate’s accounts of other things and his

‘‘ facts’ are equally fanciful. As this writer is frequently accepted

as an authority and a ‘‘ source’”’ by historians, one can only hope,

in fairness to the times, that on other matters not so simple to

verify he is slightly more reliable.

There is only one solitary record I have been able to discover of

the crocodile being hunted by the Moghul Emperors. Jehangir!

chronicles from the city of Dhar as follows :—‘‘ On Tuesday the 7th,

I shot a crocodile in the tank of Dhar. Though only the top of

his snout was visible, and the rest of his body was hidden under

water, I fired at a guess and hit him in his lungs and killed him

with a single shot. A crocodile is of the lizard (?) species and

exists in most of the rivers of Hindustan, and grows very large.

This was not so very big. A crocodile has been seen by me 8 gaz

(20 feet) long and 1 gaz (24 feet) in breadth.”’

SNAKES

Abul Fazl writes that in the Sarkar of Kashmir ‘‘Snakes, scorpions

and other venomous reptiles are not found in the cities. Thereisa

mountain called Mahadeva, and in any spot whence its summit can

be seen, no snake exists.”’

One day while the Emperor Akbar was hunting in the forests of

Narwar (now in Bhopal State), his historian narrates that ‘‘ His eye

fell upon a serpent which was nearly 7 Akbar Shahi yards in length,

and which had consumed several cheetal, which are a kind of

deer, and was about to destroy more. His Majesty ordered the

noxious animal to be destroyed, so that it received retribution for

its actions.”’ .

The Akbar Shahi gaz according to Jarrett? was 41 fingers long.

The maximum length attained by the Indian species is about

20 feet.

1 Jeh., vol. i, p. 408. -Ain., Vol. ii; pz ol

566 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Jehangir relates that one day while hunting in the neighbourhood

of Aligarh he came upon a snake the length of which was 24

yards and its girth equal to threag cubits (das/) ‘“ He. had

swallowed half a hare,” he notes ‘‘ and was in the act of swallowing

the other half. When the huntsman picked him up and brought him

to me the hare fell out of its mouth. I ordered them to put it into

its mouth again, but they could not do it however much they exerted

themselves ; but by using great violence the corner of its mouth

was torn to pieces. After this I ordered them to open its belly.

Thereupon another entire hare came out. They call this kind of

snake Chztal in Hindustan, and it grows so large that it swallows a

kotah-pacha (Hog deer) entire, but it is not poisonous and does not

bite.”’

The snake referred to is again manifestly our Indian Python

(Python molurus).

Jehangir writes that on occasion one (czvca A.D. 1624) while hunting,

it was reported to him that a snake with a biack hood (kafcha) had

swallowed another hooded snake and gone into a hole. He ordered

that it should be dug up and brought tohim. ‘‘ Without exaggera-

tion,” he continues, ‘‘ I] had never seen a snake of this size (length ?)

When they opened its belly the hood of the snake it had swallowed

came out whole. Although this snake was of another kind, in

length and girth little difference was visible.”’

It is possible that the former may have been an example of the

King Cobra (Vaza hannah). Col. Wall? states that the staple diet

of this species is snakes. He has records ofits practising cannibalism

and also of devouring several poisonous species including the

Cobra and Banded Krait. It often swallows snakes of its own size.

According to Niccolao Manucci, popularly known as the ‘“‘ Pepys of

Moghul India,’’ poisonous snakes were employed at the court of the

Emperor Shah Jehan in an ingenious though somewhat gruesome

manner for the suppression of official corruption and zulum. He

writes,? ‘‘ He (the Emperor) kept his eye on the officials, punishing

them rigorously when they fell short of their duty. This was

the reason he kept at his court an official with several baskets

full of poisonous snakes. He would order that in his presence

they should be made to bite an official who had failed to administer

justice leaving the culprit lying in his presence till the breath left

him.’’ Manucci had an opportunity of witnessing the execution

thus of a kotwal or magistrate who had been found guilty of

taking bribes and not acting uprightly in the discharge of his duties.

‘* An order was given,”’ he writes, ‘‘ that he should be bitten in one

hand in the Emperor’s presence by a Cobra capello, the most pois-

onous snake on earth. The official in charge of the snakes was

asked how long the man could live. The official replied that he

could not live more than an hour. The king remained seated till

the kotwal expired. He then ordered that the body should lie two

days in front of his court house... .”

An extraordinary occurrence is narrated by the same writer, which

zfit has any bearing on actual facts, is difficult to interpret or ex-

* Journal, BoON. i. 'S., volo xxx, ps 192:

2 Storio do Mogor, vol. i, p. 197.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS — 267

plain. It would appear to be something in the nature of a snake

migration and I quote it z7 extenso for what it is worth.

Manuccit writes: ‘‘ During the time that Prince Shah Shuja

(one of Shah Jehan’s sons) governed the kingdom of Bengalla

(Bengal) where he held his principal court in the city of Rajmahal,

there happened, a few years before the rebellion in the Moghul king-

dom, an extraordinary case about which he (the prince) wrote to king

Shah Jehan. At eight o’ clock in the day there appeared near the said

city, ina plain a league and a half broad, a great number of cobra

snakes large and small. They covered the field and moved from

west to east until four o’clock in the afternoon; they looked like

ripples in the ocean. In the greatest fright the inhabitants of the

village climbed upon the tops of their houses and upon trees.

They beheld moving in the midst of the said cobras one of great

size which carried on its head another smaller one entirely white.

They pursued their way without harming any one, many remaining

behind in the suburbs of the city and in the villages and through

losing their companions they died. Hearing of this event, Shah

Jehan asked his astrologers what it meant. They replied that the

wickedness of the empire was taking its departure and that he would

survive for many prosperous years. ‘The prince Shah Shuja also

consulted his astrologers and they told him that before much time

had passed there would arise a rebellion in the empire and that he

would become emperor. The little cobra carried upon the head of

the large one was, they said, the king of the cobras who had come

to the end of his reign and was thus compelled to leave his abode. ’’

Which shows that then as now, there were two sides to every

question!

BATRACHIANS

FROGS

Babur writes: ‘‘ The frogs of Hindustan are worthy of notice.

Though of the same species as our own, yet they will run 6 or 7 gaz

on the face of the water.’’

Dr. Annandaletin his paper ‘‘The Animal Life of the Ganges’’ which

appeared in vol. xxix, No. 3 of the Society’s Journal, says, ‘‘ Babur

was the first to describe a peculiar habit of the commonest of our

North Indian frogs (Rana cyanophlyctis) which skips lightly along

the surface of the water when disturbed.”’

Abul Fazl says, ‘‘ Frogs also may be trained to catch sparrows.

This looks very funny.’ One of the favourite amusements of the

Emperor Akbar was to watch these trained frogs in action.

Such propensity in the frog may sound incredible but recent

observations confirm that our Bull Frog (Rana tigrina), is capable

of the performance even without a special course of instruction.

E. H. Aitken? once found an adult sparrow inside one of these

creatures, which appears When favoured by opportunity, to devour

birds. The same observer records that on three occasions he has

known a Bull Frog try to swallow a chicken at least a week old,

* Storio do Mogor, vol. i, p. 288. 27).B AN TLaS.,VOl. 1x, pe 500.

268 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL fIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

while J. A. Betham?! has actually seen a Bull Frog swallowing a

chicken, and on one occasion took from the jaws of this batrachian

a Pitta (Pitta brachyura),

FISHES

On the subjectofthe Fishes of Hindustan, Babur? remarks

follows: ‘‘ Their flesh is delicate and they have few small bones.

They are surprisingly active. On one occasion a net was laid in the

river from side to side. Each side of the net was then raised a

gaz (24 ft.) above the water, yet many of the fish leaped one after

the other a full gaz over the net and escaped. There are besides in

many rivers of Hindustan small fishes which if they hear a harsh

sound or the treading of a foot instantly leap a gaz or a gaz anda

half out of the water.’’

I have had occasion to witness fish with this last mentioned

peculiarity taken on the River Phuleli, a tributary of the Indus near

Hyderabad. A British soldier was paddling along ina dug-out and

producing a grating sound in some unknown manner, whereupon the

fish leaped out and were promptly held by the man in his regulation

helmet! The performance was amusing to watch.

The identity of a fish described by Babur in the following terms

is amystery. Sir Lucas King has made no comment on it, and it

is surprising that such asingular animal, zf it exists, should not be

generally known. I can find no reference to anything like it in

Dr. Annandale’s paper either. ‘‘ One fish in the Kakeh. Ona line

with its two ears issue two bones, three fingers-breadth in length.

When caught it shakes these two bones which return a singular

sound, whence they have given this fish its name of Kakeh.”’

Abul Fazl? mentions that fishing was much pursued in the Sarkar

of Tattah (Sind). ‘‘There is” he writes, ‘‘a kind of fish called Palwah

which comes up into the Indus from the sea, unrivalled for its fine

and exquisite flavour. ”’

This species, which regularly ascends the Indus in February and

March in enormous swarms for the purpose of spawning, and

highly prized as an article for the table, is Clufea tlisha, a sea-fish

of the same genus as the Herring and known in Bengal as the Hilsa.

Jehangir was partial to the sport of fishing and his ‘‘bags”’ are

recorded in his Memoirs from time to time. On one occasion he

relates catching (netting) 766 fish which were distributed in his

presence among his amirs and servants.

While in Kashmir, he paid a visit to Virnag, the source of the

River Jhelum, and records that on the return journey he passed by a

spring called Andha Nag (i. e. Blind fountain). ‘‘It is well known,”’

he writes, ‘‘that the fish in this fountain are blind. I delayed a

while near the spring and threw in a net and caught 12 of the fish.

Of these 3 were blind and 9 hadeyes. Evidently the water of

the spring has the effect of making them blind. Certainly this is

not devoid of interest.’’

1D BAN TAS, NOU. Xa 09a! 2 Babur, vol. ii, p. 224.

° Ain, vol. iii,"p. 338

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 269

Further, Jehangir! mentions: ‘‘ I have a great liking for fish, and

ajl kinds of good fish are brought for me. The best fish in Hindu-

stan isthe Rohu and after that the Aarzz. Both have scales and

in appearance and shape are like each other. Everyone cannot at once

distinguish between them. ‘The difference in their flesh also is very

small but the connoiseur discovers that the flesh of the Rohu is rather

more agreeable of the two.”’

The Rohu is Labeo calbasu and the other possibly the Indian

Trout (Barilius bola.)

SILK WORMS

Among other things found in the district of Kumaon, Abul Faz]

mentions a profusion of silk worms, and at a later date Jehangir

observes ? that in Kashmir ‘‘ there are no Shah-tat (a kind of large

mulberry) but there are 7#/ (mulberries) everywhere. From the

foot of every mulberry tree a vine creeper grows up. In fact the

mulberries of Kashmir are not fit to eat, with the exception of

some trees grown in gardens, but the leaves are used to feed the

silk-worm. They bring the silk-worms’ eggs from Gilgit and Tibet.”’

Sericulture in India is anindustry of great antiquity. Marco Polo

mentions it as flourishing in Turkestan and China in the thirteenth

century and both these countries exported silk in large quantities.

GnaTs, FLEAS, LICE, ETC.

According to Abdul Fazl, all these undesirables were to be found

in plenty in the Sarkar of Kashmir.

‘BLACK BFE’ (Xylocopa amethystina)

After a description of the lotus and kamudini flowers, Jehangir

goes on to this insect regarding which he observes as follows? ‘‘ The

black bee which the people of India call ‘ Bhaunra’ always sits on

these flowers, and goes inside them to drink the juice that is in

both of them. It often happens that the flower closes and the

bee remains in it the whole night. In the same manner it re-

mains in the kamudini flower. When the flower opens, it comes out

and flies away. As the black bee is a constant attendant on these

flowers, the poets of India look on it as a lover of the flower, like

the nightingale, and have put into verse subiime descriptions of it.”’

This more or less finishes the specific references made to the

animals of India either by the Moghul Emperors themselves or by

the better known contemporary travellers and chroniclers. Besides

these accounts, miscellaneous notes were found sprinkled through the

various works consulted, which are set forth below as they make

interesting reading, but without any effort at arrangement, chrono.

logical or otherwise.

HospirALs FOR BIRDS AND ANIMALS

Pietro della Valle who visited India in the reign of the Emperor

Jehangir describes* one of these pzzjrapoles at Cambay thus :—

“The house of this hospitai is small, a little room sufficing for

MU ehea Ww Oli, pi202; eb. seg. "| *2#eh:\ vole ii, pyle. Stef sv Ola tp 43:

* Beni Prasad, Hzstory of Jehangir, p. 290.

)

270 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

many birds of all sorts which need tendence, as cocks, hens,

pigeons, peacocks, ducks and small birds, which during their being

lame, or sick or mateless are kept here, but being recovered and

in good plight, if they be wild are let go at liberty ; if domestic, they

are given to some pious person who keeps them in his house. The

most curious thing I saw in this place, were certain little mice, who

being found orphans without sire or dame to tend them, were put

into the hospital, and a venerable old man with a white beard, keep-

ing them in a box amongst cotton, very diligently tended them

with his spectacles on his nose, giving them milk to eat with a bird’s

feather, because they were so little that as yet they could eat nothing

else ; and as he told us, he intended when they were grown up, to let

them go free whither they pleased.”’

Mons. de Thevenot writing in the time of Aurangzebe of the city

of Ahmedabad, states: ‘‘ In this town there is an hospital for Birds.

The gentiles lodge therein all the sick birds they find and feed

them as long as they live if they be indisposed. Four-footed beasts

have theirs also: I saw in it several oxen, camels, horses and

other wounded vceasts who were looked after and weil fed, and which

these idoiators buy from Christians and Moors that they may deliver

them (as they say) from the cruelty of infidels, and there they conti-

nue if they be incurable, but if they recover, they sell them to the

gentiles and none else.”’

DECOYING GAME BIRDS BY SOUND

Jehangir describes a method of capturing some species of game

bird (Sandgrouse?) as follows :—‘‘ While I remained in the precincts

of Dehly, at the period to which I shall now return, they described

to me a species of feathered game, with tails of a particular

description, and the flesh of which was of a flavour in the highest

degree delicious. But what more particularly attracted my curiosity,

was that they spoke a language known to none but the natives of

Kashmir, who by using a sort of note or call, took from them the

power of flight ; and who were thus able to catch them by thousands

ata time. Onaplain inthe neighbcurhood frequented by thousands

of these birds in a flock, by way of experiment I employed about a

thousand Kashmerians, accustomed to the business, to give mea

proof of their skill, and I attended in person to view the sport. As

had been represented to me, about twenty of the Kashmirians

collected together and produced a sort of murmuring sound, which

attracting the attention of these birds, they were drawn by degrees

within such a distance of the men, that they were taken in entire

flocks. My pity was greatly moved by the reflection that these

harmless birds should have fallen victims to this sort of treachery ;

that they should have been betrayed into the hands of the destroyer

by their irresistible love of harmonious sounds, and that I should

be found capable of consigning them to slaughter from a mere idle

and vicious curiosity ; the next day therefore I caused the whole, to

the number of twenty thousand birds which had been taken on the

occasion to be set at liberty. My object was attained in witnessing

the fact. But to have seen them slaughtered would have bespoken

of a want of compassion foreign to my nature.”’

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS 271

It may be mentioned that the above passage is from a translation

of the alleged Memotrs of Jehaxgir, froma Persian manuscript by

Major David Price of the East India Company, Aa. vp. 1829. From

Appendix C to Beni Prasad’s Azstory of Jehangir however it now

appears settled beyond doubt that Major Price’s manuscript repre-

sents a forgery and that the 7zzzk-e-/ehangiri as published by Syed

Ahmed Khan and translated by Rodgers and Beveridge forms the

real Memoirs.

‘“PRRILS OF JOURNEYING IN THE INDIA OF THE SIXTEENTH

CENTURY’’

The Jesuit, Fr. Monserrate, who travelled from Goa to Akbar’s

Court at Fatehpur writes! in all earnestness: ‘‘ Next Suiranges

(Siron) was reached. The town suffers from a most unhealthy climate,

as a consequence of which the cracks and dark corners of the houses

are infested with all manner of poisonous vermin, which are found

here in great quantities. At night also the beds are beset with

scorpions whose sting brings on horrible agony. In the neighbour-

ing marshes certain lizards are found (although indeed they are just

as much at home in dry places as in marshes) whose bite is fatal.

In bushes and thickets, the many coloured Regulus is found which

kills by the glance ofits eye. The little par: of its body is red

towards the head,—a more brilliant red even than scarlet—but else-

where it is orange-coloured varying towards dark brown. It attracts

the eyes of all who see it by reason of the beauty of its colouring.

However, the mercy of God has decreed that its nature shall be

such that if a man sees it first, the Regulus—like the wolf, if one

may believe the common tale—is compelled to retreat precipitately

to some hiding place where it conceals itself. But if some unfortu-

nate man, who in ignorance of his danger is doing something else, is

seen by the Regulus (which like other creatures of this class is very

proud of its own beauty) some little time before he sees it, then he

is bound to perish miserably, at least so the inhabitants of the region

stoutly declare. One of the fathers unwittingly ran the risk of

perishing in: this way; for seeing the little creature, and being

attracted by its beauty, he tried to catch it, and followed it till the

Regulus hid itself in a thicket. When he returned to his quarters

and asked the inhabitants of that place what sort of a lizard it was,

that he had seen, they were no less surprised at his having escaped

the glance of the Regulus than were the inhabitants of Malta at St.

Paul remaining unharmed by the bite of the snake. This is roughly

the size of a dormouse, and resembles the lizard called the ‘ chame-

leon’ which feeds on air and disguises itself with the colour of what-

ever object is nearest.”’

Comment on the above is neediess.

WEIGHT CARRIED BY A CAMEL

Jehangir records that one of his ‘‘home-bred’’ camels that was

with him in a hunt, carried five Nilgaus that weighed 42 Hindustani

maunds. (Equal to 14594 Ibs.)

1 The Commentary of Fr. Monserrate translated by Hoyland and Banerji.

272 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX11

THE FRUITS AND FLOWERS OF HINDUSTAN

In the course of a very painstaking account of the fruits growing

in the neighbourhood of Agra, Jehangir says ‘‘ Of all fruits I am

very fond of the mango.’’ In regard to flowers, the Emperor writes

as follows! ‘‘ From the excellencies of its sweet-scented flowers one

may prefer the fragrances of India to those of the flowers of the

whole world. It has many such that nothing in the whole world can

be compared to them. ‘The first is the Chumpa (Mchelia champaca)

which is a flower of exceedingly sweet fragrance; it has the shape

of the saffron flower, but is yellow inclining to white. The tree is

very symmetrical and large, full of branches and leaves, and is shady.

When in flower, a tree will perfume a garden.”’

Praises of Keora flower (Pandanus odoratissimus), Rae bel (vre-

sumably some sort of Jessamine), Mulsari or Bholsari(AZimusops

élangt), Chambeli (Jasaminum grandiflorum), etc., follow.

‘“‘ Of the trees there are the Cypress (Sarw), the Pine (Sanxubar), the

Chanar (Platanus ortentalis), the White Popular (Safidar—Populus

alba) and the Bid Mulla (willow) which they had formerly never

thought of in Hindustan, but are now plentiful. The Sandal tree

which once was peculiar to the islands (1. e. Java, Sumatra, etc.) also

flourishes in the gardens.”’

‘ KIGHTING OF BEASTS ”’

Mons. de Thevenot writes in the reign of Aurangzebe? as follows:

“There are a great many at Agra, who are curious in breeding up

of beasts, to have the pleasure to make them fight together: but

seeing they cannot reach to elephants and lions because it costs dear

to feed them, most part content themselves with He-goats, Weathers,

Rams, Cocks, Quailes, Stags and Antilopes, to entertain their

friends with the fighting of these beasts.”’

A METHOD OF CAPTURING WATERFOWL

Mons. de Thevenot describes a method, still largely in vogue,

in the following words: ‘‘ The Indians are very dextrous at Game,

they take waterfowl with great facility as thus: The Fowlers swim

almost upright, yet so that they have their Head above water, which

they hide with a Pot full of holes, to let in the air, and give them

sight ; besides this Pot is covered with feathers, to cheat the Ducks

and other Fowls; so that when the Fowler draws near them they

are not in the least scared, taking that floating head for a Fowl; and

then the Fowler makes sure of them by their feet which he catches

hold of under water and draws them down. The other ducks seeing

nobody, think that their comrades have only dived, and are not at

all scared ; so that growing acquainted with the feathered head, that

still follows them they are at length all taken, whilst in vain they

stay for the return of those who have dived, before ey fly away to

another place.’’

A Jehi,, NOL pes: 2 Travels into the Levant, part iii, p. 38.

MOGHUL EMPERORS OF INDIA AS NATURALISTS — 273

‘‘Or THE BEASTS AT DEHLY ’’

In a chapter thus entitled, the same traveller says: ‘‘ At Dehly

are all sorts of Beasts that are known. ‘The King hath many and

private men who are rich have also some. ‘They have Hawks of all

kinds; all kinds of Camels, Dromedaries, Mules, Asses and Ele-

phants. They have also Elks and Rhinocercses which are as big

as the largest oxen. The ordinary oxen are less thanours. Buffles

they have also, and those of Bengalla are the dearest because they

are very stout and are not at all afraid of lions. Nor do they want

dogs of all sorts, but those which are brought from Maurenahar

(Mawara-tun-nahar) or Transoxiane, are most esteemed for Hunting,

though they may be smaller ; however, the Indian Dogs are better

for the Hare ; they aiso have Stags, Lions and Leopards.”’

THE ZEBRA

Jehangir thus describes this animal! which it is not clear from

the translation whether he received from or sent to the

King? of Persia. as. offering (civca A. -Di. 1621) ‘“ At ‘this: time

I saw a wild ass (Gor-khar) exceedingly strange in appearance

exactly like a tiger. From the tip of the nose to the end of the

tail and from point of the ear to the top of the hoof black

markings large or small, suitable to their position were seen on it.

Round the eyes there was an_ exceedingly fine black line.

One might say the painter of fate, with astrange brush, had left it

on the page of the wor'd. As it was strange, some people imagined

it had been coloured. After minute enquiry into the truth, it be-

came known that the iord of the world was the creator thereof. As

it was a rarity it was included among the royal] gifts sent to for

by ?) my brother Shah Abbas.”’

The traveller Bernier mentions that the presents sent to the

Emperor Aurangzebe by the King of Ethiopia, while the chronicler

was at court, included ‘‘ a small species of mule whose skin I have

seen ; no tiger is so beautifully marked and no alacha of the Indies’

or striped silken stuff is more finely or variously streaked.’’

aC a, VOLT, Pet a0 ls

THE CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES

JOSEPH PEARSON

Director of the Colombo Museum

and

Marine Biologist to the Ceylon Government

Pearls have always been prized for their rare beauty and value

and 2 very considerable literature has gathered around this “most

soveraigne commoditie.’ The pearl fisheries of Ceylon in particular

have attracted the attention of writers in all ages, and adminis-

trators, scientists and poets alike have contributed to the literature

of this fascinating subject. Pearl fisheries never fail to arouse

considerable interest in Ceylon, mainly, I suspect, because they

are such rare occurrences and also perhaps, because both the

Government and the general public regard them as a source of

revenue out of all proportion to their true value.

A pearl fishery is an event which cannot fail to strike the imagi-

nation in a variety of ways. The thought of a ‘pearl town’ of

20,000 to 40,000 inhabitants springing into being on one of the

most desolate parts of the Ceylon coast; the sight of a fleet of

hundreds of fishing boats, backed by the setting sun, sailing home-

wards with its precious cargo; the excitement of the auction and

the babel caused by a dozen different languages being spoken at

the same time; and above all, amidst the excitement and bustle

of this mushroom town an effective administration with its efficient

police, medical and sanitary services.

All these things have been described a score of times and it is

not my intention to traverse the ground made familiar by many

writers. Instead I propose to discuss some aspects of the economic

problems which have been the object of researches by marine

biologists during the last quarter of a century.

The natural home of the Ceylon pearl oyster is in five to ten

fathoms of water on the rocky stretches to be found on the narrow

submerged shelf between the shore and the hundred fathom ‘over-

falls’ in the Gulf of Mannar. These patches of rock or ‘paars’ are

irregular and somewhat inconstant in shape and are broken up

by stretches of sand which often invades the paars. In addition

the paars are surrounded by vast sandy areas. Rock is the natural

habitat of the pearl oyster and the presence of sand is decidedly

inimical.

The outstanding features of the Ceylon pearl fisheries are their

irregularity and uncertainty. Though they possess great potential

value the fisheries are intermittent and since the pearl fishery of

THE CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES 275

1891 there have been only six fisheries in thirty-six years.t At

the beginning of the present century the Ceylon Government sought

the expert advice of a distinguished marine biologist, the late

Sir William Herdman, F.r.s. Professor Herdman visited Ceylon

in 1902 and with that visit began a period of intensive inquiry into

the bionomics of the pearl oyster which was continued by Messrs.

Hornell and Southwell, and later by the present writer.

In the present paper it is proposed to deal only with the para-

mount problem of the intermittent fisheries. Two questions may

be asked :—

(1) Why are the Ceylon pearl fisheries intermittent ?

(2) Is it possible to ensure annual fisheries?

These two questions have been fully investigated in the last

quarter of a century and the irregularity of the Ceylon fisheries has

been ascribed to the rigorous conditions under which the Ceylon

pearl oyster is said to live. Apart from the menace of disease

there are two chief dangers to which the pearl oyster is exposed.

(1) Predacious fishes which eat the oysters and which have

been known to exterminate large beds.

(2) Sand which encroaches upon the oyster beds resulting in

their extermination.

In addition to these two chief dangers there is also the alleged

danger of overfishing.

PREDACIOUS FISHES

There is no doubt that fish enemies, particularly the large rays

which frequent the pearl banks in shoals, play an important part

in the economy of the pearl oyster. Mr. Hornell attached special

importance to this danger and went so far as to affirm that this

was the ‘key to the problem’ of irregular fisheries. He believed the

fish enemies to be the ‘dominant factor in the economy of the

Indian and Ceylon pearl fisheries.’ He stated that the increase

in predacious fishes synchronized with the rehabilitation of the

pearl banks, and that the fish population eventually became so great

as to disturb the balance of Nature thus bringing about the ex-

termination of the oysters. This view does not appear to have been

based upon actual experimental evidence and may be regarded as an

expression of opinion and nothing more. To have obtained evidence

on this point would have entailed intensive trawling operations

on a scale which has not been possible before, during or since Mr.

Hornell’s time. One would naturally assume, however, that the

fish density on the pearl banks would vary directly as the abundance

of oysters and there can be no doubt that in specific cases beds of

oysters have been destroyed by the action of shoals of rays. If,

however, the problem of the intermittent pearl fisheries depended

upon nothing more than the delicate adjustment of the balance

between the degree of predacioussness of the fishes on the one hand

and the measure of fecundity of the oysters on the other, as Mr.

Hornell suggests, we should expect to find a similiar state of

precariousness and irregularity in pearl fisheries elsewhere. As

‘There were thirty-three fisheries in the nineteenth century.

276 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

far as can be ascertained, however, this is not the case. In the

Persian Gulf, for instance, annual fisheries are the rule, and there

is no reason to believe that the ravages of the rays are less

pronounced in the Persian Gulf than in the Gulf of Mannar.

Mr. Hornell’s claim is not very convincing, though everyone who

has a working acquaintance with the pearl fishery problems will

admit the seriousness of the fish menace. The obvious remedy

is a campaign of intensive trawling operations, but the cost would

be out of all proportion to the value of the pearl fisheries and it

is by no means certain that the destruction of oysters by the heavy

otter boards and nets would not be greater than that caused by

the fishes themselves.

SAND

Professor Herdman expressed the opinion that shifting sand was

‘the most important agent in causing widespread death of pearl

oysters.’ Mr. Southwell did not concur in this opinion, but my

own views incline to those of Professor Herdman though I am not

prepared to say that sand is more harmful than predatory fishes.

There is every reason to believe that a large bed of oysters was

lost in 1925 owing to the action of the sand.

Sand may be either a passive or an active danger. The mere

presence of sand in the vicinity of the pearl banks is in itself

detrimental as spatfalls take place equally on sand and on rock.

Oysters will not thrive on sand and we may define this as a

passive danger. Sand becomes an active danger when, owing to

the movements of water, the sand is caught up in suspension and

slowly deposited upon beds of oysters, or, as, Professor Herdman

believed, is ‘shifted’ bodily in large masses through the powerful

action of currents. There would appear to be no corrective for

this active danger of silting or shifting sand, which doubtless has

been responsible for the loss of many beds of oysters in the past.

In the case of a spatfall being deposited on sand (passive danger)

two remedies have been suggested by Messrs. Herdman and

Hornell. The first is ‘cultching.’ This term has been applied to

the process of laying down on the floor of the sea a mixture of

rock fragments, tiles, rubble, dead coral and other substances,

collectively known as ‘cultch’, which will afford solid attachment

for young oysters in places where there is an absence of rock.

This process has been used for many years at Arcachon in France

where the edible oyster is cultivated in shallow backwaters of the

sea which are laid bare twice a day by the ebbing tide. White-

washed tiles are laid down to which the young oysters attach

themselves, and in this way the oysters can be farmed, cultivated

and controlled as easily as a field of grain. But it would be a very

difficult proposition to adapt this method to the Ceylon pearl

banks where the oysters lie in comparatively deep water in the

open sea. A spatfall frequently occurs over many square miles of

sand and it is calculated that 10,000 to 15,000 tons of cultch

would be required to cover one square mile of sea bottom. There

is no guarantee that this method would provide even a temporary

relief and it is quite certain that the cultch would become covered

THE CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES 277

over by sand in course of time. The process is obviously impracti-

cable on economic grounds. It is interesting to note that cultching

was begun on the Ceylon pearl banks but later was discontinued,

very properly as I believe, on the advice of Mr. Southwell.

It was further suggested that transplantation should be resorted

to in cases where large deposits of spat occurred on sand. In

theory this would be useful, not only when a spatfall took place

on unsuitable ground but also when oysters on good ground were

over-crowded. I believe that transplanting has much to commend

it, but like so many expedients relative to the Ceylon pearl fishery

the cost would far outweigh its probable utility. Mr. Hornell,

who was a keen advocate of transplanting operations, has now

changed his opinion and has stated that ‘with riper experience I

‘have come to the conclusion that the heavy expenditure these

‘means necessitate are not justifiable from a financial standpoint.’

OVERFISHING

From 1907 to 1925 there were no fisheries on the Ceylon pearl

banks.’ The pearl banks were leased to a public company in 1905

and the supply of oysters failed two years later. The general

impression in Ceylon was that the pearl banks had been over-

fished by the company. This ignorance of the true state of affairs

was widespread and so recently as 1925 a statement was made

in the Ceylon Legislative Council that ‘the company paid no

‘attention whatever to the pearl banks. They tried to get as much

‘as possible out of them and scraped the spat.’ This recalls the

charge which was made against the administration of Sir Robert

Wilmot Horton in the thirties of last century of having ‘caused

the pearl banks to be overfished, scraped and ruined.’ There was

no justification for this opinion and it is most unlikely that over-

fishing has ever been practised on the pearl banks. Under the

present system of diving, which has remained unchanged for many

hundreds of years, it would be difficult to overfish even if one were

so inclined. The late Sir William Twynam, K.c.M.c., who had an

unrivalled knowledge of the Ceylon pearl fisheries based upon

thirty-five years’ experience, wrote as follows in 1899: ‘I do not

‘concur in the least with those who cry out that the banks are or

‘have been overfished and consequently that no oysters have been

‘left to breed and replenish the banks. The divers do not and

‘cannot clear away all the oysters on a bank at a fishery.’ It is

safe to assume that the divers leave at least five per cent of the

oysters. Far from overfishing being a danger it is much more

likely that many a fine bed of oysters has perished undiscovered

and unfished owing to the old surveys being inaccurate on account of

the inadequacy of the land marks. The sudden disappearance of

oysters after the 1907 fishery was certainly not due to overfishing.

Capt. Kerkham, Superintendent of Fisheries, informed me that

he discovered a compact bed of oysters in 1908, but the season

* This is not a record as some people think, A similar gap occurred from

1837 to 1855.

278 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

was too far gone to arrange a fishery and when the next inspection

was made it was found that the oysters had died of old age.

Both Professor Herdman and Mr. Southwell believed overfishing

to be a danger though the former made no recommendations to

meet it. Mr. Southwell expressed the opinion that the denudation

of the banks was due to overfishing and to the attacks of predatory

fishes. As a remedy he proposed to establish breeding reserves

and he advocated the protection of young oysters by laying down

sheets of wire netting over the oysters. The provision of breeding

reserves can be justified only if overfishing is feared, but enough

has been said already to show that such fears are groundless.

Consequently, I do not believe that breeding reserves are necessary.

To sum up briefly what has been said in the preceding pages.

The peculiarly intermittent nature of the Ceylon pearl fisheries has

been attributed to a variety of causes chief amongst which are the

effects of predacious fishes, the action of sand and overfishing. I

cannot believe that these agencies, either individually or collectively,

are responsible for the unfortunate state of affairs though they

may be, and doubtless are, a contributory cause. To counteract

the harmful effects of predatory fishes recourse must be had either

to intensive trawling or to Mr. Southwell’s proposed wire-netting

protection; to meet the harmful action of sand both cultching and

transplanting have been suggested. All these proposals are correct

enough in theory but they would prove impracticable if applied to

the Ceylon pearl banks, and they can be dismissed once and for

all from an inquiry which is searching for practical and economic

remedies. As I hold that the charge of overfishing cannot be

maintained the recommendations about breeding reserves may be

dismissed. If the views stated above are correct the united efforts

of the workers of the first two decades of this century failed both

in indicating the true cause of the many unprofitable periods which

characterize the Ceylon pearl banks and in suggesting a remedy.

It cannot be said that a very convincing case has been made out

to show that fishes and sand have any vital relation to the main

problem and I would go even so far as to say that if all predatory

fishes were cleared from the pearl banks and if sand and other

inimical factors were eliminated we should still retain this unfortu-

nate heritage of irregular fisheries.

I regard the true cause of these irregular fisheries as a geogrphic-

al one. The Ceylon pearl banks are situated on a narrow shelf

between the deep ‘overfalls’ and the shallow inshore waters. The

Cheval Paar, for instance, covers an area of about 25 square

miles of rock surrounded by hundreds of square miles of sand.

This paar is only five miles from the shore on its eastern boundary

and a similar distance from the 100 fathom line on its western

border, narrow enough confines for the habitat of an organism

which spends the first few days of its life floating in the surface

water and which can only establish itself successfully on rock in

depths of five to ten fathoms. The pearl oyster becomes sexually

mature at the age of twelve months and thereafter has two sexual

periods in each year, but there is no guarantee that a bed of

oysters, once established, will produce a spatfall within the circum-

THE CEYLON PEARL FISHERIES 279

scribed limits of the pearl banks. The floating larve are at the

mercy of the elements and no human effort can influence or control

the course which these larve may follow in the few days of their

pelagic life. An abnormal monsoon, a change in the current, or

any one of a hundred other factors might be sufficient to prevent

the young oysters from being deposited on the rocky paars of the

pearl banks. They might be carried out into the deep water beyond

the overfalls where, even if they did not perish, they would be

beyond the reach of the divers; or, on the other hand, their course

might be directed shoreward in which case they would come to

grief in the coastal shallows.

The expedients which have been discussed in the early part of

this paper had reference mainly to the care and protection of

oysters which had already established themselves in the paars,

but such remedies would avail nothing if the progeny of these

oysters, born in uncountable millions twice a year, ultimately found

themselves deposited on unfavourable ground where they would be

doomed to early destruction. The fate of the spatfall, therefore,

is one of momentous importance. If the Ceylon pearl banks

consisted of a wide stretch of paar ground it would be reasonable

to expect annual fisheries, but as things are—a narrow shelf of

rock ‘between the devil and the deep sea,’ and pelagic larvee whose

migrations cannot be directed or controlled—it would appear to

be beyond the wit of man to devise a remedy.

It is ironical that so simple an explanation offers no solution,

but it is clear that the nearer this explanation approaches the true

one the more unsatisfactory would the proposals discussed in this

paper appear to be. My predecessors clearly held the view that

the Ceylon pearl banks had a bright future before them. Even in

the dark days of 1911 when the pearl banks were barren and the

Ceylon Company of Pearl Fishers ceased to function Mr. Southwell,

believing that a spatfall was imminent ventured the opinion that,

given a spatfall ‘only thorough inspection, care and normal fore-

‘sight in isolating breeding stocks, etc., are required to make the

‘banks perennially productive.’ Mr. Southwell was engaged in

scientific work with the company in 1907 when their last fishery

took place. From what I know of Mr. Southwell’s work I feel

sure that all the conditions laid down in the above quotation were

faithfully carried out by him. It is certain that a large natural

breeding reserve was left after the 1907 fishery, as Capt. Kerkham

discovered a compact bed of oysters in 1908. Why then, have

the pearl banks not been ‘perennially productive’ since 1907? The

explanation would appear to be that the last spatfalls were not

deposited in adequate numbers on the pearl banks but fell on

unfavourable ground.

The present condition of the pearl banks confirms in a striking

manner what has been said about the importance of the spatfall.

From 1919 to 1923 there were successive spatfalls and in 1924

there were some thousands of millions of oysters of various ages

on the banks, but since the end of 1923 there has not been a single

spatfall of any magnitude although there were enormous numbers

of oysters on the banks. It may be anticipated, therefore, that

280 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX11

the present series of oysters which first made their appearance on

the banks in 1919 will die out in 1929 if no further spatfall takes

place, as there has not ‘been a successful spatfall since 1923. It

may be said, incidentally, that although there are large numbers

of oysters scattered over the banks at present, forming an excellent

breeding reserve, they do not occur in sufficient numbers and in

sufficient density to justify a fishery. Under present conditions

if all harmful agencies such as fishes and sand were removed the

banks would become barren about 1829 unless we are fortunate

enough to have a spatfall in the next year or so.

It would appear, therefore, that the intermittent fisheries will

rontinue to characterize the Ceylon pearl banks, and the banks will

mever become ‘perennially productive’ because we cannot con-

trol the course of ocean currents or direct the destiny of the float-

ing oyster larve by the application of scientific principles. To

quote the words written nearly a century ago by a former Inspector

of the Ceylon pearl banks, ‘Unsuccessful intervals will continue

“tO. feCur tes we cannot cause the spawn to settle down upon

‘nourishing ground. These are events beyond the control of man.

‘The winds, the waves, and the uncertain currents of the ocean

‘carry the embryo over unlimited space. It is only when in the

‘infinite wisdom of the Creator of all things, the oyster brood

‘descends upon the banks..... that it comes within our limited

POWER See er. to fish up the respective deposits as they approach

‘the proper age.’ In my opinion the case could not be summed

up better than that.

I have confined my remarks to what may be regarded as the

fundamental problems, which concern the economic prosperity

of the Ceylon pearl banks, and in so doing I have been forced to

ignore much of the valuable work of my predecessors. It is

a thankless task to offer criticisms of other people’s work and it

would have been much more congenial to have had the opportunity

of bearing testimony to the valuable advances in marine biology

which we own to Herdman, Hornell and Southwell. With regard

«to the application of marine biological science to the economic

problems of the Ceylon pearl fisheries it must be confessed that,

whatever may be the cause of the peculiar uncertainty of the pearl

fisheries, we have all failed to find a remedy. In the opinion of my

predecessors the remedy is in man’s hands; in my opinion there

is no solution. It is not an easy matter to have to confess that

marine biology can offer no solution of this most interesting prob-

lem but my own examination of the matter, extending over more

than fifteen years, does not permit me to come to any other conclu-

sion with the evidence at hand.

REVISION OF

THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY

E. BLATTER, S.J., Ph.D., F.L.S.

PAR.

GRAMINE 24t

E. BLATTER and C. McCANnn

(Continued from page 33 of this volume)

21. IMPERATA, Cyr.

Species 5 or 6, nearly allied. In the warm regions of both hemispheres.

Imperata cylindriaca, Beauv. Agrost. 165, t. v, fig. 1, Explan. planch. 5; Cyr.

Plats INeap ial asc. 1, 26,-t. 11; Flack. Monogr Androp. 92; Boiss: Fl. Ox:

v, 452; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 14 ; Indig. Fodd. Grass t. 15; Fodd Grass.

N. Ind. 22; F. B. I. vii, 106; Cke. 1i, 946; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa, pt.

v, 1015; Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr., ix, 87.--Z. Koenigiz, Beauv. Agrost. 165.--

Saccharum cylindricum, Lam. Encycl. i, 594; Roxb. Fl. Ind. i, 234; Grah.

Cat. Bomb. Pl. 239 ; Griff. Notul. iii, 80.—S. ewropaeum et S.indum, Pers. Syn.

i, 103.—.S. Ravenne, Pieb. Fl. Taur. Cauc. iii, 51.

Some authors distinguish varieties and subvarieties which scarcely seem to be

justified. Stapf who mentions two varieties (var. Thunbergiz, Durand & Schinz,

and var. Koenigiz, Durand & Schinz) says in a note (1. c. 89): ‘The

varieties and the type, although on the whole pretty distinct within their areas,

often pass into each other, chiefly along the confines of their areas, or they

possibly lose their distinctive characters under particular local conditions, when

the separation becomes almost impossible.’ This does not speak in favour or

good varieties. Hackel (1. c. 93-95) has 3 varieties and several subvarieties, and

Anderson (in Oefvers. K. Vet. Akad. Forh. Stockh. 1885, p. 157) is still more

liberal with his subvarieties. Hook, f. makes one variety latifolia (F. B.I.

lc.) and remarks about one of Hackel’s varieties: ‘Hackel distinguishes the

Indian form as var. Koenigiz having villous nodes and broader, less rigid

leaves, but some of the Indian specimens appear to me quite like the Western

Hackel’s division depends chiefly on such characters as hairiness of the leaf-

insertions, width of the leaves and height of the ligule. The height and shape

of the ligule, however, seems, according to Hole’s investigations, more or less

correlated with the width of the lamina, while the other characters appear to

vary with the locality and do not define forms of any constancy. Hole’s

treatment of /zperata urundinacea (On Some Indian For. Grasses and their

Oecology, 1911, p. 95) appeals to us much more. Amongst the material

observed at Dehra Dun he distinguishes 3 forms which are more or less clearly

defined :--

(a) The depauperate form common on lawns or areas where the grass is

continually cut or grazed, with minute, almost filiform, culms and small leaves.

Leaf-insertions usually long-bearded. Glume IV and pale usually glabrous.

(6) The ordinary savannah form which usually attains a height of about

90 cm. with leaves up to1l7 mm. wide. Leaf-insertions bearded or glabrous.

Pale and glume 1V ciliate.

dance of available moisture more or less throughout the year. This plant

attains a height of 2°8 m. and probably more. Leaves up to 26 mm. wide, leaf-

insertions glabrous. Pale and glume IV ciliate. This is identical with var.

latifolia, Hook. f.

F orms of this kind could be multiplied according to various localities. As

we are not going to distinguish any varieties we give a description of the species

including all the variations that so far have been observed.

282 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXII

Description :—Culms erect, simple, slender, from 12 cm. in height and

almost filiform to 2°8m. high and 8 mm. diam., 3-4-noded, glabrous, solid,

slightly fistular at base : leaf-insertions tumid, glabrous or densely bearded with

erect white hairs. Leaf-sheaths rather loose, glabrous or glabrescent, ciliate or

glabrous along the margin towards apex, the lowest at length usually breaking

up into fibres, usually longer than proper internode; ligules membranous,

rounded, truncate or 2-lobed, ciliate, dorsally silky, attaining a height of 3 mm.

Blade of uppermost leaf of flowering culm from mucroniform and 1:25 mm.

long to 15 cm. long and 6 mm. wide with greatest width in middle, of lower

leaves erect or arcuate and attaining a length of 1:2 m. and width of 27 mm.,

greatest width about the middle, dark green, midrib white, apex acuminate,

narrowed towards the base where the midrib occupies almost the entire width

of the leaf, smooth, but scabrid on margin and on one or more sub-marginal

nerves above, especially towards the apex, white villous above on margins

towards the base and behind the ligule. Panicle spike-like, 3-50 cm. long, not

exceeding 25 mm. in width, cylindric, very dense; branches and branchlets

very numerous, crowded, appressed ; pedicels fine with clavate tips, glabrous,

scaberulous or pubescent, with long fine hairs below. Flowering panicle purple

with the exserted stigmas, the callus-hairs being closely appressed to the axis,

fruiting panicle silvery white with the wide-spreading callus-hairs. Spikelets

not awned, lanceolate, 3mm. long, both spikelets of each pair similar, each

1-flowered and hermaphrodite, and at length falling from the pedicel ; callus-hairs

soft, white, 2-3 times as long as the spikelets. Lower involucral glume lanceolate,

membranous, slightly thickened towards the base, apex hyaline, 3-9-nerved,

none of the nerves extending to apex of glume, margins incurved, ciliate above,

dorsally villous with soft white hairs overtopping the glume by 13 to 3 times the

length of the glume. Upper involucral glume similar and subequal to the lower,

but sometimes sub-keeled with mid-nerve extending almost to apex. Lower

floral glume oblong, hyaline, nerveless, apex acute or subtruncate and laciniate

or denticulate, ciliate, to $ of the upper involucral glume. Upper floral glume

subequal to the lower one, ovate-lanceolate, hyaline, nerveless, apex acuminate,

acute or obtuse and laciniate or denticulate, minutely ciliate or glabrous.

Pale quadrate, rectangular or subpentagonal, hyaline, nerveless, apex

denticulate or unequally laciniate, glabrous or ciliate, ¢ the size of the upper floral

glume or subequal to it. Lodicules none or very minute. Anthers 2, 2°5-3 mm.

long, orange, filaments sometimes connate below. Stigmas 2, 3-4 mm. long,

urple.

: Lobia : Sind : (Stocks).—Gujarat : (Graham).—Konkan : Tardeo, Bombay

(Hallberg 5398!) ; Alibag, sandy shore (Ezekiel!) ; near Thana (McCann !);

Banks along railway track between Ghatkoper and Thana, Salsette (McCann !).—

S. M. Country : Shiggaon (Sedgwick 2353!); Dwararji (Sedgwick and Bell !);

Castle Rock (Bhide!) ; Londa, common (McCann !).—Kazara ; Halyal (Talbot

1896 !).

Suciboon : The hotter parts of India, ascending in the Himalayas to at

least 6,500 feet, Mediterranean region ,Africa, Java, Japan, China, Australia.

Biology and Ecology: See Hole, 1. c. 96.

Uses: Duthie says of this grass that ‘cattle relishit’. ‘In Australia,’ be

says, ‘itis called blady grass and the young succulent foliage which springs

up after the occurrence of a fire is much relished by stock. I have observed the

same effect resulting from periodical fires on certain parts of the Himalaya where

this grass is plentiful.’ (Duthie, Fodd. Grass:of IN. Ind-.723)=<"sin) sindia,”

according to Hole (1. c. 101) ‘ the succulent white stolons are eaten by pigs and

areas which have been well-worked by pigs in their search for the stolons are

not infrequently seen in the forest. It is possible that in some cases the eradi-

cation of the species might be cheaply accomplished by the aid of pigs.’

This grass is also known as a paper-making material: ‘The ultimate fibre

obtained from this grass is very similar in most respects to Esparto; the yield of

bleached fibre being about the same. This isa favourable indication inasmuch

as Esparto is one of the best known and most useful sources of supply to the

trade. The results obtained from the chemical analysis show that the grass is

capable of yielding a good quality of cellulose, suitable in every way for the

manufacture of paper.’

The leaves are largely used for thatching (Hole).

3 Agric. Bull. of the Straits and F. M1. States, vii (1908), 586,

‘REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 283

22. SaccHARUM, Linn., Stapf Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 94

The genus as understood by the latest agrostologists comprises also the species

which were formerly described under the genus Arzanthus, Michx. As already

remarked by Haines in his Flora of Chota Nagpur the awned upper floral glume

of some Saccharum breaks down the only distinction between Saccharum and

Ertanthus.

Cooke (ii, 948) mentions 3 species of Saccharum: T. spontaneum, Linn.,

S. arundinaceum, Retz. and S. officinarum, Linn. ‘To these weadd S. Munja,

Roxb. ana S. Griffitht, Munro. The two species of Hrianthus, observed in the

Presidency, viz. &. Ravenne, Beauv. and &. fastigiatus, Nees, will be trans-

ferred to Saccharum.

General characters of Saccharum: Perennial tall herbs. Leaves various.

Panicle large, often silvery-silky and showy, spikelets usually surrounded by

long silky hairs from the base, all alike, binate, one sessile, the other pedicelled

on the articulate fragile rhachis of panicled racemes, the pedicelled falling from

their pedicels, the sessile deciduous together with the contiguous joint of the

rhachis and pedicel. Florets 2, the lower reduced to an empty valve, the upper

hermaphrodite. Involucral glumes equal, often chartaceous to subcoriaceous

towards the base, membranous to subhyaline upwards: the lower glume with

inflexed marginsand in the sessile spikelet usually with an even number of nerves ;

upper glume 1-, 3-, or 5-nerved. Floral glumes hyaline ; upper with a terminal

bristle-like usually straight awn, or mucronate, or muticous, or 0. Lodicules 2,

cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas laterally exserted. Grain oblong to subglobose ;

embryo short to half the length of the grain or more ; hilum basal.

Key to the species, mainly after Hatnes.

A. Awn of upper floral glume not or scarcely exserted from spikelets or 0.

J. Hairs on callus of sessile spikelet much exceeding the spikelets

1. Culms not leafy above, under 17mm. diam.

Leaves under 20 mm. broad. Lower In-

volucral glumes ciliate . IL. S. spontaneum.

2. Culms densely leafy above, over 25 mm.

diam. Leaves over 25mm. broad. Lower

Involucral glumes glabrous «se. SS. Of ftCInaruUm.

II. Hairs on callus of sessile spikelet shorter or not

much longer than spikelet

1. Upper involucral glume of sessile spikelet

not villous dorsally

(a) Foliage not glaucous. Culms densely

leafy above. Sessile spikelet shorter than

internodes of rhachis... .. 3. S. arundinaceum.

(6) Foliage glaucous. Culms not leafy above

Sessile spikelet longer than internodes

of rhachis, 7... 4. S. munja.

2. Upper involucral glume of sessile spikelet

villous dorsally oe O09. Griftithit.

B. Awn of upper floral glume distinctly “exserted

from the spikelet

I. Panicles thyrsiform. Spikelets 3-4 mm. long.

Awn 2°5 to almost 6 mm.long ... .. 6. S. Ravenne.

II. Panicles not thyrsiform. Spikelets4 to almost

5mm. long. Awn8 mm. long ws 4. 8. fasttgzatum,

In the following treatment of the various species we shall draw largely on R.

S. Hole, On some Indian Forest Grasses and their Oecology, in /udian Forest.

Memoirs, vol. i, pt. 1 (1911), 50-91.

1. Saccharum spontaneum, Linn. Mant. (1771), 183; Roxb. FI. Ind. i (1832),

235; Griff. Ic. Pl. As. t. 139, f. 63; Dalz. and Gibs. 304; Duthie Grass. N. W.

Ind. 15, Indig. Fodd. Grass. 57, Fodd. Grass. N. India, 25; Hack. Monogr.

Androp. 113 ; Hook. f. F. B. I. vii, 119; Cke. ii, 948 ; Hole in Ind. For. Mem.

1 peeks (1911), 50 ; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa (1924), 1011.—.S. semidecum-

bens, Roxb. ie 236. —S. canaliculatum, Roxb. 1.c. 246.—S. chinense, Nees in

Hook. et Arn. Beechy’s Voy. 240 225" @gyptiacum var. sinense, Anders. in

Oefvers. K. Vet. Akad. Férhand. Stockh. (1855), 157 (on S. sinense, Roxb.).

—S. spontaneum, Linn. subsp. egyptiacum var. nepalense, Hackel, 1. c. 116,—

Rheede Hort. Malab. xii, t. 46 (probably).

284 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

We have not included the synonyms which Stapf Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 95, has

given under S. spontaneum var. egyptiacum, Hack: as we are not in a position

to judge whether it is a good variety or not. According to Hole the African forms

placed uncer var. @gypliacum differ from the Indian plants chiefly by their

slightly larger spikelets. But he finds that this difference is very slight and that

it fails in the case of some African specimens. ‘ Considering the great variabili-

ty of the species in India it seems possible that a more complete knowledge of the

African plant will prove @gyptiacum to be merely one of the several oecological

forms which are defined by inconstant characters and which are connected by

numerous intermediates.’

