CONPENDES OP VOLOME XL

No. 3

Some BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS. Fart III.

By N.L. Bor, M.A., D.Sc., F.L.S., 1.F.S., and M. B. Raizada,

mM.sc. (With one coloured plate of Golden Shower, A7zg-

nonita venustus Ker. three black and white plates and

TUDE LORUATEOUTES aoc oiesnain 2th toe dra ciate aateie’s

THE HoG-BADGERS ( Arclonye OF mea foot By R. 1

POCOC KH Riss CULM @LORTUL ICL iat vanccsawisetenleecewsenie =

Toe BIRDS OF CENTRAL: INDIA. Part’ II: By: Sélim Ali

with notes by H. WHISTLER, M.B.O.U.,F.Z.S..

AS Vistn TO Tan, WACCADIVE ISEANDS. “By Et: Col. R. W.

Burton, 1.4. (Retd.) (Wzth four black and white

plates)... ai : ki ; :

NOTES ON SOME Oontee ae Oot WITH Diccae

TIONS OF TWO NEW SUBSPECIES. By R. I. Pocock,

F.R.S.. = Foose nah de Mon Wein cc aml salen eee

THE Crore ee OF BN DEA: pean Pea By Dr oy le Hora,

D.S$C., F.R.S.E., F.Z.S., F.R.A.S.B., F.N.I. (With one coloured

plate, two black and white plates and one text-fi gure)... ...--

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN Birps. Part IV. By E.H.N.

WOW tern MeBtO.Us, HAS. (W722 S72 PIG IES Vins ASicse ore

SOME ComMMON INDIAN HERBS WITH NOTES ON THEIR

ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS., Part III. By M. poe ae

Din. (With three plates)...

FisH LADDERS IN THE Soe ce oe De Hania itgiveier M.SC.,

iB Pea Di (ct IAD Ai 1WO-PIAles ioe iagas os acawnnee

WiLtp ELEPHANTS IN Assam. By J. E. Hall. (With a

plate)... Sa seis tinue meio sie delineates &

Norges ON TG We erie ee Ce bonplandianum

(C. shar ee AND Euphorbia perbracteata. By Leon

Croizat.. : seesdahien RM a ack

NOTES ON THE ies OF ees pre = By Messts.

Ei C2) Smith, Bou. ©: Ef. Garthwaite, and Bb; E,

Smythies, B.F.S., with systematic notes by Dr. C. B.

Ticehurst, M.A., M.R.C.S., M.B.0.U. (Witha map)...

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MysorE. By Major iy G.

Phythian-Adams. 1A. (Retd.), F.z.s. (With a plate)

4 A 44

PAGE

489

514

518

526

o77

594

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XzLIi

Achroia grisella FABR. AND 1TS STATUS IN SOUTH INDIA. By

M. C. Cherian, B.A., B.Sc., D.1.c., and S. Ramachandran,

CeAge

THE Nicoreu ane AND Oooo ors Compeernen OF Tn By

J EC ais aSn, balese. Remo

- NOTES ON BUTTERFLIES OF THE Sela cee Ee Capt.

W 2CauG@anrotec 2

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES :—

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

Behaviour of Monkeys when attacked. By Major

K....G..Pbhythian-AGamasie, seen ee ee cece

Effects of Mauling by Tiger. By W. H. Work-

man..

A battle Raven henna "Tis igers ear: an aos

By E..Ax Smly thiesmGa ame meses... oso. cgseeel

A Large Panther. Raj-Kunwar Yashodhar

Singh...

Behaviour Gk (Conk a iepnac. aes Major H.

J. Rossel. (With a plate)...

On the Distinction between Taken ead Mel yan

Gaur By Wa Rize Ciao aie) aa. ce

A Large Head of the Indian Buffalo (Bos bubatis

Linn.) By R. E. Parsons, F.R.E.s..

Measurements and Weights of Bleohoe Take

By RvoGsMorriste, RiGiSepheZ-Sesc.e. oct

Memorandum on the Kahilu Sanctuary. (A Cor-

rection). By D’Arcy Weatherbe

PAGE

604

607

646

Occurrence of the Allied. Grey Shrike (Lanzus. .

excubitor pallidirostris) in the Rawalpindi ss 2

trict, Punjab. | By He W. Waite, M.B.O.U..

Swifts and Terns at Vengurla Rocks. By Ena

yun Abdulali... a

Wood Snipe (Gi nemoricol) 0 near Beige

By M. J. Hackney... a

On the Occurence of the Baikal or Gina Teal

(Netiton formosunc) in Rewa State. By Lt.-Col.

B. M. Mahon, D.s.0., M.c., Military Secretary

to the Viceroy...

The Long-tailed eras (Giga Denali in

Kashmir.’ By Eoaudlow sacs ;

Quail and Chukor (Alectoris one (A @lew

By: Lt.-Col. C: Gs Teogood, Cire, Dis Onan

666

667

XVI.

| XVII.

XVIII.

eX:

DOS

»O.4 F

XXIT.

XX.

SOOM DVE

XXV.

.O, 08 F

SoME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS.

By N, Ue Bor, MOA, DSC. FL S.,

M.Sc,

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XLI

Unusual colouring in a Common Pochard (Vyroca

(With a sketch). By 'T. W. Deeks.

By H. N. Charring-

fuligula).

Snake attacked by Frogs.

LOI phe ea A ce ite cts sige etal ccalavs Hoos 4:hie.e'sin. wis os otra lowers momiesmaeton

Python infested with Nematode Worms (OpAzdas-

caris (claria). By Seabury. Wdwardes....2.:..%%3.

An Aggressive King Cobra, (Waza hannah).

M. W. Lowndes. (Wzth two photos)... aches

Fly Fishing for Mahseer.. By J. R.M. ‘ Field’. ‘

The Fish Megalops as an aid to combat he

Guineaworm carrier, Cyclops. By Dr. S. B.

Setna, M.Sc., Ph.p., and C. V. Kulkarni, B.A.,

B.SC..

A case “of recovery pear aie ne ba the ic

Scaled Viper ae carinata). By Lt.-Col. R.

sen,.I.M.S..

A Visitation Ns fife Sconited Bocuse Ces

miliaris LL.) in Travancore. By S. Jones.

(With a plate)... Gee

Association He eeti ie his i ee Tigo.

Sconpions) (Crelzier). iby C. MceCann:..i3:5:.4...

On freveainaica. By R. DD. Bombay s.c..002 5. esc

On the Occurrence of Circhorium intybus Linn.

(Chicory) in Hyderabad, Deccan. By M. Abdus

alanine MGM a Pl OI C\e eenasiue tengsee ens seca oe

No. 4

Part LY:

I.F.S., and M.B. Raizada,

(With one coloured plate of Large-flowered

Tecoma, 7Zecoma grandiflora Delaun four black and white

plates, and five text-figures)...

THE INDIAN

(Retd.):

photo)..- Be vets ee iio.a las cect doiens oe

A LIST OF THE Bee OF THE are ce

M. A. Wynter-Blyth, M.A.. ;

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN Wiener

MeCann,..F.L.S.

WILD Doc. By Lt. Col. R. W. Gene IA.

i three black and white plates, and a

“By

Pat T.-C.

(With nine black and white plates, and

three text-figures)...

NOTES ON

Lowther, M.B.0.U., F.Z.S.

SOME rere Bree. Geen ve ‘By Be ie N.

(Wtth etght plates). -..:.. 000 segs

PAGE

667

668

669

675

681

691

716

vi CONTENTS OF VOLUME XLI

NotTES ON THE ORCHIDS OF MURREE HILL. By Abdul

Hameed, M.Sc. (With nine plates)...

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA. Part X. “By itp, S. Te ere

D.SC., -F.R:S.E., F.Z.S.,-F.R-A.S.B., F-N.1., (W 2th one coloured

plate, one black and white plate, and five text-figures)......

SOME CoMMON INDIAN HERBS WITH NOTES ON THEIR ANA-

TOMICAL CHARACTERS. Part IV. By M. Sayeedud-Din.

(With three plates)... ee

A NEw SPECIES OF Roce sae FROM THE Girne Dean

PEAN BEDS OF WorLI HILL, BomBAy. By Dr. G. W.

Chiplonker, D.sc. (With one plate)...

NOTES ON THE FuLvous FRuIT-BAT ( Rie iG De

Desm.) By C. McCann, F.L.s. (With one plate and one

textl-figure)... : :

ON THE Foop- PLANTS ( OF Missi “Bompyces (CELE ee.

by 1, G, Sevastopulo,, HR. Bisse AAR TREO COP

A Mausir RIVER OF SOUTHERN Tae By eCou R. W.

Burton, 1.A. (Retd.) (Wzth a plate)... ere ,

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS Compostnne, OF ene

Parti V By J: FY Caius) ost. Base

THE BIONOMICS OF THE YAM pore Gab een eee

(Hope)].. By T. V.. KRamakmshnamAyvyar.) BA.) Ph.D:

(With a plate)... es

ON THE ALTERATIONS IN THE TISSUES OF Di elceiee « corchort-

folia Linn. and Corchorus capsularts Linn. ON A CHANGE

OF ENVIRONMENT. By D. P. Mullan. (Wzth two plates

GN GMCAL-17OUVE) ats

@eos GCC FC OHHF FOS °

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES :—

I. The Number of Tigers Shot in Reserved Forest

in India and Burma during the year 1937-1938.

By S. H. Prater, ¢C.M.z.S.; Mons rr

Il. The ‘Sambur’ Call of the Tiger ei Ae Bee lndee

tion. By E..S. Lewis.. :

III. A Tail-less Panther. By Da 1D. Raney Bi

(With a photo)... ; és

IV. Hyaena Carrying oft a nen enn

V. “OntJackals. By BE. S.ewis.. ee eee

VI. Mongoose attacking a Donkey. By E. S. Lewis.

Vil. The Crab-eating Mongoose [Herfestes urva

(Hodgs.)] in Captivity. By A. L’E, Brownlow.

PAGE

778

784

795

874

877

881

889

890

891

893

WABUE

XXIV.

XXV.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XLI

Hybrid American Bison and Indian Domestic

Cow. By Sadeg Z. Shah. (With a photo)......

Whales in Baroda, with Notes on the Anatomy of

the Fin-Whale (Balacnoptera indica) stranded

at Mulvel in March 1939. By S. T. Moses,

MA. DSC. ESZiS. ae PeRTA. 1.

Maatees of a Salt Lick in ollecal, en ibatore,

south India. By R.C. Morris.. ‘

The Indian Black Eagle ee te

perniger Hodgs.) in Salsette. By S. H. Prater.

Eggs of Yellow-wattled Lapwing. [Lodzhluvia

malabarica a z By Major EK. G. Phythian-

Adams (Retd.)...

Partial Albinism in a onuiees Gide serosa).

By Major R.C. Macnamara. (With a photo)...

The Bronze-capped Teal (Aunetta falcata) in the

Ambala District. By Major R. C. Nicholas....

Does the Common Whistling Teal have more

than one brood inthe year? By R.E. Parsons,

F.R.E.S.. apa.

Late Stay of aes aap Lt. Col, G. O° Tae eee

Migration of Wild Fowl. By EDS.........0.....06

Migration of Wild Fowl. (Corrigenda)............0

Crocodile and Wild Boar. “By Has, Lewis:........

An Ingenious Fish Trap. By Lt. A. G. Sande-

man. (With a diagram)...

Migration of Butterflies. By

Lowe, R.E.. -

A Bi-Cellulaz peconee (ame Sie i). "5, ie

Cherian Jacob, L.ag., F.L.S. (With a plate)...

A New Variety of Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera

Ee var fee By K. Cherian Jacob, L.Ag.,

HabsSsd .

Stem Fasciation in fine eee, Balt ( yee Hein

Ee By Ko Cherian Jacob, L.49.; B.S. oe

a plate)... ;

Preuininy Notes on a eco ut Bocca Pour: to

Amrabad Forest Reserve, H.E.H. The Nizam’s

Dominions, Hyderabad ae By M. Sayeedud-

Din. (Witha plate)... SB earn otenict aeet yc

Sterne ar ELs Be

vii

PAGE

894

895

898

899

siete,

899

900

906

o07

ALPHABE RiGAT. LTASP OREGON T RIBULORS

VOLUME XLI

ABDULALI, HUMAYUN;. Swifts

and Terns at Vengurla Rocks

ABDUS SALAM, M.; On the

Occurrence of Cuichoriuim

intybus Linn. (Chicory) in

Hyderabad, Deccan. (Wzth

@ Pldle) en aoe i:

Att, SALIM ; The Birds of Cen-

tral India. Part II. With

notesby H. Whistler, M.B.0.U.,

AYVAR, T. V. RAMAKRISHNA,

B.A., Ph.D.; The. Bionomics

of the Yam Beetle [| Galerucida

bicolor (Hope)]. (With a

plate) i, ee wae

BomBay, R. D.; On Frerea in-

dica wes sate jinetin Bae

BOR N= 3 M-As; DsSCi,¢R Esse

I.F.S., and RAIZADA, M.B.,

M.Sc.; Some Beautiful Indian

Climbersand Shrubs. Part III.

(Wit four plates and five

text-figures)

mms ee

Part IV. (With five plates

and five text-figures)... :

Brown, Lt. D. Ramsay; A

Tail-less Panther. (With a

photo) ve =?

BROWNLOW, A. L’E.; The

Crab-eating Mongoose [Her-

pestes urva Hodgs.] in Capti-

vity : ete oes

BURTON WLD:-COne Re Ws Ta:

(Retda)i = AS visit: to. the

Laccadivelslands. (W2th four

plates)". ae A

Nos. 3 and 4

PAGE 4

661

630

470 |

874

679

453

890

893

489

| BURTON ie -Con.R; W., TAs:

The Indian Wild Dog. (With

three plates and a photo)

A Mahsir River of Southern

India. (With a plate)

CALUS She Sit F.0cS. = he

Medicinal and Poisonous Com-

posites of India

; The

Medicinal and Poisonous

Composites of India. Part II

CARROTT, Capt. W.C.; Notes

on Butterflies: of the Shan

States ae as fa%

CHaRRINGTON, H. N.; Snake

attacked by Frogs or

CHERIANE ME) (Ca CBs; (B:SC.,

D.I.c. and RAMACHANDRAN,

Day ee AS. s. Achr ola Syisella

Fabr. and its status in South

India ee moe Bee

CHIPLONKER, Dr. G. W., D.Sc. ;

—_—_—_ —___.. .

A New Species of Fossil Frog.

from the Inter-Trappean Beds

of Worli Hill, Bombay.

(With one plate) eG

CROIZAT, - LEON; Notes on

Indian Auphorbiaceae ; Croton

bonplandianum (C. sparst-

florum) and (Euphorbia per-

bracteata) css we An

Derxs, T. W.; Unusual colour-

ing in a Common Pochard

(Nyroca fuligula). (With a

sketch)

EDITORS ;

Fowl

Migration of Wild

JAN 14 1942

902,

PAGE

691

828

607

838

646

668

799

667

903

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

PAGE

EDWARDES, SEABURY; Python

infested with Nematode Worms

(Ophidascaris filaria) hehe)

GARTHWAITE, P. F.; See

SMITH, H. Soe

Hackney, M. J. ; Wood Snipe

(Cupella SW RO) near

Bombay ... aes a3 Re OOS

Hari, J. E.; Wild Elephants

in Assam. (With a plate)... 563

HAMEED, ABDUL, M.Sc.; Notes

on the Orchids of Murree Hill.

(With nine plates) .. sae HO

HORA, >. ls-* DSe:, F.R.S.E.;

FZ Sie Reno. be Lhe, Game

“Bishes, of india, Part }X..

(With three plates and one

text-figure) a or O18

Part X. (Wilh two plates,

and five text figures) .. 84

JACOB, K. CHERIAN, L. Ag.,

F.L.S. ; A Bi-Cellular Coconut

(Cocos nucifera L.). (Witha

PLAICE hice. ns ae aoe ey S105)

A New Variety of Coconut

Palm (Cocos nucifera L. var.

Spicata) ... Ss ine ve 906

Stem Fasciation in the Areca

Palm (Areca catechu L.)

(With a plate) .. a 907

JonES, 8.; A Visitation of fine

Spotted Miepeunt ( dularches

miliaris WL.) in Travancore.

(With a plate) ... oe ue 41676

JORe M, “Field ’;-EFly Pish-

ing for Mahseer iis ee SO7Q

KuAN, DR. HAMID,M.SC.,LL.B.,

ph.p. ; Fish: Ladders in the

Punjab. (With a map and

two plates) ee ae Se) et DOL

PEWS sco. 5 Lhe’ sambur 7

Call of the Tiger and its Ex-

planation ee see ee Ood

eee On ahackals! s0, col

; Mongoose at-

tacking a Donkey ais 18.) E89S

~- =... Crocodile. and

Wild Boar a we pe tS

Lower, Mayor, J. H. B., R.E

Migration of Butterflies

LOWNDES, M. W.; An Agres-

sive Kino Cobra’) (VV ¢7a

hannah). (With two photos)..

LOWTHER, E. H. N., M.B.0.U.,

F.z.S.; Notes on Some Indian

Birds. Part IV. (With six

plates)

eS ee

Part V. (With eight plates).

LupLow, F.; The Long-tailed

Duck (Clangula Me) in

Kashmir 4

MACNAMARA, Teco R. C.

Partial Albinism ina Chuo

Alectoris grvaeca) :

Manon, LikEvuT.-CoLt. B. M.,

D.S.0., M.C.; On the Occur-

rence of the Baikal or Cluck-

ing Teal (Nettion formosunz)

in Rewa State ... ied

McCann, C., F.L.S.; Associa-

tion between Latocera rubus L.

and Book- apa nee

fer)

i Reptile

and Amphibian \iecclany:

(With nine plates and three

text-figures)

—; Notes on

the Fulvous Fruit-Bat (Rozset-

tus leschenaulti Desm.).

(With one plate and one text-

figure) ass ae se

MILITARY SECRETARY TO THE

VICEROY; See MAHON,

LikutT.-COL., B.M., D.S.O.,

M.C. sa

MorrRIs, R. C., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S.

Meacdrements and Woes a:

Elephant Tusks :

~ ; Analysis of a

Salt Lick in Kollegal, Coim-

batore, South India

Moses; 8S... T.,.. MiA<5’ D.SCs,

H.Z.S;.08 ReA1,. Whales? ‘im

Baroda, With Notes on the

Anatomy of the Fin-Whale

(Balaenoptera tndica\ Strand-

ed at Mulvel in March 1939...

670

765

666

S99

€60

898

895

MULLAN, D. P: = On the Altera-

tions in the tissues of J/elochia

corchorifolia Linn. and Cor-

chorius capsularis Linn. on a

change of environment. ( Wzth

two plates and Wa wiex7

figure) ae ee ve

NicHoLas, Mayor, R. C.; The

Bronze-capped Teal ( Aunetta

falcata) inthe Ambala District

Stay of Ssipe oat ae

PARSONS, Xe R, Soy eX

Large Head of the Indian

Buffalo (Sos dubalis Linn.) ..

—; Does

the Common Whistling Teal

have more than one brood in

the year?

PHYTHIAN-ADAMS,

Magor

Eee Ge AUK, )2 07.56.

Small Game Shooting in

Mysore. (Witha plate)

Behaviour of Monkeys when

attacked...

Eggs of Yellow-Wattled Lap-

wing [Lobipluvia malabarica

(Bodd.) ]... ane ody

PIzEy, R. M.; On the Distinc-

tion between Indian and Ma-

layan Gaur. (With a

plate) . ata hy

Pocock, R: 1., F.R.S.;> The

Hog-Badgers (Arctonyx) of

British India. (Wzth text-

figure) oe See

- — ; Notes

on some British Indian Otters,

with Descriptions of two new

subspecies nae aS

PP RVALI RR ol Cs MZ. Se,

ML -Aa eNambsr jor Licers

Shot in Reserved Forest in

India and Burma during the

.Year 1937-38

The Indian Black Eagle

(lctinaétus malayanus per-

niger Hodgs.) in Salsette

PAGE

909 |

901

(2)

ide)

594

€53

899

657

461

514 |

831

899

LAST \ORACONGRIBOLORS

RATZADA, M. B., M.sc.; See

BOR, NEY Ora. DESC... FL S.,

FS:

ROSSEL, PWlLATOR El.) Jige ase-

haviour of Gaur and Elephant

(With a plate) ...

SANDEMAN, Lt. A. G.; An

Ingenious Fish Trap. (With

a diagram) a Ase

SAYEEDUD-Din, M.; Some

Common Indian Herbs with

Notes on their Anatomical

Characters. PartIIl. (With

three plates) ee

Part IV. (With three plates).

; Prelimi-

nary Notes on a recent Botani-

cal Tour to Amrabad Forest

Reserve, HH: fH.oH. “Athe

Nizam’s Dominions, Hydera-

bad (Dn ). (Witha plate)...

SEN, UT.-Cor: Re. 1.M.S.3 A

case of recovery from the bite

of the. Saw-Scaled Viper

(Echis carinata) vee

SETNA,WDR-)0. 2, M.SC.,.Ph.D.,

ANG mICULROAR INT, iC. UV so B As.

B.sc.; The Fish Wegalops as

an aid to combat the Guinea-

worm carrier, Cyclops

—_— oe

|, SEVASTOPULO, D. G., F.R.E.S. ;

On the Food-Plants of Indian

Bombyces (Heterocera)

SHAH, SADEG Z.; Hybrid

American Bison and Indian

Domestic Cow. (Witha photo).

SHortTT, H. E.; HYAENA

Carrying off a Bear Cub

SINGH, RAaJ-KUNWAR YASHO-

DHAR; A Large Panther

Simi PH © at, BsOU 5),

GARTHWAITE, P. F., and

SMYTHIES, B.E., B.F.S. Notes

on the Birds of Nattaung,

Karenni, with systematic

notes by Dr. C. B. TICEHURST,

M.A.) eM. RoC (Ss) eM. BaiOLa0,

(Witha map) ... 400

SMYTHIES, B. E., B.F.S.; See

SMITH, H. C., M.B.O.U,

PAGE

656

903

548

795

907

675

672

817

894

89]

656

5/7

LISI OLCONTRIBULORS

SMYTHIES, E. A , C.I.E., 1.F.S.3

A Battle Royal between Tigers

and an Elephant an te

TICEHURST, DR. C. B., M°A.,

M.R.C.S., M.B.O.U.; See SMITH,

Fe C., M:B.0.U.

TooGooD, LIEuT.-CoL. C. G.,

CeE =D:S.0%;, ‘Quail and

Chukor (Alectoris graeca) (a

Query) ... ee ai

WalITE, H. W., M.B.O.U.; Oc-

currence of the Allied Grey

Shrike (Lamius eaxcubritor

PAGE

654

(op)

pallidirostris) in the Rawal-

pindi District, Punjab

WEATHERBE, D’Arcy ; Memo-

randum on the Kahilu Sanc-

tuary. (A Correction)

WHISTLER,H.,M.B 0.U.,F¥.Z.S.;

See ALI, SALIM.

WoRKMAN, W. H.; Effects of

Mauling by Tiger

WYNTER-BLYTH, M.A., M.A.;

A List of the Butterflies of the

Simla Hills

660

653

™“SI

ip)

LPI STHOT TEATS:

VOLUME XLI

Nos. 3 and 4

PAGE

Some Beaut:ful Indian Climbers and Shrubs et oe

Plate Ifl. Golden Shower (A4/guonta venusta, Ker) sal HSS

Plates do. do. ra 454, 458

A Visit to the Laccadive Islands

Plate (A) Chetlat: The tomb of Carpenter Primrose. 3

(B) Chetlat: Hauling in the Ola Vala Gree Ol

Plate (A) Chetlat: A Barracouda, 36 Ibs.

(B) Collecting at Chetlat eee due xt hele

Plate (A) Chetlat: Laccadive Islanders.

(B) My Fishing Boat ose wo. 498

Plate (A) Kadamat. A sinuentred Delghin’.

(B) Aadamat. One of the ten Porpoises ae O0S

Game Fishes of India

Plate I, 1. The Putitor Mahseer Barbus (Tor) putitora

(Hamilton).

2. The Tor Mahseer Barbus (Tor) tor (Hamilton). 521

Plate If. Figs 1-4 Types of lips in Tor Mahseer, Barbus

(Zor) tor (Hamilton) eee Oe

Plate III. Lateral view of Barbus (Tor) tor ieermicons from

Barak River, Assam nee ae Se Oce

Notes on some Indian Birds

Plate Green Bee Eater at entrance fo nest... re 529

Plate Male Paradise Flycatcher at nest an J oo

Plate Spotted Babbler ae 2c at MEOOS

Plate Black-backed Woodpecker ... UOT,

Plate Jerdon’s Chloropsis ie ces wea. 589

Plate Indian Cuckoo Shrike ee oP Pee 0)

Some Common Indian Herbs

Plate 1. Andrographis echioides Nees os sa. 948

Plate II. do. Sea be a2 DOU

Plate BO do. ee or Bee, ON!)

Fish Ladders in the Punjab

Map of the Punjab bee ete mot ros sec8, OOS

Plate I. (a) Weir across River Sutlej at Rupar Headworks.

(6). Fish ladder at Rupar ... 505

Plate II. (a) Weir across River Ravi at Medhopur Head:

works.

(6) Fish ladder at Madhopur.

(d) Rafting bay at Madhopur os OOS

Wild Elephants in Assam

Plate Rogue Elephant. Kamrup, Assam ... eh GOO),

Notes on the Birds of Nattating, Karenni

Map of country round Nattaung _... oe oe a SVE

JAN 14 1942

VISTO OF PLATES

Pack

Small game shooting in Mysore

Plate (a) Demoiselle Cranes.

(6) A halt for lunch 600

Behaviour—of Gaur and Elephant

Plate Bison and Elephant 655

Distinction between Indian and Malayan Gaur

Plate Skulls of Bos (4160s) gaurus or cd Siete:

A visitation of the Spotted Locust (dularches miliaris L.) in Travancore

Plate Dorsal and ventral view we sed 076

The Occurrence of Chicory (Cichorium tintybus Linn) in Hyderabad.

Deccan

Plate Flowers and young plants ... 680

Some Beautiful Indian Climbers and Shrubs

Plate - IV. Large-flowered Tecoma (Tecoma grandiflora

Delaun ) ee eae Ssxey4

Plates Tke Yellow Biden or Trumpet Flower (Tecoma

stans (Linn.) H.B.K.) Ses a 683, 684

Plates eerie -Vine ( Tecoma radicans Juss. ) 686, 688

The Indian Wild Dog.

Plate The Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon javanicus) 691

Plate Wild Dog Puppies sie 697

Plate Indian Wild Dog Puppies 698

A Reptile and Amphibian Miscellany

Plate l. Crocedilus palustris Lesson at 744

Plate i Do. Female genital ejetems 745

Plate Ill. A gravid Pond Turtle | Lzssemys punctata granosa

(Schoepeét)i]| ... “ie 747

Plate IV.. The Rock Gecko (Eenidacty bes maculatus Smith ). (oy

Plate V. (a) Brook’s Gecko ( do. brookt Gray) 756

(6) Common House-Gecko (Hemidactylus tlavivi-

ridis Ruppel.) as 756

Plate VI. (a) gand 2 Rock Gecko Cleniaicnlas is

28 St eg ee . Smith).

(6) Hind foot of Prashad’s Gecko (Hemidactylus ..°

prashadt Smith) 75/

Plate VII. (a) Common House-Gecko (Hemidaclylus flavivi-

vidis Ruppel).

Prashad’s Gecko (Hemidactylus prashadt

Smith).

(6) Brook’s Gecko (Hemidactylus brooki Gray) ... 758

Plate VIII. Common House-Gecko ( do. flaviviriadts

Rtippel) emerging from its egg 7939

Plate IX. gard Genital Organs of Hemidactylus jee

ridis Rtppel (Diagrammatic) 760

Notes on Some Indian Birds

Plate Grey Partridge sce 700

Plate (a) Typical nesting site bE Paried Sour Fowl.

(6) Painted Spur-Fowl 767

Plate Red Jungle-Fow] chicks ie 768

Plate Peahen incubating and eggs in a tree 769

Plate Common Bustard-Quail vii

Riv LIST OF PLATES

Plate Jungle Bush-Quail

Plate Common Indian Sandgrouse x0

Plate Comb-Duck or Nukhta at nest

Notes on the Orchids of Murree Hill

Plate I. Cephalanthra ensifolia

Plate Il. Liparts rostrata

Plate Ill. Aerminium angustitolium

Plate IV. Habenaria edgeworthit

Plate Vi do. intermedia

Plate Nal: Mo. aitchisonia

Plate VU. &dzpactis latifolia

Plate VILL. Neottia listervides

Plate IX. Satyrium nepalense

The Game Fishes of India

Plate I. The Mosal Mahseer, Barbus ( Tor) mosal (Haimil-

ton) Re ae oe Ae

Plate Il. Copies of Hamilton’s original drawings of

Cyprinus (Cyprinus) mosal ss

Some Common Indian Herbs with notes on their Anatomical Char See

Plate Il. Leonotis nepetaefolia R. Br.

Plate Il. do.

Plate LEE, do.

A New Species of Fossil Frog from the Inter- Trappean Bede of Worli

Hill, Bombay

Plate I. J/ndobatrachus trivialis sp. nov. :

Notes on the Fulvous Fruit-Bat (Rousettus leschenaultt Desm.)

Plate Roost in a tunnel South of Tulsi Lake, Salsette Is.

A Mahsir River of Southern India

Plate (a) Bhavani Scenery; the Varagaar Pool.

(6) A 26 1b. Mahsir

The Bionomics of the Yam Beetle ( Galerucida bicolor (elope): ) a pest ae

Cultivated Yam in South India.

Plate I. Grub and Adult

Alterations in the Tissues of Welochia corchorifolia Linn. mee Gorenore us

capsularis Linn. on a change of Environment

Plate I. Melochia corchorifolia

Plate Il. Corchorus capsularis

Crab-eating Mongoose (Herpestes urva (Hodgs.) ) in Beatie

Plate (az) and (6) Animal in two positions

Bi-cellular Coconut (Cccéos nucifera L.)

Plate (a) Showing the septum.

(6) Showing the two enlarged ‘ eyes’

A New variety of Coconut Palm

Plate Inflorescence of Cocos nucifera Linn. var spicata

KC. Jacob

Stem Fasciation in the Areca Palm (Areca catechu nae )

Plate Branched Areca Palm, Kailar Gardens

Preliminary Notes on a Recent Botanical Tour to Amrabad morest

Reserve, H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions, Hyderabad (Dn.].

Plate (a) Site of wild trees of Moringa pterigosperma

Gaertn.

(6) A bamboo clump oat aie BSC

772

774

776

“NI

ine)

801

805

828

874

878

879

893

905

908

ENDO ELUSLER ALLIONS

VOLUME XLI

Nos. 3 and 4

PAGE

Alectoris graeca

Photo (Partial albinism) esi)

American Bison and Indian

Domestic Cow hybrid

POtOee ss oe ae syd

Andrographis echioides

Pls. I-IIL 548, 550

Areca catechu

Photo —%:.. a Lt

Aularches miliaris L. (Spotted

Locust), Visitation of, in Tra-

vancore

Pie be 676

Barbus (Tor) mosal

PI. 785

Text-fig. (Lateral view) 786

oA (Ventral view of

head) 787

Barbus (Tor) putttora

Pl. ue He me eee OO:

Text-fig. (Branchial and

hyoid arches—

ventral view)... 790 |

(Left pharyngeal

bone and teeth) ... 791 |

is {Young teeth) 793

Barbus (Tor) tor

Pls; Re bie os ee ee

Bignonia venusta Ker Pls. 453, 454,

458

Bison and Elephant

Vedi Yes =the a 656

Black-capped Woodpecker

Pi am co B07

Bos ( Bibos) gaurus

Pl. Skulls oe BOOS)

Botanical Tour to Amrabad

Forest Reserve

Photos aes a 908

Cephalanthra enstfolia

Pi: a ee 782

PaGR

Chicory (Cichorium intybus Linn.)

in Hyderabad, Deccan

PI. Flowers and young plants. 680

Cichortum intybus Linn (Chi-

cory) in Elyderabad, Deccan

Pl. Flowers and young

plants aor 8 OSU

Cocos nucifera var. spicata

(Inflorescence)

Photo . zat 906

Cocos nucifera (bi-cellular)

Photos a 905

Comb-Duck at nest

| Eat ee oe a 776

Comnion Bustard-Quail

Jed ae ee ms 771

Common Indian Sandgrouse

tell = at 774

Corchorus capsularis

Pi hie a8 eae e079

Crab-eating Mongoose

Photo ome 893

Crocodilus palustris

Text-fig. (Egg-tooth) 745

ae (Copulatory organ). 746

Fis; - 744, 745

Cuon javanicus

Pl. ie oie ve 692

Cyprinus (cyprinus) mosal

Pl: ae 785

Demoiselle Cranes

eb ee da dais o> 2000

Elephantand Gaur, Behaviour of

Pi hts as 656

Epipactts latitolia

Pi. sa a 782

Fish Ladders in the Punjab

id Pls, aes 5 2004 ,050

Galerucida bicolor (Grub and adult)

Pie . ae 873

Game F shes of India

Pls. ase 921, 522, 785, 786

Xvi

PAGE |

Gaur and Elephant, Behaviour of

Ph ae 656

Green Bee-eater

Pie ae 529

Grey Partridge

Ble 765

Habenaria nye

By. aie a &: 782

-—— edgeworthii

eats a a 752

— —— intermedia

Pl, 782

Hemidactylus br air

lea 2 ae 756, 758

2 flaviviridis

Pi: 786, 758, 759, 760

Text-fig. (Ege-tooth) 763

- maculatus

Pie — se oe FO Sf

--— prashadt

Pi. ae an ae 757, 758

Herminium angustifolium

Ph. oe i re 752

Indian and Malayan Gaur

fet: aac 658

Indian Birds

Pls. ies BOL eoG;e 7/05) 702,, 708,

769.701; a 114; 776

Indian Cuckoo-Shrike

Je ip eee aah ee 540

Indian Wild Dogs ee

Bigietre: ee soacmea: ae 697, €98

LNAGOOITACHUSALIUIGUIS eh

Pl; ai tee $01

Jerdon’s Chloropsis

Pie nes oe 939

Jungle Bush-Quail

Pl. : “iz

Laccadive Talends.

Pls. 491, 492, 498, 508

Leonotis nebetactolia

se 795, 796

Liparis vostiata

Pi. 782

Lissemys punciaHe a anosa

Pile Bos Hs she 747

Mahsir River of S. India

Pi. 828

Map of country round Nattaung,

Karenni ...

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

| Melochia corchorifolia-

Pees Ge 878

| Mongoose

Photo 893

Mongoose, Crab- Leaine

Photo Bae oa eo Ge

Nattaung, Karenni, Map of

| country round 3/7

| Neottia listeroides

Par, ap ae bed 782

Orchids of Murree Hill

Pls. 782

Painted sad Poni

ne 767

Paradise FL jean

Jed 531

| Peanen

jedi 769

| Red Gana owl (chek

ie Way x 768

Rousettus ena: AU

pe 580

Photo 899

Satyrium pe peTente

Pe a A wey

Small game crootnen in Myscre

Pl. ay: 3 600

Spotted Babbler 4

PI: re one asf Pere Oe

Spotted Locust ...( Aularches._... .

miliaris L.). Visitation of, in -

‘Travancore

| Pie ie ar 676

Tail-less Panther

Photo ap 890

Tecoma austratis

Text-fig. 689

Tecoma granattlora ean

Pl, ahs os 681

Tecoma jasminoides

Text-fig. wax O88

Tecoma radicans, Pls. 686, 688

Mext-tow 7 636

Tecoma stans

Pls, a: 683, 684

Text-fig. ae 683

Wild Elephants in Agee “f

Pl ae ee ie weve GOO

Yam Beetle (Grub and adult)

Pl. ae 874

ERRATA

VOL. XLI, No. 4

Page 699, line 16, from bottom, for ‘Tan-Kwe’ vead ‘ Taw-Kwe’.

,, 801, below the Plate facing p. 801, for ‘approx. x 14

vead ‘ approx. x 3’.

», 901, line 17, from top for ‘ Cocoyx’ read ‘ Coccyx’.

5, 804, last line fox ‘approx. x 14’ vead ‘ approx. x 3’.

», 819, line 4, from bottom, for ‘ eugenla’ vead ‘ eugenia ’.

» 881, ,, 12, from bottom, (Area of controlled forest in

square miles in Indore) for ‘ 260’ read ‘ 2600’.

», 881, line 5, from bottom (Area of controlled forest in

square miles in Hyderabad State) for ‘546’ read

VOL. XLII, No. 1

Page 116, line 6, from top, for ‘S. sp. Nov.’ read ‘ Sp. Nov.’.

=~ oy~Ssi«ay:«Cs LG, fr-O=M Hottom, for ‘S. sp. Nov.’ vead ‘Sp. Nov.’

,, 123, lines 14 and 16, from bottom, for ‘Tujuria’ read

‘Tajuria ’.

», 207 (Misc. Note No. XXI) right through this note for

‘ Triperestrata’ read ‘ Trifenestrata ’.

», 209 (Misc. Note No. XXIII) line 22, from top for ‘ nibbed ’

vead ‘nibbled ’.

INDEX OF SPECIES

Abisara chela kalawna

- echerius angulata

suffusa

——— - fylla

———- kausambi Piiones

- neophron neophron

Acanthospermum brasilium

Acanthurus triostegus ..

Achalarus bifasciatus casyapa

Achillea millefolium

———— santolina

Achras sapota

Achroia cinereola

—- grisella ...

Actias selene :

Actiniopteris dieietoma.

Actinodura ramsayi ramsayi ...

Actinor radians

Adansonia digitata

Adenostemma viscosum

Adiantum caudatum

Adolias cyanipardus

—— -dirtea jadeitina

ZEgithaliscus concinnus pulchellus

Zigle marmelos |

4Egypius monachus

AZromachus stigmata a

thopyega nipalensis karenensis

Aganais ficus

Ageratum conyzoides

Ailanthus excelsa

Alangium lamarckii

Alcedo atthis bengalensis

Alcippe fratercula fratercula ..

Alcurus striatus ...

Alectoris graeca ..

Altha adala

Amarantus oleraceus

——- spinosus

Amatissa consorta

- cuprea

Amaurornis phoenicurus Cineaec 3

Amblonyx cinerea nirnai

“JAN 14 1942

PAGE

652

731

652

614

493, 503

738

615

617

812

605

604

823

910

. 983

~ 740

812

617

910

649

580

909

Bean 15)

‘739

591

820

617

909

473

582

585.

667, 899

. 825

.. ---680

. 680

827

482

515

Amblypodia alemon

dodoncea ...

ganesa vanesa

——— ramarama

Amicta rhabdophora

Amsacta lactinea

—— -— moorei

Anaphalis neelgerryana

Anastomus oscitans

Andraca albilunata

Andrographis echioides...

— paniculata

Anhinga melanogaster ...

Anogeissus latifolia

Anona reticulata

squamosa

Anser indicus

Anthemis cotula

——_——-- gayana

————.- odontostephana

Antheraea assamensis ...

paphia

—— roylei

Antheua

Anthoceros sp. ...

Anthus hodgsoni hodgsont ©...

Antigone antigone antigone

Apanteles galleriae

Apatura ambica ambica

-——— =- cooperi

—- dingavani

—- parisatis parisatis

-- ulupi kalaurica

Apharitis lilacinus

Aporia agathon caphusa

———-- —--—= HHTyKe

- leucodice soracte*-

-_——- nabellica nabelliea -

Appias lalage lalage

—- libythea libythea

Apus affinis affinis

——~- melba melba

Aquila rapax vindhiana

~ PAGE

“736;

ih 730

lox

- 909

647,

736

826

820

619

486

823

548°

909

485

812

811

487

», sold

620

824°

824

ie Gees

$24

910.

ec OOd:

483

606

727

647

736

720

720)

ayehiggy

474:

ves 7g

476

Arachnothera magna magna...

Arborophila rufogularis tickelli

Arctia caia

villica

Arctium lappa

Arctonyx collaris albogularis

ane - anneus

ee ee CO ais

a ee Goll!

ut ae - taraiyensis ...

-~—-——-- isonyx

—————-- taxoides

Ardea cinerea rectirostris

Ardeola grayii

Areca catechu

Argina argus

- cribraria

-syringa ... oe

Argynnis adippe jainadeva

——--— childreni childreni

—— —- ——— — sakontala ...

——-—- clara clara

————-- eugenia mackinnoni

———— - hyperbius hyperbius

- kamala Be

— ——- lathonia issoea

————-- pales sipora ...

Argyreia speciosa

Aroa leucogramma

——- ochracea

Arrabidaea magnifica

Artamus fuscus ...

Artemisia absinthium

-— annua...

—— —- dracunculus ...

——-- caruifolia

———- —- maritima

——-—- persica

————-- sacrorum

-—-—_ — scoparia

———-—- siversiana ...

—- vulgaris

Artona ‘00

Arundinaria elegans

Asio flammeus flammeus

Asota caricae

Aspidoparia morar

Aster trinervius ... 2:

Astur badius dussumieri

Astycus augias augias ...

purpurea manillensis .,.

PAGE

591

593

820

620

466

463

465

463

461

486

487

906

821 -

821

730

651

730

909

821

459

589

622

623

624

623

624

625

818

578

475

820

556

627

477

740

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Asura humilis 819

——— lutara 819

semifascia 819

Asuridia ridibunda 819

Atalantia monophylla 909

Ateila alcippe burmana sa POON

phalanta ... 651, 731

Athene brama indica 475

Attacus atlas 823

Aularches miliaris sie son ONG

Aulocera brahminus brahminus eee LS

= —- padma padma 725

———_—-- Saraswati 725

—- swaha swaha 725

Azanus ubaldus ... 732

— uranus oes 732

Badamia exclamationis... 738

Balaenoptera indica 895

Baltia butleri butleri 719

Baoris bevani bevani 741

discreta himalaya 740

eltola 740

guttatus bada 741

——— —-- guttatus 740

mathias mathias 740

sinensis sinensis 740

zelleri cinnara 741

Barbus chola 673

- hexastichus 785

- megalepis 785

———- mosal O21

—-——- phutunio vas 672

- (Puntius) puckelli 673

- (Puntius) ticto 673

- putitora ... 522

- sophore ... Abe “i crea ROS

- tor We O21; 22a 00 a AOo

——.- (Tor) mosal cas FaKOD

Bassia latifolia 811, 909

Batocera rubus 678

Bauhinia vahlii ae ; 909

Belenois mesentina mesentina Hpetey 7/40)

Bhringa remifer tectirostris 589

Bibasis sena sena 738

Bidens pilosa 628

tripartita ... 628

Bignonia bbe tmeeoo

— capreolat 455, 456

——_—-— magnifica 455, 459

———— speciosa 455, 458

——_——- unguis-cati 455, 457

£NDEX OF SPECIES

Bignonia venusta

Blepharis molluginifolia

Blumea balsamifera

— chinensis

— densiflora

—- eriantha

- lacera ae

-—myriocephala ... oe

Blythipicus pyrrhotis pyrrhotis

Bombax ceiba : &

-— malabaricum ..

Bombyx mori

Bos bubalis

—-- frontalis

—-- gaurus gaurus

—-- ———- hubbacki

- readi

Bcswellia serrata

— ==

Brachypternus benghalens’s pene:

lensis ...

Brachypteryx cruralis

- nipalensis nipalensis

Brahmaea wallichii

Bubulcus ibis coromandus

Buchanania latifolia

Burhinus cedicnemis ind:cus

Butastur teesa

Butea frondosa cas

Butorides striatus javanicus

Cacomantis merulinus ... ;

-_——- + - —— cvtantne

Calendula arvensis

——-—--- officinalis

Calinaga buddha buddha

sudassana

Callimorpha principalis

Calliope calliope

Callizygeena semperi

Campsis grandiflora

radicans

Cania bilinea

Canis indicus

—- lupus

Capella gallinago Sallttage

— nemoricola

-~stenura ...

Capparis horrida oe

Caprimulgus asiaticus asiaticus

-——--- ———- indicus indicus ...

——_==

——__—_ --—-—— macrourus bimaculatus.

monticolus monticolus...

PAGE

454

909

629

630

992

811

909 |

823

659

658

909

470

586

824 |

487

909

483

476

909

487

471

593

631

727

648

821

586

818

687

686

825

891

693

485

665

485

909

474

593

474

Caralluma fimbriata

Caranx nigripennis an

Cardiospermum halicacabum

Carduus nutans ...

Careya arborea.. i ues

Carpesium Hbetanatdies!

cernuum ‘es

Carpodacus erythrinus roseatus

Carthamus lanatus

—— oxyacantha...

--—_—- —— tinctorius

Casarca ferruginea

Cassia auriculata

Cassia fistula “

Castalius rosimon rosimon

Castanopsis

Catachrysops strabo

Catla catla

Catopsilia crocale

—— --—— florella gnoma

——-———--- pomona

—— ——--- pyranthe minna

Ceiba pentandra

meee

XXi

PAGE

721,

Celeenorrhinus leucocera leucocera ...

— —— munda ...

——_—— pulomaya

Celama centonalis

— confusalis

-—-—- fasciata

— internella

—teniata ...

Cenobitz

Centaurea ealcitrapa

————-- cyanus

- — picris ome eee

Centipeda rubicularis

Centratherum anthelminticuin

Centropus sinensis parroti

Cephalanthera ensifolia

Certhia discolor shanensis

Cerura kandyia ...

Ceryle rudis eaconeiantira

Cethosia biblis tisamena

————- cyane

Cheetoprocta odata ae

Chaimarrornis leucccephalus ...

Chalcites maculatus maculatus

Chalcocelis albiguttata ...

Chalcoscelides castaneipars

Chalcosia phalaenaria

Chalioides vitrea ee nt

679

497

909

632

812

633

590

633

632

634

483

909

578

734

551

905

721

811

738

819

49]

635

§36

636

637

472

779

585

825

473

651

735

586

seh

825

818

826

xxii INDEX OF SPECIES

Coladenia dan fatih

Colias croceus edusina bee

eugene eugene

—— hyale hyale

ladakensis

Colotis etrida etrida

Columba livia

Coracias benghalensis

ee ‘pervect oe

Corchorus capsularis

Corvus macrorhynchus

Cosmotriche potatoria ...

Cotula anthemoides

- aurea eae

Coturnix coromandelica

- coturnix coturnix

Creatonotus transiens

Crepis acaulis

Cricula trifenestrata

Crocodilus palustris

—=

Crocopus phoenicopterus chloro-

gaster.

Croton bonplandianum

———- - pauperulum

- sparsiflorus

Cuculus canorus

-- ——- bakeri

——-- -——-- - canorus

-——— micropterus micropterus

Culicicapa ceylonensis calochrysaea ...

Cuon javanicus Se

——- ————- dukhunensis

Cupha erymanthis lotis

-Curetis acuta dentata - A

Cursorius coromandelicus arora

licus

Cutia nipalensis nipalensis

Cyanops franklinii ramsayi

Cybium commersonii

Cyclops ;

Cyclosia macularia

-- panthona

~—- papilionaris

Cynodon dactylon

Cynopterus sphinx

Cynthia crota erota

_ Cyprinus putitora

——_-——-- tor

| Cypris cylindrica

oY PAGE

Chaptia aenea aenea ae ss. i oe

Charadrius dubius curonicus ... . 484

= —_—— jerdoni sicih iat Se

Charaxes fabius fabius 5 oic09) iene 120

% - sulphureus ... es Oy,

————- marmax oe eas soot 3047

——_———- polyxena hierax ... <2 646

‘Cheilanthus mysorensis...- — ... i790

Chelidorhynx hypaxanthum .... — .... 588

Chelifer nee “ie Ppeeont Vie

Cheromettia aparece Ae case aR

———-——-- lohor bathe rie ce teas yOeo

Chersonesia rahria rahrioides..... .... 650

—- —— risa sis ies sab OOO)

Chilades laius laius ane is Progr Wists)

‘Chilasa agestor govindra uke ten dad

- - clytia clytia oe Se ge

Chilena strigula ... oe Jen v5 Oe

Chilenus undulatus sie eats wns, O08

Chionzema bianca ees ne dey ole

— javanica... wwe = 8319

——_———- pitana a 6 wee O19

Chloroxylon swietenia .. cay ee O09

Choaspes benjaminii Sarithtonaeon eo

Choriotes nigriceps Ree ae SoA ease: to.

Chrysanthemum indicum sft Meee O80

— ———-— COrONATIUM 2 Ose

Chrysocolaptes festivus ~~... ... 470

Cichorium intybus —_... os: 640, 680

Te —— endivia seis 9, eee O39

-——-——— neanum ... i ne) OL]

Ciconia cconia subsp? ha, eer MASH

Cimex rotundatus a ss (we OOS

Circaétus ferox ferox ... ve ot ATG

Circus aeruginosus aeruginosus ost een

———cineraceus ., ase 497

eee macrourus Oy see hee 477, 497

Cirrhina mrigala SMe tee Jol, 553

Cirrochroa fasciata ae a Set OL

—— neris olivacea ae glee esa a ovo) |

— tyche mithila bee ee Ose

Cispia alba ae Sp ets ist ooze

Clamator jacobinus pica Wee cee ait. mma

Clangula hyemal's we ee ft TOO On:

Clania cramerii ... fers ae eae

Gestrictoney, Wa tat ele eT

Clytostoma callistegicides eae ements

Cnicusiarvensis 229 0 ae eat

_sinensisize: oem te.) Med

Cocos aiiciferas eur ce cicemegee “905

—— -——-—— var, spicata asi ih eee OG

ss Sea -marginata .,

Cyrestis cocles Cocles),.6

PAGE

739

722

Tea

72h

722

477

497

472

877

580

823

641

642

478

820

642

824

743

477

573

3/3

573

471

592

529

592

588

693

694

651

736

484

584

503

672

818

680

811

651

521

a2)

799

650

Cyrestis periander periander ...

-- thyodamas ganescha

thyodamas

-——

Dafila acuta

Dalbergia latifolia

Danais aglea melanoides

- chrysippus

——-—- limniace mutina

- melissa septentrionis

- plexippus

- tytia sita

Dasychira bhana

--- complicata

——_——--- dalbergiz

——_——--- grotei

————-- horsfieldi

————--- mendosa

——-——-- moerens

-————.-- pudibunda

————-- securis

——_——--- thwaitesi

————--- varia :

Delias belladonna norenelaii

CllCHATIS «2.

sanaca sanaca

thysbe pyramus ...

Delichon urbica

Delphinus delphis

Dendrocitta formosa

Dendrocygna javanica ...

Desmeocreera fasciata

Deudoryx epijarbas ancus

Diacrisia lubricipeda

— - lutea

———- mendica

— —-—— obliqua

——-——- rhodophila

——. —- sannio

—_———-- strigatula

————-- subfascia

——-—- urticae

Diagora nicevillei

———— persimilis persimilis ...

-- ———-—- zella

Diczum ignipectus ignipectus

Dichorragia

Dicoma tomentosa

Dicranura himalayana

— vinula

Betioes pista latifolia

Dictyoploca cachara ..,.

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

488,

650

728

650

488

909

722

122

521

821

720

590

508

580

900

825

GOT

520

820

320

820

725.

648

12/

592 |

648 ©

—_— eee

643

825

642

824: |

Dictyoploca simla es aon

Dilipa morgiana Ave eee

Dinara ee

Diospyros mielenonylen

——-- tomentosa

Dissemurus p. grandis ...

D‘ssoura episcopus episcopus

Dodona dipeea nostia

-- durga

—-—--- egeon ie

-- eugenes eugenes

— venox

-- henrici deodata

- longicaudata ...

-- Ouida ouida

Dodonza viscosa ;

Doleschallia bisaltide indica

Doronicum falconeri

— hookeri

—— roylei

Doxantha capreolata cs

Drapetodes fratercula ... aoe

Dryobates atratus

———-- hardwickii arden

ee Genois

——_—_— w=

--———-- nanus

Ducula badia griseicapilla

Dudusa nobilis... aie eas

Dysodia viridatrix

Echinops echinatus

Echis carinata

Eclipta alba

Egretta alba

—- gerzetta oareita

— intermedia intermedia

Elanus coeruleus vociferus

Elephantopus scaber

Emilia fammea

—_— - sonchifolia

Enhydra fluctuans

Enthereea knyvetti

Entomothera coromanda pore aaial

Epicopeia mencia

Epipactis latifolia

Epiplema latifasciata

—— quadricaudata

Epizygeena cashmirensis

Erasmia pulchella

Eriboea arja

_ - ——- athamas eae ak hee

‘delphis: "=. a ae

824

818

647

647, 726

o9e

647

XxiV INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Eriboea dolon dolon a ee eR CAS)

——--grandis ... oc ves BOA,

—_—— - —-- magniplaga oe see 1 A047

-eudamippus nigrobasalis ... 647

—- moori sandakanus ... em O47,

—-——-— narccea lissainei a vee O47

-- schreiberi assamensis ces OA

Erebia annada ceca _... me an tee

hyagriva ... eas os neice)

hybrida_... ae ee oho

kalinda kalinda ... a eee CSS)

——— Hitmaloninmalarc. 7 ete AZO

scanda scanda ... * SAS

——-— shallada shallada soy hot E25

Ergolis ariadne pallidior es ae to)

- merione assama eh coy oou

- ————- tapestrina ... aol

Erigeron asteroides re ae ... 840

———— canadensis... ae .. 840

Eriogyna pyretorum .... se .. 824

Erolia temminckii Fe ae fy a, 480

Eryx johnii & se eee Bas ee ete)

Esacus recurvirostris ... Me ew eo

Eterusia edea ... ms ne Ole

———— distincta o aa . ols

—— —— pulchella sie ie a0 OLS

——_——_ risa ae wee ie el OS

Ethulia conyzoides ane a .. 840

Euarctia proserpina ... ae ere Ole

Euaspa milionia a sis se yoo

Euchloe ausonia daphelis oe ane alg

Euchromia horsfieldi_... oe Sel), POLS

Euchromia polymena ... oe HOLS

Euchrysops cnejus nee ; i ee!

—- —- contracta ponte Bie rales

—_—_———-- pandava pandava seo oe:

Eudynamis scolopaceus scolopaceus. 471

Eugenia jambolana ses ae see | Oke

Eumenis mniszechii baldiva ... we > oe

———— parisatis parsis er Ssenee

Eumyias thalassina thalassina oa oes)

Eunetta falcata ... %e ae Boe SE)

Eupatorium Tioroesetioeress fs .. 841

——- triplinerve... ‘AS . 842

Euphlycta erastria Ss se oe 1 OLO

Euphorbia a ae ne O80

—_—— apaCone niece eae ee) LO

———-—— oreophila ... a see O70

——_——_ —— perbracteata sis eee oy Es)

————-rothiana ... ane ee OYAG)

~-—_—_ —— royleana se ane er 8576

PAGE

Euphorbia striatella 3/5

Euploea core core Bes sos ose NovieG

- —— vermiculata dia

~ mulciber mulciber 722

Euproctis apicalis 822

————- atrosquama ... 822

—— —- bimaculatus ... 622

———_——— decussata ... 822

————-- diplaga 822

-—_————-- fraterna 822

- fulvipuncta veo ee

— —- guttata 822

———-——-- sulphurescens 822

——-——- vitellina 822

Euripus halitherses 648

Eupterote fabia ... 823

————--- mollifera 823

Euthalia anosia anosia ... 648

— — cocytus satrapaces 648

ae evelina evelina 649

———— garuda anagama 727

——_— — — - garuda 648

——— jahnu jahnu 648

———_— jama verena 648

——-— julii sedeva 648

———— lepidea sthavara te - 648

———— lubentina indica die 648, 727

——— mahadeva binghami... 648

— —— merta eriphyle 648

— nara shania 649

— patala patala . 727

-—- taooana 649

—— —— phemius 648

--——-. — pratti cooperi ... 649

———-~- sahadeva narayana ... 649

———— telchinia ee ae 648

Eutropiichthys vacha 556

Everes argiades indica ... 732

dipora ua 732

parrhasius Serine 86 hse

Excalfactoria chinens’s chinensis 478

Falco chicquera chicquera 476

——- jugger 476

——- subbuteo see 476

——- tinnunculus Eamumedine 476

Feronia elephantum ... ase 909

Fierasfer mee 495

Francolinus pictus “0 482

——- pintadeanus Siysncpen 392

—-—- pondicerianus interpositus. 482

Franklinia gracilis 589

Frerea indica

Fulica atra atra ... 3

Galerucida bicolor ee eb

Galleria mellonella

Gallinula chloropus indicus

Galloperdix lunulata

Gallus bankiva robinsoni

sonneratii

Gambusia

Garrulax moniliger .

Gegenes nostradamus eens

Gekko gecko eae

Gelochelidon nilotica nieces

Gerbera piloselloides

Glaucidium brodiei tubiger

Glossocardia bosvallia ..

Glossogyne pinnatifida ...

Glottis nebularia

Gnaphalium luteo-album

Gonepteryx aspasia zaneka

——- rhamni nepalensis

Grangea maderaspatana

Grauculus macei siamensis

Grewia hirsuta

— pilosa

Guizotia abyssinica

Gymnosporia montana

Gynura pseudo-china

Gyps indicus subsp. ?

——- fulvus fulvescens ...

Habenaria aitchisonia ...

—— edgeworthii

intermedia ...

Haematornis cheela

Halcyon smyrnensis fusca

— —-—— ———- smyrnensis

Haliaétus leucogaster

-leucoryphus ...

Haliastur indus indus

Halone sinuata

Haplochilus lineatus

Hardwickia binata

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

679

482

878

605

482

478

593

478

673

580

741

763

484

842

593

843

485

843

721

844

589

909

844

909

845

476

475

781

780

476

543

473

661, 664

476

476 |

819

672

909

Harpactes erythrocephalum Brycaroce:

phalum

Hasora alexis alexis

Helianthus annuus

Hilicteres isora

Heliophorus Paceaciesic coruscans

—— bakeri

—_—. oda .

—————= —— sena evo eee

593

738

845

909

735

Hemichelidon ferruginea

sibirica fuliginosa

Hemidactylus

—-— - brooki

~ flaviviridis

frenatus ...

-———_————- maculatus

- prashadi

Hemiprocne coronata

Hemiramphus

Henicurus leschenaulti pace

schistaceus .

Hepialiscus

Herminium aneusetOlium

Herona marathus marathus

Herpestes urva

Herpornis xantholeuca mntislenens.

Hestina nama

Heterophasia Hicieitese Cana...

Heterophragma roxburghii

Hieracium virosum

Hieraétus fasciatus fasciatus ...

Hierococcyx sparveroides

varius

Himantopterus

Himantopus aunantoas ecentopust

Hiptage madablota

Hirundapus giganteus indicus

Horaga onyx onyx

- viola at

Huphina nerissa phryne

Hyarotis adastrus praba

Hydrophasianus chirurgus

Hypacanthis spinoides ambiguus

Hypocheeris glabra

Hypolimnas bolina

——-- misippus ...

Hypoteenidia striata gularis

Ibis leucocephalus

Ictinaétus malayanus perniger

Illiberis

Indarbela Penne

————_- dea :

——-—— - quadrinotata

— theivora

Indobatrachus trivialis

——_—— pusillus ...

Inula grantioides

——- graveolens

———- racemosa

——- royleana ese

mi7o0. foley

RAV

PAGE

587

€63

756

749, 758

757

752

474

497

586

S27)

773

648

893

584

648, 727

582

812

846

476

092

471

818

484

909

593

131

737

720

740

se 409

590

846

, 729

650, 728

482

486

899

818

827

801

799

847

XXV1

Iraota timoleon timoleon

Ismene jaina jaina

Issoria sinha sinha

Ixias marianne

——- pyrene satadra

Ixos maclellandi tickelli

Ixulus humilis clarkii

Iynx torquilla torquilla ...

Jamides bochus bochus

Jurinea macrocephala ...

Justicia echioides

Kallima inachus huegeli

— limborgi

Ketupa zeylonensis leschenaulti

Labeo calbasu ate's

micropthalmus ...

rohita

Lactuca remotiflora

- runcinata

— scariola ...

Laelia calamaria ...

-— suffusa

Laggera alata

Lampides boeticus

Lampracheenium monocephatdm

Lanius coliuroides coliuroides

excubitor pallidirostris

nasutus tricolor

Laringa horsfieldii glaucescens

Launzea aspleniifolia

chondrilloides ...

————. glomerata

—_————. pinnatifida

-—— nudicaulis

Lebadea martha attenuata

Lebeda nobilis

——__

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Jol,

Leioptila melanoleuca ceeanontens re

Lenodora vittata ...

Leonotis nepetzefolia

Leonurus globosus 3

Lepidocephalocythys mermalie.

Leptosia nina nina

Lethe confusa confusa ...

——- goalpara narkanda

——- insana insana

——- jalaurida jalaurida

——- maitrya

——-~ nicetas

——- pulaha pulaha

—--- rohria dyrta

-——-— sidonis yaivarta .,, age

736

Lethe verma verma

——- yama yama

Leuccas aspera

leucoma marginalis

-— subvitrea

Libythea ‘lepita lepita

———-——— _myrrha sanguinalis

— narina rohini ...

Limenitis danava

- daraxa ...

-————- dudu

——--— procris procris

-— trivena pallida

Liothula omnivora

Liparis rostrata

Lissemys punctata granosa

Lithosia apicalis ..

——--- caniola ...

———---— complana

-———-— depressa

-- eugenla ...

-———-- griseola ..

-~ lurideola

-— lutarella

———-——=— atana

-— palliatella

-— sericea

-— sororcula

-- tumida

Lobipluvia malabarica ...

Lobivanellus indicus indicus

Loepa katinka

Loranthus longiflorus

Lutjanus

Lutra lutra saenton

- —-— vulgaris at

Lutrogale perspicillata ..

Lyceena kasyapa

-—-—-— pavana ...

— phloeas indicus

— flavens

Lyceenopsis albocoerulea

———- --- argiolus kollari

| ——-— cardea dilecta

———_ -—— huegelii huegelii ...

——-—— ladonides gigas

———--——_ puspa gisca

-—— vardhana

Lygosoma sp.

Lymantria ampla

———— —-—— Sica

PAGE

652,

484,

724

796

821

731

652

727

649

727

826

779

747

819

820

819

820

819

820

819

899

484

824

910

497

517

317

515

517

734

732

133

732

663

822

Lymantria grandis

--— incerta

———-- — lunata

——_—__-- — obfuscata

——---—— obsoleta

Lymnocryptes minimus

Machlolophus spilonotus Sine

Macroplectra nararia

signata

Meenas maculifascia

Mahasena graminivora ...