Description :—Stem erect or decumbent at the base, reaching up to6 m. in

height and 15 mm. in diam., solid above, fistular below, terete, indistinctly

striate, usually pruinose when young, polished when old, silky below the pani-

cle and minutely silky -elow the upper leaf-insertions, glabrous or minutely

pubescent below the lower leaf-insertions. Leaf-sheath longer than proper

internode, often with reddish or purplish blotches, villous at mouth, often

minutely pubescent at base, otherwise glabrous or with scattered appressed hairs,

sulcate. Blade erect, of uppermost leaf of flowering culm usually long, varying

from 5 cm. to 90 cm. in length, of lower leaves up to 1'2m. and even 2m.,

usually very narrow, often not exceeding 1:5 mm. in width and then consisting

of a very narrowly margined cancavo-convex midrib, but also attaining a width

of 16 mm. glaucous, midrib white, margin scabrid, often villous above at base

immediately behind the ligule. Ligule ovate or deltoid, base often sub-auricled,

membranous, subacute or subtruncate, often fimbriate when old, up to 6 mm.

high, minutely silky dorsally and ciliate. Flowering panicle 15-60 cm. long,

conical or lanceolate to oblong, branches horizontally spreading or slightly

ascending, usually reddish or purplish, with the callus hairs closely appressed to

the branches of the panicle ; primary rhachis sulcate, silky with long white hairs ;

primary branches subverticillate, simple or compound. Spikelets in pairs, one

pedicelled and one sessile on the capillary jointed branches and branchlets,awnless,

lanceolate, 2-5 mm. long, sessile and pedicelled similar, each one-flowered

and hermaphrodite, pedicelled fruiting spikelet falling from the pedicel, the

sessile spikelet falling later with the attached pedicel and joint of axis; joint of

axis longer or shorter than sessile spikelet, villous on margins, or on margins

and dorsally ; pedicel 4-14 the length of the sessile spikelet, but usually shorter

than spikelet, glabrous or ciliate, shorterthan proper joint ; callus-hairs white,

from 14-7 times as long as sessile spikelet. Lower involucral glume lanceolate,

the basal third thickened, becoming hard and polished in fruit and more or less

brown in colour, the upper two-thirds membranous hyaline, with 2 lateral nerves

from which the margin is inflexed ; apex entire or minutely bidentate ; margin

ciliate ; dorsally with the upper two-thirds minutely appressed-pubescent. Upper

involucral glume broad-lanceolate, similar to the lower, but subkeeled with one

central nerve; apex sometimes mucronate; margin inflexed and long—ciliate.

Lower floral glume hyaline, nerveless, shorter than upper involucral glume, ovate-

lanceolate, long—ciliate, minutely pubescent above dorsally. Upper floral

glume minute, linear, ciliate, hyaline, sometimes 0. Pale minute, ovate,

ciliate, often shorter than the lodicules. Lodicules 2, cuneate, glabrous or

ciliate at apex. Anthers 3, yellow, turning brown. Stigmas 2, purple.

‘The horizontally spreading callus-hairs of the fruiting spikelet form an

efficient parachute which aids its distribution by wind. The hairs of neighbouring

spikelets becoming entangled together, characteristic flocculent masses of several

spikelets are often seen being carried by the wind or hanging on the adjacent

vegetation.’ (Hole).

As good field characters we may mention the narrow leaves and slender culms,

the long callus-hairs and the brown coriaceous base of the involucral glumes.

This is a very variable species, and Hole does not think that we are justified in

making different sub-species or varieties. He distinguishes 3 ecological forms :

(a) Tue dry sandy soil-form, a xerophilous type. The culms are slender,

erect and tufted, usually less than 5mm. diam. ‘The leaves

exceedingly narrow, sometimes only a little more than 1mm. wide.

The callus-hairs not less than 33 times the length of the spikelet.

(6) The swamp form, a hygrophilous type, found in marshes and swamps

with an abundance of available moisture more or less throughout the

year. The culins are stout, 5-15 mm. diam., usually decumbent at

base and not tufted. Leaves broad, reaching a width of 17 mm,

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 285

The callus-hairs 13-33 times as long as the spikelets. The fruiting

panicle elongate-elliptic to oblong with its branches usually more

persistent than in other forms.

more or less decumbent at the base and not tufted, but less robust

and with longer callus-hairs than in (6).

Locality: Sind: Shikarpur (Woodrow) ; Mirpur Sakro (Blatter and McCann

D697 !).— Gujarat : Baroda (Cooke) ; Domas near Surat (Dalzell and Gibson).

—Khandesh : Dadgaum (McCann 9892!) ; Northern slope of Chanseli (McCann

9893 !); Bor, Bori River (Blatter and Hallberg 4422!);—Konkan: Kamana,

Mahim (Ryan 2205!); Sakwar, river side (Ryan ? 2080!); Bassein (Ryan 4!);

Karjat (Woodrow), on river bank (McCann!); Vihar Lake (McCann 9,894 !);

Alibag, sandy shore (Ezekiel !).—Deccan ; Igatpuri, on banks of bund (McCann

4334!); Poona, river bank (Woodrow).--S. 47. Country: Banks of streams,

common in the S. Dharwar District (Sedgwick and Bell 3693 !); Haveri (Talbot

2236 !); Castle Rock (Gammie 15743!, McCann !); Belgaum (Ritchie).-—Kazara :

Suppa, bed of Kala Nuddi (Talbot 2196!) ; Hullikal (Talbot 1348 !).

Distribution of the species, irrespective of the varieties: Africa (Upper

Guinea, Nile Land, Mozambique District), Lower Egypt, Arabia, Syria,

Afghanistan, India, Ceylon, Burma, China, Java, Philippines, New Guinea,

Australia.

Uses: A favourite fodder of buffaloes. The leaves are used for thatching

and brooms, Valuable as a fixing agent for shifting sand and unstable soil.

For S. spontaneum as a potential source of paper plup see W. H. Brown and

A. F. Fischer. Philippine forest products as sources of paper pulp, in Forest.

Bur. Philipp. Islds. Bull. 16 (1918).

* 2. Saccharum officinarum, Linn. Sp. Pl. ed 1, 54; Roxb. Fl. Ind., i, 237 ;

Beauv. Agrost. Explan. planch. 5, t. iv, fig. 10; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 111;

Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii, 118; Cke. ii, 948; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa 1012 ;

Stapi ble Trop. Atroix, 96:

Description: Stemsupto 6 m. high, many-noded, glabrous or pubscent

below the panicle, more or less coated with wax below the nodes. Leaf-sheaths

tight, terete, smooth, glabrous except when young; ligules very short, mem-

branous, ciliate ; blades linear-lanceolate, up to 1°5 m. long and over5 cm. broad

green above, glaucous below, more or less scabrid along the margins, midrib

very stout, rounded on the back, more or Jess flatabove. Panicles pyramidal, up

to 1 m. long, dense, silvery ; primary rhachis glabrous except on the pubescent

nodes, or more or less silky ; primary branches verticillate or semiverticillate,

very slender, glabrous or hairy. Racemes up to 10 cm. long, very fragile ; joints

and pedicels filiform, more or less ciliate or glabrous, the joints variable in

length, the pedicels much shorter. Spikelets lanceolate, up to 4°2 mm. long,

surrounded from the callus by a tuft of long silky hairs up to 9mm. long. In-

volucral glumes subequal, lanceolate, firm towards the base, otherwise subhyaline

the lower acute, 2-nerved to sub-4-nerved, glabrous, the upper very similar,

1-3-nerved, glabrous or ciliolate. Lower floral glume oblong, acute or subacute,

hyaline, nerveless, ciliate, about 3-3 mm. long, upper floral glume subacute,

ciliate, as long as the lower or 0. Pale, if present, very minute, obovate, ciliate.

Lodicules broad, cuneate, sparingly ciliolate from the top. Stigmas purplish.

2:1mm. long. Grain oblong, attenuated upwards, subterete, flesh-coloured ;

embryo ¢ the length of the grain.

Locality : Grown throughout the Presidency.

Origin :—There are many indications that S. Asia is the original home of

the sugarcane.

* 3. Saccharum arundinaceum, Retz. Obs. bot. fasc. IV (1786), 14; Hackel

MonoorAndrop. 117, excl. syn. S. evalidium ; Hook. f. in F..B.-Ii,.vii- 119

excl. syn. S. czliare, Anders., S. exaltatum, Roxb., S. munja, Roxb., S. Sara

Roxb.; Cke ii, 948, excl. syn. S. exaltatum, Roxb.; Haines Bot. Bihar and

Orissa, 1012. S. dengalense, Retz. 1. c. v., 16. S. procerum, Roxb. FI. Ind., i, 243.

Description: A gigantictufted grass. Culms biennial (? or triennial),

somewhat with the habit of the sugarcane, branched, often 5 m. high, the

flowering culms sometimes nearly 9 m. high and over 18 mm. diam., solid.

Stem glabrous, smooth, or slightly rough with very long internodes. Blade

reaching 1°8 m. in length and 5cm. in breadth, with rib stout and as broad

as the blade at base, keeled below, villous with long silky hairs above, margins

286 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

cutting. (According to Hole the midrib in basa] leaves occupies at base

3 or lessof the width of the blade). Upper cauline leaves becoming folded

and filiform. Leaf-sheaths glabrous. Liguletruncate with a ring or tuft of

long silky hairs 6-25 mm. distance from its base. Panicle 60 cm. to 1:2 m.

long, pink, white or silvery, diffuse while flowering, with smooth glabrous

axis, main branches tufted on the axis, tufts alternate or subverticillate.

Spikelets 2°5-3°7 mm. long, much shorter than the internodes of the spike.

Pedicel 3 to equal the length of the sessile spikelet. Joint usually longer than

sessile spikelet ; majority of pedicels shorter than proper joint. Callus-hairs

pale, not dense, as long as spikelet (according to Hole shorter than or subequal

to spikelet). Hairs of joint overtop the joint by less than to 14 times the length

of the joint. Sessile spikelet : Lower involucral glume chartaceous, dorsally

sparsely villous, villi overtopping the glume by about 1} the length of the

glume. Upper involucral glume chartaceous, not villous dorsally. Lower

floral glume not villous dorsally. Mucro of upper floral glume not exserted

beyond apex of spikelet. Pale ciliate. Pedicelled spikelet: Involucral glumes

dorsally villous, villi overtopping spikelet by 1-14 times the length of the spikelet.

Spikelet sometimes 2-3-flowered with 1-2 additional paleate glumes inside the

floral glumes.

Locality : Cultivated in gardens.

Distribution: Bengal, Assam, Burma, extending into China. It is a

native of the evergreen zone of India characterized by a rainfall exceeding 70

in., but is frequently cultivated in gardens throughout India. (Hole).

4, Saccharum munja, Roxb, Fl. Ind. i (1832), 246 ; Hole in Ind. For. Memoirs, I

(1911), 62 ; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa 1013.—S. Sarwz, Roxb. 1. c. 244.—

S. ciliare, Anders. in Oefvers. K. Vet. Akad. Férhand. Stockh. (1855),

155 ; Hacke! Monogr. Androp. 118, excl. vars. Gvriffithii et Boissieri.—S

arundinaceum, Hook. f. in F. B.I., vii, 119 (fartim).—S. arundinaceum, var.

ciliave, Haines in Fl. Chota Nagpur.

For explanation of above synonymy see Hole, 1. c. 65-67.

Description : An erect grass, attaining a height of 5°5 m. and 12 mm.

diam., pale straw-coloured, smooth, striate, solid. JLeaf-sheath shortly silky

at extreme base, otherwise auite smooth, striate, pale straw-coloured, villous

on margins at apex with long white hairs usually much longer than proper

internode, uppermost sheath sometimes extending beyond the base of the

panicle. Upper leaf of flowering culm 22-70 cm. long, flat, tapering from the

base, long-acuminate, 5-10 mm. broad. Lower leaves up to2 and 2:4 m. by

25 mm., but usually only 18 mm. broad. In basal leaves the concave midrib

occupies 4 or more of width of blade. Colour glaucous, midrib white, Margin

scabrid as are one or more intramarginal nerves below, otherwise smooth, but

densely white villous at base behind the ligule. Ligule truncate, usually a

narrow membranous rim, of upper leaves longer, attaining 3mm., minutely

silky dorsally and ciliate. Flowering panicle 30-90 cm. long, usually lanceo-

late, pale cream-coloured to dark reddish-purple, branches spreading. Fruit-

ing panicle oblong, branches appressed to the axis, white to greyish-white,

Primary rhachis glabrous, sulcate, more or less scabrid on the ridges.

Primary branches subverticillate, compound. Ultimate branchlets triquetrous,

more or less villous with long white hairs on angles and on two faces. Spikelets

in pairs, one pedicelled and one sessile on the capillary jointed branches and

branchlets of a terminal panicle, awnless, lanceolate, up to 5 mm. long ; sessile

and pedicelled similar, each one-flowered and hermaphrodite. Pedicelled

fruiting spikelet falling from the pedicel, the sessile spikelet falling later with

the attached pedicel and joint of axis. Joint of axis triquetrous, 3 to subequal

the sessile spikelet, but usually shorter than the spikelet, vilious on two faces

and on margins, the villi overtopping the joint by onceto twice the length of

the joint. Pedicels triquetrous, 3-3 the length of the sessile spikelet, villous

with long white hairs on two faces and on the angles. Most pedicels shorter

than proper joint, rarely subequal to the proper joint. Sessile spikelets :

Lower involucral glume lanceolate, chartaceous, with twostrong lateral nerves

and usually 1-4 more or less distinct additional nerves, dorsally long villous

on basal half or two-thirds, the hairs overtopping the glume by about the

leneth of the glume, scabrid dorsally on keels, margin inflexed, sparsely

ciliate above, apex minutely bidentate to entire. Upper involucral glume

subequal to the lower, lanceolate, chartaceous, keeled, with one strong central

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 287

nerve and usually 2-4 more or less distinct additional nerves, glabrous dorsaliy

or minutely pubescent towards apex, scabrid dorsally on keel, margins incurved,

ciliate above, apex usually shortly mucronate. Lower floral glume oblong-

lanceolate, hyaline-membranous or little shorter than the upper involucral

glume, 1-3-nerved, margins incurved, ciliate, apex acute or short mucronate.

Upper floral glume broad-lanceolate to elliptic, shorter than or subequal to the

upper involucral glume, hyaline, 1-3-nerved, mucronate, ciliate, mucro short

to 1°25 mm. long, but not exserted beyond the apex of the spikelet. Pale ovate,

hyaline, ciliate, from 3-% the length of the upper floral glume. Pedicelled

spikelets similar, but both the involucral glumes are dorsally long villous and

usually with 3-5 strong nerves and occasionally 2 additional fainter ones.

Lodicules 2, cuneate, glabrous, 0°5 mm. long. Anthers 3, pale yellow to

purple, 2-2°5 mm. long. Stigmas yellow, often tinted with purple, 1-1°5 mm.

long.

To distinguish this species from Saccharum Ravenne Hole gives the follow-

ing field-characters: Glaucous narrow leaves, awnless spikelets, smooth

leaf-sheaths.

Locality » Sind (Stocks in herb. Boiss. ex Hackel).— Gujarat :— (Sedgwick

and Sexton).

Distribution ; Northern India in the Punjab and Upper Gangetic Plain.

Uses ; The fibre of the upper leaf-sheaths is used for mats, ropes, etc. It

has also been favourably reported on as a paper material (Haines).

5. Saccharum Griffithii, Munro ex Aitchis. in Journ. Linn. Soc. xix (1822),

191 ; Hole in Ind. For. Memoirs i (1911), 68-70.—S. Sara, Aitchis, 1. ec. 191;

Boiss. Fl. Or. v, 453.—? S.Griffithiz, Boiss 1.c. 453,—S. ciliare var. Grif fithii

Hackel Monogr. Androp. 119.—4vrianthus Griffithit Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii,

122 (partzm) .

Description: A ceespitose grass, Culms 2 m. high or slightly higher, solid.

Blade glaucous, narrow, about 8mm. wide; midrib at base usually occupies

3 or more of width of blade ; sheath not hirsute, nodes not bearded. Rhachis

of racemes fragile. Spikelets 2 at each node of the rhachis, one sessile and

finally decidous with the accumbent joint, the other pedicelled finally separating

from the pedicel, both 1-flowered, hermaphrodite. Spikelets 4-6 mm. long,

muticous ; pedicel 3-3 the length of the sessile spikelet ; joint +3 the length of the

sessile spikelet. Most pedicels subequal to longer than proper joint ; callus-hairs

yellow, shorter than to subequal to the spikelet ; hairs of joint overtopping joint

by once to twice the length of joint. Sessile spikelet : Lower involucral ylume

chartaceous, dorsally densely viilous in basal 3, villi not overtopping the glume,

or overtopping by less than 7 the length of the glume. Upper involucral glume

chartaceous, dorsally villous in basal z or 3, villi not overtopping or overtopping

by less than 4 the length of the glume. Lower floral glume sometimes sparsely

villous dorsally. Upper floral glume with a very short mucro, 15 mm. long, not

exserted beyond apex of spikelet. Pale ciliate. Pedicelled spikelet : Involucral

glumes dorsally villous in basal 3-3, villi not overtopping or overtopping by less

than 3 the length of the spikelet ; no additional glumes inside the floral ylumes.

Locality : Sind :—Near Hyderabad (Blatter and McCann D698 !); W. of

Tatta (Blatter and McCann D699 !); near Karachi (ex Hackel l.c.).

Distribution: Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Punjab, Sind.

6. Saccharum Ravenne, Linn. Syst. ed. xiii, 88; Sibth. & Sm. FI. Greeca,

t. 52 ; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ., fig. 1505; Stapf Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 97; Haines

Bot. Bihar and Orissa 1014.—Hyrianthus Ravenne, Beauv. Agrost 162;

Roem. and Schult. Syst. ii, 323; Hack. Monogr. Androp. 139; Hook. f.

F. B.I. vii, 121; Stapfin Kew Bull. (1907), 208 ; Nees Gen. Fl. Germ. t. 90;

Boiss. Fl. Or. vi, 455 ; Duthie Grass. N. W. Ind. 15, Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. 26:;

Cke. ii, 949 ; Hole in Ind. For. Memoirs, i (1911), 87.—Andropogon Ravenne,

Linn. Sp. Pl. ed. ii, 1481 ; Host. Gram. Austr., iii, 1, t, 1.—Ripidium Ravenne,

Trin. Fund. 169.

Description: Culms erect, up to6m. high and 17 mm. thick, solid, often

slightly fistular just below the panicle, smooth and _ polished, striate, sh ortly and

finely bearded at the leaf insertions. Leaf-sheath hirsute with bulbous-based

hairs, the latter varying in colour from white to yellow or brown, the hairs being

more or less deciduous and old sheaths are often rough with the persistent bul-

bous bases ; upper sheaths glabrescent, always longer than the proper internode,

long ciliate on margins towards the apex. Blade of uppermost leaf of flowering

288 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

culm from 20 cm, long and 6 mm. wide, linear and tapering from base, to 75

cm. long and 16 mm. wide with greatest width about the middle ; lower leaves

usually 1°2-1'5 m. long and 25 mm. wide, but also attaining a length of 1:8 m.

and width of 38 mm., broadest about the middle, sometimes in upper third, dark

green, midrib white, apex acuminate, narrowed towards the base, in basal leaves

the concave midrib occupies } or more of width of lamina at base, often the

entire width of the leaf, densely villous above towards the base with bulbous-

based hairs, more or less scaberulous along nerves, margins scabrid. Ligule a

narrow membranous rim not longer than 1:75 mm., entire, rounded or deeply

2-lobed, patently hairy dorsall, with stiff white hairs, ciliate. Panicle 30-90 cm.

long, lanceolate, dense or somewhat lax and lobed, silvery silky, with a tinge of

grey and purple, or quite white ; primary rhachis sulcate, glabrous, smooth below,

scabrid on the ridges ; branches slender, solitary from the distant nodes, divided

from the base, up to 20 cm. long, branchlets unequal, divided again, glabrous

except at the nodes. Racemes sessile or the lower more or less peduncled,

narrow to oblong ; joints and pedicels filiform, long ciliate, with thickened tips,

the latter shorter than the joints. Callus-hairs shorter than to subequal to

length of spikelet, purplish or brownish. Sessile spikelet : Lower involucral glume

lanceolate with 2 lateral keels, dorsally flat or depressed between the keels, apex

2-mucronulate, one or both margins incurved, dorsally scabrid on keels,

otherwise glabrous, or more or less villous dorsally, villi not overtepping the

glume, or overtopping by less than 3 the length of the glume, 2-nerved, some-

times with 1-2 additional faint nerves between the keels. Upper involucral

glume subequal to the lower, with a central keel, mucronate, margin incurved,

ciliate, dorsally scabrid on keel, otherwise glabrous or more or less villous

dorsally, villi not overtopping the glume, or overtopping by less than 7 the

length of the glume, l-nerved and sometimes 1 or 2 partial lateral nerves.

Lower floral glume slightly shorter than upper involucral glume, oblong-lanceo-

late, hyaline, apex mucronate or acute, dorsally glabrous, margin incurved,

ciliate above, 1-3-nerved. Upper floral glume usually ~ the length of the lower,

ovate-lanceolate, hyaline, margin incurved, ciliate, long-awned, awn 2°5-6 mm.

long, 3-nerved. Pale about ~ the length of the upper floral glume, ovate-

lanceolate, hyaline, glabrous, nerveless. Lodicules 2, cuneate, glabrous. Anthers

3, yellow streaked with purple. Stigmas yellow. Pedcicelled spikelet like the

sessile, but involucral glumes often strongly 3-nerved and hairy.

Can easily be distinguished from Saccharum munja by its distinctly awned

spikelets, the broader dark green leaves and hairy leaf-sheaths. (Hole).

Locality : Sind—Uaki (Bhide!); Khairpur Mirs, sandy plain (Sabnis

B226 !) ; Sehwan (Sabnis B36!, B664!}; Larkana (Sabnis B444!, Cooke) ;

Pad-Idan (Sabnis B498!, B509 !) ; Sukkar (Sabnis B552!); Nasarpur, sandy

plains (Sabnis B1049 !) ; Umarkot, sandy plains (Sabnis B1211!); Sanghar

(Sabnis B900 !) ; Jamesabad (Sabnis B968 !) ; Phuleli Canal, on banks (Sabnis

B195 !) ; Mirva Canal, sandy banks (Sabnis B258 !) ; Khairpur forests (Sabnis

B329 !) ; Sita Road (Sabnis B367 !) ; Sehwan to Laki, foot of hills (Sabnis B60! ,

Bll1!) ; Mirpur Sakro (Blatter and McCann D694!) ; Chuar Chemali (Blatter

and McCann D6Y5!) ; Indus Delta (Blatter and McCann D696!) ; Karachi

(Cooke, Woodrow).—Deccan : College Garden, Poona (Garade !).

Distribution ; Western Himalaya, Punjab, Upper Gangetic Plain, Sind,

extending westwards to the Mediterranean.

Uses : Theculms are used for making screens, etc. The leaves quickly

decay and are therefore useless for thatching.

7. Saccharum fastigiatum, Steud. Syn. Gram. (1855), 409; Haines Bot. Bihar

and Orissa, 1014. Hrianthus fastigsatus, Nees ex Steud.1l.c. ; Hack. Monogr.

Androp. 150 ; Hook. f. in F. B. I., vii, 125; Cke. ii, 949.

Description : Cke.1.c.

Locality: S. M. Country :—Belgaum (Ritchie 792).

Distribution: Sikkim, Khasia, Assam, Bengal, Chota Nagpur, Orissa,

W. Peninsula.

23. SPODIOPOGON, Trin., Cke. ti, 947.

Spodiopogon albidus, Benth. in Journ. Linn. Soc. 19 (1881), 66; Hackel

Monogr. Androp, 185 ; F. B. I. vii, 108 ; Cke. ii, 947.— Andropogon rhizophorus

Steud. Syn. Gram. 381 ; Duthie Fodd. Grass. N. Ind. 26.—Andropogan petiolatus,

Dalz. Bomb. FI. (1861), 303.

Description: Cke ii, 947.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BUMBAY PRESIDENCY 289

Locality : Khandesh: Toranmal (McCann 9886!, 9888) ;—Konkan: W.

Ghats (Woodrow 157) ; Warsai, near Penn (Bhide !)'; Penn (McCann 5374A !) ;

Below Palli Hill, Bandra (Ryan !) ; Tungar, Bassein (Bhide !) ; Salsette (Jac-

quemont 708) ; Matheran (Cooke) ; Matheran, Harrison’s Springs (D’Almeida

A242 !).—Deccan : Lonavla (Bhide!, McCann !, Woodrow) ; Khandala, very

common (McCann, 9401!) ; Khandala to Karjat (Blatter and Hallberg 5325 !);

Ganeshkhind Bot. Gardens, Kirkee (Gammie!) ; Sinhagad Forest, Poona

District (Bhide !) ; Lohagad, upper half (McCann 9437!) ; Purandhar Fort

(McCann 5004!); Igatpuri, common (McCann 4327); Mahableshwar (Cooke);

Mahableshwar to Pratapgad (Bhide 1182 !).—S. 7. Country : Derikop, forest

(Sedgwick 1862 !).—Kanara - (McCann!) ; Arbail Ghat (Sedgwick and Bell

3168 !) ; Suppa (Talbot, 279 !).

Distribution ; Central Provinces, Rajputana, W. Peninsula.

24, POGONATHERUM, Beauv., Cke. ii, 965.

1. Hairs of callus longer than the spikelet...1. P. crinitum.

2. Hairs of callus shorter than the spikelet...2. P. saccharotdeum.

1. Pogonatherum crinitum, Kunth Enum. Pl. 1 (1833), 478 ; Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii,

141 ; Cke. ii, 965.—P. saccharoideum var. monandrum, Hack. Monogr. Androp.

193.—P. polystachyum, Kunth Revis. Gram. 493.—P. vefractum, Nees in Hook. et

Arn. Beechy’s Voy. 239.—FPollinia monandra, Spreng. Syst. i, 288.—Pogonopsts

tenera, Presl. Rel. Heenk. i, 133, t. 46.-/schemum crinitum, Trin. in Mem. Acad.

Petersb. ser. vi, ii (1833), 298.— Andropogon crinitus, Thunb. Fl. Jap. 40, t. 7.-—

A. monandrus, Roxb. FI. Ind. i, 260.— Pogonatherum, Griff. Notul. iii, 81, Ic. Pl.

As. t. 145, fig. 2.

Description ; Cke. ii, 965.

Locality ; Kanara: Sirsi (Gammie !); Sumpkund, in a cutting (McCann

9947 !, Woodrow !); Nilkhund Ghat on steep bank along roadside (Taibot

781!) ; Gersoppa Falls (Talbot 2671!, McCann, 9939 !).

Distribution : More or less all over India, Afghanistan, China, Malaya, New

Hebrides.

*2. Pogonatherum saccharoideum, Beauv. Agrost. 56, t. 11, fig. 11 ; Duthie Grass.

INS WwW] Indal6;-hodd. Grass. Nv ind, 27; FB. 1. vii, 141; Cke. 11, 966:; Flaimes

Bot. Bihar and Orissa, 1017..—P. saccharoitdeum var. genuinum, Hack. Monogr.

Androp. 193.—P. polystachyum, Roem. and Sch. Syst. ii, 497.—Pollinia polys-

tachys, Spreng. Syst. i, 288; Kunth Rev. Gram. 493, t. 162.—Saccharum

paniceum, Lamk. Encycl. i, 595, illust. t. 40. fig. 31.—The Bamboo Grass.

Description : A much tufted, branched and very leafy elegant grass, 30-60

cm. high ; stem firm or almost woody, slender, polished, froin a perennial

woodstock ; nodes on stem glabrous or bearded. Leaves 2°5-6'5 cm. long

up to 2°5 mm. broad, linear, acuminate, bearded at the base and margins of

sheaths. Spikes 17 min. to5cm. long, terminating all the branches ; rhachis

compressed and pedicel bearded ; each spikelet with 2 long fine scaberulous

awns 15-25 mm. long. Sessile spikelet : Lower involucral glume narrow-oblong,

broadest above, faintly 2-4-nerved, tip bearded. Upper involucral glume the

largest, conduplicate, 2‘5 mm. long, l-nerved, keel produced into along awn,

tip densely ciliate. Lower floral glume sometimes absent. Pale of upper floral

glume broadly ovate-oblong, much exceeding the minute ovary. Pedicelled

spikelet about 3-¢ the length of the sessile.

Locality : Grown in gardens.

Distribution : Hilly parts of India from the Punjab to Bhutan, Burma and

China, southwards to Central India and Ceylon, Malaya.

Za. SWULALIA, Kunth otaps 1. Trop. Atr. ix, 97;

(Formerly under Pollinia, Trin. —Cke. ii, 950).

Perennial. Culms simple, erect or ascending. Leaf-blades convolute when

young, then flat, usually narrow, gradually passing into the sheath. Racemes

often coloured, brown or purplish. Spikelets all alike or nearly so, one sessile,

the other pedicelted on the articulate fragile rhachis of 2-nate, digitate or

fascicled spike-like racemes, the pedicelled falling from their pedicels, the

sessile deciduovs together with the contiguous joint of the rhachis and the

pedicel. Involucral glumes equal or somewhat unequal, rigidly membranous to

coriaceous, the lower dorsally flattened or shallowly concave (never grooved),

290 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

more or less 2-keeled with inflexed margins, the upper 1-3-nerved, keeled.

Lower floral glume empty, sometimes much reduced, muticous, hyaline ; upper

floral glume very short, 2-lobed, awned, pale small or 0. Lodicules small,

cuneate. Stamens 3. Stigmas linear, laterally exserted. Grain oblong ; embryo

almost half the length of the grain or longer ; hilum basal, punctiform.

Species about 25, in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World.

Ln Racemes aman ys O12. occ eevee acthe en Meer aaa oeam emanate ce 1. &. argentea.

2: Racemes few, 2-4 xvas cckccesse Ree Saas Oo eceeeee eee ta 2. £. fimbriata.

1. Eulalia argentea, Brogn. Voy. Coq. Bot. 92; Haines Bot. Bihar and

Orissa, 1018.—Follinia argentea, Trin. in Bull, Sc. Acad. Petersb. i (1836), 71;

Hackel Monogr. Androp. 162; Hook. f. in F. B.I. vii, 111; Cke. ii, 950. —

P. tristachya, Thw. Enum. Pl. Zeyl. 368 (artim) ; Duthie Fodd. Grass. N.W.

Ind. 26, t. 53.—Hrianthus hexastachyus, Hochst. in Hohen. Pl. Ind. Or. no. 279.

—E. Roxburghii, F. Muell. Fragm. Phyt. viii, 117.—Andropogon tristachyus,

Roxbs Ely indi 256:

Description: Cke. ii, 950.

Locality: Khandesh : Tapti Valley, railway line (Bhide!).—Konkan : Ratna-

giri (Woodrow) ; Near Ratnagiri (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!); St. Xavier’s

College compound, Bombay (McCann 4510!) ; Parsik Hill (McCann 9715!) ;

above Kenery Caves (McCann 9723!) ; Ghatkoper, Horse-shoe Valley (McCann

9891!) ; Marine Lines, Bombay (Hallberg 9889!) ; Bassein (McCann 9475!) ;

Vetora (Sabnis 33507 !).—Deccan: WLonavla (Bhide!, McCann!, Woodrow,

Lisboa) ; Khandala, very common (McCann 9716!) ; Lohagad, way up (McCanr

9718!; Panchgani (Blatter 5388 !, Blatter and Halibere B.1213!, McCann !) ;

Mawal (Woodrow)-—S. M. Country: Dharwar District (Sedgwick 2112!) ;

Dastikop (Sedgwick 2088!) ; Castle Rock (Bhide!, McCann A. 304!).— Kanara:

Suppa Taluka(Talbot 2257!); Jugglepet(T'albot 1569!) ; Yellapore (Talbot 1525});

Halyal (Talbot 2224!); Kumberwada (Talbot 2257!) ; Dandeli (Talbot

2267 1):

Distribution : Vhroughout India, Ceylon, Malaya, Australia.

2. Eutalia fimbriata. Blatter and McCann, comb. nova.—FPollinia fimbriata,

Hackel Monogr. Androp. 164; Hook. f. in F. B. I. vii, 112 ; Cke. ii, 950.

Description : Cke. 1. c.

Locality: Konkan: Dahe Forest (Ryan 708!); Uran (McCann, 5123!) ;

Trombay (McCann 305!) ; Matheran, Monkey Point (D’Almeida A. 254! ,

A. 255 !).—Deccan : Lonavia (Chibber 11!, Woodrow 173) ; Khandala, common

(McCann 5300 !).

Distribution. W. Himalaya, W. Peninsula, Pegu.

26. SorGHuUM, Pers. Syn. i, 101; Stapf Fl. Trop. Afr., ix, 104.

Annual or perennial, often robust, grasses. Leaf-blades convolute in bud,

usually flat, herbaceous, often large. Panicles erect or nodding with verticillate

or scattered branches, often large, in the spontaneous species mostly loose, in

the cultivated forms frequently variously contracted to compact. Spikelets

2-nate, those of each pair differing in shape and sex, one sessile, the other

pedicelled or represented by a pedicel only, on the articulate fragile or (in

cultivated forms) tough rhachis of panicled few-(sometimes-1 or, the other

extreme, 6-S-) jointed racemes, the sessile spikelet falling with the contiguous

joint and the accompanying pedicelied spikelet or at least its pedicel. Florets

2, lower reduced to an empty valve, upper hermaphrodite in the sessile, male

or neuter in the pedicelled spikelets, if present at all. Sessile spikelet: In-

volucral glumes equal, coriaceous, at least when mature, rarely permanently

chartaceous, muticous. Lower with a broad flattened or convex back with the

margins narrowly inflexed near the tips and elsewhere involute. Upper

cymbiform with narrow hyaline, usually upwards ciliate margins. Lower floral

glume empty, hyaline, ciliate, 2-nervedor nerveless. Upper oblong to ovate,

]-3-nerved, 2-lobed or dentate, with the lobes free or more or less adnate to a

perfect or variously reduced awn or a mucro rising from the sinus, rarely

entire and mucronate or muticous, Pale hyaline, often minute or 0. Lodi-

cules 2, ciliate or glabrous. Stamens 3. Stigmas laterally exserted ; styles

terminal or subterminal. Grain in the wild species mostly obovoid, dorsally

compressed, in cultivated forms frequently enlarged, globose or subglobose ;

embryo as long or slightly longer than half the grain. Pedicelled spikelets, if

present, much narrower than the sessile, lanceolate to subulate, male or neuter

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 291

sometimes reduced to the glumes or one glume only or quite suppressed. In-

volucral glumes permanently herbaceous, awnless like the hyaline 2-1-nerved

ciliate floral glumes.

According to Stapf (Fl. Trop. Afr., ix, 105) there areabout 35 wild species

in the tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, very few extending

into the temperate zones. One group of forms is widely cultivated in the tropics,

particularly in Africa.

The classification of the material belonging to the section Hu-sorghum

forms a difficult problem, which we are not prepared to tackle at present. The

difficulties are well explained by Stapf (l.c.), and we cannot refrain from

quoting the passage, though somewhat lengthy, because it may be a help to

workers on this genus and induce them, at the same time, to subject the vast

material available in the Presidency to a more scientific examination and exact

taxonomic treatment, by which Botany as well as Agriculture wil! profit.

Those species, says Stapf, ‘which come under consideration in this work

(Flora of Tropical Africa) have with twoexceptions (S. purpureo-sericeum and

S. versicolor) been placed by Hackel in one vast species, Andropogon

Sorghum, the leading idea being that they were all derived from one wild an-

cestor, the old Holcus halepensis, Linn. Piper, however, has recently advan-

ced good reasons why this is extremely improbable. He has pointed out that

the Linnean Holcus halepensts (Andropogon Sorghum, subsp. halepensis,

var. genuinus, Hack.) is a perennial type almost confined to the Mediterranean

region (sensu lato) and absent from tropical Africa which is the home of most of

the spontaneous annual forms and probably also the cradle of most of the

cultivated races known collectively as Guinea corn (Andropogon Sorghum,

subsp. sativus, Hack.). ‘To these spontaneous annuals and the cultivated forms

he confines the name Andropogon Sorghum, and dealing in particular with the

former he groups them under 11 subspecies, whilst he abstains from attempting

to classify the latter. Most of Piper’s subspecies are here recognized as definite

units, but with the status of species, a procedure which seems to have the advan-

tage of simplicity and directness, whilst it leaves the door open to any theoreti-

cal grouping which may inthe future be desirable. The same reasoning has

been applied to the cultivated forms. Hence the breaking up of Hackel’s

Andropogon Sorghum, var. sativus. Koernicke, who made the first com-

prehensive attempt to classify them, relied for that purpose exclusively on

characters exhibited by mature infructescences, especially their degree of

looseness or contraction and the colours of the ripe glumes and grains; but

Hackel in his monograph introduced characters taken from the shape of the

spikelets. The grain being in most cases the thing aimed at in the evolution of

these very numerous traces, it is clear that artificially introduced modifications

must from the beginning have tended in the grain-state to obsctire or repress

the phytogenetically important features in so far as they were economically

indifferent or undesirable. Itseemed therefore, more promising to base the

primary grouping on the comparison of the flowering stages, which might be

expected to be more or less outside the influence of the artificially moulding

forces of man. Within these primary groups, which are treated here as species,

nothing more than a purely artificial arrangement can for the present be

attempted. An exhaustive treatment of the hundreds of races which have been

given distinctive popular names would, even if it were possible, be beyond the

scope of a colonial flora.’

If Stapf, with all the facilities of Kew and the British Museum and other

European herbaria at his disposal, complains about ‘ the very rudimentary state

of our knowledge and of our collections ’ nobody can reasonably expect that

we should bring order into the chaotic state of the Sorghum question in India.

Years of intensive study of Indian and African forms are required to bring the

intricate problem nearer its solution.

For the present we follow Haines in retaining the old species of S. halepense

and S. vulgare. Ofspecies not known from the Presidency before we add

S. subglabrescens, Schweinf. & Aschers. and S. zitzdum, Pers. This, we

admit, is not quite satisfactory, but it is all we can offer at the present state of

our knowledge and with the material at our disposal in India.

In order to enable Indian botanists to utilize Stapf’s and Piper’s investiga-

tions in the further study of the genus Sorghum we shall add, in the way of an

appendix, the descriptions of those species which Stapf has described from

tropical Africa and which have also been observed in India, whether in the

292 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Presidency or outside it. It is only inthis way that we shall be able to co-ordi-

nate the knowledge obtained on so widely spread a genus like Sorghum

and it would not help botanical science to start the investigations of Indian

Sorghums on independent lines without constant reference to the work done in

other fields. It might be easier and perhaps also more convenient for certain

practical purposes, but on the whole certainly less scientific and in the long run

more confusing.

A. Wild species

I. Racemes up to 4-noded

1. Primary branches of panicle divided

(a) Stems upto 45m. high ~ Ll. S- halepense.

(6) Stem about 75cm. high . 2. S. subglabrescens.

2. Primary branches of panicle simple 3. S. purpureo-seri-

ceum.

II. Racemes 2-8-noded . 4. S.nitidum.

B. Cultivated species o. S. vulgare.

1. Sorghum halepense, Pers. Syn. i (1805), 101.—Andropogon halepensis,

Brot. Fl. Lusit. i (1804), 89; Hook. f. in FB. vii, 182; Cke: ii, 983;

Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa 1033.

Vern. Names : Boru, baru; called Johnson Grass in America.

Description : Cke. l.c.

Locality : Gujarat: Ahmedabad (Gammie 16389!) ; Perim Isl., Gulf of

Cambay (Blatter 3813 !).—Ahandesh : Toranmal (McCann 9643!) ; Khadgaum

(McCann 9642 !).—Konkan ;: Bassein Fort (Chibber 138!) ; Kase forest, Dhann

Range (Ryan 1919!) ; Vetora (Sabnis 33072!); Trombay (McCann A. 2693!) ;

Byculla (McCann 9656 !).—Deccan : Ganeshkhind Botanic Gardens (Herb.

Econ. Bot. Poona!) ; Purandhar (McCann 5001!); Khandala, railway line near

Rama’s Bed (McCann 9426!) ; Panchgani (Blatter and Hallberg B. 1302 !).—

S. AZ. Country: Kunnur, 2,000 ft., rainfall 35” (Sedgwick and Bell 4984!) ;

near Kilgerry (Talbot 2617 !).—Kanara : Halyal Fort (Talbot 2006!).

Distribution : Most warm countries.

Uses; A good fodder grass. The grain is eaten. See Vinalle,H.N.: A study

of the literature concerning poisoning of cattle by prussic acid in Sorghum,

Sudan grass and Johnson grass, Journ. Amer. Soc. Agron. 13 (1921), 267-80.

Gives remedies for hydrocyanic acid poisoning.

2. Sorghum subglabrescens, Schweinf. & Aschers. in Beitr. Fl. Aethiop.

302, 306; Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 137.— Andropogon subglabrescens, Steud.

Syn. Pl. Glum. i, 393.—A. Sorghum, subsp. sativus, var. subglabrescens,

Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 519; Chiovenda in Ann. Istit. Bot. Roma vii, 25.

Description: Annual. Culms (Stapf saw only a meagre specimen) slender,

almost simple, 75 cm. high, about 8-noded, internodes, except the uppermost,

shorter than the sheaths. Leaf-sheaths finely pubescent at the nodes; ligules

very short, shortly ciliate from the back ; blades linear from a broad (middle

and upper leaves) or slightly narrowed (lower leaves) base, long-attenuated

upwards, up to 20 by 1:7 cm., green, flushed with red, quite glabrous. Panicle

oblong, erect, 8°5 by almost 2°5 cm., contracted, moderately dense ; branches

scattered, erect, the longest not much over 2°5cm., long and undivided for about

12 min. from the base, almost simple, scabrous to spinulously ciliate, sparingly

hairy at the base. Racemes tough, up to 4-noded and 8°5-10°6 mm. long, dense ;

joints rather stout, up to2 mm. long, shortly whitish-ciliate ; pedicels very

similar, up tol mm. long. Sessile spikelet oblong, actue in flower, broad-

ovoid or ellipsoid in fruit, 63 by 3°3mm., at length variegated, awned ; callus-

beard scanty, 1 mm. long. Involucral glumes equal, gaping when mature,

more or less coriaceous and glossy in the lower third, spongy-subcoriaceous and

constricted about the middle, then papery, more or less whitish strigillose, at

length sometimes almost glabrous ; lower finely 13-nerved, nerves showing above

the coriaceous base, keels rather sharp, scabrid, running into minute teeth, be-

tween which the minute hyaline tip protrudes, the coriaceous part rich maroon

to almost black, followed by a pale transverse zone, then violet or purple across

the middle, the broad triangular somewhat depressed tip straw-colour or

reddish upwards ; upper glume almost as broad as the lower, 9-nerved, slightly

keeled, coioured like the lower. Floral glumes ciliate; lower broad-oblong, up to

almost 5°3 mm. long ; upper ovate, subentire, 3°3 mm. long, awn up to:12°7 mm.

long, sharply bent, column stout, twisted, equalling the bristle. Grain exposed

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 293

upwards between the gaping glumes, equalling or slightly exceeding them,

obovoid, 4°2 mm. long, more or less orange; embryo-mark and nerves obscure.

Pedicelled spikelet neuter, persistent, linear-!anceolate, acute, 5°3 mm. long and

more, reddish, lower involucral glume up to 11-, upper 7-nerved.

Locality ; Mahnratta Country (Young, ex Stapf).

Mistribution ; Abyssinia, tropical Arabia.

Note : According to Stapf the specimen from India is a smaller variety of the

type just described.

3. Sorghum purpureo-sericeum, Aschers. & Schweinf. in Schweinf. Beitr.

Fl. Aethiop. 302, 306; Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr., ix, 140.—Andropogon purpureo-

seviceus, Flochst. ex A. Rich. Tent. Fl. Abyss. 11.(1851), 469; Hack. in Monogr.

Androp. 524; Hook. f. in F..B. I. vii, 185 ;.Cke. ii, 984.

Description + Cke. |.c.

Locality ; Gujarat: Garvi bangs, ina field (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!).—

Khandesh (Herb. Econ. Bot. Poona!); Bhusawal (McCann 5224!).—Deccan :

Poona, above the Ghats (teste W. Burns).—S. 47. Country: Kolhapur (Wood-

row!) ; Belgaum (Ritchie 887).—Kanara: N. Kanara (Woodrow 40!).

Distribution - Central Provinces, W. Peninsula, tropical Africa.

4, Sorghum nitidum, Pers. Synops. i, 101; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa 1034.

— Andropogon nitidus, Kunth, Revis. Gram. i, 166.—A. serratus, Thunb. FI.

Jap. 41; Hack. in Morogr. Androp. 520.—Anatherum nitidum, Spreng. Syst.

i, 290.— Andropogon fuscus, J. S. Preslin C. B. Presl, Reliq. Haenk. i, 342.—

A. consimilis, Steud. Syn. i, 394.--A. pedicellatus, Steud. 1. c. 394.—Holcus

fulvus, R. Br. Prodr. 199.—Sorghum fulvum, Beauv. ap. Roem. ef. Schult.

Syst. ii, 840.—Chrysopogon fuscus, Trin. in Steud. Nomencl. ed. 2, 360.

Description : A tall tufted grass, 1-2°4 m. high, densely villous at the nodes.

Leaves 10-75 cm. by 8-20 mm., setaceously acuminate, glabrous or sparsely hairy

on both surfaces, hairs often tubercle-based, midrib broad, prominent, white ;

sheaths terete below, keeled upward, more or less hairy ; mouth silky-villous ;

ligule very short, truncate. Panicle 10-30cm. long, oblong, lax, subsimple,

rhachis glabrous, branches capillary, about equalling the spikes, glabrous or

scaberulous, whorls distant. Spikes 8-37 mm. long, red-brown; joints and

pedicels 4 to 3 the length of the sessile spikelets, margins shortly villous. Sessile

spikelets broadly ellipsoid, callus rounded (Haines), or acute (Hook. f.).

Lower involucral glume coriaceous, broadly oblong or elliptic acute or cbtuse,

dorsally flattened with incurved margins, brown-hairy and keels hispid, 7-

nerved, or about 3-nerved between keels, sometimes nearly black, polisned.

Upper involucral glume broadly cymbiform with rounded back, lanceolate,

acute, i-nerved, hairy upwards. Lower floral glume as long as or shorter than

the upper involucral glume, hyaline, margins inrolled, 2-keeled, ciliate ; upper

floral glume linear-oblong, 2-lobed, awned or not. Pedicellate spikelet linear-

oblong, pale or greenish with brown hairs. Lower -involucral glumie oblong,

rounded or sub-truncate, dorsally depressed and 2-nerved between the keels ;

upper equal, rather narrower, obtuse margins much inflexed, 3-nerved between

keels. Lower floral glume hyaline, linear.

Locality: Kanara: Yinai (Talbot 2574!); Sambiani (Talbot 1337 !)

to Sidderpur (Hallberg and McCann A 270!).

Distribution : India, Ceylon, Nicobars, Asia, tropical Australia.

;- Sirsi

5. Sorghum vulgare, Pers. Syn.i, 101; Haines Bot. Bihar and Orissa 1033.

—Anidropogon Sorghum, Brot. Fl, Lus. i, 88. |

Description ; Stout, usually tall annual grasses. Leaves broadly linear with

a prominent white midrib. Panicle usually thyrsiform decompound with

crowded whorls of erect branches and branchlets, rarely subeffuse.. Rhachis of

spike tenaceous, joints when forcibly separated leaving a ragged scar at the tip.

Pedicelled spikelets usually neuter, pedicels short.

This is the Great Millet or Jowar, cultivated in most parts of the Presidency.

(Sees, Mann, Podder Crops.of W. India... Dept. Agr. Lombay, Bull.

77 of 1916, andG. L. Kottur, Classification and Description of the Jowars

of the Bombay Karnatik, Dept. Agr. Bombay Bull. 92 and others.)

After what we have said above we do not consider it advisable to enter into a

description of the numerous varieties and torms. But we may mention iu this

place that a variety common in the Presidency, viz. S. vulgare var. Roxburghii,

Hackel in Monogr. Androp. 510 has been described as a species by Stapf under

294 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXII

the name of S. Roxburghit in Fl. Trop. Afr., ix, 126. The description will be

given in the following appendix to the genus Sorghum.

Species of Sorghum described from Africa by Stapf which also occur in India,

All the information is taken from Stapf, mostly almost verbatim.

A. Mature sessile spikelets deciduous with the

adjoining joint of the rhachis and its

pedicelled companion: spontaneous grasses 1. S. verticilliflorum.

B. Mature sessile spikelets persistent : cultivated

grasses

I. Mature glumes whollycoriaceousor the lower

with a herbaceous triangular tip, its nerves

not visible on the back except at the tip,

particularly when this is herbaceous

1. Mature panicles more or less loose, usually

with arched or drooping branches, never

quite compact

(a) Sessile spikelets ovate or elliptic to

lanceolate-oblong

* Mature spikelets pale straw-colour,

permanently more or less hairy ; the

grain embraced below by the tightly

appressed glumes 2. S. Roxburghit, var.

semiclausum.

** Mature spikelets bright tawny early

glabrescent ; the grain almost wholly 2. S. Roxburghit, var.

exposed between the involute glumes... Atais.

(6) Sessile spikelets broadly obovate in

outline isk.) Bes SOLCOLOR Viats

obovatum.

2. Mature panicles very dense to compact,

rarely more or less loosened owing to the

reduction of the primary axis and the

consequent subdigitate arrangement of

the branches 4, S. Durra.

Ii. Mature glumes thinly crustaceous to papery,

the tips brittle and breakng irregularly.

Back of spikelets longitudinally striate.

1. Sessile spikelets 6°3-8°5 mm. long. Pedi-

celled sdikelets 7°6-19 mm. long woe 9. 9. PAPYVASCENS.

2. Sessile. spikelets 5—6°3 mm. long. !

Pedicelled spikelets up to6°3 mm. long 6. S. cernuum.

* 1. Sorghum verticilliflorum, Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 116.—5S. halepense, Nees

ue Afr. Austr. 88, zon Pers.— Andropogon verlicillitlorus, Steud. Syn. Pl. Glum.

, 393.—A. Sorghum, subsp. Aalepensis, var. effusus, Hack. in Monogr. Androp.

503 (partim).—A. Sorghum verticilliflorus, Piper in Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash.

xxviii, 37.—A. halepensis, var. effusus, Stapf in Dyer, Fl. Cap. vii, 346 (partimy).

Description ; An annual. Culms 1:2-2'4 m. high, sometimes slightly pruinose

below the nodes. Leaf-sheaths delicately silky-pubescent at the nodes; ligules

up toover 2mm. long, scarious, hairy on the back; blades linear froma

broad rounded and often clasping base, long attenuated upwards, up to 45 cm.

long, rarely over 25 mm. wide, green, sometimes slightly glaucous or flushed

with purple, hairy just behind the ligule, otherwise glabrous. Panicle oblong to

ovoid-oblong, often rather contracted and more orless nodding at first, then

spreading out and more erect, up to 37cm. long and ultimately 15-22 cm.

wide; branches slender, flexuous, whorled, longest up to 22cm. long and

undivided to up to 5, rarely 7°5cm. from the base, distantly branched, slightly

and shortly hairy to villous at the base, like the branchlets more or less rough,

at least upwards. Racemes fragile, up to 5-, but mostly 2- or 3-noded, rarely

over 18 mm. long; joints slender, 3°3-4°2 mm. long, shortly ciliate, cilia dirty

white or pale fulvous, often with a tinge of purple; pedicels similar, slightly

shorter, their tips subdiscoid. Sessile spikelet ovate to ovate-lanceolate, shortly

acuminate to acute, 37-4°5 mm. by 1:5-2:2mm., straw-coloured, greenish

towards the tips (at least when young), sometimes tinged with purple, ultimately

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 295

often turning bright or blackish-red particularly below ; callus-beard less than

1mm.long. Involucral glumes equal, coriaceous, slightly glossy below (more

so when ripening), thinner upwards, lower usually slightly bulging below and

somewhat depressed towards the tips, 11-13-nerved, with the nerves very obscure

near the tips or more or less marked, sharply 2-keeled and scabrid to spinulously

ciliolate in the upper half or third, more or less strigillose, often glabrescent,

rarely almost glabrous, hairs pale whitish or fulvous, loosely appressed, upper

sharply keeled towards the tips with the keel rough, 7-nerved, more or less hairy.

Floral glumes conspicuously ciliate, lower lanceolate, 5°3 mm. long, upper

ovate, shortly 2-lobed, 2°2 mm. long ; awn fine, 1°3-1°7 cm. long. Anthers 3°3 mm.

long. Grain obovate-oblong, 3°3 mm.by 0:2 mm., fuscous, paler below ;

embryo-mark distinct, hardly exceeding the middle of the grain. Pedicelled

spikelet male or neuter, early deciduous, subulate-lanceolate to linear, acutely

acuminate, 6:3 mm. long, pale greenish, often tinged with red or purple; lower

involucral glume 9-, upper 5-nerved.

Distribution: Nileland, Mozambique District, Natal, the Comoros, Seychelles,

Madagascar, the Mascarenes. Introduced into India as Tabucki grass, also to

Australia, Polynesia, and the West Indies.

*2. Sorghum Roxburghii, Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 126.

Description: Annual. Culms stout, tall, often slightly waxy, pruinose below

the nodes. Leaf-sheaths softly pubescent at the nodes; ligules very short,

scarious, hairy from the back ; blades linear to linear-lanceolate from a broad

clasping base, long-atltenuated upwards, up to over 45 cm. long and up to 37 mm.

wide, usually hairy to tomentose inside above the ligule and outside at the

junction with the sheath, otherwise glabrous. Panicle oblong to ovoid-oblong,

rarely subovate or elliptic in outline, erect, contracted and dense (rarely lax)

in flower, somewhat to much loosened when mature ; branches slender, flexuous,

whorled or semiverticillate, the longest undivided for up to 12-25mm. (rarely

much more) from the base, more or Jess ciliate towards the base and often

villous at the junction with the nodes, otherwise like their divisions glabrous or

nearly so, finely scabrid upwards. Racemes tough, up to 4- (rarely 5-) noded,

8-12 mm. long; joints slender, 2-3°3 mm. long, distinctly and often densely

ciliate, cilia white or purplish ; pedicels similar but more slender, of about the

same length or more often shorter with very slightly thickened tips. Sessile

spikelet ovate, acute, with a small fine point, sometimes flattened on the back

when young but soon convex, about 5°3 mm. by 2°7-33 mm., permanently pale

or dull straw-coloured to tawny, at length slightly glossy ; callus-beard, white.

Involucral glumes equal, coriaceous, lower about 10-13-nerved, finely and often

obscurely 2-keeied towards the tips with the keels slightly scabrid, transversely

_ constricted at the base, more or less white-strigillose (to almost tomentose)

when young, at length more or less glabrescent on the back, upper 7-9-nerved,

finely keeled upwards, tip usvally straight. Floral glumes distinctly ciliate,

cilia up tol mm. Jong, lower broad-oblong, as long as the glumes, upper

broad-ovate, 3°3-4 mm. long, middle nerve much thickened from the middle

upwards, rdnning out into a short straight mucro, lobes adnate to it almost all

along. Anthers 2°7mm. long. Grains elliptic or ovate-elliptic in outline,

3:8-4°8 mm. by 2°7-3'3 mm.. dull white (in the African specimens). Pedicelled

spikelet usually neuter, linear or linear-lanceolate, up to 4°2 mm. long, more

often much reduced and quite small, persistent; lower involucral glume, if

well developed, up to 9-nerved, upper 5-nerved.

Of this species Stapf describes two varieties which also occur in India.

(a) Var. semiclausum, Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 127.-Holcus Sorghum minus

et Sisna, Wall. Cat. 8777 F. A.—Andropogon Sorghum, subsp. sativis, var.

Roxburghit (?) and fulvus, Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 510 and 512.— A. Sorghum,

var. Usorum (?). Stapf in Dyer FI. Cap. vii, 348,77 nota; Medley Wood,

Natal Pl. ii, t. 120, zom Koern. neque Hack.

' Description: Panicles fairly dense, also when mature. Involucral glumes

less coriaceous towards the tips and more or less showing the nerves in that

portion, permanently more or less strigillose, their margins clasping the grain

so that only its top or upper half is exposed.

Distribution: Nileland of tropical Africa, Mozambique District, Natal,

Madagascar, India.

(6) Var. hians, Stapf 1. c. 127.—Hfolcus Sorghum nitidum, Wall. Cat. 8777D.—

Andropogon Sorghum, var. hians, Stapf in Hook. f. F.B. I, vii, 184.—A. Sorghum,

296 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

var. Roxburghii, K.Schum. in Engl. Pfl. Ost. Afr. B, 48; C. t. iv, F-H ; Busse

and Pilger in Engl. Jahrb. xxxii, 184, partim.

Description ; Panicles more or less loose with very fexuous and often drooping

branches. Involucral glumes coriaceous to the tips with the nerves quite obscure,

subglabrous and somewhat glossy on the back when mature, their margins

involute, exposing the whole grain, which is often placed withits back and front

parallel to the median line of the spikelet.

Distribution - Mozambique District ; also in India.

* 3. Sorghum bicolor, Moench Meth. 207, var. obovatum, Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr.

ix, 127.—S. dzcolor, Willd. Enum. Hort. Beroi. 1036.—S. nzgrium, Roem.

& Schult. Syst. ti, 837.—S. vulgare bicolor, Pers. Syn.i, 101.—S. vulgare, var.

obovatum, subvar. xtigrum, Rendle in Cat. Afr. Pl. Welw. ii, 151.—S. rudens,

Willd. Enum. Hort. Berol. 1036.—AHfolcus dbicolor, Linn. Mant. Alt. 301.—

HT. Sorghum, Mieg. in Act. Helv. viii, 129, t. 4. f.4.—A7. miger, Ard. in Sage.

sc.e lett. acad. Padova, i, 134, t.5.—AH. saccharatus—Gaertn. Fruct. ii, 3, t. 80.

fig. 2 (?), 20m aliorum auctorum.— Andropogon niger, Kunth. Enum. i, 501.—

A. rubens, Kunth 1. c. 502.—A. Sorghum, subsp. sativus, var. obovatus, Hack. in

Monogr. Androp. 514.—A. Sorghum, var. bicolor, Koern.in Bull. Herb. Boiss.

ii, 226.

Description : An annual. Culms stout, up to4m. high, many-noded. Leaf-

sheaths mostly overlapping, finely pubescent at the nodes; ligules short, ciliate

from the back ;__ blades linear to lanceolate-linear from a broad and rounded or

slightly narrowed base, up to50cm. long and 75 cm. broad, pubescent to

tomentose inside above the ligules and less so or glabrous on the back at the

junction with the sheath. Panicles erect, contracted and more or less dense, or

loose and oblong or oblong-ellipsoid or obovate to oblanceolate in outline 7:5-30

cm. by 5-9cm.; branches erect or obliquely erect, rather rigid, finally sometimes

slightly drooping, the longest often more than half the length of the panicle and

undivided for 12 mm. to 7:5 cm. from the base, like the branchlets very rough,

spinulously ciliolate or ciliate, particularly upwards, silghtly hairy, rarely villous at

the base. Racemes tough, compact, frequently 3- or 4- (rarely 5-) noded ; joints

somewnat stout, flattened, 16-27 mm. long, shortly whitish or fulvously ciliate ;

pedicels similar, about 1 mm. long. Sessile spikelet more or less broadly obovate

even in flower, with very short broad and depressed tips, 4:8-5:8 mm. by 3:3-4-2mm.,

straw-coloured to tawny, finally darker, often with red or brown or purple spots

or blotches or turning altogether fuscous, chestnut-brown or quite black, closed

when mature or only slightly gaping, usually awned; callus-beard scanty.

Involacral glumes equal, firmly coriaceous except at the papery to membranous

tips, unevenly strigillose particularly and mostly persistently on the tips or almost

glabrous ; lower up to 16-nerved, nerves very faint, keels short, usually obscure,

tips very short, broadly triangular with a hyaline point, depressed ; upper broad,

9-nerved, obscurely keeled close to the tip, otherwise broadly rounded on the back.

loral glumes ciliate, lower broad-elliptic, about 4°2 mm. long, upper broad-ovate,

33mm. long, 2-lobed, awn about 106 mm. long, sometimes much reduced.

Anthers up to 4°2 mm. long. Grain tightly enclosed in the glumes or the top slightly

exposed, obovate-oblong in outline, 3:°3-3'8 mm. by 2-24 mm., brown; embryo-

mark distinct; nerves obliterated. Pedicelled spikelet neuter, persistent,

lanceolate to linear-obiong, acute, about 4*2 mm. long, reddish ; lower involucral

glume 9-10-, upper about 7-nerved.

Distribution : Lower Guinea. Occasionally cultivated in the Mediterranean

region from Madeira to India, also introduced into Australia, the West Indies and

Brazil.

* 4. Sorghum Durra, Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 129.—Hfolcus Durra, Forsk. Fl.

Aeg.-Arab. 174.—H7. Duna (sphalm.), Gmelin Syst. 173.—Andropogon Sorghum,

var. aegyptiacus, Koern. in Aschers. & Schweinf. Il. Fl. Egypte 164—4. Sorghum,

subsp. sativus, var. Durra and aegyptiacus, Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 516.

— A. Sorghum, subsp. sativus, var. Durra, Chiov. in Ann. Istit. Bot. Roma,

viii, 24.—A. Sorghum, var. niloticus and Schwetnturthianus, Koern. in Aschers.

& Schweinf. l.c. 778, 779.-A. Sorghum, var. arabicus and rubrocernuus, WKoern. in

Buil. Herb. Boiss. ii, App. ii, 12 (probabziliter.)

Description: An annual. Culms stout, up to 4m. high and even more,

20-40-noded. Leaf-sheaths finely pubescent at the nodes; ligules very short,

shortly ciliate ; blades up to 40 cm. by 5cm., quite glabrous (? always). Panicle

usually quite compact, ovoid or ellipsoid, erect or sometimes recurved, 10-15 cm.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY — 297

by 5-10 cm.; brancheserect, more or less flexuous, rather slender, rough to

spinulously ciliate, particularly upwards, ciliate to subvillous at the base, the

longest up to one half or one-third the length of the panicle, divided from very

low down. Racemes compact, tough, about 8°5 mm. long (in flower), mostly 3-or

4-noded; joints somewhat stout, flattened, 1 to almost 2 mm. long, whitish-

ciliate ; pedicels similar, but still shorter. Sessile spikelet rhombic-obovoid,

subacute (in flower), greenish or straw-coloured with greenish tips, ultimately

whitish or variously brown, dark red or black,- awned or awnless, callus-beard

scanty. Involucral glumes equal, coriaceous up to beyond 3 or 2, then papery,

unevenly strigillose, particularly at the tips and sides; lower with a_ broad

triangular greenish strongly nerved tip, about 12-nerved with 3 or 4 finer

nerves interspersed, 2-keeled upwards (keels rough), more or less flattened out

and very broad to rotundate when mature with the tips worn off and the back

glossy ; upper broad, 9-nerved with some additional finer nerves, slightiy keeled

upwards. Floral glumes ciliate ; lower ovate-elliptic, over 4*2 mm. long; upper

broad-ovate, 2-toothed, 4°2 mm. long, awn up to 75 mm. long, mostly much shorter

and then hardly twisted and differentiated into column and bristle or quite

suppressed. Anthers over 2 mm. long. Grain subglobose, slightly compressed,

with a broad. rounded much exposed top, white, yellow or variously reddish,

x3: by 53.mm., nerveless, embryo-mark faint. Pedicelled spikelet neuter

( ? always), persistent; lanceolate to linear-oblong, subacute, up to 63 mm.

long, greenish or reddish, lower 11-, upper 7-nerved.

Distribution » Nileland of.'Tropical Africa, Arabia, Afghanistan, India.

*5. Sorghum papyrascens, Stapf in Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 134.

Only mature panicles were known to Stapf. Culms up to 12 mm. across at the

base of the panicle. Panicle erect, oblong to oblanceolate in outline, contracted,

dense, up to over 30 cm. by 10-13 cm.; branches more or less whorled, often

many toa whorl, erect, the longer slightly arching, rather robust, like the

branchlets rough to spinulously ciliolate upwards and softly ciliate or pubescent

in addition, villous at the base or 12 mm. above it, following (longest) up to 15

em. long and undivided for 5-73 ‘em. fromm the base. Racemes tough, up to

4-noded and 38 mm. long, dense, much crowded ; joints moderately slender, up

to over 3:3 mim. long, shortly white-ciliate ; pedicels similar, 1-2-7 mm. long.

Sessile spikelet oblong (in flower), at length ovoid or oblong-ovoid, tight or

somewhat inflated, closed, up to 95 mm. long, permanently pale straw-coloured

or reddish ; callus-beard very short. Involucral glumes equal, papery and trans-

parent throughout ; lower up to 16-nerved with numerous transverse veins, very

obscurely keeled upwards or keelless, nerves raised from the base upwards,

softly pubescent to almost villous, very imperfectly giabrescent or at length

almost glabrous, hairs white; upper broad, about 13-nerved, very obscurely

keeled upwards, much less hairy. Floral glumes conspicuously ciliate ; lower

broad-elliptic, 53 mm.long; upper broad-ovate, entire and awnless or shortly

2-lobed, witha mucro or an awnup to 63 (rarely 106) mm. long, usually

slightly bent and hardly twisted. Lodicules densely ciliate. Grain completely

enclosed by the glumes or partly exposed by their breaking up, obovate to

orbicular-obovate in outline, compressed, biconvex, dull white or orange;

einbryo-mark faint, elliptic, slightly exceeding the middle of the grain. Pedicelled

spikelet neuter, reduced to the invoiucral glumes, persistent, linear or linear-

lanceolate, acute, pale straw-coloured or reddish, 6:3-8°5 mm. long, lower 11-13-.

upper 9-nerved, shorter.

Distribution : Nileland of tropical Africa. Also known from India.

*6. Sorghum cernuum, Host. Gram. Austr. iv, t. 3; Reichb. Ic. Fl. Germ. (1845.)

t. 80, fig. 466; Stapfin Fl. Trop. Afr. ix, 136.—AHolcus Sorghum, Linn. Sp.

Pl. ed. 1, 1047 (partim); Mant. ii, 500—A/. Dora, Mieg. in Act. Helv. viii

(1777),125,,t. 4, fic. 3—A. cernuus, Ard: in. Sagei sc. elett. Acad. Padova i,

128, t. iii, fig. 1 and 2.—H. compactus, Lam. Encycl. iti, 140.—Andropogon

compactus, Brot. Fl. Lus. i, 88.—A. cernuus, Roxb. FI. Ind. i, 273.—A. Sorghum

var. cernuus, Koern. in Koern. & Wern. Handb. Getreideb.i, 314.—A4. Sorghum

subsp. sativus, var. cernuus, Hack. in Monogr. Androp. 515.

Description: An annual. Culms stout. 3-4 m. high and more, 20-30-noded.

Leaf-sheaths minutely pubescent at the nodes; ligules very short, densely

ciliate from the back; blades linear-lanceolate, over 30 cm. by 6cm., pale

green, pubescent to tomentose inside above the ligule and outside at the junction

with the sheath. Panicle erect or recurved, ovoid to oblong, very compact or

298 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

somewhat loose, 10-25 cm. by 5-7-5 cm.; branches rather stout below, rigid,

spinulously ciliolate, particularly upwards, softly ciliate to villous at the base,

branches divided almost from the base, the longest 5-7°5cm. long. Racemes

compact : up to 3- or 4-noded, up to 106 (rarely 12:7) mm. long; joints stout,

compressed, 1 mm. long, moreorless white-silky-villous ; pedicels very similar,

of about the same length. Sessile spikelet ovate with rather broad tips, 5°3 mm.

by 3:3-3:8 mm., pale straw-coloured with greenish tips, whitish when mature,

awned. Involucral glumes equal, coriaceous aboutup to the middle or at the

base only, otherwise papery and often partly spongy, white-silky-villous all over

or glabrous on the coriaceous portion of the back; lower 12-nerved (with the

nerves distinct upwards and sometimes with a few very delicate additional nerves

interspersed), sharply 2-keeled upwards with the keels spinulously ciliolate and

abruptly ending, forming minute teeth between which the hyaline end of the tip

protrudes; upper very broad, about 12-nerved, slightly keeled upwards.

Floral glumes very densely ciliate ; lower broad-ovate, 2-lobed, 4°2 mm. long ;

upper broad elliptic-oblong, awn about 8°5 mm. long with the bristle half the

length of the long-exserted column ormore or less reduced. Anthers 3-3 mm.

long. Grain equalling the glumes or more or less exserted, orbicular or orbicular-

obovate in outline, more or less compressed, 4°2-5:3 mm. by 4°2 mm., white, dull ;

embryo-mark indistinct. Pedicelled spikelet neuter, linear-lanceolate, 4°2 mm.

long, pubescent, lower involucral glume 11-, upper 10-nerved.

Distribution : Upper Guinea, North Central Tropical Africa, N. Africa, the

Orient to Turkestan and N. India as far as Manipur.

(To be continued)

A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND, 1926

Lizurt. J. W. BoRRADAILE

(With 6 plates)

A visitor to Somaliland, who is accustomed to shooting under

Indian conditions, will find many differences and not the least among

which is the non-existence of the ‘block system’. If you are a

resident of Aden, for the sum of Rs. 50 the whole country is open

to you, while if you come from elsewhere the cost of a license is

increased to Rs. 300.

In Somaliland you cover big distances and must be entirely self-

contained as regards transport, provisions and water, once the

main road which connects Berbera, Sheikh and Hargeisa is left

behind, for it is possible to travel for many days without meeting

a human being. Moreover there are only three serviceable rest

houses in the country and these, including the new one at Berbera,

are all situated on the main road. Shops are only to be found at

Berbera, Sheikh, Burao and Hargeisa. On one occasion we sent

a runner fifty miles for eggs and he returned with one!

Perhaps the greatest obstacle which the traveller has to face is

the lack of water. The rainfall is more than sufficient, but as the

soil is gravel all the water rapidly disappears and then can only

be found at the regular water holes. Not only does this increase

the caravan, but it limits the marches as a fresh water hole must

be reached before the supply carried from the last one is finished.

The geography of Somaliland can be described broadly as

follows :—From a coastal strip of desert the Golis and Asser

Ranges rise step by step to a height of 5,000 ft. Thence the great

waterless plateau, which is an eastern outcrop of the Abyssinian

highland stretches inland, a waste of grasslands and thorn bush.

It was on July 3, 1926 and with the sun already low above the

distant mountains, that I first sighted Berbera. It was a remark-

able picture. An oasis of white houses and palm trees, around

which the coastal desert appeared, deep gold against the blue and

white of the sea.

It was already dark before we had taken all our possessions

from the little Cowasjee steamer and been rowed ashore, so, as

it was clearly impossible to continue the journey to Sheikh on that

day, we occupied quarters in Berbera, which had kindly been set

aside for us. A night in Berbera during the Kharif season is no

joke and we hastened our preparations on the next day so as to

be across the desert strip before this wind began to operate. From

a local merchant we hired two ancient Ford busses into which

we put our tents, bedding, cooking pots, water carriers, provisions,

300 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1

servants and finally ourselves. Much to our surprise these machines

ploughed through the heavy sand at a reasonable speed, until

about five miles outside Berbera we struck the foothills and the

metalled road.

The foothilis were bare and burnt-up and only at the

regular halting places was there any sign of life, human or

animal. To this statement I make one exception and that, about

half-way between Berbera and Sheikh. Here my companion B—

drew my attention to a small herd of gazelle which resembled the

Chinkara of India. We recognized: them as being Pelzehm’s

Gazelle, the Lowland Dhero .of Somaliland, which are different

from their highland relations the Speke’s Gazelle in that the latter

have very definite black markings on their sides and also a baggy

protrusion on the nose which they can inflate to a great size.

They do not do this under the influence of fear and I believe the

cause is entirely sexual. In all other respects both these animals

are the counterparts of the Arabian Gazelle and the Chinkara of

India. As we expected to meet other representatives of this species

we did not get out to shoot, but afterwards we discovered that they

only inhabit the lower foothills and we only once came across them

again.

After three hours we sighted the main bluff of the Golis Range

which rises’ 2,000 feet sheer above a level stretch in the foothills

and is. the-final ‘step’ up to the: great *plateau above.) Phesjroad

climbed a re-entrant in this bluff and after many bends and curves

had been negotiated we could at last see the white houses of the

little settlement of Sheikh across an open grassy plain.

It was at Sheikh that we were to engage our caravan, which

would have been a lengthy business had not a kind friend already

done most of the work for us. According to our reckoning we

required ten camels at one rupee per march and four annas when

stationary. We afterwards discovered that we had over-estimated

the provisions required and could have managed with at least one

camel less. These camels had three men and one woman with

them as drivers.

We then engaged our hunters. B— had a Somali called Aden

and.a Midgan. Jama, who had worked. together very successfully

on many previous trips. Aden spoke a little English and made an

excellent foreman to the whole outfit, while Jama the Midgan as

well as being an excellent hunter could speak and understand

English, Arabic and Urdu, which he ‘had acquired from the Pathan

orderlies of a former master, as well as his own language. In

addition he was something of a handy man and was by far ‘the

most useful servant we had.

These Midgans belong to an outcast. tribe, whom -the Somalis

will not recognize. They depend for their livelihood on the use of

their hunting dogs and are probably unequalled in the world as

animal trackers. It would be interesting to see one of them following

an animal with a Bhil of India over ground which was strange to

both. The only times I have seen Indians trying to track seriously

were, in. one case tiger-;tracks a few. hours old, and: in -the other

those -of a wounded panther which had. passed .a few. minutes

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

1. THE ‘Motor ROAD’ ACROSS THE MARITIME DESERT.

} By courtesy.

Capt. Ross Hurst,

2. GOLIS SCENERY.

*HHIGHAOL) LV dNVZ

*HONVY SITIOYN

‘SSVqd Vd0d-VA-IOH WOUd MAIA '¢

"90¢ “3SIE] “3J°N Aequiog “uanor

A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND 301

before them. On each occasion they were painfully slow and lost

the tracks as soon as they left the river bed.

I had a Somali chief hunter named Chama, who had experience

of hunting in Nairobi, Abyssinia and the Sudan as well as his own

country. My second hunter could understand no known language

though I tried him in English, Urdu and Arabic, nor was he

particularly adept at understanding signs, otherwise he was a

good worker.

Having settled these two important items, it now remained to

collect a cook boy and two boys who would act as assistant bearers

and the choice of these was left entirely with our own servants.

I must say that I have never been so well served as I was by these

Somalis. Each one was more than ready to exceed his proper

work both while out hunting and in camp. So, the camel drivers

were often used as assistant hunters and the hunters would always

give a hand in the work of the camp, so that the speed attained in

pitching and striking camp and preparing meals was prodigious.

With the exception of the camel drivers all the Somalis were

rationed by us at the daily rate of 1 lb. of dates, 1 Ib. of rice,

and + lb. of ghee. Also, of course, they always got their share

of meat when there was sufficient.

On the advice of friends who had shot in Somaliland before, we

had already mapped out a route and this was based on the localities

in which the various animals were to be found: elephant and rhino

are not on the Somali license. Of the great cats, lion and leopard

follow the flocks of the nomadic Somal and can only be located

in the first place by the reports of anyone who is met with on the

road and their discovery is a matter of some difficulty. In the

case of leopard the chances of news are further limited, because

being vermin, the natives are allowed to shoot them and they can

sell the skins for a handsome price. Cheetah on the other hand,

not being molester of cattle, must be left entirely to chance.

Somaliland has a great variety of antelopes of which the king

is the Greater Kudu, who grazes on the rocky hills of the Golis

Range and rarely comes into the open plain. His cousin the

Lesser Kudu lives on the aloe bush which is found in the foothills

just below the main Golis bluff. Hargeisa District has been closed

to both these species owing to rinderpest and when this protection

is removed the great hunting ground for Kudu will be the Asser

and not the Golis Range. The little antelopes, Klipspringer and

Beira inhabit much the same country as the Greater Kudu. The

Beira favours particularly some very stony flat-topped hills in the

Asser Range.

Upland Dhero (Speke’s Gazelle) and Aoul (Soemmering’s Gazelle)

inhabit the open grassy places of the plateau and are often found

grazing together, while Lowland Dhero live entirely in the foot-

hills. Gerenuk (Waller’s Gazelle) are to be found in almost any

bush country and are particularly addicted to country intersected

by small hollows and nullahs. The largest heads belong to the

foothills, the upland variety being shorter and thicker. Oryx and

Swayne’s Hartebeest inhabit the open stretches towards the

Abyssinian border, though Hartebeest are now rare except in

)

302 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

special localities. The Dib-a-Tag, a very rare beast lives in the

surrounding bush and tall grass country, where also single male

Oryx are found.

Finally the Dik-Dik, the smallest of antelopes are common to

all bush country. Birds and hares and other exclusively ‘pot’

game keep to the neighbourhood of water and can usually be got

within easy reach of camp.

Taking all this into consideration our plan was to travel along

the top of the Golis as far as Hargeisa, picking up anything we

could on the way. From Hargeisa we were to make a short

journey into the waterless country of the plateau for Oryx and

Hartebeest and then back along the foot of the Golis bluff for

Greater and Lesser Kudu. Here also was the most likely country

for lion and leopard.

The first march along the Golis was a short one in order to

allow the caravan to settle down and except that we heard the

sharp dog-like bark of baboons, the whole country seemed lifeless.

We camped that night away from water eight miles outside Sheikh.

We were off early in the morning and were at the watering place

of Halo by midday, having collected one Klipspringer on the way.

The Klipspringer is a pretty little beast standing about two feet

at the shoulder with short straight horns and a very bristly coat.

The Somalis call him Allacout and as we knew him only by his

Dutch name there was some discussion before we identified him.

In this way we proceeded to the village of Adadleh, half-way

between Sheikh and Hargeisa. A start was usually made at six in

the morning and after the next meeting place with the caravan had

been arranged, wet set out in different directions in search of game,

usually taking the caravan route as a dividing line. From the

stony hills around Halo we crossed the open plain and after this

we struck the belt of bush round Adadleh, which we reached on

the fifth day, having only collected the Klipspringer and three

Dhero on the way. The country was uninhabited and we struck

no encampments though we passed two or three caravans on the

move, one of which gave us a false alarm of leopard which delayed

us two hours.

This was my first experience of the African bush and I was

struck immediately by the far greater variety of colouring and

species than is seen in the Indian jungle. This was particularly

noticeable in the case of birds and insects. Here were parrots,

weaver birds, the great black and white horn-bill, the Kurria

Plover with his white body and long red legs and painted starlings

of every variety. One little fellow who reminded us of the Indian

Myna was always round the camp. He had a gold breast and

his wings were blue.

The Somalis have an ingenious scheme for catching birds alive.

A succulent piece of corn is used as a bait and round this is

concealed in the grass a wide slip knot. The bird descends and

scratches for the corn, so tightening the knot round his leg.

There are three Somali insects, the memory of which will always

be with me. The first are the huge centipedes which gave me

many alarms until I was assured that they were harmless, The

A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND 303

second are the ants which disfigure the landscape with their build-

ing operations, many of their houses standing ten feet above the

ground. The third are the ticks which cling to the legs, above

the puttees and a number of which must be removed after every

march. Fortunately we were not visited by the hard tick who is

a carrier of relapsing fever. In addition there were insects of

every kind and colour.

At Adadlah, Gerenuk were plentiful but shy, and we spent the

next two days. chasing this giraffe-like beast, which with its

ungainly trot, absurd neck and the forward curve of the horns, is

absolutely unlike any of the other Somali antelopes. I had come

to the end of an unsuccessful chase after a Gerenuk and it was

almost dark, when I saw for the first time a striped hyena. In

the failing light he looked such an imposing beast that I would

have shot at him had not he had the luck to walk behind a tree

and then, alarmed by our presence, glide silently away. It was

at Adadleh too that B— had our only experience of Aardwolf

(Proteles cristatus, Sparrm.) The name ‘Earth Wolf’ is deceptive

as this animal is no wolf at all. He lives underground, is of a

reddish-brown colour and stands about 18” from the ground.

Before leaving Adadleh, we made two additions to the caravan.

The first was one, Hasan, nicknamed the Waraba (Hyena) a

waster and the ugliest man I have ever seen. He remained with

us for the rest of the journey doing odd jobs for his keep and

contented to receive no pay. He afterwards proved quite useful

to us. The second addition was yet another baggage camel upon

which I rode the rest of the way to Hargeisa as I had a slight

sprain in the ankle. I was not sorry to say good-bye to this beast,

for sitting on his back propped up by two tents for a mile was

infinitely worse than walking two,

Beyond the bush country of Adadleh was the Goriale Plain,

across which it took us two days to march. Here we made our

first acquaintance with Aoul (Gazella soemmeringi), a beast of about

the size of an Indian Black-buck, though much more heavily built

and very slow and clumsy in his movements. The horns of the

Aoul curve inwards at the top and sometimes measure 20”, B—

came back to camp with one on the first day and on the second

I spied from the top of my camel a fat old Aoul grazing with two

Dhero does. I dismounted and approached him at a somewhat

deliberate pace and he watched me quite unmoved. When we

afterwards measured his horns we found them to be 174”.

On the same day B— brought back two Goli Warabas or Black-

eared foxes. These beasts had always been something of a mystery

to us. When my ankle had first given trouble at Adadleh, I had

amused myself in the evenings by sitting up over a piece of meat

at sundown in the hope of shooting one. I only succeeded in

getting two jackals, which the Somalis call ‘Fockus’ and it was

the mention of this name that had made me expect to see Black-

eared fox. In the end I was told that Goli Warabas do not eat

meat, which surprised me as they certainly have the head and teeth

of the fox. Another peculiar thing we noticed about the Goli

Waraba was that the plateau variety seem to be a different breed

304 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

to those in the foothills, and in spite of the ore climate the

latter have the heavier coats.

We were now in bush country again near ie watering place

of Badalwanak. Our next march should have brought us to

Hargeisa had we not been the victims of a most peculiar

occurrence. It had been raining during the morning in the hills

which flanked our route and we were proceeding cheerfully with

the caravan under the perfect blue sky, when we noticed that the

ground underfoot was becoming sodden and in a few minutes the

country was changed from a hard sandy surface into a marsh.

Of course the camels could not proceed so we had to spend the

night on the nearest high ground, In the morning it was dry

enough to march into Hargeisa which we _ reached before

midday.

Hargeisa is the serai of the Abyssinian trading caravans. It

has a small English population which at that time included the

District Commissioner, the Medical Officer, the Police Officer and

the Headquarters of one company of the Camel Corps. Here we

spent two days in order to replenish stores and make preparations

for the journey to the Seila Ban Plain. We were able to borrow

six more water tanks which with the two we already carried gave

us a total of one hundred and twenty gallons.

We cut down the number of our followers by two, but added one

man with local knowledge who was to act as a guide, also I

exchanged my camel for a country pony and though the necessity

of taking him was a drain on our resources, these ponies can work

on very little moisture and are far more manageable than a baggage

camel. At Hargeisa I was given the opportunity of playing a

game of polo on them. I ride 13 stone 4 lbs., but they can carry

heavier men than I with the greatest ease and turn remarkably

quickly.

The road to the Seila Ban Plain took us through thorn bush and

fields of yellow and red orchids. On the first day we reached camp

in a storm which, though unpleasant at the time, gave us three

hours of rain and filled water holes which would ordinarily have

been dry. This to some extent solved our water problem, as the

pony could be led to water and the used tanks could be refilled.

The Somalis are notoriously lavish with water and even when the

strictest guard is kept over it will aways find a way to waste

some, which, considering the conditions they have always had to

face it is surprising.

We were out early on the second day in search of One and

after about an hour’s walk I struck a large Somali Karria (encamp-

ment) where I waited while my hunters asked for news.

These encampments are completely surrounded by a fence of

bushes called a Zareba and inside are similarly divided into pens

for sheep and cattle, two or three main roads and a space of about

four yards round the circumference into which the camels are led

at night.

These can be erected in a very short time with the aid of short

sticks crooked at one end and forked at the other.

The crook is used for pulling the bushes up and the fork for

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

oS :

By courtesy ; ; : Capt. Ross Hurst.

6. LEssER Kupu (Strepsiceros imiberbis, Bly.)

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

By courtesy Capt. Ross Hurst

7. ‘AOUL’ OR SOEMMERING’S GAZELLE (Gazella soemmeringi, CRETSCHM. )

8. ORvx (Oryx beisa, RUPP.)

AAS

A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND 305

pushing them into position. When the tribe leaves the neighbour-

hood the old camp is left standing and these are to be seen all

over Somaliland.

At this encampment I had my first drink of camel’s milk out of

a wooden bowl. I found it creamy and most nourishing. I also

photographed a Somali woman carrying a child slung in a cloth on

her back. The Somalis both women and men are usually of good

physique and are often remarkably handsome, of which fact they

are well aware, for a vainer race it would be hard to imagine.

They are clean, and at intervals of about a week the men wash

their hair with a sort of yellow plaster. Their dress consists of a

sheet and they generally go bareheaded. Nearly everyone met

with on the road carries arms, either an antiquated rifle or a couple

of spears or club with an Oryx-hide shield. They are great

fighters and will always join in anyone’s squabble if they think

they can get a good fight out of it.

Soon after leaving the encampment which caused this diversion,

we found fresh Oryx tracks and within an hour I had got a fine

male Oryx. The Oryx stands about the same height as a bull,

has massive shoulders, is grey in colour with very noticeable black

markings on the face. His cumbrous bovine appearance gives one

the impression of great strength and endurance while his horns

are straight and business-like.

It was late in the afternoon before B— reached camp and he told

me he had followed the same Oryx tracks as I, and that seeing

our footmarks had changed his direction. After an uneventful

morning he had decided to make for camp and when he had tramped

steadily for some way he thought he recognized a water pool

which he had seen before, he marked this with his stick. Within

an hour he was back at the same pool again. It was a dull day

so he did not have the sun to help him. However he struck out

in what he thought to be the right direction and it was many hours

before he found a wandering Somali who guided him back to camp

without hesitating once on the way.

The Somali bush on a dull day is most dangerous as it 1s com-

pletely featureless, the field of view is rarely more than a hundred

yards and above all it is waterless. There are many cases on

record of novices being “bushed’, but that this should happen to

two Somali hunters conducting an Englishman surprised us.

Our next march led us to the edge of the plain. We made our

camp (round which we built a complete Zareba) some two miles

inside the bush in order to get shelter from the Kharif wind and

a very charming little camp it was too. Here above all other

places we felt entirely cut off from the human race with nothing

but the bush and plain with their wild inmates around us.

It was on this day that I crawled up behind a bush to within

twenty yards of an Oryx who was taking his afternoon siesta.

I was so startled by his magnificent appearance at this close range,

that I quite forgot to shoot and I watched him scramble ponder-

ously to his feet and away !

The story of my second Oryx is not creditable. I wounded

the animal rather too far forward and in our anxiety not to lose

306 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, .Vol. XXXII

sight of him again, we followed him as fast as we could run.

After a disgraceful fusilade I brought him down and then feeling

in the pocket of my woollen waistcoat for more ammunition was

horrified to discover that it had dropped out and my stupid second

hunter, who was following, had not retrieved it, so there I was

with a wounded Oryx on my hands and not a round of ammunition

within five miles. After a fruitless search for the ammunition we

went up to have a look at the Oryx. He was quite alive but could

not move. At last we resorted to a desperate remedy, placing a

log of wood between his horns we twisted them until his neck was

in a suitable position for the halal and though we accomplished

this in the end he gave the three of us all we could manage and

I learnt my lesson never to carry all my ammunition in one pocket.

Perhaps the best day of all was the one spent on the plain itself.

There with an uninterrupted field of view of something like twenty

miles, we could see great herds of Aoul probably totalling over

3,000 grazing beside herds of Oryx and far away to the south

was the thin black line of the bush country on the Abyssinian

border. We were disappointed at the absence of Hartebeeste and

though B— got to within 300 yards of a male Ostrich the wind was

too high to fire at anything but a certainty. Directly he became

aware of our presence he made off at a great speed, dodging from

side to side and looking like a bush on stilts. Here too B— saw

a baby Aoul being chased by a hunting dog. The dog, by good

stalking had got up wind of him and the little Aoul only just reached

his family in time.

Having shot our allowance just as the water was running short,

we returned to Hargeisa. Oryx meat is a great delicacy for the

Somalis and the total arnount of meat brought back to camp

during this week must have been 400 lbs., yet when we asked

for Oryx meat again in Hargeisa we were told that the Sahibs

had eaten it all!

On our second visit to Hargeisa we were given the privilege of

attending the court and were struck by the number of trivial matters

which were brought up. One man complained that his son aged

fifteen had been stealing the milk, another that his brother had

hit him over the head with a club. All this goes to show that the

Somali prefers British arbitration to his own methods.

Somaliland being a Protectorate is governed by Somali law, not

British. Somali law has the peculiarity that capital punishment

does not exist. The penalty for manslaughter, whether accidental

or not, is the presentation of one hundred camels from the tribe

of the offender to the tribe of the victim. This queer survival of

inter-tribal law would have meant that had I accidentally killed

a hunter, I should have been fined one hundred camels or 3,000

rupees.

We were now in two minds whether to strike west from

Hargeisa as far as the Abyssinian border in hope of getting

Hartebeeste or reserve the whole of our remaining time for the

Guban route, below the Golis bluff. Circumstances led us to take

a middle course which we bitterly regretted. This course was to

strike north-west from Hargeisa to a place called Ged-ka-Debkaleh,

A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND 307

where we had heard that there were leopard, and thence join the

Guban route at the foot of the Asser Hills. At Ged-ka-Debkaleh

we found a huge fig tree which covered our whole camp. Of

course there were no leopard there, so having disposed of the

last Gerenuk on our license, we had to content ourselves with

shooting Dik-Dik and game birds for the pot.

These did not fail us and we collected quite a number of species

including Quail, Ball-throated Francolin, Partridge and Lesser

Bustard and though we saw Greater Bustard and Guinea Fowl the

moment was never opportune for shooting them. The Dik-Dik

is a tiny antelope not larger than a hare, but he has a beautiful

soft coat which is much in demand for ladies’ gloves.

We now had a march of over thirty miles across waterless

country to reach Jalelo on the main Guban route and as we had

no man who had been this way before, Hasan, the Waraba, was

taken on the strength in the capacity of guide. The direction of

Jalelo was nearly due east and on the first day he took us north.

Luckily we found water and camped by it for the night. We were

taking our usual evening walk in search of birds when we

encountered a large male Wart Hog, who appeared to be eyeing

us in an aggressive manner, in fact he even advanced towards us.

We had only one shot gun between us and B— slipped a round

of lethel into it and fired. The ball went over his head, and the

Wart Hog turned and trotted slowly away keeping his tail erect

and completely unconcerned. I afterwards shot one of these

beasts who behaved in exactly the same way. I do not think they

do this with any idea of attacking a man, but standing in no

particular awe of him, as they are absolutely safe from the Somalis,

they approach merely to satisfy their curiosity. They differ from

the Indian boar in that their long tusks are the upper and not the

lower ones. I could never imagine one of them attacking the line

of beaters and horses unprovoked, as I have seen an Indian boar

do and I think the country in which they are found would make

it impossible to hunt them on horseback.

We started at 6 a.m. on the next day and Hasan, the Waraba,

completely led us astray. He could march in no particular direction

for any time and at last we had to take control and set a course

by the sun and we did not reach Jalelo until seven in the evening.

This was the second time that our hunters had lost us and yet

in country which they know they can guide you back to camp in

the most infallible manner. I can only think that they do not

guide themselves as we do by sense of direction and the position

of the sun, but from long experience have learnt to remember

features in the bush which escape us altogether.

After this march we decided to have a day of rest at Jalelo. In

the evening it began to thunder and rain, so we had dinner in our

tents. Presently we heard the roar of water outside and ran out

to see by the flashes of lightning that the river bed was a raging

torrent some 300 yards wide. It must have risen eight feet in a

few minutes. Soon the water covered our feet, then coming in

from another direction put out the fires and swept into the tents.

Boots and boxes of provisions were floating about everywhere,

308 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

A trap of branches was quickly made, the tents were struck and

everything was carried up the hill. Only one person remained

quite unmoved during the whole proceeding and that was the

cook boy, who, sitting on a slight eminence, continued to bake

to-morrow’s bread until the flood had subsided from around him.

The spate had not sufficiently subsided by the morning to allow

us to move and it was not until the third morning after our arrival

at Jalelo that we started our next march to Argan. After the

spate the servants took the opportunity of asking for a rupee each

‘to give to the Bishop at the coffee shop’ as a thanksgiving for

their deliverance. Needless to say this was not granted. The

Somali coffee shop is not as its name signifies, a place where

coffee may be bought, but it is usually a rickety house of branches

near a water hole where those who come to draw water from the

neighbouring Karrias, may sit down and exchange news.

We had not proceeded far on the Argan road before we saw

leopard tracks in a river bed, so decided to camp the night by

some water, which was nearby and in the meantime to send out

men in all directions for news. We heard that the leopard had

visited a Karria about three miles away and we reached this place

before dark.

The Somali method of shooting leopard is to tie up a goat out-

side the Zareba at night with a rifle hole within two yards of him.

The leopard attracted by his cries pounces on the goat right under

the muzzle of the rifle. Only of course it is not nearly so simple

as all that. For one thing the leopard are wily and will smell a

rat if there is any flaw in the preparations, and for another thing

the hyenas are a perfect plague and must be driven off silently

by the hunter with a spear. Added to this, on a dark night, it

is not easy to distinguish through a small hole with the eye, a

rifle’s length behind, which is a leopard and which a hyena. On

this occasion the hyenas were particularly numerous and no leopard

appeared and although we laid this trap several times during the

return journey it was never successful.

Argan is an attractive spot. The banks ofthe river bed are

covered with bullrushes and date bushes. Here I tried to

photograph some baboons, but they seemed so annoyed at my

intrusion that I took the exposure at too long a range and the

result was unsatisfactory. Another peculiar little beast which we

saw here was the Rock Rabbit. He appeared to be about the size

of a rabbit without the long ears and this made his head seem

very round.

At Argan we got rumours of lion and again sent our hunters

out into the country for news. Hasan, the Waraba, returned to

say that he had seen the tracks of a female and two cubs five

days old at a pool some way up stream and we set out in this

direction on the next’ morning. We soon found tracks of the

previous evening and followed them through the most forbidding

looking rocky outcrops of the hills. Unfortunately the lady had

not killed during the night, so she did not lie up anywhere; at one

point we saw the marks of her having attacked a Wart Hog.

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A SPORTING TRIP TO BRITISH SOMALILAND 309

his escape. It was not until after dark that we reached camp to

hear that a male lion had killed a camel five miles away in the

opposite direction and that the news had come in too late to reach

us.

The difference in the tactics used on the Somali lion and the

Indian tiger are great. There is no question of sitting up in a

machaan after dark as the lion rarely returns to his kill, though

he is sometimes caught by the same trap as is used for Jeopard.

In Somaliland also the only beaters available are drawn from your

own personnel and rarely number more than five. Usually the

lion is tracked to wherever he is sleeping off the effects of his feed

and if the bush is thick you manceuvre to get down wind while

the hunters fire the grass on the opposite side and he must be

shot on foot as he emerges, there being no tree capable of holding

a machaan.

The next morning we were out at the pool again, but saw no

new tracks. Attracted by the gathering of vultures we visited a

Karria to find that a camel had died from natural causes and that

the Somalis were eating the flesh almost hot off the beast. Leaving

this rather unpleasant scene, we crossed a col into another valley

and here B— shot a Beira with a head of 41”. The Beira

(Dorcatragus melanotis) is rather bigger than a Klipspringer. His

French grey colour makes him very difficult to pick out on the

hillside. His ears are huge and in proportion to his body and his

feet are rounded at the bottom in a peculiar manner.

As our time was now getting short, we had to leave Argan

behind us and start the next march to Mandera. At this place we

had our first dealings with Lesser Kudu, which lives in the

very thick bush just below the Golis bluff. Like the Beira he has

huge ears and when disturbed bolts away at a great speed, making

it very difficult to shoot him.

My two hunters were once following the tracks of a Lesser

Kudu and I was walking behind them, when I suddenly saw the

head and neck of the Lesser Kudu above a bush a few yards away.

He was watching the movements of the hunters with the greatest

interest and they had walked right past him. Directly he saw that

he was detected he made off like a streak. Between Sheikh and

Mandera we each got our allowance of Lesser Kudu, but not with-

out many failures. He is a beautiful antelope with his spiral horns

and striped body and is well worth the trouble and expenditure of

shirts torn by the very thorny bush.

On the hills above Mandera I chased a fine Greater Kudu bull

for eleven hours on one day and twelve on the next and only

got three glimpses of him. On the last occasion I determined to

fire at any reasonable range. I got one at 300 yards with a cross

wind and only scratched him on the back of the leg and though

I followed him all that day, I failed to come up with him again,

but as he climbed three large hills, I hope he is alive to this day.

The specimen I afterwards shot not far from Sheikh was not to

be compared with this one.

On the way to Lower Sheikh we passed mica deposits in the

hills and took seeds of various plants including sweet peas and

310 JOURNAL, BOMBAY: NATURAL AIST. SOCTEIA, Vol xxiT

castor-oil plant. Our hunters collected honey. There we paid off

our followers. The whole cost of two months was about Rs. 1,200

each and this included liberal tips. Most of the provisions which

we took were unused and we only opened two tins of sausages

during the whole period and that was when we were following

lion at Argan. Our bag included one Great Kudu, four Lesser

Kudu, one Beira, two Klipspringer, four Oryx, four Aoul, six

Gerenuk, five Speke’s Gazelle, one Pelzehm’s Gazelle, fifteen Dik-

Dik, one Wart Hog, three Black-eared Fox and with game birds

and hares numbered about 112 head.

We were preparing for our departure at Berbera when we were

surprised to see Hasan the Waraba whom we had left at Sheikh,

the possessor of only a waist band and a talisman. He was now

dressed in a brand new sheet, the ample folds of which covered

his whole body and round his waist was tied a coloured cloth.

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES .

* BY ;

incor EC; FRASER, I.M.S., F.E.S.

Part XXVIII Wes caer

| (With three plutes.) )

(Continued from page 889 of Vol, XXX)

Genus—RHINOCYPHA Ramb. cont.

Rhinocypha ignipennis, Selys, Bull. Acad. Belg. (2) xlvii. p. (1879) ; Will.

Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxviii, pp. i73,. 179-181 (1904) ; Laid,

Rec. Ind... Mus:.p. 35, vol. xii1-(1917) ; Kirby,.Cat. Odon. prei43

(1890).

Male. Abdomen 22mm. Hindwiag 22mm.

Head. Labium black; labrum black, unmarked in adults, with two oval

bluish spots in tenerals ; face glossy black, upper part of head velvety black

with a small oval orange spot on the outer side of each posterior ocellus and a

small rounded postocular spot on each side of occiput. At rear of latter, and

midway between these two spots, a small linear orange spot. |

Prothorax velvety black with a small median orange spot on the hinder part

of median lobe and a long lateral spot of pale blue or yellowish on each side.

Thorax velvety black marked with orange as foliows:—a tiny upper ante-

numeral spot, a fine linear posthumeral stripe broadly broken above, incomplete

below, a short linear spot on the upper part of the first lateral suture, and an

elongate oblique lateral orange stripe on the lower part of thorax, broadly

broken in two by the anterior border of metepimeron.

Legs black, the hinder pairs of tibiae not pulverulent on the inner side as in

most other species.

Wings semiopaque from node to apices, this area dark brown by transmitted

light, brilliant fiery coppery by reflected light. The hinder pair with two rows

of vitreous spots which vary in tint from mother-of-pearl to palest peach-blossom

pink or pale blue. The most basal spot about 14 cells long, one cell-row wide,

begins about six cells proximal to the node and ends distad about two to four

postnodal cells beyond the node, lying between J7A4 and Aru + v. .

The outer row consisting of three long stripes similarly coloured, the costal

one rather the longest of the three, the posterior slightly the shortest, the costal

one lying between 7/77 and A722, about 26 cellslong; the middle stripe between

the same nervures as the basal spot, about 22 cells long, one cell wide

proximad, three distad ; the hinder stripe 15 cells long, lying between Cuz,

and WA. ; pees

-Pterostigma dark yellowish brown framed in black and with inner third the

same colour. Inner hyaline areas of wings tinted with pale yellow; 16 to 18

antenodal nervures ; discoidal cells traversed 3 to 4 times; petiolation begins

rather nearer the level of the proximal antenodal than the level of arc.

Abdomen black or steely blue, marked on the sides of the first two segments

only, with a large orange spot on segment 1 and a tiny apical spot on segiment

2. Teneral specimens are marked very nearly as in the female described below.

Anal appendages black, shaped as for cuneata. cre

Female. Abdomen 21mm. Hindwing 28 mm.

Head black spotted with yellow or orange as follows :—-The base of the labium

and a snot on each lateral lobe, a broad oval spot on each side the base of

labrum, the mandibles broadly, a large spot on each cheek and the basal joints

of antennae, a tiny spot on each side of epistome, a large broadly oval trans-

verse spot on each side of frons, with asmaller spot just behind each, a rounded

spot on each side of the auterior ocellus and lastly the same spots as in the male

Prothorax black with bright yellow markings as follows:—A fine medial

middorsal line running from the posterior lobe to anterior end, the marginal

312 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX11

crest of the posterior lobe and an inward prolongation from this, a very large

bell-shaped spot on the sides of the middle lobe.

Thorax velvety black, marked as for the male but more broadly so, the

obligue lateral stripe extending the whole length of thorax, and broken in three

places by the lateral and humeral sutures.

The humeral spot linear and, after a short interval, continued as a fine stripe

to anterior end of thorax ; the posthumeral stripe complete. Beneath, two

large orange spots at hinder area of thorax.

Legs black, the flexor surfaces of femora slightly but distinctly pulverulent.

The middorsal carina and midline of antealar sinus finely yellow.

Wings hyaline, palely enfumed greenish yellow. Pterostigma as for male;

antenodal nervures about 20 in number.

Abdomen black marked with yellow or ochreous as follows :—Segment 1 with

a large lateral spot, 2to 4 with an apico-lateral spot and a linear spot nearly

confluent with it, lengthening to a stripe on segments 3 and 4 ; lastly segments

5 and 6 with a vestigial apicolateral spot. Anal appendages and vulvar scale

as for cuneata.

Distribution. Assam and Upper Burma. Mr. T. Bainbrigge Fletcher has

found it quite common at Shillong, Assam during September to November.

The Selysian type comes from this district, and is now in the Brussels Museum.

The specimen described by Williamson fron. Burma is undoubtedly a teneral

male of this species, and is the only record from Burma.

‘The species is quite easily distinguished from all others save ¢rimaculata

which has the same glorious colouring, but which is smaller and has the vitreous

spots much shorter than in zguipenuis. FR. fulgipennis from Siam has similarly

coloured wiags, but the wings are broader and the thorax bears a coloured

mesothoracic triangle. The colouring of the wings of these three handsome

insects reminds one strongly of the gorgeous fiery Indian sunsets and is

unexampled in nature.

Rhinocypha trimaculata, Selys, Syn. Cal. p. 62 (1853) ; Id. Mon. Calop. p. 211

(1854) ; Laid. Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. xiii, p:~35 (1917); > Kirby; Cat;

Odon. p. 113 (1890).

Male. Abdomen18mm. Hindwing 22 mm.

Head velvety black, labium and labrum unmarked, vertex and occiput

marked as for iguipennis, viz.,.—a reniform spot on the outer side of each

hinder ocellus and a smallround postocular spot behind each, with an elongate

small spot between them on hinder border of occiput.

Prothorax velvety black, quite unmarked.

Thorax glossy black marked with bright yellow, bluish green or blue accord-

ing to the age of specimen, as follows:--A tiny upper humeral spot, a fine

linear posthumeral stripe, broken above, ashort fine line on upper part of first

lateral suture, an irregular oblique stripe running the full length of side of

thorax, broken into three spots, one of which occupies the central part of

metepimeron, and another, more elongate, the centre of mesepimeron.

Legs black, not pulvurulent as to the tibiae.

Wings fiery coppery red, even more brilliant than in zgnifennis, semiopaque

from level of node in hindwings, from slightly distad of that level in the fore

where the costal margin of wing is hyaline as far as beyond the pterostigma.

In the hindwing four vitreous spots of the palest iridescent blue or peach-

blossom pink, the palest one of which is about 17 cells long, extends from distai

end of discoidal call to the level of the 3rd postnodal cell, and lies between J/A

and Aiv-+v. The outer spots consist of a series of three, all of about the same

length, the costal one lying between /A7zz and A7zzz and about 13 cells long, the

medial and hinder spots each 10 cells long, the latter lying between Cuiz

and WA.

Pterostigma blackish brown, clouded with white in its outer half in subadults.

Antenodal nervures 15 to 17 in number; discoidal cell traversed 2 or 3 times.

Abdomen glossy black with a lateral spical spot on segments 1 and 2.

Anal appendages black, shaped as for genus.

Female. Abdomen17 mm. Hindwing 23 mm.

Head velvety black marked with paie yellow as follows :—The base of labium,

which has a greenish tinge, a pair of small basal spots on labrum, the bases of

mandibles broadly, large darker yellow spot on upper surface of rhinarium and

two large cuneiform spots just behind it. The basal segments of antennae, a

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 313

rounded spot in front and on either side of the anterior ocellus, a small spot on

either side of rhinarium and finally the same spots as seen in the male.

Prothorax black with a large yellow spot on each side of midlobe, a short

medial dorsal line on the posterior lobe and a large spot on each side, low down

near the trochanters.

Thorax black marked with yellow as follows :—Similar but larger spots as

seen in the male, often with a greenish tinge, and probably bluish during life.

In addition, along linear streak on lower half of humeral region. Beneath

thorax two broad longitudinal streaks of greenish yellow. Legs, black, non-

pruinescent.

Wings deeply enfumed, burnt brown, especially the hinder and towards the

apices. Pterostigma black, white in its outer half ; 12 antenodal nervures ;

discoidal cells traversed twice in all wings.

Abdomen black marked with blue, the first seven segments with a lateral

apical spot, the 2nd to Sth with a lateral stripe in line with but not confluent

with the apical spots.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale black, shaped as for the genus.

Distribution. The Selysian types, two males, arereported as from Thibet.

The species, discovered in 1853, was not found again until Mr. Antrim

took it in numbers at Cachar, Assam in September 1921. It must be a

remarkably local insect or such a handsome, and brilliant insect would have

been taken many times in the intervening 68 years. If possible, its brilliancy

outshines its near relation zgnipennis, from which it is distinguished by its

smaller size and the vitreous spots of hindwing much shorter. The female,

hitherto, unknown, and described here for the first time, is also distinguished

by its smaller size and by its blue markings, etc.

Paratypes have been placed in the British Museum.

Rhinocypha unimaculata, Selys. Syn. Cal. p. 61 (1853) ; Id. Mon. Cal. p. 207

(1854) ; Walk., (Lzbellago unimaculata) List. Neur. Ins. B. M. iv. p.

649, n. 12 (1853) ; Laid. Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. xiii, p. 35 (1917) ; Kirby,

Cat. Odon. p. 113 (1890).

Male. Abdomen 24mm. Hindwing 27-30 mm.

Head velvety black, the labium and labrum unmarked, rounded spots of

chrone yellow on each side of occiput, one on the outer side of each hinder

ocellus and a central spot on postericr border of occiput.

Prothorax black with a large irregular yellow spot on each side of middle

lobe, a small linear middorsal spot on the posterior lobe and a narrow yellow

margin to the same lobe laterally.

‘Thorax glossy black marked with bright yellow lines as follows:—A short

oblique linear upper hunieral spot, a long antehumeral line, incomplete above,

markedly angulate below, a fine posthumeral line broken above, ashort upper

line on the first lateral suture and finally the same broad broken oblique stripe

on lower part of sides of thorax as seen in zgnifennis and trimaculata. The

middorsal carina is usually finely mapped out in yellow, and this may be con-

tinued on to the antealar sinus. :

Legs black, the two hinder pairs of femora and tibiz densely pruinosed

white with a creamy yellow tinge.