——- —— theivora

Malacosoma neustria

Mangifera indica

Maniola davendra davendra

-—- lupinus cheena

-— pulchra pulchra

Mareca penelope :

Matricaria chamomilla ..,

—

Megalaima virens virens

Megalops ... :

—- — coprmoides

Melanitis ismene ...

— leda ismene

———— phedima galkissa

Melitaea arcesia sindura

Melochia corchorifolia ...

Merops orientalis orientalis

- superciliosus javanicus

Mesia argentauris

Metanastria hyrtaca

Metopidius indicus

Microglossa volubilis

Microscelis psaroides concolor

Migoplastis alba

Mikania scandens

Milvus migrans govinda

Mimusops hexandra

Minla ignotincta ...

Miresa argentifera.

~——— bracteata

brunnea

--—-—— fulgida

thermistis

Mitra episcopalis

Molpastes chrysorrhoides Riese.

Monticola rufiventris

——--———. solitaria

Moringa pterigosperma

Motacilla cinerca melanope

vo?

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

498 ,

822

485

580

$26

826

820

826

XXV1i

PAGE

Murraya koenigii 909

Muscicapula hodgsoni ... eon

——-—--———- hyperythra ypecyenre as) 2557

————--——-- melanoleuca melanoleuca. 587

—-——-——-- sapphira io OOs

Mus rattus rufinus 5o2 os 491, 503

Mustilia phaeopera : 823

Mycalesis francisca sanatana ... 723

——---— lepcha lepcha 723

——-——- mineus mineus 723

——~——— perseus blasius 723

—- — typhlus 723

—— -—— visala visala 723

Myophoneus eugeni 587

Nacaduba nora nora 734

Nadata niveiceps 824

Nagoda nigricans ; . 829

Napothera brevicaudata vennin2i 582

Narosa conspersa 825

- doenia... ... 825

Natrix piscator 748

Nemachilus 672

Neopheosia fasciata ahi SSsgr a OO

Neophron percnopterus ginginianus... 476

Neottia listeroides 781

Nephrolepis sp. a 910

Neptis ananta ananta 728

= ochraced 650

anjana nashona ... 650

columella ophiana 649

dindinga assamica 650

- harita 650

hordonia Grote 650

hylas adara .- 650

—- -—-astola ae oF 659. 728

——_—_ ——- varmona 728

jumbah jumbah ... 649

magadha khasiana 650

mahendra 728

manasa See 650

nandina susruta ... 650

narayana narayana 741

sankara quilta 650

——— - sankara 728

soma soma 650

——— yerburyi shania ... 659

—_ — yerburyl 728

zaida zaida 728

Netria viridescens » 825

Nettapus corcmandelianus ota arin

lianus Green 487

XXViii INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Nettion crecca crecca ... fas .. 488

- - formosum es ats aes) 2p1GOO

Niganda ... ae sae re te

Niltava grandis grardis ner oe Stele)

- - macgrigorie ... a ise Bele}

Nincx scutulata lugubris a iat 4/5

Nisaétus cirrhatus cirrhatus ... site AG

Nola argentalis ... ge ahe Shoe te)

— cucullatella ... cae ae bo 6 tele)

Norraca =~... se Sree OLA.

Notocrypta raMihaen an SOS iso et)

Notonia grandiflora... se Mes S02

Neurosigma doubledayi nonius nah ~ O49

Nyctemera coleta Sar a, ae Oo.

-——-—— plagifera... a gr oek

Nycteribosca gigantea ... a ee Pehle

Nyroca ferina ferina... ra sere G488

- fuligula ... wale see Saad

—- ———- fuligula ate va 488

— rufa rufa... sss ise as > 488

Ocinara dilectula se oa hie nove

— varians ... cist ae sOTIROZS

— waringi ... A -eupoee

Ocypode eer atonuehelna, a: afm

Odontoptilum angulata sura ... RAMEE

(Enopopelia tranquebarica tranque-

baticas 5.3 aN Pe: ie)

Oeonistis entella ... ite Tae Aneae ire yd US)

Oiketicus tertius ... Ose oe <i), ROZO

Ophidascaris filaria we ae a OOS

Oreocincla dauma dauma os fee G7,

Orgyia postica ... a oes gee Oc

Orinoma damaris ae oN secu, e424

Oriolus chinensis ioe iy Soon OO)

-kundoo ... a sah .. 940

——- - trailliitraillii ... wee eee) OO

Oroxylum indicum an ue ie aOLZ

Ostracion cubicus os ae .. 494

Othon nopsis intermedia oe OOS

Otus (bakkamoena ?) .. ete pene LVRS

Oxyplax ochracea ine oes cae eSZ2O

Padraona cato clio aes Ror eet 20

——--— dara ... A sare .. 740

Pamphila comma dimila wee 140

a - indicofusca... Be inion LAO

Papiiio arcturus arius ... cr Sas

demoleus demoleus Se ee eS

———~ machaon asiatica ise aed a7LO

pclyctor polyctor aes Hoth lIede

polytes romulus ae tis paNGLS

protenor protenor B ae pts)

PAGE

Pandanus odoratissimus ne 509

Pandorea australis a ae «oe OGY

——--— — jasminoides <r) OOS

Pantoporia asura asura ... i €49, 728

——— -——. cama : ee 649

——- larymna siamensis 649

—— - ——— nefte inara 649

————-——— opalina opalina 728

ee - orientalis 649

——— —— perius ake BAS 649, 728

= -—_— Tanga ranea i 649

oe selenophora selenophora 649, 727

———-———. sulpitia adamsoni 649

—— zeroca 649

Pararge moerula <u D4

-—--—— -— moorei 724

-- schakra 724

Parasa bicolor 826

~~—— bimaculata 826

canange... 826

lepida 826

Pareba vesta sordice a 652

-——- anomala ... TH

Parnassius acco acco 719

— - charltonius ave)

—— delphius stoliczanus 79

-—-—-—— epaphus nirius... eee A ie,

—— — hardwickeii hardwickeii ... 719

——--—- jacquemontii jacquemontii. 719

—— simo simo Bes 7S)

Parthenos sylvia gambrisius ... 649

Parus major bse 580

Pathysa eurous Aeeinreae a! 718

Pavetta indica 909

Pavo cristatus sine 478

Pedestes masuriensis ... fi 739

Pegolettia senegalensis ... : ELMO

Pellorneum ignotum cinnamomeum... 581

Penthema darlisa 645

Perdicula argoondah areoonden 481

—_—_- ——_ ———-——_ meinertzhageni. 481

——-——. asiatica asiatica 479

Pericallia erosa 820

-— ricini... a oes ee covAl)

Pericrocotus brevirostris 588

_——- solaris eae sat 589

—— = speciosus elegans 588

Perina nuda sac aise fe 822

Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis ... 485

ee niger 485

Phalera goniophora ae as wee (G4

INDEX OF SPECIES

Phalera parivala ...

Phassus

Phlomis Prec folic

Phoceena phoczena

Phocoderma velutina ee

Phcenicopterus ruber roseus ...

Phragmataecia castaneae

Phyllanthus emblica

nirurii

reticulatus...

Phyllergates cucullatus coronatus

Phylloscopus davisoni davisoni

inornatus inornatus

pulcher pulcher ...

reguloides assamensis

—--——. claudize

Picris hieracioides

Picus xanthopygeeus

Pieris brassicze

—- callidice kalora

—- canidia indica

——- chloridice ...

——- chlorolophus chlorolophoides se

—- daplidice moorei .

——~ napi ajaka...

Pinus khasya

Platalea leucorodia

Platanista gangetica

Platemys leithi

Pluchea indica

—- lanceolata

—- pinnatifida

Plumbago zeylanica

Pnoeepyga pusilla pusilla

Podiceps ruficollis capensis

Polycanthus cupanus

Polyommatus astrarche

——- eros ariana

- galathea galathea

—__———_- metallica metallica

- omphisa ... ;

- orbitulus ellisi ...

pheretes lehana...

~——- vicrama vicrama

[—— eee

Pomatorhinus erythrogenys imberbis.

———— olivaceus ACn

Pompelon marginata

Pongamia glabra

Porthesia scintillans

Portulaca oleracea

Pratapa cleobis

PAGE

824

827

796

508

826

487

827

909

680

909

589

590

589

590

853

470

720

719

720

719 |

592

719 |

719

578 |

486

517

799

854

854.

854

909

985

488

672

733

(33

581

818

909

822

680

736

XX1X

PAGE

Pratapa icetas icetas 736

Precis almana almana ... 651, 729

atlites 6515-729

hierta hierta 729

= magna 650

iphita iphita 651

—_—— Siccata 729

—— lemonias lemonias 651

— ——_ ——- persicaria 729

—_—- orithya ocyale 650

- swinhoei ... 729

Proepyga pusilla pusilla 585

Prothoe calydonia belisama 647

— franckii angelica 647

Psarisomus dalhousie dalhousiz 592

Pseudeutropius garua Dol 00

Pseudergolis wedah 650, 728

Pseudibis papillosa 486

Pseudoblabes oophora ... 819

Pseudogyps bengalensis 476

Pseudominla castaneiceps castaneiceps 582

Pseudoscarus dussumieri 503

- tetrodon ... 494

Psidium guyava 812

Psittacula cyanocephala henealenaiass 472

—- cyanocephala 536

———-——— eupatria nepalensis 472, 536

—— krameri borealis 472

— manillensis 936

Psittiparus gularis gularis 580

Pterocera chiragra 502

——--—— lambis (Trochus) 502

Pterocles exustus ellioti... 478

——-—— indicus 478

Pteroxys goniatus 826

Pteruthius erythropterus penilains 584

Pulicaria crispa ... 854

——.-—— dysenterica 855

——-—— glaucescens 855

Pycnonotus flaviventris cee ventne 585

Pydna 824

Pygeera restitura eeoZo

Pyrostegia venusta 454, 455

Python molurus ... - 669

— — reticulatus ate 669

sebze 669

- spilotes 669

Quercus : 578

Radermachera rele cnegn 812

Ramphalcyon capensis gurial ... 473

799

Rana pusilla

Randia dumetorum

PAGE

909

Rapala extensa God,

- melampus 737

—- micans selira 17,

- nissa nissa 737

- schistacea 730,

- vartna grisea Be ie

Rasbora daniconius W672 075

Rhineodon typicus ae o12

Rhinopalpa polynice birmana... 650

Rhipidura albicollis 588

Rhododendron 578

Rhodogastria astreus 821

Rkodophila ferrea ferrea 586

Rhopodytes tristis longicaudatus 593

--—— - tristis 542

Roeselia albula 819

fola 819

— —— lignifera 819

—— —— nitida 819

—— strigula.. 5 cal’)

Rostratula peoenalenete Berea lefts: 483

Rousettus leachi.. 806

—- jeccheda ait ee 805

——-——- seminudus 809

Samia cynthia 824

Sansiviera zeylanica oar 909

Sarangesa dasahara dasahara ... 739

—-—— purendra 139

Sarcogyps calvus 475

Sarkidiornis melanotos — 487

Satyrium mepalense _.... a0 7182

Saussurea affinis... — «.. 855

—— candicans... s6 ., 009

— lappa Pea FOOD

———— obvallata 857

—— ypoleuca 856

Saxicola caprata burmanica 586

Schoeniparus dubius dubius 982

Scicercus burkii tephrocephala 589

Sclerocarpus africanus 680

Scopelodes pallivittata ... 826

— unicolor 826

———_ ursina cay Royo)

— venosa 826

ne Sp. 910

Senecio densiflorus ne 858

- jacquemontianus 858

———- quinquelobus 858

- tenuifolius 858

Sephisa chandra

oe)

INDEX OF SPECIES ©

PAGE

Sephisa dichroa 727

Serranus mineatus 504

Setora nitens : 826

Siegesbeckia orientalis ... 858

Silybum marianum : 859

Sinthusa chandrana enearenel 738

-nasaka pallidior 738

Sitta frontalis corallina 580

——- magna magna 580

Siva strigula castaneicauda 584

Sclidago virgaurea 860

Sonchus arvensis 860

- — asper 861

— maritimus 861

———— oleraceus 861

Sparganophorus vaillantii 862

Spatula clypeata ... 488

| Spheeranthus africanus 862

~ indicus Cae EOS

Sphenocercus sphenurus SHIGA RES bot) SW)

Sphyreena commersonii 492

Spilanthes acmella 863

— oleracea 864

Spindasis elima uniformis 736

——~—— ictis ictis es. 736

—-—-—— nipalicus nipalicus ... 736

-—- vulcanus vulcanus 736

Stachyridopsis rufifrons rufifrons 582

Stachyris chrysea assimilis 582

Staphidia striata striata... 583

Stauropus alternus 825

eae eee Giluta:-<. : 825

| ——-—— inclusa... in 825

——~-—— sikkimensis ... Pete penn ley)

Stephegyne parvifolia 909

Sterna anglica... otis 664

- anztheta ... 662

- aurantia 484

bengalensis wae) 664

bergii 661, 664

caspia a 664

dougalli 664

hirunde 664

——— longipennis wee 664

—— macroura 664

—— melanogaster 484

—- minuta 665

———— repressa 664

sumatrana 664

Stibochiona 648

——— nicea nicea... 727.

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

Siipniatophora 819

Streptopelia chinensis poratenas en Ty

—-— decaocto decaocto Hig ALS

= ae orientalis agricola MxEooS

Se —- meena ... se aT.

-—— senegalensis cambayensis. 478

Striga spp. AEN Dune SA bPait: 6009

Strix ocellata ... aie ae wae 475

Strychnos potatorum ... me sx <-909

Strymon sassanides a ioe wae F3D

Suana concolor ... we a Se 822,

Suastus gremius grem.us ee ee Nu ou

Surendra quercetorum quercetorum .... 736

Susica pannosa ... nk ee .. ~826

Suthora poliotis fee ... me ee = O00

Suya superciliaris superciliaris ... ie

Symbrenthia hippoclus khasiana 651, 730

hypselis brabira ... noel.

—__—__—_- ——-——- cotanda Perce)

—_—— niphandra hysudra eenae7s OU

Synedrella nodiflora... ibs Pe OOS

Syntarucus plinius aa ‘et prow

Syntomis ... a aps a, reno

Sypheotides ee aes oc wee 455

Syrichthus galba .. ites eo

Taccocua leschenaultii ee cHenawnee . 472

Tagetes erecta... ves ie O00

Tagiades litigiosa litigiosa _... SARs eh,

- menaka te sie ee Oo)

Tajuria cippus cippus ... 6 Pe aod

--.Gigsus:: ... Set eee sve 2400

Tanacetum aticnioetm Sealy ieee OOO

-—— gracile ne ee ae) 800

Taphozous kachhensis ... ee ase | O06

—— melanopogon ae we 006

Taractrocera danna _... ome eae, efAO

-— meevius Sagara ... fen Ga0

Taraxacum officinale ... ae Se O00

Tarucus alteratus is ae ave $onk

~-_——- — callinaria Re o ee oll!

——-——. extricatus oe: os net

—-—~— nigra ... es ae Sr per cosil

-—-———— venosus venosus oe oer sol

Taxila haquinus fasciata BS ves: OOS

thuisto sawaja_... ae OZ

Tecoma australis ek sist OSS

— capensis Se sia wos | 004

—-——- grandiflora Be ee see OOF)

— jasminoides.... et eee totes

- radicans See ses ae | O86

Stans. ie.s sie x pee OSS:| |

Tecomaria capensis

Tectona grandis

Teldenia vestigiata :

Tephrodornis gularis pelvicus

Terias hecabe fimbriata.

laeta laeta

——— libythea

Terminalia tomentosa

Tesia cyaniventer

Tetrodon ballistes

Thecla ataxus ataxus

bieti dohertyi

birupa

icana

syla syla ae’

Thereiceryx zeylanicus caniceps

Thiacidas postica

Thosea bisura

-——-- cana .

——- cervina ... ee oe.

———- loesa

- tripartita

| Threskiorius melanocephala

Thyatira batis

Thyrassia philippina

Tigrioides puncticollis ..

Tockus birostris

Tor hamiltonii

Trabala vishnu

Tragopogon porrifolium |

[7 =~ = PLaAtGNoe™ sec

Tribura sp? awe nek

Trichogyia semifascia

Tricholepis angustifolia

—. eae wee

Tridacna

Tringa Srnrance

glareola

he ae

ochropus ..

aerate

XXX1

PAGE

684

909

HN eeoce

Trochalopteron enyiavoce pula ram-

sayl

-—— ripponi

Tros aristolochize aristolochiz

—— dasarada ravana

-—— philoxenus philoxenus

Trypanophora dissimilis

javanica

luzonensis

- semihyalina

—_—

823

988

721

909

586

494

735

739

735

471

821

826

486

-818

820

473

522

823

e867,

ee +: 867

589

. 826

868

495

485

581

717

Te,

(Uf

818

ExXX1i

Trypanophora tabrobanes

Turdus obscurus obscurus

Turneza acuta

Turnix dussumieri

——-~- inaculatus maculatus ...

suscitator taijoor

Tussilago farfara

Tyto alba subsp ...

Udaspes folus _... =e

Unpenoides Bas ise

Upupa epops ceylonensi

epops

Utetheisa lotrix

——-—— pulchella

Vanessa canace canace

-—— himalaya

—— —.- cardui

cashmirensis aesis

— — egea cognata

———— indica indica

——-——. ladakensis

— urtice rizana...

—— -

——_—— xanthomelas fervescens

Varanus sp.

Vernonia cinerea

~ eleagnifolia

- roxburghii

- teres

Virachola isocrates

-— perse perse

Vitex negundo

Volutarella divaricata

Wallago attu

INDEX OF SPECIES

PAGE

818

586

824

482

593

482

868

475

739

497

474

820

651

729

651, 729

730

729

651, 729

729

730

669

680, 870

871

737

73é

909

871

556

Wedelia calendulacea

— wallichii

Xanthium strumarium

Xanthixus flavescens viridis

Xantholema hemacephala indica

Xenorhynchus asiaticus asiaticus

Xyleutes kochi

————- nephocosma

nigra

— strix

Yoma sabina vasuki

Ypthima asterope mahratta

— avanta avanta

— baldus baldus ...

-———— hubneri hubneri

-—__—— — indecora

— sakra nikrea...

-— nareda nareda

Zemeros flegyas indicus

Zetides cloanthus

sarpedon sarpedon

Zeuzera cofteze

Zizeeria gaika

——~—- lysimon

————- otis otis

———- maha maha

— trochilus trochilus

Zizyphus oenoplia

— trinervia

Zoothera marginata

Zosterops erythropleura |

| —---—-—-- palpebrosa ...'

PAGE

87]

872

585

47]

486

827

650

725

726

725

652

718

827

734

741

733

909

587

591

991

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

OFFICE BEARERS, 1940

Patron

H. E. The Viceroy of India, G.M.s.1., G.C.M.G., G.M.1.E., G.B.E,

Vice-Patrons

. H. The Nizam of Hyderabad, G.C.S.1., G.B.E.

. The Maharaja of Baroda, G.C.I.E.

. The Maharaja of ‘Travancore, G.C.1.E.

. The Maharao of Cutch, G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.

vihetMaharajavof Jodhpur, G.G.ik., K.C.S.1., K.C.v.0.

. The Maharajadhiraj of Patiala.

. The Maharaja of Rewa, K.C.S.I.

. The Maharaja of Bhaviagar, K.C.S.1.

. The Nawab of ees GC, ij CS o0:

Sir David Ezra, A?., F.Z.S

A.S. Vernay, Esq.

Lt.-Col. K. G. Gharpurey, I.m.s. (Retd.).

W.S. Millard, Esq., F.z.s.

ca be bt A tt

Pied omere lye 5 eeeyeatte ely ke

Benefactor

Mr. C. O. O’Donnell, U.S.A.

President

H. H. Sir Roger Lumley, G.¢.i:E., D.L.

Vice-Presidents

H. K. The Maharao of Cutch, G.c.S.1., G.C.1.E.

Revd. Father J. F. Caius, S.J., F.L.S.

Rt. Revd. R. D. Acland, m.a.

Executive Committee

Mr. Farrokh E. Bharucha oe a ... Bombay

Mr. A. Forrington ah

Mr. J. B. Greaves, C.B.E., M.L.A., J.P.

Mr. M. J. Hackney

Mr. R. E. Hawkins

Mr. D. G. Hill, F.R.G.S., J.P.

Dr. M. Sharif, D.Sc., Ph.D., F.N.I.

Lt.-Col. S. S. Sokhey, I.M.s.

Lt.-Col. W. C. Spackman, I.M.s

Mr. F. Wadia

Mr. H. M. McGusty GOR eras en ana T. Sonenyen)

» AQKD

3 AN 14 {942

xxxiV OFFICE BEARERS

Advisory Committee

Mr. Salim Ali Re

Dr, C. F.C. Beeson, D.Sc., M.A., LFE.S.

Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton, 1.4. (Retd.) ee Zp

Mr. C. H. Donald, F.z.s

Dr. F. H. Gravely, D.Sc

Mr. C. M. Inglis, B.E. M.B.O.U., F.Z.S.

Capt. R. C. Morris, F.Z.S., F.R.G.S.

Major E. G. Phythian-Adams, F.z.S.,

Dr. Baini Prashad, D.sc.

Mr. H. C. Smith, 1-F.s.

Lt.-Col. C. G. Toogood, C.1.E., D.S.O.

Mr. James L. H. Williams

Dehra Dun.

Bangalore.

Dharmsala.

Kodaikanal.

Darjeeling.

Coimbatore.

Bangalore.

Calcutta.

Rangoon, Burma.

Dehra Dun.

Coimbatore.

LIST OF MEMBERS

LIFE MEMBERS

Abdulali, Humayun N. :

Aga Khan, H. H. Aga Sir rites Nestiome SHaHe

(G.C.S.1., G.C.1.E.) ay ws

Aitken, C. E. os

Ali, Hamid A. (I.C. S.)

Armitage, Capt. A. E. (R.E.) ee

Armstrong, Dr. J. Scaife (M.B., Ch. B., D.T.M. & H. ve

Aylesford, The Right Hon’ble The Earl of

Bahawalpur, H. H. The Nawab Capt., Sir Sadiq

Mohammad Khan Abassi (K.C.V.0., G.C I.E.)

Baini Prashad, Dr. (D.sc.)

Baker, E. C. Stuart (C.I.E., F.Z.S.)

Bansda, H. H. Mee cal Shri Indra Singhji Pratap

Singhji, Raja Saheb of

Baroda, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Pratapsinh | Gxsaat

(G.C.1.E.) (Vice-Patron) e:

Bates, Major R.S.P. (1.A., M.B.O.U.) Ke

Bhavnagar, H. H. The Maharajah Shri oth iehetne

Kumar Singhji (K.c.s.1.) (Vice-Patron)

Bhavnagar, Kumar Shri Dharmakumar Sinhji

Bhopal, H. H. Col. Sir Mahommad Hamidullah nen

Bahadur (G.C.S.1., C.S.1., C.V.0.)

Bikaner, Lt.-General H. H. The Matenaia Shri Sir

Gunga Singhji Bahadur (G.C.S,1., G.C.1.E., G.C.V.0.,

GEbs K.C.Bi A. D.C, LE sD)

Bikaner, Capt. H. H. Maharaj Kumar

Singhji Bahadur (C.v.o.)

Bilaspur, H. H. Raja Anandchand

Bodenham, Count K. Lubienski

Bradshaw, J. P. o:

Bridgeman, Lt.-Col. Hom ble H.

Brogk, Carton. © ies wee

Burton, Brig.-Gen. R. G :

Burton, Lt.-Col. Richard W. (1.4. Retd.)

Bute, he Most Hon’ble The Marquis of

Caccia, Major A. M. (1.F.s.)

Cambay, H. H. Nawab Hussain Yayalkhan Jafar Ali-

khan Saheb Bahadur ; Pe

Carter, Lt.-Col.H. St. M. (D.S.0., M.c.)

Chhota-Udepur, Maharawal Natwar Sinhji F.

Christopher, Sydney A. (Bar-at-Law)

Clarke, LO. (¢.1.8., 1.C-.S.)

Clutterbuck, Major J. E. (R.E.).. os

Clutterbuck, Sir Peter (K/., C.1.E., C.B.E. ee

O; eles

Shri Sadul

Bombay.

Europe.

Poona.

Mussoorie,

Bangalore:

New Zealand.

England.

Bahawalpur.

Calcutta.

England.

Bansda.

Baroda.

England.

Bhavnagar.

Bhopal.

Bikaner.

Bilaspur. -

London,

England.

Ban yalore.

London.

England.

Cambay.

London.

Chhota-Udepur.

Rangoon.

London,

Bombay.

Srinagar,

XXXvi LIST OF MEMBERS

Cooch Behar, H. H. The Maharaja a wee

Narayan Bhup Bahadur as :

Coode, John M. ;

Corkill, Dr. Norman L. (m.B. veh, B.)

Craw, H. H.(I.C.S.)

Crawford, W. M. (F.£.s., I.C. S.) lore ta: )

Cron, Herman 3 :

Culbertson, J. M.S. (A.M.I.C.E. e

Cutch, H, H. The Maharao Sir Shri Keen Sawai

Bahadur (G.C.S.1., G.C.1.E.) (Vice-Patron and

Vice-President)

Cutch, Kumar Shri Godji

Cutting, C. Suydam ...

Dalal, Miss Meherbai P. M.

Dalal, Miss Perin P. M.

Dalal, R. D.

D’Almeida, J. F. R. Ge M. See

Dhar, H. H. The Maharaja Anandrao Busan Bane

dur ies — vi ae

Dharampur, H. H. The Maharana Shree Vijayadevji

Rana, Maharaja Saheb of

Dhrangadhra, H. H. Maharana Sri Sir Gnanenvae

Sinhji (K.C.S I.) os ane

Drake-Brockman, Lt.-Col. H. E. © ZS ee)

Dungarpur, H. H. Rai Rayan Maharajadhirs: Mahara-

wal Shri Sir Lakshman Singhji Bahadur (x.c.s.1.).

Duxbury, Brigadier C. D. ae ae oa

Elgee, Colonel J. W. L.

Ellison, Bernard C. (C.M.Z.S., F.R.G.S.)

English, E. E.

Erb, E.

Ezra, Alfred (0.B.E., F.Z.S.) oe

Ezra, Sir David, Kt. ( Vice-Patron)

Frey, Max

Gauripur, Raja Probhatchandien Bats

Gharpurey, Lt.-Col. K. G. (1.m.s.) (Vice-Patron)

Gonsalves, A. F. ae ie

Gregory-Smith, Cap. H. G

Harris, Jr., William P.

Holkar, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Pukosi Rio

Hopwood, S. F. (1.F.S.)

Hotson, Sir Ernest (K.C.S.I.,

Hoyos, Count E. ae ve

Husbands, Major H. W.S. (M.c., A.M.I.C.E., S.M.R.E.)

Hyderabad, H. E. H. The Nizam Sir Usman Alikhan

Bahadur (G.C.S.1., G.B.E.) (Vice- Patron)

Ichhalkaranji, The Hon’ ble Meberban Nareveni

Govind alias Babasahab Ghorpade

H. H. Maharaja Shri Himmat Singhji anes

Bahadur

Indore, H. H. The Nenaraga Sir

Holkar (G.C.1.E.) me

O.BEMLC.S))

Idar,

Velnawantie

Cooch Behar.

England.

Khartoum,

Rangoon.

Ireland.

New York.

England.

Bhuj-Cutch.

Cutch.

New York.

Bombay.

England.

Bandra.

Dhar State.

Dharampur.

Dhrangadhra.

England.

Dungarpur.

England.

London.

England.

Switzerland.

London.

Calcutta.

Switzerland.

Gauripur.

Poona.

Bandra.

Nairobi.

U.S.A.

Indore.

Rangoon.

England.

Austria.

London.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Ichhalkaranji.

Himatnagar.

Indore.

LIST OF MEMBERS XX xVii

Inglis, Chas. M. (&.Z.S., B.E.M.B.0.U.) —... .. Darjeeling.

Ivens, J. H. (P.W.D.) See England.

Jaipur State, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Sawai Mae:

Singhji, (G.C.1.E.) Jaipur.

Jamkhandi, Shrimant Seneriso Pyeonuesnns

alias Appasaheb Patwardhan Jamkhandi.

Janjira State, H. H. Nawab Sidi Munemmiadichan

Nawabsaheb See .. Janjira-Murud.

Jind,-H.. HH. ee Sir Ranvic Singh (Cassis

G.C.1.E.) Jind.

Jodhpur, Lt.-Col. H. HL The Mangini’ ‘Sir maid

sing’)? Bahadur., AG5-.C:S:1.) 9 KC: v.0. ae ace

Patron) ee .. Jodhpur.

Junagadh, His Highness Nawab ‘Gt (K5C5S;.1.5.G.C.1.E; .)

(Vice-Patron) ... ... Junagadh.

Kaiser Shumsher Jung Banda Rana, S, Ed Com-

manding-Gen. ... Soe “st ... Nepal.

Kerr rs As is G. os. sea .. England.

Khetri, Raja Sirdar Singh Banacnn ae ««» . Khefri.

Khilchipur, H. H. Durjansal Singh oe ae Whichipur.

Kirk-Greene, Mrs. Leslie a ais oa -LLORGOn,;

Kotah, H. H. Shri Bhim Seni Sahib Bahadur

Maharao of so ae ny .. Kotah.

Laurie, M. V. (1.F.s.) A vas .. Dehra Dun.

Lewis, J. Spedan ae ae See ... London.

Lloyd-Smith, Wilton ... oe a ..» Wew Work.

Long, G. R. Se .. England.

Lorimer, Lt.-Col. D. iy Roof @.IcB si A.)) "se: «- London.

Lowndes, Major Donald, G. Beis obs .. Belgaum.

Ludlow, F. (M.A., M.B.O.U., I.E.S., O.B.E.) .. wsrinagar,

Lynes, Rear Agarieal Herbert (C.B., C.M.G. ) 2. London:

Mackenzie, J. M. D. = .. scotland.

Mahmudabad, Raja MEReminee sete Ahmedkhan .... Mahmudabad.

Mandlik, Sir Narayan V. sie Be ... Bombay.

Mangrol, ‘The Shaikh Saheb _... Mangrol.

Mayurbhanj, H. H. The ee Pe anenandes

Bhanj Deo see ae .. Baripada.

McConaghy, Lt.-Col. C. B. (1.M.s.) sae 1s) nolan.

Mess Secretary, 3/17th Dogra Regiment ... .. Lahore,

Mess Secretary, 1/10th Gurkha Rifles me, .. Quetta.

Milbardl AWW Betts aes .. England.

Millard, W. S. (F.Z.S.) (Vice- =Pavon) Sus a

Miraj, Shrimant Raja Saheb N. T. Patwardhan .- Miraj Sr.

Montagnon, D. J. — ... ee ei ... Dibrugarh.

Monteath, G. (I.C.S.) (Retd.) ... England.

Morvi, H. H. The Maharajah Sir Tanenenean Waghii

(G;B.E.3K:C.S.1.) at .« Morvi.

Mosse, Lt.-Col., A. H. E. (C15. 6 ee .. England.

Murland, Lt. Col. H.F. ws Coorg.

Mysore, H. H. Sri Jayachamaraja Wadaivar Bahadur. Mysore.

Nam joshi; Wake. | 7... ae hea ... Bombay.

Naraenji Dwarkadas

XXX Viii LIST OF MEMBERS

Narayanlal Bansilal, Raja wis nae

Narsingarh, H. H. Raja Sir Vikram Singhs Sahib

Bahadur (K.C.1.E.)

Nawanagar, H. H. The

Sir Digvijiaysinhji (G.C.S.1.

Nepal, Lt: . General

Bahadur Rana ses

Nepal, Supradipta Mangan | feoneral Sir

Shumshere Jung Bahadur Rana (K.C.1.E,)

Newman, I. He (F:Z:S., M.B.0:U;)

Noyce, Sir Frank (1.C.S., K.c.s1.,

Oberholser, Harry C.

O’Donnell, C. O. (Benefactor)

Ogilvie, G. H. (1.F.S.)

Pages, J: GS.)

Palitana, H. H. The Thaker Saheb Shri Sir BAuaaUe

Sinhyi (X°C.S.1.,°.C.1.E. )

Parlakimedi, Shri Krishnachandra Gajapen Navayan

Deo, Maharaja of aa

Parlett, L. M. (1.C.S.) (Retd.)

Patiala, H. H. Shri 108 Manariadnirs Momence

Bahadur ( Vice- Patron) -

Patiala, Rao Raja Capt. Birindra Singhji

Patiala, Maharaj Kumar'Capt. Brijindra Singhji

Patuck, Poo. (1:C.S;)) (Retd.)

Peacock, E.:H. (B.F.S.) (Retd.)

Pestonji Jivanji (N.G.S.) es ge ae

Petit, Dhunjibhoy Bomanji ase ae “he

Petit, Jehangir Bomanji

Porbundary i. i, The Manarar Shri Neer Sian

Bhavs -nghji re

Rae, Lt.-Col. M. E. (1.a.) (Retd.)

Rajpipla, H. H. Maharaja Shri

(K-C:Si1.)

Reid, Mrs. D. W.

Rewa, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Culabemes Banadur

(K.C.S.1., G.C.1.E.) (Vice-Patron) :

Roosevelt, Kermit

Roosevelt, Col. ‘Theodore

Rose, Major Tyrell

Sanders, Col. C. W.

Sanderson, Henry

Sangli, Meherban Sir Sarma. Chintamaitae Dene

NAME ree Sameancn

PUR CMB. ): ose

Shankar Shumshers Jung

Mohun

OFBEES)

Sir Vijaysinhji

Saheb Patwardhan (K.C.S.1.) ue Hed

Savile, Sir Leopold (K.C.B., M.I.C.E.)

Schmid, W.

Sewal, Rai Bahadur Dr. Ram Narain (M.B., F.R.C.S.E.,

M.R C.P.E., etc.) ..

Sry mourcevell Lt. Col. RK. DB: (x. MSS2)) Poses

Sirmoor, H. H. Maharaja Rajendra Prakash Eaaceres

Smith, Major G. De Heriez aes Kp os

Smith, H. C. (1.F.s.) oe x a

Bombay.

Narsingarh,

Jamnagar.

Nepal.

London,

Washington, D.C.

USS vas

Rangoon.

London.

Palitana.

Parlakimedi.

England.

Patiala.

England.

Africa.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Bombay.

””

Porbundar.

Edinburgh.

Rajpipla.

Poona.

Rewa.

U2So A.

England.

Delhi.

LOL Rove.

sangli.

England.

Switzerland.

Gorakhpur.

London.

Nahan.

Ootacamund.

Burma

LIST OF MEMBERS

Spence, Dr. Arthur D. (M.B., Ch.B.) (Edin. )

Spence, Sir Reginald (A?7., F.Z.S.) ee

Standen, Sir B. (K.c.1.8., I.C.S.) (Retd.) ...

Stanton, W. C. fi

Stewart, C. G. (1.P.8., M.A. ESR

Studd, E.

Suket Suit Heo. Raia Taeeninad Ssh a

Surguja, Maharaja Ramanuj Saran Singh Deo (C.B.E.)

Swaine, J. K.

Swithinbank, Mrs. B. W.

Tehri-Garhwal, H. H. Meare Sir Narendia Shah

Saheb Bahadur (K.C.S,.1., LL.D.) Sie

Thomson-Glover, Lt.-Col. J. W. (C.B.E.) .

‘Travancore, The Game Warden

Odaipur, H. H. The Maharana Sahib Banede

(G.C.S.1. ) fh bi

Vaughan, Capt. William (F.E.S. ) Se

Venning, Brigadier F. E. W. (C.B.E., D.S.0.)

Vernay, A. S. (Vice-Patron) ... oe

Vesugar, Jamshed (P.W.D.)

Waite, H. W. (1.P.) ...

Walker, Roland

Wankaner, Maharaj Kumar Shee Chandratnanusinehi.

Wauchope, Major R.S. (1.4.)

Whistler, Hugh (M.B.0.U.., F.Z.S.)

Williamson, Sir W. J. F. (C.M.G., M.B.O.U. ) ee

Wilson, Sir Arnold (C.S.1., C.M. & peStO. KC Be) eee

Windsor, H. R. H. The Duke of ee

Wyndham, P..(C:B:E., 1-C:S.)\ <.. vee

MEMBERS

Abel, John

Acharya, H. N. ae, B.A.)

Acland, Rt. Rev. R. D. (Bishop of Bonbay

Adam, Capt. A. de. B. is ae

Agha, Capt. J. G.

Aitken, J. E.

Akalkot, Shrimant Wiiavasiiede Fatchsinhitac Rae

Bhosle

Alfrey, J. I. i.

Ali, Salim, (M.B.O.U. ) ves Sis

Ali, Sayed Mohammad (M.N.S.T., U.S.A.) ...

Alington, Major N.S. (m.c.) aie oe

Ali-Rajpur, Maharaj Kumar Lt.-Col. Fattehsinh

(F.R.G.S.) : FF ae ae

Ambalal Sarabhai rp

American Museum of Natural History, The Tibraiet

XXxix

England.

London.

England,

Rangoon.

England.

Suket.

Surguja.

London.

England.

Tehri.

Punjab.

Travancore.

Udaipur.

Canada.

England.

England and U.S. iy

Simla.

Rawalpindi.

London.

Wankaner.

England.

Africa,

Peshawar.

Ahmedabad.

Bombay.

Peshawar.

a)’

Ajmer,

Akkalkot.

Bombay.

Dehra Dun.

Cawnpore,

Indore.

Ali Rajpur.

Ahmedabad.

New York, U.S.A.

Anderson, John S. .-- Bombay.

Anderson-Morshead, Capt. R. y. .. England.

Andrews, E. A. ‘ee ee London.

Arathoon, J.D. L. ..,. are Indore.

- gC LIST OF MEMBERS

ASD he: ie ae -

Ashby, Major R. T. ay A.)

Atkinson, D. J. (1.F.s.)

Auchinleck, H. E. Genl. Sir Claude, Gee ooh,

D.S:0:; O:B.8.)

Aundh, Ghraanear S. Panteahen Beadniahi, Chief of.

Aerenen Museum, The Secretary

Avdall, Miss A.

Badhwar, F. C. iP ea

Bahadurji, D..N. (Bar--at-law) ...

Bailey, Lt.-Col. F. M. (c.1.8.)

Baker, A. H. sac

Baker, Miss W. H. se

Bale Sons and Staples, Ltd., Meds tS. Ohn) s;

Ball See.

Balrampur, Maharaja Tea neern eed Singh

Bam, M. T.

Baria, i. soi ike Seetee “Sir Renji Sienies

(EvCiSi-)

Baria, Mrs. D. D. H. (en SGa)) aa: ste s

Barne, N.-H. me

Baroda, The Commissioner of Aericnane

Baron, C. G,

Barreit, A. B. vas ae et He

Barrett, H. B. (1.F.s.) av ae oes

Barry, Miss Agnes T. oer BAS

Basu, B.

Batra, Rai Saheb R. it, (BAG, Te B.)

Battye, Capt. R.-K. M. (1.4.)

Baudh State, Raja Narayan Prasad Deo.

Baxter. Ne Bb.

Bazett, H. M. e

Beadnell, C. B. (D.S.0.)

Bedi, Major Kanwar Daya Caen

Beeson, Dr. C. F. C. (M.A., D.Sc., F.E.S.) ...

Beg, Nawab Nazir Jung Bonace Mirza Nazir

Begbie, Lt.-Col. A. S. ce oe:

Belayew, Dimitry D.

Belgium, Le Directeur, Musee Royal d’ Histoire

Naturelle de Belgique

Bell, T. R. (C.1.E.)

Bell, W. E.

Bengal, H. E. The oe mnor a

Benthall, Sir Edward rs cee mae

Berlie, Dr. H. C. (M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.T.M.H.)

Bernard, J. L.

Betts, F. N. =

Bhagvat, Prof. L. N. ce sc.)

Bharucha, Farrokh E. wos

Bhatt, Madhavlal Makanji, J. P.

Bhinga Raj, Raja Birendra Kant Singh eaneD

Bhosle, Miss Lilabai ... an any

Biddulph, C,H. “<:.

England.

Peshawar.

Rangoon.

New Delhi and Simla.

Aundh.

Sydney.

Calcutta.

Mussorie,

Bombay.

. London,

Bombay.

Lahore.

London.

Balrampur.

Meertt.

Baria.

Bombay.

England.

Baroda.

Shillong.

Sylhet.

Myitkyina.

Ahmedabad.

Bombay.

Bharatpur.

Indore:

Baudh-Raj.

Jamshedpur.

Rangoon,

Kotagiri.

Loralai.

Dehra Dun.

Hyderabad, Dn.

London.

Baghdad.

Brussells.

Karwar.

Rangoon.

Calcutta.

Selang Hat.

Bombay.

England.

Bombay.

Bhinga.

Kolhapur.

Trichinopoly.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Bihar, H. E. The Governor of ... ae

Bihar, The Conservator of Forests

Billimoria, N. M.

Bingham, G. H.

Birch, C. V.

Blair, Dr: D._P. ie)

Blomfield, F. B. (F.R.1.B.A., F.S.I.)

Blundell, Mrs. Kathleen I. we ase

B. N. Railway, Station Executive Officer ...

Boag, oir G. 1. (C.S,ic, K.¢.1.8,, 1.C.S.)

Bobbili, The Raja of, (K.C.1.8.)

Bolitho, Capt. E. H. W. (R.F.aA.)

Bombay, H. E. The Governor of

Bor, N. L. (M.A., D.Sc., F.L.S., I.F.S.)

Borradaile, Major TW.

Boyd, Lt.-Col. J. E. M. (eas

Boyle, Major C. L. vee

Braund, H. E. W.

Bridge; M. F,. (1-5.8,)

Bruce-Steer, Major J. M.

Buckland, Dr. F. E, (R.A.M.c.)

Budd, B. W. (I.C.S.) ...

Buckwell, Capt, B.A., (R.A.)

Burder, John H. -

Burma, H. E. The Governor ie

Burnett, Major R. R. (0.B.£.)

Caius, Rev. John F. (S.J.)

Calcutta Zoological Gardens. The Honora a eeclag

Caldwell, John M.

Cambridge, University Maxeuin

Superintendent

Cameron, E. G.

Campbell, S. re <

Capito, C. Erik (0.B.E., M.INST. C.E.) ;

Captain, Mrs. Alice H. C. is eee

Cardew, Col. C. G, (R.E.)

Carnegie Museum, The Director

Cassell, R. H.

Castens, H. E. (1.F.s. )

Cave; Capt; F.O.

Central Provinces & Berar,

Chamberlain, E. Burnham

Chamier, Lt.-Col. R. O. (C.1.E.)

Champion, F. W. (I.F.S.)

Champion, H. G. (1.F.s.)

Champion, Rev. M.G.

Champion-Jones, R. N.

Chance, P. V. (B.A., T.C.D.)

Chandler, C. E. E.

Channer,

Chaudhri, C. M. (1.F.s.) a

Chevenix-Trench, C. G. (I.C. S.) ;

of Zecloca

The

H. E. The Governor of

Brigadier G. O. De R. (Gone M.C. hae ey:

xli

Bihar.

Hinoo.

Karachi.

Travancore.

New Zealand.

Liverpool.

Delhi.

Bombay.

Khargpur.

Madras.

Bobbili.

Bombay.

Dehra Dun.

Malta.

England.

Rangoon.

England.

Bombay.

Lahore.

Mirpurkhas.

Meerut.

Calcutta.

Burma.

Simia.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Panighatta.

Cambridge.

Nilgiris.

Bara Jamda.

England.

Bandra.

Poona.

U.S.A.

Moniarah.,

Rangoon.

England.

Cres

Caroliua, U.S.A.

New Delhi.

Naini Tal.

Roorkee.

Valparai.

Nagpur,

Assam.

Peshawar.

Ranchi.

England.

xiii LIST OF MEMBERS

Chisholm; Di. Ee ice. or

Chopra, Dr. BN. (D7se:, ere

Christie, S. F.

Christison, Brig. A. F. 2 (M. a eae

Clayton, Dr. R. V. (V.D., M.B., B.S., D.P.H., D.M.R.E.)

Clee, C.. B: Bete g., 1. CS) ae. at

Clough Ra Je oe soe tee ;

CLUBS—

Belgaum Club, The Honorary Secretary

Bengal Club, Ltd., The Secretary J

Bombay Club, The Honorary Secretary ...

Bombay Gymkhana Ltd., The Secretary ...

Byculla Club, The Honorary Secretary ... cae

Cachar Club Co, Ltd. r aes on

Central Provinces Club, Ltd. ene

Club of Western India, The Pancras Secretary

Darjeeling Club, Ltd. aes ns 500

Mawlaik Gymkhana Club, The Honorary Secretary.

Muktesar Club, The Honorary Secretary

Ranikhet, The Club, The Honorary Secretary

Roya! Bombay Yacht Club, The Secretary

Sind Club, ‘The Honorary Secretary

Srinagar Club, The Secretary oa

Wellington Gymkhana Club, The Secretary

Willingdon Sports Club, The Secretary ...

Cole, Lt.-Col. B.L.. See

COLLEGES AND Somer InstrrurroNns—

Agriculture Library, The Officer-in-Charge

Agricultural College and Research Institute, The

Librarian ts

Ajmer, Government College

Allahabad Agricultural Institute

American College, The Bursar a

Barnes High School, The Head Master ...

Baroda College, The Principal

Bengal Agricultural Institute ...

Bose Institute, The Director

Burma Forest School, The Director

Calcutta, The Presidency College

Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine aa Hiywicae.

The Director Ei

Carmichael Medical College, The PHnelpal

Central Research Institute, ‘The Director

China, The Science Society of China Library

Chulalengkorn University Library

Daly College, The Principal

Dartmouth College, The Librarian

Dayaram Jetharam Sind College

Forest Research Institute, The Forest Botanic

Forest Research Institute and College, The President.

Government Victoria College ... a

Gujarat College, The Principal ae } eae

Calcutta.

Bombay.

London.

Africa.

Karachi.

Calcutta.

Belgaum.

Calcutta.

Bombay.

>”

Cachar.

Nagpur.

Poona.

Darjeeling.

Mawlik.

Muktesar.

Ranikhet.

Bombay.

Karachi.

Srinagar.

Wellington.

Bombay.

Jaipur.

Cawnpore.

Coimbatore.

Ajmer.

Allahabad.

Madura.

Deolali.

Baroda.

Tejgaon (Dacca).

Calcutta.

Pyinmana.

Calcutta.

Kasauli

Nanking.

Bangkok.

Indcre.

Hanover, U.S.A.

Karachi.

Dehra Dun.

Palghat.

Ahmedabad.

LIST OF MEMBERS

COLLEGES AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS—continued

Gwalior, Victoria'College, The Principal

Haffkine-Institute, The Director

Indian Lac Research Institute

Indian Forest Ranger College, The Director

Institute of Plant Industry, The Director

Intermediate College Association

Islamia College, The Principal

Karnatak College, The Principal

King Institute, The Director ...

La Martiniere College, The Principal

Lingnan University Library

Ludhiana, Government College, The Principal

Madras Christian College, The Librarian

Maharaja’s College, The Principal

Medical College, The Principal

Mrs, A. V. N. College, The Principal

Nowrosjee Wadia College, The Principal

Oakgroove School, The Principal

Osmania University Coilege Library

Osmania University, Head of Botany

Pittapur Rajah’s College, The Principal

Presidency College, The Principal se

Queen Mary’s High School _... Jee sot

Rajaram College, The Principal Ae Se

Ravenshaw College, The Principal

Royal College of Medicine, The Professor

Royal Institue of Science, The Principal ...

Samaldas College, The Professor of Botany

Secondary Training College, The Principal

St. Berchman’s College, The Principal

St. Mary’s High School, The Rector

Trivandrum, H. H. Maharaja’s College for Women

University College, ‘Che Principal

University College, The Principal

Vanita Vishram Training College

Victoria Technical Institute, The camer

Wilson College, The Principal

Women’s Christian College, The Natural Sciences.

Woodstock School, The Biology Teacher

Colombo Museum, The Librarian

Colvin, Lt.-Col. E. J. D. (1.4., C.1.E.)

Congreve, C. R. T.

Connell, F.-J. a

Connor, Maj.-General Sir eas (Wes, D.S.O., F.R.C.S.,

I.M.S.) : a wee Sc

Conservator of Forests a

' Conservator of Forests, Bhopal State

Conservator of Forests, Cochin Government

Conservator of Forests, Working Plan Circle

Conservator of Forests, The Chief

Conservator of Forests, The Chief ase

xliii

Gwalior.

Bombay.

Namkum.

Dehra Dun.

Indore.

Bangalore.

Peshawar.

Dharwar.

Guindy.

Lucknow.

Canton.

Ludhiana.

‘Tambaram.

Ernakulam.

Vizagapatam.

Poona.

Mussoorie.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Cocanada.

Madras.

Bombay.

Kolhapur.

Cuttack.

Baghdad.

Bombay.

Bhavnagar.

Bombay.

Changanacherry.

Bombay.

Trivandrum.

Rangoon.

Colombo.

Bombay.

Nagpur.

Bombay.

Madras.

Mussoorie.

Colombo.

England.

Nilgiris.

Karachi.

England.

Baroda State.

Bhopal.

Trichur.

Maymyo.

Bombay.

Srinagar.

xliv LIST OF MEMBERS

Conservator of Forests

Corlett, J. N. ie ue ae

Cowasji Jehangir Sir, (Bart. K.C.1I.E., O.B.E )

Cowper, G. St. John mae

Cox, ©... C.A(Ca hee Pres ,ahZ.S)) i ae

Coyajee, Miss Ratnabai H. sce so ate

Craker, P. W. (0.B.E.) A

(DEAS 4) te

Crawford, William G.

Critchley, G. = aot

Crofton, R. MS (Cis. C:S3). =

Croix; -O.4H de" st...

Crombie, A.(Dea(C.1.2.,

Currie, A. J. a

Currie, M.M.L. (L.C.S.) :

Dabholkar, Lt.-Col. A. Y. (1.M.s. $.)

Dalal, Merwanjee Bomanjee oe ast

Dalal, M.oR2 M. Po “6

L.C.S.)

Danta State, H. H. The Mataranad Sahib Bahadur

(K.C.S.1.) ; a re

Darjeeling, The Gruater, Nat. tice Mus.

Daver, Framroze, A. Ae

Daver, The Houle Mr. J, D. (Bae ata)

Davies srl Geb (AR. SM, ST.MoloP. Dae

Davies, Major V. K. N. (1.4.)

Pavis,, DD. (G.8:S.)

Davis, The Hon’ble Sir Gaarey (Atoms C, S.)

Davis, P. W. (1.F.S.)

Davis, Dr. W. St. T.

Dee, Lionel es

De Haas, C.P.Ji. tes

Delacour, Mons. Jean ae ante

Deo, Raja Sri Balavadra Maran Bhunj

DeRhe Philipe, G. W. V. (F.E.S.)

The Besch-

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,

affungsamt ue sh ata

Deutsches Entomologisches Institut der Kaiser

Wilhelm

Dewas Sr., H. H. Nanaia vate Saran

Dewas Junior, H. H. the Maharaja Saheb of

Dewas Junior, Shreemant Capt. Y.B. Pawar, Yuvaraj,

Dewas Junior Branch eae eae sce

Dickins, M. J. eee

Dickson, Lt.-Col. H. R. P. (c.1. =) AF

Dinajpur, Maharaja Jagadish Nath Ray ...

Director of Museums, S. S. & F. M. States

Dods, W. K. ey

Donald, C. H. (F.z. 8.) aoe

Donald, Capt. J. O.S.

Donovan, Lt.-Col. C. (1.m.s.)

Douglas, I. A. (D.S.P.)

Orissa.

Holkar State.

N.W.F.P.

England.

Bombay.

Nagpur.

Bombay.

London.

Tharrawaddy.

Bombay.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Nagpur.

Madras.

London.

Poona.

Bombay.

»)

Danta-Bhavangadh.

Darjeeling.

Bombay.

Khaur.

Bombay.

Karachi.

Coimbatore.

Cachar.

Coimbatore.

Java.

France.

Keonjhargarh.

London.

Berlin.

Dewas Sr.

Dewas Ir.

Bombay.

Persia.

Dinajpur.

Kuala Lumpur.

Calcutta.

Dharmsala.

Tank.

England.

Dehra Dun.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Drake-Brockman, Major R. F. H. (R.A.)

Dubash, J. K. ace toe

Duke, A. H.

Duke, Lt.-Col. C. L. B. (M.c., ae

Dunbar-Brander, A. A. (0.B.0. I.F.S.)

Dunbar, U. B. H.

Duncan, Lt.-Col. D. L.

Duncan, John E. (P.w D.)

Dunsdon, A. C.

Durand, C. H.S.

Dyson, R. A. :

East India Railway European facatate

Kates, K. R. (1.P., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.)

Edwards, M. Vincent (1.F.S.)

Eliot, John N. 5

Eliott-Lockhart, Capt. Wed.

Ellis, Ralph

Emerson, C. A.

Emerson, Gerald H. (1.C.S.)

Emerson, Major J.

Etaiyapuram, The Rajah of

_ Evans, Col. G. H. (C.1.£., F.L.S.)

Evans, Brigadier W. H. (C.S.I., C.I.E., D.S.O.)

Ezra, Sir Alwyn (F.R.G.S., F.Z.S.)

Fawcus, L.R. (1.C.S.)

Featherstone, Gordon B.

Ferrar, Lt.-Col, M. L. (1.4., 0. BE.)

Finnis, N. D’O ae

Becton Cries (RE) see

Fletcher, Thos. Bainbrigge (F.R.E.S., F.L.S.)

Fooks, H. A. ; ae

Foot, A. E.

Forrington, Arthur

Fountaine, Miss Margaret, (F.E.S. a

Fraser, A. G. (I.M.D.)

Fraser, Duncan

Fraser, K. H.

Fraser, L. J. D.

French Indo-China, His Majesty S. M. Bao-Dai,

Emperor of Annam

Frend, G. V. R.

Gabb, H. B. oes ie ao

Gardiner, J. E. aan <a oe

Garthwaite, P. F. (1.F.s.)

Garbettac .C.. (C.Siis,.C.M.G.;°C.1.8., BoR.G.S., LCS.)

Geddis, A.

Gee, E. P.

Gemmell, G. W.

George, Hugh S. (1.F.s.) a

Gherardesca, Conte Georgeo, U. della

Ghosh, S. K. (1.C.S.)

Fyzabad.

Bombay.

Bangkok.

Roorkee.

Scotland.

Rangoon,

Shillong.

Rangoon.

Calcutta.

Bombay.

London.

Allahabad.

Karachi.

Rangoon,

London.

California.

England.

Waziristan,

Bombay.

Etaiyapuram,

London.

England.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Assam.

England.

Secunderabad.

Fatehgarh.

England.

Calcutta.

Dehra Dun.

Bombay.

London.

Poona.

London.

Tellicherry.

Saugor.

Ee. i. China,

Kadur.

Calcutta.

Nasirabad.

Maymyo.

Lahore.

Bombay.

Badlipar.

Calcutta,

Nagpur.

Italy.

Shillong.

xlv

xlvi LIST OF MEMBERS

Gibbon, Herbert be abe cise ee Vandiperiyar.

Gibbons, J. M. B. he oe 58 ... Bombay.

Gibson, Hon. Mr. E. C. (C.1.E., I.C.8.) aan so Ragkot.

Gill, HE. ASN. (EiZ:S:) 500 ae .. Sitapur.

Gilly AA sCH(L C252) ae a 2. Delhi:

Gimson,:'C(.€:S:) 2. aes ase . Limphat:

Glenn, E. B. ape --- Calcutta:

Glennie, Lt.-Col. E. a (D.S.0., R.E.) se .- Dehra Dun.

Goodwin, F. W aes : a ... Simla.

Gordon, Major J. W. ees als s-. OG ptt.

Gough, Lt.-Col. W. ... He «- Dehra Dun.

Gould /;BoJ. (C12) 1-C.s., CiM.G. ) 3A .- Gangtok.

Gouldsbury(CP ia. oe ae .. Mattupatti.

GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS—

Director of Agriculture, Bombay eae 2a Oona’

Director, Bureau of Science ... oe see vanilla

Director of Agriculture, Punjab oa -«. Lahore,

Director of Agriculture, Baghdad Mic sone, J beezivo

Graham, Major G. K. eee ase fr wanore:

Grant, hae ie mete aie 2a, London:

Gravely,2Dr. 1. (Dp. SC.) oe a .. Kodaikanal.

Gray, James as Ss tas ... Devicolam.

Greaves Mrs “Doi ; at ... Bombay.

Greaves, J.B. (Ci BiH .°M, L.A.) J.-Ba) ae a

Green, E. Ernest (F.E. s.) oe a .. England.

Greenwood, J. A. C. oe ae .. Madras.

Griffith, R. G. one a =. Calcutta;

Gwalicr, The Director of State Gardens ae ... Gwalior.

Hackney, M. J. Hn oe es ... Bombay.

Hall, J. E. ee on for ee arava:

Hambly,\R. DL; sae a we Calcutta:

Hamidkhan Bhatti, Dr. M. (aes SC), ci.B- ) se) yallpur:

Hamilton, Major C.S. P. (D.S.0., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.,

R.A.M.C.) : Se on EE Oy LMeL

Hance, Lt.-Col. J. B. io B.E., 1.M.S.) nes ... Bangalore.

Hancock, Lt--Col."C. PR. (C. I, E.) are «eons Delhi:

Harman, A. C, ue AG aa .. Bettiah.

Haper, Lt.-Col. A Forrest Sop ace ... London.

Harper, William ee ese | aoe - es: Cawnpore,

Hartnoll, E.S. (1.F.S.) ane .. Maymyo.

Harvey, Major-CoW “L.(M,C:,-C.B..) 7)... a. Alwar.

Hasted, Major J. S. Holy BH Gis oe Webray Dun.

Haswell, Major F. W. (1.4.) ... ae .. Maymyo.

Hate, Prof. Vinayakrao N. (B.sC.) es ... Bombay.

Hawes, C. G. (C.1.E.) OMG ta Sg AS ... Karachi.

Hawkins, R. E. es ase es ... Bombay.

Hay, Lt.-Col. R. (1.M.S.) aaa one ... New Delhi.

Headly, Derek, es a ne .. Palestine.

Heaney, Major G, F. (R.£.) ae ne «» Calcutta.

Henry, H. A. A ace abe eer) earachi.

... Bombay.

Hessling, F. he a AR:

Hewetson, C. E. (1.F.S.) ae a, .. Betul.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Hewitt, Walter A.

Heysham, R. K. eee At

Hickin, S. B. ans wae

Higgins, J.C. (ont, ‘LC.S.)

Hiley, A. C. (C.1.E., I.F.S.)

Hill, D. G. (F.R.G.S., J.P.)

Hillyer, R. A. N.

Hingston, Major R. W.G. i M. 3)

Hislop, Lt.-Col. J. H. (M.c., 1.M.s.)

Hodson, G. A. (B.F.S.)

Hodson, Lt. R. V. E.

Hoey, C. F.

Holmes, H. R.

Hopkinson, A.J. (C.1.8., 1. . S, i

Hora, Dr. Sunder Lal (D. SC.)

Hoshang, N. E. Dinshaw

Hotz, Edwin

Howard-Bradshaw, Comat Cc; 7. ie N.)

Howell, Sir Evelyn (K.C.1.E., C.1.E., 1.C.58.)

Howey, A. J. E. ‘ aa

Hubback, Theodore R.

Hughes, Capt. A. R.

Hyderabad Dn., Economic Boranict to Government

Crean intary

Hyderabad Dn. Winepector Genera! of Forests

Imperial Council of ie ae Research

Iron, C. S.

Irwin, Lt. H. R. H. F.

Isaacs, Miss Mozelle (M.A., M.SC., B.T.)

Ishwardas Lakshmidas (Sir, K?.)

Jackman, Capt. R.C. a

James, E. R. Sherman

James, J. N. A. a

Jamsetji M. Doctor (F.z.S., C.M.Z.S.)

Jaora, H. H. Col. Sir Itikhor alien’

Nawab of ane

Jawhar State, H. H. the Raja of oe es

Jenkin, R. Trevor (1.F.S. ) ane

Jenning, E. oan oe

Jephson, Lt.-Col. M. D.

Jhalawar, H. H. The Maharaj Rana Sir Recended Singh

Bahadur (K.C.S.1.)

Johnson, Kay as ide bits

Joly, Dr. B. M. a nas asa

Jones, A. E.

Jubbal, Rajkumar Teaarcnande er Apparent of

Junagadh, The Dewan of s

Kamesam, Dr. S. (B.E., M.E., D.Sc. M.I.E.)

Karve, Prof. Janarden Nilkanth (M.Sc.)

Keatinge, H. A. vn Nee

Keays, Lt.-Col. R. W. C. (1.4.)

Keelan, W. P.

ee ne)

xlvii

Gonda.

Bombay.

Sukkur.

Shillong.

Poona.

Bombay.

Haiti.

Ireland.

Jullundur.

London.

Peshawar.

Nowshera.

England.

Gilgit.

Calcutta.

Karachi.

Delhi.

England.

London.

England.

Pahang.

Peshawar.

Himayatsagar, Dn.

Hyderabad, Dn.

New Delhi.

England.

Delhi.

Dombivili.

Bombay.

Fort-Sandeman.

Assam.

Abu Road.

Bombay,

Jora.

Jawhar.

Lahore.

Thaton.

England.

Brijnagar.

Moran.

London.

Simla,

Jubbal.

Junagadh.

Bangalore.

Poona.

Calcutta.

Bangalore.

.. Dehra Dun,

xlviii LIST OF MEMBERS

Kefford, H. Kingsley hes “Ae 2) aa pur.

Kermode, C. W. D. Se aes ick .. London.

Kerr, F.S. wee ... Bombay.

Khan, Sahebzada Sardar Maromen (J.P.) ... Junagadh.

Khareghat, M. P. (I.C.8.) ae a .... Bombay.

Kiernander, Major O. G. ie oat ..- England.

Kirwan, NoelG. B. ... fe eae ... Mangalore.

Koechlin, E. L. es mee Nee .. Nilgiris.

Kohli, P. N. i's a a .. Kashmir.

Kothavala, T. T. aS oes .. sukkur.

Kuroda, The Marques Dr. Nee omnicki fe ... Tokyo. -

Kyaw, Pun (1-8:S:)) +. ee ast ws. Burma:

Laborda, Dr. F.E.R. ered koe sige .. Calcutta.

Lalkaka, Mrs. Mehra K. A. ay. oe .. Bombay.

Lamb, Sir Thomas (A7.) a oe «. Calcutta:

Landells, W. J. — soe oe; ae .. Monywa.

Langdale, A. H. on i as ... Bombay.

Latif, Sarhan C. vs sist a 26) Waraoli:

Launey, Paul de ae ss ... Comilla.

Leach, Hon’ble Justice Sir Toner so ... Madras.

Lehner, E. (M.A., PH. D.) St oe Je) Stiri,

Lees, L. M. (1.C.8.)... oP as a

Leland, A. J. : ds vs .. England.

LeMarchand, A. E. M. os ne ne ns

LeMarchand, W. M. Sis ifs .. Dibrugarh.

Leonard, D. G. a oe a6 ee» Cochin.

Leonard, G. R. ade ae ap ooo ehehano:,

Lewin, Major F. H. W. Ross... “i ..- Bombay.

Lewis, E. S. (P.C.S.) a Wee .» Delhi.

LIBRARIES—

Annamalai University Library Mae .. Annamalainagar.

Hyderabad, The State Library es ... Hyderabad, Dn.

Imperial Library, ‘Tyhe Sn ... Calcutta.

Lahore, University of Punjab, The wie cs - ... Lahore.

Lytton Library, Muslim University ae Aligarh.

Madras, Connemara Public Library, The Principal

Librarian ses Madras.

Public Library, Museums anal National henner of

Victoria, The Chief Librarian re Melbourne.

Public Library, Museum and Art Gales pelaidels S. Australia.

United Service Library, The Honorary Secretary ... Poona.

Lightfoot, Capt. G. S. (1.P.) oes cae .. Darrang.

Lindsay-Smith, Capt. J. Ses Ba .. Assam.

Lockhart, J. ae oe ne «- Belgaum.

Lodge, Geo. E. Side se oe .. England.

Love, Major S. W. A. eae A . Burma.

Lowe, Major J. H. B. (R.£.) eee aes ..- Quetta.

Lowman, Capt. Stephen (R.1.A.S.C.) My. ... Landikotal.

Lowndes; R. Cis... ih --«- Bombay.

Lowther, E. H. N. (F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.) ee .. Allahabad. -

Lucknow, Provincial Biueera: The Curator ... Lucknow.

Lunawada, H. H. Maharana Shri Virbhadrasinhji ... Lunawada.

LIST OF MEMBERS xlix

Lushington, Mrs. C. G. ee vi ee Ceylon.

Butyens, F:M.B. ... a ee 2.) alcuttar

Mackenzie, J. M. Ses oz Bee ae iY

MacLachlan, D. (I.C.S8.) ve ae ae) Oona,

MacLachlan, R. B. (C.1.E.) ae Pe ... Ireland.

MacLeod, Major A.J.W. ach ue =» . London,

Macnaghten, Sir a Chr... oe ane 5

Madan, E.R (1-.8:S.) a — ... Ootacamund.

Madras H. E. The Governor of . fe ... Madras,

Mahendra, B. C. (M. Sc ) ae az gee) NOTA,

Malden, F. R. E. ue ror ee What,

Maltby, Brigadier C. M. (1.4., M.c. oy a we Calcutta.

Mankapur Raj, Raja Ambien ar Pratap Singh

Saheb (M.L.C.) ... ah oe .. Mankapur.

Marine Biological Laboratory... as a Sass, UsS. Ay

Martin, Carr A. es Bes fea ... Rangoon.

Matthews, W. H. aee wag ip .. Rungli-Rungliot.

Maxwell, H. A. (1.F.S.) .... Bhamo.

Maxwell, Hon’bie Sir Reginald a CoD we KeO Sita) =. =Welihni.

McFarlane, J. nt ns ee «» Calcutta:

McGusty, H. M. oe Sho es .. Bombay.

McLeod, Majcr-Genl. D. k. ots sibs .. Burma.

McPherson, James... : ais .. England.

McSweney, Capt P. M. (1.M. en ae fa Oona,

Mehta, Sir Hormasji, (A?7., K.B.E.) a. ... Bombay.

Mehta, Jamshed N. R. one see soon Koaracht,

Mehta, K. M. ae ae ... Bhavnagar,

Meiklejohn W. (1.F.s. . Si ser 2. Warjecline.

Meinertzhagen, Lt.-Col. R. as an =» London.

Menesse, N. H. (I.S.E.) aa ne <« Karachi:

Merrill, Major W. E., (1.4.) te, nee -» Dehra Dun.

Meston, D. C. shi ae cee ... Assam.

Michael, J. D. whe eo oF en eyhonl ein

Milburne, W. she ee Se »» Barjuli.

Miller, G. D. L. a ae a ... Assam.

Millis wi (Ps (Cabs, Lc. S.) fe ne sf

Mirchandani, B. D. oe a ts ... Ahmedabad.

Mirchandani, U..M.(LC.S.) a. ee soe SOUL:

Mistri, Dr. J.D: ee ae ane .... Bombay.

Mitchell, Leonard... ae ‘a .» England.

Mohr, Dr. V. der Meer ... Medan, Sumatra.

Montmorency, Sir Geoffrey de CEG. VeOet keC a. B.,

CBee C.5.)) aes ae ae ... England.

Mooney, H. F. (1.F.S.) ae ee .» Ranchi.

Moore, Major A, C. (1.A.) ve ae ie burnia.

Moore, John es et Sie =. London.

Moore, K.. J. Arthur... Re ee ... Travancore.

Morehead, F. T. (0.B.&., B.SC., I.F.S.) a -- Rangoon.

Morgan, Vernon Allahabad.

Morris, Capt. Ralph. C. (f.Z.S., F.R.G.S.) Attikan.

Morton, Geo. B. Calcutta.

Moses, Dr. 8. T. Baroda.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Mulroney, J. T. ee ae

Mustill, F. J. Bh

Mysore, Government Museum.

Mysore, Chief Conservator of Forests

Nagpur, Central Museum, The Curator ..,

Naik, Dr R.N. (G.B:Vv.C.)

Needham, F. M. 46

Nevill, Capt.‘T. N. C.

Newcome, Lionel .

Nicholas, Major R. C

Nichols, Rev. Edward G.

Nicholson, Lt.-Col. M.a. (1I.M.S.)

Nicolaus, G. R. (F.R.G.S., F.Z.s:)

Nilgiri, Game Association

Nilgiri, H. H. The Raja Saheb a

Nilsson, D. bas

N.-W. F. Province, His Picclleney the Governor

Ogilvie, C. 8. Bee bas

Oliver, A. W. L.

Orchha state, I. H. he ae Manenda | Maharaja

Bahadur

Ormerod, H. E. aie

Orissa, H. E. The Goveruor of ...

Ortcheson, J. (1.C.S.)

Osborne Jones, M. T.

Osmaston, B. B. (C.1.E., I.F.S.)

Osmaston, F. C, (I.F.S.) Ba

Oxley, Lt. Col. J. C. S. (1.M.s.)

Palacios de Borao, Rev. G. (S.J.)

Palairet, Major E. J. (R. E.)

Palanpur, H. H. Sir Nawab Saheb matey, Guranorned

Khan gaa (K.c. T--,)K.C. V0.) 108

Palmer, R. W. ae

Panday, Mrs. J. ‘ aia

Parker, Mrs. Ma .

Parr, C. Ivan. ie se des

Parsons, R. E.-(1.P., E.R.E.S.)

(K.C.S.1.)

Paterson, E. A.

Paterson, J.J. ae

Patna State, Maharaja een Nepagen Grae nee

Patten, Hugo J..

Patterson, A.

Patuck, B. F. .

Pazze, PeterP...x.

Beant, Majors. ot, ie a6

Peppe, F. H. ......_ be

Percival, Capt A. P.. (nee 3)

Perfect, E.

Petit Institute, J. N. , Honorary Sar ery a

Petit, F.C.

Petit, S. C. D.

The Superintendent ...

eDibnmucarh. «6s ee

Partabgarh, H. H. Maharawat Sir Rememint Bandar eo pene

Kurseong.

Maymyo.

Bangalore.

Nagpur.

Bombay.

Assam,

London.

Somwarpet.

Aden,

Madura

Indore.

London.

Ootacamund.

Raj-Nilgiri.

Bombay.

Peshawar.

Pahang.

Singapore.

Tikamgarah.

Bombay.

Orissa.

Gurdaspur.

Trichinopoly.

England.

Chaibassa.

Srinagar.

Bombay.

Quetta.

Palanpur.

Rangoon.

Bombay.

Samastipur.

Partabgarh.

Calcutta.

Hongkong.

Balar gir.

Edinburgh.

London.

Bombay.

Neemuch.

Dehra Dun.

England.

Madras.

Bombay.

LB]

LIST OF MEMBERS

Binlips, DL. 5;

Phillips, W. W. A. ae Ses

Phythian-Adams, Major E. G. (1.A., F.Z.S.)

Picton, Major F.C. (R. A.)

Pizey, R. M.

Porteous, A. B.

Potter, I. ee ae

Pudukottai, State Museum, The Curator

Pullan, A. U.

Quicke, H. J. B. B.

Rahman, Q. F (1.S.E.) ses

Ralston, Lt.-Col. W. H. (p.S 0., 1.4.)

Ramadhyani, R. K. (1.C.S8.)

Rawson, John H.S.

Readymoney, N. J. ©...

Reuben, D. E. (1.C.S.) aes a ies

Reynolds, Dr. F. H. [m.B., ch.B. (Edin.) D.T.M. &

H. (Eng.) ] eae

Reynolds, K. P. a ott

Richmond, Sir R. D. (A?z., C.1.E., I.F.s)

Ridland, J. G. :

Rishworth, Dr. H. R. (1.M.S.)

Ritchie, Lt.-Col. W. D. (1.M.s.)

Robertson, Lawrence (C.S.1., I.C.8.)

Robey, H.R. D.

Rondano, Rev. A. (S.J.)

Rosenthal, V. es ae

Ross, Brig. E. J. (0.B.E., M.C.)

Rossel, Major H. G. (1.4.)

Row, Dr. R. (M.D.) ...

Rowland, J. W. (1.P.)

Royal Deccan -Horse Mess

Ruddell, Rev. J. F. W. = ae a

Rustomjee, Miss.Sherene B.

Sanders, D. Fs’... Ss.

Sandeman, Lieut. A-G.

Sanderson, P..M.-D..(¥.z.s.) ;

Sandur State, Raja Shrimant vesiiesnntaos Ghorpade:

Sant, Maharana Shri Jarwar Singji, Raja Saheb of

Sarangarh, Raja Bahadur Jawahir Singh (C.1.E.)

Sarawak Museum, The Curator...

Sarma, M. R. Venkatarama

Sassoon, Ralph ‘a a? :

Satya Churn Law, Dr. (M.a., B.L., Ph.D., F.Z.S.,

M.B.O.U.) : ies Soh oe

Schering (India) ee ;

Schomberg, Lt.-Col. R. C. F. foo

SCOLt.wCW.. (I.RS.)) ‘s

Scott, Lt.-Col. F. B. Om)

Scott, James E. Bt

Seagrim, Lieut. G. N. int

Secretary for Agriculture, S.S. & F, M.S. «.

Miranshah.

Ceylon.

Bangalore.

Campbellpore.

Assam.

Bhilad.

Bombay.

Pudukottai.

Dovars.

Bombay.

Moradabad.

London.

Nagpur.

Perak.

Bombay.

Patna.

Yamethin.

Ireland.

Madras.

USES 2A-

Bombay.

Borjuli.

England.

Assam.

Mangalore.

Bombay.

Loralai.

Meerut.

Bombay.

Mardan.

Poona. -

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Buriaie sid es

London.

Sandur.

Sant-Rampur.

Sarangarh.

Kuching.

Aduturai.

Calcutta.

Bombay.

England,

Rangoon.

England,

Scotland.

Fort Sandeman,

Kuala Lumpur.

li LIST OF MEMBERS

Seervai, Dr. Rustom F.

Sevastopulo, D. G. (P.E.S.)

Shah, Lt.-Col. B. L. (1.M.s )

suaril, Dr. Me (DSc... Pb: D jen eNee)

Shebbeare, E. O

wherredsin. Re bs

Sherriff, Capt. George (a A.)

Sheth, Chinubhai Chimanlal (B.4.)

Simmonds, A.

Simmons, R. M. Vee ize cae

Sind, H. E. The Governor of

Singh, Kumar Amar ...

Singh, Lt.-Col. Thakur Sajjan

Sirohi, H. H. The Maharaja of ...

ekrine, Major 2 she sh. «(.S70.)r..

Sladen, D. A. DS, s

Sladen, J. M. (1,C.S.)

Slocum, Dr: H. Jermain

Smith oh Wer.)

Smith, Dr. Malcolm ..,.

Sinyth;, C. P.

sSmythies, Bb. E.

SOCIETIES—

Royal Society of Edinburgh .

New York Zoological Society

sokhey, I6t.-Col, 5. S. (1.M.S.)\ 5.

Spackman, Lt.-Col. W. C. (1.M.s.)

Sparrow, Col. R. ae oe

stanford, J. Kio -(M.C., McA. MBO; Us,-1.C.5.)

Stapylton, J. Miles (1.C.S.)

steer-Webster, Capt. V. C.. (mM. BENG. F:R:G:S:,

HokcH.Si, HZ Ss. F-R- SoA)

Stewart, D. (1.F.s.-)

Stewart, Prof. R. R. (Ph.p.)

Stileman, F.

Sars, Jo. :

Stobart, T. R. (B.Sc.)

Stoney, R. F. :

Storrs-Fox, Fev. E. A. ae ah

Sudan Government Museum, The Curator

Suresh Sing, Kunwar

Suter, Dr. M. F. (D.Sc.

Swat State, Shahzada des es Wali- aha .

Symns, J. A. M. wee

Tait, Lt.-Col. H. Caldwell, (1.m. 's)

Taleyarkhan, K. M. (Bar-at-Law) ae

Tasker, Sir Theodore (A7., C.I.&., O.B.E., I.C.S.)

Tata, Jal N-: ae

Paylor) Coles .S. 0.0, M.S.) 0.

Thackeray, John wes a

Thomson, E, 8. (i:P-) ech

Thorne; Jee (Caier.n TC iS:).

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Bombay.

Kuala Lumpur.

Ramgarh.

Karachi.

Ahmedabad.

Assam.

Fatehgarh.

Karachi.

Gaya.

Orchha.

Sirohi.

Bombay.

Tinnevelly.

Bombay.

U.S.A.

Assam.

England.

Calcutta,

Rangoon,

Edinburgh.

New York.

Bombay.

England.

9”

London.

England.

New Delhi.

Rawalpindi.

Bombay.

Jodhpur.

Bombay.

Ootacamund.

England.

Khartoum.

Kalakankor (Oudh).

Poona.

Swat.

Rangoon.

Buria.

Bombay.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Bombay.

Kasauli.

Assam,

Benares.

Delhi.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Thursfield, R. M.C..

Ticehurst, Dr. C: B. (nee MBO. Ue Ry. ees

Pilley, J. 5. As

Toogood, Lt.-Col. C. G. (C\E.Gs, ee

Transvaal Museum, The Director 5

Travancore, The Conservator of Forests ...

Travers, F. G.

Treuthardt, M. ac

Trichur, State Museum and Zoo

Tripura, H. H. The Maharaja Mania Benadae

(K5C.S-1.)

Trivandrum, The Gove. Mus. aad Public Gardens The

Superintendent j

fuck, Major P. J. EH. ( RA.)

seincnude in. 1), Ac..(M-B?, CM, etc.)

Turnbull, G. E. (B.F.s.) :

Tutein-Nolthenius, A. C. ae

Tyabjee, Mrs. Camar

tyson; John D.(C.B:8:, 1.C. Sj...

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CONE NES OR VOLUME XLT, No. 3.

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS. Part III. By

N. L. Bor, M.A., D.Sc., F.L.S., I.F.S., and M. B. Raizada, m.sc.

(With one coloured, three black and white plates and ftve text-

CAS) aici Uncion SOR Or OCC EEE Eo eseciecee eves cne tidus seleth cesses se celelers

THE HoG-BADGERS (Arcfonyx) OF BRITISH INDIA. By R. I. Pocock,

Hee S Eee TALE ML EVEL MOC IUHE) nen ca viccese ats secs sails veces nslesi as o-tey seein s cadees ow

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA. Part II. By Salim Ali with notes by

Fel aN EU S 11s Ee ee oon) Wes Hit Za. SG stars tidsie scot ak stile siaivicln we, Of actus veccgeeVee.cvindicnas

A VISIT TO THE LACCADIVE ISLANDS. By Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton, 1.4.

(Rete Re (CHAU TOUIIOLAGH GANG: WITTE, PLGLES ace vcisescnsc iteetssues.soc0e its vas

NOTES ON SOME BRITISH INDIAN OTTERS, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO

NEWas UBSPHCING ws: Dyltts 1. POCOCK: Bo RiS:. cee cialis. cdesasieeateeleseesss ns oss

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA. Part IX. By Dr. S. L. Hora, D Ssc.,

F.R.S.E., F.Z.S., FeR.A.S.B., F.N.I. (With one coloured plate, two

QUUGH AMG RILE DIQUESPANIA OMEVLELLTCBUTE ion, sci nreneett se sia os wees oes ce oes

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN Brirvs. Part IV. By E. H. N. Lowther,

BA OWL Ze Sts (Ch, CLILL STAC PLQLES ot stdsuiaincudastatep ents (Act te sitaBaecdon tucdesdes

SOME COMMON INDIAN HERBS WITH NOTES ON THEIR ANATOMICAL

CHARACTERS. Part III. By M. Sayeedud-Din. (With three plates)..

FisH LADDERS IN THE PuNJAB. By Dr. Hamid Khan, M.Sc., LL.B.,

Boel (OY L011 A IAPR EUG LUO) PLALES )\ ance issessuecbanet «sanctase: se uhesctecn sistee

WILD ELEPHANTS IN ASSAM. By J.E. Hall. (With a plate)..............

Notes on INDi1an Euphorbiaceae; CROTON BONPLANDIANUM (C. Sparsi-

florum) AND Euphorbia perbracteata. By Leon Croizat..................

NoTES ON THE BIRDS Of NATTAUNG. KARENNI. By Messrs. H. C.

Smith, M.B.o.U., P. F. Garthwaite, and B. E. Pea B.F.S., with

systematic notes by Dr. C. B. Ticehurst, M.a., M.R.C.S., M.B.O.U.

(UEC Da911 2 Py epee veto ties oase ie Sc wna ceeie’ se vase Monee Hare je haa uc Roe mem eeleen ee

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MysoreE. By Major E. G. Phythian- Adams.

Teer NGL RBIS Ze SeMmNCIY, ELLE, PUTO) «sc weisisn see sous ouepacmaaceceswesoeen-n ahs oe

Achroia grisella FABR. AND ITS STaTUS IN SouTH INDIA. By M.C.

Cher‘an, B.A., B.Sc., D.I.c., and S. Ramachandran, L.AG........scesoees

THE MEDICINAL AND PoIsonous COMPOSITES OF INDIA. By J. F. Caius,

SPIRE OMS ROM eis Sete Se eaten ein Se teNn nite denn ces siz deena eben siete vn bodeaeecweckes

Notrs ON BUTTERFLIES OF THE SHAN STATES. By Capt. W. C.

RO ite ta @ aleercte mete eso eselelodere sae rae eratn staat eopteieiele aaieiaieie o/etisins ais'cjeaie’aificls ssheie/s'e\o eis cies o's vss cinsle sige t a's

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES :—

I.—Behaviour of Monkeys when attacked. By Major E. G.

AMADA NGI LINAS ete olfe cies Setaloaiaisics cleia's ecicicidiete ais cle w’vlo'.sie'es eeeterste siete

II.—Effects of mauling by Tiger. By W. H. Workman.............

It.—A Bt le Royal between Tigers and an Elephant. By

Parola PMCs Crile l Fs Gio.. Sse n ce iee tak cvueme ty naacceeeseisie Sais

IV.—A Large Panther. Rec unwalr Vasochan silo i sevnscss.<+ c

V.—Behaviour of Gaur and pean Pe Major H. J. Rossel.

(With a plate) .. MER mea alicic Jcve Sor See ions cae cacise nasa sce le

PAGE

453

461

489

il GORMAN IES OVE VOI OILIG, INOS. B

PAGE

V{I.—On the Distinction between Indian and Malayan Gaur. By

Re Mee Rizeye Wa cesaeol ale) ree. ane anc. eer a tere 657

VII.—A Large Head of the Indian Buffalo (Bos bubalis Linn.). By

R. Ee Parsons; 4B Rr SS coos oe icc phe Ee ee eee 659

VIlI.—Measurements and Weights of Elephant Tusks. By R. C.

NLOTTIS#2E RAG (Sis, SEZ iS cae conse e cae costes a esenee Geen eee 660

IX.—Memorandum on the Kahilu Sanctuary. (A Correction). By

TD Atcy Weatherberte.ccss 22h al cacisscemee uae mac ndie: eee Seem ee 660

X.—Occurrerce of the Allied Grey Shrike (Lawmius excubttor

pallidirosiris) in the Rawalpindi District, Puniab. By

HW. S Wid tes ME. BLOW eo ccis bcos toes eR ne ee eon oe eee 661

XI.—Swifts and Terns at Vengurla Rocks. By Humayun Abdul-

rh eR ene aN rere nate nr ent wot todas thorche ann cb coro thaeute 661

XII.—Wood Snipe (Capella nemoricola) near Bombay. ByM. J.

18 Fe) 90) eB SSRR EOE Bras AoR rons anhnin ic Abeta soebhoactnn ase saoccAdshane 665

XIIJ.—On the Occurrence of the Baikal or Clucking Teal ( Neftzon

formosum) in Rewa State. By the Military Secretary to

the | VICCTOY siivc-sioeeSs wc qemetver Stewie: ooo se estes een aetna ere eens 666

XIV.—The Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) in Kashmir. By

Bi Lat lO rasls Saaioa Scie ae aus octet cers nance’ orien meee eee 666

XV.—Quail and Chukor (Alectoris graeca) (A Query). By Lt.-Col.

C.-G: Toogeod, Cul EyDS.Oas. 2s certo senenes tee it eens oc eee ee 667

XVI.— Unusual colouring in a Common Pechard (Mj roca fuligula).

(With a sketch). By WT. WiegDCeks-ain, een sec eaee risen nee 667

XVII.—Snake attacked: by Frogs. By Hi. N. Charrington..27.....- 668

XVIII.—Python infested with Nematode Worms (Opfidascaris tila-

via). By Seabury Mdwardes 2. cence) sce ec cree no eeenener 669

XIX.—An Aggressive King Cobra (Nata hannah). By M. W.

Lowndes. sCW27 was PHOtOS) pains: eee eee eee ee 670

XX .— Fly F-shing for Mahseer- By J yRoMe se Pielditnan.n, sateen snes 670

XXI.—The Fish Megalops as an aid to combat the Guineaworm

carrier, Cyclofs. By Dr.S.B. Setna, m.sc., Ph.p., and

CoV iRelkarnis BoA ABS Cis gas te ates OER Sacer 672

XXII.—A case of recovery from the b te of the Saw-Scaled Viper

(2ichiscaringta)= “By2lit:-Com. Kea Seniic Mes: eee. satee eee 675

XXIII.—A Visitation of the Spotted Locust (Aularches miliaris L.)

in Travancore. By"S, Jones. (W2th a plate)... ccrestenee: 676

XXIV.—Asscciation between Batocera rubus L. and Book-Scorpions

(Chelifer) > “By. C 2 Mic Canny ve, scene cence oe ae eee 678

XXV On Prerea tdiia~ cBy. IRD eb Omlbeyenes cae eee eee 679

XXVI.—Cn the Occurrence of Cichorium Intybus Livn. (Chicory) in

Hyderabad, Deccan. By M. Abdus Salam. (With a plate) 680

Prare se

Journ. Bompay Nar. Hist. Soc.

John Bale, Sons & Curnow, Lt4 London.

GOLDEN SHOWER.

Bignonia venusta, Ker.

(5% nat. size)

JOURNAL

OF THE

Bombay Natural History Society.

1940. Vion. elem, INO ais

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS.

ING Wea eOR. MeAc& DaSC., FrlaS: 9 Tak. Sc

Forest Botanist,

AND

M. B. RAIZADA, M.SC.,

Assistant Botanist,

Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun.

PAR® slUlr

(Continued from Vol. xli, No. 2 (1939), p. 220).

(With one coloured and 3 black and white plates and 5 text-figures).

Bignonia Linn.

The genus Bignonia was erected in honour of Abbé Jean Paul

Bignon (1662-1743), court librarian to Louis XIV of France.

Systematic botanists in the past have held very divergent views

regarding the delimitation of this genus and modern research has

resulted in the genus, as conceived by Bentham and Hooker with

its 150 species, being broken up and the majority of its species

transferred to other genera. We would warn our readers that the

species, hitherto known as Bignonia, found in our Indian gardens

and treated in this article, have all, with the exception of one, been

placed in other genera of the Bignoniaceae.

The species of the genus, as known to horticulturists, have been

in high favour for many years on account of the beauty and

454 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

profusion of their flowers. They are mainly extensive climbers and

require generous space to be seen at their best.

The wood of the stem is very peculiar. Young stems do not

show any anomalous structure, but in old stems the wood 1s cleft

by wedge-shaped radially projecting masses of bast, which are

regularly arranged in multiples of four. Those with four wedges

are called ‘Cross Vines’ in South America and are regarded with

superstitious awe. Some of these climbers grow to an immense

size, and these alternating wedges of bast and wood enable them

to withstand twisting and bending without fracture.

Climbing is accomplished in various ways—by twining round a

support, by the possession of tendrils, by the rotation of the petioles,

or by means of aerial roots. The species treated in this article

make use of all these methods, either singly or in various com- |

binations. The possession of tendrils is a very common feature.

Tendrils are always modified leaves or leaflets. In the well-

known Bignonia venusta Ker. |Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawl.)

Miers], the foliage seems at first sight to consist of a pair of

opposite leaves upon a common peduncle the apex of which is

continued and ends in three filiform branches. The correct inter-

pretation of this arrangement is that the leaf is compound and

consists of three leaflets, the terminal of which is modified as a

branched tendril. The tendril after attachment to a support con-

tracts spirally, and not only raises the stem but also permits a

certain elasticity in the attachment of the liane to its support and

thereby minimises the danger of damage from storms. The tips

of the tendrils after attachment often become transformed into

small disks.

The leaves of the species may be simple or compound and are

exstipulate, though the development of small leaves in the axils

of true leaves often simulate foliaceous stipules.

The flowers are arranged in terminal or axillary pairs or racemes

or in corymbose fascicles. The calyx is of combined sepals with

obscure lobes or teeth. The corolla is large and _ showy,

zygomorphic and usually bell- or trumpet-shaped, less often

cylindrical, rarely 2-lipped, 5-lobed. The stamens are five in

number but the posterior one is usually rudimentary and represented

by a small stipe. The other four are paired, two with long fila-

ments, and two with short; a condition which is termed didyna-

mous. The anther cells are usually divergent at the base.

The ovary is seated upon a disk which may be cupular or

platter-shaped, and is two-celled. The ovules are numerous and

are attached to axile placentas. The style is simple with two

flattened stigmatic lobes. The fruit is usually a two-valved capsule.

In species of this genus whose life history has been studied

it is found that the stigmas and pollen become mature at different

times and that the stigma-lobes close before the pollen from the

same flower can fertilise them. Cross fertilisation seems to be

the rule in the genus and in the case of those species imported into

India from abroad the agent of pollination seems to be absent in

this country, for very few of our exotic species set fruit.

ser eae ae reac sail ie eee FRIES mn ; uULIq] E4YI(, JS940OH MIN ©

(19x vIsSnuaA DiUOUsI_g) IOMOYS UEP[OD IL SUE VAG Clete

‘90S ‘LSIL{ ‘LVN AvaWog ‘Nunof{

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS 455

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

Tendrils 3-partite.

Corolla cylindrical oes B. venusia.

Corolla swollen upwards.

/Tendrils clinging by disks ee B. capreolata,

Tendrils clinging by claws or hooks B. unguts-cati.

Tendrils simple.

Disk present; flowers rose with darker stripes; leaves

shining ets ane Sas ae

Disk absent; flowers pale mauve, purplish with a white

or yellowish throat; leaves dull a“ ee

. spectosa.

B. magnifica.

Bignonia venusta Ker. [Pyrostegia venusta (Ker-Gawl.) Miers].

Golden Shower.

(venusta is Latin for ‘charming’, ‘beautiful’).

Fig. 1.—Bignonia venusta Ker.

Description.—An evergreen plant climbing extensively by means

of tendrils. Stems stout, angled. Leaves compound, consisting of

two leaflets with a terminal branched tendril, or sometimes of

three leaflets. Leaflets ovate or ovate-oblong, bluntly and shortly

acuminate, wedge-shaped at the base, 2—4 in. long, glabrous on

the upper surface, shortly and sparsely hairy beneath.

Flowers very showy, arranged in corymbose cymes or racemes,

drooping. Calyx small, campanulate in shape, with five, very

small, hairy teeth. Corolla tubular, 3 in. long, gradually expand-

ing to the mouth where it ends in five linear lobes which are

valvate in the bud (1.e., they touch by their margins), the point

456 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. “SOCIERY,. Vol. Xi

of junction being very evident as each lobe has white villous

margins. On opening the lobes curve backwards and form two

lips, the upper of which is 2-, the lower 3-lobed. Stamens four, in

pairs, with filaments of different lengths. The longer pair is well

exserted from the tube, the shorter reaches the base of the lobes.

Ovary linear, seated on a fleshy disk. Style very long, almost as

long as the stamens. This plant does not produce fruit in this

country.

Flowers.—Cold season.

Distribution.—Indigenous to Brazil, but now a very common

cultivated plant in all tropical countries.

Gardening.—Probably no plant in the world presents so gorge-

ous an appearance as Bignonia venusta when in full bloom during

Jan.—Feb. The plants are not fastidious as to soil but a

good fibrous loam, to which one-third cow or sheep manure has

been added, suits them admirably. Propagation is effected by

cuttings of the wood taken in late spring and inserted in sand

preferably under a bell jar. It is suitable for pergolas in the open,

porches, verandahs and the like.

Bignonia capreolata Linn. [Doxantha capreolata (Linn.) Miers].

Trumpet Flower. Cross Vine. Quarter Vine.

(capreolata is a Latin word meaning ‘winding’ or ‘twining’).

Fig. 2.—Bignonia capreolata Linn.

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS 457

Description.—An extensively climbing, glabrous species. The

older stems in section exhibit a perfect cross of four wedge-shaped

insertions of bast in the wood. The leaves are opposite and

compound, consisting of an ovate or oblong, acuminate and sub-

cordate pair of stalked entire leaflets and a compound tendril

which clings by small disks. Stipules are absent but accessory

leaves or leaflets in some of the axils simulate foliaceous stipules.

The flowers are borne on pedicels which are arranged in fascicles

of 2-5 on axillary spurs. The calyx is membranous, green, ‘2 in.

long. The corolla is tubular with a stout limb, 2 in. long, yellowish

red in colour, rather lighter within.

Flowers.—March—April. Does not set fruit in Dehra Dun.

Distribution.—This climber is indigenous in North America, but

is now extensively grown as an ornamental plant in the tropics

om the Old) World: :

Gardening.—This handsome vine is very suitable for covering

walls, embankments and the like. Propagated by cuttings or

layers of half matured wood.

Bignonia unguis-cati Linn.

Cat’s Claw (in Latin unguis cati).

Fig. 3.—Bignonia unguis-cati Linn.

Description.—An_ extensively climbing, slender, evergreen

species. The leaves are opposite and compound, exstipulate.

Leaflets 2, lanceolate or ovate-acuminate, cordate, 3 in. or less

long; the terminal leaflet is represented by a three-partite claw-like

458 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

tendril,, the arms of which do not form disks after attachment.

The flowers, which are a beautiful clear yellow in colour, with

deeper yellow lines in the throat, are borne in pairs seated on

slender peduncles in the axils of the leaves. Calyx ‘5 in. long,

obtusely 5-lobed, membranous, bowl-shaped, with conspicuous

veins. Corolla with a short tube and broadly ventricose limb with

spreading lobes, 2-4 in. across and 2-2°5 in. long. Ovary linear,

"25 in. long, seated on a fleshy disk. Style curved, 1 in. long.

Flowers.—April. Occasionally a second flush in Aug. Fruits.

July.

Distribution.—This climber is a frequently cultivated plant in

India. It is a native of Argentina.

Gardening.—An extensive climber reaching the tops of the tallest

trees and forming masses of foliage and yellow flowers in pendent

bunches. It sows itself freely in Dehra and also probably else-

where. Easily raised from seed or by layers of cuttings.

Bignonia speciosa R. Grah. [Clytostoma callistegisides (Cham.)

Baill. |.

(speciosa is Latin for ‘handsome’).

Fig. -4.~-Bignonia. speciosa’ R. Grah.

Description.—An evergreen shrub, extensively climbing by means

of tendrils. Leaves opposite, compound, consisting of two opposite,

stalked. leaflets and a terminal unbranched tendril. Leaflets about

3 in. long, but may be longer, elliptic-oblong or ovate-acuminate

Journ. Bompay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Photo by N, L. Bor. Bignonia speciosa. R. Grah.

New Forest, Dehra Dun.

‘und eiyaq ‘4s910O, MON

‘YeIQ ‘YW ‘vsoiveads vin0Uudig 409 °TN 49 010g

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS 459

in shape, glabrous, shining, reticulated below; margins undulate;

base subcordate, rounded or acute.

Flowers large and showy, borne in pairs on a terminal peduncle.

Calyx obliquely campanulate with 5 acute or subulate lobes.

Corolla pubescent, about 3 in. long, limb 3 in. broad, broadly ventri-

cose from a short yellowish tube, lilac rose or pale purple in colour,

streaked inside with darker purple veins. Lobes five, broadly

ovate or orbicular, the upper reflexed. Ovary seated on a fleshy

disk with crenulate margins. Stamens included, didynamous;

anther cells much divaricate. Pod 2°5 in. long, shortly oblong,

densely covered with short spines.

Flowers.—March—April. Fruits.—Cold season.

Distribution.—Indigenous to tropical America, but now widely

cultivated in the tropics of both hemispheres.

Gardening.—This is a very showy and ornamental species best

suited for training over trellis work or over fences and the like.

Fasily raised, like most other species of the genus, by layers.

Bignonia magnifica Bull. [Arrabidaea magnifica (Bull.) Sprague].

Fig, 5.—Bignonia magnifica Bull.

Description.—A climbing shrub with branches compressed when

young, terete when old, rather rough to the touch. Leaves com-

pound, opposite, consisting of 2 leaflets and usually a tendril. Leaf-

lets opposite, obovate oblong, obtuse at the tip, attenuate at the

460 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURALNMEIST. \SOCKETY, 1 V ol. XT

base, rather dull on both surfaces, 3-5 in. long by 1°75-2°5 in. wide,

membranous, glabrous, entire, with a short petiolule -1 in. long;

nerves compressed above, prominent below. Tendril issuing

between the leaflets, hooked, up to 6 in. long.

Inflorescence of four-flowered, axillary or terminal, cymes.

Flowers large, showy, almost sessile. Calyx gamosepalous, cupular-

campanulate, very slightly narrowed above, olive green, truncate

at the top or with a few teeth, shining within, dull without.

Corolla large, up to 2°5 in. wide across the limb, purplish violet,

mauve or light purple in colour, whitish or primrose in the throat

with longitudinal purple veins. Tube tubular-infundibuliform,

curved above the base, 2°5 in. long, 5-lobed, lobes orbicular, almost

1 in. in diameter. Stamens 4, didynamous, fifth a rudimentary

stipe; filaments curved, inserted at the top of the narrow portion

of the tube, swollen at the base and glandular, included; anthers

widely divergent. Ovary superior, at the base of the tube; style

1-1°5 in. long with 2 stigmatic lobes.

Flowers.—Cold season. Does not set fruit in India.

Distribution.—Indigenous in Colombia, South America; now

commonly cultivated in all tropical countries in the open and under

glass in temperate climes.

Gardening.—It is a free flowering handsome climber, bearing

large flowers of a delicate mauve changing to rich crimson, with

the throat of a light primrose colour. Suitable for growing on

arches, pergolas and the like. Easily raised by layers or cuttings.

(Tc be continued).

THE HOG-BADGERS (ARCTONYX) OF BRITISH INDIA.

RoE POCOCK,: FR: S.;

British (Natural History) Museum.

(With a text-figure).

Hog-badgers are not found in Peninsular India, but although

widely distributed to the north and east of the Bay of Bengal are

nowhere plentiful. As E. H. Peacock remarked they are of rare

occurrence in Burma. A few only were collected by the Mammal

Survey in that country and both Crump and Baptista failed to

secure them in Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal.

No detailed description of them is necessary since their general

characters are well known; and the different kinds are superficially

very much alike, being mainly distinguishable by size, by the

luxuriance of the coat and by minor variations in colour, both the

coat and colour being seasonally variable and the pattern of the

head hardly ever quite alike in any two individuals. The skull and

teeth are also subject to very remarkable individual variations, the

skull more particularly in the degree of development of air-cells in

the bones of the forehead and hind-palate which may alter its

shape profoundly and the last two upper teeth differ more in size

and shape within subspecific limits than in any other mammal known

to me.

The literature relating to the Hog-Badgers reveals great

divergence of opinion regarding the status and nomenclature of the

many forms that have been described, chiefly on account of the

varied application of the name collaris, symbolising the type-species

of the genus Arctonyx.

In his account of the British Indian representatives Blanford,

following Blyth, Anderson and W. L. Sclater, admitted two species,

a larger, A. collaris, extending from the eastern Himalayas to

Burma, and a smaller, A. taxoides, occurring in Assam and Arakan.

Gray, however, had previously cited taxoides as a synonym of

collaris. Wroughton, when dealing with the ‘Survey’ material,

followed in r914 Blanford’s lead in adopting taxoides as the name

for a valid species; but I have been unable to ascertain precisely

what his conception of collaris was, except that he cited as represent-

ing it a Q specimen from Karenni, which is obviously immature,

and another, which I have not seen, from the Chin Hills. He

inferred apparently from these that the total length of the skull

does not exceed 135 mm, in collaris, whereas Blyth, Gray and

462 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HUST: (SOCTEPY,- Volar

Blanford had included under that heading specimens with the skull

surpassing 150 mm. in total length.

Accepting Wroughton’s statement about the length of the skull

in collaris and Anderson’s erroneous assertion that the type of

isonyx Horsfield came from Tibet, G. M. Allen, in his revision of

the Chinese Hog-Badgers, took collaris for the name of a southern

Chinese, Tibetan and N. E. Himalayan form, with a skull of

approximately the length given by Wroughton and quoted as

synonyms of it albogularis given by Blyth in 1853 to a Tibetan

specimen and obscurus given by Milne Edwards in 1868-1874 to

one from E. Tibet. Although Allen gave no opinion about the

status of taxoides or of the larger Hog-Badger identified by Blyth,

Gray, Blanford and others as collaris, I infer that he would have

regarded them as representing merely subspecies of collaris, since

he assigned the Chinese Hog-Badgers to two subspecies of that

species. ‘At all events Osgood, who accepted Allen’s designation

of collaris, assigned the large Hog-Badgers of ‘Annam, Laos, and

the Malay Peninsula to a subspecies for which he adopted the name

A. collaris dictator, Thomas.

Although there is not as yet, so far as I know, complete evidence

of the intergradation of all the forms of Hog-Badger, I adopt the

conclusion of my American colleagues that there is in Continental

Asia but one species, A. collaris, represented by several subspecies ;

but I differ from them in the assignation of some of the names.

It has probably been my good fortune to see more examples

of Hog-Badgers than any of my predecessors. The British Museum

contains skins and skulls of all the described forms, except the

north Chinese race leucolemus. In addition it has been my pri-

vilege to examine the specimens in the Museum of the Bombay

Natural History Society and in the Indian Museum, Calcutta and

I am greatly indebted to the authorities of these institutions for

the kind loan of them, especially to Dr. Baini Prashad, the Director

for sending me the type of taxoides from Calcutta.

My conclusions regarding the British Indian Hog -Badgers is

that there are two distinguishable races, a smaller, collaris, and 4

larger for which a new name seems necessary, although it contains

specimens erroneously, in my opinion, assigned to collaris by several

previous: authors. The two may be briefly distinguished as

follows :

(a) Size small, head and body about 2 ft. long,

eondylobasal length of skull not known to

reach 120 mm., less than 5 inches; teeth

smaller. collaris:

(b) Size larger, head and body about 2% ft. long,

condylobasal length of skull over 150 mm.,

or 6 inches in length; teeth larger. consul subsp. noy,

THE HOG-BADGERS (ARCTONYX) OF BRITISH INDIA 463

Arctonyx collaris collaris F. Cuvier.

Arctonyx collaris F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. Mamm., pt. 51, pl., 1825

and of some subsequent authors but only in part; and not Arctonyx

collaris collaris, G. M. Allen, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 358, pp. 10-11,

1929 and Mamm. China and Mongolia, p. 404, 1938.*

Arctonyx taxoides, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., 22, p. 591,

1853. ‘Anderson, Zool. Res. Yunnan, p. 196, 1878; Blanford,

Mamm. Brit. Ind., p. 180, 1888; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind.

Minis.) apt. 2,-p.1 26%, LOOT:

Arctonyx isonyx (Hodgson MS.), Horsfield, Proc. Zool. Soc.,

HOSO pa 209, pl.

Arctonyx collaris taraiyensis, Hodgson, Cat. Mamm. etc. ed.,

2, p. 7, 1863 (no description).

Locality of the type of collaris, ‘the hills between Bhutan and

India’, cited by Wroughton as the Bhutan Duars; of taxoides,

Assam; of isonyx and taraiyensis, the Sikkim Tarai.

. Distribution.—The Sikkim Tarai, Bhutan Duars, Assam and

perhaps Chittagong.

Distinguished from the other British Indian race, which

apparently replaces it in Burma, by its smaller size, the head and

body being only about 2 ft. long or less, shorter tail and smaller

skull, the length of which is only about 120 mm. or less; also by

its noticeably thicker winter coat. From the Southern Chinese

race A. c. albogularis by its shorter, less thickened winter coat and

smaller skull the length of which in albogularis is about 135 mm.

I have only seen four specimens that I assign to this race,

namely the skin of the type of tsonyx, from the Sikkim Tarai, an

immature skin from Darjiling (Calcutta) Museum), the skin and

the skull of the type. of taxoides from Assam and of a specimen,

received from the East India Co., entered as from ‘Bengal’ but

marked on its stand as from Chittagong which was formerly included

in that Province. |

The restriction of the name collaris to this small Hog-Badger is

based on the assumption that the type specimen from Bhutan Duars

is probably racially the same as that of the type of isonyx from

the Sikkim Tarai. I have seen no specimens from Bhutan and

am not aware of a record of one from that district apart from

Cuvier’s account based on a description sent to him by Duvaucel

of a living specimen exhibited in the menagerie at Barrackpore

and stated to have been brought from the ‘hills between Bhutan

and India’. The type was probably not preserved and no measure-

ments were given.. But the skin of the type of tsonyx is in the

British Museum and in Hodgson’s MS., where the specimen is

said to have come from the Sikkim Tarai, there is a fairly good

figure of the skull which from its muscular moulding appears to

* Since collaris is not, in my opinion, applicable to the Tibetan and Southern

Chinese Hog-Badger, I adopt for that race the name albogularis Blyth, with

obscurus Milne Edwards as a synonym; and, from an examination of the types,

I entirely agree with Allen that the names orestes and incultus given by Thomas

to Hog-Badgers from the Tsing Ling Mts., S, W, Shensi and from Chinteh in

Anhwei respectively are also synonyms,

464 JOURNAL, BOMBAY..NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

be adult. Its measurements, entered below, are taken from these

drawings said to be two-thirds natural size. I have also seen

the type, skin and skull, of taxoides. There is nothing that I

can detect in the skin, as preserved, to separate it systematically

from that of tsonyx, although the ears, as stated by Blyth, seem

to be a little smaller; and I do not attach to the cranial and dental

characters, relied on by Blyth, Anderson and W. L. Sclater, the

importance assigned to them by those authors. In the first place

the skull is not fully adult, as it was stated to be, its basioccipital

and naso-maxillary sutures being open and its temporal ridges

15 mm. apart. It is moreover abnormal in being ‘undershot’, the

lower incisors projecting 5 mm. beyond the upper. The upper

carnassial is admittedly unusual in shape, as W. L. Sclater said,

although Blyth noted nothing peculiar about it; but the upper teeth

of Arctonyx vary so remarkably individually in the same locality

that the peculiarity is not, in my opinion, to be relied upon on the

evidence of a single specimen.

The external measurements in English inches of the specimens

of this race were taken from dried skins, the type of isonyx is

‘made up’ in the conventional way from a formerly mounted

specimen; that of taxoides is still mounted for exhibition. ‘In these

the dimensions were taken ‘over the curves’. The third specimen

from Bengal (? Chittagong) is now a flat skin, which was unstuffed

a few years ago. They were probably stretched rather than

shrunken by the manipulations to which they were subjected, which

would make the dimensions of the head and body in life less rather

than more than those indicated on the table.

The external measurements in English inches of A. collaris

collaris, taken from skins, and of A. c. consul, taken in the flesh,

are as follows:—

Head

Name, locality and sex and Tail Hind

Body foot

A. collaris collaris

Sikkim Tarai (Zsonya, type) adm "29 5 3

Assam (¢faxoides, type) stip. ad, Q 12) 222 oF 3

Bengal (Chittagong) fuistiad cp wien cd see 45 3

A. Cc. consul

Thaundaung, nr Toungoo (type) ad i Gat ol 104 43

Thaundaung, nr Toungoo Vooad. aleacos gz 42

Moulmein (Tickell, MS.) ad. ¢ > 30 9 43

A SA DE SEE BS 2S RET TE LCE TSE TT TT

THE HOG-BADGERS (ARCTONYX) OF BRITISH INDIA 465

Arctonyx coliaris consul subsp. nov.

Arctonyx collaris of Horsfield, Blyth, Gray and also of Blanford,

Mamm. Brit. Ind. p. 178, 1888 (excluding isonyx Hodgs. from

synonymy); but not typical A. collaris, as identified above, nor

mencollaris. coliaris G. My Allen, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 359, p10,

1929.

"| ea

Gg Wile

Free

= =e << ~

fed

yr elt

iii \

\\y

Soe ae

N\ \

WN \

M i

\ \ \

‘ \Y NY

Head of Arctonyx collaris collavis, drawn from the type of taxoides.

Head of Arctonyx collaris consul, drawn from the skin from Longpa in

the Naga Hills in which the black of the ‘mask’ is exceptionally well

developed.

(These two figures show approximately the relative size of the head in

the two British Indian races of the Hog-Badger.)

C. Head of Arctonyx collaris consul drawn from the skin from Lockaw,

Karenni, to illustrate the greatest reduction in the black of the ‘mask’

in the available specimens of the race.

fae

466 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Locality of the type:—Thaundaung near Toungoo, 4,500 ft. in

Lower Burma (J. M. D. Mackenzie).

Distribution.—Assam, Chittagong, Burma at least from Mogok

to N. Tenasserim.

Distinguished from A. collaris collaris by its considerably large:

size both in the head and body and in the skull, by its longer tail

which is about one-third the length of the head and body and

about twice the length of the hind foot and at least in its typical

form by its less luxuriant winter coat. It is also larger than the

Southern Chinese and Tibetan race A. collaris albogularis Blyth

(=obscurus M. Edw.) and has the winter coat much thinner; but

it is smaller on the average both in its body dimensions and skull

and has the tai! relatively longer than in the provisionally admitted

Annamese race, A. collaris anncwus Thos.' and still smaller, in the

skull, than the Malayan race A. collaris dictator.?

The following is a list of the localities of the specimens |

assign to this race, with the altitudes, where recorded, and the

collectors’ names. The only specimens collected for the Survey

were those secured by J. M. D. Mackenzie, H. W. Wells, and

J. P. Mills; and the only other specimens in the British Museum

are the one presented by E. W. Oates and a skull from ‘Bengal’

(Hardwicke). The rest are in the collections of the Indian Museum,

Calcutta, and of the Bombay Natural History Society.

Moulmein (Tickell MS., specimen not preserved); Lockaw in

Karenni, 2,500 ft. (E. W. Oates); Thaundaung, near Toungoo,

4,500 ft. and 30 miles N. W. of Kindat (J. M. D. Mackenzie);

Ruby Mines, Mogok (H. C. Smith); Falam in the Chin Hills,

5,000 ft. (J. M. Wright), Chittagong Hills (J. Jarbo); Hot Springs

in the Jaintia Hills, 2,400 ft. (H. W. Wells); Longpa in the Naga

Hills, 3,000 ft. (J. P. Mills) and Assam (Capt. Bulter)’.

The skins from Assam are immature, as shown by their skulls,

and the age of the skin from the Chittagong Hills cannot be

determined because it has no skull. This is unfortunate because

it is precisely in those districts that Hog-Badgers intermediate in

size between the two races here admitted may be found, if they

exist. The ascription of these specimens to A. c. consul is there-

1 Thomas (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (9) 7, p. 524, 1921) based on a young

from Nhatrang, Annam. See also Osgood (field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool., i8,

p. 263, 1932) who made anneus a synonym of dictator and very likely correctly.

* Thomas (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., (8), 5, p. 424, 1910) based on an old Q

from Trang, in the Malay Peninsula.

* The specimen from N.-W. of Kindat was identified by Wroughton as

probably referable to A. c. collaris (Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., 24, p. 768,

1916). It is a male shown by its skull, which is 139 mm. in condylobasal

length, to be obviously immature. In the note accompanying it Mackenzie,

guided by Blanford’s and Wroughton’s nomenclature, stated that he secured

examples of collaris and taxoides in the Kabaw Valley and inferred that both

occur in the Chin Hills. The specimen he identified as taxoides mysteriously

disappeared and never, as Wroughton regretfully remarked, reached the British

Museum for examination. I suspect it was a still younger example of consul.

THE HOG-BADGERS (ARCTONYX) OF BRITISH INDIA 4.67

fore only an inference based on the size of the young skulls trom

Assam and of the skin from Chittagong. Possibly, however, the

Assamese specimens, especially the one from the Naga Hills may

belong to the Southern Chinese race, A. c. albogularis, which is

nearly intermediate in size between the other two.

The external measurements of the two examples from Toungoo

entered in the table (p. 464) were taken in the tlesh by Mackenzie

and those of the one from Moulmein by Tickell as recorded in

his MS. For the evidence of the differences in the dimensions

between this race and the earlier described anneus from Annam

and Laos I am indebted to Dr. Osgood who in 1932 recorded those

of a male from Laos and later kindly sent me (in litt.) those of

three examples from Thateng in Annam. In these the head and

body range from 36}$ to 44 in., the average being from g to 10 in.

greater than in consul, the tail from about 84 to g# in., a little

less than in consul, and the hind foot from 5 to 5 4/5 in. on the

average about 1 in. longer than in consul. The tlesh measure-

ments of the type of dictator are very nearly the same as of anneus.

The very considerable difference in the length of the head and

body between consul and anne@us are, in my opinion, too great

to be assigned to individual variation or to be explained away Ly

the ‘personal equation’ of the collectors or by different methods

of measuring.

The differences in the size of the skulls is much less marked.

In the three adult ¢ skulls of consul the condylobasal length

varies from 152 to 154 mm. In three adult, unsexed specimens

of anneus from Thateng, Annam, the same length, as Dr. Osgood

informs me, is 159 mm., but in an old ¢ from Phong Saly, Laos,

it is only 155 mm., as he recorded in 1932. On the other hand

the condylobase in the @Q type of dictator is 165 mm. and in

another adult 9 from Sai Yoke, S. W. Siam, it is 164. It is on

the evidence of the larger size of these two @ skulls that I pro-

visionally regard dictator as a distinct race from annus.

Some structural features in the skulls of consul entered in ihe

table may be noted. The ad. ¢ skull of the type has no trace

of sutures and its sagittal crest is 8 mm. high. The actual length

of the younger skull from Toungoo is uncertain because the beast

was killed by a knock on the head which smashed the back of

the skull, but the mandible is only 7 mm. shorter than in the

adult, 102 mm. as compared with 109 mm. It has all the sutures

open, no sagittal crest, the temporal ridges being 10 mm. apart

at their nearest point close to the middle of the crown, and the

zygomatic and mastoid widths are much less, the mastoids being

respectively 92 and 83 mm. These differences are a question of

age. Very noticeable, too, are the differences in the size of the

teeth. Those of the type, it is true, are flattened by wear, but quite

clearly they were much smaller, before being worn, than those of

the younger specimen.

The skull from ‘Bengal’ (Hardwicke) belonged to the specimen

468 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Hist. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

represented by Gray as Mydaus collaris (Hardwicke’s Illustr. Ind.

Zool., 1, pls. 6 and 7, 1830) and twice subsequently figured by him

as Arctonyx collaris (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865, p. 681 and Cat. Carn.

etc. p. 124, 1869). The exact locality of the specimen 1s!. quite

uncertain; but it may be suspected to have come from one of the

districts of the Province lying in those days to the east of the

Bay of Bengal. It is very like the skull of the type of consul from

Toungoo, but has a lower sagittal crest, only 3 mm. high, a lower-

projecting, hooked mastoid process and bigger teeth, more like

those of the young Toungoo specimen.

The precise dimensions of the skull from Moulmein are doubtful.

They have been calculated from Tickell’s figures stated to be 5/8

natural size. This makes the condylobasal length as entered, but

according to Tickell the total length of the skull was 6} in. or

158 mm., and this happens to be the condylobasal length which

in this skull alone of all I have seen exceeds the length from the

occipital crest to the premaxille. If 158 mm. is correct, the skull

is almost exactly the same length as those of anneus from Thateng,

Annam, referred to above. In that case the Moulmein specimen

was intermediate between the two races, not a surprising thing

considering its locality.

The skull is also singular for the exceptional widths of the

interorbital area and of the muzzle, which give an unusually massive

look to its facial portion. It is highly possible, however, that

the peculiarities above mentioned are due to this Hog-Badger

having been reared in captivity, a condition known to produce pro-

found effects on the skulls of many Carnivora. Tickell stated that

he had the animal alive for two years after receiving it from a

monastery where it had been kept as a pet from early cubhood.

All the 2 skulls I have seen are immature. The largest from

Falam .in the Chin Hills (Bombay Museum), with an estimated

condylobasal length of about 140 mm., has the postdental area of

the palate greatly inflated by air-cells and the frontal region also

elevated by the same factor. The skull from Lockaw, Karenni

has the same regions similarly expanded, but the frontal area is

also swollen laterally, the whole area being unusually wide as

compared with the end of the muzzle. It is also remarkably

‘undershot’, more so than in the type of taxoides, the lower incisors

overlapping the upper by 7 mm. The skull is smashed at the back

but I estimate its condylobasal length to have been about 128 mm.;

but judging from the length of the mandible, 93 mm., the normal

condylobasal length would have been about 135 mm., making

allowance for the abbreviation of the upper jaw which has resulted

in the ‘undershot’ condition of the muzzle. The measurements of

the very young @ skull from the Jaintia Hills, which has all

its sutures open and its second teeth imperfectly erupted, have

been entered for comparison with those of the adult or nearly

adult skulls of collaris which are a trifle shorter in condylobasal

length and well moulded muscularly.

THE HOG-BADGERS (ARCTONYX) OF BRITISH INDIA 469

~SKULL MEASUREMENTS OF THE Two BRITISH INDIAN RACES

OF THE HOoG-BADGER (Arctonyx).

c | 2 | | Kesh Pil |

eae eal 2 ese ey

Name, locality and sex iS fs lg lo SSeS ea |

; im 3 oO) | 9 Ais oe) cs) | |

res] ¢ q on Imo oor 4 +

° og Pe Oe Fels ie Caney eed 4

= O See ee eniece jee

A. collaris collaris | | |

‘Bengal’. just ad.@ | 122 | 114 | 62 | 24 | 24! 22381 7) 13 |14

Assam (taxoides, type) | | ee |

sub.ad.@ | 114 S724 721237) 4 113: 14

Sikkim Tarai (zsonyx, type) | Reetalere | |

ad. 1143 1103 5001224) 225) 215) 6 | 13 |14

A. ¢. consul | | ; | be

Toungoo (type) ade gf 158° | 154 |. 91:) 37 | 37.) 33 | 3) 45 117

Toungoo Wooade@ (158 yi cu |)83-| ...'| 37 | 33/104) 18 120

‘Bengal’ ad. ¢ | 157 | 152. | 93} 35 | 36) 33 /10 | 184119

Moulmein (Tickell MS.) ad. ¢ | 152 153 | 943] 354) 413) 40 | 92; 144/193

Karenni, Lower Burma yg.@ | ... (1287) (a Ad Sor 29) oe 4a

Jaintia Hills, Assam very yg.@ | 122 TNS 2S 75 520321 24 Gir S115

! l

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA.

SAutim ALI.

With Notes By HuGH WHISTLER.

Parr II.

(Continued from puge 106 of this Volume).

Picus xanthopygaeus (Grey). The Little Scaly-bellied Green Woodpecker

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 663 11-1-38 Sanchi.

Elsewhere not noted.

Rare.

Dryobates mahrattensis (Latham). The Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker:

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 23 ¢ 8-1-38 Sanchi, 76 SG 14-1-38 Dodi,

196 Jd, 197 Q 25-1-38 Mathar. Gwalior; 287 Q 15-2-38 Kino, 884 9 19-9-38

Bagh. Indore: 730 Q 27-8-38 Bijwar.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Satanwara, Narwar Fort, Surwaya, Bhind.

[As pointed out in the Eastern Ghats Survey (J.B.N.H.S., xxxvii, 288)

the recognition of 2 races of this woodpecker is only really feasible if birds

from the extreme North-west and birds from the South of India are compared.

This series can only be considered intermediate. 287 9 from Kuno (wing 103°5)

would pass as a typical aurocristatus. No. 884 ¢ from Bagh (wing 99 mm.)

would pass as mahrattensis mahrattensis. But with them must be considered

the 3 birds from Mhow collected by Briggs (J.B.N.H.S., xxxv, 394) which

were certainly intermediates, whilst the present Bhopal series (viz. 3 ¢¢ wing

105, 107, lol mm., and 1 Q tor mm.) are the size of aurocristatus and the

colour of mahratiensis. H. W.]

Common. Nest-hole on underside of horizontal mango branch, about 4 ft.

from ground, containing apparently half-grown chicks, 16 April (Bhind); both

parents feeding. A specimen found dead under a tree after severe hailstorm

overnight, Mathar 25 January.

Dryobates hardwickii hardwickii (Jerdon). The Southern Indian Pigmy

Woodpecker.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 859 S 15-9-38 Amjhéera. Dhar: 800 [9],

801 ¢ 6-9-38 Gujri, 844 SG 11-9-38 Mandu.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Mathar, Jaithari.

Almost invariably present in mixed hunting parties that contain Sitia castanea.

Brachypternus benghalensis benghalensis (Linn.) The Golden-backed Wood-

pecker.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 10 OG 7-1-38, 21 GS 8-1-38 Sanchi, 132 9

18-1-38 Dédi. Gwalior: 260 ¢ 12-2-38 Ktno, 642 3 12-4-38 Chandéri. Indore:

695 Go 23-8-38 Bijwar.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Gwalior Fort, Surwaya.

Fairly common.

Chrysocolaptes festivus (Bodd). The Black-backed Woodpecker.

Specimens collected: Indore: 749 2 30-8-38, 750 3 31-8-38 Choral.

Elsewhere noted: Chandéri.

lynx torquilla torquilla | (Linn.) The European Wryneck.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 301 Q 19-2-38, 318 @Q 20-2-38 Kuno, 578 ¢&

29-3-38 Badarwas.

tHe BiRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA al

Ikisewhere noted: Bhopal: Dodi. Dewas: Near town.

Earliest date 23 September; latest 29 March. Usually solitary. Flight and

habit of twitching wings on alighting very finch-lile.

Thereiceryx zeylanicus caniceps (Franklin). The Northern Green Barbet.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 200 ¢, 201 Q 26-1-38 Mathar. Gwalior:

623 Q 7-4-38 Chandeéri.

Elsewhere not noted.

[Nos. 200 and 201 with wings of 116.5 (d) and 115 (Q) respectively clearly

belong to the race caniceps. No. 623 (Q wing 121°5) from further north,

however, is as one would expect, considerably closer to J. 2. kangrae (cf.

J.B.N.H.S., xxxvii, 515) and is best regarded as an intermediate. H.W.]

Xantholoema haemacephala indica (Latham). The Indian Crimson-breasted

Barbet.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 67 Q 11-1-38 Sanchi. Gwalior: 384 Q 28-2-38

Satanwara, 445 0? 8-3-38 Narwar Fort.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal City, Jaithari. Gwalior: Surwaya.

Indore: Bijwar, Choral. Dhar: Mandu.

Not common. Largest ovarian foilicle of specimen 28 February 5 mm.

Cucuius canorus ssp. The Cuckoo.

Specimen collected: Dhar: 82g ¢ juv. g-9-38 Mandu.

Elsewhere not noted.

[This young cuckoo is in juvenile plumage and agrees very well, allowing

for the individual variation which is common in juveniles, with specimens of

the dark phase from the Western Himalayas. It therefore presumably belongs

to the typical form. It will be remembered that Briggs procured adult cuckoos

at Mhow in June and July which, from the state of their organs, appeared

to be breeding and it is quite likely therefore that this juvenile was hatched

in the neighbourhood where it was collected—H.W. ]

Hierococcyx varius (Vahl). The Common Hawk-Cuckoo.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 868 Q juv. 16-9-38 Sardarpur.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Chandéri, Indore: Bijwar. Dhar: Gujri.

Not noted in Bhopal or Gwalior between 4 January and 13 April when the

first in Central India was heard and seen. Not common, but possibly over-

lgoked when silent.

—

Cacomantis merulinus subsp.? The Plaintive Cuckoo.

No. specimens.

Ncted: Indore: Bijwar. Dhar: Gujri, Mandu.

Silent and not observed between January and May.