Wings enfumed brown from slightly distad the level of node in forewings, and

slightly proximad the same level in the hind, where this area is prolonged as a

diffuse tongue in the space between /Azzz and Riv +v. This area is also con-

siderably darker in the hindwings, and in both pairs, is of a similar brilliant

fiery coppery red as seen in zgnipennis and trimaculata. In the hindwings, the

middle of this coppery area bears a large roughly quadrate vitreous spot which

glows emerald green or peacock blue according to the angle from which viewed.

Its inner border is markedly indented, its outer roughly convex, its costal border

is bounded by 22, its posterior almost reaches the wing margin. The spot lies

considerably nearer the node than pterostigma. Bases of wings hyaline,

palely tinted with yellow. Pterostigma blackish brown, the outer halves

paler. The apices of wings very finely reticulated, especially between the costa

and #2. Discoidal cells traversed from 5 to 7 times; 21 to 23 antenodal

nervures.

Abdomen black marked with yellow as follows :—The first 6 seginents with a

ventral stripe running nearly the full length of segments, segments 1 to 3 with

an apical lateral spot, the intersegmental nodes narrowly yellow.

314 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XXXII

Anal appendages black, relatively short, shaped as for genus.

Female. Abdomen 22mm. Hindwing 31-32 mm.

Markings of body very similar to those of male but more extensive.

Head with the same spots as in the male, with the addition of the following :—

The laterai lobes of the labium, two obscure basal spots on labrum, the bases of

mandibles broadly, this colour here confluent with a stripe which runs up the

cheeks adjacent to and bordering the eyes, also extending on to basal joints of

antennz, and confluent with two large cuneiform spots on upper surface of

rhinarium. On the latter, in front above, a large rounded spot; a round spot

on each side of and in front of the anterior ocellus, two tiny points between the

posterior ocelli and a spot on the lower part of the sides of rhinarium. The

postocular spots are much larger than in the male, and are nearly united bya

transverse spot on hinder border of occiput.

Prothorax black marked similarly to the male but the middorsal stripe runs

nearly the whole length of dorsum from hinder border of posterior lobe, and the

lateral markings are much better defined.

Thorax glossy black marked asin the male but considerably more extensive.

The antehumeral line continued up and curved outwards above to become

confluent with the humeral oblique spot. Six small spots beneath thorax.

Legs black, the hind two pairs of femora and tibize pruinosed yellow as in the

male.

Abdomen glossy black marked with two parallel stripes of yellow, one ventrai

as in the male, extending from segment 1 to 7, the other on the same segments

becoming broken up into a stripe and an apical spot on segments 4to 7. Anal

appendages and vulvar scale as for genus. ‘The middorsal carina finely yellow

from segment 2 to 7.

Distribution. The species seems to be centred about Darjeeling and_ is

colonized in several districts in northern Bengal and Assam. The type is in

the Selysian collection at Brussels, without locality save ‘India.’ It is the

largest species of the genus and distinguished very readily by its peculiarly

striking combination of markings and colours. By the absence of the

mesothoracic triangle and the coppery colours of the wings it is closely related

to the two foregoing species. A fusion of the middle series of vitreous spots has

resulted in the large median spot, thus in one of my own specimens, the spot

is practically cut in two by an invasion of the dark area above. I have taken

this species in May and June, perching on rocks in midstream at Mongpoo,

3600 ft, British Sikhim.

Rhinocypha bifasciata, Selys, Bull. Acad. Belg. (2) xiviii, p. 386 (1879) ;

Laid. Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. xiii, p. 34 (1897) ; Kirby. Cat. Odon. p.

113 (1890).

Male. Abdomen 22mm. Hindwing 25 mm.

Head glossy black in front, velvety black above, labitm and labrum

unmarked, a large oval spot on the outer side of each posterior ocellus and a

small round postocular spot on each side of the occiput.

Prothorax black with a middorsal longitudinal spot on the posterior lobe.

Legs black, the two hinder pairs of femora and tibiz heavily pruinosed white,

this snow-lhke excrescense overlapping the margins of tibiae and making them

appear to be dilated.

Thorax glossy black marked on the sides with a broad broken yellow band

made up of asmall serrate spot on the metepimeron, an elongate pyriform spot

on the mesepimeron capped by a U-shaped spot anteriorly. The mesothoracic

triangle very iarge, extending from alar sinus to anterior border of thorax, palest

azure blue in colour.

Wings partially hyaline, greyish from discoidal cell to apex by transmitted

light, palely yellow atthe base. The darkened area by reflected light a beautiful

violety blue or emerald green according to the angle from which viewed. The

wings in this area have asatiny gloss and the hind are traversed by two brown

bands from costa to hinder border, one at the apex of hind wings and the other

a short distance to the inner side of pterostigma. Both bands very narrow and

the inner very irregular and diverse in shape. The iridescent area limited

anteriorly by Azz. Discoidal cells traversed 5 times; 15 to 18 antenodal

nervures. Pterostigma black, white or yellowish outwardly.

Abdomen glossy black with a small apical spot of yellow on the sides of seg-

mentsl and 2. Anal appendages black and similar in shape to those of cuneata,

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Prats I;

1. WINGS OF Ahinocypha unimaculata, SELYS., MALE.

2. WINGS OF Rhinocypha trimaculata, SELYS., MALE.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

i. WINGS OF RAinocypha trifasciala, SELYS., MALE.

PrateE II.

2. WINGS OF RAinocypha bitasciata, SELYS., MALE.

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 315

Female. Abdomen 18mm. Hindwing 28 mm.

Head similar to the male buta medial spot on hinder border of occiput and a

moderately sized, bright yellow spot on each cheek near the eyes continued up as

a very narrow streak against the eves.

Prothorax with an additional large spot just below the posterior lobe.

Thorax with the mesothoracic triangle present, yellow in its upper half, this

colour continued narrowly along both sides of the triangle below. The lateral

markings are broader than in the male, and there are some additional markings

as follows :—An upper antehumeral spot and a lower stripe, widely separated, a

fine posthumeral stripe broadly interrupted above where it lives a tiny upper

point, and not extending downwards as far as anterior border of thorax. There

is also a fine broken line on the first lateral suture and a small spot on upper part

of mesepimeron.

Wings ‘evenly and palely enfumed throughout, with a pale greenish tint.

Pterostigma black, its outer half or two-thirds yellowish. Discoidal cells with

3 to 5 traversing nervures ; 15 to 18 antenodal nervures.

Abdomen black marked with ochreous as follows:—A large lateral spot on

segment 1, an apical spot and a basal stripe on segments 2 to 4, segment 5 with

a small basal spot only, whilst segments 2 and 3 have a vestigial ventral stripe

also.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale similar to the genus.

Distribution. Bengal—and Assam, more especially the latter. The type in

the Selysian collection, in the Brussels Museum, is from Darjeeling. I have

seen several specimens taken at Gopaldhara by Mr. H. Stevens during October

and November.

There is no difficulty in distinguishing this beautiful Species, the two opaque

bands at once determine it, Azlarye having the inner band much nearer the

pterostigma, and the vitreous area limited to the outer apical area of wing.

The wings of this species and ¢rzfasciata are markedly pleated and_if held in

certain positions, one set of pleats glows with a satin-like violety blue sheen,

whilst the other set shines emerald green. The restricted markings of the head

will distinguish the female from other Indian species.

Rhinocypha trifasciata, Selys, Syn. Cal. p. 61 (1853) ; Id. Mon. Cal., p. 207,

(1854) ; Walk. (Lzbellago-trifasciata) List. Neur. Ins. B. M. iv. p. 650,

n, 13 (1853).; Kirby, Cat. Odon., p. 113 (1890) ; Laid. Rec. Ind. Mus.,

vol. xiii, p. 34 (1917).

Male. Abdomen 24mm. Hindwing 27 mm.

This species is very similar to the last, but is invariably larger, and the male

bears an additional opaque band on the hindwings.

The head markings exactly similar to those of dzfasciatu.

Prothorox black with a middorsal poe ecimal spot on the posterior lobe

bluish in colour.

Thorax black marked very similarly to that of 6zfasczata, the mesothoracic

triangle very large, extending from the alar sinus to the anterior border of

thorax, pale blueincolour. A fine yellow line on the first lateral suture, broken

above, a shorter line on the second lateral suture, incomplete below, a small spot

below the root of the forewing. and the usual irregular broken stripe along the

lower part of sides of thorax. This consists of a smallish soot on the

metepimeron, triangular in shape, an elongate spot on the mesopimeron, with a

cuneiform angulate spot at its anterior part.

Wings similarly coloured to those of dzfasciata, the vitreous area of equal

extent and bluish violaceous or emerald green according to the angle from

which viewed. ‘Three blackish brown bands traverse the hindwings from costa

to posterior border. An apical band extending in to outer end of pterostigma,

its inner border concave ; a medial band situate at about the junction of outer

and middle thirds of wing, with serrate concave inner border, slightly sinuous

convex outer, from 6 to 8 cells wide. An inner band with its inner border in

line with or slightly distad of level of node, limited costalwards by 7272,

reaching the hinder border of wing, moderately straight on its proximal border,

with three outer prolongations on its distal border.

Pterostigma blackish brown, the central part, of that of hinder wings,

paler ; 20 to 22 antenodal nervures ; discoidal cells traversed 6 times.

Abdomen black marked on segments 1 to 3 with a small apico-lateral spot of

yellow. Anal appendages black, shaped as for genus.

316 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Legs black, the two hinder pairs of femora and tibize heavily pruinosed white.

Female. Abdomen 22mm. Hindwing 29mm.

Very similar to that of d¢fasciata but considerably larger. The mesothoracic

triangle long and broad as in the male, dark ochreous in colour. Markings of

head, thorax and abdomen exactly as in dzfasciata, with the exception of the

mesothoracic triangle which is as described above.

Distribution. The type in the Selysian collection, in the Brussels Museum,

is labelled ‘ India,’ without further indication of its origin. Three males in the

Indian Museum, Calcutta, are from Kailana, N. W. Provincesso that it would

appear that this species has a more northerly and westerly distribution to that of

bifasciata. The two species are undoubtedly distinct, although closely related.

The opaque bands of hindwings are subject to considerable variation in shape

and length. That depicted on Plate II shows an abbreviation of the stripes,

whilst the description given above is from a specimen in my own collection.

Rhinocypha bifenestrata, Fras. Mem. Dept, Agric. Ind. Ent. Series, vol. vii,

No.-7, p. 63 (1922).

Male. Abdomen 25mm. Hindwing 27 mm.

Head black, labium and labrum unmarked. A small oval yellow spot on the

outer side of each hinder ocellus, and a smaller rounded spot on each side of

occiput.

Prothorax black, unmarked.

Thorax black marked with yellow as follows:—A vestigial broken posthu-

meral line, incomplete below, a narrow stripe bordering along the front of

second lateral suture and a small spot below the hindwing. Mesothoracic

triangle extending from the alar sinus to the anterior border of thorax, pale

li}aceous in colour.

Legs black, the two hinder pairs of tibia only pruinosed white.

Wings largely opaque by fusion of three broad bands which enclose two large

vitreous spots. Base of wings as far as outer end of discoidal cell hyaline,

rather brightly saffronated. ‘The opaque area in the forewings variable, usually

broadly serrated and limited posteriorly by zzz, but sometimes more closely

serrated and extending as far back as J7A at the base and /Azv nearer the apex

of wing. The hyaline area posterior to the opaque area vitreous and a beautiful

violet by reflected light, extending basad at one point to proximad of the outer

end of discoidal cell. Inthe hindwings the opaque area extends proximad as

far as 3 or 4 cells proximad of the node near costal margin of wing, and from

thence runs obliquely out to posterior border of wing, with a very irregular

border. By aconfluence of the three bands, two large vitreous spots, violaceous

in colour, are enclosed, varying much in size and shape in individual specimens.

In the type the outer two bands are not much wider than in ¢rifasciata, being

narrowly connected along the costal and hinder borders of wing, but in some

specimens, the apical opaque band extends as far in as slightly proximad of

inner end of pterostigma. The inner spot is usually partially bisected by a

prolongation of the inner band, one cell wide, running posterior to Azzz, and in

some specimens, this prolongation actually fuses with the middle band, thus

completely bisecting the inner vitreous spot. In the type, the middle and

inner bands are only very narrowly confluent along both costal and hinder

margins of wing, so that the inner spot is of large dimensions. Pterostigma

black, its outer three-fourths white, but clouded with light brown in forewings ;

antenodal nervures 19 to 20; discoidal cells traversed 6 times.

Abdomen black, quite unmarked. Anal appendages black, shaped as for

genus.

Female. Abdomen 21mm. Hindwing 31 mm.

Head ; labium and labrum black ; rest of head velvety black marked with

bright ochreous as follows :—A large spot at base of mandibles, a narrow

streak against the eyes expanding on to the cheeks, a narrow longitudinal

streak on lower part of epistome, a tiny point just in front and to the outer side

of middle ocellus, and two linear spots on frons in front of latter, a large round-

ed spot on outer side of each outer ocellus and a similar postocular spot behind

it, lastly a large triangular spot at the middle of hinder border or occiput.

These markings liable to some variation thus the spots on the frons may be

very large and triangular, or they may be entirely absent, the occipital spot

may be small and linear or large and crown-shaped.

Prothorax black marked with bright ochreous :—A middorsal longitudinal

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES \ 317

streak running from posterior lobe on to middle lobe, a small spot on lower part

of posterior lobe and a spot on each side of middle lobe which may be large and

triangular or reduced to a mere point.

Thorax black marked with bright ochre as follows:—The mesothoracic

triangle except for its lower part, the intersecting suture of the alar sinus, a very

fine antehumeral stripe, often broken into a chain of tiny points and best defined

in its lower part, a posthumeral stripe incomplete below, broadly broken

in its upper part, a linear spot on upper part of mesopimeron and a fine

incomplete line bordering the first lateral suture; finally a broad irregular

broken stripe on lower part of sides of thorax and two small rounded spots

beneath.

Legs black, tibize not pruinosed.

Wings uniformly enfumed brown ; pterostigma black, slightly clouded in its

outer part with yellow ; discoidal cells traversed 4-5 times; petiolation short,

from near the first antenodal nervure or between the first and second; 20-21

antenodal nervures, 32-34 postnodals.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale as for genus.

Abdomen black marked with bright ochre as follows:—A small cuneiform

spot on each side of segment 1, a small apico-lateral spot followed by a short

streak, and a ventral stripe on sides of segments 2 to 4, segments 5 and 6 similar

but the upper streak obsolete and the apical spot much reduced.

Distribution. Moungpoo, British Sikhim, 8,600 ft. from May and June, and

again in August to September. Mr. Inglis has alsotaken it in April but it is

rare during that month. Mr. Inglis, Mr. Shaw and myself took upwards of

forty specimens at the end of May along the beds of streams, usually settled on

rocks, and never engaging in sustained flight like destgnata. ‘This species is, I

think, more nearly related to cuneata than to dzfasciata, but appears to link up

groups cuneata and ébifasciata, and may have originated by a fusion of the

opaque bands of ¢rvzfasciata. Type in the British Museum.

Rhinocypha immaculata Selys. Bull. Acad. Belg. (2) xlvii, p. 385 (1853) ;

Kirby, Cat. Odon. p. 113 (misprinted as wnimaculata), 1890; Laid.

Rec, tnd. Muss vol. xiii, pp.34. 35 (1917).

Male. Abdomen 22 to 25mm. Hindwing 27 to 28 mm.

Head black marked with blue and ochreous spots as follows :--The bases of

mandibles, the cheeks, and a stripe bordering the eyes, a reniform spot on each

side of the frons, and a smaller rounded spot just behind these pale blue. An

oval spot on the outer side of each posterior ocellus and a round postocular spot

on each side of the occiput ochreous. Labium and labrum unmarked.

Prothorax black marked with a middorsal longitudinal blue line beginning on

the posterior lobe, and a large spot on each side. -

Thorax black marked with bright yellow as follows :—A fine lower ante-

humeral stripe, a fine upper humeral incomplete below, a small upper spot near

the first suture, a thick irregular broken stripe on lower part of sides consisting

of a triangular spot on the metepimeron and an irregular longitudinal stripe on

the mesepimeron. Four to six yellow spots on underside of thorax. The

mesothoracic triangle very large, extending from anterior border of thorax to

the alar sinus, pale blue in colour.

Legs black, the hinder pairs of femora yellow on flexor surface, the tibia of

the same legs pruinosed white.

Abdomen black marked with yellow as follows :—A small spot on each side

of segment 1, a lateral stripe and an apical spot in line with former on segments

2 to 5, finally a ventro-lateral stripe on segments 3 to 6, not extending as far as

apex of segment.

Anal appendages black, shaped as for genus,

Wings entirely hyaline, the only species of the genus in which they. are so,

Shaped as for ¢vzfasczata, 15 to 16 antenodal nervures, discoidal cells with 5 to 6

traversing nervures ; pterostigma blackish brown, the outer and costal part

much paler or yellowish.

Female. Abdomen 22mm. Hindwing 28 to 30 mm.

Very similar to the inale. The markings of the head better defined. and al}

bright yellow in colour.

Thorax with a large mesothoracic triangle, outlined in yellow, black at its

centre, other markings rather broader.

Legs black, not pruinosed.

318 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Wings hyaline, occasionally enfumed in old adults; pterostigma black,

whitish in its outer part; antenodal nervures 16 in number.

Abdomen black marked as for the male described above. In very adult

‘males, the lateral stripes on 3 to 6 are lost, the apical spot alone remaining, or

even lost on segments 4 to 6.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale as for genus.

Distribution. Known only from Cherrapunji, Khasia Hills, Assam. On the

wing during September and October. This interesting species is easily

distinguished from all others by the total absence of markings on the wings or

even vitreous iridescense. Cherrapunji being about the wettest spot on earth,

approaches the primitive conditions in which the ancestra] dragonflies first

evolved and so might be expected to preserve those forms lacking in heliochro-

matic markings. Jmmaculata undoubtedly stands somewhere near the base of

genus Rhinocypha.

Rhinocypha hilarye, Fras. Rec. Ind. Mus., J/.S.

Male. Abdomen 21-22 mm. Hindwing 27 mm.

Head: labium black, the lateral lobes creaniy white ; labrum azure blue, its

anterior border and base narrowly black, the basal black with a median point;

epistome glossy black in front, velvety black above, with a small triangular spot

of blue on each side; frons witha large quadrangular blue spot on each side

with its outer angle pointed and prolonged outward, the two spots very narrowly

separated, and confluent with two large subrotundate spots of the same colour

on the vertex, which lie in close apposition to the median ocellus. Laterally

the bases of mandibles, the penultimate segment of antenne, anda narrow

irregular stripe bordering the eyes bluish. Lastly a tiny point on the outer side

of each lateral ocellus, another on each side of occiput and a small linear spot

at its middle. (In dried specimens, these markings are yellow or greenish blue,

but in life, the adult markings are always blue.)

Prothorax black marked with blue, bluish green or yellow according to the

age of specimen :—A narrow median linear stripe which begins on the posterior

lobe and tapers to infinity anteriorly, a small triangular spot on each side of

‘posterior lobe and a short oval spot on each side middle lobe.

Thorax black marked with blue and yellow as follows:—The mesothoracic

triangle pale turquoise blue, elongate, extending as far up as alar sinus, a fine

humeral stripe azure blue, laterally an irregular thick interrupted stripe extend-

ing the whole length of thorax, rather zig-zagged anteriorly and broadened

into an elongate triangular spot on the metepimeron.

Legs black, the two hinder pairs ot tibize and distal parts of the same femora

pruinosed white on the flexor surfaces. -

Wings hyaline, palely enfumed with greenish yellow, marked with opaque

black and vitreous violet areas as follows:—Forewing with only the extreme

apex bordered or clouded with opaque black; pterostigma black; hindwing

with apex broadly opaque black, the inner border of the opaque area serrated,

running almost straight back from middle of pterostigma to hinder border of

wing, and finally continued as a narrow border along the hinder edge of wing

for about its apical fourth. At a short distance from the proximal end of

pterostigma is seen a narrow opaque black fascia nearly always broadly broken

at its middle into a small quadrate or angulate spot lying between Azz and

TRii, and a markedly irregular spot confluent with the narrow black bordering

of wing. Rarely the two spots are united by anarrow isthmus, but in no two

specimens are they ever exactly alike. The vitreous violet areas comprise the

whole of the area included between the apical black bordering and the irregular

fascia, as well as three linear spots situate between the level of node and narrow

black fascia, nearer the latterthan former. Of these, the anterior stripe is the

longest, about 20-25 cells long, and situated between Azz and A7zzz, the median

stripe, lying between IRiii and Azv + vw, -is half the length of the former, its

outer end in line with the outer end of same; finally the third or hinder spot,

lying between (7A and Cuzz, is very narrow and continues outward along

posterior border of wing to become confluent with the narrow opaque

black border; pterostigma black with a large oval pale blue ‘spot in

its outer two-thirds; discoidal cell traversed 4 to 5 times; petiolation

variable, begins opposite the 2nd or 3rd antenodal, but is usually opposite

the 2nd; 17-19 antenodal nervures, 28-38 postnodal nervures (very

variable).

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. PEATE,

1. WunGs oF Rhinocypha bifenestrata, FRAS., MALE

Ver Vies))

SRR

2. WincGs oF Rhinocypha hilarye, FRas., MALE

~ oe

‘ ”

‘

ra)

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 319

Abdomen black marked with bluish green or yellow as follows :—Segment

1 with a large lateral triangular spot on each side, segment 2 with a similar spot

situate at the apex, as well as a ventral stripe nearer the apex than base of

segment ; segment 3 similar, but the apical spot smaller and the ventral stripe

longer, extending for nearly the whole length of segment, segments 4 and 5

similar to 3, but the markings becoming obsolete, 6 and 7 with vestigial ventral

stripes only.

Anal appendages similar to genus.

Female. Abdomen 21-22 mm. Hindwing 30-32 mm.

Head. Markings similar to those of male but bright yellow instead of blue.

The lateral spot on epistome larger, and in addition, a lateral stripe on either

side of its front.

Prothorax similar to male.

Thorax black marked with bright yellow as follows:—The mesothoracic

triangle outlined in yellow, the two laterallines converging and fusing above

and then continued as a median line bisecting the antealar sinus. A fine

complete antehumeral stripe curving slightly out above, and in below; a fine

humeral stripe incomplete below; a strongly curved stripe on upper part of

mesopimeron, and lastly the same broad irregular stripe traversing the whole

length of lower part of thorax, 2s seen in the imale.

Wings hyaline, palely enfumed throughout, tinted slightly with yellow,

especially at the base ; pterostigma black, its outer part bearing a broad oval

yellowish spot ; 15-19 antenodal nervures, 26-31 postnodals; discoida! cell

traversed 2-4 times; petiolation begins between the Ist and 2nd antenodals.

Abdomen black, similar to the male but markings yellow: segments 2 and 3

have also a lateral stripe lying above and parallel to the ventral stripe, in line

with but not confluent with the apical spot, whilst the ventral stripe is obsolete

after segment 3 and all markings after segment 6.

Anal appendages and vulvar scale as for genus.

Distribution. Maymyo, Upper Burma. Quite a number of both sexes were

taken by Col. F. Wall, I.M.s., during the months of June, July and August.

The insect appears to be remarkably local which may account for so striking

and beautiful insect not having been discovered before. ‘The shape of the

mesothoracic triangle and the wings show it to belong to group O7fasczata. It

can only be confounded with dzfasciata, in which however the proximal fascia

is complete and situated much nearer the node, the vitreous area also covering

nearly the entire wings.

(Zo be continued)

BIRD NOTES

FROM THE MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION OF 1924

Mayor R. W. G. HINGSTON, I.M.S.

(With a plate.)

The following notes are necessarily scrappy. Owing to the religious scruples

of the people all shooting was prohibited in Tibet. We took no collecting-guns

into the country. My notes are thus confined to field observations, and to those

species which could be definitely identified. A collection of skins from the

same area had previously been made by Mr. Wollaston during the first Mount

Everest Expedition. A report on these was prepared by Mr. N. B. Kinnear and

published in the Ibis for July 1922. This report has been of the greatest help

in the identification of many species. Mr, Kinnear also supplied special notes

to the expedition, and gave me much assistance after its return. Ialso had the

advantage of Colonel Norton’s help and his detailed knowledge of Tibetan

birds. When at Darjeeling, Mr. C. M. Inglis showed me his collection of skins

which included almost all those likely to be met with on the plateau. The

birds of Tibet are unusually distinctive, and by making use of the above sources

of information it was possible in almost all cases to identify the species in the

field.

Corvus corax tibetanus. The Himalayan Raven.

A common bird of the Tibetan plateau. One of the chief scavengers of

villages. Haunts forts. Comes to camps. ‘Takes the place of vultures in

devouring carcasses. Seen at the base-camp, 16,500 feet; at the summit of

the Pang La, 17,200 feet ; at Camp 3 on Mount Everest, 21,000 feet.

Corvus coronoides intermedius. The Himalayan Jungle Crow.

Common all through the Chumbi and Rongshar valleys. Seeks the vicinity of

villages and cultivation. Associates with choughs above the level of the trees.

Nests at Gautsa, 11,500 feet. Also met with on the plateau, though partially

replaced there by the raven. Followed us up to Camp 3 at 21,000 feet

Pica pica bottanensis. The Black-rumped Magpie.

A village bird of the Tibetan Plateau, 13,500 to 15,000 feet. Frequents build-

ings, cliffs and cultivated fields. In the few places where there is a clump of

trees magpies are certain to be found. Nests seen at Khampa Dzong, 14,000

feet, on a solitary village tree: at Kyishong, 14,000 feet on the top of a low

bush only six feet above the ground: at Shekar, 14,000 feet, similarly situated

in a thorn bush. These nests are immense and very conspicuous. They appear

to be permanent habitations which serve in winter as a shelter for the birds.

The distribution of the species must be chiefly limited by the few places avail-

able for the building of nests.

Nucifraga caryocatactes hemispila. The Himalayan Nutcracker.

Seen frequently during June in the Rongshar valley that leads from Tibet

into Nepal on the west side of Mount Everest. Altitude 9,000 to 10,000 feet. In

1922 Colonel Norton observed it in the Karma valley during June at 13,000 feet.

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax. The Common Chough.

Noisy flocks common in the Chumbi valley up to the summit of the Jelap La,

10,000 to 14,000 feet. Haunt the high cliffs and caves in the rocks. Abundant

around the forts of Tinki and Shekar where numbers of them nest in holes.

Flocks feed in the cultivated fields of the plateau, where, though joining in a

gregarious company, they yet scatter about in individual pairs. Also met with

in the Rongshar valley at 11,000 feet. Nests taken (1) on 10th July at

Kyishong, 14,500 feet ; situated in hole on earth cliff; contained young ; (2)

on April 17th in Chumbi valley at 10,000 feet ; situated in recess under eaves of

house ; composed of sticks thickly lined with moss and wool ; contained three

eggs newly laid. This chough was not seen above 15,000 feet,

JouRN. Bompay Nat. Hist. Soc.

ApDaAMs’s MounTAIN-FINCH IN EveREstT Base CAmpP.

BIRD NOTES FROM THE MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION 321

Pyrrhocorax graculus. The Aipine Chough.

A bird of higher altitudes than the previous species. A permanent resident

of our base-camp at 16,500 feet. In camp it was extremely tame, as impudent

and daring as the housecrow, living on the scraps thrown out of the cooking-

place, and spending the day amongst our tents. On the cliffs it used to asgo-

ciate withherds of Burhel, picking insects out of their hair. It came

regularly to Canip 1 at 18,000 feet, and to Camp 3 at 21,000 feet. Somervell saw

flocks around the summit of Kharta Phu at 23,640 feet. These birds followed

the climbers toallthe high camps, reaching even Camp 6 at 27,000 feet.

This is the greatest height at which living things have yet been seen.

Podoces humilis. Htume’s Ground-Chough.

A common bird of the Tibetan plateau up to 15,000 feet. Also seen within

Indian limits, at’Tangu in Northern Sikhim, near the Tibetan border, altitude

14,300 feet. An active little bird with feeble powers of flight. Assumes a

peculiarly erect attitude, moves over the ground in long hops, bowing its head

and flirting its tail. Frequents stone walls, the roofs of buildings, enters

villages freely, sometimes found inthe most barren tracts. Harmonizes well

with its plateau haunts. Bores into the soil in search of food. Frequently in-

vestigates animal droppings, breaking them and turning them with its strong

beak. Remains of ground-beetles found in its stomach. Nest found at Tingri

on July 4th ; altitude 15,000 feet. Situated far down in deserted pika burrow. I

followed down the burrow for four feet, but was still far from reaching the

nest. The parent birds came round with morsels in their beaks showing that

the nest contained young.

Paris monticola. The Green-backed Tit.

A common bird of the Chumbi valley where it joins with warblers in an in-

sectivorous flock,

Lophophanes rufonuchalis beavani. The Sikkim Black Titmouse.

A flock of tits, probably this species seen in the silver fir trees below the

Jelap La at 11,000 feet.

Trochalopterum affine affine. ‘The Black-faced Laughing Thrush.

A common bird of the Chumbi valley. Offen seen skulking in bushes near

the torrent, but not noticed above the trees. A small flock was seen amongst

the conifers at 13 000 feet.

Myiophoneus temminckii. The Himalayan Whistling Thrush.

Common in all the high Himalayan gorges. Seen in the streams of the

Chumbi valley up to 12,000 feet. Also up to the same altitude in the Rongshar

vorge.

Tichodroma muraria. ‘Che Wall Creeper.

Seen first in the Chumbi valley clinging to boulders in the valley bed. Occa-

sionally met with on the Tibetan plateau, on the slatey rocks at Shekar, 14,000

feet ; on the high cliffs of the Dzakar Chu at 15,000 feet ; on the cliffs above our

base camp in the Rongbuk valley at 18,000 feet. It finds spiders in the crevices

of these high rocks, and its body harmonizes well with the background as it

climbs from place to place.

Lanitts schach tephronotus. ‘The Grey-backed Shrike.

Numbers seen in the Chumbi valley at 10,000 feet. Birds arrive in the

middle of April. Also seen in the Rongshar valley between 11,0C0 and 12,000

feet. Some birds pass over on to the Tibetan plateau. We saw one in thorny

scrub near Kyishong at 15,000 feet. In 1922 Norton and Longstaff observed it

along the Dzakar Chu, 14,900 feet, and the lower Phung Chu, 13,500 feet.

Oenanthe deserti oreophila. ‘The Desert Chat.

Frequently met with on the plateau between 14,000 and 15,000 feet, and on

the passes up to 17,000 feet. Particularly likes stony places where the boulders

give it points of vantage. Also likes to settle on tufts of grass or clumps of

thorny scrub. Seen in the valley of the Phung Chu where the ground was

white with a saline efflorescence. Nest taken at Tingri on July 4, altitude

322 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

15,000 feet. Situated in tunnel on earth cliff, one foot in depth ; composed of

dry grass and fine sticks thickly lined with animal hair ; ; contents, four eggs

hard set.

Microcichla scouleri scouleri. The Little Forktail.

Not seen on the plateau, but at 9,500 feet in the deep Rongshar gorge that

leads from Tibet into Nepal.

Chaimarrornis leucocephalus. The White-headed Redstart.

' Common in the high Himalayan streams. Not seen on the open plateau.

Met with at Gautsa, 12,000 feet, near the furthest limit of the trees. Very com-

mon throughout the Rongshar gorge up to 13,000 feet.

Pheenicurus frontalis. The Blue-fronted Redstart.

Extremely abundant through the Chumbi valley, 10,000 to 11,000 feet. Only

a few had arrived by the beginning of April, though numbers were present later

in the year, seen on the Jelap La at 13,000 feet, but does not seem to cross over

on to the plateau.

Phoenicurus hodgsoni. Hodgson’s Redstart.

A bird, which I take to be this species, was twice seen on the plateau ; in the

ploughed fields near Tashidzom at 14,500 feet; and at the fort of Shekar,

14,000 feet. There is no mention of this species in Mr. Kinnear’s list of the

birds of the first Expedition.

Phoenicurus ochrurus rufiventris. The Indian Redstart.

Frequently met with on the Tibetan plateau between 13,000 and 16,000 feet.

Frequents stony wastes, rocky hillsides. Comes around villages, and especially

likes the grassy patches where it captures insects in a few quick hops. It occa-

sionally came to the Everest base camp at 16,500 feet. We met it at a similar

altitude on the Pang La, though not at anything approaching Wollaston’s

record of 20,000 feet.

Phoenicurus erythrogaster grandis. Guldenstadt’s Afghan Redstart.

Met with occasionally at high altitudes: on the summit of the Kongra La,

16,000 feet ; in the Rongbuk valley, 16,000 feet ; on both sides of the Phusi La,

16,500 feet. It ascends to the junction of the torrents with the glaciers. Seen

on Mount Everest up to 18,000 feet where it visited both our base camp and

Camp 1. Its habits are like those of the white-capped species which it replaces

at greater heights. It takes insects amongst the boulders along the torrent, and

alights as readily on pinnacles of ice as it does on rocks and stones. A pair had

a nest near the base camp at 16,000 feet.

Rhyacornis fuliginosa. The Plumbeous Redstart.

Very common in the streams of the Chumbi valley up to 12,000 feet. Also

through the Rongshar gorge up to about the same altitude. Apparently does

not pass on to the Tibetan plateau.

lanthia rufilata. The Red-flanked Bush-Robin.

Common in the Chumbi valley up to 11,500 feet. Apparently does not cross

over on to the plateau.

Planesticus merula. The Himalayan Blackbird.

Seen only on one occasion : in thorny gorse near Kyishong at 15,000 feet.

Planesticus albicinctus, The White-collared Ouzel.

Seen at Yatung in the Chumbi valley, 10,000 feet. A pair had established

themselves in the scrub around the rest-house.

Merula ruficollis. The Red-throated Ouzel.

Seen in the Chumbi valley amongst scrub at the edge of the torrent, altitude

10,000 feet.

Monticola solitaria pandoo. The Indian Blue Rock Thrush.

Seen in July by Norton in the Rongshar valley at 16,000 feet. Not met with

on the Tibetan plateau,

BIRD NOTES FROM THE, MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION 323

Cincius cinclus kashmiriensis. ‘The Kashmir Dipper.

An inhabitant of the deep gorges. Nowhere seen in the more peaceful

streams of the plateau. Met with in the Chumbi valley at 10,000 feet, above

Gautsa at 14,000 feet, in the Rongshar torrent at 10,000 feet.

Lioscopus collaris nepalensis. ‘The Eastern Alpine Accentor.

Not seen on the open plateau. Met with below the Jelap La at 13,000 feet ;

also near the head of the Rongshar valley at 15,000 feet. Wollaston saw this

bird at the great height of 21,000 feet.

Pruneila rubeculoides. The Robin Accentor.

Widespread on the Tibetan plateau, 14,000 to 16,500 feet. Seen at aimost

every village. Also at Gautsa in the Chumbi valley, 13,000 feet. It haunts the

boundary walls between the cultivated fields and the rocks near Tibetan forts.

May be seen skulking in nullahs and water-channels and under moraine bould-

ers. Its village habits are like those of the brown accentor. It feeds inainly

near the village walls where it picks seeds out of animal dung. Numbers

were seen at the village of Kyishong in company with the brown accentor. It

was met with on the moraines at Kyetrak, 16,000 feet ; also as a visitor to the

Everest base camp at 16,500 feet.

Prunella fulvescens fulvescens. ‘Ihe Brown Accentor.

A common bird of the plateau. Frequents villages, stone bridges, chortens,

mani-walls, which places supply nooks where it can skulk and hide. Finds

food amongst village refuse in the streets and in the manure-heaps on the

roofs of houses. Seen on the Pang Laat 17,000 feet. Also came to boulders

near our base camp at 16,500 feet. Numbers were seen in the willows at

Kyishong. But, since trees in Tibet are so very scarce, the accentors, like the

magpies and the tree-sparrows, have become almost altogether village birds.

They were as common as sparrows in the little village of Kyishong. Longstaft

records a pair nesting in May at the Everest base camp. Nest composed of a

cup of fine grass lined with bits of wool and hair placed ona platform of sticks

in a deep gap between expedition ration boxes.

Prunella strophiatus strophiatus. The Rufous-breasted Accentor.

Seen only in the Chumbi valley. Small flocks were common on stone walis

and in low scrub, altitude 10,000 feet.

Pyrrhula erythrocephala. ‘The Red-headed Bullfinch.

A few pairs seen in the Chumbi valley, 11,000 to 12,000 feet. Also in the deep

Rongskar gorge at 12,000 feet.

Pyrrhospiza punicea punicea. The Red-breasted Rose-Finch,

A bird of the Tibetan plateau. Seen at Kyishong and Tashidzom, altitude

14,000 feet. Also on the Phusi La at 16,500 feet. Occupies willow plantations.

Haunts villages and frequents cultivated fields. Ina flock the females are far

more numerous than the males.

Propasser pulcherrimus. Subsp.? The Beautiful Rose-finch.

Seen in the Chumbi valley. A pair in rhododendron scrub on the Jelap La

at 13,000 feet. Also in the snow at Chumbitung, 12,500 feet. These birds

shelter from the snow under ledges of rock, or, like sparrows, beneath the eaves

of rest-houses.

Carpodacus rubecilloides. Przewalski’s Rose-Finch.

A bird of the plateau. Seen at Khampa Dzong, Lingka, Tinki Dzong,

altitude 14,500 feet. Comes about villages. Feeds in cultivated fields.

Longstaff in 1922 noted it at Tinki Dzong.

Acanthis flavirostris rufotriata. Walton’s fwite.

Frequently met with on the plateau in July. Not seen in April. Haunts

grassy tracts and cultivated land. Altitude, 13,500 to 14,500 feet.

324 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Passer montanus. Subsp.?. The Tree Sparrow.

Common around all human habitations. Almost exclusively a village bird.

Congregates in flocks. Strikingly tame. Likes the vicinity of vegetation.

Feeds ia the streets and at village walls. Replaces the domestic sparrow around

human habitations, yet likes trees when they are available, though such are rare

en Eabet.

Montifringilla blanfordi. Blanford’s Mountain-Finch.

Fairly common on the plateau at 14,000 to 15,000 feet. Seen around villages

and in cultivated fields. Associates with Pikasin grassy places. Feeds with

sparrows near the walls of houses, sometimes in considerable flocks. Nest at

Shekar on July 7, altitude 15,000 feet: situated at bottom of a deep pika

burrow ; nest in process of being built, and parent birds busy bringing feathers

and hair. Longstaffin 1922 met with a nest at Trangso Chumbab on June 1],

altitude 14,000 feet. Female was netted at nesting hole and identified. Both

parents were feeding young more than four feet down mouse-hare hole.

He imprisoned male in the hole beneath a foot of sand through which it

burrowed during the night. Longstaff states that both birds burrow very

quickiy, using the bill only, with a quick rotary movement sending the sand

flying centrifugally. Norton records the Pika burrows at Tatzang covered with

these finches on July 17; and observed them feeding well grown young near

Phari, 14,000 feet, on July 20.

Montifringilla ruficollis. The Red-necked Mountain-Finch.

A delightful little bird living in the company of mouse-hares and feeding

around the mouths of their burrows. Common on the grassy plains of the

plateau and wherever there are pika colonies. Altitude 14,000 to 15,000 fect.

Norton notes it at Gnatong April 1, at Yatung April 4, at Phari April 7.

Montifringilla mandelli. Mandelli’s Mountain-Finch.

A bird of local distribution. Seen on the Phari plain, the Tingri plain, and

the large plain on the further sideof the Donka La, but not at intervening

places. Lives in the company of pikas. Seen entering pika burrows where it

undoubtedly breeds.

Montifringilla nivalis adamsi. Adams’s Mountain-Finch.

Seen occasionally on the plateau. At Gyankar Nangpa, 14,000 feet: at

Chiblung, 14,500 feet; at Shekar, 15,000 feet. An occasional visitor to the

Everest base camp at 16,500 feet. Nested close tothe base camp in June.

Feathers were being carried into a tunnel in the moraine, but the nest could not

be reached as it was more than an arm’s length down the hole. In 1922 Norton

met with it constantly from Phari to Everest, except in the Karma and Kharta

valleys, but not below 13,500 feet. tii

Fringillauda nemoricola nemoricola. Hodgson’s Mountain-Finch.

A common bird of the plateau, from 14,000 to 17,000 feet. Remarkably tame.

Comes about villages. Frequents grassy patches and cultivated fields. Picks

in the dung with tree-sparrows around the houses. Also found in barren stony

wastes. A common resident of our Everest base canip. Apparently likes ‘to

haunt the passes. Seen on ascent and descent of Phusi La, 16,000 to 17,000

feet ; and near the summit of the Lamna La at 17,000 feet. In 1922 Longstaff

notes that a pair frequented the Everest base camp during May and that small

flocks were met with on the slopes leading up to the Sepo La at 17,000 feet.

Norton notes it as common everywhere high up, but not seen in Karma or Kharta

valleys or lower Phung Chu. He meta pairat Camp 1 on Mount Everest,

altitude 18,000 feet.

Cotile riparia. The Sand Martin.

Sand Martins were fairly common on the plateau up to 14,500 feet. Seen

busily circling over the streams and lakes at Tinki, Tingri and Shekar. Norton

during the second expedition, on April 18, observed numbers around Tinki

lake, apparently having just arrived, as none had been there on the previous

day.

BIRD _ NOTES FROM THE MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION 325

Ptyonoprogne rupestris. The Rock Martin.

Haunts places on the plateau where there are crags and cliffs. Seen in the

gorge near Shillong, 14,000 feet ; around the cliffs above Kyishong; and in the

gorge at Khampa Dzong, 14,500 feet.

Motaciila alboides. Hodgson’s Pied Wagtail.

Frequently seen along mountain torrents; in the Chumbi valley at 10,000

feet : above Gautsa at 13,500 feet. Also along the plateau streams at about

14,000 feet: and throughout the Rongshar gorge between 9,000 and 11,000 feet,

_ Motacitla citreola calcaratus. Hodgson’s Yellow Wagtail.

Met with on the plateau in marshy places and at the edges of lakes. Altitude

13,500 to 15,000 feet. In 1922 Norton and Longstaff noted it at Gyanka Nampa

and along the Chiblung Chu.

Authus roseatus. Hodgson’s Pipit.

Numbers during Aprilin the Chumbi valley, probably migrating to higher

altitudes. Also seen in July in the Rongshar valley at 15,000 feet. Not noticed

on the Tibetan plateau. In 1922 Norton observed it below the Chog La at

15,000 feet, probably nesting.

Otocoris alpestris elwesi. Elwes’s Shore-Lark.

Abundant and widespread on the plateau. A common bird of every village.

It is usual to see hill-pigeons, tree-sparrows, accentors, horned larks and others

feeding near the village wall. It also frequents cultivated fields. Enters into

association with the Pikas that tunnel everywhere into the plateau soil. Feeds

at refuse heaps and in patches of grass. Seerns to find food in the barest place.

The stomachs of a few examined contained small seeds and fine grit. Very

common on the large plains, such as those near Phari, Tingri and Tuna.

Apparently likes to haunt the passes. Seen on the ascent to the Lamna La at

16,000 feet, to the Phusi La at 16,500 feet, to the Pang La at 17,000 feet. Also

on the moraine of the Rongbuk glacier at 18,000 feet. Used frequently to visit

our Everest base camp where it found scraps amongst the tents. Nests taken,

—(1) At Tingri, July 4, 15,000 feet; in cavity on earth bank ; composed of

grass lined with vegetable down ; contained three eggs newly laid. (2) At

Kyishong, July 10, 14,500 feet; in depression on ground behind ridge of

earth ; composed of grass lined with hair; contained two eggs hard set.

Melanocorypha maxima. The Long-billed Calandra Lark.

A conspicuous bird of the plateau. Frequents grassy and marshy places up

to 15,000 feet. Utters aloud call note when in flight. Nest containing three

young nearly fully fledged taken at Tingri on July 4, altitude 14,500 feet. A

second nest with three young half fledged taken at Tingri on July 6, altitude

15,000 feet. Both nests composed exclusively of dried grass, and situated on an

elevation in swampy ground sheltered by a stiff tuft of grass.

Alauda inopinata. The Tibetan Skylark.

Found in pasture areas and cultivated fields of the plateau. They follow the

plough in search of food. Seen up to 15,000 feet. Numbers in July over

the cultivated tracts near Tingri were singing and soaring like the English

skylark.

Calandrella acutirostris tibetana. The Tibetan Short-toed Lark.

The most common bird of the plateau: altitude 13,000 to 15,000 feet

Abundant everywhere: around villages, in cultivated fields, in marshy places

on the salt-covered plains, at the edges of streams and pools. Have seen a

flock of them busy on a frozen lake where they seemed to pick up something

from the surface of the ice. They particularly frequent fields freshly turned

over by the plough. Nests taken.—(1) At Shekar on July 7; altitude !5,000

feet; composed of grass lined with hair; situated in depression on ground

under lee of tuft of vetch ; contained three eggs hard set. (2) At Shekar on

July 7; altitude 15,000 feet: composed exclusively of dry grass: situated in

depression on sandy soil under shelter of an iris plant : contained two eggs hard

set. (3) At Kyishong on July 11, altitude 14,500 feet : situated in depression

on ground under shelter of vetch: composed of dried grass with the interior

intermingled with a little hair; contained three eggs. (4) At Chiblung on

326 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

July 13, altitude 14,500 feet: situated in hollow on ground under shelter of

vetch : composed of dried grass: contained three eggs. This last nest was of

particular interest. On its exposed side was a barrier of pebbles, from }to 1

inch in width. This had probably been erected by the bird as a protective

shelter from the wind. Buxton describes similar examples from deserts. How

animals adapt themselves to wind, cold, scarcity of food and other conditions

of high altitudes has been discussed in a paper ‘ Animal Life at High Altitudes ’

published in Zhe Geographical Journal, vol. lxv, No. 3, March 1925.

Upupa epops orientalis. The Hoopce.

Common everywhere on the plateau where it seems out of place in these

desolate heights. Not seen above 15,000 feet, though Wollaston observed it at

21,000 feet. In the main a village bird ; also likes to feed on grassy patches

where the ground is wet and soft. Sometimes seen far out on the stony plains,

even in the most barren spots. Haunts forts and ruined walls. In July many

were nesting in holes on earth cliffs. In 1922 Longstaff records a nest with six

fresh eggs in clean hole in mud wall on June 7, at Nyomda, 14,000 feet.

Norton found a nest with young on July 1, in a loose stone wall near Teng.

Athene noctua bactriana. Hutton’s Owlet.

A single bird flushed from heavy grass on the Lingka plain, altitude

14,500 feet.

Gyps himalayensis. ‘The Hinialayan Griffon.

Commonly seen in the mountainous valleys that lead from the plateau into

the main range. Noticed only occasionally on the open plateau where its place

is taken by the Lammergeyer. Seems to like circling over high passes. Some

were feeding at carrion on the summit of the Pang La, 17,200 ft.

Gypaetus barbatus grandis. ‘The Eastern Bearded Vulture.

Numerous on the Tibetan plateau. A scavenger around the village wall

where it finds carcasses and bones. Likes to circle over high passes and around

the rocky Tibetan forts. In its flight it is sometimes molested by choughs.

Ascends to considerable altitudes. A constant visitor to our base camp; also

to camps 1, 2 and 3, up to 21,000 feet. Sometimes, when flying over snow, its

under parts look completely white.

Cuncuma leucoryphus. Pallas’s Fishing-Eagle.

Seen occasionally near the rivers and marshes of the plateau; 14,000 to

15,000 feet.

Milvus migrans lineatus. The Black-eared Kite,

Common on the plateau. An occasional visitor toour basecamp. Kites

and ravens are the two scavengers that fight over the village scraps. In 1922

Norton observed it in June and July nesting and feeding young at two or three

places in the Dzakar Chu.

Falco tinnunculus. The Kestrel.

Seen frequently on the plateau up to 15,000 feet. Likes to investigate marshy

places and the grassy areas inhabited by mouse-hares. Has few points of

vantage from which to search for prey, and must do most of its scrutiny by

poising in the air. The Kestrel and the Tibetan Tern are the two birds of these

high altitudes which by hovering can hold themselves at a fixed point. Of all

serial evolutions this capacity to poise stationary in the air requires the greatest

amount of muscular effort, yet these two birds can poise stationary at 15,000

feet, where the supporting power of the atmosphere is only half that at sea

level, with the same skill and apparently the same facility as do kestrels and

terns at ordinary altitudes.

Columba rupestris. The Indian Blue Hill-Pigeon.

A bird of the plateau. Commonly seen in flocks. Abundant everywhere,

around resthouses, villages and forts. Harmonizes fairly well with the plateau

soil. Unlike C. ceuconota it haunts the round hills and open valleys as well as

the precipitous cliffs. Likes to frequent caves and ruined buildings ; is very

common in Tibetan villages, and comes to cultivated fields. Feeds regularly in

BIRD NOTES FROM THE MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION 327

the village streets. Haunts the stone bridges across the streams. Nests in the

Tibetan forts, such as those at Khampa, Tinki, and Shekar. One of the

regular visitors to our base camp where it walked fearlessly amongst our tents

like the pigeons in acity street. Also ascended to the higher camps. Made

daily visits to Camp 1 at 18,000 feet, and seen sometimes at Camp 2 at

20,000 feet.

Columba leuconota leuconota. The Snow Pigeon.

Not seen on the plateau. Prefers to haunt precipitous cliffs. An inhabitant

of the rocky gorges leading from the plateau into the main range. Seen in the

Rongshar and Gautsa gorges between 12,000 and 13,500 feet.

Turtur orientalis. The Rufous Turtle-Dove.

Frequently observed in the Chumbi valley, usually amongst the trees at the

edge of the torrent. Seen as high as Gautsa at 11,500 feet and at Chumbitang,

12,000 feet. A pair were observed on the plateau in a willow plantation at

Tashidzong, 14,500 feet. This makes an addition to the birds mentioned in

Wollaston’s list. Norton in 1922 noted it as common in the lower Phung Chu,

lower Dzakar Chu, Kharta and Kama valieys.

Syrrhaptes tibetanus. The Tibetan Sandgrouse.

Seen only at one place on the plateau, at Giri, 14,700 feet. Flocks were there

common on the stony soil feeding along the margin of the stream. They

harmonized well with their barren haunts.

Lophophorus impejanus. The Monal.

Seen in both the Chumbi and Rongshar valleys at about 12,000 feet.

Ithagenes cruentus. The Blood-Pheasant.

Seen on the descent from the Jelap La at 11,500 feet. Also in the Chumbi

valley at 13,090 feet. Norton saw it at Sakyeteng in the Karma vailey in 1922,

Perdix hodgsoniz hodgsonia. The Tibetan Partridge.

Seen in pairs on the stony hills between 13,000 and 15,000 feet. Fairly

common. Usually frequents the low scrub that collects around the base of

some of the hills. Also enters cultivated fields. Longstaff in 1922 met with it

on the Tinka La at 16,000 feet and at Kyishong 13,500 feet. Norton saw

‘a lot with some half grown cheepers’ in the lower Dzakar Chu valley on

July 6.

Tetraogallus tibetanus. The East Tibetan Snow-Cock.

Snow-cock are amongst the common birds of the plateau. Their whistlings

and chucklings are characteristic sounds. They frequent the barren stony

hills where their plumage harmonizes well with the rock. Commonly seen

near the summits of the passes up to 17,000 feet. In some places they are

remarkably tame. We used to chase them on horseback and pelt them with

stones. At our basecamp in the Rongbuk valley they came within a few

yards of our tents. Longstaff records it on Everest at 18,000 feet.

Megalornis nigricollis. ‘The Black-necked Crane.

A pair were seen at Tingri on July 7, altitude 15,000 feet. In 1922

Longstaff and Norton saw and photographed a pair on the Tinki plain on

June 15,

Cirripedesmus mongolicus airifrons. The Central Asian Lesser Sand-Plover.

Seen in muddy river beds and along the banks of streams. Also in marshes

and at edges of lakes, Fairly common on the plateau between 13,000 and

15,000 feet. In July a pair were nesting near Tingri at 16,000 feet. They

328 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

adopted the usual ruse of the plovers. In a crouching attitude, with head

bent almost to the ground, with tail expanded so as to display the white lateral

feathers, wings drooping as if to simulate injury, the parent bird ran quickly

through the short grass as if trying to lure the intruder away. Longstaff

observed this plover in June on the Sepo La at 17,000 feet.

Ibidorhynchus struthersi. The Ibis Bill.

Not seen on the plateau. Frequents the streams in the mountain gorges

that flow from the plateau into the main range. Met with in the Chumbi

valley at 13,500 feet and in the Rongshar valley at 10,000 feet. Harmonizes

most perfectly with the water-worn boulders amongst which it is accustomed

to feed. Young were seen in June crouching amongst boulders on an island

in the Rongshar stream. The reason why this bird has a bill with so peculiar

a curve is disclosed by observing its behaviour. It runs about on the water-

worn boulders, sometimes wading into the torrent up to its breast, thrusting

its long bill under the round stones in the hope of finding insects beneath them.

Sometimes it curves its bill around the front of the stone, sometimes inserts it

from one side. The bill is an excellent instrument for this purpose. Were it

straight it would not suit the roundness of the pebbles. Its peculiar curve isa

necessary part of it, and is excellently adapted to the habits of the bird. For

it is curved in such a way that it fits neatly around the boulders when the bird

is probing for food.

Tringa ochropus. The Green Sandpiper.

Sandpipers were seen in the pools at Khampa Dzong, 14,000 feet. A few

also in other parts of the plateau. I take it that they belonged to this species.