Clamator jacobinus pica (Hempr. & Ehr.) The Pied Crested Cuckoo.

Specimens collected: Dhar: 852 ¢ 13-9-38 Mandt. Gwalior: 867 ¢ 16-9-38,

877. ¢ 17-9-38 Sardarpur.

Elsewhere noted: Dhar: Gujri, Gwalior: Gwalior Fort, Tanda near Bagh.

Indore: Bijwar, Choral, Simr6l.

Not noted during the period from January to May. Fairly common _ in

August/September. 877 was a young bird with imperfectly ossified skull. Testes

Oles52 6 x 4 mim:

Eudynamis scolopaceus scolopaceus (Linn.) The Indian Koel.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 676 3 19-4-38 Bhind. Indore: 767° 2. juv.

1-9-38 Choral.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Shivptri, Guna, Riuthiai.

[No. 767 is a juvenile female and it has the characteristic blackish plumage,

far darker on the upper parts, throat and breast than the adult Q which I

have already remarked on (Ibis, 1937, p. 408) as being obviously a_ protective

device to avoid wakening any suspicions in the foster parents.—H.W. |

Before the beginning of April only the high pitched Kack-ktick-kiick was

heard and the birds were silent on the whole. The regular calls or crescendo

‘songs’—ku-oo, ki-oo etc. were fairly common in April, and also heard in

472° - JOURNAL, BOMBAY "NATURAL IST CW SOCKET YY. Vol. er

August/September when they were not common and apparently on the wane.

676 had testes enlarged to 9X7 mm. A nearly full-fledged juvenile being fed

by House Crows in nest on 23 August! ;

Taccocua leschenaultii leschenaultii Lesson. The Southern Sirkeer Cuckoo.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 129 ¢G 18-15-38, 143 G 19-1-38 Dodi; 161 o,

162 S Mathar. Gwalior: 469 ¢ 13-3-38 Narwar Fort. Indore: 720 &

25-8-38 Bijwar.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Jaithari, Gwalior: Strwaya, Badarwas, Bhind,

Dhar: Mandu.

[In J.B.N.H.S., xxxv, 396 I identified two birds .collected by the Rev. Frank

S. Briggs as the Northern race sirkee, but they must now be considered afresh

with the series obtained by the Survey. In colour the series is variable. In

size, however (60 ¢ wing 146-157 mm., 2 99 wing 153-1538 mm.) they are

so much smaller than the largest sirkee (North Punjab 5 ¢ od wing 160-166;

5 2 Q 160-167 mm.) that I feel they might be attributed to leschenaultii, al-

though somewhat intermediate in character, even the Narwar bird.—H.W. ]

Common. In dry stony grass-and-thorn jungle. 720 (25 August) with white-

shelled oviduct egg.

Centropus sinensis parroti Stres. The Southern Crow-Pheasant.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 403 SG 2-3-38 Satanwara.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal City and Environs, Sanchi, Dodi. Gwaltor :

Ktno, Narwar Fort, Strwaya, Guna. Indore: Indore City and Environs.

Diar. Gu ji:

[3d wing 201 mm. _ Interscapulars black; lower wing coverts chestnut and

black mixed.—H.W. ]

Psittacula eupatria nepalensis (Hodgs). The Large Indian Paroquet.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 271 Q 14-2-38 Kuno (Wing 205; tail 301 mm.}.

Jsewhere noted: Bhopal: Mathar, Jaithari. Gwalior: Narwar, Badarwas,

Dhar: Mandu.

Breeding in January and February. Specimen (14 February) had soft ovarian.

eggs. Juveniles about a month old taken from hole in tree 25 January.

Psittacula krameri borealis Ncum. The Eastern Rose-ringed Paroquet.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 123 G 18-1-38 Dodi; 254 OG 2-2-38 Jaithari.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal City, Dewanganj, Sanchi, Mathar.

Gwalior: JIXuno, Satanwara, Surwaya, Badarwas, Chandéri, Bhind, Bagh.

Indore: Indore City, Bijwar, Choral, Mhow. Dhar: Mamndu.

[The specimens are of course really intermediate but in measurement they

just reach the minima of Punjab _ birds. I have already — suggested

(]-B.N.H.S., xxxvii, 752) an arbitrary boundary between the 2 races at. zo. N:

latitude so these can be called borealis. —H.W. ]

Common. Breeding in January and February. Ovary of 123 granular ;

testes of 254 19X8 mm.

Psittacula cyanocephala bengalensis (lorst.). The astern Blossom-headed

Paroquet.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 149 3, 1509, 151 3, 152 Q 21-1-38 Mathar.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Jaithari. Gwalior: Satanwara, Narwar

Fort, Sarwaya,- Badarwas, Chandéri, Bhind, Sardarpur, Bagh. Dhar: Gujri.

Common in dry teak and kher forest. . Breeding or about to breed in

January. Largest ovum of 150 2 mm. in diameter; testes of 149 7X5 mm.

Coracias benghalensis benghalensis Linn. The Indian Roller.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 54 CG 10-1-38 Sanchi.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Dodi. Gwalior: Kuno, Satanwara, Surwaya,

Bhind.

[This ¢ with wing 188 mm. clearly belongs to the Northern race. This is

another of those birds which intergrade from north to south and I have already

suggested (J.B.N.H.S., xxxvii, 755) that the division between the races sheuld

be arbitrarily fixed along 20° N. Lat.—H.W.]

Met with = sparingly.

PHESBIRDS, OF CHNTRALCIN DIA 473

Merops orientalis orientalis Latham. The Common Indian Bee-eater.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 175 OG, 176 Q 23-1-38 Mathar. Gwalior;

544 Q 25-3-38 Badarwas.

Elsewhere noted: Bhédpal: Bhopal City and Environs, Sanchi, Dodi.

Gwalior: Satanwara, Narwar Fort, Surwaya, Badarwas, Amyjhéra. Indore:

Indore City and Environs, Bijwar, Choral, Dhar: Gujri.

Not uncommon, but curiously sparse and local. 544 had a granular ovary

and on that date (25 March) a small colony was busy digging nest-tunnels in

earth bank of Sind River.

Merops superciliesus javanicus Horsf. The Blue-tailed Bee-eater.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 679 3 19-4-38 Bhind. Indore: 787 ¢, 788 0?

5-9-38 Mandléshwar. Dhar: 834 92, 835 oO 10-9-38 Mandu.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Gwalior Fort, Amjhéra, Shivpuri. Indore:

Mhow.

Not met with in Central India between 4 January and 19 April. Fairly

common in August/September. Testes of 679 (19 April) 7x4 mm. ; 788 (5 Sept.)

young of the season with imperfectly ossified skull.

Ceryle rudis leucomelanura Reichenbach. The Indian Pied Kingfisher.

Specimens collected: Bhépal: 96 J 15-1-38 Dédi. Dhar: 818 9 7-9-38

Grujri.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Bhopal Lake. Gwdéalior: Satanwara,

Guna, Ruthiai, Chandéri. Indore: Bijwar.

Testes of 96 (15 January) :2x8 mm. Nest 4 February! Ovary of 818

(7 Sept.) granular.

Alcedo atthis taprobana Kleinschm. The Common Ceylon Ningfisher.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 100 SG 15-1-38 Dédi.

[This is a very blue specimen with a long beak (46 mm. from skull) which

I cannot separate from taprobana of South India. There are 4 birds in the

British Museum from Mt. Aboo which also seem to be very close to taprobana.

Yet other specimens from focalities like Neemuch, Poona, Saugor, Western

Khandesh, Khandala and Matheran are benghalensis. The individual and sub-

specific differences of this species are very difficult to understand, partly because

one so seldom meets with a series of known breeding birds from any area, and

partly, no doubt, because being entirely dependent on water supply in which

local rain and drought play such an important part, the individual’s movemenis

may be very erratic and outside of the ordinary rules of migration.—H.W. |

Alcedo atthis bengalensis Gmelin. The Common Indian Kingfisher.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 31 Q 9-1-38 Sanchi. Indore: 747 ¢G 30-8-38

Choral.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Guna, Ruthiai, Chandéri. Indore: Bijwar.

Singly or pairs at tanks and streams.

Ramphalcyon capensis gurial (Pearson). The Brown-headed Stork-billed King-

fisher.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 134 Q 19-1-38 Déddi. Indore: 721 3 25-8-38

Bijwar.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake, Sanchi, Jaithari. Gwdlior: Kino,

Ruthiai, Chandéri (Panchamnagar).

Fairly common. Singly or pairs on wooded streams. Largest ovarian

follicle of 134 (19 January) 2 mm. diam, Testes of 721 (25 August) 9X5 mm.

Halcyon smyrnensis smyrnensis (Linn). The White-breasted Kingfisher.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 65 CG 11-1-38 Sanchi, 171 Q 22-1-38 Mathar.

Indore: 748 Q 30-8-38 Choral.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Ruthiai, Chandéri (Panchamnagar). Indore:

Bijwar.

Not uncommon.

Tockus birostris (Scopoli). The Common Grey Hornbill.

No specimens,

474. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURALE GIS ySOCTETY, -V oly CLI

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Jaithari, Gwalior: Satanwara, Surwaya, Amjhéra.

Indore: Bijwar. Dhar: Mandu.

Common.

Upupa epops epops Linn. The European Hoopoe.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 369 Q 27-2-38 Satanwara.

[Wing 142°5 mm. and pale in colour, being evidently a migrant of the

typical form.—H.W. ]

Upupa epops ceylonensis Reichb. The Ceylon Hoopoe.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 117 SG 17-1-38 Dédi.

[Wing 131 and richly coloured; evidently belonging to the resident

form.—H.W. |

Elsewhere noted (subspecies?): Bhopal City. Gwalior: Kino, Gwalior Fort,

Bhind, Shivptri. Dhar: Gujri.

369 had a granular ovary! On the same date another pair was interested

in a hole in a masonry archway. On 17 April one was observed carrying

food to nest.

Apus melba melba (Linn). The Alpine Swift.

Specimen collected: Dhar: 778 G juv. 4-9-38 Gujri.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Jaithari. Gwalior: Satanwara. Dhar: Mandu.

[The specimen is a little small (wing 214 mm. <) for the typical race but

it is certainly too pale for A. m. bakeri and it agrees with my series from

N.-W. India. The skinner has noted on the label that the skull was soft

and if this is correct the small size might be put down to its being a juvenile

specimen. The wing is in moult, and according to the Handbook of British

Birds, ii, 244, the wing is probably not moulted at the post-juvenal moult.

Adult and juvenile Alpine Swifts are, however, very difficult to separate on

plumage and it may be that the Handbook is wrong about the post-juvenal

moult.—H.W. ]

Small numbers usually seen hawking high over fired grass jungle. A colony

(nesting?) about the encrmous rock scarps and valley at Kankra Kho,

Mandu.

Apus aifinis affinis (Gray). The Common Indian House-Swift.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 481 @, 482 3 14-3-38 Narwar Fort. Indore:

742 Q 30-8-38 Choral.

Elsewhere noted: Gwélior: Satanwara, Chandéri, Gwalior Fort. Indore:

Bijwar, Maheshwar. Dhar: Gujri, Mandu. Bhopal: Bhopal city, Mathar,

Jaithari.

Common.

Hemiprocne coronata (Tickell). The Indian Crested Swift.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 164 3, 165 od, 166 G, 167 O 22-1-38 Mathar,

199 Q 25-1-38. Indore: 745 3, 746 Q 28-8-38 Choral.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Jaithari. Gwalior: Chandéri. Indore: Bijwar.

Gonads of January specimens maturing. ¢ ca 7X5 mm.; Q largest ovum

2 mm. Patchy, but not uncommon. Usually over teak and dry forest.

Caprimulgus indicus indicus Latham. The Indian Jungle Nightjar.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 644 CG 12-4-38 Chandéri.

Testes 5X4 mm. Chasing and courtship in progress.

Caprimulgus monticolus monticolus Franklin. Franklin’s Nightjar.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 52 @ 10-1-38 Sanchi. Gwalior: 399 @

28-2-38 Satanwara, 484 CO 15-3-38 Narwar Fort.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Chandéri.

Common. 399 breeding 28 February; largest ovum 5 mm. diam.

Caprimulgus asiaticus asiaticus Lath. The Common Indian Nightjar.

Specimens collected: Bhépal: 75 G 14-1-38, 107 9, 108 G 17-1-38 Dédi.

Dhar: 848 Q 12-9-38 Mandu. >

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Narwar ont, Chandeéri,

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA 475

[These specimens, as well as 2 in my collection obtained by Briggs at

Mhow, all belong to the grey phase. No. 848 is undergoing a complete

moult.—H.W. |

Common. Noisy March/April; silent August/September.

Tyto alba subsp.? The Barn Owl.

No specimens.

Noted only at Mandu, Dhar State, (Sept. 38) among ruins.

Asio flammeus flammeeu (Pontopp.) The Short-eared Owl. |

Specimen collected: Bhopdi: 112) G 17-1-38 Dodi.

Elsewhere not noted.

Solitary at base of bush in stony scrub country. Stomach contained field

rat.

Strix ocellata (Lesson). The Mottled Wood-Owl.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Mathar. Imdore: Bijwar, Choral. Dhar: Gijri.

Apparently not uncommon.

. Ketupa zeylonensis leschenauit (Temm.). The Bengal Brown Fish-Owl.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 630 9G 8-4-38 Chandéri (Betwa River).

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Mathar. Gwalior: Strwaya. |

Stomach of specimen contained remains of Varanus lizard, ca.

long. —

At Mathar (Narbada Valley, Bhopal) was heard the long-drawn_ kite-like

whistle of what I take to be some sort of owl. It was in a densely bamboo

covered forested ravine. The bird never gave a glimpse of itself, but the call

kept moving farther and farther away as approached. I have heard this same

or a closely resembling whistle, confirmed to be emanating from some owl of

about the size of a kite, in the Biligirirangan Hills on the Mysore-Coimbatore

border.

Otus (bakkamoena?) The Collared Scops Owl.

No specimens.

The mellow what?...... what? calls were heard

Narwar Fort and Chandéri.

12 inches

in Gwalior State at Kuno,

Athene brama indica (Franklin). The Northern Spotted Owlet.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 48 Q 10-1-38, 68 Q 11-1-38 Sanchi. Gwalior :

311 9, 312 dO 19-2-38 Kuno; 625 Q 8-4-38 Chandéri.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Mathar, Gwalior: Gwalior

Satanwara, Dhar: Gujri, Mandu.

[These specimens are intermediate in size and colour, but may be called

indica under the arbitrary convention given in J.B.N.H.S., xxxviii, 237.—H.W. ]

Common. Ovary of 625 (8 April) granular.

City and Fort,

Ninox scutulata lugubris (Tickell). The Indian Brown Hawk-Owl.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 450 Q 9-3-38 Narwar Fort.

Elsewhere not noted.

AAgypius monachus (Linn.). The Cinereous Vulture.

A solitary bird observed on a high bank among the ravines of the Chambal

River near Dholpar (Gwalior boundary) 17-8-309. Unconfirmed.

Sarcogyps calyus (Scopoli). The Black or Pondicherry Vulture.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Mathar, Gwalior: Kuno.

Common. Singly or twos and threes at carcases.

Gyps fulvus fulvescens (Hume). The Indian Griffon Vulture.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Dédi, Mathar. Gwalior: Kuno. Dhar: Mandu.

Near Mandu (Nalcha) are suitable cliffs said to be used by these yultures

in winter for breeding.

476 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL “HIST.” SOCIETY, Vol. XEI

Gyps indicus subsp? The Long-billed Vulture,

Noted: Bhopal: Mathar.

Common ?

Pseudogyps bengalensis (Gmelin). The Indian White-backed Vulture.

Noted: Bhopal: Mathar; Gwalior: Kino. Dhar: Mandu.

Common everywhere.

Neophron percnopterus ginginianus (Lath.). The Smaller White-backed

Scavenger Vulture.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Dodi, Mathar. Gwalior: Kino, Satanwara, Narwar

Fort, Strwaya, Bhind.

Common all over Central India. 2 nests in main forks of large Banyan

and Mango trees, 22 March, with birds brooding !

Falco subbuteo subsp.? The Hobby.

Noted: Gwalior: Kuno.

Falco chiquera chiquera Dauden. The Red-headed Merlin.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 569 3G, 570 @ 28-3-38 Badarwas.

Testes 5X3 mm.; ovaries granular. A pair. Stomachs contained 1 leg

each with feathers and remains of Prinia sylvatica.

Falco tinnunculus tinnunculus (Linn.). The European Kestrel.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 233 CG 31-11-38 Jaithari. Gwalior: 402

2-3-38 Satanwara, 486 ¢ 15-3-38 Narwar Fort.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Kuno, Sardarpur.

First of the season 17 September. Not abundant; occasional singles,

Falco jugger Gray. The Laggar Falcon.

Noted: Gwalior: Badarwas, Bagh.

Aquila rapax vindhiana Franklin. The Indian Tawny Eagle.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 105 3 16-1-38 Dédi. Gwalior: 320 ¢ 20-2-38

Kuno, 442 ¢ 8-3-38 Narwar Fort.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Mathar, Jaithari. Gwalior: Kino |

Satanwara, Bhind.

Common.

Hierattus fasciatus fasciatus (Vieillot). Bonelli’s Eagle.

Noted: Gwalior: Ummaidgarh Falls (Parvati River), Kano, Chhipén (near

Gana). Dhar: Mandu.

Nisaétus cirrhatus cirrhatus (Gmelin). The Indian Crested Hawk-Eagle.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 604 ¢ 2-4-38 Chhipon (near Gina),

Circaétus ferox (Gmelin). The Short-toed Eagle.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 255 @ 12-2-38 Kuno.

Testes 15X10 mm.

Haematornis cheela subsp.? The Crested Serpent-Eagle.

Noted: Bhopal: Mathar. Gwalior: Chandéri, Indore: Choral.

Butastur teesa (I‘ranklin). The White-eyed Buzzard-Kagle.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 26 @ 8-1-38 Sanchi, 184 © 24-1-38 Mathar.

klsewhere noted: Bhopal: Jaithari, Dodi, Gwalior: Satanwara, Narwar

Fort, Sardarpur. Dhar: Gijri.

Not uncommon but sparingly. Occasional singles.

Haliaetus leucoryphus Pallas. Pallas’s Fishing Eagle.

Noted: Gwalior: Chambal River (Gwalior-Dhélptr boundary).

Haliastur indus indus (Bodd.). The Brahminy Kite.

Noted: Bhopal Lake; Indore: Bijwar.

Uncommon. ;

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA AGT

Milvus migrans govitida Sykes. The Pariah Kite.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal City, Sanchi, Dodi, Mathar. Gwalior: Gwalior City,

Satanwara, Indore: Indore City.

Common, especially in and about towns,

Elanus coeruleus vociferus (Latham). The Black-winged Kite.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 467 2 13-3-38 Narwar Fort, 490 2 17-3-38

Surwaya. .

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Mathar, Jaithari. Gwalior: WKtno.

Sparse.

Circus macrourus (S. G. Gmelin). The Pale Harrier.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 43 9 9-1-38 Sanchi.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Narwar Fort, Satanwara, Amjhéra. Dhar:

Mandu (or pygargus?).

First of season: 11 September.

Circus aeruginosus aeruginosus (Linn.). The Marsh Harrier.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara, Badarwas.

Astur badius dussumieri (Temm.). The Indian Shikra.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 468 @ 13-3-38 Narwar Fort, 599° 9 2-4-38

Guna, Indore: 758 3 imm. 31-8-38 Choral.

IXlsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Mathar, Jaithari.

Ovary of 468 (13 March) granular.

Crocopus phoenicopterus chlorogaster (Blyth). The Southern Green Pigeon.

| _ Specimens collected: Bhopal: 1 g 7-1-38, 13 2 8-31-38 Sanchi; 241 Q 1-2-38

Jaithari; Gwalior: 541 OS 22-3-38 Surwaya.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Mathar, Gwalior: Kano, Narwar Fort. Indore :

Choral. Dhar: Mandu.

[No. 241 has the forehead washed with greenish and a band of greenish

across the base of the tail, but it agrees with the rest of the series which lack

these greenish markings, in having the yellow abdomen of typical chlorogaster.

2 oc wing 190-192; 2 9@Q 187-190 mm.—H.W.]

Common. Ovary of 241 (1 February) granular. Testes of 541 (22 March)

Se ex reahone

Columba livia subsp? The Blue Rock-Pigeon.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 298 @ 17-2-38, 316 Q 20-2-38 Kuno.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Satanwara, Narwar Fort, Strwaya, Bagh, Dhar:

Mandu.

[2 QQ wings 220, 220 mm. Both have the rump concolorous with the

back. In colour and size these birds match my series from the Punjab, but

until material is available from Southern India to allow the characteristics of

true intermedia to be satisfactorily appreciated I can neither define the ranges

or differences of intermedia and neglecta nor identify individual birds with

any satisfaction.—H.W. |

Ovaries of specimens mature. Largest follicle 5 mm.

Streptopelia orientalis meena Sykes. The Indian Rufous Turtle-Dove.

Specimen collected: Gwélior: 577 2 29-3-38 Badarwas.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Mathar, Gwalior: Chandéri.

[This ts the form which breeds in the N.-W. Himalayas, vide my discussion

of the names. and races in J.B.N.H.S., xxxviii, 678—H.W. ]

Streptopelia chinensis suratensis (Gmelin). The Indian Spotted Dove.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 174 Q 23-1-38, 183 ¢G 24-1-38 Mathar.

_ Elsewhere noted: Bhépal: Sanchi, Dodi, Jaithari. Gwalior: Kuno, Satan-

wara, Narwar Fort, Sirwaya, Badarwas, Gina, Chandéri, Bagh. Indore:

Bijwar. Dhar: Gujri, Mandu. Absent from Bhind.

Common. Facies preferences of the various doves more noticeable in dry

season, Nest with c/2 on 19 September (Bagh).

478 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Streptopelia senegalensis cambayensis (Gmelin). The Indian Little. Brown

Dove.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Dodi, Jaithari. Absent at Mathar. Gwalior:

Gwalior Fort and Environs, Kino, Satanwara, Narwar Fort, Surwaya, Badar-

was, Guna, Bhind. Indore: Bijwar. Dhar: Gijri, Méandu. Bagh. :

Common.

Streptopelia decaocto decaocto (Frivalszky). The Indian Ring Dove.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 160 g 22-1-38 Mathar. Gwalior: 290 1a, 120782

17-2-35 WKuno.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Dédi, Jaithari. Gwalior: Gwalior Fort

and Environs, Satanwara, Narwar Fort, Strwaya, Badarwas, Gina, Bhind,

Bagh, Indore: Bijwar. Dhar: Giajri, Mandu.

Common. Nests with c/2 and c/3 (!) respectively on 18 September (Bagh).

(Enopopelia tranquebarica tranquebarica (Hermann). The Indian Red Turtle-

Dove.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 387 6 28-2-38 Satanwara; 475 G 14-3-38

Narwar.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Dodi, Gwalior: Strwaya, Badarwas, Bhind.

Indore: Bijwar.

The least common dove. Testes of 387 (28 February) 125 mm.

Pterocles exustus ellioti Bogdanow. The Common Indian Sandgrouse.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 78 @ 14-1-38 Dodi. Gwalior: 270 g 14-2-38

Kuno,

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Ummaidgarh Falls (Parvati River); Satanwara,

Surwaya. | }

Not uncommon.

Pterocles indicus (Gmelin). The Painted Sandgrouse.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 179 Q 24-1-38 Mathar. Gwalior: 278 ¢

15-2-38, 313 @ 20-2-38 Kuno; 390 d, 391 2 28-2-38, 398 JO 1-3-38 Satanwara.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Narwar Fort.

Not uncommon in dry forest. Gonads of January and February specimens

enlarged, but not fully mature.

Pavo cristatus Linn. The Common Peafowl.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Gwalior: Kuno, Narwar Fort, Gwalior Fort and

Environs, Bhind and elsewhere. Indore: Bijwar.

Protected by law in Gwalior and Indore, consequently very abundant and

tame; commonly about villages.

Gallus sonneratii Temm. The Grey Jungle-fowl.

Strangely enough not met with or heard at all although the biotope seemed

eminently suitable. I have only one doubtful sight record of a hen from

Manpur (Indore). It is said to occur in parts of Bhopal State and in the

portion of Indore State lying in the Satpuras south of the Narbada River.

Galloperdix lunulata (Valenc.). The Painted Spur-Fowl.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 7 Q 7-1-38 Sanchi; Gwalior: 456 9, 457 6

10-3-38, 488 9 15-3-38 Narwar Fort, 614 ¢, 615 ¢ 5-4-38 Bajranggarh (near

Gina), 622 9 7-4-38, 632 Q 9-4-38, 638 dG 11-4-38 Chandeéri.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Kuno, Strwaya.

[Nos. 457, 614, 615, 638 are all adult males, with 2 large spurs on each

leg and no sign of moult, yet I find considerable variation on the wings which

does not seem to have been recorded. These vary from a bird like No. 457

which has so much metallic green on the wing coverts that the chestnut is

only visible on the outer half of the wing coverts (viewed en masse) and even

there a considerable part of the feathers are glossy green, to a bird like No. 614.

In this the wing coverts are practically all chestnut with the metallic green

confined to inconspicuous tips on many of the feathers. There is similar varia-

tion in the amount of metallic green on the scapular and central back,. In

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA 479

both varieties the white spotting persists. I see no evidence that this varia-

tion has any connection with age.

The other 5 birds are all apparently adult females and the variation in

their plumage is trifling, confined to the brightness of the head markings and

the presence or absence of shadowy lunate marking on the tips of the breas*

feathers. The spurs are one on each leg (twice), 2 on one and 1 on the other,

and 2 on each leg (twice). No specimen shows any trace of moult.

Narwar is the most north-westerly locality from which I have seen this

species.

Measurements : Bill Wing Tail

"466 23-24°5 153-167 120-129 mm.

soe 22-23 150-157 107-128 mm.

These are slightly larger than the specimens obtained in the other

surveys.—H.W. ]

Not uncommon. Frequents stony Anogeissus covered hummocks and _ over-

grown fort ruins. All the specimens of March and April had maturing gonads.

Largest ovarian follicle of 632 (9 April) 4 mm. in diam.; testes of 638 (11 April)

10X6 mm.

Excalfactoria chinensis [chinensis (Linn.)]. The Blue-breasted Quail.

Not met with, but a bunch of feathers picked up in grass and teak forest

at Manthar (Bhopal Strate) 22 January.

Coturnix coturnix coturnix (Linn.). The Common or Grey Quail.

Specimens collected: Bhépal: 147 0? 19-1-38 Dodi; Gwalior: 349 G 25-2-38

Satanwara.

Elsewhere not noted.

Distinctly uncommon.

Coturnix coromandelica (Gmelin). The Black-breasted or Rain Quail.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhéopal: Didi; Gwalior: All along motor road from Gwalior to

Shivpiri in grassy country (August/September); Indore: Bijasan Ramna_ near

Indore City; Dhar: Grass fields near Jhira Palace (Dhar City).

Calling on every side during August/September.

Perdicula asiatica asiatica (Latham). The Jungle Bush-Quail.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 27 Q juv. 8-1-38 Sanchi; 130 2, 131 Q pull,

14-1-38 Dodi; 237 Q 1-2-38 Jaithari. Gwalior: 314 dG 20-2-38 Kuno; 422

3, 423 9, 424 oS, 425 9 6-3-38, 431 dO 7-3-38 Narwar Fort; 878 3 19-9-3

Bagh; Dhar: 847 3 11-9-38 Mandu. The birds from Northern Gwalior are

not quite typical.

[The two species of Bush-Quail of the genus Perdicula have always given

observers and writers trouble because of the superficial similarity between the

plumages of the 2 species, because of the difficulty of understanding the plumage

sequences without a good deal of material and that specially collected ad hoc,

and finally because of the fact that the distributions of the two species largely

coincide. It was also unfortunate that at an early stage in the recorded history

of the 2 species the theory was propounded that the 2 species were found on

different types of terrain, for this idea has been repeated again and again without

careful verification and I believe that it will be found to be largely or entirely

incorrect. A belief in it has, however, coloured most of the accounts of the

species.

It remained for Mr. Stuart Baker in his review of this genus (J.B.N.H.S., xxix,

p. 310) to take a short-cut out of all these difficulties by propounding the super-

ficially attractive theory that the 2 birds asiatica and argoondah were races of one

species. This theory I examined at some length in the Eastern Ghats Survey

review (J.B.N.H.S., xxxviii, 685) and there I showed—at any rate to my own

satisfaction—that the theory could not be accepted and that there were certainly

two species, one of which at any rate had its own races. Attention having

thus been attracted to the problem, I was fortunate in being able-to assemble

480 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL BIST; SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

further fresh material through the kindness and activity of Mr. H. W. Waite,

Mr. E. A. D’Abreu and Col. R. Meinertzhagen, and now finally but very far from

least, Mr. Salim Ali. The result has been to clear up matters still further.

When writing the Eastern Ghats review I could not understand the plumages

of the two species and so worked on a very conservative basis, not being sure

whether the differences observed in the British Museum series were individual

or racial or how far reliance could be placed on the sexing of the various

specimens. The new material however, and particularly the fine series of both

species collected in this survey, has given me a very good (though not yet quire

complete) idea of the plumage sequences of the two forms and I am now able

to add to the very cautious conclusions originally ventured upon.

In the first place argoondah, with its more limited distribution, can now be

seen to have two races: argoondah and meinertzhageni (Bull. B.O.C., ccccvii,

p. 9—type locality Nasirabad). .In the second place it is clear that the three

races of astatica recognised in the Eastern Ghats Survey are not sufficient. This

species, with its small size for a Galline bird and its habit of making exceedingly

short flights even when disturbed, is sedentary beyond the average of its family

and there is nothing surprising therefore in its having developed a number of

races. ,

In the Eastern Ghats Survey I recognised three races of asiatica, namely the

typical race, the red race vidali from South Konkan and ceylonensis from Ceylon,

at the same time hinting that this might not be sufficient. Since then I have

described the pale north-west race punjaubi (Bull. B.O.C. type locality

Ambala). The present series has helped to emphasize what was not clear before-

or at least which I did not dare recognise until the plumages were more clearly

understood—that the typical race is a dark blackish-looking bird, most clearly

differentiated on the one hand from the red bird found below the Ghats in the

South Konkan, and from the grey or sandy coloured bird found in other parts

of India. These birds I have now separated as punjaubi but suspect that new

material when it is forthcoming will show that South Indian birds again require

separation both on size and colour. In the meantime it may be helpful to

sketch roughly the plumages of this species :—

The chick is thus described by Ticehurst (J.B.N.H.S., xxxi, p. 376) from

a specimen of P.a. punjaubi coliected by me in the Kangra District :

From base of bill cver crown, down centre of back to tail, a broad chest-

nut band edged on each side with dark brown; outside this from base of bill

a broad ochraceous supra-orbital stripe reaching mape and surmounting a

narrow dark brown superciliary stripe; ear coverts and short moustachial

streak dark brown. Rest of upper parts dappled rusty brown and _ light;

underparts ochraceous-grey.

The juvenile plumage (sexes alike and described from a pair of P.a.punjaubi

-collected by me in Kangra District) is as follows:—A broad band down the

centre of the crown brown edged with blackish-brown; a broad fulvous-white

supercilium from the lores to the posterior edge of the ear coverts; cheeks and

ear coverts dark brown with whitish shaft streaks; upper plumage warm

sandy brown, the feathers of the hindneck, upper back and wing-coverts with

conspicuous fulvous shaft streaks and broken blackish bars, the shaft streaks

becoming broader on the scapulars and the bars becoming black patches on

their inner webs; primaries dark brown mottled and streaked with sandy

fulvous ; secondaries, tertiaries and tail warm sandy brown with fulvous shafts

and mottled, speckled and barred with fulvous and_ blackish-brown; lower

peumage vinous-buff, the chin, throat and breast with shining white shaft

streaks.

This juvenile plumage seems to be moulted rather gradualiy during the

first winter giving place to the respective adult male and female plumages. As

in other game birds the outer two or three juvenile primaries, more pointed

in character than those which will succeed them, are apparently retained to

the first post nuptial moult, but they are not always easy to recognise.

No. 27 in this series is a juvenile in the plumage described above but is

throughout in a far darker, blackish-brown key, following and emphasising the

sub-specific difference between the typical race and punjaubi.

The adult male and female are easy to recognise and are as usually described.

The adult male has black and white barred underparts with a chestnut

chin and throat. The female has vinous-brown underparts with a_ chest-

THE BIRDS OF -CENTRAL INDIA 481

nut chin and throat. It must, however, be realised that some adult females

have an adumbration of black and white barring on the Jower throat and

breast which must not be confused with the tru.y barred black and white

feathers which will be found irregularly on juvenile males which have moulted

some of their juvenile feathers.—H.W. ]

Common. No. 27 (8 January) and 131 (18 January) were juvenile and

pullet respectively. The birds were mostly. paired off in August/September.

Mestes of $47 (11. September) 116 mm.; of: 878 (19 September) 117 mm.

On 19 September a pair was observed accompanied by half-grown pullets.

Perdicula argoondah argoondah (Sykes). The Rock Bush-Quail.

Specimens collected: Indore: 733 9, 734 ¢ 29-8-38 Bijwar.

Perdicula argoondah meinertzhageni Whistler.

collected: Gwalior: 392 Q 28-2-38 Satanwara; 574 9, 575 6;

576 Q 29-3-38 Badarwas; 660 Q 17-4-38, 670 Q, 671-3 18-4-38 Bhind.

[The two birds from Indore State are very dark and agree beyond doubi

with the typical race. The Gwalior series is not so uniform and four speci-

mens (Nos. 392, 574, 660, 670) being in transition from juvenile to adult plumage,

is not so easy to recognise. It is, however, certainly closer to memertshagent.

The adult plumage of this species is of course easily recognised from the

corresponding adult plumages of asiatica. In the male the most marked

characteristic is the dull brick-red chin and throat patch as distinct from

chestnut. The female lacks the throat-patch altogether (in astatica it is as

distinct in the fernale as in the male) having the chin whitish and the throat

concolorous with the rest cf the lower plumage. The presence or absence of

marking on the brown inner webs of the primaries is often cited as a dis-

tinguishing feature between the two species. It is correct that in asiatica

the inner web is unmarked and this web is certainly as a rule barred or

mottled or ‘watered’ with fulvous in argoondah, but it must be remembered

that in some specimens the inner web is unmarked as in astatica. These

remarks only apply to the adult primaries. In both species the juvenile

primaries are normally marked on the inner web. This character therefore

must be used with great caution.

The chick of argoondah is as yet undescribed and I have seen no specimen

Of it:

The juvenile plumage may be thus described from a female in my _ collec-

tion of the race meinertzhageni from Nasirabad, the type locality: Crown and

nape brown, barred with black, the feathers of. the forecrown: with pale

shafts; supercilium extending beyond ear coverts pale creamy-fulvous; ear

coverts and cheeks mixed bufiy-brown and dark brown; remainder of upper

plumage earthy-brown, the feathers speckted and broadly barred with black,

and with fulvous shaft streaks, these markings becoming obsolescent on the

rump and upper tail coverts, primaries, secondaries, tertiaries and tail warm

sandy brown, barred and_ freckled on both webs with brownish-black, the

tertiaries with broad fulvous shaft stripes and black blotches on the inner

webs; chin vinous buff; remainder of lower p'umage fulvous-buff, the throat,

breast and to a less extent the flanks barred with blackish-brown, the feathers

with white shafts.

It will be noticed that this juvenile plumage differs from that of asiatica

in one most marked detail, that instead of being roughly unicolorous below

with shining white shaft streals, the throat and breast are barred with

b-ackish, thereby superficially resembling the adult male. This explains why

in this species one meets numbers of immature females which seem to have

a mixture of male and female plumage below. The warm vinous-buff of the

adult female underparts is, in these birds, mixed with barred black and white

feathers which are remains of the juvenile plumage. Whereas on the other

hand in asiatica the birds with mixed vinous-buff and black and white barred

plumage are young males exchanging the vinous-buff juvenile plumage for the

adult black and white bars. In the one case the btack and white bars are

juvenile feathers, in the other case adult feathers. The distinction is interest-

ing and important, and essential to an understanding of the two species.—H.W. ]

Common. Gonads developed between April and September.

483. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Hist. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Francolinus pictus (Jardine & Selby). The Painted Partridge.

Specimens collected. Bhopal: 77 Q 14-1-38, 142 @ 19-1-38 Dodi; 212 Q

26-1-38 Mathar. Gwalior: 526 ¢ 21-3-38 Surwaya; Dhar: 850 ¢, 851 6

32-9-38 Mandu.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: City Environs, Jaithari. Gwalior: Kuno,

Badarwas, Guna, Ruthiai, Chandéri, Deharda-lsagarh Road. Indore: Bijasan

Ramna (Indore City Environs), Bijwar, Mhow (around Bircha. Lake).

[I cannot yet fully satisfy myself that there are two races of this species ;

nor can I obtain the necessary material to make out the plumages. The sexes

can certain:y not always be distinguished by plumage.—H.W. ]

Common but not abundant. Breeding in September. Testes of 850 and 851

(12 Sept.) 19X12 and 17X11 mm. respectively. Local shikari asserted that

male and female call alike.

Francolinus pondicerianus interpositus Hartert. The Northern Grey Part-

ridge.

Specimens collected: Bhépal: 232 SG 31-1-38 Jaithari. Gwalior: 317

20-2-38 Kuno.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Bhopal Lake Environs. Gwalior ;

Surwaya, Badarwas, Ruthiai, Barai (near Bhind), Guna, Chandeéri.

Common, but numbers much reduced in certain areas owing to excessive

netting.

Breeding in March/April. Two broods of 2 or 3-day old chicks with

parents on 19 April (Barai Dalbergia Piantation). One brood tended by 3

adults !

Turnix suscitator taijoor (Sykes). The Common Bustard Quail.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 22 Q 8-1-38 Sanchi, 79 @Q 14-1-38 Dodi.

Gwalior: 528 2, 529 @Q 21-3-38 Surwaya.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Kino, Badarwas, Chandéri Fort. Indore: |

Bijwar. Dhar: Mandu.

Not uncommon, Ovaries of specimens 21 March granular.

Turnix dussumieri (Temm.) The Little Button-Quail.

Specimen collected :Gwalior: 294 CG 17-2-38 Kuno.

Elsewhere not noted.

Apparently not common.

Hypotaenidia striata gularis (Horsf.). The Indian Blue-breasted Banded

Rail.

No. specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara (This species or Rallus

aquaticus ?).

Amaurorais phoenicurus chinensis (Bodd.). The Indian White-breasted

Waterhen.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Bhopal Lake, Jaithari (on Tend6éni River); Indore :

Bijwar.

Gallinula chloropus indicus Blyth. The Indian Moorhen.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Shivpuri, Narwar (Sind River), Chandéri.

Fulica atra atra Linnaeus. The Coot.

No. specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara.

Metopidius indicus (Latham). The Bronze-winged Jacana.

Specimen collected: Bhopai: 2 Q 7-1-38 Sanchi.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Satanwaray Chanderi, Panchamnagar, Ramnagar

Jank. Bhopal: Bhopal Lake.

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA 483

Hydrophasianus chirurgus (Scopoli). The Pheasant-tailed Jacana.

Specimen collected: Indore: 792 G juv. 5-9-38 Mandléshwar (Choli Tank).

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake, Gwalior: Satanwara, Chandéri, Ramnagar

Tank (near Guna), Indore: Choral (Balwada Tank), Dhar: Mandu.

[The specimen is a juvenile with little of the down plumage remaining. It

may be described as follows:

Forehead, crown and: nape chestnut; hindneck still in down, warm buff

with greyish bases and bounded by a shadowy blackish line from the ear-

coverts to the shoulders; upper and lower back and the scapulars dark brown,

the feathers broadly bordered with deep rusty fulvous; rump and upper tail

coverts dark brown, the feathers broadly tipped with deep rusty fulvous, this

colour divided by a dark brown bar in some feathers; wing coverts dove

brown, barred with darker brown and washed with fulvous, a broad white band

down the edge of the wing; primaries and secondaries short and in quill, but

it is possible to see that they will be as in the adult though the filaments

at the tips of the first three primaries are not so fully developed; tail not

yet visible; whole lower plumage white, the earcoverts, sides of the throat

and the breast faintly washed with salmon pink, the breast dully spotted with

sooty-black. The carpal spur of the wing is already evident.—H.W. ]

Common. Several juveniles on 5 September and a c/2 resting directly upon

floating singara (Trapa bispinosa) leaves (Choli Tank, Mandléshwar, Indore).

Rostratula benghalensis benghalensis (Linn.). The Painted Snipe.

Specimen collected: Gwaélior: 376 Q 27-2-38 Satanwara.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Chandéri.

Antigone antigone antigone (Linnaeus). The Sarus Crane.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake, Sanchi (Gulgaon Tank), Gwalior : Harsi Lake

(Narwar Dist.). Strwaya, Chandéri; Indore: Choral (Balwada Tank),

Mandléshwar (Choli Tank); Dhar: Mandu.

Common. Usually in pairs accompanied by sub-adult young—1 or 2—with-

out red head. Nest in shallow reed-covered tank with c/2 on 11 September

(Mandu).

Choriotes nigriceps (Vigors). The Great Indian Bustard.

No. specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Esagarh.

Now said to be becoming increasingly rare in Gwalior territory and to be

met with sparingly and rather sporadically in the following localities : Near

Mohana; along Deharda-Esagarh road in various spots; along Pachchar-Esagarh

road near Saruskhéri; west of Gwalior City near Tighara Lake and Pagara ;

near Jaura in Morena District; along portions of Shivpuri-Pchri road. Greatly

persecuted by shikaris and needs stringent protection.

Sypheotides indica (Miller). The Lesser Florican or Likh.

Specimens collected : Indore : 684 3 21-8-38 Indore environs (Bijasan Ramma) ;

Gwalior: 871 3, 872 ¢& 17-9-38 Sardarpur (on Jhabua road, ca 4 m. from

Rajgarh village).

The testes of the specimens—all in breeding plumage—-measured 148, 12X5

and 8x4 respectively. They were busy leaping up into the air from time to

time in nuptial display, and evidently preparing to breed.

Burhinus oedicnemus indicus (Salvadori). The Indian Stone-Plover.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 8 Q 7-1-38, 49 G 10-1-38 Sanchi, Gwalior:

565 oS 27-3-38 Badarwas.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Dodi, Gwalior: Kuno, Surwaya, Sardapur, Bagh.

Dhar: Gijri.

Common. Often in flocks of 6 to 8. Vociferous during moonlit nights.

Esacus recurvirostris (Cuvier). The Great Stone-Plover.

Specimens collected : Gwalior : 329 3 20-2-38 Kuno; 545 ¢ 25-3-38 Badarwas.

Elsewhere noted: Gwdlior: Satanwara, Narwar (Sind River), Chandérj

(Betwa River).

484 JOURNAL. BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOGIETY, Vol. XLI

Pairs on shingle banks and rocky beds of rivers. Testes of specimens 8x 5

and 1oX5 respectively.

CurSorius Coromandelicus coromandelicus (Gmelin). The Indian Courser.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 356 ¢, 357 2 25-2-38. Satanwara.

Klsewhere noted: Gwalior: Surwaya.

Not common. Gonads of specimens: g 5x4 mm.; @ largest ovum 1 mm.

Gelocheiidon nilotica nilotica (Gmelin). The Gull-billed Tern.

A single tern with black bill observed at Narwar (Sind River) on 14 March,

flying steadily at great height due North, was evidently this species.

Sterna aurantia Gray. The Indian River Tern.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 338 ¢ 24-2-38 Satanwara.

Iulsewhere noted: Gwalior: Guna (Rampura Tank), Chandéri.

Testes 7X5 mm.

Sterna melanogaster Temminck. The Black-bellied Tern.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 612 2 4-4-38 Guna (Rampura Tank).

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Dodi.

Ovary granular.

Charadrius dubius curonicus Gmelin. The European Lite Ringed Plover.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 84 Q 14-1-38 Dedi.

[This bird is still in immature plumage, but its measurements (bill from

skull 17, wing 120°5, tail 63, tarsus 23 mm.) prevent me attributing it tec

anything but this race which is no doubt a winter visitor.—H.W. |

Charadrius dubius jerdoni (legge). Jerdon’s Little Ringed Plover.

Specimens coilected: Gwalior: 327 9, 328 dG 20-2-38 Kuno, 413 ¢ 3-3-3d

Satanwara, 584 @, 585 do, 586 ¢ 1-4-38 Kuthiai; Dhar: 819 @ 7-9-38 Gijri.

Iklsewhere noted: Gwéalior: Harsi Lake, Shivptri.

[No. 819 is in juvenile plumage. The remainder are adults and from

the state of their organs as recorded on the labels were doubtless on_ their

breeding ground.

The series measures: Bill from skull wing tail tarsus

46d 15°5-16°5 T1I*5-115 59-62 - 24-24°5 mm,

229 15°5-10°5 114-117 62°5-63°5 24-25 mm.

They evidently belong to the resident race which is commonly known as

Ch.d.jerdoni though as I pointed out in the Eastern Ghats Survey, there are

no specimens from Ceylon available to establish what that race is actually

like and whether it is the same as Indian birds.—H.W. ]

Gonads of specimens between 20 February and 1 April maturing. Testes

averaging 5X3 mm ; ovaries granular.

Lobivanellus indicus indicus (Boddaert). The Indian Red-wattled Lapwing.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 221 Q 30-1-38 Jaithari.

Islsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake, Sanchi. Gwalior: Ktno, Satan-

wara, Shivpuri, Indore: Bijwar.

Common. In the rainly season commoniy seen along the grassy edges of

motor roads.

Lobipluvia malabarica (Boddaert). The Yellow-wattled Lapwing.

Specimens collected: Bhopal: 42 Q 9g-1-38 Sanchi, 128 $ 18-1-38 Dodi.

Gwalior: 362 Q 26-2-38 Satanwara.

elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Kuno, Guna, Ruthiai. Indore: Indore town

outskirts. Dhar: Gujri.

Not uncommon. Largest ovarian folicle of 362 (26 February) 3 mm.

Himantopus himantopus himantopus (Linn.). The Black-winged Stilt.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Dodi; Gwalior: Satanwara, Strwaya.

On village and irrigation tanks.

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA . 485

Tringa ochropus (Linnaeus). The Green Sandpiper.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 60 Q 10-1-38 Sanchi.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake outskirts; Dodi; Gwalior: Satan-

wara, Narwar Fort, Surwaya, Badarwas, Chanderi; Indore: Bijwar, Choral ;

Dhar: Gujri.

Common in winter. Earliest date 26 August; latest 8 April.

Tringa stagnatilis (Bechstein). The Marsh Sandpiper.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara, Chanderi, Bhind.

Latest date 20 April.

Tringa glareola Linnaeus. The Wood Sandpiper.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 503 2 18-3-38 Surwaya.

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Chandéri.

Latest date 8 April.

Tringa hypoleucos Linnaeus. Vhe Common Sandpiper.

Specimen collected: Dhar: 775 ¢ 3-9-38 Gujri.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Dodi, Bhopal; Gwalior: Satanwara, Narwar Fort,

Surwaya, Chandéri, Bhind.

Common. Last date 1g April.

Tringa erythropus (Vroeg). The Spotted or Dusky Redshank.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 85 @ 14-1-38 Dodi.

Elsewhere noted (this or totanus?): Gwalior: Satanwara, Surwaya.

Glottis nebularia (Gunnerus). The Greenshank.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 29 Q 9-1-38 Sanchi. ;

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Dodi; Gwalior: Kuno, Satanwara, Narwar (Sind

River), Surwaya, Ruthiai, Chanderi, Bhind; Dhar: Gujri.

Earliest date 3 September; latest 19 April.

Erolia temminckii (Leisler): Temminck’s Stint. ji

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 339 Q 24-2-38, 352 co 25-2-38 Satanwara.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Déddi; Gwalior: Harsi Lake.

Small flocks.

Capella gallinago gallinago (Linn.). The Common or Fantail Snipe.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 378 Q 27-2-38 Satanwara. .

Elsewhere noted: Gwalior: Surwaya, Chandéri.

Latest date 8 April.

Capella stenura (Bonaparte). The Pintailed Snipe.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Satanwara.

Lymnocryptes minimus (Brunnich). The Jack Snipe.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 377 Q 27-2-38 Satanwara.

Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis (Shaw). The Indian Large Cormorant.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Ummaidgarh Falls, Parvati River.

Phalacrocorax niger (Vieillot). The Little Cormorant.

No specimens.

‘Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Dodi, Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara, Narwar,

andéri.

Anhinga melanogaster Pennant.

Specimen collected : Gwalior: 449 9 9-3-38 Narwar Fort (Katora Tal).

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Jaithari; Gwalior: Ummaidgarh Falls

(Parvati R.)

Indore: Mandléshwar.

486 JOURNAL, ROMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

[The innermost tertiary and the tail-feathers show the stiff corrugations

which are such a marked feature of this species and which presumably have

some connection with its wonderful diving powers.—H.W. |

Nesting in company with Ardea purpurea and Ardeola gray on Babul in

Sangi Jank near Mandleshwar. Several nearly full-tledged young on

5 September.

Platalea leucorodia Linnaeus. The Spoonbill.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi (Gulgaon Tank); Gwalior: Satanwara, Surwaya.

Small flocks.

Threskiornis melanocephala (Latham). The White Ibis.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi; Gwalior: Satanwara, Sturwaya, Chandéri.

Small parties.

Pseudibis papillosa (Temm. and Lang). The Indian Black Ibis.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi; Gwalior: Kuno, Satanwara, Narwar, Chandéri,

Bhind.

Fairs or smali parties.

Ciconia ciconia subsp.? The White Stork.

No. specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Chandéri (3 or 4 on a tank, 8-4-38).

The only meeting in Central India.

Dissoura episcopus episcopus (Bodd.). The White-necked Stork.

No. specimens.

Noted: Gwdlior: Kuno, Harsi Lake, Ruthiai. d

Large stick nest on top of bare Bombax malabaricum ca 4o ft. up, on

river bank. at Ruthiai 1-4-38. 1 bird brooding, the other perched on rim.

Xenorhynchus asiaticus aSiaticus (Latham). The Black-necked Stork.

No specimens. mas

Noted: Gwalior: Kuno, Harsi Lake, Strwaya, Chandéri, Esagarh.

Singly or pairs.

ibis teucocephalus (Pennant). The Painted Stork.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Kuno, Satanwara, Harsi Lake,

Narwar (Sind River). Small parties.

Anastomus oscitans (Bodd.). The Open-billed Stork.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Kuno, Satanwara, Chandéri.

Singly or in small parties. Uncommon and excessively shy.

Ardea purpurea manillensis Meyen. The Eastern Purple Heron.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Gwalior: Satanwara, Ramptira Tank (near Gina),

Chandéri; Indore: Mandléshwar.

Nesting in company with Anhinga and Ardeola on Babul in Sangi Tank

near Mandléshwar, 5 September; several nearly full-fledged young awkwardly

clambering about the branches. .

Ardea cinerea (rectirostis Gould). The Eastern Grey Heron.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Kuno, Satanwara, Narwar, Rampura Tank (near Gina),

Bhind.

Solitaries.

THE BIRDS OF CENTRAL INDIA 487

Egretta alba subsp.? The Large Egret.

No. specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Dodi; Gwalior: Satanwara.

Solitaries.

Egretta intermedia intermedia (Wagler). The Indian Smailer Egret.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Sanchi, Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Ummaidgarh Falls

(Parvati River), Narwar, Chandéri.

Egretta garzetta garzetta (Linn.). The Little Egret.

No. specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Narwar (Sind River), Chandéri.

Bubulcus ibiscoromandus (Boddaert). The Cattle Egret.

No specimens.

, Noted: Gwalior: Narwar, Sardarpur; Indore: Manpur; Dhar: Gujri,

Mandu.

Butorides striatus javanicus (Horsfield). The Indian Little Green Heron.

Specimen collected: Bhopal: 136 Q 19-1-38 Dodi.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Jaithari (Tenddni River); Gwalior: Bajranggarh

(near Guna).

Ardeola grayii (Sykes). The Indian Pond Heron.

Specimen collected: Gwalior: 465 od 12-3-38 Narwar Fort (Katora Tal).

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara, Chandéri ;

Indore: Mandléshwar.

Common. Nesting in company with Anhinga and Ardea purpurea in Babul

in Sangi Tank near Mandléshwar, 5 September.

Phoenicopterus ruber roseus Pallas. The Flamingo.

No specimens. se

Noted: Indore: Mandléshwar (Choli Tank).

4 birds flying high overhead, 5 September.

Sarkidiornis melanotos Pennant. The Nukhta or Comb-Duck.

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 491 ¢, 492 @ 17-3-38 Surwaya, 535 @

22-3-38.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi (Gulgaon Tank); Gwalior: Chandéri

(Panchamnagar).

[No. 535 is an immature bird differing from the adult female in having

less gloss on the black parts of the upper plumage; in having the white of

the hindneck sullied with brown and barred with sooty-brown and black; the

lower back and rump are dull greyish-white, the feathers edged with brownish

and the upper tail coverts and tail are brown without gloss.—H.W. ]

The ovary of 535, however was conspicuously granular suggesting that the

bird was going to breed shortly.

Fairly common. Small parties and flocks up to 25.

Nettopus coromandelianus coromandeiianus (Gmelin). The Cotton Teal.

Specimens collected: Dhar: 827 9, 828 ¢ 9-9-38 Mandu.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Sanchi (Gulgaon Tank); Gwalior: Chandéri,

Esagarh; Indore: Choral (Balwada Tank), Choli Tank (near Mandléshwar).

Fairly common in small numbers. Specimens a breeding pair. Testes of

d 29X18 mm.; soft-shelled oviduct egg in Q medsuring 40X29 mm.

Anser indicus (Latham). The Bar-headed Goose.

No. specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Along Shivpuri-Pohri road, 8 miles from the former,

A flock of about 50 on a tank, 11 February.

488 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL. HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLt

Dendrocygna javanica (Horsf.). The Lesser or Common Whistling Teal.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Chanderi; Dhar: Mandu.

Small flocks up to end of April. A pair on 9 Sept.—evidently breeding.

Casarca ferruginea (Vroeg). The Ruddy Sheldrake.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Kuno, Satanwara, Harsi Lake, Chandéri,- Bhind.

Usually pairs. Once a flock of about 30. Latest date 19 April.

Mareca penelope (Linn.). The Wigeon.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Satanwara, Chandéri (near Panchamnagar).

Nettion crecca crecca (Linn.). The Common Teal.

No specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopai Lake, Dodi; Gwalior: Kino, Satanwara.

Small parties on tanks.

Dafila acuta (Linn.). The Pintail.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Chandéri.

Several on tank.

Spatula clypeata(Linn.). The Shoveller.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Satanwara.

Nyroca ferina ferina (Linn.). The Pochard or Dun Bird.

No specimens.

Noted: Gwalior: Satanwara.

Nyroca rufa rufa (Linn.). The White-eyed Pochard.

No. specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara.

The majority of duck on Bhopal Lake (2 February) were of this species.

Nyroca fuliguia fuliguia (Linn.). The Tufted Pochard.

No. specimens.

Noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake; Gwalior: Satanwara.

Podiceps ruficollis capensis Salvadori. The Indian Little Grebe. ~

Specimens collected: Gwalior: 497 Q 17-3-38 Surwaya, 530 Q 21-3-38.

Elsewhere noted: Bhopal: Bhopal Lake: Gwalior : Satanwara; Dhar: Mandu.

Fairly common. Ovaries of both specimens granular.

PUBLISHED LITERATURE ON CENTRAL INDIAN BIRDS

1. Barnes, H. E. —Birds Nesting round Neemuch. j.B.N.H.S., i, 38-62.

2. Betham, R. M., Lt.-Col.—The Nesting of a few somewhat rare Birds

near Mhow, Ibid. xix, 988-990.

3. Briggs, Rev. F. S.—A Note on the Birds in the neighbourhood of

Mhow. Ibid, xxxv, 382-404.

4. King Birds of the Goona District. foun: As Soc; 107 Benoa wixxxviin

208.

5. Maries, C.—List of Birds from Gwalior in the State Museum. “fi: BIVuEES.,

xi 30.

6. Martin Young—Birds’ Nesting near Mhow. /.B.N.H.S., xvi, 514. -

7. Moss King, R. C. H.—The Resident Birds of the Saugor and Damoh

Districts,.‘Central Provinces. J-BoN.H3S.; \xxi) 187- -103.

8. Osmaston, B. B.—The Birds of Pachmarhi. Ibid. xxviii, 453-459.

g. Swinhoe, Lt.-Col) (@:, sand Barnes, Et) vEl )—On ithe (Birds) of wGentral

India. . ‘Ibis’, 1885, pp. 52-69, 124-138.

10. Shelley, Lt. B. A. G.—The Nesting of the Brown Flycatcher (on ghats -

near Mhow) /:B.N.Sosix,. 220.

11. Whitehead, Capt. C. H. TNotes on the Birds of Sehore, Central India,

with special reference to migration. - Ibid. xxi, 153-170.

(THE END) -

Dow iS iia OnE Ace AbplVr IsSLANDs,

LizUT.-COLONEL R. W. BurRTON.

(With four plates).

In the minds of most people there will be some sort of romantic

idea regarding coral islands. Blue lagoons, feathery palms, coral

reefs, dusky beauties; all of these, with some reservation as to

the latter, are to be found at Chetlat, a typical coral ‘atoll’ and

the most northerly of the inhabited islands of the Laccadive

archipelago.

It was at dawn on Friday, the 8th November 1935, that the

writer crossed the bar of the Mangalore harbour in the ‘Valia

Bukkari’ an odam, as the island coast-going vessels are termed,

of 21 tons burthen. In length 37 feet with a draught of 5 feet

einches and a crew of i1 tmen there is in the whole of her

construction not a single nail or bolt! The timbers are of the

‘various trees which grow on the island, while the sweeps, used

when becalmed, or to aid the rudder when going to another tack,

are of coconut-palm wood. All the planks are secured by good

joinery made fast by lashings of coir passed through holes bored

to take them; even the rudder swings on hinges of coir rope.

All the cordage is of island manufacture, and the rudely fashioned

pulley blocks are made by the island carpenters. The mainmast

is of teak from Indian forests, and the sixty-foot spar which

carries the huge lateen sail is of mainland growth.

With a fair breeze from the land the mountains of the Western

Ghats were out of sight by noon and we settled down to a voyage

of uncertain duration. With luck we might do the 150 miles in

three days or less, but with ‘adverse winds or weather it might

take thirteen. Such was the fate of one of these boats a year or

‘so ago: thirteen days at sea to be driven ashore a hundred miles

down the coast dismasted, rudderless, and all aboard in desperate

straits for water. In view of such a happening we carried 4o

gallons for our party of four, while the crew had their supply

in a large earthenware vessel encased in coir-rope netting and

slung below the leaf-thatched platform placed amidships as living

and sleeping quarters for the crew. There also, on a floor of mud,

is the cooking galley.

‘Cabin accommodation’ on the boat was a space beneath the

poop nine feet wide and long narrowing to three feet at the stern-

post, and two feet six inches high. When the vessel felt the first

heave of the ocean the smell of the bilge water was so nauseating

that I passed the whole voyage lying in the open on the rice

cargo. Later on the horrible liquid, which instantly called up

thoughts of diphtheria, was mostly baled out, but much of the

490: JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL. HSI SOGlE IN. Vola excel

odour remained. Fortunate is R. B. in being wholly immune

from sea sickness, yet a few minutes of that variety of eau-de-

cologne would have given him the same green and yellow com-

plexion as the poor R, A. (Mr. Ramaswamy Ayyangar, Research

Assistant of the Madras Fisheries Department) who lay prostrate

in the rabbit hutch to the last moment of the voyage.

It was interesting to observe the life of the Islanders, Muham-

madans all, at such close quarters, and the interest was fully recip-

rocated ! The two cooks, Melacheries by class, the lowest of

the four social grades on the islands, prepared curry and rice for all,

those on duty having their piled-up portion taken to them on large

enamel-iron plates.

During the latter half of the 18th century such craft as this

were used on occasion for the movement of troops of the East

India Company from port to port along the Malabar Coast; and

to this day, as I found on seeing the ship’s manifest, it is entered

that this small boat can carry 69 natives or 51 Europeans. Such

trials did those gallant souls endure who laid the foundations of

our Empire in the East.

The Tindal, as the Captain is styled, possessed a sextant in

use of which he was wholly ignorant. The course was kept by

compass aided by the position of the sun and stars. In the small

hours of Sunday morning the sea was rather rough and a rope

parted at the masthead. Being roused by the shouts of the Tindal

the crew were quickly at their appointed stations and in a few

seconds one of the men walked up the mast carrying a rope in

his teeth which he rove through the block indifferent to the sway-

ing of the vessel. Soon after dawn another of the crew, very

Simian in profile, walked up in the same effortless way and

announced ‘some country is in sight.’ This, after some question-

ing by the Tindal as to its shape, was announced to be Chetlat.

Quite a good shot to hit a one mile bull’s-eye at a range of a

hundred and fifty! Before long the smudge became a line of

verdure seemingly floating in the ocean, then the white line of

surf could be seen, and the waving plumes of the palms, and by

ten o’clock we were anchored outside the entrance to the lagoon

having been afforded some excitement during the last few miles

by a school of porpoises. The harpoon carried by every Island

boat of whatever size had been immediately ready in the bows,

but no opportunity came for a successful shot.

A square of white cloth flown on coming to anchor protein al

boat from the lagoon, and in a short time we and all our belong-

ings were aboard the ‘Chetlat’, being skilfully rowed in true sailor

fashion through the lagoon entrance and over the transparent

waters of the shallow lagoon to the sound of a far-echoing chanty

on the part of the crew of twelve lusty rowers. A number of the

inhabitants, headed by the Monegar, were assembled on the sandy

shore to greet us, and I was quickly installed in the Cutcherry ;

R. A. being accommodated in another building close to it. We

were fortunate in finding Mr. A. M. Khan at Chetlat on Inspection

Duty from his Head Quarters at the island of Ameni thirty miles

to the south-east, for at his hands was received much: assistance

JOURN. BomBay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Chetlat: The tomb of Carpenter Primrose.

Chetlat: Wauling in the Ola Vala.