Totanus calidris. ‘The Redshank.

Seen frequently in the plateau marshes between 14,000 and 15,000 feet.

Nest composed of loose collection of sticks taken on July 12 at Jikkyop,

14,590 feet ; contained four eggs almost hatched. Norton in 1922 met with

families on July 15 near Lingka: one with four chicks of which the old birds

very pluckily tried to attract him away from the brood.

Erolia temminckii. Temminck’s Stint.

Noticed occasionally on the plateau. locks were seen on May 1, at

Lingka, 14,500 feet. On May 23 asingle bird came to a pool on the Rongbuk

glacier at 17,000 feet. It seemed tired and was probably on migration.

Gallinago stenura. The Pin-tailed Snipe.

A snipe, flushed from marshy ground at Chodzong, 15,000 feet, probably

belonged to this species.

Larus brunteicephalus. The Brown-headed Gull.

A common bird of the Tibetan plateau between 14,000 and 15,000 feet.

Frequents lakes and swamps and running streams. Flocks may be seen

resting on the ice in the morning waiting for the thaw to set in.

Sterna hirundo tibetana. The Tibetan Tern.

Abundant everywhere over streams and lakes between 13,000 and 15,000 feet.

Frequently seen poising over and plunging into streams. Common around

marshes and in the rocky gorge of the Dzakar Chu.

Anser indicus. ‘The Bar-headed Goose.

Numerous on the plateau. Very tame. Allowed my approach to within

25 yards. Occupy all lakes and swamps, even the pools at the village walls.

Well known to breed in Tibet. It is forbidden to take the eggs, yet one

Tibetan official presented me with six. In 1922 goslings were observed by

Longstaff on June 15. Norton records Tinki lake on July 14 as black with

thousands of young birds.

BIRD NOTES FROM THE MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION 329

Casarca ferruginea. The Ruddy Sheldrake.

Extremely common and remarkably tame. ‘They are as fearless as the

ducks in a London park. Seen on every lake and pool of the plateau between

13,000 and 15,000 feet. Usually in pairs, sometimes in small flocks, they feed

with their heads deep in the water and tails high in the air. Sometimes a

loud rushing noise is heard overhead which comes from a pair of sheldrake

swooping down to occupy the pool. They also frequent the barren hillsides

where they keep up a noisy courtship accompanied by bleating notes. It is

interesting to observe their sexual enthusiasm, often at the edge of a frozen

stream when the ground around them is draped in snow. Here is an example

from a desolate valley in April at 14,000 feet. At the edge of the stream is an

eager couple which give forth a kind of bleating note. The drake is the more

ardent of the two and very persistent in his suit. From time to time he

crouches low, stretches out his long goose-like neck, and makes a run

towards his mate. At other times, when sheis in the stream, he stretches out

towards her, then utters his bleating note as if trying to call her to the bank. It

is a cold desolation for such persistent enthusiasm which seems out of place

amidst ice andsnow. In June we saw many young on the Tingri lake; others

in July on the lakes at Tinki. Longstaff records it asa cliff breeder like

Spitzbergen geese. He saw the first ducklings on June 10, which were

gobbled by ravens on their journey to the river. Norton notes a fair number

with families on Tinki lake, July 14.

Merganser orientalis. The Eastern Goosander.

At Kyishong, 14,500 feet, a pair seen in the river with five ducklings newly

hatched.

THE RICE RATS OF LOWER SIND AND THEIR CONTROL

P. V. WAGLE, M. Ag.

(With three diagrams and a plate)

EDITED AND COMMUNICATED BY

Dr. Harotp H. MAnn, DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE, BOMBAY PRESIDENCY.

The Indus Delta in Sind is one of the most desolate pieces of country in the

whole of India. With an uninteresting vegetation, a very small population,

avery limited amount of cultivation compared with the vast areas available

for the purpose, it is a dreary waste of waters in the inundation season, and a

pastoral country utilized even for grazing only to avery small proportion

of its possibilities, in the cold weather. ‘The lack of development in this flat

alluvial country in the rainy season is probably due to three chief causes, —

the absence of control of the inundation water, the prevalence of intense

malarial conditions, and the prevalence of field rats.

The prevalence of field rats is, in fact, one of the main causes of the

limitation of cultivation, for the damage they do reduces the rice crop,

which covers over 75 per cent of the cropped area, by an amount which

varies in many areas from about 10 per cent to over 50 per cent of the crop.

It is this which has led to the inquiry of which I propose to givean account

in the present paper, asto the nature of the injurious field rats inthis part of

Lower Sind, and the methods which have proved successful in dealing with

them.

Hitherto, the species of rat inhabiting this tract have hardly been known.

In 1907, the late Mr. E. H. Aitken enumerated? the rats of Sind as follows :—

‘¢ The commonest rat in Sind is probably the Jerboa rat (Gerbillus indicus)

or its cousin the desert Gerbille (Gerdbzllus hurrianee).* Mr. Gleadow of the

Forest Department was the discoverer of another species at Rohri, the little

hairy-footed Gerbille (Gerbillus gleadowt).2 The common house rat in

Karachi at any rate, is pure white on the under parts, but brown rats are also

found : both are ranked now as varieties of Wus rattus,... The short-tailed

mole rat (esokia hardwicket) is widely spread in the Province and is ranked

among the enemies of the farmer.’’ In 1909, itis understood from a note by

Mr. Kinnear in 1919, two examples of the Sind Mole rat (Gunomys sindicus)

were sent to the Bombay Natural History Society, with a statement that this

species was a regular plague. The inquiries made in 1924 and 1925, on the

spot, indicate that three kinds of rat are very abundant in the Indus delta

area of the Karachi district. These are (1) the well-known Gerbil (Cheliones

hurriane) originally described from Hariana in the Punjab, but found in

Baluchistan, in Rajputana (Kotah), in various parts of the Punjab (Attock,

Delhi) and probably over the greater part of North-west India, (2) the Sind

Mole-Rat Gunomys sindicus, originally described from Pithoro in Eastern

Sind and authentic specimens of which have not been recorded from outside

the province, (3) Hutton’s Mole-Rat, Vesokia huttont, originally described from

Kandahar, but also recorded from Baluchistan, Quetta and Sukkur.

Two of these species of rats are now proved to be quite innocent of damaging

the rice crop, namely Cheliones hurriane and Nesokia huttoni, and the

injury is almost entirely, if not entirely, due to Gunomys sindicus, the Sind

Mole-Rat, which occurs in enormous numbers in the Indus delta. There

is no doubt that, in the past, a great deal of energy and money has been

spent in digging out and killing the wrong species of rat.

1 Sind Gazetteer by BE. H. Aitken, Karachi, 1907.

2 Now known as Cheliones hurriane, Jerdon.

3 Now known as Nesokia indica, G. & BH.

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OPENING

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COURSE OF A RAT BURROW

IN WASTE LAND

Sp:- MERIONES hurriandeé.

TATTA, 5- 9.1924.

ge’: LENGTH OF MAIN BURROW ~15 FEET.

MAXIMUM DEPTH - 21° INCHES.

THE FIGURES INDICATE THE DEPTH FROM SURFACE.

THE RICE RATS OF LOWER SIND AND THEIR CONTROL 331

THE COMMON GERBIL. Cheliones hurriane.

The common Gerbil, Cheliones hurriane, is the smallest of the three

common rats of the area. Its range of length of the head and body is defined

by Wroughton as 100 to 175 mm. Two adults gave the following actual

measurements :— if Il

mm. mm.

Head and Body length ... fa ee ma 105 108

Tail length cs ry: wea ay, iva LS 118

Length of Hind legs

without claws sh is ‘sis we SU 30

Ear length, from base ... ee 1

This species has very soft fur and is Creyeim 1 colour, with very prominent

black eyes. The ears are small and are covered with very fine soft fur. The

tail long—longer than the head and body together—has a line of black

hair on the dorsal side and ends in a brushof long black hair. The females

have normally four pairs of mamme two on the chest and two in the ingui-

nalregion. The adults weigh from two to three ounces.

The burrows of this rat are almost straight (see Fig. 1) with very

little branching, and in this respect are very different from those of the other

two rats to be described. They have usually two openings only, one at each

end. Inthe burrows dug, no nest or anything of the kind was found in any

one of them. The mouths of the burrows are always open and the inside is

clear of loose earth.

The rats of this species feed entirely on the weeds growing round about

their burrows, and they can be seen feeding in this manner even by day.

They are never found in the rice fields, nor have stores of rice plants ever

been found in their burrows. They are in fact, quite harmless from a

farmer’s point of view.

HutTtTon’s MoLE-Rat. LNesokia huttont,

The other two common species of field rats in Lower Sind both belong to

the sub-family W/uring, or in other words to the large class of bandicoots.

The genera Gunomys and Nesokia have only been recently separated on the

basis (1) of the length of the palatal] foramina,—this being long (8 mm.) in

Gunomys and short (5 mm.) in esokza, and (2) of the number of mamme,

the genus Gunomys being multimammate (16 to 18 mamme) while Vesokia

has only 8 mamme. Both are mole rats living normally underground, but

the species occurring in Sind have very different habits.

Hutton’s Mole Rat, Nesokia huttoni, is smaller than the Sind Mole-Rat

(Gunomys sindicus) to be described later. Its range of length of the head and

body is defined by Wroughton as being under 225 mm. but actual samples

found in Sind are far smaller than this. Two adults gave the following

measurements :— Ir Ty

mm. mm.

Head and Body length a nee Peloo 155

Tail length de ea os ae | 00 Zz

Length of Hind Leg

without claws aes isa on ne 29 29

Ear length, from base oa 20 17

This species has Very (Sone Tut, and is ochraceous in colour fading to

greyish-white on the belly. The fore and hind legs and tail are flesh coloured.

The ears are fairly small and almost naked. The tail is short not more, or

only very slightly more, than two-thirds of the length of head and body to-

gether. It is slender and covered with minute hairs. The adults weigh

about four ounces. The number of young per litter does not, in our ex-

perience, exceed eight.

In disposition, the rats of this species are very variable. When kept in

captivity some individuals are violent and bite at all parts of the cage in

which they are confined, while others are quiet and submissive.

The burrows of this species are feund in and round moist grassy areas

during the dry weather and in the embankments of rice fields during the

inundation season extending into the rice fields theniselves as the water

retires. They are very long (seé Fig. 2) sometimes extending to forty or fifty

feet. They are very much branched, but the communication between the

332 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

branches and the original burrow is generally closed. They have usually two

to three openings all of which are closed with heaps of loose soil throughout

the year. The inside of the burrows is not very clean, loose soil lying about

everywhere. Sometimes the passage of the burrow is so completely packed

up with soil that it is hard even to trace out its course. Nests are found in the

burrows. When the water either in swampy areas or in rice fields dries

up, the rats extend their burrows into these areas and use them until the next

inundation compels them to withdraw to the portions in the higher ground.

When the burrows are opened up, the rats, Vesokia huttoni, stick to them to the

last and do not run away.

Rats of this species usually do not leave the burrows for quite long periods,

and feed on the roots of grasses, from the inside of the burrows. 'The lines of

the burrows can in fact often be followed in grass areas, from above ground

by the withering of lines of grasses whose roots have been eaten. Their

principal food appears to consist of the roots of dab grass (Eragrostis

cynosurtoides) ashas been ascertained both by examination of their stomach

contents and of the grass above their burrows. The search for the roots they

require for food accounts for the great length of their burrows.

THE SIND MOLE-RAT. Gunomys sindicus.

The Sind Mole-Rat, Gunomys sindicus, which is the really serious injurious

field rat in Lower Sind, is altogether a larger animal than either of the two

others already described. Its range of length of the head and body is defined

by Wroughton as being less than 200 mm., and adult examples actually

measured in Sind gave the following figures :—

I II

mm. mm,

Head and Body length ee vat sey. 190 198

Tail length oe i eas =e LOU 165

Length of Hind Legs without claws nue ioe gon 34

Ear length, from base ; RRA 24

This species has coarse and harsh fur, intermixed with a certain number of

longer and coarser hairs scattered over the back and flanks. The colour is

very variable, but the general appearance above is of mingled buff and black,

fading into greyish-white on the belly. The fore and hind legs and tail are flesh

coloured. The ears are large and appear almost naked, though they are really

covered with very fine soft fur. The tailis long, slender and almost naked.

The minute hairs with which it is clothed are visible with difficulty.

The females have normally eight pairs of mamme, two pairs on the chest,

two pairs on the inguinal region, and the remaining four pairs on the sides of

the abdomen. But variations in the number and arrangement frequently

occur. The number varies from fourteen to eighteen, and these are not

always arranged in pairs, there being often two to three more teats on the left

side than on the right.

Full-sized adults weigh about eight ounces. The rats of this species breed

throughout the year. In October and November, however, the litters are very

large, varying from fourteen to eighteen per litter. During the rest of the

year, the number varies from five to ten. The young, when just born, are

35 mm. in length (head and body) and weigh from three to five grammes.

They are born blind and naked, and are pink in colour. The eyes open after

about a fortnight, and the young begin freely to leave the nest after about a

month. Young rats of this species up to 134 mm. in length (head and body)

have been sometimes found with the mother, and sometimes living inde-

pendently.

The Sind Mole-Rats are very active and difficult to catch, and are fierce and

have been even known to attack aman. They can usually be kept in confine-

ment and will breed under these conditions. Though normally living under-

ground they are neat and cleanly in their habits, cleaning dirt from their fur

with the fore feet and tongue.

The burrows of Gunomys sindicus are found in exactly similar situations to

those already described for Hutton’s Mole-Rat, but they are much more

migratory than the latter. It may be stated that the normal living and breed-

ing places are round the edges of grassy areas which are flooded during the .

inundation season, known as dhands in Sind. The openings of the burrows

are usually situated under bushes or in high grass. In July or August, when

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THE RICE RATS OF LOWER SIND AND THEIR CONTROL 333

the lower lands are flooded and the rice crops offer attractive food, they leave

these grassy areas and turn their attention to the embankments of the rice

fields. To these rice areas they keep pouring in throughout the season, and

there is always more damage from rats in the areas which abound with dhands.

When the water falls in the rice fields they extend their burrows into the fields

themselves,—and after the crop is harvested and the rice which they have

stored is exhausted, they again migrate to the grassy areas, often to con-

siderable distances.

The burrows in the rice areas occur, therefore, both in the embankments and

in the fields, but when there is water standing in the fields, they restrict them-

selves to the embankments. When both the fields and the embankments are

submerged, as occasionally happens, they form nests on the tops of the rice

plants above the water, but whether these are merely temporary resting places

is not known.

The burrows of this species are short, but connect extensively with one

another (see Fig. 3), especially when the rats live within the embankments.

They then occupy a length of two to ten feet. Each burrow has three to four

openings, which are generally found open, and a large heap of soil is found

outside one or two of the openings. Balls of excreta are found mixed with

these heaps of soil. There is no loose soil lying anywhere in the burrow.

When the soil is very wet, and when there is pienty of vrass or rice growing,

the rats construct, inside their burrows, two or three nests either of grass or

rice straw. Outside the burrow, distinct runways through dense vegetation to

the feeding grounds of the rats are frequently found and it is under such safe

cover that they move about in search of food. Though the rats of this species

are nocturnal in their habits, yet they can sometimes be seen outside by day,

especially at harvest time, under cover of grass.

When the water in the rice fields dries up, the rats leave their burrows in the

embankments and dig fresh burrows in the fields themselves. Such burrows

are longer than those in the embankments, and in these they store grain, some-

times along the main burrow, and sometimes in special chambers. After this

store is finished, the general migration from the rice areas to the grassy lands

(dhands) begins, where they dig fresh burrows, and these they occupy until the

next inundation season.

Though the Sind Mole-rat lives normally in dry land, itis capable of swim-

ming. Medium-sized adults when kept in water twelve inches deep in glass

jars were able to maintain themselves without any support from forty to sixty

hours. They are always able to dive, and in face of any danger they jump

into water and dive or swim away. A high flood, however, destroys enormous

numbers of these rats, and is probably the main natural agency in keeping

down their numbers. : ;

Foop AND HABITS OF THE SIND Morre-Rat

In nature, the Sind Mole-rats have been noted to feed on two different classes

of material. Onthe one hand they take, when they can obtain them, rice

plants in various stages, and the earheads of the b6ajri crop (Pennisetum

typhoideum) : on the other hand they eat the roots and tubers of certain’ grasses

and sedges. a

So far as the rice plant is concerned, it is eaten chiefly in three stages. In

August when the crop has grown to a height of eighteen inches to two feet

the rats cut off the plants at the bottom, to feed on the lower sweet pulpy por-

tion of the stem. It isin these days that the rats, probably for the purpose of

being near enough to their food supply, construct temporary nests on the top of

the rice plants—especially in submerged fields—made of rice plants cut and

twisted together. ‘he damage to therice fields at this stage is generally in the

form of patches ali over the fields, and in years of rat plagues these patches

extend over large areas. Usually the damage is not so serious as it? looks, as

tillering takes place, and the plants still mature though a little later than the

general crop.

The second stage of the growth of the rice plant when it appear i 7

attractive to the Sind Mole-rat is when fie grain in the Sci eae

milky. The rats then either climb up the rice plants or bend them over, and

suck the milky pulp from the earheads which consequently dry up. "A far

more serious type of damage is done, however, in the third stage when the erain

has fully ripened. The rats then,eat the grain, leaving only the outer hulls,

334 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

and in order to do so they cut off the earheads and store them in large quantities

in their burrows. The burrows, in fact, if dug at this time of year (October or

November) show large numbers of earheads stored, sometimes in special cham-

bers and sometimes in the main burrows. More than six hundred earheads:

were counted in some of the burrows, and even then, more were being collected.

Much is eaten, much is wasted, and the store is used up, ordinarily, by Decem-

ber in each year. This cutting off, storing, and eating the mature or nearly

mature earheads represents the chief damage done by the rats. In 1925, a large

number of fields in the Tatta, Sujawal and Shah Bunder talukas of the Karachi

District were examinea, and about 124 per cent of the earheads had been

removed in this manner. This was not a‘ plague year’ but probably represents

the normal amount of damage in much of the Indus Delta. If we take it as such,

and count a normal crop as 1,000 lbs. per acre of paddy, worth 25 lbs. per

rupee—this damage would mean over twenty-three lakhs of rupees damage

per annum.

Other crops are on!y eaten to a limited extent. Bajyrz grown in the inundation

season, and wheat grown in the cold weather are also taken in some years, but

not to anything like the same extent. Oilseeds (rape, mustard, etc.) and pulses

grown in the cold weather are almost free from the trouble.

The other main food of the Sind Mole-rat, used chiefly during its annual

sojourn in the grassy areas, consists of the roots and tubers of certain grasses

and sedges, which are exceedingly common there. The chief of these are (1)

the roots of dab grass (Eragrostis cynosurioides) (2) the roots and tubers of

aheer (Scirpus subulatus) and kal (Scirpus maritimus). These materials supply

the chief food during the portion of the year when rice is not available.

In order to try and find the real preferences of the Sind Mole-rat, in the matter

of food, a number of adult rats were kept in cages and fed on various materials.

Small to medium-sized adults or nearly adult rats, weighing from four to five

ounces each were taken, and kept for two days or so in the cages to accustom

them to the surroundings with a sufficient supply of water. Weighed quantities

of various foods were placed in the cages, and the amount left after 24

hours was again weighed. The difference between the amount given, and the

amount remaining atter 24 hours, indicated the amount consumed by the rat.

A number of tests were made with each kind of material. Healthy rats only

were employed: if they became sick, they were not used again.

The average quantity consumed in 24 hours by small to medium-sized rats

was as follows : —

Green Bananas oe am 10° 7 ems.

Ripe Bananas

Green guvar} pods.

Turi (Lufa acutangula)

Roots of daé grass

Uncooked wheat flour wetted with water

Cooked wheat flour wetted with water

Uncooked wetted 6a7ri flour

Cooked wetted bajri flour

Uncooked wetted rice flour

Cooked wetted rice flour

Uncooked wetted gram? flour

Cooked wetted gram flour

Uncooked wetted wheat bran

Cooked wetted wheat bran

Dry gram |

Gram soaked in water for 24 hours

‘Earheads of rice

”)

er)

bt 0

i) HAW TOAFPLUANWOROSUt,

»)

feet

252

dae

”’

ey aod

”»

)

SENOCANSDOUHASCSONWWON

f leaving all ~

(hulls)

—"

Earheads of Bajri. ie

Earheads of Jowar (Sorghum) ...

Dry Copra (Cocoanut) See

Dry Fish

Green rice plants

DArn

Ame 00 oN

5, (only the

lower portion

of stems eaten)

1Guvar, Cyamopsis psoraliotdes. 2 Gram, Cicer arietinum.

THE RICE RATS OF LOWER SIND AND THEIR CONTROL 335

Some of the tests were repeated with larger rats (6 ounces), but using the

same method. Theresult was as follows :— aes

Roots of daé grass se ae Z

Tubers of kal (Scirpus maritimtus ) a 4?

Unhusked rice et Bh 14: ,, (leaving all -

hulls)

Uncooked dari flour ace a 10

Cooked éajrz flour se ae 34°:

Dry whole wheat 4

Dry crushed wheat 8

Crushed wheat, wetted with 25 per cent

water ey da 12°S gms. (dry wheat).

It will be noticed from all these figures that the roots and tubers of grasses

are very highly relished, that grain flours of all kinds are eaten readily, and are

preferred when cooked and that rice is only eaten after removing the hulls.

Plantains are very much relished, but green gwvar pods are not liked. Fish is

not touched at all. Only the lower portions of the stems of green rice plants

were eaten.

As it was desirable to know whether foods could be made more attractive,

some of these foods were mixed with guw/ (raw sugar), with cocoanut oil, and

with aniseed oil. These were all mixed with rice flour, or wheat bran, —but in

no case did the addition cause the rats to consume more of the food used. The

following figures indicate the results :—

Quantity consumed by one rat in 24 hours.

1 (a) Uncooked rice alone ae a 12:5 gms.

(6) Uncooked rice with gul ee bt 84 ,,

2 (a) Cooked wheat bran alone oe es 10:9 _,,

(6) Cooked wheat bran with gu/... as 905 =

3 (a) Uncooked rice flour alone a 12573

(6) Uncooked rice flour, with cocoanut oil ... 104 _,,

4 (a) Uncooked rice flour alone : = 125 35

(6) Uncooked rice flour with aniseed oil a 10:0 _,,

METHODS OF CONTROL OF THE SIND MOLE-RAT

In Lower Sind, the Sind Mole-rats always do extensive though variable

damage. Some years they area veritable plague and in most seasons, this is

the case in some partsof the area. Probably the main natural means of

control is the prevalence of floods. Though these rats are good swimmers, yet

a high flood by filling their burrows with water, does destroy a large number

tor in these times it is only the very high land which remains asa refuge. The

fact of the variability of the damage from year to year, apparently without

reason, leads to the idea thata rat plague is ascourge of God against which

little or nothing can be done. This idea prevails very widely among the

cultivators of the Indus Deita.

When the pest becomes really serious, many people do, however, have recourse

to digging out the rats in the embankments and there are even special rat

shikaris employed, who are very skilful in digging out and killing rats. The

Sind Mole-rat is somewhat difficult to deal with, as itis easily alarmed and

runs away at the least provocation. But the skzkaris, who have made this their

profession, are able, in bad attacks, to catch and kill sixty or seventy rats per

day, and are paid eight to twelve annas per hundred rat-tails produced. As the

number of rats decreases, the rate of pay rises, till it may go upto Rs. 2 to Rs. 3

per hundred tails.

A method of digging has been recently adopted in the Tatta taluka, by which

all openings of the burrow were closed except one, and a fishing net was placed

over the remaining opening. Asthe Gunomys rat is easily alarmed, it flees when

digging is begun, and is caught and killed in the net. Dogs are some times

used, too, in connection with digging.

But, at the best, the digging out of rat holes is an expensive and unsatisfactory

method. Long burrows are usually avoided by the skikaris, as being too much

trouble. The embankments are often badly spoiled by the digging operations

and cost a good deal to repair. Many of the rats killed are the harmless Mesokia

336 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX

huttoni instead of the injurious Gunomys sindicus. And, as new rats are

continually moving into the rice area, afew field may easily be re-infected

after all the trouble has been taken.

':Two methods of destroying the Sind Mole-rat on a large scale have been tried.

The first has been by poisoning, which has not proved applicable on a large

scale: the second is by fumigation of the burrows which under conditions which

can now be defined, seems to be practicable and efficient as a method of

controlling the rats.

CONTROL BY POISON BAITS

In the experiments on poisoning, the best medium for conveying the poison was

found to be cooked dajvz flour. This was as attractive as any available material,

and was mixed with (1) strychnine hydrochloride, (2) barium carbonate,

(3) white arsenic, (4) plaster of Paris. and (5) a proprietary phosphorus

preparation knownas ‘ Farmers’ Vermin Destroyer’. ‘The last two of these

proved entirely useless: On the other hand, effective results were obtained

with the other poisons.

With strychnine hydrochloride, one rat died within half an hour after taking

cooked 6ajrz flour containing 0:025 grains of the poison: another died within

12 hours after taking bait containing 0:12 grains of the poison. With barium

carbonate the minimum effective dose was 1:0 grain of the poison, contained in

5 grammes of dajrvz flour. In this case the rat died within 12 hours. Using white

arsenic, cooked dajrz flour containing 0-05 grains of the poison was effective

within 12 hours.

All the above tests were made with 4to5 ounce adult rats. Further trials

were then made with larger rats weighing 6 ounces. Again strychnine

hydrochloride was found to be effective within 12 hours when the rat consumed

bajri flour containing 0:1 grain of the poison. Barium carbonate caused the

death of the rat within 48 hours when flour containing 1:2 grains of the poison

was taken, and within 15 hours when 2-4 grains of the poison was consumed.

In the case of white arsenic, 0:2 grains of the poison killed the rat in 36 hours

and 0'5 grains in 12 hours.

When tested in the field the following method was adopted: Baits of cooked

bajrz flour or other media, 5 to 8 grammes in weight were mixed with adequate

doses of the poison and placed near oneofthe openings of the burrowsin the

evening. They were examined next morning, and when the baits had been

touched, the burrows were dug out to see whether the rat was dead. Four cases

occur. ;

1. The bait had been partly or wholly eaten, and on excavation a dead rat

was found in the burrow.

The bait had been partly or wholly eaten, and on excavation no rat was

found in the burrow.

3. The bait was untouched, and no sign of a rat’s activities.

4. The bait was untoucned, but had been dragged inside the burrow, and

there was only a living rat in the burrow.

The first case means success : the second has been counted as success, for it is

probable that the rat had died away from the burrow: in the third case the

burrow is evidently uninhabited and so these cases are excluded from the list of

tests made: and in the last case, the rat refused the bait or was unaffected by

it, and the result was a failure. The percentage of success was calculated by the

proportion of cases 1 and 2 tothe total of cases 1, 2 and 4.

The results with barium carbonate and white arsenic were extremely poor,

as follows :--

A.—Barium Carbonate (3 to 4 grains per bait).

1. December 1924. Medium-Cooked dajri flour (16 baits) ... 125 per cent

successful.

2. February 1925. J/edium-crushed wheat (25 baits) Se icke2Oat sare

B.-- White Arsenic (1 grain per bait).

January 1925. Medium-cooked bajré flour (30 baits) ... 43 rr

February 1925. JZedium crushed wheat (40 baits) cell: i

THE RICE RATS OF LOWER SIND AND THEIR CONTROL — 337

Strychnine hydrochloride was much more effective, as follows :—

C.—Strychnine hydrochloride (0°3 to 0'5 grain per bait).

1. December 1924. MMedium-cooked dajrz flour (14 baits) ... 43 per cent.

successful.

2. December 1924. Medium, whole wheat (45 baits) Cer aLOY, ¥

3. January 1925. Medium-crushed wheat (40 baits) 4 50 a

4, February 1925. Medtum-crushed wheat (57 baits) oe, *

5 March 1925. Medium-crushed wheat (23 baits) wee Gee -

6. March 1925. Medium-boiled rice (20 baits) 20

Even in the case of the last poison, the results are not, however, very

promising. With a migrating pest like the Sind Mole-rat, partial destruction

of the pest in this manner is hardly what is wanted, and as attempts at

fumigation had more promise, further attempts in the direction of using

poison baits were given up.

CONTROL BY FUMIGATION

As it was shown in the early part of this investigation that the burrows of

the Sind Mole-rat, as they are found in the embankments of the rice fields

during the inundation season, are comparatively short and free from obstruc-

tions, there seemed a possibility that the rats could be killed by fumigating

the burrows with lethal gases. Previous attempts using carbon bisulphide

vapour as the fumigant, in the longer burrows found in the cold weather

(November and December 1920) had proved very ineffective, but as soon as it

was realized that the only time for fumigating the burrows was during the

inundation season, almost complete success was obtained.

The method used was first to pump smoke (made by the mixed vapours of

hydrochloric acid and ammonia) into a burrow, close all openings where

smoke comes out, by soil,—and then pump in the fumigant. The machine

used for the purpose was the ‘ Suddeth Rabbit Fumigator’ obtained from

Australia. Carbon bisulphide or petrol, or a mixture of the two was used as

a fumigant in all these tests in 1925. The amount used varied from one

pound per nine burrows, to one pound per 40 burrows, and the latter quantity

was found quite effective at the proper season. ‘The actual quantities used and

the percentage of success was as follows :—

| Number of Percentage of

Date Fumigant Burrows per 1 lb. success

of fumigant per cent

August 1925 | Carbon bisulphide 9 100

3 ne | 20 100

ie ve | 40 100

September 1925 i 40 100

October 1925 | 5 40 100

November 1925 | 7 40 25

December 1925 | A 23 35

January 1926. " 20 30

October 1925 | Petrol 30 18

November 1925 | ‘ tS Nil.

October 1925 | Petrol and Carbon

bisulphide (1: 1) 15 83

November 1925 ers) 34 32

December 1925 a 15 8

The results seem clear. Up to October, carbon bisulphide seems a perfect-

ly effective fumigant, when applied at the rate of one pound per 40 burrows.

An attempt was made to apply this method of fumigation with carbon

bisulphide in 1925 on an area of 250 acres in a badly affected area in the Shah

Bunder taluka, during the inundation season. The rats were found chiefly in

the embankments, which were covered with thick tall grass—thus causing

338 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

considerable difficulty in finding the burrows. The area was gone over with

the machine,—smoke followed by fumigant,—and all the rats destroyed, as

was made clear by digging out anumber of the burrows. ‘Then the embank-

ments were re-infested with rats from the outside, and the treatment was

repeated. The whole area was in fact, gone over four or five times, and 2,500

rats were destroyed. The cost for material came from 8 to 10 annas per acre.

When the experiments had reached this stage, I was compelled to leave

Sind and further work was placed in other hands. I have been allowed,

however, to utilize the results obtained in 1926,--when the work of rat ex-

termination was carried out on a much larger scale, and anew method of

fumigation introduced, which bids fair to give more widely applicable results

than those previously described.

The results of 1925 had, however, been so promising that it was decided to

deal with about 3,200 acres of badly affected country in 1926. It was clear that

if fumigation was to be successful, it would have to be done between August

and October, whatever fumigant was used. It was originally intended that

carbon bisulphide should be exclusively used for the purpose, but just when

the work was about to begin, attention was drawn to the probability that even

better results might be obtained by the use of calcium cyanide in very fine

dust, which could be pumped into the burrows exactly like a vapour. This

material is now available in large quantities at a moderate price, and suitable

cheap pumps for blowing the dust into the burrows are also obtainable.

Preliminary experiments, near, Tatta, were, in fact, so promising that it was

determined to use this material on a large scale.

In carrying out these large scale tests, two centres were taken in both of

which the rat attack promised to be very serious in 1926, and altogether 3,463

acres were treated either with carbon bisulphide or with calcium cyanide dust

(A dust). All the land was gone over three times, and 423 acres in Tando

Mahomed Khan was gone over four times. The total quantity of carbon

bisulphide used was 1 1b. 10 ozs. per 100 burrows and of calcium cyanide dust

was half a pound per 100 burrows.

The following table shows the details of the treatment. It may be noted that

the carbon bisulphide costs Rs. 2-8-0 per pound, and the calcium cyanide dust

Rs. 1-8-0 per pound. Both these prices would be very much reduced if the use

of the method became general.

errs vee ee

| Area No.of, | Cost of -| Total

treated | burrows | material | cost

Place Material used in treated | &Jabour| per

. | acres |per acre.| acre

| IRS ce | gies.

1. Shahbunder. Carbon bisulphide | 720 12,431 D108 22250

2. Shahbunder. Calcium cyanide! nee

| dust. _ 1,040 24,960 056 0/6180

3. Tando Mahomed | |

Khan Carbon bisulphide.. 423 | 12,089 Vad Jus oe

4. Tando Mahomed | Calcium cyanide |

Khan dust. | 1,280 92.874 |, 0-5 S$ 16 dia

oo ih =

The treatment was completely successful with both materials, but the use of

Calcium cyanide dust is not only much cheaper, but also is much simple to

apply. It appears clear, in fact, that by an expenditure not exceeding 12

annas per acre, this rat pest, which as has been shown above, causes an annual

loss of crop which amounts to between twenty and thirty lakhs of rupees, can

be controlled.

GAME PRESERVATION IN THE NILGIRIS

Major E. G. Puytnian-Apams, I.A. (RETD.)

The Nilgiri Game Association was formed in 1879, and is

therefore one of the oldest societies for Game Preservation in

India.

The area under its control includes not only the whole of the

Nilgiri District, but also parts of Coimbatore and Malabar. A

detailed physical description of the country is unnecessary, and

it will suffice to divide it into (1) upland; (2) slopes; and (3) low

country. (1) The upland consists of the Nilgiri plateau at an

average elevation of 6,500’, open rolling downs alternating with

wooded sholas often of considerable extent. (2) The slopes,

generally grassy or with light jungle, run down more or less

precipitously to the low country. On the west are the famous

cliffs of the Kundahs. (3) The low country includes the Nilgiri

Wynaad at an average elevation of 3,000’ and the area between

the slopes and the Moyar and Bhavani rivers running down to

little more than 1,000’ above sea-level. The jungle varies from

heavy tree to light thorny scrub.

The mass of the Nilgiri plateau intercepts the monsoon currents

and accordingly one side receives heavy rain from the south-west

monsoon while the other obtains little except from the north-east.

This climatic variation considerably affects both the nesting seasons

of birds and the times when the deer, more especially chital, may

be found in hard horn. At the time of the formation of the ‘Asso-

ciation in 1879 as the result of considerable Press agitation, big

.game was fast approaching extinction on the plateau. The

butchers of that period knew no restriction of age, sex, or season,

and slaughtered alike does, fawns, and stags in velvet. To any-

one who thinks this picture overdrawn, a persual is recommended

of the articles entitled ‘Game,’ published in the South Indian

Observer in 1876, by ‘Hawkeye,’ the late General Hamilton, to

whom the thanks of all sportsmen are due. Owing largely to his

efforts, the Madras Government passed ‘the Nilgiris Game and

Fish Preservation Act of 1879,’ which with minor modifications

has been in force ever since. ;

The Act provides for close seasons, protection of females and

immature animals, etc., on Government lands only, and vests in

the Collector of the District very considerable powers regarding

the conditions under which a licence to shoot may be issued. The

Collector is assisted by the D. F. O. as Honorary Secretary, and

by the Committee of the N. G. A. At the present time a season

340 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1

shooting licence costs Rs. 50, and entitles the holder to shoot the

following head of mature game :—

Sambur 5 Be, Jungle-sheep gees’)

Spotted deer mo eS Ibex Tee

Blackbuck beens Bison 1

Four-horned antelope Een

while a monthly licence costing Rs. 30 entitles the holder to :—

Sambur ees | Bison or Ibex betes |

Spotted deer Sees 1 Blackbuck or four-horned

Jungle-sheep ah Bs: antelope |

Mature heads are defined as :—

Sambur peo)! Spotted deer et eu

Blackbuck ee ee Ibex Hoven lig)

Bison 33” span, or 18” girth, or 4” of corrugation.

Stringent penalties are imposed for shooting females or imma-

ture heads. All fines however have to be credited to Government,

and are not allowed to swell the funds of the N. G. A.

The close season runs from July 1 to October 31 for big

game, and from March 1 to September 15 for small game; there

is no separate licence for the latter. On an average about eighty

season and twenty monthly licences are issued. Visitors pay the

same fees as residents.

Taking in order the various big game of the area :—

(1) Sambur.—Are now numerous all over the plateau, slopes,

and low country, but really good heads are very scarce, and even

those considered shootable (30”) are not numerous. The hinds

outnumber the stags on an average by eight to one, and need

thinning, but the difficulties in the way of this are obvious. The

total absence of lime on the Nilgiris is no doubt chiefly to blame

for the small size of the heads but another contributing cause is

undoubtedly the shooting off of the best stags year after year,

leaving to breed chiefly immature animals and those past their

prime. All old stags ‘going back’ should be shot off.

The record head for the Nilgiris is only 42” shot many years

ago, and it does not appear that one over 38” has been obtained

for some time. During the past six years an average of twenty-

eight stags has been shot annually.

(2) Spotted Deer.—Very numerous in the low country, but

much persecuted by wild dogs and by patta-land shooters. The

heads are good running up to 38”, but are generally thinner than

those in the C. P. The average for the last six years is twenty-

seven buck annually.

(3) Bison.—Have increased considerably in the low country,

some of the herds numbering up to thirty. Good heads are how-

ever scarce and the average number shot in the last six years is

only seven annually, the best recorded head having a span of 41”.

(4) Ibex.—Nilgiri Tahr, locally known as Ibex, were nearly extinct

in 1879 but thanks to careful protection have now increased very

considerably, and the total of the herds in the Kundahs cannot

now fall much short of 400. In 1925 the writer saw a single herd

of over eighty, nearly half of which were kids, After such a long

GAME PRESERVATION IN THE NILGIRIS 341

period of protection it might be expected that the old bucks

(saddle-backs) would carry fine heads, but of the total of eight

shot in the last six years, the best measures only 154”. The does

outnumber the bucks by some 20 to 1, and there is no satisfactory

explanation for such disproportion. Ibex suffer considerably from

the depredations of panthers and, though to a less degree, from

poaching Kurrumbas on the Bhavani slopes.

(5) Blackbuck,—Were closed to shooting from 1923 to 1926

and are still not numerous, but sufficiently so to allow the inclu-

sion of one on the licence for those who care to shoot so poor a

trophy. They seldom measure over 17” and are considerably smaller

in build than up-country buck.

(6) Jungle-sheep.—As the Muntjac is locally called—are suffi-

ciently numerous and call for no remarks. Fifty-two are shot

annually on an average.

(7) Four-horned Antelope.—Are scarce, and only four have

been shot in the last six 'years. It may be of interest to note that

the variety with two horns only is generally found here. In old

books it is termed the ‘Mountain Antelope.’

(8) Nilghai.—Are rare in the area and are strictly protected.

(9) Tiger, Panther and Bear.—Are not protected and call for

few remarks. The average numbers shot annually during the

past six years were 13, 29 and 6 respectively. Chance-met tigers

occur more frequently on the plateau than in most other parts

of India. The writer had the good fortune to meet a family party

of three on the main bridle-path in the Kundahs on November 1

last, and the late General Hamilton once saw no less than five

together in the same locality.

The destruction of panthers has resulted in a great increase in

the numbers of wild pig which did so much damage to cultivation

that in 1921 Government found it necessary to give a reward for

their destruction. After some 1,350 had been killed the reward

was stopped in 1924.

(10) Wild Dogs.—Though not strictly speaking game, these play

an important part in Game Preservation. Up till 1923 a reward of

Rs. 25 was paid for every wild dog killed in the area, of which the

N. G. A. gave Rs. 15, Government contributing the balance. The

results were satisfactory in that some forty to fifty were destroyed

annually. Unfortunately the adjoining districts did not co-operate,

and skins of dogs shot outside the area were brought in in such

increasing numbers that the N. G. A. in 1923 were forced from

lack of funds to discontinue the reward. At the same time Govern-

ment in a fit of economy stopped their contribution also. There

is no doubt that the reward of Rs. 25 was too high, but to stop

it altogether was a very short-sighted policy and resulted in a

great increase in the numbers of wild dogs. The spotted deer

and sambur in the low country suffered severely in consequence,

some parts being temporarily denuded of all game, while several

packs even made their way up on to the plateau, which had been

free of them for some years. In 1926 it was decided to renew the

N. G. A. reward of Rs. 10 and to address Government for assist-

ance in the matter.

342. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

So far as this area is concerned there is as yet no definite evidence

of more than one type of wild dog, though a smaller and fiercer

variety is said to occur just inside the Mysore boundary. This

however still remains to be confirmed.

Small Game.—The game birds of the area include Snipe, Wood-

cock, Nilgiri Wood-pigeon, Grey Jungle-fowl, Spurfowl (red and

painted), Peafowl, Sandgrouse (painted), Grey Partridge and

several varieties of Quail, but compared with other districts, the

shooting must be considered distinctly poor. A bag of a dozen

head, on the plateau at any rate, is as much as one gun can

expect in a day, and he will have to shoot straight to get even that.

Sisi and Chikor were imported and turned down some years

ago, but no trace of them can now be found. An experiment is

shortly being made with Burmese Silver Pheasants, and it is to

be hoped that this will meet with more success. Grey Jungle-fowl

have been brought up on to the plateau from the low country from

time to time, certain sholas where they are released being closed

to all beating, but the majority probably soon find their way down

again.

In 1926 the Nilgiri Game Association decided to reintroduce

rewards for the destruction of vermin, the scale being:

Wild Cats and Red Mongooses, Re. 1 each.

Hawks, Crow-pheasants, Harriers and Eagle-owls, As. 8 each.

The shooting of Jungle-hens is not permitted after January 1

each year, and shooting would improve if they were protected

altogether for several years, at any rate on the upper plateau

round Ootacamund.

Poaching is inevitable and all that can be done is to mitigate

the evil as far as possible. The N.G.A. has for many years and

at considerable expense maintained a staff of seventeen game

watchers, but as they were found to be quite useless, they were

abolished in 1926, and their duties taken over by ordinary Forest

Guards, a special sum being set aside by the N. G. A. for rewards

for reporting cases. The N. G. A. is much hampered by the

amount of private Patta land in the area, over which it has no

control, and on which shooting takes place without restriction

throughout the year. Since the revision of the Indian Arms Act

a few years ago the number of licensed weapons has increased

enormously, and there is, unfortunately no doubt that poaching

into Reserved Forests is far more comon than it used to be. What

is needed is an Act to protect the females of deer at all times, and

game birds during the nesting-season equally on private as on

public land.

The Forest Rangers and their assistants in this district now

receive free shooting licences, and if they will fully realize their

responsibilities in the matter of Game Preservation, much might

be effected.

Certain areas on the plateau are closed to shooting either big or

small game, and others to beating, and it is proposed to close

next year to all shooting a considerable area in the centre of the

plateau to acclimatize imported Jungle-fowl and Burmese

Pheasants. For many years the large tract on the west of the

GAME PRESERVATION IN THE NILGIRIS 343

plateau known as the Kundahs has been closed to all beating and

small game shooting. It was re-opened this season, but there is

no appreciable increase in the number or size of heads in the case

of Sambur, nor in the number of small game. The Kundahs are

uninhabited and seldom visited except by an occasional sportsman

or by men grazing herds of cattle. Its southern edge is no doubt

poached to a certain extent by the jungle Kurrumbas from the

Bhavani Valley, but they do not penetrate far above the cliffs. The

poor results obtained seem to show that a long period of protec-

tion in the same area is a mistake, and that closed areas should

not be kept as such for more than a few years.

General.—The present condition of game in the area is satis-

factory, but the greatly increased number of licensed and unlicensed

weapons in the hands of Patta-land shooters renders necessary

stricter supervision than formerly, and an Act to regulate the sale

of big game throughout the year, with severe penalties for the

use of a gun except by a licence-holder in person. Unless some

such steps on the lines indicated are taken at an early date, the

head of game in the area will diminish rapidly, and no longer

afford alike to the resident and to the visitor the sport that it

does at present.

LOVEDALE, NILGIRIS,

March 3, 1927.

SOME FURTHER NOTES ON THE SECOND EDITION OF THE

FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA—BIRDS, VOL. III

CLAUD B. TICEHURST, M.A., M.R.C.S., M.B,O.U., F.R.G S.

p. 2. lrena puella. Even at the present day the British Museum lacks suffi-

cient material among many of the commonest Indian species to elucidate their

moults and plumages, the old idea however that any species acquires its plumage

by pigmentation without a moult has been discarded by practically every

ornithologist in the world; there has never been any proof that such a pheno-

menon can take place and a good deal of proof that such a thing is a physio-

logical impossibility. An examination of the British Museum series however

does show that first winter males resemble the adult female and by complete

moult become adult the following spring. The juvenile of this well-known

species appears to be unknown !

p. 6. Oriolus o. oriolus. IY do not think there is any proof that this oriole

winters in N.W. India at all, indeed the only record I can find is one from

Karachi in September where it may be straggler at the seasonal migrations.

Many Indiaa orioles have longer wings than 142 mm. and I find a sexed series

show ¢ 138-149, 9 132-146.

Dan 2A Saroglossa. I cannot agree that an original error in spelling eat be

perpetuated, moreover it is not in accord with the International Rules to do so

(Rule 19). The word is of course derived from the Greek fsar ( =a starling)

cf. Psarisoma, etc. and Hodgson must have made aslip or else a printer’s error

crept in and it is on a par with Sturnopaséer altered to Sturnopas/or (p. 61).

p. 32. Sturnus v. humit. The description of the ‘ young birds’ plumage

is not at all clear. Here by ‘young birds’ is meant the first winter

plumage and by ‘nestling’ the juvenile plumage. In the description of

the ‘nestling’ plumage there is no mention made of white spots on the

lower pl: umage nor of any buff spots on the upper plumage which we are

told the ‘ young bird’ retains. As a matter of fact the first winter birds

retain none of the juvenile or ‘ nestling’ dress, there being a complete moult,

and in this dress are more profusely spotted on the under-parts than any other

race of Starling. The breeding distribution is given as the Himalayas east tc

Nepal ; it is commion eaough in parts of Cashmere but it must be very local now-

a-days in the Simla-Almora area; at least there appear to be no records of it.

p. 33. Sturnus v. minor. ‘The irides of females I shot were éright gold and

aot white ; a very striking and distinctive feature.

p. 34. Sturnus v. poltaratzskit. All races of Starling vary but the majority

of this race have the ear coverts purple, not green, and is thus in contra-

distinction to vw. zulgaris; a few, which I otherwise cannot differentiate,

however have the ear coverts greenish.

p. 54. Fourth line from bottom ‘ nesting’ should be ‘ roosting’.

p. 56. Here as in many cases throughout the Fauna the terminology of the

plumages varies. Sometimes by ‘ young birds’ juvenile plumage is meant,

sometimes first winter plumage is meant ; sometimes by nestling the juvenile

plumage is meant, sometimes the down pluniage.

A few instances at random :—

‘Young bird’ =juvenile. ‘ Young bird’ = 1st winter. ‘ Nestling ’ juvenile.

Acridotheres ginginianus. Sturnus humit. Hirundo filifera.

Motacilla citreola. Motacilla feldegg. P. icteroides.

Emberiza calandsa. LEiemberiza stracheyt. Emberiza arcuata,

Alemon alaudipes. Anthus cervinus. Passer montanus.

‘ Nestling ’ == down plumage.

Motacilla cinerea.

The plumages of birds are difficult enough to understand but if the age-names

of the plumages are not definitely fixed chaos is inevitable. ‘ Young bird’ isa

thoroughly bad term as it means any bird which is not adult, ‘ nestling’ too is

FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA 345

a loose term and both have long been given up by most writers in favour of

juvenile plumage and down pluinage which are fixed plumages in the life cycle.

p. 66. Sub-family Ploceine. ‘his is said to contain four Indian species ; it

should be six.

p. 77. &strilding. It is not quite correct to say that these have no spring

moult. Many perhaps do not but it is a question I have not been able to go

into; dAmandava amandava however certainly has a spring (prenuptial) moult

as I pointed out some years ago (Ibis 1922, p. 647).

p. 78. Munita malacca. On line 1 the type locality is fixed as Belgaum ;

lower down it is fixed as Ceylon. Looseness in fixing type localities leads to

endless trouble.

p. 88. Uvoloncha rufiventris. Here is one more exaniple of the infinality of

nomenclature ; Mr. Baker renames the Wunzia pectoralis of Blyth as he considers

this name is preoccupied by Amadina pectoralis of Gould ; this is quite correct

if these two birds belong to the same genus, however Mr. Matthew’s in his

Birds of Australia puts Gou'd’s bird in the genus Heleromunia and if his

views are adopted, Blyth’s naine will stand as Uroloncha pectoralts.

p. 91. Uvroloncha punctulata. ‘his bird certainly occurs in the hi]l] Punjab,

Dharmsala, Kangra Valley, etc.

p. 96. Amandava amandava. It still seems to be unknown though I

recorded the fact (Ibis., 1922, pp. 646-7) that this Munia has a non-breeding dress

which somewhat resembles that of the female and into which it moults after

breeding,

p. 101. FPerissospiza. This genus is split off from JMycerobas on what

appear to me to be very trivial characters, especially as these Grossbeaks do not

form an unwieldy group which for convenience might be divided up. The

differences between say zcteroides and melanoxanthus seem to be no greater than

between say Corvus shlendens and Corvus tibetanus.

p. 104. P. carnetpes. The bird which ranges from Baluchistan to N. W.

Himalayas and Turkestan is I consider quite separable and should stand as

speculigera (B.N.H.S., xxxi. 4).

p. 117. Hematospiza sipahi. 1 cannot confirm that the female has a much

shorter tail than the maie as stated. I measure them as follows, ¢ 67-75,

Q 66°5-71, a tail of 55 mm. is surely not fully grown ?

p. 122. Propasser. Here again it seems doubtful if this genus can be kept

distinct from Carpodacus though it might be more convenient to do so.

P. rhodochlamys grandis has the supercilium of a Propasser and the wing

proportion of a Carpodacus ; again in Curpodacus macgregorit and trtfasciatus

the proportion between the tarsal length and wing-tip length is equal, thus

bridging the distinction.

p. 124. P. thura blythi. If Propasser and Carpodacus are both recognized

then d/yfAz cannot be used for this bird as it is antedated by Propasser frontalis

of Blyth which is mot set aside by Fringilla frontalis of Say = Carpodacus

frontalis. If the two genera are merged into one /¢hen blythi is the correct

name.

p. 129. P. vodochrous and rodopeplus. Surely these names must be spelt

‘yh’? as allnames should be which are derived from the Greek rodos, a rose.

Even if Vigors misspelt them originally a correction is provided for in Rule

19 of the International Rules—‘ errors of transcription, orthography, etc.’

p. 134. Carpodacus. Vf ‘ Carpodacus is now often incorporated with

Propasser’ it is quite wrong to doso as Carpodacus is much the older genus.

However perhaps exactly the opposite is intended.

p. 137. Carpodacus erythrinus roseatus. This name should date from

Blyth (ex Tickell) /.4.S.B., 1842, p.461. Calcutta.

pp. 134-7. Carpodacus erythrinus. There is considerable difficulty in

recognizing three races of this bird. We have in Northern Asia and Russia a

bird in which in the male shows less red on the back and underparts anda

female and immature with less streaks on flanks and abdomen than the

Himalayan bird, These two races are perfectly recognizable and most

individuals can be picked out. Over the huge intermediate area Asia Minor,

Caucasus, Turkestan we find an intermediate bird which in many specimens

exhibits more red than the northern birds but less than in the Himalayan ;

these have been named kudbanensis. It is avery poor race as sO many cannot

be placed; thus I have examined spring birds from Kashmir, Ladak, Asia

Minor, Tianshan, Tishkan, Kandahar, Gilgit, Pamir, N.W.F.P. and Samar-

346 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

khand which can easily be matched with birds from Himalaya; on the other

hand others from Tianshan, Dharkend, Ladak, Gilgit and even Sikkim are

intermediate and quite like Caucasus birds. In winter it is hopeless to try and

differentiate this third race as the pink colour is so overlaid that it is not possible

to say that any particular birds are less rosy than Himalayan ones or not.

p. 138. Carpodacus riubicilla rubicilloides. This bird is mot a race of

rubicilla—as Prof, Sushkin pointed out some time ago—but should stand as

a species (with two recently described sub-species Jucifer and lapersonnet) while

severtzovt 1s arace rubicilla. The rubicilloides group are more heavily streaked

on the upper parts and have a relatively longer 5th primary; the rudicilla

group have the upper parts but faintly streaked anda relatively shorter 5th

primary.

Mr. Whistler’s notes (B.NV.H7.S./., xxx, pp. 186-7) certainly do not, so far as

his own records go, apply to rubicilloides, as suggested, but quite correctly to

severtzovi as stated by him and borne out by his specimens. The records he

quotes could doubtless in many cases be verified or not by reference to speci-

mens in the British Museun..

p. 140. “rythrospiza. This, as pointed out years ago by Salvadori in

Second Yarkhand Mission Aves, p. 35 and others, and again more recently, is

a synonym of Carpodacus ; Buchanei~es is the correct generic name.

p. 142. #rythrospiza mongolica. Baluchistan is included in the breeding

range of this bird. It may breed there though I know of no proof; it occurs

there in winter and up till April. Of its wintering in Sind I have no record, nor

has Mr. Whistler for the Punjab; nor are there any specimens in the British

Museum from anywhere in the plains of India.

p. 145. hodopechys sanguinea. Does this finch really occur in Baluchistan ?