A Visit LO THE EACCADIVE TSEANDS 491

in many ways and a semi-official introduction to the elders of the

community. ,

The ‘Chetlat’ is a very substantial and well-built boat con-

structed by the inhabitants of the Island and presented by them

to the Government in 1934 for the use of the Monegar for inter-

island communication. It is consewn—not a nail in it—and rowed

by twelve men.

In the afternoon a visit was made to the tomb of Carpenter

Primrose of the ‘Vizier’ against the eastern shore. This merchant

ship, laden with cotton goods and cutlery, was wrecked on the

Cheriapani Reef, sixty miles to the north-west, in June 1853.

The crew found their way to Chetlat where they stayed until con-

veyed to the mainland, and it would seem that Primrose was the

only casualty. The memorial slab let into the wall of the tomb

which was built, or rebuilt, a few years ago at the instance of

old Muhammad Ali, my boatman and moopan (headman) of the

island, was carved by men of the ‘General Simpson,’ a ship which

was wrecked in 1863 on the north reef of Chetlat. -The -vessel

sent to salve the ship was itself lost on the reef when approaching

the island at night.

In 1865 the ‘Lord Brougham’ was wrecked on the Cheriapani

Reef and timbers of all these wrecks appear to have been utilized

in construction of the island mosques. Since those days there

have been no more wrecks as the shipping passes further south

through the nine degree channel; but now the new Port of Cochin

brings steamers to and from that port within sight of some of

the islands.

One of the vivid memories of that first walk on the island

was the sight of the hermit crabs (Cenobit@) going about with

shells on their backs, into which portable bungalow dwellings they

quickly retreated when alarmed to bar the entrance with a horny

claw. Housing problem completely solved! The many forms of

life seen on the reef within a few minutes was astonishing. Sea

slugs (Holothurians béche-de-mer) were lying about seemingly

inert, in sheltered places beside the rocks, and R. A. was soon at

work collecting specimens, being busily assisted by a number of

children attracted to this new form of treasure hunt along the

shore, every nook and cranny of which was so wonderful to us

and commonplace to them.

— We all drank of young coconut milk, the customary hospitality

in all countries where the coconut is grown and so, quietly wander-

ing through the shady palm groves with eves alert to notice all

so strange and new, we made our way back to the cutcherry now

my home for the ensuing ten davs.

Next morning there was an official rat-hunt, part of the Mone-

gar’s inspection work in pursuance of the organized methods

found necessary to check the increase of these pests (Mus rattus

vufinus) which have become almost entirely arboreal and do much

damage to young coconuts. A few nests were found and destroyed,

some half dozen rats killed, among much excitement. The men

walked up the trees without rope or other aid of any kind with

little apparent effort, and their great muscular development above

492. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST: SOCIETY,+ Vol. XUI

the waist due to rowing, beating coir-fibre, and climbing the trees

for fruit was most noticeable.

In the evening an entertainment was given by some women

and girls. Sitting in a circle they beat time with the palms of

their hands the while all sang to the lead of a witty lady of mature

years who gave all the topical allusions suitable to the occasion :

judging by the hilarious reception of the ‘hits’ she was highly

successful !

The morning after arrival I went to sea in a lagoon boat.

Several fish of good size failed to get hooked—all sea fish have

very bony mouths, but a fine barracouda (Sphyraena commersonii)

of 36 Ibs. (55 ins. by 22 ins.) was captured on a trolled bait. Of

much the same size and. shape as a good seir fish he did not put

up the same fight for freedom as that sporting variety of. the

tunny. He has a great armament of formidable teeth, as can be

seen in the photograph where he is posed with two small boys;

the boy at the business end clearly registering alarm! That

evening there was another entertainment, but of a religious nature,

in which men acted with great fervour. The following day the

Monegar was rowed away to Ameni and we settled down to the

collection of specimens and to fishing.

Several mornings producing few fish I took to going out from

sunset to ten o’clock, and very beautiful it was under the moon

and brilliant stars; but even then the sport was by: no means up

to expectation, the best evening being nine Caranx (C. nigripinnis)

averaging 11 pounds, all on trolled natural bait. The island fish-

ermen also caught few fish by day or by night on hand lines and

during my stay harpooned not more than half a dozen.

One afternoon a Seir fish was harpooned close to my boat and

it was most interesting to see the preliminary play of the poemeen

(the crude wooden imitation of a flying fish), the tense attitude of

the striker when he became aware that a fish had been lured from

the depths, the hurling of the heavy fourteen foot harpoon and the

thud as it struck the fish. Instantly the thick coir line is torn out

of the boat, the shaft becomes disengaged. Now the man wield-

ing the sculls manages the boat according to requirements and

instructions of the harpooner; soon the fish is tired, brought near

the boat, skilfully gaffed by the oarsman and lifted in. In such

manner do these sporting island people of mid-ocean secure all

creatures which swim in those seas—-except the whale, which they

leave severely alone. |

Harpoons are of three kinds. The heavy 11-foot shaft used

for porpoises, dolphins, sharks, rays, and the like; the three

pronged 14-foot shaft for seir, turtles, and such large fish as are

not usually struck close to the boat; the twelve pronged 8-foot

weapon used for flying fish, gar, and other small varieties found

at night in the lagoons and along the reefs by aid of palm-leaf

flares. The prongs of this latter, which is used in a somewhat

similar form by several eastern peoples, are of bamboo or other

hard wood sometimes tipped with brass. These are placed con-

centrically—six on the outer circle and six on the inner, these last

being two inches shorter than the outer ones. The shafts of all

Journ. Bomsay Nat. Hist. Soc.

pipe

YETLMUE.

Chetlat: A Barracouda: 36 lbs.

Collecting at Chetlat.

AP VISEESTOMLEHE EACCADIVE, ISLANDS | 493

are of coconut wood about 14 inches thick in the middle and

tapering to each end.

The fishermen are marvellously adept in the use of these crude

but efficient weapons and quite evidently take pride in, and greatly

enjoy, the sport which entails a high degree of skill. Distance,

pace, refraction, direction, all have to be judged in the split second

of the opportunity which may come at any moment. It is at night

that the most varied sport can be obtained, the best conditions

being when there is neither moon nor wind. The beauty of the scene

is almost more than can be imagined; there is the reflecting mirror

of the lagoon, the sparks flving from the torch, the dancing

sparklets of the rippling water, the bronzed statuesque figure of

the poised harpooner, the low-echoing undertones instructing the

oarsmen, the thud of the weapon and the resulting jubilations of

the crew. What memories all this recalls!

The reefs at any time, and more especially at night, are in-

fested with creatures it is well to avoid: clams, octopi, sea-urchins

with poisonous spines, knife-edged pieces of coral await the un-

wary; so on the frequent occasions when it is necessary to ease

the boat over an obstruction there is always the possibility of

injury to bare feet: but the fishermen seemed not to mind or take

any particular care, while I was usually anticipating some mishap !

Besides harpooning and hand-line fishing beyond the outer reef

nets of three sizes are used in the lagoon. The muluvala is of

small mesh, about fifty feet long by five feet deep, worked from

the shore by four men; with it small fish suitable as bait and

for the family curry are caught as required. The'muduvala is a

circular casting net for catching small fish, and has no radiating

strings as on the mainland nets for these would entangle in the coral.

The kadalivala is a much larger affair and is used in conjunction

with the olavala, this being a rope many hundred feet in length

on which are tied lengths of palm leaves, the use of it being a

holiday occasion.

The method was demonstrated one morning. The _ palm-leaf

affair was loaded in equal parts into two boats which were rowed

some four hundred yards from the shore by crews of a dozen

men. At the selected spot the ropes were joined—the boats then

returning in a semi-circle paying out the rope as they came. At

intervals men went overboard to free the leaves from coral obstruc-

tions and aid the net by wading with it to scare the fish inwards;

and so the boats came to shore with but two men in each of the

dozen who had gone out. Now willing hands of boys and men

tail on to the ropes and haul in until the semi-circle has been

reduced to dimension required for use of the kadalivala, which is

taken in a boat from one corner and payed out inside the leaf

met. Soon ‘this real net hems in all the fish, and quickly the

strugeling catch is brought to the sandy shore where all stand

around watching the rainbow sheen of fish of a dozen curious

makes and shapes. There could be no speedy killing of the poor

fish for among them were several surgeon fish (Acanthurus trioste-

gus) of five to six pounds armed on either side of the waist with

bone lancets of razor keenness which have been known to inflict

494 JOURNAL, BOMBAY (NATURAL “HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XET

mortal wounds by severing an artery of the incautious handler.

When not excited these weapons remain folded and_ sheathed,

points towards the head, but are instantly erected as rigid weapons

Gf “OllLence:

There were several box fish (Ostracion cubicus) that curious

handiwork of Nature which can move only two fins and tail, the

scales being ossified and body square in shape. It is not eaten.

Then there were one or two globe fish (Tetrodon ballistes) blown

out like balloons with fright and having very funny faces: these

also inedible. The island urchins have the cruel amusement of

tickling these fish to cause them to inflate, then popping them off

with a playful jump. The bulk of the fish taken were blue and

yellow parrot fish (Pseudoscarus tetrodon) with prunes and prism

snouts, about five pounds each in weight. In all there was some

150 lbs. of fish.

Along the West Coast opposite Mangalore the hundred fathom

line is about 45 miles away and then the ocean depth soon in-

creases to one thousand fathoms and over. The islands are on a

chain of peaks rising from the ocean bed 6,000 feet below, but

as to the probable geological process which led to these coral

atolls being formed it is necessary to refer to the chapters on the

subject in Gardiner and elsewhere. Immediately beyond the edges

of the fringing reefs soundings give a depth of 5,000 to 6,000 feet

and more!

The island of Chetlat. is: mile 1,150.yards in length by 1650

yards in width at the widest point, and contains 255 acres. The

November temperature is a humid 78 to 84 degrees. The inhabit-

ants number less than 900, males and females in almost equal

proportion. There are 180 occupied houses. Most of the people

are Melacheries, the class described as landless tree-climbers.

Those who can read the Koran do not climb trees and are called

Mukris. There are no dogs, crows, or land snakes; and though

commissioned to collect specimens of sea-snakes none were to be

found and they were not known to the islanders.

The few birds and butterflies are mostly migratory. The

highest part of the island is not more than 15 feet above sea level.

The average rainfall is 60 inches, most of which arrives in June,

July, and August. The island is not so thickly grown with palms

_ as some of the others; but the quality of coir is said to be superior,

probably because it is all soaked in sea water. The palms at the

south end of the island are much taller than those elsewhere but

I could learn no reason for this.

In The Blue Lagoon (H. de Vere Stacpoole) is an account of

a fight with an octopus; and finding smaller specimens in pools

among the coral I witnessed the creature’s methods of attack and

the inky discharge by which the whole pool is clouded when it is

forced to defend itself. The two-foot tentacles could be detached

by one’s fingers, but it could be well imagined how helpless one

would be in the grasp of a big one, and they are known to grow

to an immense size. The islanders use them as food and for

fishing bait.

Ap VISE TL ORME “LACCADIV by ISEANDS 495

Specimens of the Giant Clam (Tridacna), known to grow to

a weight of 800 lbs., were a common sight on the reefs, the

smooth pearly-white curving lips open and ready for any chance

prey which might happen into the vice-like grip, the only release

from which would be a severance of the powerful muscle at the

base of the shell by which it is closed: for the shells are almost

part of the rock on which they are found. My walking stick

thrust into the open jaw of quite a-small one had to be released

by use of a long-bladed knife. Deadly, absolutely, would the

grasp of one be to a man caught at low tide, or when diving,

for the muscle is of enormous power, nothing short of a crowbar

being able to prise open or detach even a small one of ten pounds.

The lagoon is on the western side and about 600 yards in

width, extending almost to the length of the island. Owing to

the small variation in the tide level, which is less than three feet,

the outer reef is but little exposed and it is only on perhaps two

days in any one, month that paddling exploration of the reef can

be made; so on only one day of our ten were we able to

thoroughly explore. Then R. A. added numerous treasures to

his collection and I witnessed many forms of life never before

revealed to my wondering eyes. My camera not being with me

on that occasion I was unable to take a picture of a large sea

anemone of brilliant colours which lay in shallow water: next day

there was a strong breeze and deeper water, so the opportunity

did not recur: how true that is of many such! Bacon has some-

thing very apt which will not be inflicted on the reader, and

readers of Shakespeare will recollect a very true saying. ‘He who

will not when he may—’, etc.

That first day of exploration on the exposed reef was of

absorbing interest. Beneath almost every movable stone or piece

of coral is a creature of some kind; a crab; a many-footed creature

like a centipede; a brilliant little fish; a mottled eel which would

rapidly undulate into a crevice, the entrance to which would be ~

speedily barred by a snake-like head full of sharp teeth; there

were also sea-urchins prickly as hedgehogs, sea-stars and star-fish ;

while amongst the surf of the reef a few feet away might be seen

a four-foot shark. In every pool holothurians (sea slugs, béche-

de-mer) of several varieties lay apparently lifeless, yet containing

within them commensal life in the shape of a small fish (Fierasfer)

having this strange dwelling for a lodging. This little fish, similar

to most fish except that the ventral fins are absent, issues from

its host when water is ejected, retreating to safety with a returning

stream. It is about as long as one’s finger. One small sea

anemone I found and examined. It has no bony covering and

anchors its foot to a rock. . It is a coral, yet ‘secretes no coral,

and consumes such life as is suitable to its digestion by sucking

it in at the centre of its petal. One of the sea worms found

among the coral at low tide was about a foot long with a

marvellous set of feathery feelers at its mouth. It progressed

like a snake and was sticky to the touch. The men said it was

poisonous but, though it looked very unpleasant, it was probably

harmless, Another creature impossible to investigate lived in holes

496 JOURNAL, BOMBAY \NATURAL HYSTY SOCTEIUY VVoln xt

in the coral, protruding long whitey-yellow tentacles which, on

being touched, were withdrawn with great rapidity: this was also

said to be a harmful beast the touch of which would cause the

part to swell. Many other strange forms of life were seen, and

the only life above the water was a heron so exactly the colour of

the background of the rocks on which he was expectantly perched

as to be almost invisible. No doubt he was a very expert fisher-

man.

In the lagoon the expanse of water is an ever-changing picture

of great beauty. The colour varies with the depth of the water and

the nature of the floor, being pale green where shallow and splashed

with darkest sapphire where deep pools lie; while the underlying

coral rocks resemble fleeting shadows cast by clouds. Seawards

is the fringing-reef beyond which the deep indigo of the ocean

shows in the photographs as a line drawn across the picture.

Ever is there the unceasing roar of the waves dashing over the

reef, for even in the calmest weather there is a considerable surf

which increases to high-tossing clouds of spray when white horses

are riding at sea. Within is safety in all weathers and then the

graceful island boats, fashioned in such marked contrast to the

heavy dug-outs of the canoe coast (as the west coast is styled in

contrast to the cataraman coast of the east side of India) are busy

fishing and tending the bamboo basket traps put out for crabs

and lobsters.

Into the lagoon are two entrances from the sea, that to the

north being the one used as the other is very shallow.. The

islands are formed of coral built up from underlying banks of

reef-building corals. How the banks came to be there is matter

for some difference of opinion, but there must have been some

upheaval as is evidenced by the masses of coral conglomerate

found along the eastern face of all the island and now undergoing

erosion, as can be plainly seen—and felt if you fall about on it

as I did!

The fringing reefs are great banks of coral which run out

into .and wnder~-the Sea, that~ om «the easter side beimoy butma

_hundred yards wide and dipping abruptly into the great depths

of the surrounding ocean, while the western reefs shelve some

hundreds of yards before they plunge into the 6,o00 feet which

is the depth not half a mile away. The floor of the reef is visible

at a depth of go feet, so crystal clear is the water of these seas,

and it is along the dark indigo line of the deep ocean where the

reef disappears from sight that the best fishing is to be had, for

there are the big fish searching for their food. ‘The little fish lie

in the -shallows, the big fish swim without’ wholly true of rivers,

is also partly true of coral. seas. -

“All over the fringing-reefs can be seen luxuriant coral inter-

spersed with bays of silver sand. Great trees of coral border

those’ shining valleys, while through the water glass can be seen

slowly moving fish of varied hues and strange shapes wandering

in seemingly aimless fashion in and out of the coral jungle: but

all are there for protection or food, and some of them such -as

parrot fishes and: file fishes actually feed upon the coral ‘itself

AD ViSit@elLO-= foi, LACCADIVE ISLANDS 4.97

cracking the tubes like a dog cracks a bone and eating the polyps

as a dog does marrow. Some of the crabs and other creatures

put on a garb so closely resembling coral as to have an almost

sure protection from their enemies. Certain species of crabs live

at a depth of thirty fathoms which is about the extreme depth

where the polyps can build.

Live coral has many very beautiful colours. Rose pink, blue,

brilliant yellow, purple tipped stems of many branching forms are

seen, apparently waving in the pellucid water when viewed with-

out the water-glass, but only these tips are alive, for the coral stems

and trunks are all skeletons of the dead upon which the living

coral is raised.

Leaning over the side and gazing through the plate glass

screen as the boat moves slowly along everything is as in an

aquarium, but on what a vast scale! Marvellously are the pro-

cesses of nature in its most wonderful form brought before one

by such a kaleidoscopic picture. Countless thousands of millions

ot the tiny builders are at work forming these reefs on which

have arisen islands habitable by man. Rising above the surface

the coral is broken by waves and thus ground into sand; more

and more sand is formed, perhaps a great storm may arise and

bring added material from the ocean bed, a bird drops a_ seed

which germinates and more seeds fall, so grass and certain species

of shrubs appear and bind the sand together: a coconut is borne

from the distant land and so coconut trees take root, and the ques-

tion may be asked as to whether man planted coconut trees on

these islands or was he attracted by the trees already established ?

The fish I used for trolling-baits out at sea were of various

colours. “The most useful seemed to be the goat-fish (Unpenoides)

so named on account of the beard-like feelers depending from

the chin. These were cream colour with longitudinal — yellow

stripes. When the eel-like mackerel-coloured half-beaks (Hemi-

ramphus) were used at night they were very successful; and a

dark green jew-fish did good work in luring a fine red perch

(Lutjanus) of 13 lbs. A few sharks were- caught, 30 lbs. the

largest, but nine of the fish caught at Chetlat were horse mackerel

(Caranx nigripemnis). It was very disappointing not to get better

fishing when so much was expected; the fishing on the Malabar

coast, had been better: there 29 fish of 547 lIbs., here 15 of 172 lbs.

The mornings and evenings were spent in wandering about

the island looking for butterflies, insects, birds, shells, and just

for the pleasure of seeing the people at work and how they lived.

Only five species of butterfly were captured, all with the appearance

of having been blown over from the mainland. Two kinds of

bees sought nectar from the blossoms of a hardy shrub, a gecko

fell from the palm-thatched roof of the cutcherry, and an occasional

skink scuttled among the leaves. Dragonflies were numerous and

difficult to catch; numerous crickets and grasshoppers afforded food

me plenty for the several blue Rollers (Covacias .benghalensis,

Ceylon and South Indian race) which hawked among the palms.

Of birds of prey the only two observed were the Pale Harrier

(Circus macrurus) and Montagu’s Harrier (C. cineraceus). Some

498 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

small birds flitting among the dense foliage of the trees could not

be identified, and £ had no gun. There were no gulls.

The drinking water of the island is. found by digging, the

excavations being steened with coral stone. ‘hese places, as also

the several bathing tanks made in a similar way, are very badly

cared for and a cholera epidemic would take very heavy toll of

lite. The water had a very uninviting appearance and | saw to

it that all for my camp was carefully boiled, a kerosine tin at a

tume. In the bathing tanks were some fresh water minnows

which helped to keep down mosquitos, unpleasantly prevalent

but fortunately not malaria carrying as are those on the island of

Minicoy, the most southerly of the Laccadive group.

The people had few domestic animals. There were two or

three cows aid a few goats, so milk was known to but few of

the children. Fowis were kept by a few of the more enterprising

and eggs were olfered for sale, but I did not encourage sale to

my camp of any provisions as there was little that this isolated

community could spare. There being no shops money was not

much in demand. The children were insatiable for biscuits of

which a ship-load would not have sufhced, for the grown-ups

wanted them as well. My own tare was simple, as always when

out in camp. Dal, rice, atia, potatoes, onions, sugar, jam, ~ tea,

butter, and the usual condiments met all requirements: it had

not been dithcult to arrange the forty days supply for self and

servants.

On the whole the people looked undernourished and suffered

a good deal from eye troubles: which, it was gathered later from

a medical scientist, may be due to some deficiency in diet. Leaves

of the horse-radish tree (Moringa pterigosperma) appeared to be

the only vegetable eaten. Old and young alike were affected with

skin diseases. The staple food of the islanders is rice all of which

is imported from the mainland in exchange for coir rope at a

price tixed by Government. No coir, no rice, so all families have

to be pretty constantly at work husking the coconuts, burying the

fibre on the shore in prepared pits where it is covered with coral

stones for about six months, uncovering these pits, beating out

the fibre on blocks of wood with wooden mallets, teasing the fibre

to make it ready for twisting, and making it into rope. Then it

is packed into bundles of a specified weight and size, weighed

into the island store room by the cierk-in-charge, and rice given

in exchange. Certain stages of the work are done by women and

children—quite small girls and boys taking their share, and at

most hours of the day before noon the sound of the beating

mallets can be heard almost as insistent to the ear as the copper-

smith in India.

The meat of the coconut, the copra of commerce, is used as

food—coconut rice cakes are very palatable—and the balance sold

by the islanders under their own arrangements. Beyond what they

get for these products of the coconut tree, and the fish they catch,

they have no other principal means of subsistence. Nothing do

.they grow, or can they grow, in the sandy soil; yet lantana and

Journ. Bompay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Chetlat: Laccadive Islanders.

My Fishing Boat.

AL VISiE -TO.} TAR. LACCADIVE ISEANDS 499

the aloe plant, if permitted to flourish, would soon overwhelm

the little open space that exists.

The clothing of the women is much the same as worn by a

similar class upon the mainland. Ordinarily the male population

wears little but a loin cloth, a costume almost necessitated by the

climate for any active work. Some of the men are of very fine

physique, an instance being a_ hairy-chested fellow, one of my

boatmen. 1 met him one night when out fish spearing and he

presented a flying fish to me, one of the few seen during the whole

trip. As the flying fish is much hunted by all the large predaceous

fish of these seas—sword fish, bonito, and the like—their absence

was a bad sign.

The lite of the people is very well ordered and ruled by a

simple penal code, but of crime there is little and that mostly the

thett of one another’s coconuts! There is certain work, such as

the launching of the larger boats or the hauling up of one into a

boat shed, which is a communal duty. For this, and for the daily

coir and rice transaction, the people are called by a peculiar cry

started from the required place of assembly and repeated from

house to house. It closely resembles the howling of jackals! The

boat sheds are of coconut beams and rafters thatched with palm

leaves, these roofs abutting upon uprights of coral stone. The

eaves are close to the ground so that the boats are well protected

from the monsoon storms. The dwelling houses are of similar

but neater construction and well fitted for the climate. All face

north, and the walls are of coral stone quarried by much labour

from various places on the island.

The Laccadive islands are sometimes visited by destructive

cyclones, and evidence of these great storms is to be seen on the

Eastern side of most of the islands. Great masses of coral are

torn up from the ocean bed and piled to a height of many feet, where

they act as rugged breakwaters. Such storms must have devas-

tated Chetlat on several occasions. On the 15th April 1847

several of the islands were almost denuded of coconut trees, many

hundreds of the inhabitants perished, and many houses were

destroyed. The islands of Kalpeni, Androth, and Kiltan—the latter

only 30 miles from Chetlat—were devastated, so perhaps it was

that storm which piled up on the north-eastern reef of the island

the great masses of coral. Since those days the population of

all the islands has greatly increased: in 1795 there were but one

hundred inhabitants on Chetlat, and Kardamat was uninhabited.

Such storms on these mid-ocean islands are terrible visitations;

coconut trees are blown about like feathers to the accompaniment

of a deadly hail of coconuts.

A feeling of expectation, of something likely to happen, always

accompanied the exit through the lagoon channel with the roar

of the surf on either side and the sight of the swiftly moving

mosaic floor of the reef crystal clear below the boat. Soon, when

the rod was set and the bait trailed thirty yards behind, one had

leisure to sit in quiet contemplation and enjoyment of the hour

as the sun began to sink behind the great bank of clouds which

arose every evening on the Western horizon. On the one hand

500 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST CSOCIELY, Wok, Xi

the foaming surf of the reef backed by the feathery palms on the

further shore of the beautiful lagoon; all around the quickly

changing hues of the water now looking cool and peaceful where

but an hour ago it was glittering under a fierce sun; and along the

horizon the enormous clouds formed massive purple battlements,

castles in the air, the illusion of snow-topped mountains, static

too, as if real and not unstable, so slowly did they change their.

shape: then the silver changed to gold as the sinking sun shot

great rays to the zenith and the dying day rapidly gave way to

the wonder of the tropic night. ,

This was the hour when one might expect to have the line

torn off the reel with all the resultant excitement and expectation.

Is it a seir, or a Caranx, or perhaps a shark? One soon got to

know the manner and feel of the various species. Some, like the

red perch, would at once make for the floor and a coral retreat

from which dislodgement would be difficult, so whenever the bait

was. seized it was well to ailow as little liberty as possible: in

anticipation of such happenings tackle has to be strong. A few

good fish were lost for one reason and another but the sport was

not up to what had been. hoped for; it might have been better six

weeks later, and should another trip be made to these seas it

would be during December and January to a locality ascertained

shortly before return to the mainland some weeks later. There

would be sword fish, seer, bonito, perch, caranx, and other sport-

ing fish in great variety.

At night the sea was highly phosphorescent. At each. move-

ment of the oars globules of light floated away,. brilliant patches

of. jelly fish and other forms of marine life went past, and on

several occasions large patches of phosphorescent light floated from.

below to remain a minute and then fade away; what this was

the men could not explain and it never occurred close enough to

be investigated.

I used to let the men put out a hand-line and keep themselves

amused by singing chanties as we rowed along. Noise seemed

rather to attract fish than otherwise;' and when we occasionally

hauled in the lines to light palm-leaf flares in order to try and

harpoon a seir fish it was often that the trailing bait would be:

taken immediately after within a few feet of the boat. Some-.

times we would get close to another boat and then the picture:

silhouetted in the night by the spark-throwing torch would be

of a very striking description. On a future trip an automatic.

camera flashlight apparatus must form part of the equipment.

When a hooked fish was reeled in to be gaffed great lines

and flares of phosphorescence were set up far below by its wild

gyrations and all eyes would be out of the boat to judge of the

size. Many were the laughing comments on the lengthy business

of playing with the rod a fish which would have been summarily

hauled in by themselves using a hand line, and jerked into the

boat. Old Muhammad Ali used to be doubled up with laughter

at the idea; and when one evening the butterfly net with a small

receptacle at the end of it was skimmed along the surface of the

water as the boat moved quietly under the full moon for the

AGA Sie ROME ALAGCCADIVE WSLANDS 501

purpose of collecting plankton for scientific examination, he and

the crew, thinking this to be another method of the mad Feringhi

for catching fish, laughed so that tears streamed and the merri-

ment ceased only when the scream of the reel afforded other

excitement. All that I had was strange. None of them had ever

before seen a fishing reel. Said old Ali with much emphasis,

‘More than seventy years have I lived, and never have I seen

such a tamasha as this!’

It was old Muhammad Ali, headman of Chetlat, who hired

to me for the remainder of the trip the use of his boat with crew

of eight men and himself as Tindal, and a very excellent crew

and craft it was. He was then blind in the right eye but now,

alas! has lost the sight of the other from the same cause, that

very common trouble among eastern people in particular—cata-

tact. Never again will he see the foaming surf of the reefs, the

marvellous sunsets, the tremendous majesty of the monsoon seas

and storms known to him since childhood: but I hope again at

some future time to take him out fishing and let him have the

feel of a good fish on my rod.

The ‘Valia Bukkari,’ in which we had sailed from the main-

land in 54 hours, is slightly larger than the ‘Poo Odam’ which is

4 15 tons burthen.

All night we sailed quietly along in the ‘Poo Odam’—the

Flower Ship—to wake at dawn after hours of peaceful slumber

in that warm air and look over the immensity of the grey of the

sea shot with soft hues; there was a brief pause, then with a

smile the day broke to reveal the palm trees of Bitra Par seemingly

floating in the water at the northern end of a great lagoon seven

miles long by three wide encircled by a ring of creamy breakers.

The main entrance is at the southern end, and there is a

possible way in over the reef close to the east of the island of

which I had no knowledge or would have urged we make for it;

but before I realized what was being done we were inside the

lagoon through a small high-tide gap known to the old man, and

‘mighty proud he was to have found his way in! But pride has

a fall, and he wasn’t so perky when the wind failed entirely, for,

it took within half an hour of dark to kedge the boat to our

destination; and the crew were wholly fed up with 18 kedges of

20 minutes each, besides rowing R. A. three miles to the island

to shorten the miseries of a bad sailor, for the boat rolled much

in the calm lagoon. That night I again slept on my six-by-two

piece of deck, lulled by the unceasing surge of the sea on the

reef, after having eaught with a hand-line a 15 Ib. kaduva (caranx)

and a red perch, both of them very pale in colouring, the result

of habitat on the sandy floor of the lagoon.

Next morning tents and everything else required was landed

and camp pitched among the palms. Bitra is uninhabited, except

for one family from Chetlat which lives there during the fair

weather months to look after the coconut trees and make sugar

from the palm juice. In one of the pictures the man is seen walk-

ing up one of the trees near my tent to take away in a bamboo

bucket the juice which has collected during the night in the small

502 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Hist. SOCIETY, Vol. XLi

coconut gourd placed the previous evening beneath a cut made

to receive it. “the palm juice thas: to be collected in. the ‘early

inorning as these Muhammadan people may not drink the potent

spirit which can be made from the fermented liquid. The trees

belong to Chetlat, but all the islands have equal fishing rights,

so 1 was not surprised when the caretaker complained that a

fishing party from one of the distant isles had raided all the

coconuts.

This man had pigeon-toed, widely splayed feet well adapted

for the climbing of coconut trees—which is done without extraneous

aid of any description. I saw some similar feet at Chetlat, and

it is likely that the palm-climbing done from early youth causes

this adaptation which, were it not that the women never climb

trees, would probably become an inherited characteristic. All the

men of the crew could walk to the mast head in just the same

effortless manner.

The famiity occupied a house, on the eastern side of the island,

of the usual coral-stone palm-thatched type with a well close by.

They lived in the utmost squalor, in the dirtiest state imaginable

as to surrounding’s, and the well was full of leaves and debris.

At the south-east corner of the island is an excavation about two

feet square containing somewhat brackish water. This was at

once aah out for use of my camp and we soon got used to the

taste of it; but I liked it best, or disliked it least, made into tea.

During ne monsoon months both these supplies are too salty for

use, and until the island has much increased in size—it is now

but 28 acres—it will be likely to remain uninhabitable on this

account.

The night was cool and there were no mosquitoes; rats and

crabs did not trouble me, but my servant said they tried to pene-

trate his curtains and share his bed! I had feared the mosquitoes

and sandflies might be troublesome as much of the island is

covered with an evergreen bush (Scaevolu Koenigit), called kanni

by the natives, which grows in clumps like a_ rhododendron.

There was also much of a coarse tussocky grass, two kinds of

convolvulus—white on the bushes, purple where it spread over

the sand—and a few other grasses. The island is 200 yards wide

at the broadest part and 1,100 yards long. ‘There is evidence

along the eastern shore of some great storm having torn large

blocks of coral from far below, as is seen on Chetlat to a greater

extent. The coconut palms on this island were definitely not sea-

borne but planted by the islanders.

As at Chetlat, so here, we had only part of two days on which

the’ tide permitted exploration of the fringing reef; then a large

area was uncovered to the north-west and many treasures gathered

by R. A., assisted by the boatmen and my servant Rangaswamy

who had become an ardent collector of shells. Nothing very rare

in shells was found. There were many large Pterocera chiragra

and P. lambis (Trochus) from which pearl buttons are cut and the

flesh of which, as also of the octopus (vern: appalu) found in

plenty on the reefs, is eaten by the people: this latter has a

pleasant shrimpy taste and the tentacles are used for baiting hooks.

A ViSiBV RO TE LACCADIVE ISLANDS 503

A good specimen of Mitra episcopalis was found in the sand at

the south end of the lagoon, but on the whole the shells were

rather disappointing as the islanders have taken to collecting for

sale in the Mangalore and Calicut bazaars. A heart-shaped sea-

urchin, with shape of a star fish impressed on the carapace as

by a wax seal, was an interesting find; as also a composite coral

snell, a cirripod of the crab family of which relationship one would

never have suspected it.

It seemed apparent that the south end of the lagoon is filling

up, as a considerable area is exposed at ordinary tide, and a fair

sized bank about fifteen feet high is always above sea level. On

this were a number of sea gulls, some terns, and a few migratory

waders. Less than a hundred years ago sea birds bred in great

number on, Bitra itself but owing to persecution -have long since

ceased to frequent the island for any purpose. Rats (Mus rattus

vufinus) are the only mammals; and the only birds seen were a

water rail, unidentitied, which crept among the bushes close to

the tent, a blue roller (Ceylon race), and a Montagu’s Harrier.

Shore birds began to arrive soon after we did, so before we left

I had seen whimbrel, golden plover, avocets, stints, herons and

a large black and white stork. The only butterfly seen was a

very tired specimen of Melanitis ismene which settled at the very

door of my tent after the whole island had been searched for

several days. Dragonflies were numerous.

A large turtle (vern: miragam) came out of the sea one night

and laid a great store of eggs which the men soon dug out of

the sand. Had they secured the turtle it would have been quickly

boiled down for oil with which to preserve the woodwork of their

boats; and a horrible smell there is when this operation is in hand.

The large net (ola-vala), brought from Chetlat for the purpose,

was dragged in the lagoon with much the same result as before,

the bulk of the catch being jew fish (Pseudoscarus dussumieri) most

of them about tr Ibs. in weight. There was also a curious fish

with large luminous eyes, a near relative of the cuttle-fish, and

some surgeon-fish (Acanthurus triostegus). All these, except the

inedible box-fish (Ostracion) and some _ spiny globe-fish, were

cleaned, split, and dried in the sun on sticks placed between poles

stuck in the sand. This was also done with the fish I caught

outside the reef, so soon the whole place reeked of the oil-exuding

flesh covered with blue-bottle flies, and it was a marvel to me

how it ever became fit for consumption. As at Chetlat we found

no sea-snakes which are apparently absent from these seas though

so numerous close to the West Coast.

The fishing was-a little better than at Chetlat, but not much.

There, 15 fish weighing 171 lbs.: here, 37 fish of 426 lbs. which

was far below expectation, as to size at any rate. Seir (Cybium

commersonii, vern: ayakura), were seen’once or twice leaping

high out of the water in furious pursuit of shoals of small fish,

but only one was taken, and that with the harpoon. The largest

fish was a 90 |b. shark (Cacharius, vern:-sravu):in which were

four young ones 22 inches long. Another shark which may have

been about the same size got off after a long fight, the hook

504. JOURNAL, BOMBAY: NATURAL HIST. “SOCIETY, Vol Xia

coming away for no apparent reason. Most of the fish were

Caranx (C. nigripinnis) of two varieties; one, (vern: molayam)

having a larger eye than the other called kannam. They averaged

iy Ibs.,~ the largest -beme -r19"1bs. The reds perch” were Luijaintts

sp. and a lovely green perch (Leth?inus) of 5 Ibs. | Even’ with

the aid of Dr. Day’s well-known work on fishes we did not

find it easy to make correct identifications of the 47 specimens

collected at the two islands.

All my fishing was by troiling any species of small fish netted

in the lagoon. or along the reefs, and most of it after dark. It

seemed better to so mount the bait on a single hook as to prevent

any spin: this I also found when fishing on the West Coast of

India. One day the rod gathered a fair harvest of fish. There

were two sharks of 40 and 22 lbs., two Caranx of 21 and 7 IMbs.,

one gar-pike and two red perch, one purple ballistes (Erythrodon),

and three small perch taken by hand line from a great depth,

their eyes popping out in surprise at such an adventure! These

were Serranus mineatus. The method of sinking a baited hook

was to hitch a coral stone on to it by means of a narrow strip

of palm fibre; when at required depth a sharp jerk released the

stone,

The Research Assistant was indefatigable at his work. The

opening up of all fish taken was always done for examination as

to parasites and, almost without exception all were infested with

one kind or another, the harpooned seir fish contained a parasite

as big as a thrush’s egg—named Trematode. It quite put me off

eating fish, to know they harboured such creatures.

With the new moon of the 26th November R. A. had certain

ceremonies to perform and my boat people commenced the Ramzan,

the Muhammadan month of feast, by having a day of rest from

seeing me catch fish; but after that they claimed the permitted

dispensation for travellers so far as abstention from water 1s

concerned.

I always let the men have a hand-line out when I was trolling,

and old Ali used to like pulling the line off the reel to get out

the usual thirty yards and occasionally feel the pull of the bait.

Several times he had the thrill of a taking fish and the feel of

a fish on a rod the like of which he had never seen in all the

long years of his life. The reel was a great source of interest.

Several of the men had inflamed eyes and were greatly pleased

with the cardboard shades I made for them, so much so that they

wore them at night when out at sea!

One day there was great excitement when we were returning

to camp across the lagoon. The men suddenly pulled at racing

speed; then one of them dived overboard to come spluttering up

and ask for one of my large hooks on a hand-line; down he dived

again and away tore the line with a big fish at the end of it!

Soon the fish was hauled alongside and lifted in with the gaff:

36 lbs. Chilenus undulatus, called by the men chandni ba-la-la. ‘A

most noble jew fish’ as Tom Cringle said to Mr. Wagtail.

This peculiar method of fish catching was explained to me.

The fish is seen in the clear water to swim away and its habit

AR Visit TE O” THE. LACCA DIVE: LSEANDS 505

of taking refuge in a clump of coral is’ known, also that it is so

frightened that it will stick its head into a crevice and not attempt

to swim off when a man dives after it. The first dive locates it,

the second time the bend of the hook is pushed gently along the

side of the gills until the corner of the fleshy mouth ‘is reached,

when an inward motion with a quick pull sends the point in and

the fish is hooked! One day we went to the south end of the

lagoon and three more of nearly the same size were secured in

a similar way. They have protuberant lps like those of mahsir

and a single row of teeth, the dog-like canines projecting at a

forward angle. The tail is broad, there are curious fleshy ridges

along the dorsal and ventral fins, and on the shoulder is a hump

reminiscent of that on Indian cattle: on the blue scales and

gill-plates are rusty-red linoleum-like patterns.

The dazzling white of the coral sands necessitates glare glasses

when the sun is out, and when it is not out. During the hours

of glare and heat there is not much life to be seen, but as the

evening closes in the hidden population of the sands issues forth.

Where the sand was before smooth, or perhaps rippled by the

ebbing tide, hundreds of crabs emerge from their burrows to seck

food and scuttle about in all directions, nipping the bare toes if

one stands still for but a moment, and difficult to avoid treading

upon if walking quickly. They are of several species varying

from yellow to olive-green or grey; and many are really beautiful

in the patterned designs upon their bodies. Some have periscopic

eyes (Ocypode ceratopthalma), eyes on stalks which they lay back-

wards when crouching for concealment and raise to find out if

all is clear for a forward movement. There is nothing new under

the sun! If pursued they run into the water where they crouch

in imagined concealment and are casily caught between finger and

thumb.

Besides the crabs there are other concealed creatures. Sand

shell-binders form long casts which are very difficult to extract

unbroken, and even more difficult to keép undamaged for museum

purposes. And then there are the Sabellae which live in colonies

and can be seen at low-tide like a number of tubes; when covered

by the incoming tide a beautiful fringe composed of the gills comes

out like a plume of feathers. One knows that behind all one sees

is a purpose and a plan, but how to arrive at the truth? Marvel-

lous are those scientists who have unravelled so many of the

secrets of Nature.

The magnificent lagoon of over twenty square miles in extent

is an immense tropical aquarium in which can be seen, as we

move quietly along in the boat, every kind of coral and fish of

many brilliant hues and strange appearance. Football stockings !

School Blazers! Anything of that kind. So unused are they to

any alarm that one can watch them unobserved. No doubt there

are voracious enemies in the seeming paradise—indeed I often

saw great splashes of feeding fish amongst the partly submerged

clumps of coral against the reefs—but out in the lagoon all

appeared peaceful in those pellucid gardens. Here is a_ place

where scientists could spend four or five months in Nature’s

506 JOURNAL, BOMBAY, NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Wonderland in perfect security as to climate and weather, and at

a small expenditure.

Those marvellous corals! The coral polyps cannot live above

the surface, so when the structures reach just beyond the ordinary

action of waves they die. It is only the upper part that is alive,

so the living part of the reef and the clumps of coral in the lagoon

may be only a few inches thick, and all below that level dead as

ancient rock. Growing after the manner of trees budding and

branching the appearance of the coral seen below the surface—or

with the water-glass in the deep transparent water over the reefs,

is aptly likened to a forest of trees.

There are many varieties of coral and all are not of this

branching description. There are star corals and brain corals,

mushroom and fungoid corals, to mention only a few, which are

not reef-building and can be picked up in both dead and living

state as one paddles about, many of them showing wonderful geo-

metrical designs most fascinating to study under a magnifying

glass. The growing tips of the branching corals are rose-pink,

brilliant yellow, delicate blue-green of many hues, creamy white,

purple, and even black; and when the reef is exposed at low tide

the staghorn coral jutting in large patches above the surface has

the appearance of gorse upon a common.

Some pieces of red coral we found, tubipora, of which the live

growth has not been discovered on the Laccadives. It is known

on the east coast of Africa, and perhaps grows at a great depth,

for some of the reef-building corals work at as much as thirty

fathoms, and fragments may have been torn from the ocean bed

at time of great storms. It is not plentiful.

All too soon our allotted time came to an end; the ten days’

rice was finished; we were overdue to arrive at Kadamat island

away to the south-east; so on the afternoon of the 2nd December -

we anchored outside to await the breeze which would arrive soon

after dark. For the last time I gazed over the placid waters of

the vast lagoon.

All through the starlit night of the 2nd December we sailed

over calm seas from Bitra and at dawn next day sighted the five

mile line of palm trees denoting Kadamat, while a few miles to

the south could be seen Ameni, the principal island of the Northern

Group of the Laccadive Archipelago.

Soon after daybreak the night breeze died away and it was

but slow progress we made, the tedium being diverted by the sight

of a school of dolphins for which the harpoon was quickly made

ready ; but we were not so successful as the- men of Barlow’s

ship in 1661, ‘. . . . , and one day there came two dolphins about

our ship and in the evening one of our men struck one of them

with a ‘‘fisgige’’’, and he draws for the reader quite a good

picture of a dolphin and a flying fish ‘on which the dolphin doth

prey for his food many times.’

Drawing nearer to the north end of the lagoon we were within

hail of a one-man fishing boat which came to us for exchange of

news. He had a flying fish trailing behind on a stout white cotton

hand-line in hopes of sword fish or sezr. No ‘doubt he did not

A VISED EO LE EACCADIV EE ISEAN DS 507

wish that a dolphin should take his bait, for it would be more

than one man’s work to hold and harpoon one of those vigorous

creatures: ‘... . and not long after we took a fish with a. hook

and line which weighed about sixty pound, which had a long

snout or bill, of two feet long, which we ate, he being very good

meet,’ that would have pleased him better !

At last, we made the entrance of the lagoon, and slowly gliding

in sailed and poled along for two and a half miles a few yards

from the edge of the sandy shore, accompanied by some of the

people curious to see the white man whose visit to their island

they had long anticipated. Opposite the centre of the island we

came to anchor, to land amidst a concourse of the inhabitants

headed by the Muhammadan Hospital Assistant who had come

across from Ameni on inspection duty. Soon we gathered the

local news—a rice boat had just arrived from Mangalore and there

were letters for me; a seir fish was harpooned yesterday; a big

sword fish was speared last week; bonito had not been seen for

some time; the Monegar at Ameni wishes to have early news of

my arrival.

Soon we were comfortably housed, I in the Cutchery—the

Court House of the Magistrate, the Research Assistant in the

School building now closed for the Muharram. Now that we had

arrived at this populous island of 900 inhabitants my crew had

to strictly observe the fast of Ramzan so could not be reasonably

asked to spend long hot hours out to sea: a mental note was

made that a visit to the islands should not coincide with any

religious feast or fast.

The first day, however, I went out fishing, and was fortunate

in witnessing an unusual affair which is probably seldom seen by

white people. In the early morning we rowed across the shallow

two-mile width of the lagoon to cross the reef at high tide; then,

letting out thirty yards of line from the reel, two caranx of the

same large-eyed species taken at Bitra were caught on the small

yellow-striped goat-fish (Chilenus sp.) which was the bait most

commonly obtained here. We failed by twenty feet to cut off a

porpoise undulating on the surface—the harpoon was not ready.

How often does the sportsman, or the photographer, miss oppor-

tunity from not being ready! Then a turtle, too carelessly stalked,

dived as the boat approached, and a second attempt also failed.

Now came the commencement of a memorable hunt. A_ long

way off some men were playing the poemeen—the dummy flying fish

—to entice seir from the depths beyond the edge of the shelving

reef, and from them came loud shouts the purport of which,

understood by my men, caused great excitement. Racing to the

scene we found a school of porpoise rolling about bewildered by

the noise of several boats endeavouring to encircle them. I thought

they would be harpooned, but that was not the game. Soon other

boats came up, and with fourteen boats joining in the hunt the

shoal was hemmed in towards the reef and herded in the direction

of the main entrance. There was a great shouting and banging

of oars on the water and thumping of thole-pins amid great

508 «JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL CATST SOCKETY. Vol, Al

excitement. At this time I took a photo of the men, and again

of the poor porpoises confused and not knowing where to go.

Now the shoal is in the entrance channel to the lagoon, the

boats close in, the shoal is cut off and forced towards the shallow

water near the shore. Now from each boat leaps a man with

ready knife, rapidly each poor helpless wallowing beast is slashed

behind the head, stabbed in the side, and in a few minutes the

beautiful light green water of the lagoon is crimson beneath the

blazing sun. All this is done with exulting shouts amid great

excitement, and now the men stand around, hand on hips, watching

the poor stricken inoffensive creatures pumping out their heart’s

blood while threshing round and round on the coral stones in their

death agony. In the photographs the result of this is written on

the hides. One, badly wounded, escaped over the reef to the sea,

but being quickly pursued by seven boats was harpooned and towed

back to he with the others.

Eleven had been killed, ten porpoises, of which one was a

young one of about 200 lbs., and one dolphin. I estimated that

not less than 6,000 lbs. of meat had been secured within five

minutes! No wonder the men had been so excited, for it would

seem that it is not often the porpoises are found in such a favour-

able situation for a drive. The last occasion was said to have

been five years previously.

As soon as the turmoil had calmed down there were whisper-

ings and glances in my direction and I at once saw what was

afoot. Backshish! From me! Why? I told them, by signs not

to be misunderstood, ‘nothing doing!’ For why should I, as good

a shouter and banger as any of them with my crew of six men,

why should I pay? And just then one of the men trod on a sole

concealed in the sand so there was other distraction, and the

fish being soon captured I claimed it for my breakfast. “My

backshish’, said I, and they all laughed.

The porpoises were common porpoises (Phocaena phocaena),

and the dolphin the common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), a cetacean,

or marine mammal. It is strange that this latter should have been

with the porpoises. Perhaps, like the famous New Zealand

‘Pelorus Jack’, he preferred to live a lonely life) or) haverthe

company of cousins rather than nearer relatives. There are nine

species of cetacean in the Arabian Sea.

That afternoon the whole island was festooned with strips of

the dark-red flesh, so the people had a great feast after sunset,

renewed in the early hours of the morning in anticipation of the

long day of abstention from food and drink. It had been a most

blood-thirsty sight to witness, and strange to see these men now

Muhammadans, but many of them markedly Hindu in appearance,

savagely frenzied in the murder they did. In 1795 this island was

uninhabited and it is probable it was peopled by converts made

in the time of Tippoo Sultan of Mysore.

Leaving the people to the division of their spoil I walked

quietly back to camp along a winding path beneath the shady

palms. It was pleasing to see knee-high grass and a few quietly

grazing tethered cows and to note that the people of this island are

JOURN. BomBAY Nat. Hist. Soc.

| Kadamat: <A slaughtered Dolphin.

Kadamat: One of the ten Porpoises.

WS LOW aE. EACCMDI VE. TSEAN DS a00

obviously better off and better nourished than those of Chetlat.

The houses are of the same description—coral-stone walls, beams

and rafters of coconut wood, palm leaf thatch—each in its own

compound, as on the mainland.

The palm-trees appeared more flourishing; and besides the trees

common to other islands there are other mainland varieties, mango,

tamarind, pipal, banyan, casuarina, but only quite a few which

appear to have sprung up accidentally. Several coral sand-stone

quarries were seen in use. This stone is of a beautiful whiteness

when hewn and fairly soft, becoming hard when exposed to the

air. Along the lagoon shore are some thickets of the sweet-

scented palm (Pandanus odoratissimus) so well-known among’ the

backwaters of Travancore, and within the roomy boat-sheds were

interesting specimens of island shipbuilding both complete and on

the stocks. I saw very few butterflies.

There are not many who can recollect the great Krakatoa

Eruption which occurred on the 27th May 1883 in the Sunda

Straits. I have a clear remembrance of the impression made on

my mind at school in England when news of it was received. The

noise was heard over a radius of two thousand miles. A _ friend

-of mine, then on a plantation in Ceylon, thought guns were being

fired at Trincomalee. Ashes obscured the sun over an area of 2

thousand miles and dust fell as far as South America. Pumice-

stone, which occasions this mention of the catastrophe, drifted far

and wide over the seas and much of it used to be picked up on

Laccadive Island shores. I found some on Kadamat, but most of

-it has disappeared.

In the evening I went out fishing, while R. A. wandered about

on the eastern reefs with an attendant gang of urchins in search

of specimens of every description.

Sailing down the lagoon close to the shore it was noticed at

one point how the coral conglomerate on which the land has been

formed is being worn away like a breakwater merely by the gentle

lapping of the lagoon wavelets. There are few houses to be seen

as they are built inland among the palms for shelter from the

great storms of the monsoons which attack them from the east

and west. The island ends in a sandspit on which were a number

of gulls, also some migratory shore-birds and whimbrel. The

exit over the reef is by a somewhat difficult channel and outside

we found a number of boats from Ameni on the same quest as

ourselves, so it is evident this is a well-known fishing ground.

Ament is about five miles away, with a deep channel between; and

though so near, the islands can have no inter-communication during

the south-west monsoon.

It was nearly dark by the time we were ready to fish, and very

soon old Ali hooked a big one. He wasn’t ready, also his line

not well coiled, so there was a check, and he received two deep

cuts on his little finger while the thick cotton hand-line broke

near the trace of annealed brass wire: so away went the fish with

one of my best hooks. In all countries fishermen have their own

fancies as to gear. In these Islands all nets and lines must be

of white cotton—because of the clear waters and white sand say

510. JOURNAL, BOMBAY ‘NATURAL -HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

the people—but very conspicuous to my mind. In my experience

a black line is less noticed by fish than any other colour.

There were not many fish about. <A 12 lb. perch afforded good

play, and the men caught a few small gar-pike, using sections

of octopus tentacles as bait. Other boats were hailed for informa-

tion as to sport obtained, and one of them having got a sail-fish

when on the way from Ameni we rowed off to see it. Lighting

the lantern I was thrilled to see the lovely fish lying at the bottom

of the boat. Upwards of seven feet in length, including the

sword of 22 inches, the beautiful Prussian-blue back fin which

gives it the local name of ola-meen—ola meaning a palm leaf—

was spread for my inspection. It was for such a fish I had been

hoping in vain. Some other time I will perhaps be more fortu-

nate. Flying fish is the bait to use and these were very scarce.

When we returned over the reef we met a strong wind from

the north-west so three of the six men towed us along the three

miles to camp. A rice boat had arrived with letters from Mang-

alore, the news including the election of the National Government

by a large majority and the death of Admiral Lord Jellicoe. It

was midnight before I slept on my camp bed under the stars.

The “Chetlat’ came over from Ameni to take R. A. and me:

to spend the day there as guests of Mr. A. M. Khan, the Magis-

trate and Monegar of the Northern Group of the Laccadives. The

crew of twelve sang rousing choruses as they rowed _lustily

along, one of these being ‘O! Bela! bela-illa-ela, O! Bela, bela

il kandai’ in response to tuneful verses sung by one of the rowers

as a leader. With the boat were two influential men, Muktesars

(Assessors), of the Magistrate’s Court, who sit with him during

the trial of cases—an excellent system.

It was very interesting to enter the lagoon and see at close

quarters the island on which the notorious pirate, Captain England

landed in the 17th century after his victory over the French ship

‘Cassandre’ and permitted his crew to indulge in wild saturnalia

of license and rapine. They destroyed coconut groves, set fire to

the houses; so that even to the present day, it is the custom of

the people to assemble on sight of a strange sail.

Accompanied hy an interested crowd we waiked with the Mone-

gar to see the principal Mosque and so, beneath the shade of

bread fruit trees and palms, to the eastern shore where the

attendant people were photographed; then, after partaking of the

usual hospitality of coconut milk, we returned along the Seshadri

Road, a pathway three miles six furlongs in length, which was

made in 1927 and named after an Indian Collector of that name.

Its useful purpose is to provide the much-needed definite walking

exercise. Mr. Khan is an energetic sportsman so I enjoyed a

game of tennis with him and two of the islanders who had taken

to the game under his tuition.

This island is even better wooded than Kadamat. There are

many fine trees and the people seemed prosperous. The houses

looked like small farmsteads. On none of the islands are dogs

tolerated; nor, except on Ameni, Kalpeni, and Androth, are there

any crows, It is a strange fact that no crow has ever been seen

ADVTS LOO TIE LACCADIVE [SEAN DS olt

on Kadamat though separated by only five miles of sea. The

largest boat is of 35 tons burden, and boat sheds as long as 87

i@evs bhe rainfall 1s 66 inches, mostly in June, July, August;

July is the wettest month. There are 4oo occupied houses contain-

ing 2,500 people. Sexes are in equal proportion.

Having much enjoyed our interesting visit and the kind hos-

pitality of Mr. Khan, we were rowed back next day in the

‘Chetlat’, seeing some porpoises on the way. The jovial Muktesar,

Avakal Ibrahim, remarked that he was as heavy as a_ porpoise

and was quite disappointed when I proved to him that he could

not weigh anything near 600 Ibs. !

It was seldom that the wind was too strong to permit fishing

outside the lagoons. For two days at Chetlat no one had ventured

out, and on one day at Kadamat the wiseacres shook their heads.

My boatmen, however, said it would be all right so out we went on

the evening of the 6th December crossing the reef as if on the

way to Ameni. It was blowing rather hard, and once outside I

rather wished myself back again! The white-crested waves looked

enormous as the boat fell into the troughs between them where

nothing but the angry onrushing water could be seen as I faced

the stern. Seated on the-floor of the boat I could touch the water

with my wrist resting on the gunwale and now and again a

splash would curl in from that mere hand’s breadth above the

surface. When a fish seized the trolling batt and tore the line

screaming off the reel I was quite glad it was not securely hooked !

The setting ‘sun lit up the heavy clouds to the west in a golden

glory and I was relieved when the men explained by signs that

no rain would come and the sea would be more quiet to the south

of the reef. Confident in their knowledge of the signs of the

weather, and the management of the boat they had almost lived

in since their earliest days, and that they were as fish in the water

which, to a landlubber over imaginative of possibilities in such a

situation, seemed eager to engulf us, the men were assured and

happy in that desert of angry waves. Indeed I was equally happy—

when we had the shelter of the reef!

These islanders are primitive people in many ways. There is

the matter of stinking fish. A bait had been left on a hook from

the previous day and having been tied on with cotton had to be

detached. My proffered scissors were rejected and the threads

bitten through, the horrible morsel having necessarily to be pressed

against the lips for the purpose. On such occasions I would say

to old Ali Muhammad ‘Barabar nahin’ and he would reply ‘Bar-

r-rabar’ rolling his r’s, then I would say ‘Hor-r-rible’, and we

would both laugh. He had a few words of Hindustani having

picked these up somewhere on the coast.

On the last evening a flying fish had been obtained as bait and

a Kadamat man made a very neat parcel of it by means of leaf

fibre as thread and a bit of wood as skewer to keep the lips closed,

a method stored in memory in case of need. No sword fish were

found. I caught a red perch of 14 lbs., a barracouda of 18 Ibs.,

tanec: Catanx 9, 9, 8 lbs., and so: ended the fishing for this trip

with a total of 17 fish of 122 lIbs., for Kadamat and 69 fish of

ol2) JOURNAL, BOMBAY, (Nada te S Die SO CHEV aacol. elel)

720 Ibs., for the three islands. All far below expectation, as before

remarked. |

Through an interpreter I learnt a little of the customs of the

people. I liked their manners, and was always on good terms

with them. Divorce is easy, ‘on Chetlat at any rate, where

husbands and wives have experienced several alliances. Divorce

is mostly wanted by the wives. If the wife insists the husband

has to divorce her but may take back all the jewellery, clothing, etc.,

which he has given to the woman as dowry. No doubt this acts

as a check to errant fancies !

On the evening of the 8th December, at 8-30, I saw a wonder-

ful meteor cf a lovely brilliant light of many millions candle power

and many colours. It appeared quite close, but there was no

report of impact as is usual in such cases. Perhaps it was noticed

in India. |

On the morning of the 12th the Monegar came over in the

‘Chetlat’ to see us off, and by 120 clock) we swere/out ot (ime

lagoon heading for Mangalore a hundred and fifty miles to the

north-east. Winds were contrary so we did not get along very

fast. On the rath we were becalmed for some hours, and the

dingy coming alongside several fish were seen beneath it. One

was quickly caught and proved to be a sucker-fish (Echeneis), a

curious creature which travels as an uninvited guest attached to

a shark, or other big fish, or to a boat. The sucker 1s a mbbed

affair, a sort of extension of the dorsal fin to the head, and when

attached to a man’s leg, which was the. test made, will stand a pull

of 16 lbs. Put into reverse gear it 4s ‘easily detached’) At ithat

time also an enormous dorsal fin moved along four or five feet

out of the water at a distance of several hundred yards, but what

creature it belonged to we could not make out; perhaps it was a

Whale Shark (Rhineodon typicus) which usually swims near the sur-

face with part of its dorsal fin exposed.

It was not until the afternoon of the 15th December that we

landed after a very slow voyage of seventy-five hours. I was tired

of my small deck space of six feet by two—no room for a camp

bed—and R. A. dead to the world on account of sea-sickness in

the rabbit hutch beneath the poop. On getting ashore he could

scarcely stand, and took some days to recover. He had worked

very hard at collecting all sorts of specimens, and when these

have been sorted out and classified with the assistance of the

various experts in the different fields of science, intended to pub-

lish the results of the trip in the form of a Bulletin of the Madras

Government Fisheries Department, but this has not yet been done.

(3-4-1940. ) |

It was sad to part with old Ali, feeling as I did that the cata-

ract operation on his left eye would be probably unsuccessful. A

nice old man. We had much enjoyed every hour of the trip.

Someday I hope to repeat this memorable adventure and may be

get hitched on to sword-fish, saw-fish, and sail-fish, all of which

inhabit these seas, of the angling possibilities of which nothing is

known as, previous to my visit, there is no record of any sports-

man having visited the Laccadives with ‘rod and reel’,

— = —_~

ASO wah LACCADIVE ISLANDS 513

Those who wish to know more about the geology, zoology,

botany and other facts concerning the Laccadives may refer to

Alcock’s ‘A Naturalist in Indian Seas’, to ‘Botany of the Lacca-

dives’ published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History

Sogiety, Vol. villi, pp. 268’ and 460, Vol. vill, pp. 57\and 488; and

to two sumptuous volumes by Gardiner on The Fauna and

geography of the Maldive and ‘Laccadive Archipelagoes, obtained

on loan from the Zoological Survey, Calcutta. Mr. A. O. Hume

visited the Islands in 1875 and published some articles of interest

in Stray Feathers, Mr. F. N. Betts ot Coorg, an ornithologist,

visited the Northern Islands for a fortnight in February 1938. His

account of that visit, accompanied by a list of 44 birds, will be

found at pp. 382-387 of Vol. xl of this Journal.

NOTES ON SOME BRITISH INDIAN OTTERS, WITH

DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW SUBSPECIES:

Rel OCOCK bE R:S,

British (Natural History) Museum.

There has been greater confusion over the names and characters

of the Otters of British India than of any other group of mammals

inhabiting those districts of the Oriental Region. It is not my

intention ‘to enter fully im these matters im this papem. but itis

necessary to explain that the three species admitted by Blanford,

following Thomas, in the Appendix to his volume on the Mammals

of British India, p. 602, 1891, are now referred to the three generac

Lutra, the so-called Common Otter, Lutrogale, the Smooth Otter,

and Amblonyx, the Clawless Otter. They are found in India and

Burma and far to the east and south-east of the latter country;

but I am here principally concerned with those occurring in India

itself.

An interesting point connected with their distribution in

Hindostan has come to light from a study of the skins and skulls

obtained by the collectors for the Bombay Mammal Survey. The

three are found in the Himalayas and adjoining districts of Northern

India and also in Southern India; but the only one that occurs over

the whole of Central India as well is the Smooth Otter (Lutrogale).

The distribution of the other two is discontinuous like the distribu-

tion of the Thar and the Yellow-throated Marten.

Not unexpectedly comparison between specimens from the

Himalayas and the hills of Southern India shows that they can be

sorted into distinguishable local races. In the case of Lutra names

are available for both series, the South Indian form being Lutra

lutra nair, Cuvier; and the best known of the three Himalayan races

I admit, Lutva lutra monticola Hodgson, a larger, lighter coloured

Otter. Nothing further need be said about these, except that Pohle

gave the name ceylonica to Ceylonese representatives of nair. This

is a synonym of nair, since the trivial difference on which Pohle

relied breaks down both in Ceylonese and Indian skins.

The Southern Indian race of the Clawless Otter (Amblonyx

cinerea) requires a new name. There are, in my opinion, three

admissible races of this otter, namely (1) typical cinerea, described

by Illiger in 1815, which is found in Java and other parts of South-

eastern Asia, the type being from Batavia; (2) concolor, the type

of the genus Amblonyx, which was described by Rafinesque in 1832

from the Garo Hills, Assam, and ranges from Upper Burma west-

wards at least to Kumaon, indigitata Hodgson and sikimensis

Horsfield being synonyms of it; and (3) the new form described

below.