I know of no instance of it. As there seems to be but one record of it—Khagan

Valley-—within our limits and that a ‘ sight record’ perhaps Hazara was intended

instead of Baluchistan. One ‘sight record’ seems extremely slender evidence

for including any species in a work like the Fauna.

. 150. Carduelis c. major. I cannot trace this doubtful record from Ziarat

but Col. Meinertzhagen certainly obtained a specimen and saw another with it at

Quetta on February 27. - (Ibis., 1920, p. 138).

p. 152. Curduelis caniceps subuluta. 1 have elsewhere (B.N.H.S./., xxxi,

p. 4) gone in to the questioa of races of the Himalayan Goldfinch ; my conclusions

were that swbulata (= orientalis) seems distinct, large and pale, from paropanist,

darker and smaller, but the latter is not distinct from swbcuniceps of Zarudny.

p. 155. Acanthis cannabina fringillirostris. Erroneous records are indeed

hard to eliminate! ‘This Linnet from ‘ Daotupper, Sind’ is the one Murray

said his collector got at Daulatpur in Sind and gave to Hume in whose

collection it reached the British Museum. I have already shown (Ibis., 1922,

p. 648) that the specimen in question came from Bushire in Persia.

p. 156. Acanthis f. brevirostris. This race was described from Erzeroum

and it is exceedingly unlikely that it breeds in N. Ladak surrounded as it is by

other races, viz. rufostrigata, montanella and pamirensis, nor does brevirostris

apparently breed in Tianshan, it being confined to Armenia Caucasus and N. W.

Persia. It would have been betier to have omitted this race especially as the

inclusion rests on reputed eges apparently without parents—a very questionable

mode of identification. Recently two other races have been described ladacensis

from Ladak, and daltistanicus from Baltistan (on a single male!).

p. 166. Gymuoris. ‘Like the true Sparrows it has an autumnal moult.’

There is no point in this statement (repeated again on p. 185) ; that is, it would

apply equally to almost alZ Passerine birds. The point is that like the true

Sparrows the 7juventle has a complete autumnal moult. [t is only half true to say

that the ‘ young are less downy than those of the true Finches’ as the young of

Gymuortis has no down at all, as obtains also in Passer.

p.171. Passer d. indicus. I long ago pointed out that the House Sparrow

of Mesopotamia and 8.W. Persia, though recorded by older authors as zudicus

ig really 6zblicus (B.IN.A.S.J. 1923, pc 218): aie]

p. 172. Passer-d. confucius. If the House-Sparrow of Burma and §. Irdia

are the same, this name cannot be used. In 1838 Burton (Cat. B. Mus. Fort

Pitt Chatham, p. 23) named Latham’s Black-throated Finch /Pyrgita

nigricollis. Watham described a House Sparrow in fresh autumn plumage? or

else faded ? under this name and Burton’s only specimens came from 8. India.

This race should be called therefore Passer domesticus nigricollis.

FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA 347

p.174. Passer pyrrhonotus. There is a distinct difference in sex measurement

here aad the range of measurement given for wings is not wide enough. W. J.

67-71, 2 63°5~66 in a large series measured.

p. 175. Passer hispantolensis transcaspicus. ‘This bird apparently does not

breed in British Baluchistan though it is said to do so in Persia north of

Bampur.

p. 177. Passer montanus montanus. 'The inclusion of the typical race in the

Indian Fauna rests on two specimens obtained by Whitehead in the N.W.F P.

and are in the British Museum. They are decidedly paler than the typical race,

month for moath, and they are not so pale certainly as fresh moulled dilutus

from Kashgar, but then one can hardly compare these with the two birds in

question which were obtained in February and March. Baluchi birds scem quite

the same as these birds of Whitehead’s and I certain)y should not at present

separate them from dzdutus.

p. 180. Passer rutilans. This israther a dificult group and the arrangement

here given does not seem quite satisfactory though l agree that four races are

recognizable.

Passer rutilans cinnamomeus. Wartert created one difficulty in restricting

‘the Himalayas’ of Gould’s type locality to Bhutan. Gould described the bird

in 1835 at a date when no specimens of birds had been received from Bhutan

and so his bird could never have come thence; moreover Gould says his bird

(a male) had a wing of 24 inches = 70 mm. and however carelessly one may

measure a Bhutan or Kast Himalayan male one cannot make it as small as

70 mm.; a bird of this size could only have come from the N. W. Himalayas.

The measurements of males from Bhutan, Bhutan Duars, Sikkim, Native

Sikkim, S. Tibet and Nepal are the same and are W. 75-81]. (27 measured).

Passer vrutilans debilis. From Kumaon to Kashmir the Cinnemon Sparrow

is represented by a race which only constantly differs from the eas:ern bird in

being smaller, an exception to the almost invariable rule that where there is

difference in size the western birds are largest. The explanation is, I think,

that the breeding quarters of the eastern bird ere Southern ‘Tiket and probably

the higher parts of Sikkim and Bhutan and we know that titetan birds of

many species tend to be larger than Himalayan. In British Sikkim it apparently

does not breed (Macintosh. Stevens;). ‘he paleness and more yellow on the

underparts ot the western bird is largely individual variation, birds quite as pale

and as yellow being found in theeast. Wines of males Kumaon to Kashmir

70-74 min. (35 measured).

Passer rutilans intensior. This bird was described from W. Yunnan and

15 males thence measure 69-75 mm. ‘Lhe males and females are rather darker

than Himaiayan birds. Equally dark are the Burma birds (Ss. Shan, Chin and

Karenni Hills. ¢ W. 71°5-72 (4 specimens). Manipur Hilis, ¢ W. 68°5-71'5

(9 specimens); Shillong, $79-74'5 (7 specimens); Naga Hills, 70-735 (2 specimens);

Miri Hills, 71°5 (1 spec:men) all these are small and within the range ot z#/enstor

and like the latter are darker in both sexes (more easily seen in females) than

East Himalayan birds and therefore I should extend the range of zntensior to

the hilis vu. «ssam. Certainly one cannot, as Mr. Baker suggests, put the small

dark Manipur birds with the inuch larger paler Tibetan ones.

p. 187. Montifringilla n. alpicola. \t may of course be useful to include

birds in the Indian list before they have been recorded but-if this plan is

adopted one can hardly see where one should draw the line. This bird seems

to be included on the rather slender grounds that it was the form ‘ almost

certainly seen by Whitehead in Chitral’—hardly satisfactory evidence for an

authoritative work.

pp. 197-8. Amberiza s. pallidior. Wintering . . . to North-east India, surely

Norch-west is meant? It extends in winter far beyond the N.W. Province

Frontiers to the riverain of the Punjab and Sind.

p. 200. Améberiza f. arcuata. In this Bunting and in &. pusilla the tail

feathers are narrower and more pointed at te tips than in most others, a

character I do not recall having been noticed before.

p- 201. Hmberiza pusilla. Were and in many other cases throughout the

Fauna the adult plumage in summer, habits in summer, nidification are

described at soine length while little is said about the winter kabits and plumage.

It may be a matter of opinion, but it would seem to te more useful to

give prominence to the /udian aspect of birds which are purely winter

visitors,

348. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST, SOCIETY, Vol, XXXII

p. 207. Hmberizt c. godlewskit. It seerms more reasonable to consider cia

and godlewskit as two species and not races of one since both are represented

by separate races in ian Shan; nor is there any intergrading. The type

locality of godlewskit is Kultuk in South Baikal. In view of the numerous

races of godlewskit which have been described a re-examination of Indian

material is desirable. The Tibetan bird has been described as khamensis,

Sushkin.

. 208. Lmberiza huttont. must entirely disagree with the use of this name

for this Bunting. Blyth described it as Ayzberiza buchanani from Buchanan

Hamilton’s drawings and the description is unmistakable (/.4.S.2., xiii, p. 957,

1844). He says ‘ probably = Emberiza hortulana apud Sykes’. He described

the bird again (xviii, p. 811, 1849) as &. Autiont apparently thinking he had

made a mistake before, for in a footnote he says ‘ &. duchanani nobis =

EF. hortulana lL’. In Blyth’s own copy of the J.4.S.8. Blyth wrote against

this footnote ‘No’ showing that he realized later that he was correct in the

first instance and that his buwchanani was not the Ortolan of Linneus, as

indeed it could not be by the description. Moreover no author can go back

on his own names if the descriptions hold good.

p. 214. Eimberiza melanocephala. This bird does not breed in British

Baluchistan so far as is known; perhaps parts of Persia are included and meant

here.

p. 215. Ambertza icterica. The distribution of this bird needs amending,

the summer and winter ranges are not differentiated at all. Mesopotamia is

included in the range whence there is but one record.

p. 219. Emberiza calandra. This bird has not only been recorded from

Jhang in the Punjab but both Mr. Whistler and myself ocdtained it there; his

specimen is in his collection and mine I presented to our Society’s Museum. I

mention this because our records seein to be put on a par wito Murray’s Sind

bird which as I pointed out before (L[bis., 1922, p. 656) did not come from Sind

at all but from Bushire in Persia, and one would think the ‘ record’ need not

have been resuscitated in a work like the Fauna.

pp. 219-220. FAmberiza citrinella erythrogenys. Over a page is devoted to

this species, yet its distribution in India has been entirely omitted ! Has it ever

occurred in India at all? I know of no record.

p. 226. Delichon urbica urbica. A good series of breeding birds from India

are most desirable; all that 1 have seen are shorter winged birds than most of

the typical race and I feel doubtful if the Indian birds belongs to the typical

race. Surely it is not a common winter visitor to N. W. India! ? Mr. Whistler

obtained two specimens in 16 years in the Punjab and only saw it occasionally

on passage to and from the hills.

p. 228. Delichon u. cashmeriensis, 'This is most certainly to my mind not a

race of wrbica but a separate species. Not only do both breed close together

in Ladak but they do not intergrade anywhere. Moreover the tail is much

more deeply forked in wrvbzca and the proportions of tail to wing are quite

different in the two; viz. :—1l to 2in cashmeriensis, 1 to 1°6 in urbica; on such

differences other species have been put into different genera !

p. 233. Riparia riparia subsoccata. When I described this bird as R, +.

indica | went pretty thoroughly into any possible names already available. It

is true that Jerdon’s subsoccata refers to this Sand Martin but Jerdon who did

not know the bird quotes what Adams said abou' it. ‘The latter described the

bird well and was the first to do so (P. Z. S., 1859, p. 176) under the title Cofzle

subsoccata Hodgson? Unfortunately however Horsfield and Moore in their

Catalogue (i, p. 96) in 1854 had already used up Hodgson’s nomen nudum by

quoting it as a synonym of szmensis, therefore subsoccata cannot be used for any

other species.

p. 234. Ripariar.ijime. Under nidification this species is referred to by

some curious slip as ‘ these little Swzfts ’!

p. 239. Ptyonoprogne obsoleta obsoleta. 1 toointhe ‘ Birds of Sind’ made the

mistake of uniting the Indian and Egyptian birdand this Lhave (B.N.A.

S.J., XXxi, p. 4) since rectified. At the time I was working at them there was

not sufficient material from Egypt available to me in the same state of

plumage asthe Sind birds. Since then however I have obtained a comparable

series from Egypt, and Sind winter birds are distinctly darker than

winter Egyptian ones; unfortunately however they must bear the name

pallida of Hume,

FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA | 349

p. 240. Hirundo rustica rustica. cannot verify these wing measurements

at all; surely no full winged adult bas a wing so small as 110 mm. ? J measure

a fair series of adults, ¢ 124°5- 132, 2 120-126. (W. Europe).

As regards the distribution of rustica and gutturalis, I shall confine my

remarks to N. W. Indian birds. In the first place gutturalis is an eastern bird

described from a winter bird in the Philippines and the breeding range of it is

extensive over N. E. Asia. Now a series of adults from winter quarters—

Philippines, Java,,Sumatra, Malay (which may be taken as a topo-typical

series and are the same as the N. E. Asiatic birds) present the following

characters compared with W. European rustica.

Wing smaller, ¢2 109-120, mostly under 118 (25 measured).

2. Under parts variable ; some whitish, some pinkish,

3, Red of throat and forehead deeper on the average.

4, Pectoral band variable ; broken in some, in others smudged (i.e.) tips of

some of the feathers in centre of band chestnut but band not broken. Now

taking these characters separately ; wing length is a good character there being

but a small number which overlap ; underparts—no “guide atall; all over the

range of rustica one may find birds with white or with pinkish underparts

and every intermediate; deepness of chestnut red colour is an average distinction

only ; the pectoral band in vustica is never, I think, completely broken but

‘smudged’ bands are offen seen so that this character is good only when

the band is broken.

Now breeding birds from Cashmere, Gilgit, Yarkhand and winter birds from

Sind, Punjab and Beluchistan are all large birds, wing ¢ 9118, 119, 120-129

(25 measured) ; most have the band unbroken and some have it smudged

but in none is it completely interrupted. I therefore consider all to be rustica

and gutturalzs not to occur in N. W. India at all.

p. 242. Hirundo rustica tytleri. The type locality was fixed by Jerdon as

Dacca; if Oberholser also fixed it as Dacca it was a fortunate though

needless act !

p. 245. Hirundo smithi filifera. This I think is a recognizable race

though Mr. Baker hardly thinks so; the wing measurements may overlap

but in measurement of the tail wires, I found only one overlap in 28.

Surely in this case the ‘nestlings’ and ‘young birds’ described are one

and the same states of plumage? that is to say, the juvenile plumage in

which it leaves the nest and which it retains till it mouits to adult dress, as

with other Swallows.

p. 248. Mirundo daurica daurica. ‘his bird seems scarce in collections ; in

the British Museum and Tring Museum I find 21 specimens some of which are not

that this race breeds in Shillong is not borne out by any specimens. I have seen

four specimens taken within Indian limits:—Q Sadiya, June 3; 2 Sadiya,

June 8 (type of Hume’s zzfermedia ; one Cachar, no date, in moult and so

obviously not breeding ; 2 Cachar May (this bird seems to have a smaller bill

than typical daurica) ; as we are told that it does not arrive in Shillong till late

in July all the above birds in May and June may have been on passage for

further north. That it should breed in Shillong would be very remarkable as

the nearest breeding quarters are many hundreds of miles to the north, moreover

in Shillong another race (sfrvzolata) certainly breeds. A few breeding specimens

would be desirable.

p. 249. Airundo daurica striolata. A series from the Southern Shan States,

apparently breeding, are all large birds, W. 127-136, but there do occur small

birds which seem to only differ in being small; thus a male from Cachar. W, 126

is ‘type 2’ of Hume’s suédstriolata and another $ Manipur, W. 120, is exactly like

it but may be this has been sexed wrongly. Here again there seems to be great

lack of breeding and of sexed specimens. It would appear to breed in Central

Formosa (specimens May and June) and perhaps Luzon and Lorabok ?

(specimens July). The juvenile is distinctly heavier streaked below than the

juvenile of nepalensis.

p. 250. Hirundo daurica nepalensis. 'This is perhaps the most difficult of a

puzzling group and I have examined and measured every adult bird in the

British and Tring Museums besides all in Mr. Whistler’s collection, 102

Sspecimens.in. all.

Adult. 1. Himalayas, east to Nepal; 25 specimens, ¢ wing 111-117, odd ones

119 and 120, 2 110-116.

US)

350. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

2. Assam, Burma, Yunnan, 30 specimens, ¢@ 116-125. Yunnan (Talit)

May 21 and Mekong-Yangzte Divide Juae 5 are the only two which are possibly

breeding birds.

3. China. 9specimens, May to August, ¢Q2 112-124'5 from Shanghai,

Chihli, Shantung, Kuangtung Provinces.

18 specimens, September to April, ¢2 114-124°5 from Shanghai, Chihli,

Fokien, Kwangtung, Kwangsi Provinces.

Of these 27 specimens only 4 are under 115.

4. Japan. 7 Specimens, ¢Q 117-124.

5. Corea and Manchuria, 9 specimens, ¢2 117-125. April and July.

6. Afghanistan, 3 specimens, 113-116. Pushut and Byan Khel.

Tt will be seen from this that topotypical nepalensis from the Himalayas are

smaller birds than those from China, Japan, etc. and on the whole they are less

coarsely streaked. The collar on the hind neck varies much; in the types of

nepulensis the collar is unbroken but I do not think this is constant for

Himalayan birds; in Chinese birds it always seems to be broken. In Assam,

Burma and the plains of India one finds some birds are larger than the Hima-

layan breeding birds but since these are winter visitors they may not have

come from the Himalayas. A series of breeding birds from Manchuria are

quite strikingly different to a similar series from the Himalayas and though

every bird from China and Japan are not to be picked out from Himalayan

birds I think that as a race they should be recognized and the name for them

will be Afzirundo daurica japonica of Tem. and Schl. As all Chinese and

Japanese birds seem quite the same; A/irundo arctivitta, Swinhoe described

from Pekin (4 exan:ined, only one adult) is not different to zaponica.

The three birds from Afghanistan are not nepalensis, they have hardly any

strive on the underparts and seem quite like rufula but are smaller than this

race. Further material is desirable ; if it should turn out to be a recognizable

race the name 7. scul/lizt cannot be used for it. It was said in the description

of this that it occurred in Gilgit and Nepal but the type in Seebohm’s collections

was obtained by Scully in ‘ the Residency grounds in Nepal’ (vide B. M. Cat.)

and therefore scw//7z must be a pure synonym of nepalensis. In the Ibis, 1916,

p. 71 I identified some birds of Mr. Whistler’s from Jhelum as scudliz, but

nepalensis is of course the older name.

252. HAlirundo dauvrica rufula, 1 think I am correct in saying that

Mr. Whistler certainly never fouad this race breeding in the Kangra Valley,

and certainly no specimens in his collection refer to this race. The mistake

arose (B.N.H.S.J., xxi, p. 659) through this bird being identified as scullii and

Mr. Whistler’s remarks that this ‘apparently corresponds to Fauna of Bl.

No. 824, H. rufula.’ The bird in question is mepalensts.

p. 251. Hirundo daurica erythopygia. There is much yet to be learnt about

the distribution of this race in the Himalayas. In some places it ascends to

over 4,000 ft. and breeds in same area as nepa/eusis ; it requires very detailed

study. ‘Ihe distribution in the plains of India is hardly as wide as is given, as

it is practically absent over a very large part of the Punjab and Sind. Inthe

description this race is compared with s¢riolata and daurica but size alone will

differeatiate it from these two as the measurements do not overlap ; moreover

it does not occur in the same area. It is from mepulensis that it needs to be

distinguished ; chestnut colour is darker and on the rump does not pale offso

much as in wepalensis, the exposed black of the undertail coverts is not so

extensive—10 to 16 mm. as against 15-25 in mepalensis ; and besides haviig a

shorter tail, as pointed out, the fork of the tal is consequently not so deep—

from the tip of the centrals to the tip of the laterals in erythropygia is 30-37

min, whereas in zepalens?s it is 40-50 mm. Wing length is not so diagnostic,

ervthropygia mostly 105-113, mwepulemszs 111-117; I cannot find any adult

erythropygia with a tail as short as 65, I measure ¢ 76-83 2 72-78, in a long series.

In the juvenile the rump is distinctly darker than in nepa/ensis, in fact in the

latter when worn it is not darker than cream-coloured.

p. 256. M/otacilla alba. The difference in wing length between alba and

dukhunensis has not been stressed aléa, ¢ 88-92°5, Q 84-885, dukhunensis,

¢ 91-95, 2 84-91. These measurements, taken from W. Europe and from

Yenesay specimens, may be useful to distinguish doubtful specimens.

p. 258. Molacilla a. persica. Unless an adult maleof this race has been

found in India, it is best omitted from the Indian list as it is most unlikely to

occur ; so far as we know it is quite resident in its range and that it should

FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA 351

migrate hundreds of miles eastward would be quite a new fact which only ought

to be recorded on incoutravertible evidence. /ersica is rather paler on the back

than personata and slightly smaller, aud has a longer bill than dukhunensis.

p. 261. Motacilla lugubris. Surely the correct name is WZ. yarrelli as pointed

out by Newton aad others years azo? ; /uwgubris of ‘emminck was quite indeter-

minable. In aay case if one follows Mr. Baker in considering maderaspatensis a

race of this group, and not a species in itself us I do, thea the latter name

must be used for the group as it is maay years older.

Any one who wishes to icentify any but the adult males of albozdes and personata

will find some help in /. B. NV. A. S., xxviii, p. 1089 where | went rather fully into

the question, and also into the reason for considering saderaspatensis, a species

of itself.

p. 265. Motactila cinerea. The tail iengthis given as 75 mm. ; it should be

95. This mistake is repeated on page 266 where the tail length 67-73 should

be 87-93.

The down of JV. c. caspica is dirty white.

p. 267. Motacilla flava. Further details of the plumages of deema and

thunbergt wilt be tound (op. cit., p. 1087) and also the dist.nguishing characters of

the male of MWotacilla flava stmillima which has been omitted altogether in the

Fauna. The oaly Indian example of leucocephala was obtained by Mr. Whistler

at Jhelum ; for first occurreaces it is surely of interest to give full data.

p 271. Motacilla feldegg. More details on the plumages of both races will

be found in op cit., p. 1086. Mr. Baker says the young (== Ist winter) of

feldegg have uo trace of a supercilium if that isso they should be quite easily

distinguished from first winter melanogriseus which has a well-marked whitish

or buffish white supercilium as I poiuted out (loc. cit).

Some few adults which occur in India may not be separable from feldegg ,

the vast majority I think are undoubtedly melanogriseus. Vhe Shiraz breeding

bird is quite certainly WW. f. feldegg (series of breeding birds examined) and not

melanogriseus as Mr. Baker states nor did Mr. Witherby ever record them as

melanogriseus.

p. 273. Motacilla citreola. J went very carefully into the question of the

plumages of both sexes aad of all ages in cztveola and calcarata (op. c.t., p. 1084)

and to this I must reier all who wish to distinguish them as only a very small

perceatage could be differentiated by the descriptions given in the Fauna. I

also pointed out that calcarata has the longer tarsus whereas Mr. Baker gives

citreola the longer. I do not think he is right. ‘tke combi:.ed measurement of

tarsus, middle toe and claw in citveola is usualiy well under 47 mm. and in

calcarata well over 47 mm.

Although not alluded to, it was pointed out by Prof. Shushkin (Proc. Boston.

Soc., August 1925) that 47 c. were from S.E. Russia and Turkestan is a

recognizable race in that it is smaller (¢ W 77-85) and is less grey on the flanks

and this is the form found in N. W. India in winter whereas the Bengal,

Assam, and Burma birds belong to the typical race citreola from E. Siberia

(3% W 88-93) see also Buli. B. O. C. xivi, p. 114.

p. 276. Dendronanthus indicus. Distribution. In winter south to India

east, not west, of a line from Sutlej Valley to Gulf of Cambay.

p. 278. Genus Anthus. Tosay that ‘the difference in piumage in summer

and winter is negligible’ israther an astounding statement; one could hardly

find more different looking birds thar say winter and summer 6/ak7zstont or

japonicus or again winter and summer cervinus.

p: 279. Anthus trivialts trivialis. The type locality should be Sweden, not

Switzerland.

p. 281. <Anthus hodgsont hodgsont. The winter distribution given is far too

sweeping. ‘There are enormous stretches of N. W. India where it is not found

in winter as I pointed out in /6zs. 1923, p. 7.

This species is highly variable and one ray see birds obtained at the same

place and same time of year which look utterly different ; some have the upper

parts heavily spotted others have hardly aspot; such birds I have seen from

Sikkim in August and from the piains in winter. Serezowskit does not scem

to be a recognizable race at all; Kansu birds in worn dress of course have lost

the green of the upper parts but so have Himalayan ones. Spring birds from

Kansu and China, etc., are not different to Himalayan ones ; they do not appear

to me to be darker. Yunnanensis is only recognizable ina series in fresh

autumu plumage when on the whole the upper parts are darker; in breeding

359° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

dress 7a series from Yunnan do not seem to beseparable from a_ similar series

from the Himalayas; a poor race.

p. 287. Anthus sordidus decaptus. Sind is apparently included in the

breeding range of this bird; it is only known as a winter visitor there. Besides

size, thisrace differs from A.s. captus in being less pale and grey above in fresh

plumage.

jOpatotee Anthus vichardi godlewskit. It is quite true that striolatus of Blyth

cannot be used for this bird as in some unaccountable way (? from Blyth’s MS.)

Gray quoted Blyth’s name as a synonym of ruzfescens in the year before Blyth

ever published his name. But by the same interpretation of the rules of

nomenclature Anthus thermophilus of Jerdon must be used for this bird as in

the Birds of India, p. 233. 1863, Jerdon uses Hodgson’s nomen nudum as a

synonym of s/riolatus with description. This bird must then be called Anthus

vricharat thermophilus, Jerdon, ex Hodgson. Type locality Nepal. The distri-

bution given is too sweeping ; this bird does not occur over the greater part of

N. W. India at all.

p. 291. Anthus richardi rufulus. I feel very doubtful if rufulus is a race of

richardt ; it appears to me to be more probable that itis a species which itself has

many races both in the Oriental and Ethiopian regions. The form of this bird

which occurs in Ceylon is certainly zof the same as inhabits Bengal and N. India

generally ; it isa much darker bird and I cannot separate it from salayensts

and so should extend the range of that race to Ceylon.

p. 292. Anthus campesiris campestris. The Tawny Pipit, isa common bird

in N. W. India in winter and Mr. Whistler and I have a very large series from

Sind and the Punjab. Not asingle specimen belongs to the typical race, yet

from the distribution given one may infer that it iscommon. 1[ cannot credit

it and from the breeding distribution of the race one would hardly expect it

to bei

The wing measurements given are misleading and must apply largely to

females, as I measure a series of males as 91-98'5 mm.

p. 293. Anthus campestris griseus. This was described in 1920,. not 1923.

Here again the measurements given can only apply to females; a large series

of males measure W 89-95, T 71-76. The habits of this bird in India have

been recorded by me (Ibis., 1923, p. 7).

p. 294. <Anthus cervinus, The red head and throat is certainly acquired

before the third year. I have examined specimens moulting into the red dress

in the first spring and this is probably normal, whether they then get redder

and more immaculate with age is speculation,

‘lp. 296. Anthus roseatus. Habits. It is unfortunate that in so many cases

so little space is devoted to habits. In this species the habits in the breeding

season only are briedy referred to. The habits in winter have been recorded over

and over again by Indian writers and are so utterly different to the breeding habits

that some mention might have been made of them. But we are told only that

the habits are ‘ those of the genus.’ It is not at all clear what is meant by this

statement which is repeated again under Tawny Pipit and one of the Water

Pipits. No description of the habits of the genus is given under the genus

Anthus aud as several of the species have entirely different habits to refer to any

one species has having the ‘ habits of the genus’ seems meaningless.

pp. 297-8. Anthus spinoletta. Thetworaces coutelli and blaktstoni are not

very satisfactory at least as regards winter birds; so many are intermediate

between what may be called typical specimens of the two races and as stated

we know so little about the breeding ranges of both races. Probably both have

a very large range and intergradation is found. Cowtelli contain breeds on

the Persian plateau.

The winter habits of coufellt have surely been recorded ? it is one of the com-

monest birds in the Nile delta. I have measured a large series of topotypes of

these two races and could find no difference at all in measurements (cf.

B.N.A.S.J., X&vili, p. 229). -It would have been more helpful I think to have

given the winter plumage of coufeléz as summer plumaged birds in India must

be very rarely met with, moreover the description ot d/akzstoni is compared with

winter coutellt.

p. 309. Otocovis alpestris longirostris. Spiti, Lahul, and Kulu should be

added to the distribution of the race. A/west reaches as far west asthe Tso

Kar, Tso Morirt and Pangong Lakes in Ladak and north to Aktagh north of

the Karakoram Pass that is to say to long. 78°E. The rest of Ladak, except

FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA 353

the Deosai plain whence a recently described race comes, is inhabited so far as

is known by Jlongztrostris. Baluchistan however would seem to be outside the

range of this latter bird ; I know of no record within the boundaries,

p. 313. Melanocorypha bimaculata. This bird does not so far asis known

breed in British Baluchistan.

p. 315. Alauda arvensis dulcivox, This bird does zot breed in Baluchistan.

The Skylark breeding at Quetta recorded by Marshall and others is a gulgula.

Whitehead never recorded an arvensis breeding on the Afghan Frontier; he

expressly states that arvenszs was a wiuter visitor there and the breeding bird is

a gulgula, as might be expected. As he well knew the difference between the

two birds he probably was not mistaken. The Persian breeaing bird is Alauda

arvensts schach which seems to be perfectly recognizable and nothing like

dulcivox.

p. 319. <Alauda gulgula gulgula. Wing measurements of races of Skylarks

which do not give measurements for each sex are of little value as thereisa

considerable difference between male and female. In this case the measure-

ments given 82-92 can surely only apply to females? as a series of males

maecasune J2-97/ maim,

p. 321. Alauda g.celivox. For ‘ Distribution’ vead ‘ Description.’

p. 324. Calendrella brachydactyla brachydactyla. ‘The Short-toed Larks are

admittedly difficult birds to place as they vary a good deal but it appears to me

that the typical race has been dragged into the Indian list on somewhat, slender

grounds though the erroneous breeding distribution given makes its inclusion

look quite possible. The bird which breedsin Palestine is Aermonzensts as also

are the few Persian birds I have seen. No form of drachydaciyla breeds in British

Baluchistan so far as we know. Where then do the supposed examples of the

typical race found in winter in India come from? I can hardly credit that they

migrate from South Europe. I think the truth isthat we have in this groupa

species which varies slightly in colour according to the ground it inhabits in the

breeding season and that though the prevailing tone of colour of the central

Asiatic birds (longipennts) is paler and vreyer, yet over this area there will be

found some which are browner and redder and resemble the European bird and

these are the ones which pass as thetypical race in India. li we are to maintain

these taree races at all I think this is the most reasonable explanation and not to

imply that European birds migrate to India in winter. ‘These browner Asiatic

birds were apparently given aname C 4. ortentalis in 1925 by Sushkin.

p. 326. Calandrella 6. dukhunensis, ‘This race largely replaces longipennis

in Central and Eastern India. The more rufous upper parts and the tawny tinge

on the pectoral band and flanks coupled with a slightly longer wing and bill differ-

entiate the vast majority. In the British Museum there is a fair series of these

but some so labelled do not, I consider, belong tothis race. ‘The wing measure-

ment ranges from 95 in small females to 104 in males; I find none so small

as 90 mm. as stated. There are nospecimens west of Etawah and Mhow nor are

there any specimens from Karachi. Sind andthe Punjab lie outside the range

of this bird.

p. 327. Calandrella acutirostris acutirostris. The breeding range must

certainly be extended to British Baluchistan and probably to Afghanistan. I

cannot separate a sufficient number of ¢zbe/anus to justify its recognition ; the

amount of white in the tail varies very much andso does the colour of the

upper parts.

p. 329. =Alaudula. Itisof course a matter of opinion whether such charac-

ters as shortness of inner secondaries and slenderness of bill constitute grounds

for generic separation. However in this case slenderness of bill surely does not

hold good as persica has a stouter bill than some Calandrella.

p. 331. <Alaudula raytal adamst. The wing measurements of this bird reach

as correctly stated 88 mm., but as this is so it upsets the key to the species on

page 329 where birds with wings over 85 are referred to rufescens.

p. 332. Alaudula rufescens persica. ‘The wing measurements given are too

small, none out of a large series I have measured is so sinall as 86, 941 found

to be the minimum. It is not clear what the locality of the supposed eggs taken

by Barnes is. Peshawar is not in Afghanistan; perhapsin Afghanistan near

Peshawar is meant or possibly Peshawaren on the Helmund? but if Barnes did

not get the breeding birds surely no value can be attached to this record ¢ It is

however not correct to say there isnothing on record about the breeding of

persica as it has been fairly well described by Blanford (Zastern Persia, ii, p. 243)

354 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

under the name of Calandrella pispoletta ; Blanford’s breeding birds obtained

and sorecorded were persica (examined by me). ‘This race has occurred at

Sirsa in Punjab in wioter but not [think in Sind—at least I have been unable

to find any examples thence in the British Museum.

p. 333. <Aluudula rufescens seebohmi. In addition this race has occurred at

Sirsa in Punjab (Hume coll.) and in N. Baluchistan (Meinertzhagen).

p. 333. Mirafra. ‘The wing has surely 10 primaries; by a slip it is said to

have two |

p. 344. Galerida cristata chendoola. Ishould certainly expect the breeding

birds at 7,000 feet in the N.W.F.P. to be mugna and not chendoola as also

obtains in N. Baluchistan and I have no recollection of ever saying nor | can

find that I have ever recorded the exact opposite, as Mr Baker avers.

Mr. Baker is not correct in saying that this species never perches on bushes or

elevated positions. I have seen it sitting on the top of tall euphorbias and on

telegraph wires on innumerable occasions as | recorded, Ibis. 1923, p. 18 and

BUN LS. J. ZXVill; pi 226, for wegna,

p. 349. Ammomanes. There is a muddle over the proportions of the

primaries in the introduction to the genus. Obviously the first primary cannot

be one-third the length of the second and the latter 6imm. shorter than the

LOSE

p. 350. Ammomanes phenicura phenicura. Distribution given should be

éast of a line drawa from Raan of Cutch to Delhi, zot west of it.

p. 351. Ammomanes phenicura zarudnyi, This bird has also occurred in

Sind, a fact lL was not aware of when I wrote the Birds of Sind. \have

however since found a bird in Tring Museum obtained by Blanford on Decem-

ber 21, 1875, near Sehwan ; he had passed it over as an immature of p2en1-

curoides. Status in Sind not known; elevational migrant from Kelat? or

possibly resident ?

pp. 353-4. Pyrrhulauda grisea. The bird inhabiting the dry plains of N. W.

India is easily separable from the South Indian bird. I described it as

P. g. sitcata (Bull. B. O.C.. cexey; March 1925)c) Mr-aBakershas tomitted all

reference to this though the Bulletins of May and October 1925 are quoted for

other species.

p. 353. Zosterops. The grouping of this difficult genus did not seem very

satisfactory nor in accord with my experience and | have receatly gone into this

group and some of the results are giveain the Bull. B.O.C. xivii, February

1927. For those wno have not seen this I will repeat the main points and add

a few others.

Zosterops palpebrosa. There is no doubt that Teimminck described the

Bengal bird, and probably from near Calcutta, and this is the darker, greener

type as opposed to the paler, more yellowish bird found over N. W. India, etc.

This latter Mr. Baker has recognized but uafortunately he described the

yellower bird (e/wesz) as being smelier and placed the type locality of it as

Sikkim. However there 1s not the slightest doubt that the Sikkim and Bengal

birds are the same and therefore e/wesz is synonym of palpebrosa, they are of

the same colour and have the same measurements :—

Bengal, W. 49-55, B 11°5-13.

Sikkim, W. 49-54, B 11°5-13.

So that the yellower bird which alsois larger, not smaller, still lacked a

name and forit I proposed the name Zosterops palpebrosa occidentis (Bull,

~B. O. C. xvii, p. 88). This bird ranges tnrough the Himalayas from the vale

of Nepal westward to Kashmir, N.W.F.P., Punjab, Sind (Karachi),

W. United Province, Central Province, east to Raipur, Rajputana and Bombay

Presidency south to N. Kanara and Mysore. W. 53-59, B 11°5-13.

Mr. Baker has separated the Assam bird as cacharensis and says it is smaller

than the typical race and shewsa yellow streak down the abdomen. I have

examined Mr. Baker’s type anda series of topotypes and in all 62 specimens

from Assam andI findthe abdominal streak or a trace of itin only 22

specimens. This seems hardly constant enough to constitute a recognizable

race and moreover it is found in specimens outside Assam, thus quite a number

from Sikkim show it also some from Yunnan and from the Nilgiris. The

wings of Assam birds measure 49-54'5, quite the same as in palpebrosa, and

therefore I consider cacharensis to be alsoa synonym palpebrosa. The rarge

of the typical form will then be Bengal and Sikkim east to Assam, Kauri,

Kachin, N. and N. W. Yunnan, S. Shan Statesand Karenni. The distribution

FAUNA OF BRITISH INDIA 355

south of Bengal still needs working out and there are no specimens for examin-

ation from N. Circars and Orissa, Hyderabad State and Madras.

The bird which inhabits the Nilgiri and Palni hills is I consider separable ;

itis of the same coloration as pals brosa but itis largerin wing and bill I

have named this (loc cit.) Zosterops palpebrosa nilgiviensis, W. 54°5-58, Bill,

13-14; doubtfully separable from this is the Andaman bird but the Nicobar bird

nicobariensis has also a large stout bill but is smaller in wing, 50-53°5. The

Ceylon and Laccadive bird egregia is peculiar in being even brighter and

yellower above than occidentis, as most Ceylon races run to darkness in

colour.

In coming to these conclusions I have examined and measured over 300

Specimens.

Zosterops simplex. Thisis the Chinese bird and Mr. Baker recognizes a

race of it within our limits—feguensis. The series available in the British

Museum do not seem to be different to birds from China eitherin colour or

size. There isno doubt that aithough szmplex is rather like palpebrosa it

must at present be considered a species and not a race. Bothappear to breed

over a considerable area in W. Yunnan. The same remarks apply to

aureiventer which within our limits appears to overlap the ranges of palpe-

brosa and simplex in Burma. But there is yet alot of careful field work and

collecting to be done in the areas where two species occur to ascertain their

distribution, whether there is any altitudinal difference in habit and whether

there is any interbreeding and intergrading.

p.378. &éthopyga siparaja seherie. The geographical range of seherie

and mussooriensis seems to be entirely a question of east and west, all males

from Sikkim and Native Sikkim have short wings (54 5-58 mm ) as have also

males trom Bhutan, Assam, etc., whereas the western birds are larger

(6:-62°5 mm.). The difference is small but the variation in wing length of all

Sun birds seems to be very little. Nepal birds (sz/es) stand out rather promi-

nently with dull grey underparts with no olive green oronlyatrace (wing

55-61) and I think this race should be maintained. It seems hardly credible

that Hodgson’s method of preparing his skins should account, as suggested,

for the grey uaderparts. Axzdersont with violet crown and tail, instead of

green, is, I think, no doubt, a sporadic variety (4 examined from N. Bhamo,

Minjin and L. Chindwin). Quite typical sehevie also occurs in Bhamo and

Upper Burma (which is omitted in the distribution of seherz@). Violet and

green metallic reflections vary in many sunbirds, sometimes geographically

and sometimes not, but the wetting of the plumage as suggested by Mr. Baker

as the cause io this case has, Iam sure, nothing to do with it as I have experi-

mentally proved. ‘The crown of szherie when wet goes dull but on drying

out the original green reflections are restored.

The juvenile of this ana of szussooriensts is not like the female ; juvenile male

has the throat and chin brick pink, the juvenile feinale has not butis greyer, not

so yellow onthe underparts ; vtherwise they are much as in the adult female.

Full plimage is assumed by complete moult and this is then held all the year

as also in vigorst, the moult taking place in this species (or race ?) from March

to May in both sexes.

I think Mr. Baker is quite right in rejecting the name goalpariensis : the type

specimen is certainly labelled as from Dehra Dun, but it isa quite typical

seherie with wing 55 and certainly never came from this locality, as all other

specimens thence are quite typical mussooriensts. But surely this last race

does not reach the Afghan frontier? Dharmsala is the furthest west I can

trace 1.

p. 383. &thopygaignicaudaignicauda. Males, wing 58-61. There is not

the slightest doubt that this species like C7yunyris asiatica breviros!ris has a

dull winterdress. It is green like the female but the underparts are brighter

yellow and often show some odd orange feathers. ‘Tail longer than in the

female, outer webs red, centrals not prolonged more than half an inch beyond

the rest, otherwise tail as in summer ; tail coverts scarlet, rump yellow. Many

Specimens in this dress in the British Museum are labelled females but by

measurements alone they are sexed wrongly. Moult out of this dress starts in

February and lasts till April the body plumage, central tail or whole tai], but

apparently not the wings, are moulted to the full dress. After breeding the

males:moult again and assume the above dull dress (specimens in old full

dress with the new green feathers ‘in pin’ examined).

356 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATCRALWIST. SOCIETY, Vol eed]

p. 384, <&thopyga flavescens. A specimen from the Naga Hills seems to

be of this race.

p. 386. <&thopyga gouldié gouldie. Juvenile. Like the female but tail not

so graduated, nor tips so white. Complete moult September to December to

full dress which is then retained all the year.

p. 387. &thopyga dabryt or as | should call it ZAthopyga gouldie dabryi.

Juvenile. Only one seen (unsexed) is like female but tail not so graduated and

tips not so whitish ; complete moult January to April (or earlier ?) to full dress

which is retained the whole year.

p 388. &thopyga saturata. Juvenile (unsexed) is like femaie but tail not so

graduated and tips not so white. Complete moult to full dress which is then

retained all the year. Surelv sanguinipecta is a race of this?

p. 391. &thopyga nipalensis. Juvenile (unsexed) is like the female but

tail not so graduated and tips not so white; one, perhaps a male, has an

orange wash on the breast which another labelled female lacks. Complete

moult to full dress which is then retained al! the year.

p. 393. Leptocoma. The Sunbirds can be split into almost as many genera

as there are species according to the varied ideas of generic distinctions. The

type of the genus Cinuyris is C. spendida (by subsequent designation of Gray)

and this bird does not seem to be sufficiently generically d'stinct from such

Sunbirds as lofenia, astatica and osea. Now osea and asiatica are so close

that the one might almost be considered nothing but a race of the other yet

we have an Indian faunist putting as7atica in a genus Leptocoma and an

Ethiopian faunist putting osea in the genus Cinnyris !

p. 394. Leptocoma lotenia. Unlike astatica brevirostris, adults seem to have

the metallic dress all the year, moulting September to November. The

juvenile has a complete moult in April and May to the adult dress. Is

Mr. Wait correct in suggesting that the adult has a distinct winter dress?

(Birds of Ceylon, p. 164). I have certainly examined two birds September

and November moulting from metallic to metallic dress.

p. 401. Leptocoma ornata. There is something wrong with the reference

to Lesson. The date I think should be 1826.

p. 421. Diceum. A neuter genus always accentuates the difficulty as to

how the specific name should terminate. The International Rules help up

toa point as Rule 14 states that the specific name should agree, if an adjective,

with generic and Rule 19 states that the author’s spelling should be adhered

to unless there is au error of orthography, transcription, etc. But the difficulty

is to know whether an author intended his name to be an adjective or a

substantive and whether therefore there has been an error in orthography or

not ; and the difficulty always arises in cases of compounded words. It should

be clear I think that where two substantives have been compounded into a

specific name this should be kept as a substantive unless the original author

clearly has treated it as an adjective ; thus iguipectus should not be altered to

ignipectum (p. 427). So also Eyton clearly intended ignicapilla to be a

substantive and this shculd not be changed to ignicapillus (p. 437). Words

compounded of an adjective and substantive are not so clear and I think one

should follow the original author’s spelling ; for instance Hume wrote Zosterops

aureiventer , did Hume make a grammatical error or did he intend his word

to be a substantive? He must have been perfectly well aware that zosterops

is a feminine noun, Words derived from the Greek and ending in os are

another difficulty. Latham and Linnzeus spelt their specific names, if proper

names and therefore substantives, with a capital but they clearly also intended

words ending in os to be substantives also; thus Latham in his genus Certhia

makes all adjectival specific names agree in the feminine but he writes Certhia

erythorhynchos end this should not be changed to erythro hynchum when associ-

ated with Diceum (p. 432) though such adjectives as ceylonensis (p. 433) and

stamensis (p. 424) ought certainly to be altered to ceylonense and szamense.

These are trivial points of no real importance but one still hopes for the

uniformity in these matters which appears as unattainable as ever.

Corrigendum to vel. ii. Phylloscopus t. sindianus. J have since seen good

series of breeding birds from Ladak and I think that there is no doubt that this

race breeds there. I am not sure that still yet another race does not occur in

the plains in winter; three other races have been described by Russian

ornithologists which if recognizable might occur in winter in India.

TWO NEW SPECIES OF GRASSES FROM PANCHGANI

(SATARA DISTRICT)

( With two plates)

E. BLATTER AND C, McCann

Dichanthium pauchganiense, Blatter and McCann, sfec. nov. (Andropogonec —

Amphilophiastre). A Dicanthio armato Blatter and McCann (=Andropogon

avmatus, Hook f.} differt praesentia ligulae laceratae, gluma involucri inferiore

spiculae sessilis, gluma involucri superiore spiculae pedicellatae semper

foveolata.

Foveola supra indicata hance speciema Dichanthio MeCanni infra descripto

distinguit.

Annual, erect; stems up to 35 cin. long, slender, tufted or not, simple or

branched from near the roots, smooth and shining ; nodes bearded. Leaves

up to8cm. by4mm.,, linear, acuminate, broadest in the middle, short-ciliate,

on the margins, with long, bulbous-based hairs on the surfaces, which are

much longer at base of the blade for about 5 mm. ; sheath lax, margins and

upper two-thirds covered with buibous-based hairs, mouth with much longer

bulbous-based hairs ; ligule narrow, membranous, lacerate. Racemes digitate,

1-3, about 3 cm. long. One or two of lowest pairs of spikelets male.

Peduncles up to 8mm. long, capillary ; joints and pedicels slender, not grooved,

terete, hairy. Spikelets about 18 pairs. Sessile spikelets 3mm. long ; callus

very short, bearded with silky hairs; lower involucral glume thin, broadly

oblong, substruncate at apex, margins incurved, 7-nerved, always witha deep

dorsal pit about 3 from the apex, hirsute throughout except on the pit and the

area between the pit and apex, upper involucral glume, oblong-lanceolate,

longer than the lower, subacute at apex, keeled, glabrous except on the hairy

keel. Lower floral glume oblong, flat, hyaline, nerveless, acute or obtuse at

apex, a few scattered hairs on the margins ; upper represented by a slender

awn about 20 mm. long and twisted in the lower part. Pedicelled spike-

lets 4 mm. long, broader than the sessile. Lower involucral glume slightly

convex, many-nerved, armed with spreading margiral bulbous-based bristles

up to twice as long as the glumes, hairy between the bristles and on

the dorsal surface, with a smooth shallow pit; upper slightly longer than

the lower, broadly oblong, acute, 3 nerved, ciliate on the margins. Lower,

floral glume oblong, obtuse, hyaline, nerveless, sparingly hairy ; upper almost

thread-like. Anthers yellow, filament forked, one branch bearing one anther,

the other branch again forked.— Plate 1. ;

The pits observed in the sessile spikelets contain a viscid substance. It is

not impossible that the latter plays a part in pollination.

Habitat: Found by C. McCann in the village and on the Tableland of

Panchgani, Satara District of the Bombay Presidency, November 1925.

Dichanthium McCannii, Blatter, spec. nov. (Andropogoncee Amphilophiastrae).

Dichanthio armato, Blatter and McCann (=Andropogon armatus, Hook f.)

recedit praesentia ligulae, numero racemorum, magnitudine spicularum,

nervis glumz involucri inferioris spiculae sessiJis, gluma involucri inferiore

spiculae pedicellatae alis praedita, aliis ex descriptione patentibus.

An erect tufted grass; stems up to 45cm. long, slender, simple or branched

from about the middle, glabrous, shining, nodes densely long-bearded ; inter-

nodes up to 7 cm. long. Leaves up to 10 cm. by 6 mm,, linear-lanceolate,

broadest at the base, amplexicaul, covered all over with bulbous-based hairs

which are much longer at the base for about 15 mm ;

; sheaths lax, covering

the internodes for 4 and more, glabrous except on the outer margin and

the upper third of the whole sheath which are covered with bulbous-based

hairs; ligule narrow, 1 mm. broad, made up of bristles united at the base.

Racemes solitary or 2, up to 37 mm, long; the 3 or 4 lowest pairs of

358 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX

spikelets all male and alike in shape; peduncles of binate racemes about

1 cm. long, capillary; joints and pedicels slender, of the lower 3 or 4

pairs of spikelets glabrous, of the rest a line of ciliate hairs all along on one

side of joint and pedicel and with a few cilia on the opposite side. Spikelets

up to 17 pairs. Sessile spikelets 4 mm. long; callus very short, bearded ;

lower involucral glume pale, 7-nerved, the central nerve running only half

way up, 4 mm. long, not keeled, stiff-haired in the upper § (no dorsal pit),

margins much incurved, tip subobtuse, purplish ; upper involucral glume

slightly longer than the lower, broadly lanceolate, acute, margin incurved,

keeled on the back, otherwise nerveless, hairy towards the tip along the

margin and on keel. Lower floral glume narrowly oblong, rounded at apex,

flat, hyaline, nerveless; upper represented by a slender awn, 28 mm. long,

twisted in the middle third. Pedicellate spikelet 1 mm. longer than the sessile

and broader. Lower involucral glume 5 mm. long, narrowly ellipsoid, acute

at apex, slightly convex, strongly 10-nerved, very narrowly winged in the

upper third, wings purplish, spinous-serrate with stiff hairs, armed with

spreading submarginal bulbous-based bristles which are often as long as the

glume, otherwise glabrous; upper involucral glume broadly lanceolate,

slightly longer than the lower, 3-nerved, apex acute, margins broadly

incurved, outer side glabrous, inner side silky hairy. Lower floral glume

oblong, obtuse at apex, as long as the upper involucral glume, hyaline,

margins silky-hairy in the upper half, upper narrowly oblong-lanceolate,

hyaline, slightly shorter than the lower, apex acute.—Plate 2.

Habitat: Found by C McCann east or the third Tableland of Panchgani,

Satara District of the Bombay Presidency, October 1925.

TEXT FOR PLATE ]

Dichanthium panchganiense, Blatter and McCann, sf. zov. 1. Inflorescence.

2. Internode and leaf. 3. Upper part of leaf. 4. Ligule and lower part of

leaf-- 5. Sessile spikelet. 6. Lower involucral glume of s.s.- 7. Upper

involucral:glume of s.s. 8. Lower floral glume of s.s. 9. Part of upper

floral glume of s.s. 10. Pedicelled spikelet. 11. Lower involucral glume

of p.s. 12a. Upper involucral glume of p.s., ventral side, 126. Dorsal side.

13. Lower floral glume of p.s. 14. Upper. floral glume of p.s. 15. Awn.

16:° Part of awn. 17 and 18. Anthers. 19 and 20. Pistil. - 21. Sessile

and pedicelled spikelets.

TEXT FOR PLATE 2

Dichanthium McCannit, Blatter, sp. nov. 1. Tower involucral glume of

pedicelled spikelet. 2a Dorsal side, 26. ventral side of upper involucral

glume of p.s. 3. Lower floral glume of p.s. 4. Upper floral glume of

p-s.. 5 Lower involucral glume of sessile spikelet. 6. Upper involucral

glume of s.s. 8 Upper floral glume of s.s. 9. Internode and leaf.

10. Lower part of leaf with Dawes 11. Sessile and pedicelled spikelets.

12. Joints and panes eee noe se Ee

‘AON ‘dS ‘NNVOOIW ONV WALLVIG ‘asuatunsyouvg uniy{uUnYyIIG

oO ©

12, -

‘Ty AIVII + ae on se see *20G “AsInr ‘1eaAr Aequiod “uanor

PLATE II.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Dichanthium McCannti, BLATTER, SP. NOV.

GAME PRESERVATION IN INDIA

THE EDITORS

Game Preservation wherever it may be undertaken embodies the.

same principle—the principle that, in order to afford game animais~

that peace and protection which will enable them to live and repro-

duce their kind without damage to man, man should only be allowed

to.damage them under certain rules and should be restricted from

ruthless destruction. How 1s this principle applied in India ?

Let us take first the factors which adversely affect the existence

of game and then consider the remedies or lack of remedies.

The prime factor adversely affecting the existence of game is

MAN. Man affects the existence of game in two ways; firstly as a

settler, by clearing the forest and waste lands and driving the game

away from its natural habitat ; secondly as a destroyer, by protect-

ing his.own preserves from intrusion yet pursuing animal life

within the fastnesses of its retreat. Disease is a second adverse

factor to be reckoned with; rinderpest has accounted for a large

number of bison and buffalo in Peninsular India, while foot and

mouth disease has in recent years seriousiy affected game animals

in Kashmir and the Himalayan ranges. A third adverse factor

might be said to be the killing of game by predatory animals,

yet this factor we might set down as anatural check on over-increase,

and unless the balance of nature has been upset by- extraneous

causes its effect on game as a whole is not considerable. The

remedy against man would appear to be obvious, namely the provi-

sion of extensive areas of absolute wilderness affording harbourage

to wild life, and so long as there are refuges safeguarded by their

vety nature against usurpation by man so long will wild life ‘thrive

and maintain its existence, provided there is no epidemic disease.

In India the possession of such areas has been one of the main

factors tending to the protection of its wild fauna and there should

be little danger, for the present, of any of the existing species being:

exterminated.

“Viewed as a whole, therefore, the present condition of game in

India would appear decidely good—but for how long will this status

be maintained? In some parts of the country, as in the Central

Provinces, there has already been serious depletion and in other

“In making a plea for the protection of the wild fauna of ‘the

country we must urge that apart from the purely sympathetic

motives which should impel man to permit to lesser .creaturés” the

right of existence there are other, perhaps less worthy and mare:

material, thoughts and motives which are worth considering. “These

reasons are put forth on the assumption of course that animal lite is

worth preserving somewhere. |

360 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

From the scientific standpoint there are innumerable investigations

—anatomical, physiological, ecological, geographic, taxonomic and

evolutionary, which can only be made from the study of animal life.

Biology has already produced many conceptions of practical and

educational value. The role of the parasite, the predator, the

scavenger, in the economic web of life has, besides its purely

educative significance, a not wholly useless application to social

relations.

And what about the purely economic aspect? Even predatory

animals have a distinct vaiue as a controlling influence against over-

population by species whose unrestricted increase would adversely

affect the interests of man. Again there is the utilization for man’s

benefit of animal products, such as furs, hides and horns, which ‘in

themselves present a valuable economic asset and are in themselves

a plea for the conservation of the sources of supply. Have these

economic possibilities been exhausted ? A few years ago Insulin,

that priceless boon to the diabetic, was discovered in the liver of a

shark. Who knows what animal products yet remain to be dis-

covered which will be of priceless value to man ?

The principle of conservation being admitted, what are the

methods to be employed? ‘The principle is the same in every

country, the methods to be employed must vary in every country

and will probably vary in different parts of the same country.

Let us consider some of the different methods of conservation in

vogue in different parts of India.

In the United Provinces shooting rules close and open seas!

blocks for alternate fortnights. This system provides and ensures

fortnightly periods of constantly recurring rest. In the Terai type

of jungles, where shooting blocks are small and game can be very

thoroughly disturbed by a line of elephants beating them day after

day, the system is an absolute necessity.

In the Central Provinces the forests are parcelled out into shoot-

ing blocks usually of a large size. One block, usually a central

one, being. reserved as a Sanctuary ; this, coupled with the exten-

sive size of the blocks, secures game from undue disturbance.

There is here, and in other parts of India also, a strict limit to the

kind and number of animals which may be shot in a given block,

and, in addition, an individual limit is imposed on all sportsmen,

whether exempted from permits or not.

In Southern India the game laws are not applicable to the various

provinces as a whole and in certain areas no game laws exist. The

Nilgiri Districts and those parts of Coimbatore and Malabar which

are-so effectively controlled by the Nilgiri Game Association are

the only areas with special laws excepting the areas known as

reserved forests where the number of animals that may be shot is

contr olled by license.

~The position as regards game in Assam is simple ; here the game

areas are divided into waste lands, reserve forests, and hill forests.

The immense areas of waste land which existed at one time are now

being: tapidly cultivated by immigrant settlers or used as grazing

lands*by an invasion of buffalo-keeping Nepalese, so that game in

these lands is rapidly losing ground. In reserve forests shooting is

Ee ere

GAME PRESERVATION IN INDIA ae 361

controlled by license. For the better protection of rhinos, large

areas of grass and swamp land have been included in these reserves

and treated as sanctuaries. In the hill forest areas conditions are

steadily approaching those obtaining in waste lands where an in-

creasing human population is gradually driving game from its

quondam preserves. Whilst game in Assam will be less and less

exempt from molestation as cultivation approaches forest boundaries,

it must be admitted that there is little danger of game in Assam be-

coming extinct for a great many years so long as extensive forests

continue to exist and to provide safe harbourage to game.

The conditions prevailing in Assam may be applied to India as a

whole. On broad principles land may be classified in three main

zones—urban areas, agricultural areas, and forest and waste areas.

As far as animal life is concerned we cannot expect its preservation

in urban lands. Cultivated areas with their domestic animals and

crops provide at once an opportunity for a conflict between man’s

interests and those of the wild species, and in such land the plea for

protection cannot carry weight. We come finally to forest areas

and waste lands where, as shown, excellent laws suited to local

conditions have been framed for the protection of wild life yet

nevertheless game is decreasing where once it abounded.

Existing game laws are excellent in themselves but it is in their

efficient application that the trouble arises. As far as the agency

of man is concerned there is no mystery attached to the causes of

trouble. Firstly while the license holder is restricted by the terms

of his license from doing undue damage, the poacher is affected by

no law. He slaughters indiscriminately everything that he sets his

eyes upon, regardless of sex, age, or season, he sits over salt licks

and water holes, indulges in night shooting and does all that he

should not do. Secondly emphasis must be laid on the great in-

erease in recent years in the number of gun licenses issued which

increase is producing, and will continue increasingly to produce,

its inevitable effect on game in forest areas and lands immediately

adjoining. Thirdly there is a mass of unlicensed guns carefully

concealed but constantly used, and there is also the loaning of fire

arms by. accommodating licensees to friends and retainers, and

finally. there are the professional trappers and gangs of men with

dogs. who slay. and devour all that falls before them. Those in

control of forest areas cannot be altogether exonerated for the in-

effective application of. the rules. Conservators of Forests and

Divisional Forest Officers are not necessarily interested in game

preservation, and in addition there often exists the clash of interests

between the sylviculturist and the game protector, for game can do

considerabie damage to young teak and other valuable forest

timbers.

If the game in reserved forests and sanctuaries is to be /pro-

tected a more rigid application of the laws is necessary—the

stimulus for which might be obtained by an executive order from

above. Much might also be effected by co-operation with the

police since every constable is in law ‘a forest officer.’ A more

liberal system of rewards for the detection of forest crime, parti-

cularly of poaching, is another point worthy of consideratjon.

362 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Rewards are far too rarely given and very rarely indeed in poaching

cases; the detection and capture of a poacher who is armed often

involves danger and there is no class of forest crime the detection

of which merits to a greater extent the granting of reward. It is

evident that much of the poaching that is done in forest preserves

is carried on for profit. It is significant that the decrease of game

in certain areas has corresponded with the increase in the export of

skins, principally of bison, buffalo, sambhar, etc. Bison, chitai and

sambhar hides are openly sold-in the bazaars and there is nothing

to prevent these sales. If the poacher is deprived of his market the

temptation to kill would be largely removed and it would appear

that there could be no possible objection to a general law through-

out India forbidding the sale by unauthorized persons of any portion

of big game animals—whether hides, horns or meat and with ade-

quate penalties annexed for those who break the law.

As to the question of gun licenses, it may be assumed that in 99

cases out of 100 they are not obtained for the purpose for which they

are granted as it is the merest fiction to suppose that the guns are

used exclusively for crop protection, which is the only legitimate

purpose to which they can be put. While the reduction in the

number of licenses may perhaps be a difficuit matter, it would seem

a perfectly fair proposition to have all the ‘crop protection’ guns

called in during the hot weather when there are absolutely no crops

to protect. It is during the hot weather, when water is so scarce

and the jungles are so thin, that 80 per cent of the damage is done.

It has been found useful, where gun licenses are required solely for

crop protection purposes, to have several inches of barrel removed.

Lastly a suitable penalty might be imposed for the use of a gun

except by the license holder in person.

The formation of suitable game sanctuaries has been nyopesed

by many as a solution. Game sanctuaries to be effective must ful-

fil the following conditions: They must be fairly large, must

possess aperennial water supply and must as far as possible be pro-

tected against fire and, what is most important, they must have a

special staff to look after them. Each preserve will require well-

paid watchers with a game warden over them—the game warden

should be well paid and given considerable preventive powers.

The case for the game warden and his special staff is that many

forest-officials have neither the time nor perhaps the inclination. to

apply. themselves especially to game preservation. The exploit-

ation of timber and forest produce is annually increasing and forest

officers find it more and more difficult to get away from work which

brings revenue so as to be able to pay sufficient attention to a

question which in this material age is considered to be one of

subsidiary importance. A game warden requires special qualifica-

tions and besides being a sportsman must also be a naturalist with

a knowledge of the ways and habits of the animals he is called upon

to protect. ‘The objection to the game sanctuary is that it isexpen-

sive both as regards the extent of forest land which must be sacrificed

for.the purpose and.as regards its maintenance by a well-paid warden

and an unbribable staff. Besides it may be maintained that a long

period of protection in the same area is probably a mistake,

GAME PRESERVATION 1N INDIA 363

Nullahs maintained as sanctuaries in Kashmir for considerable

periods were found, on reopening them to shooting, to be almost

empty of game. Lastly an‘ unbribable staff of subordinate game

watchers’ would be difficult to procure. The Nilgiri Game

Association which, at considerable expense, maintained a staff of

seventeen game watchers, abolished the system as these were found

to be quite useless and their duties have now been taken over by

ordinary forest guards.

The whole question of game protection and the tightening up of

the laws affecting it is in the main a question of money. The form-

ation of a special game protection fund in the various provinces

might be well worth considering. The fee for shooting in the

splendid jungles of the Central Provinces is Rs. 9 per mensem. This

paltry sum is to cover the cost of a special guard who often acts as

a sort of orderly to the permit holder. Game protection is of

interest to the sportsman and it is right that he should contribute

towards it. Shooting blocks might be classified as (a) the very

highest class, (6) good blocks, (¢) poor blocks. The permit holder

might be charged Rs. 1-8-0 per day for(a), Re. 1 for (6) and annas

8 for (c). When one considers what peopie have to pay for sport

in other parts of the world, this is nota suggestion that would be

seriously opposed even in India where only the poor reside. In

addition a special charge might be made for shooting bison, buffalo

and the more sought-after species of game, The money raised by

these means should be earmarked for game protection. The form-

ation of such a fund might be sanctioned by the Local Governments

and applied for the purpose of supplementing rewards to forest

guards, to paying informers, poisoning wild dogs and vermin,

killing crocodiles in jungle pools, improving scanty water supplies,

etc., in fact all measures which might be helpful to game. It would

be a simple matter to calculate by a perusai of the permits issued in

past years what sum the proposed scale of fees would bring in

in a given district. Whilst the measures proposed above might not

maintain wild life at its present level they would, we consider, have

a beneficial effect and help to retard the process of depletion now

2oing on.

The above article was written originally for publication in the

Times of India. As it proved too long for the purpose the Editor

of the ‘limes published a resumé in a leader which appeared in the

paper on July 7.

The following note appeared in the Zzmes, London, July 12,

in reference to the leader published in Bombay :—

‘Any further proposals for preserving game in India as suggested

in Bombay are likely to be viewed with the greatest suspicion and

disapproval by the cultivating classes. Large game is already care-

fully preserved in many of the Indian States whose rulers are usually

ardent shikaris, and in British India the Forest Department controls

most of the game areas. In these, shooting is restricted by the issue

of licences and the number of heads that may be bagged. _ pe

- The depredations of the larger beasts are one of the most serious

handicaps that the ryot has to face. Hundreds of thousands of

plough and milch cattle are carried off every year by tiger and

364 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

panther, while the number of human beings who fall a prey to man-

eaters is still very considerable. Only last year a man-eater was at

large within 50 miles of Madras and was reported to have killed six

persons.

Besides the loss of cattle there is the damage done to crops,

which in many parts of India is very extensive. Wild elephants are

well known as the most destructive of creatures. They will tread

down or tear up three or four times the area they eat of such favoured

delicacies as cardamoms. It is usually permissible to kill them when

they are found doing damage on private land, but it is no easy task to

do so. Occasionally a small owner at the foot of the hills may make

a lucky coup by digging an elephant pit in his land and capturing a

small tusker which is worth more than his field, but in an ordinary

way the elephant is looked upon as a sacred nuisance. Wild pig do

a great amount of damage to sugarcane, and many a weary culti-

vator spends the whole night on a ‘“‘machan’”’ among his canes

trying vainly to scare them away with horn and tom-tom.

One of the most popular of the provisions of the new Arms Act

was the reduction in fees for the possession of muzzle-loaders for

the protection of crops and the greatly increased facilities for obtain-

ing licences given to the agricultural classes. Previously, when the

losses of cattle from tiger or panther became intolerable and there

were no guns available, a whole village would turn out with spears,

Sticks and drums and surrounding ‘‘stripes’’ or ‘‘ spots-’. after his

‘meal, would literally poke him to death. ;

The cattle mortality returns show no such decrease among them

as would justify any further protection of the felines. In fact in the

last few years an increase in the number of tiger has been reported

in the Godaveri Agency.’

GAME ASSOCIATIONS

There are already in existence several game associations in the

hills which regulate the number of shooting licences issued in the

area they control. The Nilgiri Game Association which has been

in existence for many years has done very useful work in protecting

sambur, bison, etc., and has also spent quite a large sum in stocking

rivers with imported trout. Pulni Association, started about 15 years

ago, is doing similar good work. Both associations work under the

auspices of the Local Government.

So long as the innumerable jheels of Northern India and the

tanks of the south receive their supply of water there is no fear of

any diminution in the myriads of duck and teal which flock to them

every cold weather. The Indian is not likely to change his food

supply, and so long as he grows paddy so long will the opportu-

nities for snipe-shooting which India affords be unequalled else-

where.

As cultivation in the dry tracts increases, it is inevitable that the

herds of black buck and chinkara which roamed over the waste lands

in former days should diminish, but there will always be unculti-

vabie areas which will form a refuge for them as wellas for partridge

and sand-grouse and the innumerable otnet small eniee of the: Endian

plains. 3 ae ‘

GAME PRESERVATION IN INDIA 365

The days are yet far off when anything in the way of a National

Park to preserve Indian fauna is either called for or practicable. An

extract from the petition of a ryot sums up the present situation :—

‘A reserve forest in the proximity of the village is the nursing

eround for all sorts of forest beasts, particularly that species of

animals that exist by the wild destruction and hasty consumption of

the crops of innocent but hard-working farmers. No human endea-

vour, however ingenious, could scare them away ; but if done they

come with renewed vigour and far more formidable companions.

The declared enemies of the farmer, the cheetas, the Jeopards, under-

take a perfect crusade against my sheep and goats, more particularly

my life-giving bulls and other cattle.’

EDITORIAL

We have to apologize to members for the long interval which elapsed between

the publication of Part 4 of Volume XXXI and Part 1 of Volume XXXII.

The delay was due to unfortunate labour troubles in Madras and we con-

gratulate both the managenient and the men on the termination of the strike.

We hope such troubles will not occur again and we have the management’s

assurance that they will be able to print another journal—a successor to this—

before the end of the year. If they are able to do so, we as Editors shall have

fulfilled the contract tne Commrnittee set themselves out to perform, namely the

placing in member’s hands of four Journals in a year. The Society’s pros-

pectus states that the Journal is brought out as near quarterly as possible but

this must be modified, and modified not because of recent happenings in the

Press but because of the want of material for the Journal. We want more Mis-

cellaneous Notes. We want members who have been on big game expeditions,

or have madea study of the fauna or flora of a particular part of India or in

neighbouring parts to share the results of their labours with, and relate the

story of their travels to, other members of the Society and we want the medium

to be the Journal. We will provide, free of cost, copies of the article for the

author’s private distribution and we welcome illustrations and are willing to

publish as many good illustrations as we receive. This brings us to the question

of the quality of a good many of the illustrations we produce. We do not

know what members’ opinions are but for ourselves we are not satisfied. We

ought to produce better results. Is it the fault of the Indian block maker ? or

of the art paper? We try to be patriotic and in India support Indian industries.

We print the Journal in India and in consequence have to pay duty at the rate

of 30 per cent on cost should we print our illustrations at home and bring them

out here for insertion inthe Journal. If however wewere to print the Journal at

home there would be no duty to pay on the illustrations. ‘They would then be

part of a book and books are admitted free of duty. Itis only if you print in

India that you pay duty on the paper and the type used in producing the book.

This again brings us to the subject of books. By the time this Journal is in

members’ hands there should also be in the hands of many of them the fourth

edition of Col. Wall’s Poztsonous Terrestrial Snakes of our British Indian

Dominions and the first edition of Col. Evans’ /dentification of Indian

Butterflies. As regards the former, the third edition has been out of print fora

long time now and the issue of the fourth edition will meet a want. One is always

liable to come across snakes in India and it is a good thing to have by one

both Col. Wall’s book and the chart. With these two the veriest tyro can tell

whether a snake is poisonous or not and if poisonous can tell exactly what

species the spake 1s.

We are glad tosee Col. Evans’ work on the Butterflies of India in book form.

Itseems a long tiine since the present Honorary Secretary asked Col. Evans

to write a child’s guide to butterfly collecting in India and it seems a long time

since those early interesting and instructive pages appeared. The plates which

have been published in eleven parts of the Journal have undoubtedly been

prized, appreciated and looked out for but the pages of description—full of neces-

sary abbreviations and without glossary or explanation have—with all apologies

to the writer—looked deadly dull to the non-entomologist. Hlustrations, keys,

introduction, glossary and simple explanations now appear together in one book

and the man who knows nothing can cease from caring less and by the aid of

Col. Evans’ book interest himself in identifying butterflies which he has seen

for years but has not troubled— because it was a trouble—to find out the naine of.

We take this opportunity of thanking both Col. Evans and Col. Wall for the

trouble and care they have taken over the publication of these books.

We are getting on well with the painting of the plates which will, in addition

to providing the charts illustrating the Common Birds of the Plains of India,

illustrate the book on the Common Birds of India we hope to issue next year.

We shall give coloured illustrations of no less than 210 birds and by means of

three colour or offset method of reproduction and using the same block for

both book and chart illustrations, we are confident we shall achieve what has

hitherto been regarded as the impossible and produce a cheap well-illustrated

popular book on the Common Birds of India.

It will be in all probability a year before the book is published and we would

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NEST OF THE GREAT INDIAN HORNBILL (Dichoceros bicornts).

Photograph of a nesting group in the Natural History Section, Prince of Wales Museum.

EDITORIAL 367

ask members not to be impatient. We hope that this year we shall see the

publication of Mr. Whistler’s book on Indian Birds, a popular work in the pub-

lication of which our late Honorary Secretary, Mr. W, S. Millard has interested

himself, We also learn that the Madras Government propose to issue a book on

the Common Birds of Southern India, the authors of which will be Messrs.

C. M. Inglis and Major H. R. Baker.

THE NATURAL HISTORY SECTION OF THE PRINCE OF WALES’ MUSEUM

_As members are aware the Society has accepted responsibility for the

working of the Natural History Section of the Prince of Wales’ Museum in

Bombay and the exhibits there are the property of the Society, being the gift

either of members of the Society or paid for out of monies so provided. The

staff is for a large part paid partly by the Society and partly from funds

provided by the Government of Bombay. The administration under the

Trustees of the Museum is conducted by a special Board of three Trustees, two

of whom have been appointed by the Committee of the Society and the third

elected by the Museum Trustees from amongst their own number. Members

therefore have an interest in the finances of the Natural History Section of the

Museum and for their information we give the following extract from the

Annual Report of the Section for 1926-27 :—

Government Grant. The maintenance and operation of the Natural History

Section for the fiscal year from April 1, 1926 to March 31, 1927, were provided for

from the grant of Rs. 23,500 received from the Government of Bombay. The

opening balance at the Bank on April 1, 1926, amounted to Rs. 4,411-7-8,

the income during the year from interest and other miscellaneous receipts

amounted to Rs. 678-11-5.

In accordance with the terms of agreement existing between the Natural

History Society and the Board of ‘Trustees, Prince of Wales’ Museum,

a contribution of Rs. 10,537-8-0 was made by the Society being the half cost of

the salaries of the Curator and Assistant Curators.

[Income and Expenditure. 'The total income of the Natural History Section

for the period under review amounts to Rs. 28,590-3-1. The disbursements

may be classed as follows :—Establishment, including Board’s contribution to

the Provident Fund, Rs. 20,941-13-0, Taxidermy Department Rs. 967-14-3,

Show Cases and Equipment Rs. 978-4-0, Miscellaneous Charges Rs. 1,694-14-2,

Curator’s Deputation to America Rs. 2,500, Collecting Expeditions Rs. 139-2-0,

making a total expenditure of Rs. 27,221-15-5.

It will be noticed that only Rs. 978-4-0 has been spent on Show Cases and

Equipment and Rs. 967-14-3 on Taxidermy. Well, the Curator works wonders

with very little money but even he and his staff could not have prepared the

exhibits of the past twelve months on an expenditure as low as that shown.—

The help given by Vice-Patrons of the Society is not shown in the preceding

statement which apart from the Society’s contribution to staff salaries only

shows the monies contributed by Government and interest, etc., thereon.

Most of the activities of the Section in the past year have already been com-

mented on in our Journal, either in the Editorial or in the reports of our meet-

ings. In the present number under the latter heading appeurs a reference to the

first of the four group cases illustrating life zones in the Indian Regions, i.e. the

desert, rain forest, high altitude and plains. ‘The groups are to be built on the

lines of a diorama with curved painted backgrounds. This mode of scenic

representation is being generally adopted by the more advanced museums in

Europe and America asa direct means of arousing interest of the visitor and

thereby more effectively instructing him. By a combination of transparent and

opaque painting, of transmitted and reflected light and by contrivances such as

screens and shutters a diversity of scenic effect is produced. Besides illustrating

the fauna and the flora of given areas these groups will illustrate typical Indian

landscapes which will give the visitor not only the idea of the diversity of

animal and plant life of the country but also of its diversity of its scenery. We

have also referred in a previous Journal to the group illustrating the nesting

habits of the Great Indian Hornbill. As the father bird employed in feeding

the mother and her young, is no other than the mascot of the Society who for

over twenty-five years played cricket behind the Honorary Secretary’s chair

and extolled the advantages of a life spent in total abstinence from the

consumption of water, we publish an illustration of the nesting group.

The annual report also refers to what has been done to interest visitors to

368 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol KXOGT

the Museum in Reptiles. Instead of being content with exhibiting represent-

ations of snakes, the Curator is working with the idea of illustrating the

habits of snakes. ‘The viviparous snakes are represented by a Russell’s Viper

with its new-born brood of thirty-four young. The oviparous snakes by a Cobra

which is seen occupying a deserted ant-hill; the snake is shown with its clutch

of eggs. An inset shows the development of the snake from the earliest stage

to the time when it is ready to free itself from the egg chamber with the aid

of its egg tooth. The third case illustrates how snakes poison their prey. The

Saw-scaled Viper or Phoorsa is shown in the process of swallowing a Desert

Gerbille. A dissection showing the poison apparatus of the snake and the

models of the type of fangs and a unique photograph showing a drop of poison

emerging from the tip of a Russell’s Viper’s fang complete the lesson which

the case. tends toteach. The plants, grasses and other accessories to these

groups have been beautifully reproduced in wax and lend greatly to their

attractiveness and interest. Full explanatory labels in English and Marathi

have been used in connection with these cases.

An acquisition to the series of exhibited Insects is the new case illustrating

House Flies and Disease. A very beautiful model of the House Fly was

presented to the Society by Mr. F. V. Evans— one of its Vice-Patrons. This has

been introduced into the case and supplemented by models of the eggs and the

larval and pupal stages cf the fly prepared in the Society’s laboratory. While

a fly-ridden tray of sweetmeat shows better than words can one of the means

by which the germs of disease are carried by flies to man.

Mr. Prater has been ably backed in his work by his assistants—Mr. Salim Ali

has increased the reputation of the Society by the educationa! work he is

doing in our schools. Mr. McCann seems to imbibe ideas on modelling as

though he were still imbibing his mother’s milk and though Mr. LaPersonne is

having a respite from travelling and congratulating himself on no longer being

in Eastern Persia, he is thinking with envy of the fortunate American Natura-

lists who are to make a collecting tour in Nepal next cold weather.

It is rather a reflection on the British in India that the best and most repre-

sentative exhibits of the Fauna of India should be found—not in Indian

Museums and not in English Museums butin American Museums. It is not

the American Government which puts the American Museum in such a favour-

able position and there is no need for the British or Indian Governments to do

what the American Government does not do, but the American Museums are

able to do things because the people of America take an interest in the work

the Museums do, and so find the money. American Museums one might say

have all the money they can spend. Whata difference to India: Were it not

for the Government of Bombay we should have no Natural History Museum

for the public (itis no argument against, that but for the Natural History

Society the Government would have had no Museum to spend moneyon!). The

Natural History Society provides—thanks very largely to its members—the

material and the supervision, but raw material is no use without money to turn

it into interesting and instructive exhibits and unfortunately the individual in

India does not consider there is any call upon him to provide funds for Natural

History Museums. One reason of course is that in America there is money and

in India, according to the politician, there is none. Is another reason lack of

appreciation of existing Museums? Would people interested in Natural

History subscribe towards the cost of exhibits if they knew that not only would

the exhibits vie with those in American Museums but also knew that the

exhibits provided out of their money were housed ina Museum built for the

purposes of a Museum—built to serve the purpose it was intended for—built by

the architect to meet the requirements of the curator, the architect building

and elaborating on the plans of the man who has to make use of the building ?

We hope to deal more fully with this in our next issue but what a difference we

foreshadow !

We publish in this issue the Memorandum and Articles of Association neces-

sary to enable our Society to be registered under the Scientific Societies Act

of 1860. We shall be very grateful to members if they will post us their

consent to the proposed articles as eariy as possible and also any suggestions

which they consider will be of help to the working of the Society.

There is a flaw in our constitution, or in our management, or is it that the

spirit of co-operation is lacking amongst our members ?

We ought to have branches, local meeting places, places where up-country

EDITORIAL 369

members could meet and where members experienced in Natural History

conditions in India can give practical assistance to the young member,

beginning his career in India. We want Field Naturalists’ Clubs, affiliated to or

part of this Society in every important cantonment in India. We want each

member to be as keen on getting fresh members for the Society as he would be

to put his best pal on the real thing—and a certainty which will benefit him

and his friend the more, the more friends he induces to go for the dead cert.

You can’t do such a thing on the Race Course but you can in this Society, but

what do we find ?

Many years ago—when Sir Henry McMahon was A.G.G. at Quetta-—a Quetta

Natural History Society was started and was not affiliated to the Society. The

only link between usis that Quetta has our Journal and the Curator of the

Museum received his early training from us. We referred in a previous

editorial to the formation of a Nature Study Club or Field Naturalists’ Club at

Poona, a station close to Bombay. We gave the new undertaking our blessing

but it was formed without any help from us and without any reference to us.

The idea of a branch or affiliation with the Bombay Natural History Society

never seems to have occurred. And now we hear—not officially and not

directly, but casually—that Karachi has formed a Natural History Society.

Well to this new Society we also give our best wishes and promise all the help

we can, but surely there would have been an advantage to all concerned had

this new Society been a branch or affiliated in some way to our Society. We

propose writing to the promoters and putting this query to them but whatever

the answer may be it will still leave, as an unsatisfactory blot 9n the Society, the

fact that new Natural History Societies are started in India without any one

thinking it worth while to consult the Bombay Natural History Society. When

new associations for the encouragement of the study of Natural History are

formed, one would imagine that those approached are those people resident in

the locality who are interested in the Fauna and Flora of India. Are none of

these members of our Society? If none are—what is wrong with us—why

have we failed to attract them? If they are members, why have they failed to

link up the new Society with the old or rather why have they failed to make

any attempt to do so? What is wrong? Something must be, and we appeal

to members to tell us. The Committee are not composed of pachyderms neither

are they composed of those who are missing the seventh skin and cannot

bear criticism. They are the members’ representatives and it is up to the

members to let their representatives know what is wrong with the structure

of the house and the mentality of those who look after it.

We said we wanted each member to be keen on getting new members—we

have issued this appeal time and time again. We pointed out that last year we

had obtained 204 new members and lost ninety-seven. We asked members

to try and better that—-there was nothing special about last year’s result—no

organized attempt to beat up recruits—merely one member or another showing

the Journal to friends or telling friends that if they want the results of their

skill and shikar turned into trophies, which would for a small sum be a

pleasure for life, or telling hard up acquaintances that if they wanted books on

Indian Game Birds cheap, they should join the Society. That was all that was

done but why is it not being done now? Or if it is being done now why is

it a failure? Whatis wrong? Our failure to publish a journal for five months

is not our fault and members will get their quota by the end of the year.

We ask why is it not being done now? and we ask with reason. We have

lost through death and resignation this year forty-five members. We have

gained 113 new members. Splendid! Yes—compare it with last year and

then remember that it is the result—not of the member asking the man who is

keen on Natural History to join the Society—but the result of the Honorary

Secretary and his staff drawing a bow at a venture and asking men who they

know are interested in the progress of India but who may not have the slightest

interest in nature, to join the Society. If such requests bring forth good results

what might not one expect in the way of results from members asking those

who are interested in Natural History to join? There is no necessity for any

set form of application but each of the present Journals contains a form and

we hope each will be made use of.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES oy

I.—TIGERS AND ELEPHANTS

Referring to the note by Prince Victor Narayen on page 1025 of vol. xxxi of the

Journal, it is surprising that the Cooch Behar shooting records do not chronicle

any case of an elephant being attacked without provocation by a tiger because

it is certain that in Assam hungry tigers do kill young elephants..

I have known of a female that was captured, lacerated and weak from loss

of blood and exhaustion, standing beside her small calf, which had been

killed by ‘a- tiger, and there was no doubt that the tiger subsequently attacked

the mother when she came up and tried to drive -it~ off:

During two seasons’ hunting in the North Cachar Hills we caught four ‘or

five elephant calves, -which tigers had attempted to ham-string, and we

destroyed one in the jungle which had been crippled and deserted by the herd

without being: finished off by the tiger. -The above calves were all 5 ft. or over,

and. were presumably getting beyond the size most easy for hamstringing. There

were, it must be admitted, special circumstances in North Cachar because

rinderpest had almost wiped out the wild buffalo, bison and pig, and the

tigers must have been hard put to it for food, but it is not unusual elsewhere

to find the pug-marks of a tiger that has apparently been following a herd

on the chance of being able to dash in and cripple a calf before its mother

can defend. it. We once cornered a herd of elephants in Kamrup but were

unable to drive them with men in the desired direction owing to the GEO

of a fierce old female and so used -our trained elephants for the job. - They

spent three days trying to drive-the wild ones, and on each day put up a big

male tiger that was hanging round the outskirts of the herd.

GauHaTI, ASSAM.

May 21,- 1927.

Avid. We MIEROY:.

[An interesting note on the subject of a tiger attacking elephants hy Mr. C.

G. Corbett appears on page 119, vol. vii of “the Society’s Journal. From the

number of similar instances recorded from time to time it would appear that

in thickly afforested tracts it is by no means an uncommon occurrence for

a tiger to hamstring and kill young elephants. It is further interesting to

learn from the Annual Report of the Uganda Protectorate Game Department

for the year ended December 31, 1925, that the lions in those parts also habitually

take a heavy toll of young elephants. Eps. |

I].—TIGERS PREFERRING CARRION TO LIVE BAIT

Regarding the note about tigers preferring carrion to live bait, which appeared

on page 1025, vol. xxxi of the Journal, I came across an instance of this a

couple of weeks ago. “I -shot 4 tiger over the carcase of a bear which had

died and been carried off by the tiger in preference to a bullock, tied up for

his special benefit a short distance away. There is a bare possibility that the

tiger had not seen the bullock, but knowing what the tiger is, I think this

is hardly possible. While on the subject, can anybody inform me of what

use to the common bear obtained all over. the plains of India, is the six or

seven inch coat of fur he is provided with?

I have heard the reason given that it was to save him from the stings of

bees while robbing their hives. I do not think this can possibly be the

explanation. If bees had stings six or seven inches long, very few people

would cultivate them !

I shall be grateful for a more reasonable theory.

Makrt,

Konpacaon P.O.,

Bastar. State, C.P.,

May 6, 1927.

WooHliO. SHORT IE,

[The shaggy and dense coat of the sloth bear whose habitat is restricted

to the forests of peninsular India appears unsuited to the climatic conditions

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES Ov

under which he lives. While there is certainly some connection between

temperature and the range of animals, climatic conditions and animal inhabit-

ants do not always march together, and the distribution of animals cannot be

mapped out into the areas bounded by parallels of temperature since there

are plenty of cases like that of the tiger, which is as much at home in a

tropical jungle as on the icy plains of northern Asia, Eps. |

III.—A PANTHER COMMITTING SUICIDE

I met with a somewhat unusual experience the. other day which might

interest readers of the Journal. I should also like to hear of any similar

experiences of other members.

I was informed early one morning that a panther was sitting near a tank

not far away. I went out and found it lying more dead than alive among

some rocks. I put it out of misery and then found, on closer inspection,

that the greater part. of the near hind leg had been eaten away, evidently by

the panther itself as there were no marks of a fight of any -sort on. the

body.

On skinning the animal it was discovered that there were a number of. pieces

of porcupine quill embedded in the flesh, and it was evidently the excruciating

pain of them, festering inside the leg, that had made the panther eat away the

affected part, although it virtually committed suicide by doing so, as I do not

think it would have lived much longer. You may imagine the extreme state it

was in when I say there were a score of villagers watching it from about thirty

feet. distance when I arrived, and it was taking not the slightest notice of

them.

I have heard and read of animals biting away a leg caught in a trap, but

this would not mean eventual death to the animal, and I cannot understand any

animal going to this extreme to rid itself of even the worst kind of wound,

I shall be greatly interested to hear of any parallel experience.

MakRI,

KonDAGAON P.O.,

Bastar Statk; C.P.,

April 8 1927.

IV.—_THE. COLOUR CHANGE, AND SEXUAL DIFFERENCES IN

COLOUR. IN THE -LONG-ARMED -‘SHEATH-

TAILED BAT

(TAPHOZOUS. LONGIMANUS)

I have read with interest Mr. McCann’s notes on the Long-armed Sheath-

tailed Bat, in the recent number of the Journal. (Vol. xxxi, p. 1030).

I do not, however, agree with the suggestion that the young of this Bat

are pale fulvescent and become gradually black with age. JI am convinced,

from my experience with the species in Ceylon, that the opposite is in reality

the truth—that is to say, that the young are dark in their first coat and

become gradually lighter and more brightly coloured with age, the adult male

becoming light reddish-(almost cinnamon) brown eventually.

Out of ten of these bats, all shot from their ‘roosts’ in the crowns of

cocoanut trees, six were males and four females. The males were _ reddish-

cinnamon-brown in four cases and dark grey in the remaining two, both the

latter being certainly juveniles, I think.

The females were all four dark grey, with the exception of one—a very

large specimen—which had the grey tinged with reddish. And of two others,

both females, shot one evening near Kantalai Tank, one, the smaller, was of

the usual dark grey type while the other, an exceptionally large one, was

of-the same cinnamon-brown shade as is seen in the adult males.

I think, personally, that the cinnamon-brown shades (becoming more fulves-

cent with age) are the usual colour of the adult males, while the dark grey

is the usual colour of the females and young but that the adult female may

assume the cinnamon-brown shades in old age.

Much the same colour change may be observed in the closely related species,

the Black-bearded Sheath-tailed Bat (Taphozous melanopogon). The males of

372 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

this species would seem to be lighter and brighter in colour than the females

and young; and what I take to be the oldest males are again lighter than

the general run of males.

In another family of bats—the Rhinolophidae—we also find an analogous

case. The young Dekhan Leaf-nosed Bat (Hipposideros brachyotus) is, in its

first coat, a very dark blackish-brown while the adult has generally a deep

reddish-brown coat, which may on occasion turn to bright reddish-or ferruginous-

brown. Again this bright colouring is much more common in, but not entirely

confined to, the old males.

My own belief, which I have not entirely confirmed yet, is that as a general

rule among insectivorous bats, where any differences of colour are found, the

young bat is always darker than the adult and that the coat of the adult usually

lightens and brightens in colour with age, but that the lighter and_ brighter

shades of colour are assumed at a very much earlier date by the males than

by the females.

MOUSAKANDE GROUP,

GAMMADUWA, CEYLON.

April 21, 1927,

W. W. A. PHILLIPS,

V.—HABITS OF THE FLYING LEMUR (GALEOPTERUS PENINSULA)

I have recently had a Flying Lemur in captivity for a week and was able

to observe its habits to a certain extent and perhaps the following observations

on this comparatively rare animal may be of interest to readers of the Journal,

The Lemur was captured by some wood-cutters at Kamounghla, Tayoy District,

and through the courtesy of Mr. B. Ribbentrop came into my possession a

lew hours after capture. Though at first it bit somewhat viciously when

handled, the little animal in a very short time appeared to realize the

fact that no harm was threatened, and it soon ceased to bite and allowed

itself to be handled freely. It proved to be almost if not quite nocturnal,

but if disturbed in the day-time could move about freely and = did

not show any marked dislike to bright sunlight; for the greater part of the

day it seemed asleep, either pendant from the branch of the tree I provided

for it, or else in a clinging position to the upright trunk of the tree. In either

position the head was invariably tucked under the body between the fore-

legs and the tail tucked in between the hind-legs, and in both positions the

protective colouration of the lemur’s fur was most striking and when viewed

at even a short distance against a background such as the mottled trunk of

the tree, the animal was extremely difficult to discern. It can be easily

imagined how very much more effective this protective colouration would be

in the dim light of our evergreen forests—its natural home—and the Burmese

name of *Tuit Poo’ applied to it (meaning literally a protuberance on the

trunk of a tree, or a tree knot) rather aptly describes its appearance when

asleep. Its movements usually were very slow and_ sloth-like, and when

placed on the ground it proved to be just as helpless as a bat is in a similar

position, and not being capable of assuming an upright position could only

progress by a succession of short flapping leaps towards the nearest upright

object up which it would immediately climb. The animal readily ate ripe

fruit and drank milk from a dish, lapping it up much as a dog does, but

a variety of insects such as spiders, beetles, grasshoppers, moths, etc., offered

it both in the live and dead state were invariably refused much to my surprise.

It did not readily eat the small pieces of raw meat offered and apparently

the main diet of these animals in the wild state is fruit.

The only sound the animal seemed capable of making was a soft rattle

much resembling the sound produced by a_pencil-point run sharply across

the teeth of a comb. When frightened, this sound was accompanied by a

hiss resembling that produced by a_snake. The animal died, apparently from

some pulmonary disease, a week after its capture,

Hea In Mine,

Tavoy,

March 2, 1927,

W. S. WOOD.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 373

[The Flying Lemur, also known as the Cobego or Colugo, is one of the

most interesting animals of our region. Naturalists have been very puzzled

as to its true status; some have placed it with the bats others with the lemurs

and others again with the Insectivora. Dr. H. C, Chapman who made a

special study of the animal, maintains that it cannot be regarded either as

a bat, or a lemur or an insectivore but that it stands alone as the sole

representative of an ancient group, the Galeopithecide. The degree of develop-

ment of the expansion of the integument by which the creature supports itself

in the air, is midway between the bats and the flying squirrels. Not only are

its long slender limbs connected by a broad integumentary expansion extending

outwards from the side of the neck and body as in a flying squirrel, but there

is also a web between the fingers and the toes, while the connection of the

hind limbs and the envelopment of the tail in a membranous expansion is

comparable to a similar structure in bats. The brain is like the Insectivores.

The teeth are peculiar in the singular comblike expansion of the lower

incisors. In its food the species appears to tbe frugivorous rather than

insectivorous, as noted by Mr. Wood. _ Eps. |

VI.—FLYING SQUIRRELS IN TENASSERIM

I am sending for the Society’s Museum the skin and skull of a small kind

of Flying-squirrel; I caught the little beast alive but could not rear it for

ionger than a fortnight. It is apparently full grown and extraordinarily small,

being only about eight inches in length all over. The tail too is an extraordinary

feature resembling a feather rather than the full tail of a squirrel. I noticed

that this was always held over the back in true squirrel style. The only

other small Flying-squirrel that I have come across in this district is the

Striped Petaurista. I remember once giving J. C. Hopwood seven of these

latter, and as there were two full-grown squirrels and five small ones I

naturally concluded they formed the parents and young of one family. Hopwood

afterwards found that they consisted of two mothers one having three young

and the other two, and the queer thing is that they were all found in one

nest in a bank of earth apparently on the best of terms, and_ unlike

human beings, the two females appeared to have been sharing the same abode

in perfect harmony. I cannot say for the male squirrel whether it was a

case of two wives as I never met the little gentlemen to enquire.

The Burmans here give rather a peculiar name to the little Flying-squirrel

whose skin I am now forwarding. They call it the ‘Thimbaw-tha-naya’ which

means ‘the five hundred sailors,’ and the legend is that five hundred sailors

(of what nationality history recordeth not) landed on the Tenasserim coast

somewhere, and saw one of these squirrels and desiring to catch it, the whole

five-hundred chased it for a whole seven days but could not effect a capture

owing to the squirrel’s nimbleness, hence the odd name. I am not too sure

that this is the animal the name applies to, as I have heard the same legend

in connection with the little striped Palm-squirrel.

‘TAVOM

May 14, 1927.

W. S. WOOD.

[The skin sent by Mr. Wood is that of the Pigmy Flying Squirrel (Pteromys

(H.) belone) whose distribution is Arrakan, Tenasserim and Cochin China. Eps. |

VII.—ALBINO GORAL (NEMORRHA DUS GORAL) IN CHAMBA

Some albino goral are found in the Chanju Perganah of the Chamba State.

They are like ordinary goral except for the colour of their coat which is white.

They live at an altitude of 7,200 feet. A pair was noticed about ten years

ago and they are multiplying, as six were seen at Christmas 1926 when I

was shooting there. I managed to shoot one. It is a good specimen the

horns measuring 88” x 38” x 2”. These measurements have been recorded

by Messrs. Rowland Ward who are setting up the head for me.

CHAMBA,

April 14, 1927.

RAM SINGH,

Raja of Chamba.

374 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

VIII.—IS THE LARGE HORNBILL (DICHOCEROS BICORNIS)

CARNIVOROUS?

I remember in Myitta (Tavoy District, South Tenasserim) somewhere about

1912 watching one of these great birds calmly extracting and swallowing with

apparent relish, one by one, an unfortunate brood of young Mynas from a hole in

a tree, while the irate parents vainly endeavoured to drive him off by clinging

to his head and pecking him. The Hornbill paid not the slightest attention to

this somewhat rough treatment but carried on until he had disposed of the

whole brood. The Hornbill was most methodical in his procedure. He would

extract a young bird, beat it on the branch of the tree until its struggles ceased,

throw it up in the air and catch and swallow it. I was quite close and I noticed

that the young Mynas were just getting their feathers. The question arises is

this a common practise among Hornbills? or is it a case of individual degeneracy ?

If it is the former, the Hornbills must do enormous damage among the young

of wild birds and should be indicted along with the birds of prey and other

nestling destroyers.

Tavoy,

May 14, 1927.

W. S. WOOD.

[Lt.-Col. A. Newnham, 1.A., recorded on p. 263, vol. xxi of this Journal

the instance of a Grey Hornbill (Lophoceros birostris) extracting and devouring

young paroquets from a nest-hole in a large siras tree at Jullunder.

A specimen of the species referred to by Mr. Wood which lives in the

Society’s rooms once caught hold of a rat that had ventured into its cage

and was proceeding to dash it from side to side, no doubt with the intention

of ultimately making a meal of it, when the squealing victim somehow

managed to free itself and to make good its escape. On another occasion a

half-grown pigeon was unfortunate enough to transgress into the hornbill’s

domains and was promptly seized and battered to death against the sides of

the cage. The bird was too large to be swallowed and was therefore dropped

on the floor. Eps. ]

IX.—A JUNGLE FOWL PROBLEM

I was wandering through a shola bordering my estate in April last year

and found a portion of the shola was simply alive with Jungle Fowl (hens) and

their young chickens. I saw no cocks, but hundreds of hens flew up into

the trees and there seemed to be myriads of baby chicks on the ground.

While I moved the latter kept extraordinarily still, not a leaf stirred; but if

I stood perfectly still for a few minutes they would slowly start moving for-

ward again and the air was full of their little ‘cheep,’ ‘cheep,’ ‘cheep.’ There

seemed to be a belt of hens and their chicks moving down the shola, about

fifty or seventy-five yards wide. Can you account for this strange congregation

of Jungle Fowl?

HONNAMETTI ESTATE,

AtTTiKAN P.O., via Mysore,

April 5, 1927.

RANDOLPH C. MORRIS.

xX.—A LOST SNIPE

On March 19, 1927, I was shooting with a friend, B. down a small tributary

stream of the Haro River between Hasan Abdal and Haripur. We were

accompanied by a local shikari. The stream consisted of a chain of still

pools connected by small runs.

A Full Snipe rose and we dropped him, winged, into the middle of a pool.

The pool was some fifteen yards in width by about forty yards long. We

advanced to pick the bird up, providing ourselves with a long stick for the

purpose as he was lying some seven yards from either bank and the pool

appeared some feet in depth. As we approached our attention was temporarily

diverted by two snipe passing overhead. They flew well out of range and I

paid them little attention. At the most I had taken my eyes off the pool for

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 375

fifteen seconds when I looked at it again and saw that the wounded Snipe

had completely disappeared. Had it had time to swim to either bank—it

certainly had not—it would have found no cover. The pool was bounded

on one side by a smooth perpendicular cliff and on the other by an open

mud beach covered only by a few pebbles. There were no surface weeds.

The current was negligible. A careful search convinced us that the bird must

have been quickly drawn under by a fish.

These pools, I know, contain murrel. The shikari, a reliable local man,

told us that the murrel hereabouts run up to seven or eight pounds. The water

looked too small to hold anything bigger.

Turtles abound in the Haro River. I have seen no traces of them in this

particular stream the nature and size of which seem to eliminate the likelihood

of a turtle being the thief.

Just before our attention was diverted to the flying snipe, both B. and I

noticed that the wounded bird made two quick attempts to jump. I believe

it to be most unusual for a winged snipe to try to rise from open water.

Perhaps in this case the snipe saw the fish rising towards it from the weeds

at the-bottom.- The water was clear.

Isn’t a murrel usually slow to make up his mind to feed and shy of

approach? In this case the thief, whether fish or turtle, was neither. one nor

the other.

SRINAGAR, KASHMIR,

April. 4, 1927.

ae R. H. STABLE,

Capt. I.A.

[Mr. F.-R. Blackley of the Sudan Civil Service describes in the Field of May

12.-(1927) a-recent experience where he shot a brace of teal right and left,

which fell into a swamp. Before they could be retrieved, a hawk swooped

down and carried off one bird. After a prolonged search the second was found

and when pulled out was seen to have been partially devoured by a fish which

continued to hold on tenaciously to its prize even when the teal was pulled out of

the water by its legs! The fish is estimated to have weighed about 13 lbs.

A curious instance is recorded on p. 259, vol. vii of the Society’s Journal

where a wounded snipe, after a protracted search, was rescued from the jaws

of an enormous frog. However, it is very likely that as the pool at which

Capt. Stable shot contained murrel, this fish and no other was the culprit

in the case. pe

The murrel (Ophiocephalus sp.) feeds largely on frogs that roatn about

near the surface of the water, and it is probable that while looking for its

prey, the fish caught sight of the helpless snipe and lost no time in appropriat-

ing it. Eps.].

XIL—THE ARRIVAL OF SNIPE IN MYSORE’

I read the letter with much interest (No. 11, by Mr. G. V. R. Frend) in

vol. xxxi, No. 4, in connection with the arrival of Snipe in Mysore. In this

letter he states he shot three Pin-tail snipe in Mysore on August 29, and

questions whether they were early immigrants, or possibly birds that had

remained over from last season.

-In-a -note- by the Editors on this incident, the opinion is stated that these

birds were probably ‘stay-backs’ from the last season—but I should like to

state that’ I do not consider this conclusion to be correct (at any rate as far

as the date of August 29 is concerned), and Mr. Frend did not mention that

he had obtained any birds before this date in July.

IT have watched the north-east migration of birds fairly carefully in the

hill districts in Ceylon for some years past, and my opinion is that there

is practically always a north-east inclination of the wind (though not always

a ground surface wind) some time in August, usually about the time of the

full moon, and the first and earliest fore-runners of the various winter migrants

practically always arrive in the hilly districts of Ceylon during the period of

the August full moon, whenever that occurs. The migrants that appear in

Ceylon (though in very few numbers) regularly during August are as follows :—

The Common Sandpiper (Tringa hypoleucus).

The Grey Wagtail. (Motacilla cinerea melanope).

376 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI1

The Blue-tailed Bee-eater. (Merops superciliosus javanicus).

The Brown Shrike. (Lanius c. cristatus).

The Pin-tailed Snipe. (Gallinago stenura).

In this list the Pin-tailed Snipe occurs, and occasionally the early snipe

appear to be young birds with their full plumage hardly matured, though

generally I expect the first and early birds to arrive would be disgruntled males,

that for some reason or other have not paired properly during the season.

One often hears people state that birds that have been pricked by a shot,

do not undertake the arduous migratory flight when the mating ‘urge’ arrives

in April, but my own experience is that this ‘urge’ is so strong; that whether

they were wounded or not, unless the cells of the brain that govern the homing-

instinct were affected, they would endeavour to undertake the journey; and

would of course fall by the way, more likely than not, a meal to some bird

of prey, watching for the weak ones following behind the migratory flight.

ISANDY,

April. 18, 1927. ,

GEORGE BROWN.

XIIL—ADDENDA TO THE AVIFAUNA OF SIND AND. OF BRITISH

INDIA

Since I wrote the Birds of Sind (Ibis., 1923, p. 19) I have. discovered a

Specimen of this desert form of A. phenicura which was collected by Blanford

south of Sehwan, on December 12, 1875. He no doubt obtained it in the

hills or foothills of the Kirthar Range and passed it over as the young of

phenicuroides from which however the black band across the tail among other

differences suffices to distinguish it. Its status is doubtful, possibly a resident

possibly an elevational migrant from Kelat. The specimen is in the Tring

Museum, This race has been recorded from Baluchistan.

2. Sylvia curruca halimodendri.

A specimen of this pale form of Lesser White-throat was obtained by Mr.

Salim Ali at Phulji, Larkana District, on December 22, 1926 and sent to me

for identification. I have already recorded this race in Persian Baluchistan but

this is the first record in India proper. This race is much paler above than

Sylvia curruca affinis and is about the same colour as minula, however in

measurements and wing formula it is the same as affinis. Prof. Sushkin has

divided these pale White-throats still further and gives as the distribution of

halimodendri from Zaisan Nor, west to the steppe region north of Aral Sea,

while his new form telengitica is said to inhabit the basin of the Achit Nor and

South-east Altai in Western Outer Mongolia. The only specimens I have

examined from anywhere north of India are those collected by Przewalsky in

Ala Shan and N. Tibet and these correspond with the description of halimo-

dendri, and seem to be quite the same as the Sind and Persian-Baluchi birds

and therefore until one can see specimens of telengitica I keep them all under

the above name, a

LoweEsTOFT, ey 5

March, 1927.

C. B. TICEHURST,

MiB.O. Uses he iGes.

XIII.—CORRIGENDUM TO FAUNA OF IRAQ.-

In the Journal for May 1926 I recorded the jay from Dohuk (Additional

Notes on the Birds of Iraq) as Garrulus glandarius atricapillus ; I have recently

re-examined all the jays from Palestine, Asia and Caucasus and I find the

Dohuk bird is much nearer the Caucasus one. It is greyer above and below

than atricapillus, the Palestine bird, and less pure white on the forehead and

ear coverts. The Dohuk Jay should stand as Garrulus glandarius krynicki.

LOWESTOFT,

March, 1927.

C. B. TICEHURST

M.B.0.U., F.R.G.S.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 377

XIV.—BIRDS EATING BUTTERFLIES

Mr. Hopwood’s letter in No. 3, vol. xxxi reminds me that in_ the

Teesta Valley I once saw a Red-legged Falconet catch and eat a Butterfly.

It was a female Papilio memnon absorbing nectar from a flower and I was

in the act of sweeping a net at it when the falconet swiftly passed in front

and left no butterfly for the net to collect. I was only just able to turn my

eyes from the flower to the bird in time to see the butterfly’s wings fall from

each side of its beak as it flew to its perch on a tree to swallow the body.

Muncproo P.O.,

via SILIGURI, BENGAL,

March 19, 1927.

G. E. SHAW.

[With reference to Mr, S. F. Hopwood’s note on the Red-legged Falconet

(Microhierax eutolmus) hawking butterflies which appeared on page 826, vol. xxxi

of this Journal together with our editorial comments, our attention has been

drawn by Sir Peter Clutterbuck to some notes published recently which form

an interesting supplement to our knowledge on the subject.

Vol. i, Part ii of the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London

(p. 32) has the following report:

‘The Pigmy Falcon capturing Butterflies in Kelantan. The President drew

attention to the following observation recorded by Mr. F. F. Laidlaw, M.A.,

in Journal 88 of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, October,

1923, p. 377 :—‘‘Whilst I was at Kuala Aring in Kelantan in September 1899

I was interested to notice on more than one occasion a small party, three or

four individuals I think, of the Pigmy Falcon (Microhierax fringillarius). These

birds used to sit on the higher branches of a dead tree which stood in the

middle of a small clearing in the forest close to the kampong. Their occupa-

tion seemed to consist chiefly in capturing butterflies, and there was constantly

a litter of wings on the ground about the foot of the tree. Amongst them

were the wings of Papilio delesserti (Guer.), an insect I did not at the time

have means of identifying. It was, however, common at Kuala Aring, in

fact abundant; and though I am writing from memory more than twenty

years after making the observation I am quite sure of the fact.’’

Mr. Laidlaw’s observation supplied interesting confirmation of the notes

recorded by the late Col. C. T. Bingham in Essays on Evolution, Poulton,

1908, pp. 289-91. Col. Bingham also found that Papilios formed a large

portion of the butterflies captured by Microhierax, and among them were those

of Papilio caunus, Westw., a mimic of Euplcea. The observations suggested, as

did Dr. V. G. L. Van Someren’s note in Proc. Ent. Soc., 1923, p. lxi, that the

birds referred to discriminated between the Papilio mimics and their Danaine

or Euploeine models.’

Dr. Van Someren’s note referred to above appears as follows: ‘A Hawk

attacking Papilio rex Oberth., at Nairobi.’—Prof. Poulton exhibited a male rex

with the male of its Danaine model Tirumala (Melinda) formosa, Godm., taken

on the same day, January 14, 1919, at Nairobi, by Canon St. Aubyn Rogers,

and read the following note written on July 28, 1923, by Dr. V. G. L. Van

Someren :—‘I rescued a P. rex the other day from a small species of hawk—

Accipiter minullus tropicalis Reichenow—rather strange, particularly as M. for-

mosa swarmed in the patch of flowers where rex was taken.’