It may be added that the northern Indian and Burmese race

concolor—a name with which Blanford was unacquainted—differs

from typical cinerea in having on the average a smaller, less

muscularly moulded skull and the pale hue of the cheek and throat

NOTES ON SOME BRITISH INDIAN OTTERS 515

more extensive posteriorly, and more sharply defined from the dark

hue of the head and nape above it. The general colour of the

upper side is drabby, greyish, earthy or rufous brown in fresh

skins.

In addition to a number of old skins in the British Museum

from Nepal (Hodgson), including the type of indigitata, from

Bhutan (Pemberton) and Sadiya (Cockburn), I have seen several,

comparatively fresh and unfaded, obtained by the Survey from the

following localities: —Naini Tal (Crump); Tura in the Garo Hills,

1,400 ft. (Wells), of special interest as a topotype of concolor;

Hot Springs, 2,400 ft. and Jowai, 4,500 ft. in the Jaintia Hills

(Wells); Dabadubhi River, Golaghat, 250 ft. (Wells); Dikhu River

in the Naga Hills, -2,000 ft. (Mills); Pwepi in the Chin Hills,

5,000: ft.. (Shortridge); and during the current year, 19309,

RR. Kaulback has sent me half a dozen specimens from Sumprabum,

1,500 ft., Htingnau, 2,500 ft., Nchangyang, 1,500 ft. and Nanh-

kang 1,500 ft., all in ‘The Triangle’, Upper Burma, approximately

Bow N. and 97°. E.

Amblonyx cinerea nirnai subsp. nov.

Locality of the type.—Virajpet (Virarajendrapet) in South Coorg,

3,000 ft.

Distribution.—The hill ranges of Southern India.

Distinguished from the foregoing race, concolor, by the notice-

ably darker hue of fresh skins, the upper side being very deep

chocolate, almost blackish brown, without the paler greyish, drabby

or rufous brown hue of the Northern Indian and Burmese form.

Before the Mammal Survey was started, this otter was

represented in the British Museum by a couple of unsexed, undated

and now faded skins, presented in 1867 by F. Day and merely |

labelled ‘Madras’, meaning somewhere in the Presidency. In

addition to the type, an adult ¢ collected by Shortridge, the Survey

secured specimens at the following localities: Haleri, North Coorg,

35555 ft. (Graham), a specimen which I have not seer, the Palni

Hills 5,800 {t. (McCann), and Ootacamund in the Nilgiri Hills

(Gosse). The two from the last locality are a little paler than the

type; but a series of four from the Nilgiri Hulls recently sent to

me by Major Phythian Adams resemble in their dark hue the type

and the skin from the Palni Hills. This last-mentioned skin is

exceptional amongst Indian skins in resembling Javan skins of

typical cinerea in the colouring of the cheek and sides of the neck.

The sub-specific name chosen for this otter is, according to

Blanford, Kanarese for the other South Indian Otter (Lutra lutra

nair). But no doubt it applies to the Clawless Otter as well, since

Shortridge found them fishing in the same waters in Coorg.

Lutrogale perspicillata Geoffroy.

(The Smooth-coated Otter)

This large Otter, hitherto quoted in the literature on British

Indian Mammals as ellioti, macrodus, tarayensis or taraiyensis,

516° JOURNAL, "BOMBAY NATURAL HISE SOCIE IY | Vole Xcki

simung, which belong to it, and as baruang, which does not, takes

the name above assigned to it for reasons to be fully explained

elsewhere. It is the most widely distributed of the Oriental genera

of the sub-family, ranging from Travancore and Sind in Western

India as far east as Borneo. Until 1920 it was treated merely as

a well-marked species of Lutra, and is still sometimes cited as

such; but it differs profoundly from at all events all the Old World

species of that genus in the structure of the skull and in some

external features, notably, as Hodgson long ago pointed out, in

having the end of the tail flattened instead of circular in section.’

With the Clawless Otter (Amblonyx) it cannot be confused on |

account, of the difference’ between them in ‘thes structure” ofythe

paws, the tail and some well defined characters in the skull and

teeth.

The British Museum has a large collection of specimens, one

from Sumatra, the country whence the type of perspicillata came,

and many from the Malay Peninsula, Indo-China, Burma and

India, mostly secured in the last two countries by the Bombay

Mammal Survey as the familiar names of the collectors indicate.

The localities are as follows: Pegu (Oates), West of Toungoo,

500 to 600 ft. and west of Kindat (Mackenzie); the Chin Hills

(Shortridge); the “Iriangle’; about 267 N.and93" 2-1, ,0o,amd

3,000 ft., in Upper Burma (Kaulback); Sadiya, 500 ft., Golaghat,

250 ft.’ (Wells), the Chibi River; 1,500 ft. and) the Dilkhuy Riverian

the Naga Hills (Mills). The Burmese and Assamese specimens

from these localities, although individually variable from drabby

to very deep chocolate brown do not on the evidence seem dis-

tinguishable racially from those found further south which I assign

to typical perspicillata. But skins from scattered localities in India

proper, namely from Nepal (Hodgson), Mt. Abu, Rajputana

(Impey), Damoh, 1,200 ft. (Crump), Ghazipur (Flower), Madras?

(Jerdon), Trivandrum (Ferguson) and the Ankulam Lagoon,

Travancore (Pillay) seem to be on the average more rufous or earthy

brown than those from Assam and Burma. If further material

establishes their racial distinctness, they will take the name

tarayensis Hodgson, with macrodus Gray and ellioti, Anderson as

synonyms.

There are, however, some additional specimens from the valley

of the Lower Indus, mostly collected for the Survey by S. H. Prater

which may be regarded as representing a distinct race.

* This peculiarity is very manifest on well preserved dried skins, in which

the terminal part of the tail appears to be keeled on each side.

* Skins and skulls of an adult ¢ and @Q with this history are the cotypes

of macrodus Gray which by some strange mistake he described as having come

from South America. Perhaps stranger still was the failure to detect that

mistake by the authors who subsequently handled the specimens and discussed

the status of macrodus.

NOTES ON SOME BRITISH INDIAN OTTERS 517

Lutrogale perspicillata sindica subsp. nov.

Locality of the type.—Chak in the Sukkur district of Sind.

Distribution.—The Indus valley at least from Bahawalpur south-

wards to Sind.

Distinguished on the average from representatives of L. perspi-

cillata inhabiting the rest of Hindostan by its noticeably paler

colour, in accordance no doubt with the more arid nature of its

habitat, the general hue of the upper side being drabby, tawny or

sandy brown instead of darker brown with a rusty tinge.

I have seen in all 7 skins of this otter from the Lower Indus.

One labelled Sind, another Sukkur, Sind, were sent to the British

Museum many years ago from the Karachi Museum. Two were

collected by Prater at Sukkur and three at eastern Nara, Khairpur.

None of the specimens is quite full grown as the skulls indicate.

The Khairpur skins are a trifle darker than those from Sukkur,

thus approaching those from other parts of Peninsular India; and

a young specimen, about one-third grown, from Bahawalpur

(J. Scully), is also darker, not very different from the type of

tarayensis, Hodgson from the Nepal Tarai. Possibly young speci-

mens of sindica are darker than adults.

Both Hume and Blanford who saw at least one example of

this otter in Sind, thought it differed from the ordinary Indian form

by its smaller size. This supposition is not borne out by the flesh-

measurements Prater recorded or by the skulls he secured. His

type, a young adult 9, measured: head and body 25 4/5 in.,

tail 17 4/5 in.; hind foot 52 in. Its weight was 16 lb. Hodgson.

gave the dimensions of the head and body of Nepalese specimens of

the Smooth Otter as from 26 to 28 in., the tail 16 in. and the weight

from 16 to 20 lb. The largest British Indian specimen I have seen

is one of Mackenzie’s from west of Kindat, an adult ¢ with the

itead: and body 29 3/5 in., the tail 17 in., the hind foot 5 3/5. in.

and the weight 24 lb. Dunbar Brander recorded the weight of a

large 3, which he identified as the Common Otter (Lutra vulgaris),

arom Central India, as 22 Ib.

Hume’s account, quoted by Blanford, of this Otter being

trained in Sind for capturing fish and porpoises was confirmed by

Prater who wrote: ‘Otters are not uncommon in the Indus and

Eastern Nara. They are kept by the Muhanas (fishermen) who

employ them as decoys for capturing dolphins (Platanista gangetica)

and fish. Two or three tame otters are let into the river and food

in the shape of fish or prawns is thrown to them, whereupon there

ensues a great mewing and splashing, and the commotion attracts

the fish which blunder into the nets prepared for them.’’

The range of this Otter beyond the lower Indus is unknown.

Conceivably it extends into Baluchistan and may indeed be the

same as the otter recorded as Lutra vulgaris by Pitman who saw

the tracks on the Tigris and Euphrates. (Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist.

Doct <x vill, 1922, reprinted p.. 319 in ‘A Survey of. the Fauna of

Iraq’ published by the Society, 1923). But this Mesopotamian

otter is more likely to be Lutra lutra seistanica -Birula, which

presumably was assigned to its correct genus.

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA !

SUNDER LALS-HORA, D.SC:,- F.RuS:E., “F.2.S:), 2 FiR.AaS. BamehaNeln,

Assistant Superintendent, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta.

(With one coloured plate, two black and white plates and

one text-figure).

(Continued from page 285 Vol. xh, No. 2).

IX.—THE MAHSEERS OR THE LARGE-SCALED BARBELS OF INDIA.

2. THE Tor Mausesgr, Barbus (Tor) tor (Hamilton).

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction a ae sua £3 BA iy Ch eS

Nomenclature oes a oe ao a me REACOY io)

History and Description er a Hae a eh ste 20

Measurements ae ae eh Re sae eo oes

Acknowledgments ae a ae Ae ey BPA es 45)

List of References oe: RS was got ah ee 525

Explanation of plates See ae se re me Epes cm 15,

INTRODUCTION.

In the preceding article of this series (7)? reference was made

to the confusion that prevails in the taxonomy of the large-scaled

Barbels of India, popularly and collectively known to anglers as

Mahseer, and an attempt was made to define the precise specific

limits of Hamilton’s (6, p. 303) Cyprinus (Cyprinus) putitora, the

largest Indian carp. The nomenclature to be adopted for fishes

of this type was also discussed, and, very tentatively, their retention

in the genus Barbus Cuvier and subgenus Tor Gray was suggested.

Hamilton’s second species of the large-scaled Barbels, Cyprinus

(Cyprinus) tor forms the subject matter of this article.

NOMENCLATURE.

To elucidate further the systematic position of the large-scaled

Barbels of India I enquired of Mr. J. R. Norman of the British

Museum as to the suitability of using the generic designations

a meee

! Published with permission of Director, Zoological Survey of India.

* Numerals in thick type within brackets refer to the serial numbers of the

various publications listed in the bibliography at the end of the paper.

“ie

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA 519

Barbus Cuvier, Tor Gray or Labeobarbus Rippel for these fishes.

Dr. E. Trewavas attended to this enquiry and wrote me as follows

in her letter of the 25th August, 1939:—

‘Your letter to Mr. Norman about the nomenclature of the Mahseer came

just as Mr. Norman was about to leave for his holiday. His opinion was

that until someone revises the whole Barbus compiex it is premature to split

Barbus sensu lato into genera but that the Mahseer is probably at least sub-

generically distinct from Barbus barbus and that Tor can be used _ provisionally

as a subgeneric name, provided it is not antedated by Labeobarbus. I have

looked up the original use of Labeobarbus (van Hasselt 1823, reprinted 1824—

I have seen the 1824 reference). It was then used for L. leptocheilus and

L. lipocheilus. It is doubtful whether this was a valid proposition of the genus

for those two species, but in any case the name Labeobarbus cannot afterwards

be used for the Mahseer.’ |

As I could not find any reference to Labeobarbus van Hasselt

in Weber and de Beaufort’s Fishes of the Indo-Australian Archi-

pelago or in Jordan’s Genera of Fishes, and as Bull. Sci Nat.

(Férussac), II, 1824, in which abstracts from van Hasselt’s letters

on the fishes of Java were published, was not available in India,

I requested Prof. L. F. de Beaufort of the Zoologisch Museum,

Amsterdam, to further elucidate the status of Labeobarbus van

Hasselt as used for L. leptocheilus and ‘L. ltpocheilus. He very

kindly sent me the following opinion in his letter of the 6th October,

1939 :—

‘As you know, van Hasselt used to write letters from Java to Temminck

and abstracts of these have been published in Algemeene Kunsten Letterbode,

a periodical of that time. The letters were written in Dutch.

‘Now de Férussac republished some of these letters in his Bulletin des

Sciences naturelles and so I find in Vol. II, 1824, p. 374 a translation of a

letter, written by van Hasselt on December 29, 1822, and published in the

Alg. Kunsten Letterbode, 1823, :\ugustus, No. 35. In this letter van Hasselt

says (p. 376 of the Bull. Sci. Nat. I):

‘Le genre Labeobarbus consiste en Labeones avec quatre barbillons et une

nageoire, dorsale, dont le deuxiéme rayon n’est pas dentelé; il réunit donc les

caractéres du Labeo et du Barbus; c’est pourquoi j’ai formé le mot Labeo-

barbus. Les épithétes L. leptocheilus et lipocheilus (m), distinguent les deux

espéces qu’on trouve dans la rivicre auprés de Batavia, et dont j’ai les dessins.’

‘Labeobarbus leptocheilus has been described by Cuvier and Valenciennes

as Dangila leptocheila (synon. of D. cuvieri) and L. lipocheilus as Chondrostoma

lipocheilos (=Tylognathus hispidus C. V.).

‘I hope that Dangila has not to give way for Labeobarbus, but I fear the

worse.’

In the light of the observations made in the above correspond-

ence, I have re-examined the evidence for using Tor Gray as a

subgenus of Barbus Cuvier for the Mahseers of India, and find that

the course adopted in my first article of the sub-series is the only

one possible under the present circumstances.

The above correspondence makes it abundantly clear that

Labeobarbus Riippel (1836) cannot now be used as a generic name

for any group of animals and that it is probably not distinct from

Tor Gray (1833). Further, Labeobarbus van Hasselt (1823), which

is sufficiently well characterised to satisfy all the requirements of

the International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature, replaces

Dangila Cuvier and Valenciennes (1842).

530 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.|SOCIETY, Vell) Xl

HIsToRY AND DESCRIPTION.

Hamilton (6, p. 388) characterised his Cyprinus tor as

follows :—

‘Cyprinus verus cirrhis 4; radiis in pinna dorsi 11, quorum 3 priores simplices,

in anali 8; squamis maximis; rostro laevi imperforato; labiis integerrimis ;

y ’ y

pinnis inferioribus rubicundis.

£33). Dig JP SVG; ano Corgis

This species was found by Hamilton in the Mahananda River

where it was stated by him to grow to three or four feet in length.

According to his notes on the fish and fisheries of Bengal (vide

Day, 2, pp. 50, 60, go) Tor Mahseer seems to be more widely

distributed than the Putitor Mahseer, for he recorded it from the

districts of Rangpur, Purniah, and Behar and Patna. In the list

of fishes of the Rangpur District, Hamilton compares it with the

Putitor Mahseer as follows: -

‘The Tor of the Tista does not grow above two feet in length, but its

scales are as large in proportion as those of the last-mentioned fish, and its

colours are more splendid, almost equal in beauty to those of the Rohit.’

= SS Se

os . Ae :

G ==

zy mS

Text-fig. 1.—Copies of Hamilton’s original drawings of Cyprinus (Cyprinus)

tar (MS. drawing No. 121, vol. iv, A.S.B. Library).

a. Lateral view; 6b. Outline sketch of dorsal view.

Hamilton mentions that on the Kosi this fish is called Turiyd or

Sahard and on the Son Kajrd, and ‘is one of the best fresh water

: (UOZIWeH) euoptnd (4O]) snqueg ‘Y44SHVW YOLILAd SHL ‘1

TRL Ted ‘00S “LSI}]] “IVN AvaWwog ‘Nano[

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA 521

fishes that I have tasted.

iohiu.:

Though Hamilton’s detailed description is of a very generalised

type, fortunately he made a drawing of the species which is now

preserved among a collection of his manuscript drawings in the

library of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. It was published

in colour by Gray (4, vol. ii, pl. xcvi, fig. 1) as Tor Hamiltonii with-

out any acknowledgment or letterpress; a copy of the original is

reproduced here for ready reference. Though Ginther (9, p. 130)

considered this species to be a synonym of Barbus mosal (Hamilton)

the majority of the later workers followed Day (3, p. 564) and used

Barbus tor (Hamilton) in a very wide sense to include practically

all types of large-scaled Barbels of India. Hora and Mukerji (8,

p. 140), as a result of the collections made by them in the Eastern

Doons, were able to assign a definite specific limit to Hamilton’s

Cyprinus tor, a form in which the head is considerably shorter than

the depth of the body and the lower fins are reddish in colour. From

Hamilton’s descriptions of C. putilora and C. tor the following

differences may be noted:-

It grows to fully as large a size as the

Cyprinus putitora.

1 Grows to g feet in length.

2. Oblong compressed form.

Cyprinus tor.

Grows to 3-4 feet in length.

Long compressed form, rather more

prominent below than above.

3. Colour above dusky, with gloss of

steel; edges of scales change from

goid to silver; lower part silvery ;

Colour above shines with gold and

green, below like silver; fins with-

out spots but those on belly colour-

fins without spots, hinder ones ed red; dorsal fin and_ portion

tinged with yellow. above eyes dotted.

4. Head blunt, oval. Head sharpish, half-oval (being flattish

above); a protuberance between

nostrils.

5. Back forms a sharp ridge. Tail Back has a blunt or convex edge.

suddenly narrowed behind anal fin.

6. Pectorals with 15 rays. Pectorals with 18 rays.

In the coloured plate (Plate I), which accompanies this article, I

have given drawings of the young specimens of the Putitor (Plate I,

hee et) and. Cor) (Plate l= fic) 2) Mahseers. respectively from the

Tista River in the Kalimpong Duars in order to clarify the differ-

ences between the two forms tabulated above from their original

descriptions. It should, however, be remembered that though the

colour sketches were made in the field from fresh specimens, the

specimens had been out of water for several hours when purchased

from the Washabari Bazaar several miles away from the river.

Though the Tor Mahseer was originally described from the north-

eastern parts of Bengal, it is now known to be widely distributed and

is described below from a number of different localities,

522 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Barbus (Tor) tor (Hamilton). — =

1822. Cyprinus (Cyprinus) tor, Hamilton, Fish. Ganges, pp. 305, 388.

1833. Tor Hamiltonii, Gray, Ills. Ind. Zoology, Il, pl. xcvi, fig. 1.

1919. Barbus putitora, Annandale (nec Hamilton), Rec. Ind. Mus. XVI,

p.136; ploeitigetion gus.

1936. Barbus tor, Hora & Mukerji, Rec. Ind. Mus., XXXVIII, p. 139.

1936. Barbus tor, Hora, Rec. Ind. Mus., XXXVIII, p. 326, text-figs. 5, 6.

De 48% 13 )/55 eee 521 Spey 0 6 eT Ohl.

The Tor Mahseer is more stoutly built than the Putitor Mahseer

and, as pointed out by Hamilton, it is somewhat compressed with

the ventral profile more prominently arched than the dorsal. The

head is proportionately smaller than that of the Putitor Mahseer

and is sharpish anteriorly; with the exception of very young speci-

mens, it is always shorter than the greatest depth of the body.

deine length of the head is contained in the standard length from

34 times in the young specimens to about 4 times in older indi-

viduals. The depth of the body is almost equal to the length

of the head in young examples up to about too mm. in total length

but in older specimens the head is invariably shorter than the

depth of the body; the length of the head is contained from 1’o

to 1-3 times in the depth of the body. The depth of the body is con-

tained from 3’0 to 3°7 times in the standard length. The eyes are

situated nearer to the tip of the snout than to the hind border of the

operculum and are provided with circular pupils. The eyes are

proportionately larger in smaller individuals; the diameter of the

eye is contained from 2°5 to about 4 times in the length of the

snout and from o°’7 to 1°8 times in the interorbital distance. he

least height of the caudal peduncle is contained from 1°2 to 1°4 times

in its length.

The mouth is small; its gape does not extend to below the eyes;

it is horizontal with the opening obliquely directed upwards. The

lips are fleshy and continuous at the angles of the mouth; the

posterior lip is invariably produced into a median lobe and the post-

labial groove is continuous. As pointed out in the case of the

Putitor Mahseer (7, pp. 279-282), the condition of the lips varies

considerably in different specimens irrespective of size. In the

Dehra Dun examples, ranging in length up to 270 mm., the lips

and the median lobe are poorly or moderately developed (Plate II,

figs. 2-4) while in the specimens from the Tista River they are

fairly well developed. The greatest development of the lips has

been noticed in a specimen 485 mm. in total length, from the

Barak River, Assam (Plate II, fig. 1; Plate III), while in the

largest specimen examined (Brahmaputra River, Guhauti, ‘Assam) »

the lips are described by Annandale (1, p. 136) as ‘thick and

fleshy but not produced forwards; the lower lip is slightly retro-

verted in the middle line’. There are two pairs of well-developed

barbels; the maxillary are slightly longer than the rostral but are

shorter than the diameter of the eye. The body is covered with

large scales; there are 22 to 27 scales in a longitudinal series along

the lateral line and 24 rows between the lateral line and the base of

the pelvic fin, The general lepidosis is not very different from

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Pirate II

ay,

oe ee err

Hil

; Hf

i Hib tse

1 He

Hi ia Bee

For explanation see end of article.

S/z po X “UeSsY “JOAN Yeseg oy wosy (UOIIWEe_T) 407 (407) snqavg jo uauteds Jo Mota [esa\eT

TOL

ISInECaBERasEee

rot tt

II] 4LV1g "20S “ISIE, (JUN Avqmog ‘“uimor

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA 525

that described for the Putitor Mahseer. There is a well-developed

scaly appendage in the axil of each pelvic fin.

The dorsal fin commences opposite to or slightly in advance of

the pelvics, and its position in relation to the tip of the snout and

the base of the caudal fin varies with the size of the specimen;

the last spine is strong and bony, and is invariably shorter than

the depth of the body below it. The pectoral fins are low, slightly

shorter or longer than the head, and are sharp above. The pelvic

fins are also sharp and do not extend to the anal opening. The

caudal fin is deeply forked with both the lobes sharply pointed.

Hamilton (6, p. 305) noted that ‘Above its colour shines with

gold and green, below like silver. The fins have no spots, but

the dorsal one is dotted. The eyes are silver coloured with some

dots above.’ He also. noted that the fins on the belly are of a

reddish colour. In a small, fresh specimen, about 193 mm. in

standard length, collected from the Tista River but purchased at

the Washabari Bazaar in the Eastern Duars several hours after

its removal from water, the dorsal surface of the body was of a

greyish-green colour and that of the head neutral green. The sides

of the body in the middle were of a pinkish colour which was

replaced above by greenish gold and below by light olive green.

The head was variegated with patches of light orange above the

gill-opening, of light Indian yellow below the eyes and of light

sky blue on the operculum. The lips and barbels were of a light

yellowish colour. The dorsal fin was reddish buff while the pectorals,

pelvics and anal fins were of deep orange colour. The upper lobe

of the dorsal fin was light orange while the lower lobe was of a

bluish pink colour. A drawing of this specimen, in original colours,

is reproduced here on Plate I as figure 2.

Bionomics :—As a result of their studies on the material collected

in the Eastern Doons, Hora and Mukerji (8, p. 141) made the

following observations on the feeding habits and the breeding period

of the species :—

‘B. tor is a common food fish and by the local people it is believed to be

more powerful than Mahseer, B. putitora. The intestine is moderately long

and convoluted; its length is equal to about 4°5 times the total length of the

fish. It feeds preferably on filamentous algae and water plants, but in some

cases young Gastropod molluscs, sand and gravel were found among _ the

stomach contents. The young specimens were found to feed on slimy matter

encrusting rocks and_ stones.

‘From the presence of a large number of young specimens in our collection,

it would appear that the fish breeds in August-September. The fry is charac-

terised by a black spot before the base of the caudal fin.’

Geographical Distribution :—In the present state of our know-

ledge, it is not possible to give a precise idea of the geographical

distribution of B. tor, but probably it is widely distributed along

the foot-hills of the Himalayas. I have examined young specimens

from the Doon Hills; Saran District, Bihar; Tista River below

Darjeeling Himalayas; the Brahmaputra and the Barak rivers in

Assam. I have also examined a specimen from Bilaspur in the

Central Provinces which agrees fairly closely with the Himalayan

specimens of B, tor but its fins are considerably smaller and the

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caudal peduncle is more stumpy. In these respects it corresponds

with the Assam example described by Annandale as B. putitora,

but which in reality belongs to B. tor.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

As in the case of the previous articles in this series, the cost

of illustrating this article was borne by the Bombay Natural History

Society and for this my sincerest thanks are due to the authorities

of the Society. I am indebted to Mr. K. S. Misra for preparing

the table of measurements. The colour drawings are the work

of Babu B. Bagchi, while the text-figures were prepared by Babus

B. Bagchi and A. Mondul. I am thankful to them for the skill

and care with which they executed the work under my supervision.

List OF REFERENCES.

1. Annandale, N.—‘The Fauna of certain small streams in the Bombay

meesidency,, — ec, Ind. Mus. vol. xvi, pp. 136,. 137 (1919):

2. Day, F.—‘The Fish and Fisheries of Bengal’. In Hunter’s A Statistical

Account of Bengal, vol. xx, pp. 50, 60, go (London, 1878).

3- Day, F.—The Fishes of India, p. 564 (London, 1876-78).

4. Gray, J. E.—Illustrations of Indian Zoology, vol. ii, pl. xcvi, fig. 1

(London, 1930-34). |

5- Gtinther, A.—Catalogue of the Fishes of the British Museum, vol. vii,

p. 130 (London, 1868).

6. Hamilton, F.—An Account of the Fishes found in the River Ganges and

its branches, pp. 303-307 (Edinburgh, 1822).

7. Hora, S. L.—'The Game Fishes of India. VIII. The Mahseers or the

Large-scaled Barbels. 1. The Putitor Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) putitora (Hamilton)’.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. xli, pp. 272-285 (1939).

8. Hora, S. L. and Mukerji, D. D.—‘Fish of the Eastern Doons, United

Provinces’. Rec. Ind. Mus, vol. xxxviii, pp. 139-142 (1936).

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

Plate I;

Two types of Mahseers from the Tista River.

Fig. 1.—The Putitor Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) putitora Hamilton (Vide supra

p>) 521) X §.

For description of colour see the preceding article of this series (7, p. 278).

Fig. 2.—The Tor Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) tor (Hamilton) (Vide supra

PP- 521-523) X4.

Plate. WI.

Types of lips in Tor Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) tor (Hamilton).

-Fig. 1.—Lateral view of head and anterior part of body of a specimen,

485 mm. in total length, from the Barak River, Assam, showing greatly

hypertrophied lips x 4/5.

Figs. 2-4.—Ventral surface of head and anterior part of body of 3 young

specimens of Barbus (Tor) tor (Hamilton) from the Eastern Doons, showing

stages in the enlargements of the lips and of the median lobe. X 1}.

Piao Ti:

Lateral view of the specimen of Barbus (Tor) tor (Hamilton) from the

Barak River, Assam, x ca. 2/5.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS.

EF FN LownHEr) Mo8: 040k ah.Z.s:

(With 6 plates).

IV.—Tue Mansuum District.

(Continued from page 424 of Vol. xl).

At the end of 1932, when I married, I had already made up

my mind to give up bird photography as I felt it would not be

right to continue taxing my health and strength to the extent

which the work involves in the plains. In the beginning of the

following February, however, I was unexpectedly posted to Dhanbad,

in the Manbhum District. Here, the graceful slopes of Parasnath,

the highest hill in Bihar, with the beautiful forest country round

the Topchanchi reservoir at its feet, held out such promises of a

rich and varied bird life, that my intentions were quickly for-

gotten, and I soon found myself keener than ever in the pursuit

of my hobby. As a result I can now claim that never before, nor

since, have I been so successful with the camera as I was during

the three years I was stationed in this district. Let me say at once

that during this period I added the photographs of sixty-seven

new birds to my collection, a fact which, perhaps, justifies an

attempt to describe my camera experiences here, or rather in that

part of the district which forms the Dhanbad sub-division.

It is not only on account of its wonderful bird life that the

Manbhum district will always remain green in my memory; it

was here too that my wife and I were shown such kindness and

received such hospitality on all sides from the mining community

as we feel cannot exist elsewhere in India. But this is not all;

it was in this district also that I first made the acquaintance of

Sakroo Mahato. Aged about thirty, on the small side, but well

built and wiry to a degree, he was intelligent above his station

and was recommended to me by a friend who had found him to

be a big game slikari possessing considerable knowledge of bird

and insect life as well. Sakroo’s boyhood, as I came to know

later, was spent looking after cattle and goats, and in those early

years he had mastered the art of snaring birds at their nests and

learnt not only to distinguish the calls and notes of the different

species to be found near his home, but also to imitate them. I

have told elsewhere of how, when he first came into my service,

Sakroo performed the almost incredible feat of finding twelve

Nightjars’ nests in one day. Nevertheless, in spite of his know-

ledge of birds and their nests, Sakroo’s ignorance with regard to

some of the resident species was amazing. For instance, although

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 527

he knew the Rock Horned Owl and could imitate its call to

perfection, he had no idea of where to look for its eggs, nor did

he know that Crested Swifts were to be found near his home, and

he had failed to connect the Pitta with its nest. I could continue

quoting such instances but I prefer to remember Sakroo for his

virtues, one of which was his aptitude to learn. This, and the

other gifts with which he had been blessed by Nature, coupled

with the fact that he was working on his own terrain, which he

knew as well as the palm of his hand, made me soon realise that

in Sakroo I had a shikari without peer.

Having praised Sakroo according to his deserts, I am reminded

of another shikari (Guffara, of Shalabug, near the Anchar Lake),

who was in my employ during 1924 and 1931. When the time

came for me to return to duty at the end of my first visit to

Kashmir, Guffara wanted a chitty to enable him to secure employ-

ment in the future, and, sui more, produced a number of letters

given by previous employers, to guide me as to what I was

expected to say of him. These were kept carefully in the cover

of an old novel given him by a ‘Captan Sahib’ who must have

possessed a delightful sense of humour as the title of the novel

was All Men are Liars. But it is high time I returned to my

muttons and said something concerning the district.

The Manbhum district is frequently referred to in the New

Fauna and elsewhere as being in Bengal whereas in fact it forms

the eastern part of the Chota Nagpur division in Bihar and lies

between 22° 43’ and 24° 4! North Latitude and 85° qo! and

86° 54’ East Latitude. It contains an area of 4,147 square miles

and is bounded on the north by the districts of Hazaribagh and

the Sonthal Parganas; on the east by Burdwan, Bankura and

Midnapore—all part of Bengal; on the south by Singhbhum, and

on the west by Ranchi and Hazaribagh. Purulia is the adminis-

trative head-quarters, but the district is divided into two parts,

Dhanbad being the head-quarters of the sub-division with an area

of 803 square miles.

The country generally is flat, with a gradual fall in an easterly

direction. On the north-west is a range of hills, some of con-

siderable height, with the south-eastern slopes of Parasnath (4,480

feet) just inside the district. With the exception of a fair amount

of rice cultivation there are no agricultural activities, the majority

of inhabitants being occupied in mining coal, in the output of

which mineral the Jharia field, situated in the district, is far and

away the largest in India.

Except along the Grand Trunk road, and in the vicinity of

the hills in the north-west of the district, trees are comparatively

few in number, and the only jungle that exists is also to be found

on these same hills. The commonest tree, and one which is

plentiful, is the Flame of the Forest or palas. Others frequently

met with are the mango, pipal, mhowa, simal and jamun, and on

the hill sides, bamboo.

All the rivers have an easterly or south-easterly course, and

as is usual with hill-fed streams, their beds are almost entirely

528° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Bist. SOCK EY. 1Vol Gen

dry during the greater part of the cold season, and throughout

the hot weather. They are not navigable and are subject to

sudden and violent freshets which are usually of short duration.

The principal rivers are the Barakar, which marks the whole of

the northern boundary, and the Damodar, which, roughly speak-

ing, divides the district into two parts, and which, with the

Barakar, also divides the district from Burdwan.

Several tanks overgrown with weeds exist, but with the excep-

tion of the Jharia Water Board’s reservoir at Topchanchi, there

is no water of any expanse; consequently any species of duck

is a vara avis, though snipe are fairly plentiful in the paddy fields

during the winter months. Cattle and Little Egrets abound,

while most ponds with any vegetation round their edges are

tenanted by at least one pair of Dabchicks, Moorhens and Bronze-

winged Jacanas. Round the Topchanchi reservoir an occasional

Grey and Purple Heron, and more rarely a Black Ibis, may be

seen, but where they breed I never found out. The Night Heron,

Little Cormorant and Whiskered Tern breed locally in colonies,

but, speaking generally, the district is not popular with water-fowl

or waders.

Considering the limited area suitable to their existence, game

birds, if not common, are nevertheless not poorly represented.

Red Jungle-fowl, Painted Spur-fowl and Peafowl occur in small

numbers, but only in the vicinity of the well-wooded hills. Because

of persecution both by the gun-license holder and the Sonthal,

all three species are intensely shy and difficult to approach and

seldom come out into the open except to drink, towards dusk. In

this connection I ought to mention that the colliery manager is a

very keen shikari, and many spend all Sunday in quest of what

they may obtain, frequently motoring out fifty or more miles pour

la chasse. The Sonthal is an even mightier hunter, and being a

deadly shot with bow and arrow, and carrying these at all times,

whether in the field or jungle, is greatly responsible for the small

number of game birds found. In suitable country, Grey Partridge

are to be seen, and more frequently heard, but the Black Partridge

I came across only occasionally, and then always near the Jamuni

river. The Jungle Bush-Quail occurs locally but the Common

Indian Bustard-Quail is fairly numerous in cultivation and scrub.

The Common Sand Grouse and Painted Partridge I never saw

though I have shot both (each once only) in the neighbouring

district of Hazaribagh, fifteen miles distant from Parasnath. The

Stone-Plover is somewhat scarce, a remark which also applies to

the Yellow-wattled Lapwing, but the Green Pigeon plentiful. I never

saw the Emerald Dove, and the Purple Wood-Pigeon but once.

The scrub jungle harbours a wealth of bird-life—Common and

Franklin’s Nightjars, Ioras, Thick-billed and Tickell’s Flower-

peckers, Yellow-eyed and Jungle Babblers, White-eyes, Little

Minivets and Common Wood-Shrikes, to mention only the most

common species. Wherever palas and mhowa trees occur,’ and

even about habitations, Brahminy Mynahs, Bay-backed Shrikes,

Large Cuckoo-Shrikes and Jerdon’s Chloropsis are common, while

JourN. BomBay Nat. HisT. Soc.

LESeN Boar

ATER -AT THE ENTRANCE OF

The tail is spread fanwise for support.

A GREEN BEE E

all

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 529

a simal tree, as often as not, provides a nesting site for a pair of

Indian Orioles or Large Parrakeets. Here too are found the Sirkeer

and a number of other species of cuckoo. It will not be out of

place to remark now that Cuculus c. canorus arrives in this and the

neighbouring districts of Chota Nagpur about the middle of April

and is resident for nearly two months; that the notes—wuck-

wuck-wuckoo, or wuckoo-wuckoo—of the Indian Cuckoo may also

be heard throughout April and May. In spite of the most diligent

searching, neither I nor my shikaris came across an egg which

could possibly be attributed to either of these species, nor were

they ever noted on the return passage. Can it be that the return

migration is made by a different route?

Near the edge of heavier jungle, but outside it, the Green

Barbet is found, and inside, the Common Pitta, Orange-headed

Ground-Thrush, Spotted Babbler and Shama. Such jungle occurs

on all the medium sized hills rising to 2,000 feet. Nalas, festooned

with various kinds of creepers, are here frequent and _ provide

ideal nesting-sites for three species of Flycatchers, as also an

occasional Large Green-billed Malkoha. In the forest-clearings, and

the bamboo jungle, I always expected to find the Large Racket-

tailed Drongo but never once saw the bird. I am confident this

species does not occur on Parasnath or the neighbouring hills, or

in the Tundi range, as Sakroo did not know it when I showed

him Dissemurus p. grandis in the forest at the foot of Jumra

pahar in the Hazaribagh district, not fifty miles distant. Else-

where throughout the Chota Nagpur division the species is

common. But once again I seem to have missed my cue as I did

not set out to tell of the different birds which one might. expect

to see in the Manbhum district but to describe some of my camera

experiences there.

Uninteresting though it may sound, the first bird whose photo-

graph I added to my collection in this district was the Green

Bee-Eater. Numbers dig their tunnels in the low perpendicular

banks beside the Grand Trunk Road down to which the paddy fields

often run. Other favourite nesting sites are in the sandy banks

of the valley streams, now dry in April and May. Digging oper-

ations were already considerably advanced with the pair I had

under observation, sufficiently so for the birds to be right out of

sight while at work. Even so it was noticeable that although

only one bird at a time usually devoted itself to tunnelling, it

sometimes happened that male and female were inside the passage

together, when it seemed that while the one was engaged in exca-

vating, the other employed itself in throwing out the loose earth.

After working for a few minutes, always they left the tunnel

together. Later, on 30 April, when the male and female Bee-

Eaters were repeatedly observed flying in and out of their nest-hole

with food—usually grasshoppers—in their bills, arrangements were

made to photograph them at home. During the three succeeding

evenings I discovered that only one bird remained overnight in

the nesting tunnel, the other using the leafy twig of a mango tree

hard by on which to sleep.

530 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol: XLI

So gradually was the hide introduced that the Green Bee-

Eaters paid it no attention. Successful photography was, how-

ever, an almost impossible matter owing to the way in which

the birds flew straight into the tunnel without first alighting at

its mouth. The result was that the exposures made the first

morning merely showed a blur of movement. Accordingly, the

next session saw me resort to strategy. If I hissed as the Bee-

Eater was on the point of entering the tunnel, perhaps the bird

would alight for a second at its mouth and give me the opportunity

I wanted. The plan worked better than I dared hope, and during

the next fifteen minutes I obtained two successful pictures, one

a profile and the other a back view, with the head partly in the

tunnel. The fan-like spread of the tail will be noted, and the

manner in which the long median feathers are pressed against

the bank face.

Writing of the Green Bee-Eater calls to mind the curious and

tragic accidents which sometimes befall birds. While out for

a walk one morning I noticed a Green Bee-Eater sally forth from

its perch in pursuit of some insect. The chase led the bird round

a babool tree and then in my direction. The next moment a

grasshopper settled just where I was going to put my foot. A

split-second later, the Bee-Eater, hot in pursuit, alighted at the

same spot, and although my foot came down on it ever so lightly—

indeed the step was never completed and the grasshopper uninjured

—the little bird was killed. I suppose it was so bent on obtaining

a meal—perhaps to feed its young—that it failed to realise my

presence. As my shikari, who saw everything, remarked :—‘Sahib,

you might walk a crore of kos and such an accident not occur

again.’ :

The Blue-tailed Bee-Eater occurs very rarely in the district—

I only found its nest once, in the sandy bank of a stream—and the

only other representative of the genus which I came across in these

parts was the rare and handsome Blue-bearded Bee+Eater. Essen-

tially a forest bird, this species was only met with round the

Topchanchi reservoir. I am confident it breeds in the jungle here

as it was heard calling every spring and up to the end of August,

although it was not until 1935 that the bird was definitely seen

and recognised. I was at the time photographing a Dabchick

near her nest on a small piece of water between the road encircling

the reservoir and the main jungle leading up to Parasnath when the

unidentified call reached my ears, and looking through the hide

spotted the author perched high up in a simal tree. From time to

time it flew to the trunk of a dead tree where it appeared to find

food in plenty. The method of calling, and the call itself, are

very correctly described in the New Fauna’. The call is a deep

hoarse double croak ending in a_ chuckle—kok-kok-keeaou-kek-

kek-kek. At the outset it is uttered with the head held low and the

long blue feathers of the throat puffed out; with each succeeding

1 Vol. iv, p. 243.

}

JouRN. BomBay Nar. Hist. Soc.

A MALE PARADISE FLYCATCHER AT NEST.

It has not yet acquired the white plumage of the fully adult male.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 531

note the head is raised higher and higher, until finally the bird has

the appearance of a crowing cock. .

It is a waste of time looking for nests of the different species of

Flycatchers that breed here until just before the monsoon breaks,

but from about the middle of June all four—the Indian Paradise,

the White-spotted Fantail, the Black-naped and Tickell’s Blue

Flycatchers—are busy with household duties. The second named,

in these hills, as apparently also throughout the hilly regions of the

Central Provinces, replaces the White-browed Fantail so commonly

found in the plains of northern India. In Manbhum this last is a

decidedly rare bird as I only came across it once. The Paradise

and the White-spotted Fantail occur in considerable numbers, the

latter frequently building its home but three or four feet from the

ground, considerably lower than does the White-browed Fantail

elsewhere. The Black-naped Flycatcher, a blue bird with black

forehead, black top-not, and a crescent marking of similar colour

on its breast, although by no means so common as the other species,

cannot but be classed as occurring frequently. Tickell’s Blue

Flycatcher, with pinky-orange coloured breast, is only less numerous

than the Paradise and White-spotted Fantail Flycatchers, but

- differs from the other three species in its choice of nesting quarters.

The compact little nest, with skeleton leaves frequently serving

as basis, is built either in a hole of a bank or more commonly of

a stump of a tree or bush. All four species are a joy to watch and

their quite pleasing songs may be heard by every intruder of their

haunts, although, with the exception of the White-spotted Fantail,

all are somewhat shy birds.

With the Paradise Flycatcher nesting so generally it was only

natural that I should devote particular attention to the breeding

plumage of the male bird. The male breeds even in the chestnut

phase though mating must be most unusual until after his second

moult-when his lovely white plumage is acquired. Only. once -did

I come across a male, with a nest, wearing the same plumage as

the female. My observations showed too that although the male

Paradise Flycatcher shares in the tasks of incubating the eggs and _

feeding the young he apparently takes no part in constructing the

nest. This was also found to be the case with the Himalayan

sub-species.

Blue is a most unsatisfactory colour so far as photography is

concerned, and owing to the amount of blue in the plumage of

the Black-naped and Tickell’s Blue Flycatchers, one obtains from

a print an entirely erroneous idea of the prevailing hue of these

two species. Fortunately black, as a rule, is correctly rendered,

so that the black markings of the Black-naped Flycatcher show up

clearly in photographs. Otherwise there is nothing of particular

interest to record with regard to the photography of the different

Flycatchers. The fastest plates should be used as their nests are

generally found in jungle where, more often than not, lighting

conditions are poor; in the case of the Spotted Fantail, the

employment of a large stop is usually necessary as the bird is never

still for the fraction of a second.

532 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Writing of the Black-naped Flycatcher, I am reminded of an

incident which occurred when photographing this species at the

nest. The nest was built on a small creeper growing over a nala

about eight feet wide, and, after I had finished camera operations,

I retired a little distance to observe more clearly the behaviour

of the birds when feeding their young. While seated in the nala,

a heavy thunder storm came on and for a space of twenty minutes

or more it simply poured. Presently I heard an extraordinary sort

of roar, the noise becoming louder and approaching nearer every

second. I could not make out what it was. It could not have

been a train as a hill nearly 2,000 feet high, and three miles of

country, intervened between myself and the railway line, and it

certainly was not an earthquake nor any animal with which I was

familiar. However, my anxiety was soon rested when a freshet

bore down on us like a baby tank. Where a few minutes before

the nala was as dry as a bone, water three feet deep now hurled

itself headlong in its haste to join some larger stream below.

Pondering over the phenomenon I thought how terrifying an experi-

ence it must be to be caught by a large river in spate, or a tidal

bore.

Just as when first we went to school the ‘Bloods’ in the xv

were (and still are) in our imagination the finest ‘Rugger’ players

we ever saw, so too perusal of the three volumes of Hume’s Nests

and Eggs even to this day conjures up visions of a wonderful team

of ornithologists: Blewitt, Aitken, Brooks (also of the East Indian

Railway), Scrope Doig and Major Cock, to mention only a few of

Hume’s great correspondents. Sandwiched in amongst these giants

of a past era, working quietly and therefore liable to escape notice,

but all the time using his weight, like a good forward in the ‘scrum’,

we find occasional reference to a Captain Beavan and his discoveries

in Manbhum. Was he in the Ramgarh Battalion stationed at

Hazaribagh, and did he spend the hot weather on the top of

Parasnath? Or was he a ‘Soldier-Political’ administrating the

recently subdued district of the Sonthal Parganas? Who or what

he was, I have never been able to learn. Memories in the East

are but short-lived and I would commend to the Editors of the

Journal the necessity for publishing, before the facts are lost in

oblivion, a Bibliography or ‘Who’s Who’ of Indian Ornithologists.

This dip into the past is occasioned by a glance through the

notes detailing my finding and photographing the nests of the

Tickell’s and Thick-billed Flowerpeckers and Captain Beavan’s

records on their nidification in Nests and Eggs. With regard to

the former Hume remarks:—‘The late Captain Beavan, so far as

I know, was the first person certainly to take the nest of Tickell’s

Flowerpecker’, and from the description of the nest of the Thick-

billed Flowerpecker by Captain Beavan one obtains the impression

that to him falls the honour of first finding the nest of this species

also.!. Whether this was the case or not, both species still occur

commonly in the Manbhum district although their nests are amongst

Vol. 11, spp.) 2745 u27 7 vane 1.278.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 033

the hardest I know of to discover. Inspite of the statement made

by Stuart Baker in the New Fauna where, writing of the nest of

Tickell’s Flowerpecker, he remarks :—‘In appearance and construc-

tion it is exactly like that of the other Flowerpeckers’,' this is not

the case; at all events it is unlike the Thick-billed Flowerpecker’s,

the only other Flowerpecker with whose nesting I have acquaint-

ance. The nest of Tickell’s Flowerpecker is suspended from a twig

and is not unlike that of the Purple Sunbird, minus however the

‘porch’ over the entrance, and without the ‘trailer’ so common to the

mest of Leptocoma’ a. asiatica, but that of. the° Thick-billed

Flowerpecker is a bag-shaped structure, with the roof slung along

the under-side of a twig. The materials employed in the construc-

tion of the two nests are also entirely different. Fine grass stems

and a cotton-like down go largely to the making of Tickell’s

Flowerpecker’s nest, the exterior being covered with cobwebs,

cocoons, small species of bark and shavings of rotten wood, where-

as the nest of the Thick-billed Flowerpecker is made mainly from

the down of the palas flower, with spiders egg-casings worked in

between, so that the whole has the appearance of being woven

into one piece of felt, reddish-brown in colour.

Most nests will be found in March or early April;. numbers are

destroyed by the gales prevalent at this time of year. In my

experience the Thick-billed Flowerpecker lays but two eggs, of a

pinky-white ground colour, with reddish-brown’ spots, while

Tickell’s Flowerpecker lays three more usually than two eggs—

white and unspotted. Both select the same _ situations for

nesting purposes, generally a twig of a mango or seesum tree,

the nest being built at any height from ten to twenty-five or more

feet from the ground. I too can bear testimony to what has been

stated by several observers, that the nest of the Thick-billed Flower-

pecker is often situated in the midst of the leaf-nests of that vicious

creature, the large red ant; in fact I would go further and say that

this is almost invariably the case.

The nest at which I photographed Tickell’s Flowerpecker

contained three young ones almost ready to fly. This was on 22

April and the little home was clearly feeling the strain of the extra

weight, added to which a strong westerly wind rocked it as it

willed. The call of the parents as we erected the hide was an

excellent imitation of a cricket’s reel, and the alarm note a sharp,

piercing utic, utic. Neither bird showed any fear and fed the

young every two or three minutes. Nevertheless photographic

work was almost out of the question owing to a gale which sprang

up and constantly put the nest out of focus, and the very quick

movements of the birds themselves. The food given to the young

was a small pill, pinkish-red in colour, probably the berry of

Loranthus longiflorus, the mistletoe-like plant so generally parasitic

on sal and mhowa trees in these parts.

Every third time they were fed one of the young always turned

round and poked its vent out of the entrance, the parent either

BoNolarinih ap. 433"

534 JOURNAL, BOMBAY :NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

alighting on the nest to remove the excreta, or hovering with

quick- beating wings and flying off with the sack as it was, expelled, |

sometimes even helping in its expulsion, helping in the sense that |

the sack was seized before it had finally left the vent.

I never succeeded in finding a nest of the Quaker Babbler but

twice came across the bird on the lower slopes of Parasnath in April.

Other babblers occur as residents, and, as soon as the rains |

break, many nests of the Spotted Babbler are to be found just |

inside the jungle surrounding the Jharia Water Board’s reservoir. |

They are always built on gently-sloping ground which, at this season, |

is covered with a deep carpet of leaves. The nest itself is a globular |

ball of dead leaves, about the size of a fairly large melon, and |

usually is scantily lined with the fine stems of the maidenhair fern. |

Three eggs form the full clutch. The bird is shy and a great |

skulker but has a most attractive call, a clear whistle, wheat-ee-er, |

and a loud note, chunk-chunk-chunk, which give away its where- |

abouts. Going down hill it is a simple matter to tread on the nest |

but if one works the ground in an upward direction the nest is |

easily seen owing to the bulge it makes in the general contour, and |

because the entrance always looks down hill. I am afraid many |

eggs of this species are eaten by snakes which abound in these }

parts. Here the Spotted Babbler breeds most commonly at an |

elevation of only 950 feet. It is not a difficult bird to photograph, |

the only interesting feature about the one I portrayed being that |

it was minus the outside toe of the left foot. |

Discussion of the Spotted Babbler reminds me of the difficulty |

Sakroo and I always had in talking of the different species: he |

had no names for most birds and it was useless telling him the a

English names. We therefore invented names. The Spotted

Babbler came to be known as patti chiriya, the ‘Leaf bird’, in |

allusion to its nest. Similarly the Orange-headed Ground-Thrush |}

was referred to as chupki, the ‘Silent one’, the Sirkeer as neoru

chiriya, from its resemblance to a mongoose when running along o

the ground, and so on through the gamut; which is a better method |

of each understanding the other than the one my devoted first

shikari, Pokhi, tried to adopt. He was with me in Kashmir in |

1931 when we met Lala Sheikh, Mr. B. B. Osmaston’s old shikari. =

Lala was well acquainted with the English names of birds and |

aired his knowledge at every turn. This was too much for Pokhi |

who determined that in future he would always speak of a bird by |

its English name. Alas! the first one he tried his hand on, of

rather his tongue, was Hume’s Willow-Warbler. I explained who

Hume was and he repeated the name a dozen times till he thought

he had it pat—but his rendering of it, ‘Hume sahib que Billow-:

Bobbler’, brought a smile to my ” face and Pokhi thereafter decided

our made- -up names were good enough for him.

The Rufous-bellied Babbler is quite as common a breeding

species in these parts as the Spotted Babbler, but to. my mind

the former’s nest is far more difficult to fad: in its breeding

habits too the species is interesting from more than one point of |

view. To begin with, the nests are’ of two different types,

suRN. BomBay Nar. Hist. Soc.

}

THE SPOTTED BABBLER.

The nest is a globular ball of dead leaves.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 539

either an oval ball of dead bamboo leaves lying on its side,

with the entrance at the end, or more commonly a ball of coarse

grass with the entrance about half way up the side. Whatever

the material employed, the nest is usually situated only a few inches

from the ground, although I once saw one about four feet up in

a bush, and another quite six feet—both unusually high. The nest

may be built either among grass and weeds surrounding a small

bush on the outskirts of jungle, or a little way in the jungle, but

all those I have seen had this common feature, they were always

built alongside a path of sorts. Many have no lining but others

a slight one of what appears to be hairs but which close inspection

reveals to be fine maidenhair fern stems. Then again, the breeding

season is prolonged and commences a fortnight or more before

that of the Spotted Babbler, and continues till the middle of

September, as I see from my notes that both in 1934 and the

following year I examined nests containing young on the rath of

that month. Four is the largest number of eggs I have seen in

a nest. These have a white ground with the slightest shade ot

red, with reddish-brown spots and_ blotches.

The Rufous-bellied Babbler, like the Spotted Babbler, is a great

skulker, but if one remains motionless in its haunts, the bird may

be studied at ease. Once I observed a pair, apparently males,

fighting. They were seated on a horizontal twig, facing each other.

One put its head down, utterred a challenging note, threw its head

up and advanced a step towards the other. His opponent went

through exactly the same performance, and both repeated it until

finally they met, flying at each other—a confused mass of feathers—

and eventually separated. This was on 30 June and possibly

the birds were disputing territory. .On another occasion I watched

a party of quite twelve Rufous-bellied Babblers rummaging under

a mass of dead leaves. At times none of them were to be seen,

though the leaves showed movement. Had I first come across

them feeding in this manner, invisible, it is quite probable I would

have imagined the movements of the leaves were caused by a

snake and have hit out with my khud stick. The party spirit is

most noticeable in this small species which is well termed Rufous-

bellied. The male (who is the more brightly coloured) possesses

quite a pleasant song of which I wrote in the following terms

while listening to it—‘The first half very like a red-winged bush-

lark’s, and the latter part resembling the canary-like notes of the

sunbird, the two running into each other without a break’.

J never came across the Large Grey Babbler in Manbhum.

Other babblers which occur in the district are the Jungle, the

Common, and Yellow-eyed Babbler, the first and last named being

found in considerable numbers but the Common _ Babbler less

generally. Of the Yellow-eyed Babbler it. can truthfully be said

that there is nothing about the bird which does not at once piease ;

the ruddy-chestnut upper plumage, long tail and chaste lower parts,

the blood-orange eyelids, its acrobatic ways as it climbs up or down

some reed stem, the sweet song, beautiful nest and lovely eggs,

all combine to make the Yellow-eyed Babbler a most attractive

536°. JOURNAL, BOMBAY "NATURAE HIST. SOCIET VY, Vol. 2ET

bird to meet. A week or so after the monsoon breaks, as soon

as the scrub jungle affords better concealment, one can confidently

look for its nest and continue to do so till August and even early

September. Five eggs are usually laid, pinky-white in ground

colour, thickly marked all over with chestnut-red; more rarely they

are sparingly but boldly marked with the same colouring.

The Green and Blossom-headed Parrakeets commence nesting

operations early in the year and their eggs may be found regularly

from about the beginning of February till the end of March or

even later. The Green Parrakeet usually makes use of a natural

hole in a tree for nesting purposes, or one previously occupied by

a woodpecker or barbet. It rarely cuts one out itself, whereas the

Blossom-headed species almost invariably cuts out its own hole.

The former favours holes in mango trees; the latter is partial to

the mhowa, its nest hole generally being cut in the large ‘knots’

about the size of a man’s head, which are a feature of this tree.

The Large Indian Parrakeet starts to nest even earlier—or is it

later?—and its eggs may be found fairly regularly throughout

December. The earliest record I have of this species is 20 November

when I examined a nest containing three eggs. This is the usual

number in a clutch although I have occasionally found four. The

Green Parrakeet normally lays four, and the Blossom-headed species

commonly five eggs. The Large Alexandrine Parrakeet differs from

the others in that it almost invariably nests in natural holes of

the red silk cotton tree, and always at great heights from the

ground. The word nest is really a misnomer when applied to the

Psittaci as the eggs of all of the genus are laid on the bare floor

of the hole made or selected, no attempt being made at furnishing.

In these paris I never came across a nest in a hole of a building

or wall, though elsewhere in northern India such sites are regularly

used by Psittacula krameri manillensis.

All three species have fallen victims to my camera but there

is little in the behaviour of one to distinguish it from the others

when at the nest. Both sexes incubate and feed the young,

though in the case of the Large Indian Parrakeet these tasks

devolve more largely on the female. All feed their. young | by

regurgitation, but while P. eupatria nepalensis and P. c.

cyanocephala approach the nesting tree quietly and usually at long

intervals, the Green Parrakeet seems to feed the young more

frequently and often gives notice of its coming. The food given

by all three species must I think, usually be the fruit of the wild

fig, judging by the visits of the birds to such trees. There can

be little doubt that the small berries inside the unripe mhowa

flower also form a considerable item on the meénu.

What a gorgeous sight the mhowa presents at this season with

its fresh green foliage; the deep mauve coloured flowers of the

orchid so commonly parasitical on this tree also add greatly to the

joy. How over-powering though the smell of the fruit!

The small woodpecker common in the Manbhum district is the

Yellow-fronted Pied species, mahrattensis. The Golden-backed

D WOODPECKER.

Z| Gs

Outside its collar-shaped nest hole.

THE BLAC

Nat. Hist. Soc.

JouRN. BOMBA

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 537

Woodpecker is decidedly scarce, its place being taken by the Black-

backed Woodpecker, a somewhat larger and equally handsome

species. This frequents the outer fringes of mixed jungle and is

found particularly about the lower slopes of small hills. For a

nesting tree the simal is a great favourite, and often the same tree

is resorted to year after year, a fresh hole only being cut higher

up the trunk and a little to the side of the previous one. This is

not circular in form as is usual with the Picidae but somewhat

horse-collar shaped. The species is an early breeder and the egg

may be found from about ro January onwards, or even earlier,

as on the 25th of that month in 1934 a nest I examined contained

a young one whose wing feathers were already beginning to grow.

Altogether six nests came under my inspection and not in one

instance did these contain more than a single egg or young one.

The different text books tell us that the Rufous Woodpecker

occurs generally in Chota Nagpur. Accordingly I hoped to meet

the species in the district and looked forward keenly to studying

this very interesting bird at its equally interesting nest, constructed

inside the papier-mdché-like blackish-grey nest of a tree ant, with

which it seems to live on the most friendly terms. Alas! I never

came across either the bird or its nest in Manbhum or elsewhere

in the Chota Nagpur division.

A number of small ravines, heavily forested, mainly with

bamboo growth, run down from the hills to the Topchanchi

reservoir on all sides except the north-east, and afford sufh-

cient cover for possibly half a dozen pairs of Shamas. I was

enthralled when I listened early one morning to the lovely notes

of this fine songster. I had never before heard them, and although

I felt sure the Shama was the author, my curiosity was not to

be satisfied that morning, nor was it until some days later that

I actually saw the accomplished artist perform. Now I wanted

to find its nest, and, if possible, to photograph the bird at home,

though the prospect of doing so seemed hopeless, such a forest

and shade-loving species is the Shama. To cut matters short, I

wasted two seasons looking in the wrong sort of place for the

nest. Whatever the Shama may do elsewhere, in the Manbhum

district it builds its nest only in holes of trees or stumps,

Moet more’ than five or six feet from the ground, and never, I

think, amongst the collection of dead leaves found at the foot

of every clump of bamboos. The nest is rather an untidy affair,

with a basis (sometimes quite substantial) of dead leaves, and

has a lining of fine roots. Here the bird does not begin to nest

until after the rains have set in, the earliest (and first) note I. have

of a nest being 25 June when I found one containing five fresh

eggs. It is more usual to find nests with eggs at the beginning of

July. .The breeding season is short and the young have flown

by the middle of August at the latest. Five is an unusual clutch

and my experience coincides with that stated in Nidification of

Birds, that four is the normal number of eggs laid.! These are

——

PVOls il; p.. 106;

588 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Bist SOCIETY, (Vol xii

much the same in size as those of the Magpie-Robin, to which,

of course, the Shama is closely related. There is also in the colour

and markings of the eggs of the two species a close family

resemblance, those of the Shama, however, possessing more of a

green than a blue ground. Like the Spotted Babbler and the

Orange-headed Ground-Thrush, the Shama nests usually at an

elevation of only 950 feet. Higher than 1,000 feet I never found

its nest.

There is no difficulty in photographing the Shama at the nest

as it is very confiding, but owing to the very poor lighting con-

ditions that invariably exist at the nest, I wasted nearly fifty plates

before I obtained a picture that bears reproduction at all. The

female is clad in sombre plumage but the male handsomely clothed;

nevertheless he is just as difficult to pick up in the jungle as is

his mate.

The Iora breeds commonly in the scrub jungle proper, and

where scattered palas and sal trees occur, the Little Minivet,

Large Cuckoo-Shrike, Jerdon’s Chloropsis, the Sirkeer, and

Spotted Dove. The Common Pitta occasionally nests in similar

country but more usually it breeds in mixed deciduous forest. By

making its beautiful nest so generally in low bushes,—often in

close proximity to the Yellow-eyed Babbler—the Iora earns the

photographer’s everlasting gratitude.

Reading through my notes written when photographing the

Iora, I am reminded of a matter not generally realised, how

young birds quickly succumb from even a comparatively short

exposure to the sun’s fierce rays, exactly as they do if deprived

of the parent’s warmth and protection when it rains heavily.

Although both sexes incubate and feed the young most assiduously,

I noticed the female Iora only, during the first five days of their

lives, brooding her young for about ten minutes every third time

she fed them, her wing's out-stretched, to shield them from our old

friend—and enemy too, in the East—Sol. Clearly she was aware

of the sun’s danger to the young. I have noticed the same anxiety

shown by the Painted Stork, King Crow and a female Chestnut

Bittern.

The Little Minivet is most partial to the palas tree for nesting

purposes. The nest harmonises closely with its surroundings and

looks just like a knot in a branch. It would usually escape

detection but for the parents flying to and from a particular tree,

obviously to feed the young, or taking material to build their

charming little home. What a handsome creature is the male with

his beautiful grey upper plumage, flame-coloured rump and breast,

his long tail and a wing-patch similarly coloured, and _ his

bluish-grey chin and throat! The female, with her yellow plumage,

and generally paler colouring than her consort’s, is a ‘good-looker’

as well. At one nest neh I ‘worked’, the female always — flew

away with the white sack-like excreta x the young held in her

bill; the male, on the other hand, almost invariably ate this while

still near the nest.

JERDON’S CHLOROPSIS (Male).

The cobweb covered nest is suspended between the stems of two leaves.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 939

_ Jerdon’s Chloropsis, or the Malabar Green-winged Chloropsis,

as Mr. Stuart Baker would now have us call this delightful bird,

is exceedingly common in Manbhum, even frequenting gardens in

Dhanbad itself, where owing to its powers of mimicry, it frequently

deceived me into thinking a shikra had paid me a visit. More

usually it is met with in the scrub, and about palas and mhowa

trees round hamlets near the jungle. Its cheerful notes take some

learning, and owing to its bright green colouring it is not a

species which can easily be detected while perched in a tree.