The other notes on the subject to which Sir Peter refers are to be found

in Dr. G. D. Hale Carpenter’s recently published book A Naturalist in East

Africa. On page 21 the author records that in a quarter of an hour’s watching

he counted sixteen little ‘Blues,’ nine Atella (a brown butterfly about the size

of the English ‘Tortciseshell’), three sulphur-yellow Terias and one Eronia

leda which resembles the English ‘Brimstone’, devoured between two wagtails—

Motacilla vidua. Dr. Carpenter continues: ‘But they made no attempt to eat

any of the extremely abundant ‘‘White’’ (Belenois and Pinacopteryx) which were

there, and walked about among them without appearing to take any notice

of them, nor did they pay any attention to the Danaine Tirumala mercedonia,

a typically aposematic butterfly, of which numbers were sitting together on a

stone on which one of the birds was actually perched. I never saw them pay

any attention to the mimetic P. ridleyanus,

373 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

The total of twenty-nine butterflies eaten in half-an-hour is certainly an

underestimate, for often when watching one bird I heard the bill of the other

snap, and, giving it a hasty glance, saw that it was swallowing something.

If one considers that these birds had been eating butterflies before I had arrived,

and were still doing so when I left, it must be allowed that they had eaten

robably fifty jbutterflies! Every now and then one of them got so full that

t had to sit still and rest, all humped up, before it had room to begin again !’°

After recording a number of similar observations, Dr. Carpenter concludes

by remarking: ‘If one considers that these birds frequented those same puddles

daily, and ate ‘‘good and ’earty’’ for a great part of the day, one cannot under-

stand the arguments of those who say that birds do not eat butterflies in

sufficient quantity to have any influence upon them as a selective agent and

therefore cannot cause mimetic resemblances.’

Dr. Hale Carpenter’s notes are very interesting, and it would appear that

the long-held notion that birds do not eat butterflies to any considerable extent

stands in need of modification in the light of recent investigation.

However, assuming that these insects ave preyed upon by birds in sufficiently

large quantities to foster mimetic resemblances amongst them, one fails to

appreciate the significance of such mimicry when it falls short of affording

protective value to the mimic. Eps. ]

A SHORT-CUT BY BIRDS TO THE HONEY IN THE FLOWERS

OF SESBANIA GRANDIFLORA

[Reprinted from tte Journal of Indian Botany, vol. v, No. 3 (December, 1926) |

XV.

Numerous examples are known to anthoecologists of ‘Unbidden Guests’.

These, as is well-known, steal from the flowers the store of honey meant for

the use of pollinating insects. The result is that the right kind of insects no

more pay their visits, with the consequence that the fertilization of flowers

is either prevented, or its chances considerably decreased. ‘The effect of this

on the seed-producing capacity of the plant is considerable.

A remarkable instance of this is to be found in the flowers of Sesbania

grandiflora, a plant belonging to the family Leguminosz, which came to the

writer’s notice while collecting material for class use. This plant begins to

flower in Benares about the beginning of November and continues to do so

almost till the end of January. This period happens also to correspond almost

exactly with the time when feathered visitors migrate in large numbers to

these parts from colder regions, and on closer observation it was found that

it is largely these birds which are responsible for robbing the plant of its store

of useful nectar, without doing any service in return.

In order to appreciate fully the intelligent way in which these birds carry

on their business, it is necessary to give a brief account of the morphology of

the flower. When fully developed, the flowers, like those of almost all other

Papilionate, bear a striking resemblance to the pose of a bird in flight. And

it is this resemblance, enhanced as it is by the white colour of the flowers,

that appears to be responsible for the Bengalee name ‘Bok’ (Duck) given to them.

The standard is clawed, and in fully opened flowers bends strongly forward

in the form of a cowl over what looks like the bird’s head. The latter is formed

by the calyx-tube surrounding the essential organs and serves for the storage

of honey. In the bud-condition, the standard forms a sort of tight jacket

round the other petals and jointly with the calyx effectively guards all approaches

to honey.

The honey is secreted by a number of glands situated on the inner side of the

united bases of 9 stamens around the ovary, and stored in a beautiful bowl-

shaped cavity formed by them. The filament of the 10th free stamen fits nicely

over a gutter-like groove in front to prevent any drain of the fluid, and

forms together with the base of the ovary a partition dividing the honey reservoir

into two lateral chambers. The claw of the standard lies vertically over this

partition and is of such width that it just leaves two oval holes at the top,

simulating the orbits in a human cranium and apparently serving as approaches

to the honey.

The interesting point in the stealing process is the fact that the robbers seem

to have found out the exact position of the honey passages, ‘and peck holes at

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 379

the spot with great deliberation and precision. Out of the many flowers

examined by the writer, only rarely specimens were met with, which showed

evidences of pecking wide of these points, and these probably represent attempts

of foolish or inexperienced birds. Another interesting point, and one which

brings the intelligence of these birds surprisingly into prominence, is the fact

that only those buds which have developed sufficiently to be able to secrete

honey, are sought, the younger ones are apparently deliberately avoided, except

in rare instances for which again inexperienced or stupid birds may be responsible.

Cases like these are of immense interest and open up many questions with

regard to the intelligence of birds. How is it, for instance that they get to

know the particular stage of development at which the nectary begins to secrete

honey? ; and again how is it that they come to locate exactly the positions of

the honey passages in the unopened buds? Instinct and intuition may enable

one to understand the habit of birds in approaching the flowers, but they

scarcely suffice to explain the wonderfully exact nature of their behaviour in

locating the exact points where holes ought to be made, and in selecting only

those flower-buds in which nectaries have begun to function.

The following birds have been noticed in the act of pecking the flowers in

addition to squirrels, which bite at and destroy flowers in large numbers. But

the list is not claimed to be by any means exhaustive, and doubtless there must

be other birds concerned.

Psittacula torquatus Bie The Common Parroquet.

Leptocoma asiatica tae The Indian Purple Sunbird.

Molpastes hemorrhous a3 The Red-vented Bulbul.

In addition to these the common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) and the House

Crow (Corvus splendens) have also been seen sitting in large numbers on the

plant, but the writer has not had any occasion to notice them in the actual act

of pecking.

N, K. TIWARY«. oisc.,

Dept. of Botany, Benares Hindu University.

XVI.—ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL MIMICRY

In the pages of the Illustrated London News, dated May 7, 1927, in his

contribution on mimetic Cuckoos it is gravely asserted by Mr. W. P. Pycraft that

the black Indian cuckoo known as the Koel (Eudynamis honorata) foists its

young on a kind of crow known as the mynah. Now our familiar Indian grey-

necked crow is not so black as Mr. Pycraft would have his readers believe nor is

he a mynah. He is not mistaken as to the identity or nature of the male of the

Indian black cuckoo whom he invariably chases away from the vicinity of his

nest and as is well-known to every bird observer in India the female koel foists

her eggs on a crow’s nest by stratagem and not through the supposed mimetic

resemblance of her mate to a crow. Nor do the nestlings of the Koel resemble

the male so as to deceive their corvine foster parents. The writer has seen

crows feeding young Koels in the brown, grey and speckled plumage of the

female cuckoo and it is to be feared that the plumage of the male koel, black

though it be, does not entitle him to be included as a corvine mimic. It seems

to be a besetting weakness in the minds of some entomologists and ornithologists

to lump instances of resemblances amongst birds and insects under the category

of mimicry. It has been gravely asserted in scientific journals that the markings

on the forewings at the great Atlas moths are protective from their resemblance

to the head of a snake and also that the great eye-spots on the lower wings

of a South American butterfly and a large Indian Saturnid moth are likewise

protective from their resemblance to the facial disc of an owl. All such hocus-

pocus are instances of artificial or spurious mimicry evolved in the minds of the

framers of such hypotheses. It could equally be strongly urged that the

sepulchral markings on the thorax of a death’s head moth are warning indica-

tions to the superstitious entomologist to keep his hands off, and hence of a

protective nature to the moth. It may be asked what then is true mimicry

as distinguished from the artificial mimicry referred to? To which it may

be replied that there are to be seen everywhere in a state of nature tens of

thousands of living organisms whose appearance down to the minutest spot

and wrinkle is a facsimile of the model that they imitate. Such mimics are

veritably living lies and are to be found in the insect world. Sticl insects,

leaf insects, leaf butterflies and crickets, and perhaps most marvellous of all]

380 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

are those insects that resemble the white droppings of birds so closely that

one’s first impression is that a bird dropping has suddenly become alive and, is

moving over a rock. It cannot be; our eyes must have deceived us, but

presto! the bird dropping moves again and then we feel quite sure that it is

really an insect. Just a flat patch of white on a stone about the size of a

three penny bit of an oval shape and of a pure unsullied white. The Indian

oakleaf butterfly is likewise a marvellous mimic but only when at rest. The

general outline of the closed wings is that of an oblong acuminate leaf, the

elongated tail of the hind wing corresponding to the stalk of a leaf with mid-

rib running through the centre and terminating in the apex of the forewing.

Countless other instances could be given by every observer who gets his

knowledge of nature not from books but by observation, but who on the other

hand must not strain facts to fit in with some hypothesis evolved from the

mind. It was well said by a great writer that the world is full of clues, and

that if a man’s mind is sharp set on any quest, he notices and takes advant-

age of what otherwise he would miss. This is specially applicable in the

study of animal life,

BOMBAY,

May 27, 1927,

H. JOUGUET,

XVIT.—A LIST OF SNAKES AND LIZARDS FROM PANCHGANI

Through the kindness of Rev. E. Blatter I received the following snakes and

lizards collected by him during his stay at Panchgani. All the specimens were

collected from an altitude of 4,100—4,400 feet. On going through the collection

I find that it comprises eighteen species of snakes and five species of lizards.

It appears that amongst snakes Silybura brevis, Macropisthodon plumbicolor,

Coluber helena and Naia naia are fairly common at Panchgani. The collection

holds a single specimen each of Hemibungarus nigrescens and Echis carinata.

The commonest lizards to be found are Calotes versicolor, Hemidactylus macu-

latus, Gymnodactylus deccanensis and Mabuia carinata :—

Sub-order.—OPHIDIA

Family.—UROPELTIDAE

Genus.—Silybura Gray

Silybura macrolepis Peters. The Large-scaled Earth Snake.

Silybura brevis (Giinther). Cuvier’s Earth Snake.

Family.—CoLuBRIDAE

Series. —AGLYPHA

Sub-family.—Colubrinze

Genus.—Nerodia Baird and Girard

Nerodia (Tropidonotus) piscator (Schneider). The Chequered Keelback.

’

= Pantvala .

Genus.—Macropisthodon Boulenger

Macropisthodon (Tropidonotus) plumbicolor (Cantor). The Green Keelback.

Genus.—Lycodon Boie

Lycodon aulicus (Linné). The Common Wolf Snake.

Lycodon travancoricus Boulenger. Beddome’s Wolf Snake.

Genus.—Ptyas Fitzinger

Ptyas (Zamenis) mucosus (Linné). The Common Rat Snake or ‘DhAman’.

; Genus.—Zamenis Wagler

Zamenis fasciolatus (Shaw). The Fasciolated Rat Snake.

Genus.—Coluber Linné

Coluber helena (Daudin). The Trinket Snake.

Genus.—Oligodon Boie

Oligodon teniolatus (Jerdon). The Variegated Kukri Snake,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 381

Genus.—Liopeltis

Liopeltis (Ablabes) calamaria (Ginther). Gunther’s Smooth Snake.

Series. —OPISTHOGLYPHA

Sub-family.—Acrochordinz

Genus.—Dipsadomorphus Fitzinger

Dipsadomorphus ceylonensis Gunther. Gtnther’s Cat Snake.

Dipsadomorphus trigonatus (Schneider). The Common Cat Snake or Gamma

Snake.

Genus.—Dryophis Dalman

Dryophis mycterizans (Linné.) The Common Green Whip Snake. ‘Hira

or Hirva Samp’.

Series. —PROTEROGLYPHA

Sub-family.—-Elapinae

Genus.—Bungarus (Daudin)

Bungarus candidus (Linné). The Common Krait, ‘Manar or Maniar’.

Sub-family.—H ydrophinae

Genus.—Naia Laurenti

Naia naia (tripudians) (Linné.) The Cobra. ‘Naga’.

Genus.—Hemibungarus Peters

Hemibungarus nigrescens (Gutnther.) Gutnther’s Coral Snake.

Family.—VIPERIDAE

Sub-family.—VIPERINAE

Genus.—Echis Merrem

Echis carinata (Schneider). The Saw-scaled Viper. ‘Phoorsa’.

Sub-order.— LACERTILIA

Family.—GECKONIDAE

Genus.—Gymnodactylus Spix

Gymnodactylus deccanensis Gtinther.

Genus.—Hemidactylus Gray

Hemidactylus maculatus Dum. and Bibr.

Family.—AGAMIDAE

Genus.—Calotes Cuvier

Calotes versicolor Giinther. The Common Bloodsucker. ‘Sarda’.

Family.—VARANIDAE

Genus.—Varanus Merrem

Varanus bengalensis Boulenger. The Common Indian Monitor. ‘Ghorpad’.

Family.—ScINcIDAE

Genus.—Mabuia Fitzinger

Mabuia carinata Boulenger, ‘Sampbamni’.

ST. MAVIER Ss COLLEGE,

Bomsay, March 17, 1927.

1. P.-MULEAN:

XVIII.—PREYING HABITS OF THE TENT BUILDING SPIDER

I am unfortunately (or should I in view of the profundity of the articles on

the subject in the Journal, say fortunately?) not what Mr. Pycraft would term

enlighten me on the subject of a tragedy now taking place on the wall of this

inspection bungalow over my office table—A small spider with a body about the

diameter of one of my office pins is violently rushing in small circles round a

small brown beetle-like insect with a body about as long as the head of a pin

in width. The spider after about half a dozen revolutions clockwise, reverses

its direction and puts in a spell anticlockwise. The beetle is obviously in

difficulties and I conjecture that the spider is hobbling it by the winding an

invisible thread round its legs.

582, JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATORAL HIS? SOCIETY Vole xXeods

The beetle is by now standing on its head with its body at right angles to

the wall and bowing feebly; the spider is still revolving. What is the spider

doing? is it merely tying up a capture in order to make a quiet dinner (it is

now 7.30 p.m.) undisturbed by the dinner’s struggles, or is it laying the beetle

by for to-morrow’s breakfast, or is the beetle to stay alive as food for the

spider’s progeny? I should be grateful for enlightment—as grateful as I am

to the spider and the beetle for relieving an evening of undiluted office work.

Came MUKTI,

West KUHANDESH,

January, 6, 1927.

FE ONIGEY Ges.

[Commenting on the above Major R. W. G. Hingston writes as follows :—

The spiders Mr. Knight refers to belong to the family Urocteide. They

construct sillk tents in the angles of walls and are very common in India.

The tent consists of two layers and the spider lives between the layers.

A delicate entanglement of threads iswspread over the wall around the tent.

The spider waits for prey within its tent. An insect happens to crawl near the

tent, gets its feet caught in the surrounding entanglement. ‘The spider then

rushes out with lightning rapidity, whirls round and round the insect in one

direction, all the time paying out a thread. Then it reverses and throws out

another series of coils in the opposite direction. These circlings continue in

alternating directions until the capture is completely enmeshed. The spider

then takes the victim in its mandibles, injects a drop of poison, drags it into

the tent, and sucks out its body juices.

The operation is therefore a kind of noosing or lassoing. The thread cast

round the victim is very fine and can be seen only with a lens. So far as I

have observed, ants are the usual prey of this spider. But small beetles will

be captured if they happen to come that way.

I may add that Mr. Knight’s observation is strictly exact. The habits,

behaviour, etc., of this spider with a detailed account of its capturing operations

have been described in a chapter entitled ‘The Tent Building Spider’ in my

book Nature at the Desert’s Edge. I do not know of any description of

these habits published elsewhere. Eps. ]

XIX.—SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMON INDIAN MILLIPEDE,

SPIROSTREPTUS BRANDT

(With a plate)

The first stage in the study of Zoology in this country, when almost all the

types studied were foreign, is now happily over. The types described in the

Text-books, often not obtainable in this country, are being gradually replaced

by animals which we find in our own neighbourhood; and with the help of

pioneers like Dr. Prashad* and Dr. Bahl* we might expect a time not far

remote when the Indian students’ syllabus will be as free from all imported

material as is necessary and desirable.

Study of life-history at first-hand, cannot fail to lend an additional interest

to the anatomical details which so often prove dry and difficult to the beginners

without it.

The Millipede that we are working on, with this object in view belongs to

the phylum, Arthropoda, class Myriapoda, and sub class Progoneata.? It is

fairly common in this part of the country, and is of a big enough size

to be studied conveniently (about 4-6 inches long and 2 cm. broad). Its habits

are interesting, and it can be kept in confinement under prolonged observation

during which it may be induced to breed.

A large number of them were captured at the end of July and put in big

glass jars containing a quantity of coarse saw-dust sprinkled with water. This

' B. Prashad, Anatomy of the Common Indian Apple-snail (Pila globosa)

Memoirs of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, vol. viii, No. 3, 1925.

* Bahl, K. N., Pheretima posthuma, The Indian Zoological Memoir on Indian

Animal Types, Lucknow, 1926.

* Progoneata = Myriapoda in which the genital apertures are situated far

forwards towards the anterior end of the body.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

G.P

Fic. 1.—Anterior region of Female.

Fic. 3. —Spirostreptus in copulation. Fic. 2.—Anterior region of Male,

‘HE COMMON INDIAN MILLIPEDE (S/irostreptus, Brandt.)

MISCHLLANEOCS NOLES 383

inaterial is more suitable than ordinary soil because the animal can easily bore

tunnels in it, and the moisture of this subtratum can be better regulated and

varied according to need than is possible with garden soil, though no doubt,

that is what the animal uses in nature. Further if a sufficient thickness of

this material is used we get different layers from the bottom towards the top

which vary in their water contens, and the animal has an option of selecting

the right zone as to moisture and temperature—a point which is of vital interest

to the captive animals during the winter season when their mortality is pretty

high due to cold.

These millipedes are quite active, voracious feeders during the months of

August, September, and October; but their activity and appetite suffer a

remarkable diminution during November and December, when the atmospheric

temperature is quite low.

They are purely vegetable feeders avoiding carrion when supplied as a test.

They were tempted to eat of a piece of cake when hard pressed, but developed

a kind of diarrhoea on the third day looking weak and depressed in spirit.

They were again put on their usual vegetable diet and regained health quickly.

Of the vegetables they seem to be partial to potatoes, both raw and boiled,

pith of cabbage and Trapa (Singhara).

They avoid strong light, hiding themselves in their burrows, and come up

to the surface for feeding late in the evening; they are quite busy eating and

crawling at dusk.

The male and the female can be distinguished at a glance by looking at their

anterior dorsal end. The head of the female is globular and the outline grace-

fully narrows behind the head for a short length before it assumes its former

breadth (Fig. 1); whereas in the male there is no such narrowing at all—in its

place we find two rings which are extra broad (Fig. 2). This is the best

character to find the sex of the animal without handling it.

We found the animals in conjugating position very often in the months of

September and October, and very young ones were also obtained from the fields

at the same time.

Heathcote of Trinity College, Cambridge, collected a number of Julus in

1882 and observed them. He says that he is unable to find how long a time

elapses after copulation before eggs are laid, but that he thinks it is short.

Our observations are different according to which a pretty long time must

elapse before eggs are laid. On referring to the literature that we have been

able to consult we find no reference to the method of copulation, except Heath-

cote (1882) who says ‘I have observed copulation which exactly takes place

as described by Cuvier in his Regne Animal but on referring to the English

translation of the book which we possess we could find no mention of it.

The copulatory posture might easily be mistaken for a life and death struggle

between two opponents, so violent does it appear. The male suddenly bites the

upper lip of the female between its own upper and lower lips; thus catching

hold of the female it tightly coils round its body (Fig. 3). The genital

apertures which are situated on the ventral side, a few segments behind the

mouth, being apposed against each other.

In the writhing movements that follow the anterior third of the animals

stand erect above the ground, the accessory copulatory organ of the male

being firmly thrust into the female aperture. It lasts for about three to four

minutes, and it is the male who takes the aggressive part.

Fabre (Ann. Sci. Nat. 1855) has described the breeding season to be September

for captive animals. Sinclare has observed it to be May. We hope to be able

to get eggs early next summer. If we are successful then it would appear

that copulation takes place all the year round excepting the cold winter months.

C. McCann of Xavier’s College, Bombay, observed a nest of Polydesmus

containing a single egg in the month of September; but as the egg contained

an advanced embryo it must have been laid considerably earlier.

There is thus, it appears, no agreement between the habits of the few

millipedes observed up to this time and it is therefore all the more necessary

that the habits of this particular millipede should be known accurately.

The literature about the early development of millipedes is not too complete

to be added to, and if they can successfully be made to lay eggs under observa-

tion, as we venture to hope, they would, under the conditions we have

peg enough of fresh material would be in hand to push on with the

subject.

384 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

Our best thanks are due to Dr. B. Prashad of the Indian Museum, Calcutta,

for kindly identifying the Millipedes to be a Spirostreptus, and to Dr. K. N.

Bahl, Professor of Zoology, Lucknow University, who suggested the work

in hand.

M> Lo BHAT EAS Mr se.s

LuckKNow, Lecturer in Zoology, Lucknow University.

March 1927. and 5:75: CHAU DEUR YY? mens, Nase:

XX.—A PLAGUE OF GREEN BUGS (NEZARA VIRIDULA)

In July 1925 an extraordinary plague of the brown species of Nezara

viridula (commonly known as the ‘Green bug,’ emitting a most disagreeable

smell when touched) occurred in a shola above and bordering on my estate.

Seething masses of the bug flew and crawled through the shola, covering the

ground and the trees completely. They seemed to be feeding on nothing and

were dying in millions and they were attacked I noticed by neither bird nor

mammal! The smell was overpowering and disgusting. They moved out of

the shola down into the estate and congregated on the branches of the shade

trees, smashing all the branches of the Grevilleas by the sheer weight of their

numbers. It had to be seen to be ‘believed. When the survivors (still in their

myriads) finally moved out of the estate they had left a lane a hundred yards

wide, of shade trees with every branch and limb broken down and hanging.

HoONNAMETTI ESTATE,

ATTIKAN P.O. via Mysore,

April 5, 1927.

RANDOLPH C. MORRIS.

XXI.—THE USE OF PATENT BULLETS IN SHOT. GUNS

In the Miscellaneous Notes of vol. xxxi, No. 4 of the Society’s Journal, I

read with interest the note on various patent bullets for use in smooth bore

guns.

My own personal experience of them—and I have used them for a good

many years—lies half way between the views of Mr. McCulloch and Col.

Burton. Above fifty yards I do not think any of the patent bullets can be

relied on for accurate shooting, but as regards their penetration I have a very

high opinion indeed of them. My own experience only extends to the use of

Lethal Ball and Rotax Bullets.

To give concrete examples I will just mention a few cases :—

A Sambhar at 40 yards. Lethal ball.—Bullet passed clean through the

sambhar just beh‘nd shoulder.

A pig at 30 yards. Lethal ball.—Bullet passed obliquely through animal

from near hind quarter to off foreleg. The pig was a large sized boar.

Two panthers at 20 yards. Rotax bullet-—In each case the bullet struck

near the shoulder and passed far into the interior of the animal. One was a

side shot and the other a frontal shot. In both cases the bullet smashed into

little pieces inside, doing tremendous damage.

As a general rule the bullets penetrate but do not pass through, usually

breaking up inside, but the above instances show what they are capable of.

As regards the statement in Messrs. Rodda’s catalogue, I have no doubt the

statement is a copy of a letter received by them, but I am very sceptical as

to the truth of the statement for the following reasons:

It is fairly evident the tigers were shot from elephants in a drive. Now,

it is very improbable that anybody would go for such a shoot armed with a

smooth bore gun, as elephants usually imply considerable means or influence,

and anybody in possession of either would also probably be in possession of a

double H.V. rifle, which he would naturally use in preference to a smooth

bore.

If we allow for the improbable, one might make a lucky shot at 110 or 185

yards or even 165 yards, because the penetration of these bullets is wonderful,

but to male three such shots consecutively, and the last of them a galloping

shot, is more than I can believe on the evidence available.

Maxri, Konpacaon P.O., W. Eh. OO. SHOR:

BasTAR STATE, C.P.,

May 6, 1927.

MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION

NAME

The name of the Society is the BomBAY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY.

OBJECTS

(2) To promote amongst the public the knowledge of Natural

History in all its branches, including particularly the study of

Animal and Plant Life of the Oriental Regions and the Zoo-

Geographical Regions adjoining thereunto both alive and otherwise.

(6) To carry out researches in all branches of Natural History

and to assist with information and advice as well as financially

where possible, other institutions and individuals in similar pursuits.

ish a museum or museums or other repositories for animals or plants

living or dead which are suitable for the study of Natural History.

(2) To carry on the business of Taxidermists and Preservers.

(¢) To nominate and appoint members and to receive and

recover contributions from them in aid of the objects of the Society.

(f) To engage and remunerate experts and other staff for

any or all of the objects of the Society and to do and make all

other acts, matters and things ancillary thereto or necessary and

convenient for the purposes of the Society including the purchase or

taking on lease of land and buildings.

(g) To.do all or any of the aforesaid objects either solely or

jointly with another or others and to enter into agreements for

joint management, joint working, collaboration and any other

arrangements with societies or persons having similar or allied

objects which may further or benefit the objects of this Society.

We, the undersigned, hereby request that we may be formed into

a society under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.

Note.—The signatories will be members of the Committee residing in

Bombay. The names of the present Committee are entered here for informa-

tion of members and these will form the first Committee of the Registered

Society.

1927

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE—BOMBAY

H. B. The Rt. Hon’ble Lt.-Col. Sir Leslie Wilson, P.c., G.¢.1.8.,

C.M.G., D.S.O. se No nee President

Hi. H. The Maharao of Cutch, G.C.S:1., G.C.1.E.

Rev. E. Blatter, $.J., Ph.D., F.L.S. Vice-Prestdents

The Hon’ble Mr. J. E. B. Hoston, C.S.1., 0.B.E., 1.C.S.

Mr. R: D: Bell; ¢.1.E5-1.¢:s.

Mr. H. A. W. Brent.

Prof. V. N.: Hate, 3B.Se.

Mr. J. G. Ridland.

Mr. P. M. D. Sanderson.

Lt.-Col. Fa. Mackie; 1.M.8.

Mr. J. B. Greaves ee oe ... Honorary Treasurer

Sir Reginald Spence, Kt. ... sis ... Honorary Secretary

386 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Mr. T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, F.E.S., Pusa.

Mr. ‘TR. Bell Ci-8.; 127s. (etd?) isauwar.

Col. W..H. Evans; ¢.1. mi; RE: Peshawar.

Lt.-Col. F.C, Fraser, 1.M.S:,..V izagvapatam.

Dr. F. El. Gravely, .-se:,- Madras:

Mr. C. M. Inglis, M.B.0.U., C.M.z.S., Darjeeling.

Lt-Col, C..H. Stockley, D:S;0.; M.C;, O28. By, nansi

Lt.-Col. R. B. Seymour-Sewell, 1.m.s., Calcutta.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

THE MEMBERS

1. The Bombay Natural History Society (hereinafter referred

to as’‘the Society’) shall consist of an unlimited number “of

members of either sex whose election shall be vested in a

Committee constituted -as provided in Rule 32. (hereinafter

referred to as ‘the Committee’). Persons who were members of

the Society prior to its registration shall be deemed to remain

members of the Society unless they shall otherwise determine and

any life or other subscription paid by them shall for the purpose of

regulating their position ot status in the Society be deemed to

have been paid to the Society.

There shall be three classes of members— Life Members, Ordinary

Members and Honorary Members.

2. Every candidate for admission as a member other than an

Honorary Member shall be proposed and recommended in writing

by one or more members of the Society.

3. The Entrance Fee both for Life Members and Ordinary

Members shall be Rs. 20, but the Committee may from time to

time vary the same. No person shall be deemed to be a member

until the entrance fee and subscription either as Life Member or

Ordinary Member has been paid.

4. No dividend, gift, division or bonus shall be made by the

Society unto or between any of its members in his or their capacity as

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LirFE MEMBERS

5. Lite Members are those members who have either on election

or at some later date contributed to the funds of the Society in one

sum a contribution of Rs. 350 or such other sum as may be fixed

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6. Scientific Societies, Institutions, Libraries, Clubs, Officers’

Messes and other such Co-operative bcodies shall be admissible as

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to life membership; such bodies may compound their annual

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be fixed under clause 5 hereof. .

7. The capital obtained from Life Membership contributions

and compounded subscriptions shall not be used as revenue.

MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION 387

ORDINARY MEMBERS

8. Ordinary Members are those persons who on election pay the

entrance fee mentioned in Rule 3 hereof and the annual subscription.

9. If any person elected as a member shall omit to pay the

entrance fee and annual subscription within six months from the

date of his election, the Committee shall be at liberty to declare

such election void.

10. The first annual subscription of members elected during the

months of October, November and December in any year shall be

considered to extend to December 31 of the following year.

Any ordinary member subsequently becoming a life member may

deduct from the amount of Rs. 350 the amount of the annual

subscription paid by him for the then current year.

11. The admission fee and annual subscription of members

resident outside India, or of members absent from India shall be

the same as for members resident in India.

12. The payment of the entrance fee by a member shall be

considered as an acceptance by such member of all the rules,

regulations and bye-laws of the Society including the power to

alter or vary the same.

13. The annual subscription of Rs. 25, or such other sum as

may from time to time be fixed by the Committee, shail become

due on the ist of January in every year in advance. No member

whose subscription is in arrear may exercise his privileges of

membership; provided nevertheless that the Committee shall

have authority to restore such defaulters on payment of all arrears.

14. When any member shall be in arrear in the payment of his

annual subscription for two years he shall be advised by letter,

addressed to his last known place of residence, that unless the amount

due by him be paid within two months his name shall be removed from

the list of members, and in the event of bis failing to pay the amount

within the period stipulated his name shall be removed from the roll

of members. The Committee may however restore the name of

any person so removed upon such terms as they may think fit.

15. Every member shall furnish in writing to the Honorary

Secretary his address and any changes therein, The Society shall

accept no responsibility for any loss or inconvenience that may arise

through failure on the part of the member to carry out the provisions

of this clause; nor shall it be necessary for the Honorary Secretary

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HONORARY MEMBERS

16. Honorary Members shall be eminent Zoologists or

Botanists residing abroad who have rendered distinguished service

to the Society and shall not exceed ten in number. Candidates for

honorary membership shall be proposed by the Committee only

and shall be elected by a majority of not less than three-fourths of

the members of the Committee present and any person so appointed

shall be denominated an Honorary Life Member and shall have

all the privileges of a life member under the rules in that

behalf. :

388 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

WITHDRAWAL AND REMOVAL OF MEMBERS

17. Every member, having paid all fees due by him to the

Society, shall be at liberty to resign therefrom upon giving notice

in writing to the Honorary Secretary.

18. If any member shall have acted in a manner injurious to the

good name of the Society or his membership shall have become

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from the list of members, the same shall be effected by a resolution

of the Committee to be confirmed by a general meeting of the

Society. The proposition shall be ballotted for and if eleven or

more members vote and not less than two-thirds of the members so

voting shall vote for such member’s removal, he shall be removed

from the Society accordingly.

PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS

19. Members have aright to be present and vote at all general

meetings of the Society, to propose candidates for election to the

Society and to have personal access for themselves or, at their

request, their friends to such collections of the Society as are not

open to the general public, to attend meetings of the members or

functions of the Society and to introduce, either in person or by

signed orders, visitors to any such meétings of the members or

functions of the Society. Provided always that no friend or other

person not being a member of the Society shall be entitled to be

present at any general meeting of the Society convened for the

transaction of the business of the Society.

20. Any member by making application (in writing if racutinee

to the Honorary Secretary may have liberty of access to the

Society’s Library. Members may borrow for a stated period from

the Society's Library such books as are not required for constant

reference, with the proviso that a member shall be liable to replace

any loss or make good any damage to books while in his keeping.

21. One copy of the Society’s Journai shall be sent free to every

honorary member and life member and also to every ordinary

member whose subscription is not in arrears.

22. The services of the Society’s Taxidermist Department for

the treatment or setting up of Big Game Trophies, etc., are specially

at the disposition of members subject to the exigencies of work re-

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will be chargeable to non-members.

23. Members shall have the right to purchase all publications of

the Society at such price below the published price as may from

time to time be fixed by the Committee.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND THE ELECTION

OF THE COMMITTEE, AND OF THE GENERAL

MANAGEMENT OF THE AFFAIRS

OF THE SOCIETY

24. A general meeting of members of the Society shall be held

annually in the month of March or as soon after as may be conve-

nient, on a day to be fixed by the Committee. The annual general

MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION 389

meeting shall be competent to receive and adopt the annual report

and audited statement of accounts of the Society for the past year

and to transact any other business which may be brought forward

by the Chairman.

25. Notice of the time and place of the Annual General Meeting

shall be advertised in two of the local newspapers and printed in

two newspapers published outside Bombay at least fourteen days

before the same shall take place.

26. The course of procedure at the Annual General Meeting

after the chair has been taken, shall be as follows :—

(a) The reading of the annual report of the Committee.

(6) Presentation of the balance sheet and statement of accounts

for the past year.

(2) Such other business as may be properly brought before the

meeting.

27. No business shall be transacted at any general meeting of

the Society unless a quorum be present when the meeting proceeds to

business ; six members personally present shall constitute a quorum.

If within fifteen minutes from the time appointed for holding

a meeting a quorum be not present, the meeting shall be adjourned

to the same day in the following week, at the same time and place,

and if at such adjourned meeting a quorum be not present within

fifteen minutes from the time appointed for holding the meeting, the

members present, whatever is the number, shall be competent to

transact the business for which the meeting was convened.

28. Any question which may arise at any general meeting of

the Society or at any meeting of the Committee shall be determined

by vote, each member having one vote and the President or

Chairman a casting vote in addition to his own vote.

29. The Committee may, whenever they think fit, convene an

Extraordinary General Meeting and they shall on the requisition of

at least ten of the members forthwith proceed to convene an

Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society.

30. Any request so made by members shall express the objects

of the meeting proposed to be called and shall be left at the office

of the Society. Provided that such requisition may consist of

several documents in like form each signed by one or more re-

quisitionists. Upon the receipt of any such requisition the

Committee shall forthwith convene an Extraordinary General

Meeting and if they neglect to do so within one month from the date

of delivery of such requisition at the office of the Society the

requisitionists may themselves convene an Extraordinary General

Meeting for the purpose specified and not for any other purpose,

but no meeting so convened shall be held for three months from the

date of the delivery of the requisition as aforesaid.

MANAGEMENT OF THE SOCIETY

31. The government and management of the Society shall

be vested in a Committee consisting of the President, Vice-

Presidents, Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Secretary, ex-officio

and ten members resident in Bombay or within 200 miles of Bombay

399 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

exclusive of ex-officio members. This Committee shall be assisted

in an advisory capacity by ten members chosen by the Committee

from amongst members resident in the mofussil more than 200

miles from Bombay. Ali papers in connection with meetings of

the Committee shall as far as possible be sent in advance to the

Advisory Members of the Committee.

32. The Committee tor the time being shall annually cause to be

prepared a list of members whom they recommend to be elected

as members of the Committee in the ensuing year. ‘The names

of the gentlemen so nominated shall be sent to all mem-

bers along with the notice of the meeting and it shall be open to

members, having obtained the previous consent of the nominee, to

propose and second in writing within seven days of the date of the

meeting the names of any members they desire to have elected. In

the event of the number of members proposed for the Committee

exceeding ten an election shall take place. The election shall be

conducted as follows :—A list of the names proposed shall be sent

to every Life Member and Ordinary Member resident in India who

has paid his subscription for the year and the member shall place

his initial against the names of those he wishes elected and return

the same duly signed by him in a special envelope marked ‘ Voting

Paper’ to the Honorary Secretary within three weeks of the issue

of the same.

33. No voting papers shallbe opened until three weeks after the

date of the issue and they shall be opened by the Honorary Secre-

tary in the presence of two members of the Committee and the

result notified in writing to those elected and published in the next

issue of the Society’s Journal for the information of all members.

34. In the event of any vacancy on the Committee occurring

during the course of the year the remaining members of the Com-

mittee may fill up such vacancy whether it be of an ex-officio

member or ordinary member. Any member of the Committee

absent from India for more than six months shall be deemed to have

vacated his office.

35. The first Committee of the Society formed under the Societies

Registration Act 21 of 1860 shall be the officers and Committee of the

unregistered Society in office at the time of the registration of the

Society whose names are set out in the list annexed to the Memoran-

dum of Association.

THE DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE

36. The Committee shall meet at such times as shall be appointed

by the President, or in his absence, by one of the Vice-Presidents,

Honorary Secretary or Honorary Treasurer, due and sufficient notice

being previously sent to every member.

37. At any meeting of the Committee four members shall form a

quorum.

38. Seven days previous notice of any meeting of the Committee

shall, as arule, be given in writing by the Honorary Secretary to

each member of the Committee and such notice shall specify the

nature of the business to be transacted. Business of an urgent

nature may be conducted by circular ; and in such case, it shall be

witha) et lian

MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION 391

necessary in order to render valid any act of the Committee done

upon a resolution by circular, that the circular shall have been seen

by each member of the Committee present in Bombay, and that the

-majority of members shall have voted in favour of the resolution.

39. Should there beat any time no legally constituted Committee

of the Society, or should the Committee at any time be unwilling to

fill up vacancies occurring in the Committee during their tenure of

office, the Honorary Secretary shall issue voting lists, either deliver-

ed by hand or sent through the post to each member of the Society

in the same manner as prescribed under Rule 33.

40. The majority of votes shall decide every question brought

before the Committee and in case of an equality of votes the

Chairman of the meeting shall have a casting vote in addition to his

own.

41. The President, Vice-Presidents or the Honorary Secretary

upon the direction of the majority present at any meeting of the

Committee at which notless than six members of the Committee are

present, shall be competent to sign on behalf of the Society any

contracts, deeds, pleadings, and any other documents relating to the

affairs of the Society and not inconsistent in their terms with the

purposes or objects of the Society, or with the rules and regulations.

42. A majority of the Committee present at any meeting at which

not less than six members of the Committee are present may, at their

discretion, and whenever they think fit, grant to an employee of the

Society (whether employment be continued or not) in consideration

of past services, or to the widow or any relation of a deceased

employee, either a pension or a bonus, gratuity or compassionate

allowance of such amount as the Committee may fix, and upon such

terms as they may prescribe, to be paid out of the funds of the

Society, and the Committee may also contribute out of the funds of

the Society to a staff provident fund,

43. The Committee may appoint sub-committees for any purpose

connected with the management of the affairs of the Society.

44. The Committee may from time to time frame Bye-laws for

regulating the conduct and management of their business, or of

the meetings or functions of any sub-committee appointed by them.

But no such bye-laws shall be inconsistent with any of the purposes

or objects of the Society or with its rules and regulations.

45. The Committee shall be competent to invite any salaried

official of the Society to be present at their deliberations.

PATRONS

46. One ot more person or persons may be invited to accept the

office of Patron of the Society at the discretion of the Committee.

47, Persons who have accepted the office of Patron of the

Society prior to its registration shall be deemed to remain Patrons

of the Society unless they shall otherwise determine.

VICE-PATRONS

48. Any member of the Society who shall subscribe in his

personal capacity a sum of not less than Ks. 5,000, to the funds of

392 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XXX11

the Society to be devoted to fostering any of the objects and purposes

of the Society shall with the approval of the Committee be

appointed a Vice-Patron of the Society.

49. A Vice-Patron shall hold office until death or resignation.

50. Persons who were Vice-Patrons of the Society prior to its

registration shall be deemed to remain Vice-Patrons unless they

shall otherwise determine.

BENEFACTORS

51. Any member of the Society who shall in his personal

capacity subscribe a sum of not less than Rs. 1,000 to the funds of

the Society to be devoted to fostering any of the objects or purposes

of the Society shall be termed a ‘ Benefactor’ and shall become

a life member if not already so.

THE PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENTS

52. ‘The President shall preside at meetings of the Society or of

the Committee and regulate all proceedings thereat and generally

execute or see to the execution of the Rules and Regulations, Bye-

laws and orders of the Society.

53. In the absence of the President from any meeting of the

Society or of the Committee his place shall be filled by one of the

Vice-Presidents, or by a member of the Committee then present,

who shall for the time being have all the authority, privilege and

powers of the President. If no member of the Committee be

present at any ordinary general meeting, the members present

shall nominate and appoint to be Chairman such member as they

shall deem fit.

THE HONORARY TREASURER AND THE ACCOUNTS

54. The Honorary Treasurer or his deputy shall demand and

receive for the use of the Society all monies due or payable to the

Society and shall keep full and particular accounts of ail sums so

received. He shall also from time to time invest the funds of the

Society as may be determined by the Committee. An account in

the name of the Society shall be opened and all monies shall be

deposited at the National Bank of India, Ltd., or such other Bankers

as may be appointed by the Committee. No payment shall be

made by the Honorary Treasurer without the signature of the

Honorary Secretary. The Honorary Secretary may pass for

payment by the Honorary Treasurer all the bills in connection with

the Journal, salaries and petty expenses of the Society, without

reference to the Committee, up to Rs. 1,000.

55. An account shall be opened in the books of the Society for

every member of the Society stating the several sums payable by

him, and time of payment of the same. ‘The particulars also of all

sums of money received and disbursed in the several departments

of the Society shall be entered and the books and vouchers shall be

open to the inspection of every member.

56. The financial year of the Society shall end on December

31, of each year and all accounts shall be made up to that

MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION 393

date and shall be audited by one or more auditors appointed by

the Committee.

57. The auditor shall have the power of calling for a statement

of liabilities and assets of the Society and for any information relative

thereto.

58. The Honorary Treasurer shall make a report to the Society

upon the day of the annual general meeting and present a balance

sheet and statement of accounts for the past year which shall be

printed in the Journal of the Society.

THE HONORARY SECRETARY

59. The Honorary Secretary shall conduct the correspondence

of the Society.

60. The Honorary Secretary shall have supervision over all

~ employees of the Society and shall generally see that the Rules and

Regulations, Bye-laws and orders of the Committee are executed.

THE CURATOR, ASSISTANT CURATORS, ASSISTANTS,

CLERKS AND SERVANTS OF THE SOCIETY

61. The Curator, Assistant Curators, Assistants, Clerks and

other servants of the Society with their respective salaries and

duties shall be subject to the orders of the Committee and they shall

not under any pretence whatsoever receive any perquisite or profit

from their connection with the Society, except that which shall be

expressly allowed by the Committee.

62. Every servant of the Society receiving or paying money on

behalf of the Society shall be required before he enters upon the

duties of his office to give security for the due execution thereof in

such penalty and with such surety or sureties, as the Committee

may deem expedient.

PROCEEDINGS

Proceedings of the Meeting held on June 28, 1927,

A meeting of the members of the Bombay Natural History Society and their

friends took place on Tuesday, June 28, at 6.30 p m., at the Prince of Wales’

Museum, Mr. H. A. W. Brent presiding.

The following forty-seven new members were elected since the last meeting :—

Mr. D. F. Mursell, Moulmein, Burma; Lt.-Col. F. P. Mackie, I.m.s., Bombay ;

The Registrar, University of Madras, Madras; Mr. M. Sharif, M.Sc., F.R.M.S.,

Calcutta; Dr. Sunder Lal Hora, D.Sc., Calcutta; Dr. H. Srinivasa Rao,

M.A., D.Sc., Caleuttay: Dr... Bb. N. Chopra; p.Sc., Calcutta ¢ Mr dW 7 ona-

daile, England; Mr. C. T. Shaw-Mackenzie Lahore Cantonment; Rao

Bahadur Pundit Sir Sukhdeoprasad, B.A., Kt., C.1.z., Thakur of Jasnagar,

Rajputana ; H. H. The Maharaja Shri Natwarsinghji Bhavasinghji, Maharaja

Rana Sahib of Porbander, Kathiawar; Lt.-Col. D. K. McLeod, Mardan ; Lt.

Maharaja Purna Chandra Bhanji Deo, Ruling Chief of the Feudatory State of

Mayurbhanj; Mr. A. Tudd, Bombay; Mr. P. R. Duncan, LF-E.s., Lucknow ;

Maharaja Ramanuj Saran Singh Deo, c.B.E., Ruling Chief of Surguja State,

Bilaspur; Mrs. R. B. Robinson, Trichinopoly; Sri Sri Sri Krishna Chandra

Gajapathi Narayana Deo, Raja of Parlakimedi, Parlakimedi; Major P. A.

Opie, R.A.M.c., Poona; Mr. R. G. Grieve, M.A., 1.E.S., Ootacamund; Mr. C.

Ruxton Sharp, Bombay; Le Directeur, Musee Royal d’Histoire Naturelle de

Belgique, Bruxelles, Belgium; Mr. J. B. Barclay, Bombay ; The University

Professor of Zoology, University of Bengal, Calcutta ; Mr. J. R. Stockley Roper,

R.A., Bombay; Commander J. G. Bower, R.N., D.S.0., H.M.S. Cvrocus,

Persian Gulf ; Mr. U. M. Mirchandani, Karwar; The Director of Agriculture,

Punjab, Lahore; Mr. J. Ramsay Scott, Cawnpore; The Mess President, 2nd

Bombay Pioneers, Agra; Mr. D. R. D. Wadia, Bar-at-Law, Bombay; Miss

P. M. Kanga, M.sc., Bombay; Raja Kishore Chandra Birabar Harichandan,

Ruling Chief of the Feudatory State of Talcher, B. and O.; Mr. C. Frank

Riches, Eastern Duars ; Col. H. H. Nawab Sir Syed Mahommad Hamid Ali

Khan Bahadur, Mutaid Jung, G.C.S.I., G.C.1.E., G.c.v.0o., Nawab of Rampur

State, Rampur; The President, Mess Committee, The Rifle Brigade, Landi-

kotal, N.W.F.P.; The Librarian, University of Dacca, Ramna, Dacca; Mr.

Lalji Naranji, Bombay ; Major J. M. McKenzie, 0.B.E., M.c., Bombay ; Capt.

F. H. N. Davidson, D.S.0., M.C., R.A-., Secunderabad ; Mr. R. G. Kilburne,

Nepal; Mr. Gerald A. Moore, Bombay; Maharaja Jagadish Nath Ray of

Dinajpur; Mr. H. M. Mehta, Bombay ; Dr. Norman L. Corkill, M.B., ¢.H.B.,

Nisiriyah ; Mr. B. E. Maricar, Tavoy ; and Mrs. A. H. C. Captain, Bombay.

NEw GROUPS IN THE MUSEUM

Sir Reginald Spence drew the attention of mermbers to the new group cases

which have recently been completed in the Museum. In the course of his lec-

tures to the members of the Society and to other bodies on his return from his

deputation to the United States and Europe, Mr. 8. H. Prater, the Curator,

had shown what great advances had been made in recent years by Museums in

America and Europe in methods of Museum exhibition. Since his return, Mr.

Prater and his staff have been occupied in preparing a number of new groups

for the Natural History Section of the Prince of Wales’ Museum, and visitors to

the Museum will now be able to judge for themselves what great strides have

been made in Museum technique and how science and art can be combined in

the production of popular, educative and at the same time highly artistic

exhibits. The Prince of Wales’ Museum might congratulate itself on being the

first institution of its kind to introduce these modern group cases into this

country.

aeenehie

PROCEEDINGS 395

A DESERT SCENE

The first of these grouns represents animal and plant life in the Indian desert

region. Three years ago a case illustrating the same subject was placed on

exhibition in the Mammal Gallery. The group had been constructed on

methods that had been in vogue in museums for several years ; but a completely

new technique has been employed in the construction of the new case. The

scene is laid in the country near the Sind-Baluchistan Frontier. Through a

window in the case the visitor looks upon a vast desert panorama of sand dunes

and cactus and thorny scrub stretching to the distant horizon, where the

limestone ridges of the Khirthar Range stand silhouetted against the glow of the

setting sun. The vivid beauty of the desert sunset is effectively produced by

concealed and filtered lights, which transfuse the sky with an orange light and

cast a golden glow upon the sands. Faithful representations in wax of cactus

and of the ‘Ak’ or Milk plant (Calotropis) lend reality to the scene. The

animals introduced into the case are those typical of the Indian desert region

and the naturalness of the setting graphically illustrates the harmony which

exists between their colouration and their natural surroundings, thereby affording

them an effective means of protection and concealment. An underground

section on one side of the case introduces the visitor to the family life of the

Desert Gerbilles which are seen in their burrow below a sand dune. Trans-

parencies in glass set into the case depict various features of the desert landscape

and illustrate the effect of scorching winds and shifting sands on the soil and its

vegetation. The perspective has been cleverly maintained and an effect of

limitless continuity has been given to the scene by the curved background of the

group, which is one of the chief features of its construction. ‘The painting of

the background and the reproduction of the plant forms in wax are the work of

Mr. K. B. Savardekar, whose painstaking and skilful work has contributed

largely to the success of the reproduction.

HABITS OF SNAKES

Three new groups illustrating the life-history and habits of snakes have been

added tothe Reptile Gallery. The viviparous snakes, or those which bring

forth their young alive, are represented by the Russells Viper with its new-born

brood of thirty-four young. The realism with which the mother with her lively

brood of young are portrayed must be seen to be appreciated. The ovifarous

snakes are exemplified by the cobra, which is seen occupying a deserted ant-hill.

The snake is seen coiled round its mass of eggs while an inset shows the

development of the snake from the earliest stage to the time when it is ready to

free itself from the egg chamber with the aid of itsegg tocth. Thethird case

illustrates how snakes poison their prey. The Achis or Phoorsa, perhaps the

most vicious of our poisonous snakes, is shown in the process of swallowing its

prey. A dissection showing the poison apparatus of the snake, enlarged

models showing the types of fangs and a unique photograph showing a drop of

poison emerging from the tip of a viper’s fang completes the lesson which the

case tends to teach. The plants, grasses and other accessories to these groups

have been beautifully reproduced in wax and lend greatly to their attractiveness

and interest.

HovusE FLIES AND DISEASE

An acquisition to the Insect Gallery is the new case illustrating the house fly

in its relation to the spread of disease—a timely exhibit during the monsoon

season in Bombay. A very beautiful and accurate model of the House Fly was

presented to the Society by Mr F.V. Evans, one of its Vice-Patrons. The

model shows the house fly enlarged twenty-eight times and reveals to the naked

eye details of its structure which could otherwise only have been seen through a

powerful lens. Enlarged models of egg, the larval and pupal stages of a fly

have been introduced into the case, while a fly-ridden tray of sweetmeats

shows, better than words can, one of the means by which the germs of disease

are carried by flies to man.

THE MUSEUM AND SCHOOLS

The educational activities of the Museum have not been concentrated entirely

on its exhibition galleries, but considerable progress has been made during the

past year in the teaching of Nature Studies to children in the schools. Nineteen

local schools are now co-operating in the scheme. ‘Two lectures have been

396 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXII

given daily in the Museum to pupils by Mr. Salim Ali, the Guide Lecturer, who

has enthusiastically taken up this phase of the Museum’s work. The lectures

are illustrated with Museum specimens and by lantern slides. Considerable

enthusiasm is being displayed by most of the classes, who as arule show

great eagerness to attend, one class coming all the way from Thana! Up to

April 21, ninety-nine classes were held at the Museum attended by 3,115

pupils, and it is hoped by the end of this year that this number will be doubled

unless the Education Department of Government are unable to find the funds

to carry on the work started by the generosity of the late Sir Sassoon David,

Kit K.e.s.8.5 Bart:

HELP FOR THE BLIND

An interesting phase of its schemes for interesting the public is the work the

Natural History Section of the Museum has undertaken for the blind. By pre-

vious appointment with the Principal, forty boys from the Victoria Jubilee

School for the Blind were brought to the Museum. They were given a talk on

animal life and were given specimens to illustrate the lesson which they could

themselves handle and feel. One little fellow after examining a tiger’s skull

and being told about the significance and utility of its teeth at once found out

after passing his hand over a cat’s skull thatit was a flesh-eating animal and

said probably this was a cat. The Museum is very keen on developing this

work for the blind and the Curator hopes before long to prepare a series of

exhibits which the blind will be able to handle and feel and which will be

used for illustrating lectures for them.

WILD ELEPHANTS

Sir Reginald Spence later on read a very interesting paper on Wild Elephants

in the United Provinces by Mr. F. W. Champion, 1. F.s. The-paper has since

been published in fullin the Society’s Journal.

Printed by George Kenneth at the Diocesan Press, Madras and published by

R. A. Spence for the Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.

ae tees

FOR SALE

One Westley Richard’s -470 D. B. Non-ejector Rifle sighted

up to 500-yards with 60 rounds of ammunition, solid leather

case, cleaning rod and brushes, etc. Ideal for tigér, ele-

phant, bison and other dangerous game. Cost Rs. 1,400: hardly

used, in excellent condition.

ALSO

One Westley Richard’s +318, 5-shot Magazine Rifle fitted

with Lyman’s Peep Sightin addition to the standard sights, in

a leather case, cleaning rod, etc. and 30 rounds ammunition.

Sparingly used and in excellent condition. A very good all-

round weapon. Cost Rs. 475. Any ‘reasonable offer accepted.

Apply. to :—D. R. D. Wadia, 7 Marine Lines,

Tae ae ke

FOR SALE

The Macrolepidoptera of the World by Dr. Adalbert Seitz

IX Volume—the Rhopalocera of the Indo-Australian Faunal

Region. 92 parts (butterflies oniy) with 174 coloured plates,

complete up to publication of last part issued in: July 1927.

teal : } d \

The remaining parts are’ on order, and can be obtained if

required from Messrs. Watkins and Doncaster, London, Cost.

at he a part with packing and postage £15. What offers ?

Apply to:—G. Gc. Field, Indian Police, ~

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