Nevertheless, though few colliery managers know Jerdon’s Chlor-

opsis by sight, there is not a local savage who is not well

acquainted with the haru (green) bulbul, as the bird is usually

called. About seven inches in length, the sexes are alike in

general colouring, but whereas the male has a purple chin and

a streak of the same colour from the eye to the base of the

throat, the female has these parts greenish-blue. Like others of

its genus, Jerdon’s Chloropsis is entirely arboreal in its habits.

_ The nesting season is prolonged. I have found nests containing

eggs in March and again in the early part of September, and in

every month in between. The nest, a fairly deep cup, is constructed

of very fine roots, covered on the outside with cobwebs and

vegetable fibres, and suspended hammock-like between the stems

of two leaves. It is always placed at the extreme end of a palas

bough, and usually at a height of between 20! and 30! from the

ground. I must have examined quite forty nests and not in one

single instance were they other than as described. Two is the

full number of eggs in a clutch.

One other representative of this genus is found in Manbhum

but is uncommon—the Gold-fronted Chloropsis. In the thicker

scrub and mixed jungle of the Dolkata nala leading up to

Parasnath, I once came across a nest of this species early in July

containing two eggs.

One of the noisiest birds I know of—I do not include the

_ Jungle Babbler which is in a class by itself—is the Large Indian

Cuckoo-Shrike, Always as it utters its loud shrieking call I feel

that the bird has been given a sharp and unexpected nip or pinch

by some exuberant neighbour! Keeping much to the tops of

mhowa and nim trees bordering on cultivated land, and to simal,

gharnim and sal trees where the scrub jungle adjoins deciduous

forest, this Cuckoo-Shrike continually utters its loud parrakeet-

like call. About the size of a dove, this species is mostly grey

in colour, darker on the upper than the lower parts, which are

almost white, and closely barred about the breast. The nest too

is generally built in these same trees, but whereas in the United

Provinces the few I found were quite substantial saucer-shaped

structures, in Manbhum they were invariably flimsily built affairs,

always placed on some horizontal branch where it forked. The

nest is decidedly small for the size of the bird, about five inches

in width at the outside, and a little over an inch in depth. I have

no note of a nest containing more than two eggs or young. The

egg is a yellowish-buff in ground colour and is well blotched with

540 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

chocolate-brown markings distributed evenly over the surface. The

breeding season commences about the third week in March and

continues till the middle of July.

The photograph of the Large Cuckoo-Shrike rather gives the

impression that the young have come to the end of their tether

and will soon pass out. In a sense this was the case but was

caused, not by prolonged exposure owing to the parents being

afraid to return to the nest, but by the young having a surfeit

of a mixed caterpillar diet! A charming feature. about this species

when courting is the manner in which it lifts and shakes each

wing alternately over the back, calling as it does so.

From about the beginning of March till the end of September

the Indian Oriole occurs commonly throughout the district. It is

partial to gardens and mango topes. The Black-headed Oriole,

however, which is resident throughout the year and, comparatively

speaking, scarce, is far shyer and spends its life in more remote

regions, on the forest’s edge and even inside the jungle. Yet,

since a bird will always refute you if it can, I have known QO.

xanthornus also build its nest in a garden! Both species possess

the most delightful liquid calls, as also a horrid rasping note;

both build nests identical in every respect, placed between slender |

horizontal twigs at the end of a branch, usually between 20! and

30’ from the ground. The Black-headed Oriole however, some-

times makes its nest quite low down when this is built in jungle,

not more than eight or ten feet from the ground. A description

of the nest here is unnecessary as not only is it familiar to most

people but elsewhere it has been so well described. The number

of eggs in a nest varies from two to three in the case of the

Black-headed Oriole and between two and four where Oriolus o.

kundoo is concerned, though in Kashmir I once found a nest con-

taining five eggs.

Neither Oriole is easy to approach with the camera and unless

the machan is very gradually built and its construction spread

over a period of a week or longer, the chances are the birds will

desert the nest. The young, at first, are fed on gnats and other

minute insects, and later, on small caterpillars, and in early infancy —

are the blondest things imaginable.

Thick scrub jungle, interspersed with much palas and sal growth,

is a feature of the country side in the hilly parts of the Manbhum

district. Here it 1s that the Sirkeer-Cuckoo is often. enough to

be found, though few people I know were aware of the bird’s

occurrence until they had spent a day with me shooting Jungle-Fowl.

More than once, when the beat was over, I was asked ‘What

was the brown-looking bird with a long tail and red and yellow

bill which came out a few minutes ago, perched on a sal, and

then sneaked off?’ I am sure my interrogator’s credulity was

taxed to the utmost when I told him it is a species of cuckoo and

that it builds a nest instead of laying its eggs in the nests of

other birds, as is the case with the ‘Harbinger of Spring’ at home,

and my béte noir out here, the Koel.

ouRN. Bompay Nar. Hist. Soc.

A LARGE INDIAN CUCKOO SHRIKE

A surfeit of caterpillars explains the grievous depression of the chicks.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 541

In spite of the Sirkeer occurring fairly commonly I have found

few nests myself, though I have seen many others, thanks to the

agency of Sakroo. Nearly all those I have examined were built

in the uppermost branches of pollarded palas and sal trees, where

the dense foilage made detection difficut. The nest is a fairly

substantial platform of twigs, with a lining of green leaves, usually

of the tree in which the nest is built. The eggs, which are two

or three in number, are pure white when first laid and average

1.40 inches in length by 1.05 inches in breadth. In the Manbhum

district the breeding season extends from the end of April till

the end of September, on the 29th of which month I have seen

a nest containing three well incubated eggs.

I have tried very hard to photograph the Sirkeer at the nest

but have never come anywhere near success, and in view of my

experiences have long since abandoned all efforts in this direction.

The bird will at once desert if the nest contains eggs. I regret

to say such has also been the case when there have been young,

this in spite of my having superintended personally the erection

of the machan and being satisfied that more than ordinary pre-

cautions were taken not to disturb the birds.

The Sirkeer is normally very silent, but, when alarmed, utters

a guttural kRhokh-khokh, quickly repeated.

As long ago as 1862, Jerdon either stated the Large Himalayan

Green-billed Malkoha occurs or breeds in Chota Nagpur and the

Northen Circars, or he thought it did—I am not sure which, as

my copy of ‘Jerdon’ was lent a few years ago to a friend who

failed to return it. But no ornithologist since appears to have met

with this species in these parts, judging by what Blanford’s Fauna,

the New Fauna and Nidification of Birds have to say in the matter.

The first named quotes Jerdon in support of the Large Green-billed

Malkoha occurring in Chota Nagpur, but adds :—‘This needs

confirmation’,? while in the New Fauna Mr. Stuart Baker observes

—‘possibly Chota Napgur and Northern Circars (Jerdon)’,? a

statement which is repeated in Nidification of Birds, the relevant

volume of which was published in 1934.* It would therefore appear

that in spite of the passage of seventy-seven years Jerdon’s remarks

still await confirmation today (1939).

( Jerdon was, however, quite

COIrect.

It is surprising that the species has not been noted from

Chota Nagpur in recent years, as it is not only fairly common

(for an unusual bird) in Manbhum, in the heavy mixed forest round

the Topchanchi reservoir and the Dolkata nala, but is found in the

neighbouring district of Hazaribagh. It is, however, a particularly

shy species and frequents forests the European seldom invades,

which fact probably accounts for it having remained unnoticed so

long. <A hasty glimpse of the bird—and this is all that is vouch-

safed one as a rule—gives the impression of a very large male

koel—it is about twenty-three inches in length, more than half

Gieewhich is accounted for by the tail... At close, . quarters,

COM Mi, p. 252. 2 Viol piv. \p. 178. 2 Violin) p e361.

042. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCTEDTY.” Vols »XLT

however, the apple-green bill, with a tinge of red about the base,

and the bare crimson orbital patch, as also the ashy-green colouring

about the head, neck and chin, are noticeable. Sceptics may

imagine I am mistaken in my identity and that what I saw was

the Small Green-billed Malkoha. Such is not the case. Although

I have not come across Rhopodytes viridirostris, it is not possible

to confuse the two species. The Small Malkoha is not only

considerably smaller (about 154” in length) but has the orbital

patch cobalt-blue and the throat feathers forked, which is not the

case with Rhopodytes t. tristis.

In the Manbhum district the Large Green-billed Malkoha nests

during July and August in heavy jungle, amongst creepers, at a

height of between 15/ and 20! from the ground. I have found eggs

as early as 14 July and as late as 8 August. The nest is made of

twigs and roots and is lined with green leaves, but is not such a

substantial structure as that of the Sirkeer which, however, it

closely resembles. The three nests I found each contained three

eggs. These are a chalky-white in colour and average 1.46 x 1.05

inches in size.

Although so shy when not breeding the Large Green-billed

Malkoha sits closely once incubation has commenced. On several

occasions, when I climbed on to the machan to photograph this

bird, the Malkoha remained on the nest though I was on a level

with and in full sight of the bird and but ten feet away. It was

only when Sakroo or Pokhi came up as well, to pack me up, that

the bird’s courage failed. Always as she flew, she uttered a note

very similar to that of the Sirkeer.

When I started photographing the Large Green-billed Malkoha

on 29 July, an atmospheric depression seemed to have settled over

the land and though I took a number of photos on three different

days, the weather continued dull till eventually the deluge came, and

with it floods, fever and misery for everybody. With the elements

conspiring against me and the nesting site being in such a dark

place, the resultant negatives are very thin, and it is only due to

heavy intensification that a print is possible at all. Nevertheless,

I value the Malkoha photographs more highly than many of my

more successful efforts with other birds. Of course, when the rain

subsided the sun came out in all his glory, but, alas! the Malkoha’s

eges had disappeared and my machan been pulled down. I learnt

subsequently this was done under instructions from a sub-overseer,

whom I had recently reported for permitting promiscuous poaching

and fishing, and cutting of grass and timber, his idea being that

if he spoilt my nests I would not patronise those parts and he and

his satellites would then be able to pursue their nefarious activities

unchecked.

In these parts the White-breasted Kingfisher breeds commonly

in the sides of nalas running through the scrub jungle, towards

the base of the lower hills, though it also resorts for the same

purpose to the banks of small streams running through open

country. Nesting tunnels are frequent too where the hill sides

have been cut away to make the road running round the Topchanchi

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 543

reservoir. I looked forward to finding the rare and abnormal type

of nest resembling ‘a large, untidy edition of an English Wren’s

place of abode’ first recorded many years ago by Stuart Baker

and referred to in Nests and Eggs', but never happened on one,

though I have heard of similar nests of this kingfisher being seen

in the Jamalpur hills, in the Monghyr district. The nesting season

is prolonged, from April till September, but most nests will be

found in June and July. This species, as is well known, is more

given to feeding on insects than on fish. The pair I photographed

near their nest frequently brought grasshoppers wherewith to feed

the young, including a large species almost the size of a locust,

which occurs commonly on the thick-leafed mauve and white

flowered Calotropis plant said to possess medicinal properties.

Dragon-flies were also occasionally brought, and on an average

of once in every twelve visits, a small fish. The ‘shivering’

scream of this species as it sits on some tree is a familiar sound.

Occasionally the bird indulges in ‘stunts’. I once watched Halcyon

smyrnensis fusca mount high into the skies, flying over the forest

in increasingly wider circles till it was almost out of sight, screaming

all the while, and then dive obliquely over a distance of a

quarter of a mile or more in the direction of an open river. While

diving the bird was absolutely silent. This was on 7 May.

The Common. Indian Kingfisher occurs far less usually than

does the preceding species, but the Pied Kingfisher is common, its

nesting operations commencing early in January. The Brown-

headed Stork-billed Kingfisher is decidedly scarce. I came across

only two nests of this species, in successive years, one containing

three fresh eggs and the other four young. The contents of both

nests were taken by Manjis before I could attempt photography.

The former was found on 31 May and the nest containing young

on 10 July. :

I was surprised to meet the Orange-headed Ground-Thrush in

the district. It occurs only as a summer visitor and is intensely

local in its distribution, being confined to one particular area round

the Topchanchi reservoir where, however, quite a dozen pairs breed

every year. Nesting commences with the advent of the monsoon

and is completed by the middle of August, as is the case with the

Shama. Normally a silent species, the male possesses a pleasing

song heard usually in the early morning. Though reputed to mimic

the calls of other species I never heard him attempt this. I have,

however, heard the alarm note which has very aptly been likened

to the screeching noise produced by a pencil on a slate, but unless

one sees the bird one would never connect this note with the

Orange-headed Ground-Thrush, so quickly and stealthily does the

bird make itself scarce when its haunts are invaded. The male is

most handsome, with his bluish-grey upper parts and orange-chest-

nut head, neck and lower parts; the female is a dull replica of the

male.

544 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

This Ground-Thrush, like many of the other species dealt with

here, is a forest-loving bird, and spends its life in jungle where there

is plenty of undergrowth, under which it seeks industriously for

what it may find to eat, whether vegetable or animal. The nest,

which does not appear to be placed higher than 1o/ from the ground

and is built either in a bush, or more usually in the fork of a

tree, is not unlike a small edition of a blackbird’s nest at Home.

It is made of grass stalks and coarse grass, some moss, and

lined with maidenhair fern stems and roots, with a fair amount

of mud worked into the foundations in some cases but entirely

lacking at other times. Both sexes help in building the nest and

incubating the eggs, which usually number four; once only I found

as many as five. These are very handsome and have a bluish-green

ground with (usually) heavy brown-yellowish-red splotches and

freckles spread over the entire surface.

A shy species, the Orange-headed Ground-Thrush nevertheless

does not object to a hiding tent being introduced near its nest.

Though a ready sitter, the bird is an unsatisfactory subject from

the photographer’s point of view owing to its colour responding

poorly even to a panchromatic plate.

Pea-to-yew, a loud, clear and far-reaching note which I had

not heard previously, repeated again and again. So close was the

bird and obviously calling from a point of vantage; yet it was

some considerable time before I spotted the performer. The trouble

was I was looking too near. When finally the Zeiss Delactis

glasses revealed the bird, perched high up in a simal tree, near

the trunk, I was struck by the method of calling: head and

shoulders thrown right back, chest out, and the bill pointing to

the skies, just as a cock crows. This is the normal manner of

calling though the bird also occasionally calls from the ground.

Having recently acquired the album of Common Indian Birds

published by the Bombay Natural History Society, depicting a

a number of species in colour, I had no difficulty in at once

identifying the cock-crowing author. It was the Common Indian

Pitta, surely one of the most beautiful birds found in the Peninsula. —

Whistler’s description cannot be improved upon. He says:—

‘Length 7 inches, sexes alike. Top of head pale fulvous, with a

broad black band down the centre which is joined by a very broad

black band from below the eye; a narrow white line over the eye;

back and shoulders green; lower rump shining pale blue; tail black,

tipped with dull blue; wing black with a conspicuous white patch

in the flight-feathers, and with the coverts green and blue; chin

and throat white; remainder of lower plumage fulvous, a patch of

bright scarlet under the tail." No wonder the Indian knows the

Pitta as nao-ranghi, the ‘Nine-coloured one’. Like the Orange-

headed Ground-Thrush, this species is only a hot weather visitor

to these parts; all have left the Chota Nagpur division by the middle

of September. Nevertheless, during its stay the Pitta occurs

+ Popular Handbook of Indian Birds, 2nd edition, p. 241.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 545

commonly and it is amusing to watch the bird when it is apprehensive

of everything not being quite as it should: the short tail is then

flitted up and down after the manner of a moorhen.

Whistler, probably from thinking of others of the genus at the

time, has fallen into the error of stating that the majority of nests

of the Common Indian Pitta are placed on the ground or in low

branches close to it. This is most emphatically not the case. All

the nests I have seen—quite fifty in number—were built in trees,

close to the trunk, at heights varying from 12!’ to 25/ from the

ground. The nest, shaped rather like a rugby football lying on

its side, often has the top one-third end sliced off, so that the bird

has a chubutra or platform from which to approach the nest proper.

Four, five and even six eggs are laid, very spherical in shape and

measuring approximately 1.00x.86 inches. These have a_ lovely

china-white ground colour sparingly marked with purple spots and

speckles. At times the nest is built in the most exposed of

situations, giving the impression that it is a broken-down structure

which has yet stood the acid test—storms, wind and the loo.

More usually it is fairly well concealed in palas and sal trees,

occupying much the same situation as the Sirkeer’s nest. It is

made of sticks and twigs, with leaves worked in between, is domed,

with the entrance at one side, and lined with roots and dead leaves.

The breeding season extends from the end of May to the end

of July.

Somebody once asked me if I knew the ‘Ginger-beer’ bird:

obviously this species, and an excellent rendering of the Pitta’s call.

Not even the most imaginative writer could describe the Pitta as

interesting when at the nest. It usually dashes straight in to feed

the young, which done it stands on the chubutra for minutes at a

stretch, looking as though it did not quite know what it had done

or was now expected to do. This is not surprising really when it

is added that mole-crickets are a favourite dish on the menu, a

great delicacy which if used with a snare will inevitably bring about

a bird’s capture. To provide such a préce de résistance all the

time to their young must be a sore trial even to fond parents !

I cannot conclude this article without making mention of a

great discovery by my wife, in Dhanbad itself, of the breeding of a

bird concerning which I hope at some future date to write more

fully. I refer to the Whiskered Tern. My wife had been playing

golf early one morning and when she burst in on me while I was

still shaving it was clear that she had something important to tell.

My thoughts at once turned to birdies and eagles, but it was

nothing so prosaic she wished to discuss. She had seen some birds

which looked like small gulls, fly with grass or weeds in their

bills and then alight on the Baker bund, a fair-sized tank less than

a quarter of a mile distant from our bungalow, and on the road

to the club. It did not take me long to investigate matters for

myself. Many of the Whiskered Terns were still building; others

' Popular Handbook of Indian Birds, 2nd edition, p. 242.

546- JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST 7 SOCIERY, Volk Xiah

were on eggs. The nests were in the middle of the bund, where

the water was deepest, and all on a narrow path of weeds which

stretched across from north to south. Later, I counted sixty-three

occupied nests here. My enquiries showed that the Whiskered

Tern had never previously nested on this piece of water, nor did it

do so again during 1934, 1935, 1936 or 1937, this inspite of the

fact that, almost without exception, each pair successfully reared

and took away its young. At first I was at a loss to explain this

but on examining the position more carefully the reason was at once

apparent. The narrow strip of weeds which formed the foundation

for the nests in 1933 had been cut down at the roots, so that no

suitable nesting sites existed. Later, during the same year, |

found three more nesting colonies of this species in the district,

all approximating in size to the original one discovered by my wife.

Early in 1935 Mr. Prater wrote telling me that Manbhum is a

very important district ornithologically, that many original descrip-

tions were made of birds collected in this area, but that a modern

collection of birds from the district was necessary to clear up many

points: would I undertake this work? I was unable to do so for

several reasons but I believe it will be obvious to anyone who has

had the patience to read through this article that Manbhum is

indeed fortunate in the wealth and variety of its bird-life, parti-

cularly when it is remembered that this is really confined to a very

limited part of the district. The avifauna, however, needs protection

and I would urge everybody interested in the subject, everybody who

has any authority locally, whether on the District Board, the Jharia

Water Board, or Societies for the Protection of Wild Life in the

province, to do all in their power to make the country around the

Topchanchi reservoir a bird sanctuary. It lends itself to being easily

adapted as such. Many will at once rise up and tell me that this

is already the case. My reply is ‘Don’t you believe it. Experto

crede’—not that I am expert at anything but I do claim that I know

better than others what goes on daily round this reservoir and its

catchment area.

In order to give a better idea of the ornithological possibilities

of the district, I quote below a list of the different species whose

nests I found in Manbhum; I am confident it is capable of many

additions.

Jungle Crow, House Crow, Indian Tree Pie, Jungle Babbler,

Common Babbler, Rufous-bellied Babbler, Yellow-eyed Babbler,

Spotted Babbler, Common lIora, Jerdon’s Chloropsis, Gold-fronted

Chloropsis, Red-vented Bulbul, Brown-backed Robin, Magpie-Robin,

Shama, Orange-headed Ground-Thrush, Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher,

Paradise Flycatcher, Black-naped Flycatcher, White-spotted

Fantail Flycatcher, Bay-backed Shrike, Common Wood-Shrike,

Little Minivet, Large Cuckoo-Shrike, King Crow, White-bellied

Drongo, Tailor-bird, Streaked Fantail-Warbler, Ashy Wren-Warbler,

Indian Wren-Warbler, Jungle Wren-Warbler, Indian Oriole, Black-

headed Oriole, Brahminy Mynah, Common Mynah, Pied Mynah,

Baya Weaver-Bird, White-throated Munia, White-backed Munia,

Spotted Munia, Yellow-throated Sparrow, House-Sparrow, Wire-

tailed Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, Large Pied Wagtail, Indian

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 547

Pipit, Red-winged Bush-Lark, Ashy-crowned Finch-Lark, White

Eye, Purple Sunbird, Tickell’s Flowerpecker, Thick-billed Flower-

pecker, Common Indian Pitta, Black-backed Woodpecker,

Mahratta Pied Woodpecker, Golden-backed Woodpecker, Crimson-

breasted Barbet, Green Barbet, Indian Roller, Green Bee-Eater,

Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Pied Kingfisher, Common Small Kingfisher,

Brown-headed Stork-billed Kingfisher, White-breasted Kingfisher,

Northern Grey Hornbill, Hoopoe, Indian Swift, Palm Swift, Indian

Crested Swift, Common Indian Nightjar, Jungle Nightjar, Franklin’s

Nightjar, Long-tailed Nightjar, Pied Crested Cuckoo (in Jungle

Babbler’s nest), Koel (in House Crow’s nest), Sirkeer, Large

Green-billed Malkoha, Crow-Pheasant, Large Indian Parrakeet,

Green Parrakeet, Blossom-headed Parrakeet, Rock Horned Owl,

Collared Scops Owl, Spotted Owlet, Jungle Owlet, King Vulture,

White-backed Vulture, Small Scavanger Vulture, Bonelli’s Eagle,

Lesser Spotted Eagle, Brahminy Kite, Common Kite, Shikra,

Lugger Falcon, Common Green Pigeon, Rufous Turtle-Dove,

Spotted Dove, Little Brown-Dove, Indian Ring Dove, Red Turtle-

Dove, Common Peafowl, Red Jungle-Fowl, Painted Spur-Fowl,

Jungle Bush-Quail, Black Partridge, Grey Partridge, Common

Bustard Quail, White-breasted Waterhen, Moorhen, Stone-Plover,

Bronze-winged Jacana, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Red-wattled Lap-

wing, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Whiskered Tern, Little Cormorant,

White-necked Stork, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Pond-Heron,

Night Heron, Chestnut Bittern, Little Grebe. Total 124 species.

SOME COMMON INDIAN HERBS WITH NOTES ON

THEIR ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS.

M. SayvEEDubD-DIN,

Prof. of Botany, Ouneiie University, Hyderabad Deccan.

(With three plates).

(Continued from page 323 of this volume).

I1I1.—ANDROGRAPHIS ECHIOIDES Nees.

(ACANTHACEAE).

SYNONYMY AND SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION.

Andrographis echioides Nees in Wall. Pl. As. Rar. iti, 117; DC.

Prodr, xiv 518° Ha Bae eyo 505 Cooke. lo poms lancer

Volk; Pt. I) 374); Dalz. & Gibs Bomb. Fl 1985 trims Hie Cee

Vol... 111,327. Syn i-—Jushaa echiotdes Winn. ; Burm. Fly Ind’, 9;

OxOe oll, lmads: 1, ITS Gna at weborr

An erect herb, average height about 12 in., densely clothed

with white hairs; stem quadrangular, grooved. Leaves sessile,

decussate, entire, oblong, margins ciliated, base cuneate. Flowers

in axillary racemes about as long as the leaves. Calyx glandular-

hairy, divided almost to the base, sepals linear, ciliated, elongating

in fruit. Corolla pink or white, densely pubescent, 2-lipped, lower

lip 3-lobed, blotched with purple. Anthers much exserted, white-

bearded ; pollen-grains blackish and oblong when dry, and pale-yellow

and spherical when moistened. Capsule hairy, elliptic-lanceolate,

acute at both ends, compressed. Seeds rugose, glabrous, not

compressed. 3

Flowers :—August—October. Medicinal (Kirtikar, 4) (Pl. I &

Pl i ie)

INDIAN NAMES.

Ran Chimani (Deccani); Peetumba (Malay).

Hapsirat.

Common in the drier districts from the Punjab and Chota

Nagpur to Ceylon; absent from Bengal proper and humid Malabar ;

not very common in Bombay Presidency (Dalzell and Gibson, 2),

Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Pirate I

Sayeedud-Din—Common Indian Herbs.

Andrographis echioides Nees. (X3)

For explanation see end of article.

SOME COMMON INDIAN HERBS 549

common in the Madras Presidency (Mayuranathan, 5); very com-

mon in Hyderabad Deccan (Sayeedud-Din, 6).

ANATOMICAL NOTES.

Structure of the leaf (Plate II, Fig. 2 and Plate III, iow 1).

The leaf-structure is bifacial. Stomata occur on both sides of the

leaf, but are more numerous on the lower. They are of the Caryo-

phyllaceous type, the pairs of guard-cells being accompanied by

two subsidiary cells, which are placed transversely to the pore.

Oxalate of lime is present in the form of small prismatic crystals.

In the leaf it is found in all parts of the mesophyll and also in the

epidermis. In the stem it is present mostly in the pith and the

primary cortex.

Besides the occurrence of oxalate of lime, cystoliths are present

in the epidermis of the leaf, and a few in that of the herbaceous

stem (Plate II, Fig. 2 and Plate III, Fig. 1). They occur singly

and are elongated with more or less blunt extremities, although

a few are pointed at one end. Solereder (7) mentions that round

cystoliths occur in the Andrographideae, and in rare cases transi-

tions to elongated forms with blunt extremities are found.

The hairy covering (Plate III, Figs. 2—7) consists of ordinary

clothing hairs and glandular hairs. The clothing hairs are uni-

cellular or uniseriate. Glandular hairs are of two kinds. Those

occurring on the stem and leaves are in surface view disc-shaped,

and composed of four or more cells separated by vertical walls.

The glandular hairs on the calyx and corolla consist of a uniseriate

stalk terminating in a glandular spherical head.

Structure of the Stem. Stem and branches are quadrangular

in section. Stomata are present. Epidermal cells are rather large.

There is no hypodermis. The primary cortex contains collenchy-

matous cells. An endodermis is present.

CONCLUSIONS.

The study of this plant reveals the following main features

which are generally characteristic of the family Acanthaceae.

(1) Caryophylleous type of stomata; (2) excretion of oxalate of

lime in the form of prismatic crystals; (3) occurrence of elongated

cystoliths with blunt extremities (this does not apply to all the

members of this family, for there are some genera in which cysto-

liths. are’ not present, .and ‘there are others in which “round

cystoliths occur); (4) The clothing hairs are unicellular or uniseriate ;

(5) The glandular hairs on the vegetative portions are disc-shaped

and multicellular with vertical walls. Those on the. floral parts

consist of a long uniseriate stalk terminating in a spherical head.

Besides other features the occurrence of typical cystoliths (with

the exception of those members which do not possess these struc-

tures) distinguishes Acanthaceae from the allied families Verben-

aceae and Labiatae. The shape of cystoliths and their place of

Geeurnence in the leaf cam be employed in detailed classification

within the family Acanthaceae.

550 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY," Vol. “XL1

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

IT am thankful to Mr. Sri Ram Loo for the photographs and

the drawings which were prepared under my supervision, and to

Messrs. Fateh Nasib Khan and Riazul-Hasan Qurieshi for the

preparation of several slides. x»

LITERATURE CONSULTED.

1. Cooke, T.—The Flora of the Presidency of Bombay, vol. ii, Pt. 2,

P- 374 (1905).

2. Dalzell, A. N., and Gibson, A.—The Bombay Flora, p. 198 (1861).

3. Hooker, T. D.—The Flora of British India, vol. iv, p. 505 (1885).

4. Kirtikar, K. R., and Basu, B. D.—Indian Medicinal Plants, Pt. 2,

p- 968 (1918).

5. Mayuranathan, P. V.—The Flowering Plants of Madras City and its

immediate Neighbourhood, p. 220 (1929).

6. Sayeedud-Din, M.—‘A Further Contribution to some of the Common

Flowering Plants of the Hyderabad State; their distribution and economic im-

portance. .Dicotyledons.’ Jour. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Sac., vol._xi, No. 2, p- 207

(1938).

7. Solereder, H.—Systematic Anatomy of the Dicotyledons. Engl. Ed.,

vol. i, pp. 613-624 (1908).

8, Wight, R.—Icones Plantarum Indiae Orientalis, p. 467 (1838-53).

EXPLANATION OF PLATES I To III.

Illustrating M. Sayeedud-Din’s paper on ‘Some Common Indian Herbs with

notes on their Anatomical Characters’.

III. Andrographis echioides Nees.

Prate I.

Fig. 1.—Black and white sketch of Andrographis echioides Nees. (X#).

Fig. 2.—A single flower with corolla opened out to show the bearded anthers.

(X5)-

Fig. 3.—L. S. Ovary. (X5).

Fig. 4.—Pollen grain, showing the shape in dry condition. (X 240).

Fig. 5.—Pollen grain, showing the shape in moist condition. (240).

Fig. 6.—Fruit split open to show the rugose seeds. (X5).

Pate II.

Fig. 1.—Photograph of Andrographis echioides Nees.

Fig. 2.—Photo-micrograph of leaf-epidermis, showing elongated cystoliths and

a glandular hair. (x96).

Puate ITI.

Fig. 1.—Leaf-epidermis, showing cystoliths, stomata and a _ glandular hair.

(Xx 480).

Figs. 2 & 3.—Glandular hairs on the vegetative parts in T. S. (x 480).

Figs. 4 & 5.—Clothing hairs on stem and leaves. (xX 480).

Fig. 6.—Clothing hair on the floral parts. (xX 480).

Fig. 7.—Elongated glandular hair on calyx and corolla. (x96).

‘ajaqjay fo pua aas uoyvunigxa 40g

‘sqiof{ ueIpuy UOUTWODJ—uUIC]-pnpadAeg

yas + : 3: ‘ é ; : < SSS

I] B1vIg "20S ‘ISI “JEN Avquiog ‘usnoe

Prate III

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Sayeedud-Din—Common Indian Herbs.

For explanation see end of article.

BISH EADDERS IN THE’ PUNJAB:

Dr. Hamip Kuan, M.Sc., LL.B., (Punjab), Pu.D., (Cantab.),

Officiating Game Warden, Punjab, Lyallpur.

(With a map and two plates).

Most of the common game and food fishes of the Province

belong to the Cyprinidae (Carps), Siluridae (Cat-fishes), or Ophioce-

phalidae (Murrel). The Murrel are not migratory and breed in

tanks, ponds and stagnant waters in April and May (Hamid Khan,

1924). A large number of the Carp and the Cat Fishes on the

other hand show a tendency to migrate to a greater or lesser

extent.

The Mahsir, one of the Carps, is by far the most important

migratory species of all the fresh water fishes of India. It is a

well known game and food fish. In summer as soon as the

streams are swollen by the monsoon rains the Mahsir ‘are able

to ascend to parts of the river till then unapproachable for want

of water. There they find fresh feeding grounds that are inac-

cessible to them at other times. There they deposit their spawn

and thus secure for their fry when hatched, waters, then dwindled

to dimensions much better suited to their puny strength than the

deeper current of the lower river’ (Thomas, 1897).

Most of the other Cyprinidae, too, such as Rohu (Labeo

rohita), Morakha (Cirrhina mrigala), Theila (Catla catla) as well

as some Siluridae, namely Bachwa (Pseudeutropius garua), Khagga

(kita vita) and others ascend the rivers during the monsoon rains

in search of suitable spawning grounds and after laying their

eggs in shallow waters return to the main stream (Hamid

Khan, 1924).

It is, therefore, evident that for the propagation of the species

of almost all the game and food fishes of the Punjab proper facil-

ities are needed to enable them to ascend the rivers so as to

reach such waters as will suit them to lay their spawn.

With the development of irrigation projects in the Punjab,

dams or weirs have been constructed in the form of masonry

works at the Headworks of the canals for the purpose of deflect-

ing water into the canals. The weirs (Fig. 2) run across the

entire width of the river and thus obstruct both the upward and

the downward passage of fish. In order to enable the fish to

ascend the head waters of the rivers and thus reach their spawn-

ing Soe for propagation, or to follow their migratory habits

in search of food, fish passes or fish ladders (Fig. 3) have been

provided in the weirs.

552” JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL (Hist. SOCIETY I eVole et

Wiehe have been erected across the following rivers in the

Punjab (Fig. 1).

1 River Jumna (near Tajewala).

2. River Sutlej (at Ropar, Ferozepore, Suleimanki, Islam

and Panjnad).

3. River Ravi (at Balloki, Madhopur and Sidhnat).

4. River Chenab (at Marala, Khanki and Trimmuy).

5. River Jhelum (at Mangla and Rasul).

Fish ladders have at present been provided by the Irrigation

Department on all the weirs except at Tajewala, Mangla and

Sidhnai. Most of the ladders have been in existence for over

fifty years or so, but so far hardly any serious attention has been

paid to ascertain their proper functioning. A survey of most of

the fish ladders was made by the author and the outdoor Fisheries

Staff in 1937-38, and as a result of it an attempt has been made

in this paper to discuss the working of the ladders and to draw

attention to such among them as are either not successful or only

very moderately so.

WEIR AND ITS STRUCTURE.

Day, as early as 1873, described in detail the structure of a weir

as having ‘openings of varying sizes, termed undersluices, con-

structed for the purpose of permitting the surplus water passing

through the body of the weir and on a level with the lowest bed

of the river. These undersluices are kept shut except when there

is an excess of water in the rivers, as during the monsoon months.’

They close by means of iron shutters which can be elevated, when

it is desired to do so, by capstan and windlass: (Figs. 3 and 4).

These narrow undersluices carry such a rush of water through

them that no Indian fish can ascend the river when they are open

(Fig. 2). Day (1873) recommended as one of the remedies to

prevent injury to fisheries ‘that every irrigation weir spanning a

river have a practicable fish pass in it.” Dunsford (1911) drew

the attention of the Punjab Government to the erection of fish passes

and suggested certain principles which should be accepted for

guidance. In 1916 the Department of Fisheries, Punjab, issued

a Bulletin on ‘Notes on Fish Ladders,’ and recommended the

‘Improved Cail Fish Pass’ for the Punjab.'

Different Systems of Fish Passes. “‘Yhe underlying principle

in the construction of fishways is the retardation of the current

velocity of a waterfall so as to enable fish to surmount it.’ (Bayer,

1908). In America and on the Continent innumerable devices

with that object in view have been invented and proved more or

less successful.

1 The Cail Fish Pass was originally invented by Cail, an Engineer in New

Castle, and improved upon by B. M. Hoecht, a German designer (Calderwood

1926). It was not invented by a German designer as is stated in the Bulletin

No. 1 of the Department of Fisheries, Punjab, 1916. The Bulletin is out of

print now.

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FISH LADDERS IN THE PUNJAB ; 553

Bayer (1908) and Calderwood (1926) classify the fishways into

four systems according to their style of construction:

1. The Inclined Plane System, in which the checks are so

arranged that the descending water takes a zigzag course, being

driven from side to side by an alternating arrangement of the

breaks or baffle walls. Fish are, therefore, forced to take a

sinuous course as they ascend.

2. The Pool or Fall or Step System, in which the water

is brought down to a lower level by a series of short falls with

intervening pools. This type of pass was invented by Cail, an

Engineer in New Castle. Baffle walls were placed right across

the width of the pass so as to form partitions. These were pierced

by apertures large enough to allow a fish to pass, but not large

enough to allow all the water in the pass to get through. Portion

of the water flowed over the tops of the partitions too.!

3. The Counter Current System, in which the descending

volume of water is checked by meeting a current opposing it at

certain intervals. This pass was devised by McDonald (1882).

4. Lock and Gate System, in which .a higher or lower

level is reached through one or more locks operated by gates.

The systems 3 and 4 above are so complicated that they are

practically very little in use now.

MAIN REQUIREMENTS OF A FISH LADDER,

Although every fish ladder, to a certain degree, has to be

adapted to meet the special conditions of the locality, yet there

are some general principles in all the four systems which may be

accepted for guidance.

1. The slope of a fish ladder should not be steeper than

one foot vertical to ten feet horizontal, so as to ensure a current

of a velocity not exceeding: ten feet per second in any portion of

the fishway. The flow of the water should be gentle and without

deep falls.

2. As regards the dimensions of the fish ladder, both the

available volume of water and the size of the fish have to be con-

sidered. Since in the Punjab it is to be used by small fish such

as Chilwa (Aspidoparia morar), not exceeding five or six inches in

length, as well as by big fish such as Mahsir (Barbus tor), Rohu

(Labeo rohita), Morakha (Cirrhina mrigala) and others which vary

from one to three feet or even more in length, the falls should

1 The Cail Fishway was improved by a German designer Hoecht. ‘The

improved Cail Fishway’ is a combination of the inclined plane system with

the pool and fall or step system. It consists of a series of compartments

arranged in steps, and separated by a number of cross partitions, which are

provided with suitable orifices at the bottom alternating successively from

side to side so as to allow the fish according to their individual habits to ascend

the fishway by either leaping over the small waterfalls over the cross parti-

tions or by darting through the orifices, at the same time enabling them to

rest in the compartments in comparatively still water.

504 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vole ET

average from eight to twelve inches and the width of each com-

partment should not be less than ten feet. ‘The compartment or

bays of the pass must be of such dimensions that the fish do not

risk collision with the sides and upper end of each bay when

ascending’ (Dunsford, 1911).

3. ‘Plenty of light should be admitted in a fishway, both

for maintaining therein the natural conditions of the water, and

in order that the interior may easily be inspected and any foreign

matter removed’ (Bayer, 1908). ‘There must be nothing in the

formation of the pass to suggest the existence of a trap’ (Duns-

ford, 1911).

4. ‘It should in all its parts, by action of the current of

water passing through it, be as nearly as possible self cleaning of

all sand, gravel and rubbish’ (Bayer, 1908).

5. The water supply should be ample and there should

always be water in the ladders in the season when the fish are

making the ascent.

6. ‘The top and side of a fishway should be above ordinary

highwater’ (Bayer, 1908). =

7. ‘The pass must be situated where it will be self

advertising; i.e. it must form a current impinging into a certain

place below the obstacle so strongly that it becomes the chief or

predominant current of the stream, when the fish will be led to

that point for attempting the ascent’ (Dunsford, 1911). ‘One may

have the best possible kind of pass, but if fish do not get into it

one may as well have no pass at all. The position of the entrance

is of paramount importance no matter what type of pass is

selected. The ideal position for the entrance to the pass is close

to where the fish lie, so that there will be an attractive flow of

water from the pass, when the river is at the level at which they

chiefly run’ (Calderwood, 1926). The entrance should be located

in a pool at the bottom of the ladder where fish would naturally

collect before ascending the river, and these pools must be kept

clear of all silt and other accumulations and deposits. |

In the light of the knowledge gained from the descriptions

of the various styles of fish passes existing in other countries,

one may examine the fish passes constructed on the Headworks

of the Canals in the Punjab.

I am indebted to the Executive Engineers, Irrigation

Department, Punjab, for providing me with facilities for the

inspection of fish ladders and for furnishing me details of their

design and construction.

RIVER JUMNA.

Tajewala Headworks. Tajewala, on the River Jumna, 25

miles from Jagadhari, is an old Headworks (constructed mainly

between 1870 and 1880), where two canals, the Eastern Jumna

Canal supplying the United Provinces, and the Western Jumna

Canal going to Delhi and Hissar, take their origin shortly below

the point of exit of this river from the hills. At Tajewala the

river is furnished with gates for regulating the supply of water

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. PrateE I

Weir across River Sutlej at Rupar Headworks.

Sa eS

See

Fish ladder at Rupar. |

FISH LADDERS IN THE PUNJAB 595

to the canals. For full nine months of the year the gates are

closed and not a drop of water passes down the river, and con-

sequently the upward passage of all the fish in the river below

the» gates is totally obstructed. There-is no fish ladder at the

Headworks. It is only during the rains when surplus water is

available that the weir and sluices are open to let the water into

the main stream. At such time the velocity of the current through

the undersluices prevents the fish from ascending upstream.

Hor more than’ fifty years the. fish. in. the River Jumna,

especially the Mahsir, have been deprived of the opportunity of

ascending the hilly tracts in search of their spawning grounds.

Mahsir begins to ascend the rivers in April and May and its

passage is obstructed by the weir at Tajewala. Towards the end

of September the fish in the upper reaches of the river above the

weir begin to fall down the stream with the diminishing volume of

water after the monsoon floods. At about the same time the sluices

and the weir shutters at the Tajewala Head are completely closed

and no water escapes into the river. The returning fish conse-

quently pass into the canals. Once the fish have passed into the

canals they have absolutely no chance to return to the river, as

at Dadupur twelve miles down the Western Jumna Canal there is

a rapid of 180 feet length, with a fall of about 15 feet, and it seems

almost impossible for any fish to climb the rapid. Such fish are

doomed to die and are caught during the canal closure.

A fish ladder at Tajewala is very badly needed, but at the

same time it is very essential that it should not be a fish ladder

only in name but should be made to work during the months when

the fish are on the move. At Dadupur a system of steps and

falls might be provided to break the velocity of the current with-

out dismantling any of the existing engineering. works.

RIVER SUTLEJ.

Rupar. The weir (Plate I) across the River Sutlej at Rupar

for deflection of water into the Sirhind Canal was constructed in

1882 .and the fish ladder on the left side of it (Fig. 3) was also

built in the same year. Its cost is not available in the records.

It had originally fourteen bays. The first bay near the entrance

measures 25 feet by 12 feet, the second 33 feet by 10 feet, and the

remaining ones 10 feet by 1o feet. An additional bay was added

to it at its upstream end and the downstream cross walls were

raised by 1-5 feet, and the side walls by 2 feet during 1914-15,

at an approximate cost of Rs. 950. The difference between the

bed of the river upstream and downstream end of the left side ladder

fish ladder (Plate I) in the right flank of the weir was built in 1921 at

a cost of Rs. 3,432. It had 10 bays to begin with. During 1926-

27 another compartment 7.5 feet by 9 feet was added, and

beyond this a counter sunk trough was made for low winter

supplies. To reduce the fall and help the Chilwas (Aspidoparia

morar) to climb the ladder easily, the last two compartments were

po6) | JOURNAL, «BOMBAY: NATURAE ARIST. IS OChATEY Viole ene!

split up into four at a cost of Rs. 788. The remaining compart-

ments were also provided with cross walls in 1927-28 at a cost

of Rs. 708. In the right side ladder there is a difference of about

9'51 feet between the levels at the downstream and upstream.

The flow of water in both the ladders is regulated by means of

wooden kurries fixed in the baffle walls. The width of the inlet, and

outlet and the openings of the baffle walls is two feet. On the 11th

April 1937 the right hand side fish ladder was found to contain

two Mullies (Wallago attu), two Bachwas (Pseudeutropius garua).

and one young Mahsir. The fish ladder on the left side, on the same

day, was found to have one dozen Mahsir, and a dozen Bachwas,

which were found to be ripe. One female Bachwa yielded eggs

on slight pressure. The walls of the fish ladder, however, are

too low and become flooded when the ladder is running full.

Ferozepore. The Bikaner Canal, the Eastern Canal and Depal-

pur Canal take their waters from the River Sutlej at Ferozepore

weir which was completed in 1929. The fish ladder was originally

constructed in 1927 at a cost of Rs. 98,623 and extended in 1929

atsa “cost. of (RS. 115,501: :

The fish ladder consists of 18 bays with incomplete baffle walls.

The dimensions of the bays are 3 feet by 4 feet: with a fall of

about 6 inches in each. There is only one fish ladder and the flow

of water in the bays is controlled by cement kurries. On the

17th April 1937 the ladder was seen full of Chilwas (Aspidoparia

morar), young Bhangan (Labeo micropthalmus). Big fish such as

Mahsir, Rohu, Morakha and others were not met with, but it is

said that they move up the ladder, when the head of water on

the upstream of the ladder increases and the ladder is running

full.

Suleimanki. The Sadiqia, the Fordwah and the Pakpattan

Canals take their waters from the River Sutle} at Suleimanki. The

weir, and both the right and left side fish ladders were constructed

in 1926. The cost of each fish ladder was Rs. 59,000 approx-

imately. The right fish ladder has 24 bays with incomplete walls,

out .of ‘these 18 bays measure 12° feet by jo feet. cach’ <Phevarst

compartment is 19°6 feet by g feet; and from the 19th to the 24th

measure 7°5 feet by 5 feet. Previously the fish ladder had one long

slope as in the inclined plane system, and the force of the current

when water was run was too strong for fish to ascend. Subse-

quently, in 1931-32, the floor of each bay was raised at a total cost

of Rs. 6,715 to make a fall of 6 inches. The total length of the

ladder is 308 feet. The upstream bed of ladder is R.L. 560°9 and

the: downstream bed R:IL.. 543°6,. the ditterence sbeins” 17:3 44¢et.

The slope is I in 15 per compartment in the first 18 compartments,

and ‘i in 5'6 per compartment ‘in ithe last six. . The dimensions

of the openings in the baffle walls are 2 feet, and of the inlet

and outlet 3 feet. The water level in the ladder is controlled by

kurries. On the 16th April 1937, the right fish ladder was seen

to contain Chilwa (Aspidoparia morar), Jhalli (Eutropiichthys

yvacha), Rohu (Labeo rohita\, Kalahan (Labeo calbasu) and

Morakha (Cirrhina mrigala). Chilwa was in enormous numbers

RISH-@LADDARS INT THE PUNJAB 507

in all the bays. ‘The big fish were seen in the bays at the down-

stream side. The ladder has been recently remodelled to make falls

at its outlets by raising the floor.

The fish ladder on the left side, built on ‘inclined plane system’

has still got one long slope from the upstream to the downstream

with intervening incomplete baffle walls. The force of the current

when water is run into it is too strong for fish to ascend at the

time when there is no water in the river at the downstream, viz.

close to the entrance of the Jadder. During July, August and

September when the river downstream has water, the head of

the water at the upstream end of the fish ladder is not so high,

and the difference between the level of the water in the river up-

stream and downstream is much reduced, the fish are then able

to ascend the left fish ladder as well. There are grooves in the

baffle walls of three bays; the kurries were put in these on the

rou April19037 anda fall,of 4 feet was thus: created. ‘Rohuw .

(Labeo rohita), Kalahan (Labeo calbasu) Morakha (Cirrhina mri-

gala) and Theila (Catla catla) varying in weight from three to five

seers were seen leaping near the fall. The fall being too high to

be surmounted, the fish fell back in the lower bay. f

- The fact that one fish ladder is working satisfactorily should

not be considered sufficient for such a long weir as that at Sulei-

manki. It would be giving a fair chance to fish near the left

bank if the left fish ladder were remodelled and made to work satis-

factorily throughout the season.

On the day of my visit to Headworks at Suleimanki a number

of large sized carp such as Rohu (Labeo rohita) and Morakha

(Cirrhina mrigala) and others were observed leaping against the

iron shutters of the undersluices of the weir at places where water

was leaking through the interspaces between the shutters and the

wall of the weir. On attempting again and again, though invari-

ably in vain, to ascend the narrow vents of the undersluices, the

fish became bruised and fell down exhausted on the floor of the

apron of the weir and were caught by the canal menials. On

such occasions it is almost a common practice to simply hang

down baskets and catch the leaping fish.

Islam Headworks. The Bahawalpur, the Mailsi and the Qaim-

pur Canals take their water from the river Sutlej at Islam. The

weir was constructed in 1926, and reconstructed in 1930. The

fish ladder was constructed in March 1930, at a cost of Rs. 3,86,752.

Though constructed at such a high cost, the fish ladder has never

served its purpose. It is more of a fish trap than a fish ladder.

It has been constructed inside the Right Divide wall. Starting

from the downstream the fish ladder consists of ten bays of trape-

zoidal shape, each measuring ten feet by eight feet. Further on

the ladder consists of forty small compartments. Out of these,

sixteen measure 4 ft. 8 ins. by 8 ft. each, and twenty-four measure

5 ft. 4 in. by 8 ft. each. The slope in the upstream compartments

is one in twenty-four and in the downstream ones it is one in

twenty-seven. The dimensions of the openings in the baffle walls

arewl it wy itt: and of the inlet and outlet ;of thejladder 3 :ft.

4 ins. by 4 ft. 4 ins. Kurries are provided in the inlet and outlet

o08 JOURNAL, “BOMBAY NATURA SUS 1. SiO CHOY. Viol smex ie

for control of water. The ladder ends blindly in front of the up-

stream end. There are however two windows, each measuring

43 ft. by 33 ft. on each side of the ladder. The fish might enter

the ladder from the downstream entrance, but it seems doubtful

whether they can jump into the upstream pool through the windows

when water is rushing through them with great velocity.

The total length of the ladder is 355 feet and the difference

between its upstream and downstream levels is 16°75 feet. But

as neither any steps nor a pool at the entrance of the ladder

for the fish to collect before making the ascent are provided, the

ladder as such has never worked properly.

Panjnad Headworks. The Panjnad and the Abbasia canals

take their water from the River Sutlej at Panjnad. The weir as

well as the ladder were constructed in 1931. The latter being

incorporated in part of the length of divide groyne, it is not possible

to give its cost separately.

The ladder consists of twenty bays, each measuring 7 feet by

8 feet with incomplete baffle walls, leaving an opening 2 feet

wide. It is constructed on the Cail System with a fall of one foot

at each bay. The difference between the upstream and the down-

stream level of the ladder is 20'5 feet. The working of the ladder

has not been observed by the writer, but from the reports received

it is said to be used both by the small as well as the large fish

during the season.

RIVER RAvt.

Madhopur Headworks. (Pilate II). The Upper Bari Doab Canal

takes its exit from the River Ravi at Madhopur. The weir was

constructed in 1870, and for 58 years no passage for the fish existed

in the weir. The total length of the weir is half a mile. ‘It

was in 1928 that a fish ladder was constructed at a cost of

Rs. 4,018. The ladder (Plate II) consists of seventeen bays, measur-

ing 8'5 feet by 5 feet with complete baffle walls, each having an

opening two feet wide at its base for the passage of the fish.

The fish ladder has, therefore, been constructed on the Cail system.

The difference between the upstream and the downstream level

of the ladder 4s 13. feet. The ‘falls“are created by “meansiof

wooden planks fixed in the grooves in the baffle walls. The slope

is one in fifteen. The inlet of the seventeenth bay at the up-

stream end opens into a compartment measuring 34 ft. by 5 ft.

which leads into another compartment measuring 25 ft. by 5 ft.

The last compartment opens into the river just close to the inlet

of the rafting bay. The flow of water from the river is controlled

by gates. ay

The entrance of the ladder at the downstream end is not very

conspicuous. The area in front of the fish entrance is liable to

shingle upto a level higher than the minimum water surface level

and such shingling closes the entrance and puts the ladder out

of action when the river is low. The entrance is located in a

divide wall and is not self advertising. Small fish run up the

ladder, but the large ones seem to prefer the rafting bay which

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

i) asin 1) neem «

Fish ladder at Madhopur.

Tish ladder

Prate II

at Khanlkxi.

cone Greece a]

Rafting bay

at Madhopur,

FISH LADDERS IN THE PUNJAB 509

is 20 feet wide, and lies adjacent to the fish ladder. Whenever

the water is flowing in the rafting bay the fish have invariably

been seen running up the channel. The fish ladder at Madhopur

is, therefore, not working satisfactorily and a design for a new

ladder is under consideration with the Irrigation Department.

The main data in this design are as follows.:—

1. The number of compartments of the fish ladder is

seventeen, each compartment measuring approximately 15 ft. by

to ft., and the total length of the ladder equals 221 feet.

gm Phen bedrot thes riven. at milet 1s: ROL 1135: 5 and. the

ladder at tail is R.L. 1124-1, thus the difference is 11°4 feet; the fall

is 10°4 in 221 feet. MKurries are used for the control of the water.

3.. The opening in the. baffle wall.is.2-75 feet wide; the

inlet is 3 feet wide and 2°5 feet high in winter. The outlet is kept

4 feet wide.

Balloki Headworks. The Lower Bari Doab Canal takes its

exit from the River Ravi at Balloki. The weir was constructed

in 1913 and the fish ladder in 1921. The total length of the weir is

1646°5 feet and that of the ladder 127°05 feet. The latter consists

of seventeen bays, separated by baffle walls. The width of the

openings in the baffle wall is 2°o feet, the inlet measures 1 foot

4 inches by 2 feet 2 inches, and the width of the outlet is 2°or

feet. The bay is of trapezoidal shape and measures 6°3 feet

(mean" length) by 5 feet.’ The “upstream bed level is R.L. 6210;

and the downstream bed level R.L. 616°5, the difference being

4°5 feet. A drop of o’8 feet in the water surface level has been

allowed in each bay. There is a regulating iron gate on the up-

stream side to control the water, and kurries are put in the grooves

provided in the divide walls so that the working of the ladder

can be made more flexible for the difference in the upstream and

‘downstream water levels. Pipes are also fixed at flood levels in

order to drain off water for inspection purposes when the down-

stream water level is R.L. 616°5. The ladder is of a very old type,

more or less of the Inclined Plane Pattern, and has never worked

properly.

Sidhnai Headworks. Three Canals namely Sidhnai, Fazilshah

and Koranga take their waters from the River Ravi at Sidhnai.

The weir was completed in 1886. There has never been any fish

ladder provided in the weir for the passage of fish.

RIVER CHENAB.

Marala Headworks. The Upper Chenab Canal takes its water

from the River Chenab at Marala. The weir at Marala was

constructed in 1910 and the fish ladder, though not definitely

known, is also reported to have been completed in the same year.

It is an old type of ladder, more or less on the lines of the Inclined

Plane System, with straight baffle walls, and is wedged in between

the two high walls of the weir. There are six compartments

measuring 12 ft. by 10 ft. each. The difference between the

upstream bed and the downstream bed of the ladder is 6°17 feet.

The slope is one in fifteen. The width of the openings of the

560 . JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAEVRIST: SOCKOEV «Kole xuEr

baffle is 2 feet. The flow of water in the ladder is regulated by

wooden kurries. Its last two compartments had been dismantled

during the course of certain experiments by the Irrigation Depart-

ment. No fish was seen in the ladder on the roth April 1937.

-.The ladder, does not seem to have fulfilled its purposes. It

requires extension for at least 30 feet or so, so as to join it to the

deeper parts of the downstream of the river. The side walls as

well as the baffle walls should be raised to prevent overflooding

of the ladder as otherwise the movements of the fish will be

hindered.

Khanki Headworks. The Lower Chenab Canal takes its exit

at Khanki from the River Chenab. The weir was constructed during

1889-92 and its length is 4403°5 feet. The fish ladder (Plate II) was

originally constructed in 1912-13 at a cost of Rs. 1,427, but was

dismantled in 1934-35 and substituted by a new one 203 feet in

length at the same place, and being a portion of the constructing

undersluices in Bay No. 8 its cost separately is not available.

The new fish ladder consists of 16 bays, with incomplete baffle

walls. The dimensions of the openings in the baffle wall is 2°5

feet (Fig. 6). The slope is one in ten. Arrangement for the con-

trol of water is by kurries in compartments and by gate at the

entrance of the fish ladder.

It has been designed on the system of improved Cail Fishway

but is not self advertising. The entrance to the ladder is 3 feet

wide and is on one side. No fish has ever been reported to use

it so far. Further improvements to the ladder are under con-

sideration and it is intended to make falls of 15 inches at the

entrance of each compartment or ‘bay’.

RIVER JHELUM.

Mangla: Regulator. The Upper Jhelum Canal takes its water

from the River Jhelum at Mangla. There is no weir across the

river at this Head and a natural shingle bar in the river bed serves

the purpose. There is, therefore, no fish ladder at the head.

Rasul Headworks. The Lower Jhelum Canal takes its exit

from the River Jhelum at Rasul. The weir was constructed in

1901 and the fish ladder was completed in the same _ year

at an approximate cost of Rs. 15,200. It consists of 7 bays,

six medsuring: 13. ft.by, moe tt. each, . and (enemy anomie

at the entry, with incomplete baffle walls leaving an opening of

3 feet width for the passage of the fish. The dimensions of the inlet

are 10 it. by *745¢ft.-andsof ithe outlet, 3 ft. by itt.) Rherews an

under shot gate at the entry with which the regulation is done.

There are kurries in the baffle walls to control the water in the

bays. The ladder has been constructed on the Cail system and

is almost identical with the one at Marala. It is too steep and

there is a heavy flow of water. It has not worked very satis-

factorily and has only occasionally been used by small fish, such

as Chilwa (Aspidoparia morar), during the season. Bachwa are

very rarely seen ascending the ladder to reach their spawning

grounds in the upper reaches of the river.

FISH LADDERS IN THE PUNJAB 561

CONCLUSION.

Most of the fish ladders in the Punjab are ineffective and their

main defects are:— (i) the majority of them are too steep and too

narrow; (ii) the upstream inlets are generally too severe to allow

the smaller species of the migratory fish to ascend; (ili) the down-

stream openings in most cases are too small, and therefore too incon-

spicuous to be perceived by the ascending fish, that is to say, the

fish ladders are not self advertising; (iv) there is hardly any pool

at the entrance of the ladders where fish could collect before

ascending; (v) the water supply in the ladders is not available

during the periods when the fish migrate; and finally (vi) the

majority of them are not fish ladders but mere fish traps for

catching fish.

The effect of inefficient fish ladders in the Punjab is beginning

to be felt in the higher reaches of the rivers and there seems to

be no doubt that as a result of it the stock of fish in the Punjab

rivers has decreased very considerably during the last fifteen or

twenty years. The Honorary Secretary, Dehra Dun Fishing

Association, has drawn the attention of Government of India to

the following fact: ‘We believe the Mahseer, the most important

of the Indian fresh water fishes is being gradually wiped out

and we submit the question of conservation of the species is a

matter of such importance as to deserve the most carefu! con-

sideration. ’ |

Water is no doubt of far greater importance to the prosperity

of the Punjab than fish, but if the cost is not unreasonable, the

question of improving the fish ladders and keeping them working

requires consideration and attention.

The indiscriminate ‘slaughter of fish in the canals which run

for thousands of miles in “the Province has continued for

more than sixty years. The destruction of fish life in the canals

during the closure period was brought to notice as long ago as

1873 by Day, and in 1888 by Thomas, and again in rg11 by

Dunsford; but unfortunately, so far, no action seems to have been

taken in the matter of adopting suitable measures to save the fish

from such a wholesale destruction. In short, ineffective fish

Jadders in the weirs, total absence of any passes in the canals,

existence of unsurmountable falls at the heads of most of the

canals, and the indiscriminate slaughter of fish during the closure

period, seem to be the main factors responsible for the deterioration

of our inland fisheries.

LITERATURE.

1. Atkins, C. G. ‘On Fishways’ Ann. Rept. Coimmr. Fish and Fisheries,

WESTAL, 11972-7353) PP. 5O1-OL0:

) Bayer, i ven. “Bishways’. “Bull. “Bureau Fish, “U:S.A:

1908, pp. 1043-1057.

3. Calderwood, W. L. ‘Salmon Passes’. Fishery Board for Scotland. Edin.

1926.

4. Day, F. ‘Report on the Fresh Water Fish and Fisheries of India and

Burma’. Calcutta 1873.

pi N.Oles PXXRVITe

hod

JOURNAL, BOMBAY. “NATURAL. HIST) SOCIETY. Vale XLI

Dunsford, H. S. ‘Report on the Fisheries in the Punjab’. Lahore, 1911.

. Hamid Khan. ‘,Observation on the breeding habits of some Fresh Water

Fishes in the Punjab’. Journal Bombay Natural History Society;

XNIX;, <4) 1924-

. MacDonald, M. ‘A New System of Fishway Building’. Ann. Rept. Commr.

Fish and Fisher., U.S.A., 1882, pp. 43-53.

. Notes on Fish Ladders. Bulletin I Department of Fisheries, Punjab,

Lahore, 1916.

. Thomas, H. S. ‘Protection of Fish’. Proc. Madras Board of Revenue.

10.

11th July, 1888. ;

‘The Rod in India’; II Edition, London, 1897, p. 41.

WILD ELEPHANTS IN ASSAM.

ein’ EVAR,

(With a plate).

There must be dozens of shikaris, like myself, who have been,

or are mad keen to ‘bag’ a Rogue Elephant. Well Assam is the

place for them to go to. For years, one of my boyhood ambitions

had been to track and shoot elephants. ‘Thirteen years amongst

the Wild Beasts of India’ by that famous ‘Hathi-King’ G. P.

Sanderson, served to keep the flame of desire burning bright.

That ambition was eventually realised after twenty years.

A few years back the shooting of elephants, except for an

occasional ‘Proscribed Rogue’, was totally prohibited. Such Rogues

when very occasionally proclaimed, were soon destroyed by local

sportsmen; long before any ‘bandobast’ could be made by an out-

sider. The steadily increasing popularity of the motor-car has

however ousted the elephant from favour; and the present demand

for these useful beasts from Rajas and wealthy Indians is very small

in comparison to former years. With little or no organised Keddah

catching operations and strict protection, wild elephants have so

increased in numbers that in certain areas they are a menace to

cultivators; and as a result have to be controlled.

Early in 1938, several ‘Rogues’ were proscribed in various parts

of Assam and I made up my mind rather suddenly to have a try at

shooting some of these. Imagine me, therefore, having landed in

Gauhati, without any ‘pucca bandobast’, not even knowing where

to go to find elephants. Luckily there was an old school-fellow

stationed there: and he very kindly gave me a letter of introduction

to the local Forest Officer.

In the course of my Shikar wanderings throughout India, I have

met dozens of Government officials ; but for 100 per cent. sheer sports-

men give me those of the I. F. S. The local D. F. O. not knowing me

from Adam, was the sheet anchor of my hopes; and believe me I was

not disappointed. Within a few hours he had fixed me up with an

Elephant Control License which empowered me to shoot any solitary

male elephant. Tuskers to be balanced by Makhnas. He also

advised me in what areas in his Division elephants were reported

to be doing damage and, as a final effort, gave me a letter to his

subordinate officers, asking them to help me in my trip. As an

A. 1 sportsman, in the true sense of the word, I take my hat off to

that D. F. O. May his shadow never grow less. Having arrived at

a place called Ranigodam, near where a Rogue had been reported,

I installed myself in the local Dak-Bungalow. This is where [ ©

came up—hard— against the Assamese villager. Not a man,

cart, or service of any description were to be hired or bought.

Payment was no consideration, they just would not face the work.

Quite possibly some of the ‘Mahaldars’ or lessees of elephant catch-

ing, who were operating in that area, engineered this boycott.

564° JOURNAL, BOMLAY NATURAL sie SOChIhIY wl ole. xual

They probably reasoned that if I started shooting bull elephants

their operations would be spoilt by the wild elephants retiring back

into tribal territory. Nor could I hire tame elephants, they were

all engaged in Mela-Shikar. I was now in despair; the immediate

prospects of success were very remote. At this very unpleasant

moment, the ID F. O's ranger came tovthetescue. A weryequic:

and reserved young man, his suggestion was that I shift my camp

to a village called Chakardah, about 6 miles away; and that at

this village I could get into touch with a retired pensioner of

the Assam Rifles, a Gurkha, called Balbahadur, who had _ the

reputation of being a famous shikari.

We decided on action, it took 8 hours to raise a bullock cart

from the villagers; yet when it was produced the hire demanded

was reasonable enough. This I personally paid into the village

head-man’s hands, and he seemed surprised to get it. It after-

wards transpired that the Mahaldars had let out a rumour to

the effect that I was requisitioning men and carts without pay-

ment, being a military officer. What a libel on the unfortunate

military! . Later on the Mahaldars became friendly, when they

realised that I was not interfering with their -business.

Having set out in pouring rain, I arrived like a drowned rat,

to find Chakardah most depressing. A fairly large village nestling

at the foot of dense jungle clad hills, with a large swampy lake

as a foreground, and a few paddy fields scattered about. We

managed to get shelter in the Forest Guard’s chowki, a single-

roomed hut, that bore evidences of a recent attempt by a wild

elephant to pull it down. It was quite isolated, having as its .

solitary neighbour Balbahadur’s shack. The swampy lake was

filled with resident species of wild duck, paddy birds, cranes, etc. ;

whilst all day long herds of semi-domesticated buffaloes grazed

in the swamp grass tended by Gurkhali herdsmen. Balbahadur

soon entered into an agreement with me and in no time produced

an Assamese tracker named Kuttru, and another non-descript

assistant. Kuttru, I may say, was an excellent tracker, who never

lost a trail, and that, in spite of the fact that the tracks we were

following were crossed and confused continually by those of herd

elephants. Up and down the bamboo covered hills, through Tara-

ban swamps, Ringal cane thickets, lantana, it was the same to

him. He would lead you right up to an elephant and say ‘Maro’.

I onee asked him if he ever felt afraid, and his reply was most

amusing and to the point. I give it verbatim. ‘You have come

to shoot elephants not I, so long as you don’t run, I won’t, if you

do, Pll go home. The last Babu-Saheb who came after elephants

ran away after wounding an elephant, and we were nearly all

killed. If it comes to running, rest assured J can run and climb

‘trees much faster than you, and in any case my business. is

finished when | take you up to the elephant’. When not tracking,

his chief amusement was to wade into the swamp, in pouring rain

and spear fish. He caught an enormous number of a sort of

mudfish, which he carefully dried for future consumption. I once

tried a couple fried and they were very tasty, so that he had to

WILD ELEPHANTS IN. ASSAM 565

provide a couple for my breakfast whenever we were not out

tracking.

Balbahadur on the other hand was a most taciturn individual,

seldom spoke unless directly addressed, was slightly deaf and ab-

solutely fearless. He never backed a step when facing elephants

and 1 veritably believe would rather have been killed than lose

Izat by showing fear. His chief relaxation I may say was drink-

ing large pegs of my whiskey, neat. Every performance being

followed by frightful grimaces and the explanation that Whiskey

kept fever out of his stomach. He had a head, and could down

half a bottle without showing any effects. On one trail we lived

on whiskey and tea for nearly two days, most of the time in

pouring rain; and were never really dry. His prescription must

be right as I never got fever, to which I am rather prone in the

jungles.

A couple of blank days were spent in trying to pick up

the Rogue, which however had disappeared after demolishing a

-couple of cooly huts at a nearby tea-garden, following up this

exploit by chasing two Nepali sawyers who were cutting timber !n

the forest.

He then wound up by eating all their provisions, includ-

ing some rice tied in a red cloth, cloth and all. Confirmation of

this feat was forthcoming when his droppings were found. These

were plentifully garnished with scraps of red rag.

During the course of my wanderings on this shoot, I came

across a ‘Mithun’, a type of hybrid Gaur found in Assam. He

gave an easy shot as he fed in some short grass on the opposite

side of a ravine about 80 to 100 yards away. I could have bagged

him easily, but having no license for Game in this area, very

reluctantly had to let him go, as to-date I have never bagged a

‘Mithun’. I also saw a Red Serow, a rare animal, but this peculiar

brute raced downhill into a dense Ringal cane thicket. Several

times we came across pig, sambhur, kallij pheasant, jungli moorgi,

and once one misty morning walked into a tiger on his kill—a

village cow. I should have shot him, as actually he was on village

land, but not knowing this at the time I was not chancing the

forfeiture of my elephant license by being accused of poaching.

Both Balbahadur and Kuttru urged me to shoot this tiger, though

we were all on foot within a few yards; and they had the pleasure

of saying ‘I told you so’; when we heard from the Ranger, that

this beast was a nuisance having killed several buffaloes engaged

in timber dragging and that I should have shot him as permission

had been obtained for his destruction. |

Eventually during the course of our wanderings, we came across

a village of Garo tribesmen, high up in the hills. These were not

the real wild type, rather semi-civilised fellows, and they gave us

khubbar of two solitary elephants in the jungles. They were

quite willing to work for me and wanted us to visit their village.

This suited iny purpose admirably, as it solved the problem of

transport; I was also tired of Chakardah and its everlasting swamp.

To settle the business I tramped straight on to their village just

566 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol, XLI

as I was, and we celebrated our arrival by getting our hosts

to throw a feast of roast pig and rice beer. Of course I had to

pay for these festivities, which waxed loud and long; and had

the satisfaction of dining alone on tea and tinned sausages in

isolated splendour in the Forest Guard’s beat hut. Such are the

disadvantages of keeping up one’s prestige. My shikaris enjoyed

themselves, but had the sense to send out a party of men early

next morning to bring in my kit, servant, etc. This party returned

with everything by 11 a.m. Good marching as the total distance

involved was 14 miles up hill and down dale through heavy forest.

The next afternoon we picked up the tracks of an enormous

solitary elephant, the print of whose forefeet gave a circumfer-

ence measurement of 65”, or a computed height of 10/-107. The

tracks were about a day old and we followed them till nightfall,

through the most impossible places, up and downhill almost

vertically, in regular giant staircases of elephant tracks; through

Tara-ban swamps, up to our waists in stinking mud and water,

through dense rattan-cane thickets that dug millions of vicious

barbs into one and tore clothes and skin to shreds. Periodically we

stopped to scrape off leeches, as fat as my little finger, with the

gorge that they had had of our blood. I invariably burnt these

dreadful pests. This devil-ridden elephant never seemed to stop,

his tracks showed that he was moving fast. That night we all

went to sleep on the banks of a brawling tumbling stream that

looked beautifully fishable. No fires were allowed and we huddled

together cold and hungry. Towards midnight we heard the trum-

peting of a herd of wild elephants, away to the south-west;

later a single elephant rushed madly up the valley we were sleeping

in, most probably after catching our wind. What with mosquitoes,

cold, hunger and excitement, I hardly slept a wink. Towards

morning I dozed fitfully, and woke to find that Balbahadur

had made some tea; and that Kuttru and Bangté, the Garo Head-

man, had gone on ahead tracking.

A hasty wash, followed by some whiskey-tea and we pushed

on; some hours later we contacted with Kuttru, and. he was a

case of ‘nerves’. It appeared that he and Bangté, whilst follow-

ing the elephant, had been most viciously charged. I had my

doubts, but these were allayed when we came to the scene of

action. We could see where the elephant had circled back to a

bamboo clump, from where he had charged the two men from

not more than 15 yards. The tracks of his charge were deeply

imprinted on the soft soil as his direction was downhill.

He had then crossed a swamp and ascended the opposite hili

which was covered with dense bamboo thickets. Kuttru with a

most ridiculous looking dah in his hand took up the _ tracks,

but as these were now so clear 1 took the lead. The wind was

wrong and the advance was made with great caution. I may state

that I smoked continually, this being the easiest way of testing the

breeze in these dense damp forests, where sand, a wet finger, or

fluff are alike useless. The elephant, as we found later, had

crossed the ridge and circled back along the top of a spur running

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Kamrup, Assam. Rogue Elephant—g’ 7”: Tusks, R. 3’ 11”, L. 3’ 9”;

Circum. 1’ 1”; Weight 34 Ib.

Kamrup, Assam. Rogue Makhna, 10’ 2”.

WILD ELEPHANTS IN. ASSAM 567

west. We must actually have passed him within 60 yards, but

much below his line of scent.or smell. On topping the ridge, I

was following up the tracks, when Kuttru, who has the eyes of

a hawk, spotted the elephant 4o yards away behind a dense bamboo

clump,.on our right. -The beast’ was perfectly motionless. To

get a shot at this distance was impossible, there were far too

many interlacing bamboos and besides the elephant’s quarters and

tail were towards us. He looked a monster, reddish brown in

colour, quite unlike the usual black tame ones. I got pucca stag

fever, my hands shaking with excitement: Kuttru looked at

me in a very superior and pitying way and I mentally promised

to box his ears when the show was over. Balbahadur quite

frankly suggested that I sit down and recover my nerves, whilst

he had a.crack at the elephant. Recovering myself I got them

behind a bamboo clump, whilst the Garos made themselves scarce.

I then crept up behind the bamboo clump, till only this separated

the elephant from me. He seemed very suspicious and kept swing-

ing his head and trunk from side to side apparently to catch the

wind: I-then-saw for the first time that he was a makhna, or

tuskless male. I had no qualms about shooting him, owing to

the conditions of my license. How long I waited I don’t know,

probably not more than a minute. I then discovered that Kuttru

had crept up to me without a sound; he suggested in a whisper

that I step to the right of the clump and as the elephant swung

round to face me, to let him have it. I did so and stood up, with-

out a sound the elephant swung towards me and I let drive mid-

way between his ear and temple. With a great scream he came

round but fell onto his knees, and whilst he was struggling to rise,

I rushed up and fired just above the bump between his eyes. He

heeled clean over and I had bagged my first elephant. Besides the

natural exultation I felt, I must admit to pangs of regret at hav-

ing destroyed so magnificent a beast. Measured between uprights,

as he lay, from the top of his shoulder to the sole of his forefoot,

hewtaped; 10. 27>. the. “circumference of his -tight forefoot 1n

death was 62”. In my opinion he stood about 1o/-5” in height

(vertical) at the shoulders; and this measurement was confirmed

by his rubbing marks on various trees. His tushes were both

broken off short at the gum, but for a makhna were still excep-

tionally long and_ thick. When his carcase was seen by the

Mahouts engaged in Mela-Shikar, they said that he was the

biggest elephant seen in these parts for years; and was known

as a notorious crop raider, who occasionally chased people about,

but he was not a man-killer; and had been living solitary for

many years. They estimated his age as between 80 and too!

The ears were very ragged and showed a great amount of turn-

over. The bulk of the body was enormous. In a couple of days

no one could go within a mile of the place due to the terrible

stench. ) ;

The next few days were devoted to observing wild elephants

and their ways, whilst scouts were sent out to hunt up the recent

tracks of the other solitary elephant,—the Rogue. One morning

568 . JOURNAL, “BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Viol nue!

as we were on our way to a salt lick, situated in a narrow valley

where we hoped to see elephant and with luck Mithun, we heard

a herd approaching in the opposite direction. We rushed a littie

way uphill and sat tight and were soon rewarded by seeing 8 cows

and 3 calves walking along in Indian file, not more than 50 yards

distant. The moment the leading cow crossed our tracks, she

stooped dead and tested the wind, in no time her trunk swung in

our direction and every other elephant followed suit including the

tiny calves. Right about wheel, canter, seemed to be next orders

and they shuffled away uphill as fast as they could go with a

tremendous crashing. The whole movement was executed as if

on a parade ground and we all had a good laugh at the gravity

of the little fellows. Another afternoon, Kuttru, the valiant, led

me right up to two young tuskers, that had temporarily left a

herd. The larger of the two was about 8/ 6” in height with light

tusks, Khuttru’ called him a Khuru-Dantal the other was

not above 6/-o”, with tiny tusks just protruding from his jaw.

The blood-thirsty tracker wanted me to shoot both. I got to

within 5 yards of them and climbed a tree to get some snap-

shots. ‘It was delightful to see how they caressed each other with

their trunks and how the smaller copied every movement of his

elder brother, even to rubbing his forehead on the same tree.

Eventually Balbahadur, who originally had lagged behind, came

blundering on the scene, upon which the elephants rushed off down-

hill. They just bounded down like dirty black rubber balls, the

smaller of the two coming an awful cropper over a log in the

grass. He looked such a clown with his head on the ground anc

his hind legs stubbing the grass, that I sat and roared, sending

off the herd that was in the valley crashing away at a great pace.

One day when following up a solitary ganesh or single-tusked

elephant we ran slap bang into a herd, which he had suddenly joined

up with. The place was a sort of natural ampitheatre, a flat, tree

covered hollow, surrounded by high bamboo covered hills, with

steep sides. The herd was right around us, split up into what

appeared to be family groups, all resting under the shade of the

trees. The two nearest groups were all cows and calves, then a

solitary makhna, not however anythin as large as the one I had

shot. Not far from him and close to a group, headed by an

immense old cow, stood the ‘ganesh’. Unlucky brute for me, had

I caught him up when solitary, I was justified in shooting him,

as he was a known crop-raider; but within the shelter of a herd

he was in sanctuary and inviolate. His one tusk was every bit of

65 lbs. if not more, as thick as my thigh and projecting 4 feet

from his jaw, stained the colour of nicotine, with the point rounded

and blunt. Out of his head, it would have gone to 6/-o” in

length. Balbahadur, as usual, got us all into trouble. Close to

where he crouched, about 15 yards to my left, was a pinky-grey

calf; the little chap could not have been more than a few

weeks old, he was trying to pull down a creeper with his tiny

trunk. Balbahadur spotted this progidy and crept to within a

WILD ELEPHANTS IN ASSAM 569

yard of it. He had a shawl in his hands and seemed to be trying

to tie its hind legs together, in an effort to capture it. At this

moment the old cow spotted him and with an unearthiy scream

charged headlong at him. Pandemonium is the wrong word to

describe the next few moments. The entire herd consisting of

some 40 animals, rushed over everything screaming, bamboo clumps

were scattered, the individual stems cracking like rifle shots. The

whole place was like an inferno, only, instead of comparatively

benign devils, there were dozens of infuriated and frightened

elephants. I hardly know what happened to the rest, I saw Kuttru

and the Garo shin up the hillside and Balbahadur dodge behind

a bamboo clump. I ran across to him and was nearly run over

by a couple of runaway cows. The mukhna was screaming Just

the other side of our clump, so we faded silently away up the

opposite hillside to Kuttru and the rest. The ganesh had dis-

appeared, and by the time we had rejoined forces, the herd who

were still in possession of the arena, started filing away. We

counted 33 animals, but others had already made good their escape.

Later on we heard from the Mahouts that they had captured

2 young elephants from that herd a few days previously, one of them

being a young tusker whose dam was the old and vicious cow.

She and the makhna had then turned on the Roonkees, or catch-

ing elephants, and severely pummeled a valuable female, whilst

the rest showed such a pugnacious disposition, that they had de-

cided to leave this herd alone. One of the Mahaldars offered me

Rs. 500 to catch the calf we had seen, as it was supposed to

be an albino and very valuable. He also offered to lend two koon-

kees and his Mahouts, phandees or noosers, and pay all expenses.

His Mahouts were however a miserable opium eating lot; and he a

great sharper, so that nothing came of his proposal. On the

other hand, some Gurkha Mahouts and phandees in the service

of another Mahaldar, were a desperate gang. I did one hunt with

this lot, as a paying guest; and they did show sport. Having

closed up to a herd, away they rushed in, cutting out two half-

grown young with their koonkees. There were two of us in

this particular case, and we followed that calf through swamp

and bamboo, along the valley. My companion koonkee did the

actual noosing, as she was a leggy and fast female. My mount

being a much slower makhna who however came up in time to

help in the final roping and tie-up. I finished that little jaunt more

dead than alive with not a square inch of skin on the inside of

my legs. You must know that these koonkees are not fitted with

pads, only ropes, and one has to hang on with hands, teeth and

toes; but falls to rival those experienced in pig-sticking are fre-

quent. I paid the promised ‘bakshish’ to my Mahout and was

thankful to get off his elephant alive, and with no bones broken;

any more sport of this description would have meant a lengthy stay

in hospital for me. I may add that my part in the hunt was to

beat my mount with a thick stick over the rumps, to make him

move faster, as I had displaced the charkatta; only two being

carried per Koonkee in this Mela-Shikar. You may guess that

570 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

I did nothing of the sort being too busy hanging on for dear life.

Whilst our pair of Roonkees were successful, another lot had a

fearful time, one of the phandees being swept off his mount by

a trailing creeper, his Roonkee was useless for further catching;

the other had to cut loose the calf they had noosed, as he was

too big for their mount—a very light female, and besides dragg-

ing her along, very nearly choked himself in the noose as a result.

Altogether a very successful hunt; and the Mahouts considered

me very lucky and wanted to take me out again, but one experience

sufficed. However all good things end, and I returned to Chakardah

on my way home. On my very last night in the jungles, the

Rogue, who had protected his hide so well that we never once

caught a glimpse of him in spite of continual hunting, staged a

grand Finale; which ended in his enriching me with his beauti-

ful symmetrical tusks. I had finished packing my kit and rifles,

and after a hot bath, the first for many days, had turned in

amidst the unwonted luxury of warm blankets, clean sheets, and

silk pyjamas. I was asleep almost before my head touched the

pillow, and was in the middle of a vivid dream, wherein a monster

elephant with long curly tusks, absolutely impervious to all bullets

was chasing me; when a fearful scream from an_ elephant

made me wide awake. Balbahadur rushed to my hut from

his own, and shouted elephant; meanwhile the screaming and noise

went on, added to which were loud shouts and wails from the

village where the Mahaldars had picketed their koonkees. I

developed some latent energy that I consider is unexampled. With-

in half a minute I was rushing to the scene of tumult in my

pyjamas and slippers, with the heavy rifle in my hands and the

last 7 cartridges I possessed. To get there I had to wade through

an arm of the swamp and cross some 4oo yards of flooded paddy

fields. In the process, I lost my slippers, lost my bearings and

landed up to the armpits in a bog. Some of the Mahouts with

a lantern, rapidly came on the scene and extricated me. Whilst

rushing me along to their lines they gasped out their story. This

summed up was to the effect that during the day a solitary bull

dantal or tusker had been seen following one of their Roonkees—

a makhna. This latter had been showing signs of ‘musth’ and

as a result had been securely chained up that evening. Towards

nightfall he started showing signs of great restlessness. About

midnight, an elephant trumpeted in the jungle nearby, to which

the makhna answered and about a quarter of an hour later, when

they were all asleep, the wild tusker crossing through the out-

lying part of the village, came into their lines. The first intima-

tion they had of his presence was when he attacked the tame

makhna. The screams of the latter awoke them in a fright, whea

they noticed that he was bleeding from a wound near the shoulder,

inflicted by the Rogue. In spite of their shouts and the waving

of lighted fire-brands, the Rogue, who had backed away at their

first approach, again charged the unfortunate makhna, driving one

of his tusks into the base of the latter’s trunk. Eventually the

tusker knocked down the makhna, not a difficult task as the

WILD ELEPHANTS IN ASSAM Sea

latter’s fore-legs were shackled by chains. By this time the entire

village was in the utmost confusion, men, women, and children,

ran about screaming that their last day had come. The makhna

continued his terrible screams as the wild tusker pummelled and

kicked him. The moment I arrived was very nearly my last; in

pitch blackness, under a steady drizzle of rain, a horde of frantic

men, women and children laid hold of me. At this moment a

Mahout came running up with a firebrand and the tusker who

previously had not been visible under the shade of the trees, stepped

forward into the circle of light about 50 yards away. In the mad

stampede that immediately ensued, I was swept into a ditch by

the solid wave of humanity that rushed back; with fists, legs and

gun-stock I had to fight my way clear otherwise I would have

been suffocated. As this ditch was practically an offal pit for a

nearby cattle pen, my odoriferous condition can be better imagined

than described. Eventually, with myself standing guard over the

tusker, Balbahadur, my orderly and the Mahouts, drove the panic-

stricken villagers into the comparative safety of the cattle-pen,

thereby clearing (the field for action.

Supported by Balbahadur flashing the electric torch onto the

tusker’s head and carrying my second rifle, we started the attack.

The tusker fronted us and came on; when he was about to yards

away I let drive into the spot where I judged the bump of his fore-

head was placed. He swayed to the shot and recoiled backwards,

then recovering himself rushed us without a sound; Balbahadur

dragged me back into a Lantana bush. As the elephant passed I

fired for his ear, but hit him in the centre of his neck, as by this

time I was firing in the dark; the blasted torch having dropped in

the confusion. He screamed loudly to the shot, and appeared to

be half paralysed, as he started moving in a blind sort of a way,

very Slowly, uphill. 1 ran alongside in the thick Lantana, and fired

three times at his head, trying to brain him, but in the dark could

not get the correct spot. Fumbling in my pocket I discovered

that I had only one cartridge left, one having dropped out in

the confusion at the ditch. The elephant was now standing in a

dense clump of Lantana, so I ran right up to him and fired into

his ear from about three yards. He dropped like a stone without

a sound, just missing crushing me; as he had been on _ higher

ground than myself. I literally escaped by inches. As it was

I fled after taking the shot, as by this time my nerves were in

shreds. The first to come up to me with a smoke was Balbahadur,

who had been close behind; and I stopped to recover as much of

my courage as I could. The rest of the crowd soon followed, and

we jauntily announced the death of the Rogue. A ‘stripped to the

skin bath’ followed at the elephant lines, and I put on some clean

clothes, but was much too excited to sleep immediately. We sat

up with the Mahouts gossiping and yarning, drinking copiously of

tea laced with whiskey. They were fullsome with their praises,

stating that they had never met any Saheb before, brave enough

to shoot a goonda-dantal by night. I did not edify them, by say-

ing that in actual truth, funk had dried up my throat to such an

572. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Volz X21

extent that I was left with a raging and apparently insatiable

thirst.

Next morning after cutting out the tusks, I decided that as

the carcase was within a hundred yards of the nearest huts, it was

absolutely necessary to bury it, to prevent an epidemic when it

rotted. The villagers absolutely refused to do this, in spite of

my offering whatever wages they demanded. They said that it

was too much labour and in any case the carcase would soon

rot. Luckily the Forest Ranger came that morning, and he soon

impressed some Garos and Cacharees who did the job. It was

terribly tedious; whilst the coolies dug an immense pit, I had to

cut up the carcase with Balbahadur. We were at it till 4 p.m.

The above incident is typical of the attitude of Assamese Mikiri

villagers. They just will not do any manual labour uncon-

nected with their daily lives, whether paid for or not. To the

men who had sweated all day, I paid the agreed amount of

Rs. 25/- plus as much country-grog as they wanted, and they were

very contented. They fully deserved every pice of that money.

Late that evening the Ranger boated me back across the swamp up

to the main road, where I soon caught a bus back to Gauhati.

I will not weary the reader with instructions how and where to

shoot wild elephants ; suffice to say that by Assam Government ruling

the rifle must be a H. V. one of not less than 4oo bore. He will

learn everything there is to know from Sanderson’s book. In

Assam he must be prepared to travel light and foot-slog for miles.

Carriage is very difficult to obtain and the use of tame elephants,

unless he has local friends impossible. Tea laced with whiskey,

following 5 grains of some quinine compound, twice a day is the

best fever-preventive. Shooting rules in Assam are very strict,

and Fees and Royalties ditto. This is excellent as, at least in the

Forest Reserves, it prevents indiscriminate slaughter, as was the

case in years gone by. I have no actual experience, bar Elephant

shooting, of the Forest Reserves; an omission that I intend to

rectify no sooner funds permit. J should think that in some of

these Reserves the shooting, though terribly difficult, will compare

with anything the rest of India can produce. ?

Measurements. Makhna Bull Elephant. Vertical height 10/-2”

but actually estimated at 1o/-5”; Circumference of right forefoot,

in death, 62”. Tushes 226 tolas the pair. Rogue Tusker: vertical

height, o/-7”, gircumference of right forefoot, in death, 4/-83"

Tusks, ‘Right. 3!-11/ X13" girth at the. gum); Weight 34 <l1bs-

Left, 3/9! X13" oirth iatethe: eum; ; the pair.

I forgot to add that in cutting out the right tusk we found a

Martini-Henry slug embedded in the skull. This had traversed

the tusk and entered into the bone of the skull, splitting the tusk for

about 18” of its length inside the socket. The pulp of the tusk

was in a diseased condition, smelling horribly; and in my opinion

was probably the sole reason why this animal turned into a Rogue.

He must have been wounded by either a crop watcher or shikari, and

subsequently must have been in agony for the rest of his life. The

tusks are a beautifully matched pair, with sharp pointed ends.

NOTES ON INDIAN EUPHORBIACEAE: CROTON

BONPLANDIANUM (C. SPARSIFLORUM) AND

HUPHOR BIA SPERBRACTEATA.

LEON CROIZAT,

Arnold Arboretum,

Harvard University, Jamaica Plain Mass., U.S.A.

Thanks to the friendly interest of several botanists who have

furnished material and data I have been able to give attention to

certain Indian Euphorbiacee, native or introduced, the taxonomic

status of which was thought to be questionable or unsatisfactory.

Two of these plants, both weeds of cultivation, are the subject of

this contribution.

(A) Croton BONPLANDIANUM!

This is the introduced Euphorbiacea known to Indian floristic

work as Croton sparsiflorus. Its synonymy is fairly extended

although by no means one of the largest in the records of this

badly known genus. So far I know it, it stands as follows:

CROTON BONPLANDIANUM Baill. in Adans., iv, 339 (August 1864); C. Bon-

plandianus [sphalm.] Mueller-Arg. in DC. Prodr. XV, ii, 661 (1866) and in

Mart., Fl. Bras. XI, ii, 116 (1873) [sub C. Persicaria].

C. pauperulum [C. pauperulus sphalm.] Muell.-Arg. in Flora, XLVII, 485

(October 19864), oC. Prodr, XV. 11; 671 (1866), (Mart. PI. Bras.,° XI, °ai,

242 (1873).

C. sparsiflorum [C. sparsiflorus sphalm] Morong [sphalm. auct. Indic.

eMonung iin Anns N.Y, -Acad.)Sc., VIL, 22 (1892);. Bruhl,in Jour.” Proc. As:

Soc. Bengal, IV, 604, 635; 642, 649, 652 (1908); Haines, Bot. Bihar, Orissa,

—

~~“! Croton was used by Linnaeus [Sp. Pl. II, 1004 (1753)] as neuter generic

name and by Mueller-Arg. [in DC. Prodr. XV, ii, 512 et seg. (1866)] as

masculine, most modern authors following Mueller’s preference. Article 72 (1)

of the International Rules of Nomenclature, 1935, statutes that a Greek or

Latin word adopted as a generic name retains the gender assigned to it by

its author which is known to have for result that the same Greek or Latin

‘name is masculine, feminine or neuter according to the letter of the original

publication. A modification of Art. 72 (1) was proposed [cf. Syn. Propos.

Nomencl., VI, Inter. Congr. 58 (1935)] to the effect that generic names must

follow their classical gender. This proposal, at first voted upon favourably

[cf. Proc., VI, Inter. Congr., 356 (1936)] was eventually accepted only as

a recommendation (cf. 0.c., 357), which !eaves the matter practically unchanged

under Art. 72 (1). I regret that under the Rules the specific names of the

majority of the synonyms of C. Bonplandianum must here be changed to the

neuter gender, because this further complicates the synonymy. Croton Bon-

plandianum was published as neuter by its author, Baillon.

574 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

II, 105 (1921); Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras, II, 1316 (1925); Mayuranathan,

FL -Pits: Madras vicin.,. 267. ‘pl. 31 fer d= (1920)5 Joshi in“ Cugr ce ble 344

(1934).

C. rivinoides Chodat in Bull. Hb. Boiss., sér. ii, I, 395 (1901).

The centre of distribution of this most vigorous weed is

Paraguay, in South America. It occurs as far north as the tem-

perate foothills of the Andes of Bolivia and is locally abundant in

the warmer Andean and Pampean states of the Republic of

Argentine. It is not reported from Uruguay by Herter [Estud.

Bot. Reg. Urug. 79 (1930)], although it certainly occurs there.

I have seen no specimens from the Rio Grande do Sul and other

southern Brazilian states, where it can not be wanting. Various

collectors record it as a weed of waste lands, banks of rivers and

thoroughfares, several times gathered in the street of Asuncidn,

Paraguay.

The history of C. Bonplandianum, briefly told, is the following :

Aimé Bonpland collected it, apparently for the first time, at the

beginning of the last century in the ‘province of Corrientes’, i.e.

in an unreported locality near the common boundaries of Argentine,

Paraguay and Brazil. It was almost simultaneously described by

Baillon and by Mueller of Aargau, the latter having received

through Jj. D:- Hooker a specimen “collected” by -Yweedie* in the

Andean region of Argentine, near Tucuman. For reasons unex-

plained, Mueller twice reduced C. Bonplandianum to C. Persicaria,

which is a very different species. Thomas Morong brought it back

from Paraguay, where he had been collecting between 1888 and

1890 and named it as new with the binomial under which it has

since then been known to the majority ot taxonomists. Chodat,

eventually, introduced in the record a third synonym which has

remained practically unused. ,

Compiling from the literature I find the following main records

for C. Bonplandianum (C. sparsiflorum) in India: 1897, Chandur,

Akharéra, Brahmanbaria; 1898, Chittagong; 1901, Sibpur;

1907, Tippera; 1917-1921, various localities in Orissa; 1922, Madras

and along the coast of Coromandel south to Tinnevelly; 1929, the

ereatest part of the districts of Madura and Tinnevelly 1931,

Benares; 1932, Sylhet and Gauhatti. It is a foregone conclusion

that C. Bonplandianum is scheduled to overrun in time most of

India and, probably, a wide area of tropical Asia and Africa,

According to Brihl (0. c., 603) it was Prain who first identified

this weed as C. sparsiflorum, Prain’s specimens being probably still

preserved under this binomial in the herbarium of the Botanic

Garden at Sibpur. It should be interesting to verify the notes

on this material, ascertaining how Prain, who did not record the

species in 1903 together with the Croton from Bengal, came to

learn of Morong’s binomial. It stands distinctly to Prain’s credit

to have recognized the species with fair accuracy, considering how

involved and unsatisfactory is the classification of Croton now

CUBE:

The illustration supplied by Mayuranathan is good and the

account of Briihl is excellent despite the fact that in this account

NOTES ON INDIAN EUPHORBIACE# 575

are found minor errors of citations and one omission, occurring in

the quotation of Morong’s original diagnosis. Having seen an

Indian specimen of C. sparsiflorum in the herbarium of the Royal

Botanic Gardens at Kew (Haines 4165, ‘naturalized near Cuttack

1917’) and types or isotypes of C. Bonplandianum, C. pauperulum

and C. rivinoides in various European and American herbaria I am

satisfied that the introduced weed recorded by Indian botanists and

the South American Croton are precisely the same species. Indi-

vidual specimens vary much in size, depauperate forms being

scarcely 8-12 inches tall with narrow, acuminate, dentate-serrate

leaves. Specimens which I have grown in the hothouse from seed

received from Dr. F. Schade, of Villarica, Paraguay brought forth

leaves up to 8 by 4 inches in size and showed great vigour, ulti-

mately measuring fully 3 ft. in height.

In Brihl’s account it is suggested that had Hooker known

C. Bonplandianum (C. sparsiflorum) he would have listed it near

C. Wallichii. So far as it applies to the habit and the general

aspect of preserved specimens Briihl’s note is acceptable, but the

true affinities of C. Bonplandianum are not with C. Wallichit and

its group. In the present state of classification it is unadvisable

to make final statements on the subject of the affinities and sectional

divisions of Croton, both Indian and foreign. At this time it seems

correct, however, to refer C. Bonplandianum to sect. Astraea (K1.)

Baill., as typified by C. lobatum, this being another weed of cul-

tivation that also probably occurs in India.

(B) EUPHORBIA PERBRACTEATA

This weed is of special interest to students of Indian phyto-

geography because it might prove to extend to the Deccan the

range of forms such as E. striatella and E. teheranica that so far

are believed to be restricted to the Iranian tableland. Euphorbia

pauciradiata Blatt., which is known to me only from description, is

possibly a third species of this group.

In describing E. perbracteata [Bull. Bot. Gard. Kew, xxvii,

238 (1914)| Gage warned that it was being confused with E.

dracunculoides and E. Rothiana. Despite Gage’s note the confusion

persisted and Sedgwick took notice of it, writing an elaborate and in

some respects very informative paper [J.B.N.H.S., xxvi, 599 (1919)1

to show that different plants were included under E. Rothiana.

Unfortunately, Sedgwick ignoring Gage’s species, identified EF.

perbracteata with E. laeta-Heyne [in Roth, Nov. Pl. Sp., 230

(1821)], an invalid binomial on account of the previous publication

of E. laeta Ait. [Hort. Kew, ed. i, I], 141 (1789)], which is usually

accepted as a synonym of E. dendroides L. Haines taking up E.

perbracteata [Bot. Bihar and Orissa, ii, 145 (1921)] neglected in

his turn Sedgwick’s contribution. The outcome of these imperfect

listings is that E. perbracteata is scarcely better known now than

it was before 1914, a peculiar state of affairs considering that this

spurge is one of the easiest to identify and has been twice described

at length within five years.

576 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Sedgwick states it always has 3 rays at the umbellaster. Gage

describes it as carrying 2-4 rays. These notes are not contradictory ;

Gage described few specimens only, and knowing that in Euphorbia

the number of rays is variable figured out an average. Sedgwick

wrote from direct personal observation. All the specimens which

I have seen had 3 rays. In addition to this unusual and peculiar

number of rays, E. perbracteata may be further characterized as

follows; (1) the glands of the cyathium are neither horned nor

smooth at the margin, but coarsely and irregularly toothed; (2) the

bracts surrounding the cyathia are conspicuously veined, ribbed and

often connate at the base; (3) the specimens in herbarium have a_

pale green colour, usually fewer leaves than E. dracunculoides and

E. Rothiana and a manifestly annual root; (4) the seed appears

to be intermediate between that of FE. dracunculoides and E.

Rothiana: it is more or less mottled and the testa is very nearly

smooth. The seed of E. dracunculoides is roughened from an

irregularly distributed thick whitish aril and is lacunose at the

testa. The seed of E. Rothiana is grayish and smooth throughout.

Gage gives as range the United and Central Provinces ; Sedgwick

restricts the species to the region of Bombay and the Carnatic,

stating, however, that its range is probably wider; Haines reports

having collected it only in cultivated fields as a seemingly introduced

weed, but cites it from Behar on the faith of Kurz. I believe at

this time that the region of Bombay is the locality of India where

this spurge is actually endemic because, as it has been stated, its

affinities appear to lie in the direction of Persian endemics. More

extensive collections are needed, however, to define the range and

the affinities of this peculiar species. While Indian Euphorbia

occurs in South-Western China, there in part native (e.g., E.

Rothiana, E. prolifera, E. Royleana) and in part introduced as it

seems (e.g., E. dracunculoides), I have never seen E. perbracteata

collected outside of India. This limited distribution is peculiar in

a weed of cultivation. I suspected at first that the species has

definite edaphic preferences and a strictly winter-cycle of growth.

This did not prove to be the case because seeds collected near

Poona in February and sown in America in May, in the hothouse,

germinated in less than one week, producing extremely vital seed-

lings, even sturdier than those of E. dracunculoides and E. Rothiana.

Under the circumstances it is surprising to learn that E. perbracteata

is unknown in the great majority of the herbaria: I stand under

deep obligation to Prof. S. S. Kumar, Economic Botanist to the

Government, Poona, who collaborated to my work with specimens

and viable seeds.

To conclude these notes it may be pointed out that Sedgwick

is much misinformed in listing FE. Rothiana Spr., of Sprengel, Syst.,

il, 796 (1826) and Boissier in DC. Prodr. XV, ii, 156 (1862), as a

synonym of EF. perbracteata (E. laeta of Sedgwick, not of Aiton

nor Heyne). I have seen numerous authentic specimens of E.

Rothiana and FE. oreophila, some bearing Boissier’s own identi-

fication, not a single one of which is in any way representative

of E. perbracteata.

Journ. BompBay Nat. Hist. Soc.

MAP OF COUNTRY

ROUND NATTAUNG,KARENNI STATES

SCALE

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NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NATTAUNG, KARENNI.

Messrs. H. C. SMITH, M.B.0.U., P. F. GARTHWAITE, AND

B. E. Smytures, Burma Forest Service.

With Systematic Notes by

Draco. WFICEHURSE, M.A.y MéeR.C.S., MiB. OLU-

(With a map).

Description of the locality.—Nattaung (8,607 feet) is the highest

point in Southern Burma on the Sittang-Salween divide. The

boundaries of Toungoo District, Thaton District and Karenni meet

on the summit (Lat. 18° 49! North, Long. 19° 02/ East). The

annual rainfall is not less than 110 inches, probably considerably

more.

Below 5,000 feet shifting cultivation has been so extensive that

the whole area consists of secondary growth of various ages and

density, with pine, oaks and chestnuts predominating, and virgin

forest is confined to a few precipitous gorges unsuitable for culti-

vation. Above 5,000 feet very little cultivation has been done,

and virgin forest covers the area.

In what follows the nomenclature adopted is that used by

Champion in ‘A preliminary survey of the forest types of India

and Burma’, Indian Forest Records, Volume I, Number 1 (to

which a reference is invited). Four climax types and two serai

types occur on Nattaung.

1. (Group 1a C2) Eastern tropical evergreen = Evergreen.

This type occupies steep north facing slopes from 5,000 to

8,o00 feet, and also occurs in moist pockets and along the streams

in the other types. The following is an extract from Champion’s

description:

‘Lofty, dense, evergreen forests 150 feet or more high. ... the canopy

is extremely dense ... epiphytes are numerous. . . ground vegetation in

typical cases may be almost absent, elsewhere a carpet of Strobilanthes or

Selaginella and ferns may occur; grasses are absent . . .Erect bamboos are

unusual but may occur locally’.

1a (E 9) Southern wet bamboo brakes= Bamboo brake.

This type occurs here and there in the preceding type. ‘Bamboo

brakes are usually found along streams or on badly drained hollows

more or less displacing the tree forest . .. the brakes are often

very dense, even if the bamboos grow in clumps’.

078 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

2. (Group 7b C3) Burma Sub-Tropical Hill Forest =Oak forest.

This type is a buffer between the pine forest and the evergreen ;

it grades into temperate forest (see below) at about 6,000 feet.

‘Hill forest of good height and density, the dominant species be~-

ing mostly evergreen though some large briefly deciduous trees

occur. The total canopy density is much less dense than in the

tropical evergreen and the large trees rarely stand close together.

A shrubby undergrowth is always present and grass is absent.

Bamboo may be present or not. The type is characterised by the

prevalence of oaks and chestnuts, Quercus and Castanopsis.’

3. (Group 8 C2) Assam-Burma Pine Forest=Pine Forest.

This type occurs on south and east facing slopes from 4,500 to

8,o00 feet, and covers large areas but is restricted to well drained

soil. “Typically a practically pure association of pine (Pinus

khasya) but very generally considerably influenced by the annual

or periodic fires which take place. Typically no other trees occur

in the top canopy, there is practically no underwood, and even

shrubs are few, but where moisture conditions are a little more

favourable there tends to be an underwood of Quercus and other

broad-leaved trees. These trees, mostly evergreen species, increase

with rising altitude leaving the pine on the warmer, drier ridges

and as scattered standards. A grassy soil cover is usual .

climbers and bamboos are absent’. 7

3a. (25/2) Burma subtropical hill savannah=Savannah.

‘Grassy downs with scattered clumps or single trees usually pine

and oaks’.

This type only occurs as a small area of a few acres on the

top of Sosiko.

4. (Group rob Cz) Assam-Burma wet temperate forest =Temperate

forest.

The higher slopes of Nattaung, above about 6,coo feet are

covered by this type, with a few outliers of pine forest and ever-

green; it is like a dwarf form of oak forest with which it inter-

grades, and is distinguished by low rounded crowns and _ short

boles, dense bamboo undergrowth (Arundinaria elegans Kurz), and

alpine elements in the flora.

‘Closed evergreen high forest of trees of large girth but medium height,

rarely over 80 feet, and usually with large branching crowns festooned with

mosses and larger epiphytes .. At the high elevations a dwarf bamboo under-

growth is very generally developed and may be very dense and uniform over

large areas’.

Oak and chestnuts are prevalent; Rhododendron occurs in the

pine forest outliers over 7,000 feet.

The period spent on Nattaung was from April 8th to April 16th.

The locality was reached by lorry from Toungoo in eight hours by

the road recently opened by the Mawchi Mines Company. The

first camp was at mile 82, ten miles over the Karenni boundary at

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NATTAUNG, KARENNI 579

about 5,000 feet; from here the lower slopes were worked and a

general survey of the locality made. After three days a move was

made with cooly transport over a thousand foot ridge to a camp

on the Lesi chaung, at about 5,000 feet, from which the summit

(8,607 feet) could be reached in about three hours steady climb-

ing. From this camp also Sosiko (7,571 feet) was visited, a

climb of seven hours along the eastern watershed of the Kolo

chaung. Possible camping sites nearer the main ridge were noted,

from which the higher elevations could be worked with greate

ease.

The time spent on the mountain was short, and new records

were still being obtained on the last day, so that the birds recorded

below can only be an incomplete list of the avifauna.

Dr. C. B. Ticehurst, to whom we are greatly indebted, has

identified all the skins, and his systematic notes and remarks appear

in square brackets at the end of each form.

{The first collection to be made in Karenni was in 1861 when

Major Lloyd travelled through the country. His birds were said

to have gone to the East India Company’s Museum in Calcutta

and SO,far as, we know have never been reported on. In- 1874

Wardlaw-Ramsay accompanied Major Lloyd on an expedition to

the capital of Karenni, Kyai-pho-gyee (Kyebogyi). The expedi-

tion entered the Karen Hills from Toungoo on March 5, and after

a halt at the capital for a week and a visit to the Shan frontier

it started to return on March 30, crossing he Karen Hills 50 miles

north of the outward journey and reached Toungoo on April to.

The highest elevation reached on this trip was 6,o00 feet. The

collection of 400-500 birds of about 150 species is in the British

Museum. Ramsay wrote a short account of the trip (Ibis 1875, pp.

348-353) but the exact itinerary and a full list of birds was never

published. <A brother offcer of Ramsay spent some weeks in the

hills at 3,000-7,coo feet in April and May and gave such birds

as he collected to Ramsay and it was no doubt this officer who

visited Nattaung which is mentioned as a locality that Siva strigula

was obtained at in a further paper Ramsay wrote on Burmese

birds (Ibis 1877, pp. 452-473). Ramsay also sent his collector into

Karenni and it was he who first obtained Sitta magna. Other

new birds were described in short notes by Walden and by Ramsay

either from Karenni or the Karen Hills. All the information on

Karennit was, of course, incorporated in Oates’ Birds of Burma.

So far as we know no one since then has done any collecting

in Karenni; from December 1877 to April 1888, and from May 1888

to Wecember 1888 Leonardo Fea toured in the Karen Hills

near the Karenni boundary; his collecting places being Leito

(Leiktho), 30 miles N.-E. of Toungoo; Yado, 30 miles N.-E. of

Leito; Taho, 8 miles north of Yado and Chialla 25 miles N.-E. of

aho. tis collection’ contained . 467 Specimens ‘of 165° species;

eight were described as new and five new to Burma. Salvadori

Caveua mulleaccountsor tt. (Ann, Mus.. Cir. Genog_ser. 2,1 Vol:

vu, 1889). Since then various Englishmen have been in the Karen

Hills at Thandaung, but no connected account of the birds has

580\ JOURNAL, BOMBAY: NATURAL WHIST™ SOCIETY, Volr Xt

been written. Farther south Davison collected round Papun and

Kyaukhnyat and his birds were reported on by Hume in his ‘Birds

of Tenasserim’ (Stray Feathers, Vol. vi, 1878). ]

Corvus macrohynhcus.

A few birds seen near human habitation between 5,000 and 6,000 feet.

Dendrocitta formosa subsp.

Occasionally heard in the pine forests about 5,000 feet.

Parus major subsp.

Birds seen on several occasions in clearings and in pine forest.

Machlolophus spilonotus subviridis.

3 Gd: 29.

Frequents oak and pine forests between 5,000 and 7,000 feet. Not seen

above this elevation nor in evergreen. Has a pleasant little song. Seen on

many occasions in parties working through high undergrowth or in the crowns

of low pines; not uncommon.

Aegithaliscus concinnus pulcheilus.

I ¢3; 1 unsexed.

Seen on two occasions in parties working through long grass and secondary

growth on a steep hillside near the Mawchi road at 5,500 feet. Another party

was seen working rapidly through the crowns of low pines on the edge ol

cultivation at 5,000 feet.

Suthora poliotis feae.

IO.

Specimen obtained in dwarf bamboo at 8,oo0 feet on the final slope of

Nattaung. One other bird was seen, in regrowth at 4,500 feet, working through

the bushes like a Phylloscopus. Does not appear to be such a skulker as

described ini fF. B. T-

[This single specimen agrees with the description of feae. From rippont

(Mt. Victoria) it differs in having the white moustache smaller and in having

the breast grey, dividing the black throat from the ochraceous underparts. It

was described by Salvadori from Taho in the Karen Hills and has not since

then been met with. I do not know on what grounds Fort Stedman is given

as a locality for this bird in the Fauna, ed. ii; there are no specimens in the

British Museum and no records from Fort Stedman. ]

Psittiparus gularis gularis.

SUG aie

Common in shrubs and understorey trees in oak and pine forests between

5,000 feet and 6,000 feet. Not seen in evergreen. A pair of very excited birds

observed at close quarters in pine forest on a ridge top at 6,000 feet behaved

as if they had a nest close by. Has a harsh chattering note.

Sitta magna magna.

Te (Os

Shot in pine tree at 5,500 feet. Seen on one other occasion in pine forest.

Has a distinctive tri-syllabic call, like the cough of an angry gibbon.

Sitta frontalis corallina.

I ¢6; I unsexed.

Fairly common in the oak and pine forests up to about 6,000 feet.

Garrulax moniliger.

Seen in evergreen at about 5,500 feet.

[In the British Museum there are specimens from Karenni and these are

intermediate between moniliger and fuscata. |

NOTES-ON THE BIRDS OF NATTAUNG, KARENNI 581

Trochalopteron erythrocephalum ramsayi.

dae) Hore

The common Laughing-Thrush of these forests, being found in all types

where undergrowth is heavy. It is particularly partial to bamboo brakes in

evergreen. Has a loud call ‘wee-ou-wee-whip’, the last note higher and louder.

[Mr. Deignan (Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, Vol. LI, pp. 87-92, 1938) in

dealing with the southern group of the Red-headed Laughing-Thrushes unites

ramsayi with melanostigma on the grounds that the species is very variable,

that the characters of ramsayi are not constant and that ramsayi has no geogra-

phical range. He further states that it would seem that Ogilvie-Grant selected

trom the series those that suited his purpose, i.e., fitted with his description of

ramsayi. In the British Museum there are six or eight specimens from

Karenni, Karen Hills, Byingyi Mt. in Loi Long, Pine Forest of Salween

(which means Kyaukhnyat district) and Yengyi Palaung in Lauksawk; in

addition there are available two from Byingyi and eight from Nattaung.

The first thing that strikes one on assembling these is the constancy ot

the characters of ramsayi. Assembled with a series of melanostigma from Mt.

Muleyit in Tenasserim the two series stand out in marked contrast. Odgilvie-

Grant was right in separating them and the supposition that he picked speci-

mens to suit his ideas is insupportable. The second noticeable thing is that all

these ramsayi come from the very definite area of the Sittang-Salween water-

shed, with the possible exception of Yengyi Palaung which I have not been

able to localize. This area, | may remark, is rather notable for the peculiar

and local races it supports—-Letoptila m. castanoptera, Letoptila m. saturata,

Siva cyanouroptera oatesi, Suthora poliotis feae, Ixulus humilis clarkit, Aetho-

pyga nipalensis karenensis are some of them—and so there is nothing remark-

able in finding a recognizable race of this Trochalopteron there. That odd birds

resembling rvamsayi may occur outside its range does not negative the validity

of the race when 100% witnin the range are recognizable.

In this series the upper parts are greyish-olive with just a tinge of rufous

on the hind collar; the chestnut of the throat is extended down over the breast

and belly in a paler tint between Ochraceous Tawny and Ochraceous Orange

(Ridgway XV). Only the flanks are olive and even these are tinged with the

same colour. | oe ees ewes

Trochalopteron ripponi.

Beir tk Se ;

The two specimens were obtained in oak and pine forest near the top of

a ridge at about 6,000, feet. Not nearly so common as the Red-headed Laugh-

ing-Thrush.

- [Though said to be the commonest Laughing-Thrush of. the Somer Shan

States, the occurrence in’ Karenni is an extension of range farther south. ]

Pomatorhinus olivaceus subsp.

Seen and heard frequently in regrowth at about 5,000 feet.

[No form is recorded from Karenni and specimens would be highly desirable ;

olivaceus olivaceus is the form of N. Tenasserim; in Southern Shan States

vippont occurs, so the form in Karenni must remain doubtful at present. The

relationship, too, of the group to the schisticeps nuchalis group requires much

further careful collecting; it may be that, though both certainly occur close

together, olivaceus is the Dien elevation form. P. nuchalis was described from

Thayetmyo. |

Pomatorhinus erythrogenys imberbis.

PE TOD .

In pine forest at 6,000 feet. Two were shot out of a party of Turdus

obscurus. No other records.

Pellorneum ignotum cinnamomeum.

Tech:

Shot in grasses in regrowth on top of a pine ridge, near the ground. One

of a pair.

582 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XL!

Napothera brevicaudata venningi.

Teor

Two birds seen together in the bed of a rocky stream in evergreen (with

pines just above) at 5,000 feet. The bird seemed very excited and perched on

a low branch making a noise like the two described under No. (225) in the

I, B. I. No other birds of the kind Seen.

[The type of brevicaudata came from Muleyit and venningi trom the

‘Southern Shan States’. It was obtained by Craddock on 23 March 1902,

and no further locality was specified. Craddock was, however, on Loi Mai

in Mongpawn on 7 April 1902 so that venningi probably came from near there.

On Byingyi in Loi Long State venningi occurs, so that its extension now to

S.-W. Karenni is an addition to our knowledge. |

Stachyris chrysaea assimilis.

I oe a OF 7 wnsexed:

Fairly common both in regrowth and also in the undergrowth in evergreen,

often associated with parties of Alcippe.

Stachyridopsis rufifrons rufifroas.

Ba ret

Obtained in bamboos in oak forest at 6,000 feet. The only bird seen.

Alcippe fratercula fratercula.

A aL Bye © Gueeeaunsexed:

Very common at all elevations above 5,000 feet in all types of forest.

Schoeniparas dubius dubius.

246 +1 “unsexed:

Seen on many occasions in low, dense undergrowth or grasses between

5,000 feet and 7,000 feet in all types of forest. A great skulker. A chattering

note ‘chit-chit-chit-chit’ constantly repeated and also a_ distinctive call note

‘chee-chee-chee-chee-chee-chee-hpwit’. Almost certainly nesting.

[The type came from the outskirts of pine forest above the Salween and

this must have been in the Papun-Kyaukhnyat area which may be fixed as the

type locality. It has not been recorded from Jarenni before and is a_ useful

extension of range, as in the Southern Shan States the form is intermedius. |

Pseudominia castaneiceps castaneiceps.

BI iuas 2 cee TIN SC KER:

Found chiefly in temperate forest above 6,o00 feet; but occasionally seen in

other types. They are confiding little birds and allow a ciose approach. In

habits they are arboreal, climbing about moss- ‘and lichen-covered trees and

climbers. Do not ascend up into the crowns of the trees but work the trunks

up to about 30 feet. They run up and down, under and round branches rather

like Nuthatches do. Quite common.

Heterophasia picasides cana.

ies eee

Obtained at 6,o00 feet in oak and pine forest out of a party of about 6

birds. Fhe call is a loud whistle ‘Whee-whee-weeou-weou’, the last two notes

dropping in pitch.

[I have recently been able, through the kindness of Mr. Deignan, to examine

a topotype series of cana and I must confess I see no difference. In describing

burmanica I was misled by the description of cana and the fact that the only

cana available to me were paler than Indian birds. The characteristic feature

of the form, however, is the shorter tail, not the pallidity of the underparts, as

I pointed out in describing burmanica. |

Leioptila melanoleuca castanoptera.

Dy esi

The distinctive mournful call of this bird, 5 notes on a descending scaie

in a minor key ‘whee-ou-hoo-hoo-hoo’, was heard all over these forests from

5,500 feet upwards. A low chattering note is also uttered while feeding. This

was the only species obtained or seen. ,

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NATTAUNG, KARENNI 583

[The type of castanoptera was obtained by Fea about 60 miles N.-E. of

Toungoo in the Karen Hills. It is a bird of very limited distribution. The

northernmost locality is Kalaw and the southernmost is the present one at

Nattaung. It is evidently, like some other forms, confined to the hills divid-

ing the Sittang from the Salween valleys.

That there has been some confusion of the forms of this species is hardly

to be wondered at; melanoleuca was described in 1859 from Mt. Muleyit, N.

Tenasserim. In Stray Feathers, Vol. vi, p. 294 Hume gave a minute de-

“scription of this form. He says... . ‘ear-coverts biack in some specimens

with a slightly browner tinge . .. central tail feathers narrowly, the rest

broadly tipped with pure white,... back, scapulars, lesser and median coveris

a deep, somewhat chocolate brown.’ In 1889 Salvadori described castanoptera

from the Karen Hills which differed from melanoleuca chiefly in having the

greater coverts and most of the tertials chestnut instead of black. In the

fauna, Ed. ii, Stuart Baker called attention to two birds in the British Museum

from N.-E. Central Burma with upperparts black and named the form radcliffei.

To be more precise one came from Kyetpyin near Ruby Mines (and is the

type) and one from ‘My Pai Hill, Salween’.

Finally de Schauensee in 192g named a form from N. Siam as laeta which

was said to have the ear-coverts dull black, the colour of the back different

to that of melanoleuca and vadcliffei and to have the tips of the four central

tail. feathers rather dark grey. Whe author apparently did not compare his

specimens with specimens of melanoleuca and radcliffei and was misled by

relying on descriptions only,—always a somewhat risky procedure.

To deal with each form in detail; castanoptera can be dismissed in a few

words. It seems to be a perfectly valid form of very limited distribution extend-

ing along the edge of the Shan plateau from Kalaw in the north to Nattaung

in the south. It certainly is a local race of melanoleuca and not a_ species,

as has. been stated, as I find that single specimens of melanoleuca from the

hills east of Fort Stedman have just a trace of the chestnut markings of

castanoptera. I think there can be no doubt that melanoleuca, radcliffei and

laeta are all one form; laeta can be dealt with quite shortly as through the

kindness of Mr. H. G. Deignan I have been able to compare freshly obtained

birds from Siam with recently collected specimens from the Ruby Mines

(vadcliffet) and the two series are precisely the same. The supposed differences

between melanoleuca and radcliffe. are explained by fading. Recently coilected

birds trom Taunggyi in Southern Shan States are radclijfer, one collected there

some years ago is now melanoleuca, as are others from Southern Shan States

of equal date. One collected in 1923 at the Ruby Mines was identified at the

British Museum in the same year as radcliffet; it is still there and today is

melanoleuca, .

I may note that Hume was not too precise in calling the tips of the central

tail feathers pure white; in the specimens he examined the tips of the four

central tail feathers were almost worn off; what is lett of them is grey, not

white like the tips of the laterals. He called the ear coverts black, in some

slightly brown; tading has gone further since then and all the Muleyit speci-

mens now have brown ear coverts. The mantle changes colour with time.

Fresh specimens are almost black (radcliffe), old specimens have a varying

chocolate tinge in proportion to their age in the cabinet. |

Actinodura ramisayi ramsayi.

BaGr 3: 2

These birds are common in regrowth in oak and pine forests between

4,500 to 6,000 feet. They have a trisyllabic cali ‘wee-oo-wee’, the middle note

lower in pitgh and. reminiscent of the call of Abbott’s Babbler. One bird was

watched while uttering a 4-note call ‘Pee-ou-peee-peee’, the last two notes long

and rather wailing like the call of a Kite.

Staphida striata striata.

eG) pee, OE

Found in thick undergrowth in oak and pine forest between 5,000 feet. and

6,000 feet.: They go about in parties, sometimes associating with Alcippe.

Have been seen hanging upside down on twigs like Tits.

bai. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST... SOCIETY, Voi XEI

[IMnown from Byingyi, Karen Hills and N. Tenasserim.so that its occur-

rence now in Karenni was to be expected. On the other hand birds from

Thandaung a little farther north are nearer rufigenis. Further specimens in

this area are desirable. ]

Siva strigula castaneicauda.

SG ie. te 4 unsexed:

Common in temperate forest above 6,o00 feet. Keep to crowns of trees.

Not shy _ birds.

[The type of castaneicuuda came from ‘Hill Tenasserim’ by which was

meant Mt. Muleyit. On the small material available it. has -been rather

questionable how much the dullness of castaneicauda was due to fading com-

pared with strigula. But these fresh specimens. show that this dullness is a

subspecific character; both strigula and yunnanensis are richer yellow below

and more golden on the crown; in castaneicauda the bill is larger and the

chestnut of the tail seems to be paler than in yunnanensis and more extensive

than in strigula. |

Ixulus humilis clarkii.

Lusi Sake

Parties of 4 or § birds seen in pine forest at about 6,000 feet. The birds

utter a low ‘chuck-chuck’ while working through the branches, now and then

uttering a ‘chir-chir-chir-chir’ nete. Parties also seen working through second-

ary growth on steep hillsides near the Mawchi road. One party seen was

associated with a party of Aegithaliscus concinnus. Erected crests and mousta-

chial streaks show up well in the field.

[This form was hitherto known only from the type locality Byingyi Mt.

in Loi Long so that its extension now to the S.-W. corner of Karenni is of

interest. It is evidently. another of the forms peculiar to the Sittang-Salween

divide. ]

Herpornis xantholeuca xantholeuca. | Co ees ee ee aa

Pharos

Obtained in pine forest at 6,000 feet where these birds were. Beeereld

seen. .

[Not previously recorded from Karenni, though to be expected, as it occurs

in Southern Shart States, Karen Hills and N. Teriasserim. }

Cutia nipalensis nipalensis. > a cee pie Sa

Patek : Sieh Kise Weak tea a Lhreiiaes

Both specimens obtained on the same open pine ridge at about 6,500 feet.

They keep to the tops of trees and utter a loud monotonous ‘piou-piou-piou-

PlOUl 0. 2.4 hepedteds Om Omi2 = times:

Pteruthius erythropterus aerulatus.

Found chiefly in oak and pine forest between 5,000 feet and 6,000 feet,

but a specimen was also obtained in temperate forest at 8,o00 feet. The cali

of this bird as it works through the tops of pines or oaks is one of the dis-

tinctive noises on Nattaung. The call is a loud and mellow ‘cha-chew, cha-

chew’. One specimen was obtained as it was hopping sideways along the

branches of an oak uttering a different call, tri-syllabic in an ascending scale,

the first syllable longer than the others. Males appear to predominate in the

population, perhaps because they are easier to see.

[These are nearer aerulatus than to yunnanensis. |

Mesia argentauris.

Phe Ne

‘Common in regrowth about 5,000 feet. Often associated with parties of

Ilcippe. They utter a chattering note. :

NOTES (ON THE BIRDS.OF NATTAUNG,. KARENN] 585

Minla ignotincta.

Bao le oon 2) unsexed.

Two obtained above 6,000 feet, both in open pine forest and also in tem-

perate forest. Not a shy bird. Keeps to the crowns of trees going about in

small parties.

[The occurrence of this bird in Karenni is a large extension to its known

range; the nearest known places where it occurs in Burma are Mt. Victoria

in the Chin Hills and the hills east of Bhamo. ]

Microscelis psaroides concolor.

eo Ohs

Fairly common in pine forests about 5,000 feet. A bird of the tree-tops.

Ixos maciellandi tickelli.

Gi 3. Te) Q

Common in evergreen between 5,500 and 7,000 feet, and also in pine and

oak forest near secondary growth.

[The distributions of tickelli, binghanu, and similis in eastern Burma require

much further study and further collecting is essential. ]

Alcurus striatus.

3 63 1 unsexed.

Found in both pine and evergreen above 6,000 feet. Has a number ol

calls; one bird was shot making a tri-syllabic call with a drop in the middle-—

“whee-too-wheet’. Keeps much to the tops of tal! trees.

[Known from the Karen Hills and Southern Shan States but not hitherto

from Karenni. |

Molpastes chrysorrhoides klossi.

I unsexed.

Only one pair seen, in shrubs on pine ridge at 5,000 feet.

{I keep this form as a race of chrysorrhoides for the time being; the relation-

ships of klossi, nigropileus and burmanicus and their distributions require a

great deal of further careful collecting. In some localities two of these forms

appear to live side by side, but from all localities in the hills material is

utterly inadequate; chrysorrhoides is a Chinese form and does not occur ia

Burma so far as we know. |

Xanthixus flavescens vividus.

2 63; 1 unsexed.

The common Bulbul of the: re-growth and forests below 5,000 feet. Many

young birds on the wing were seen.

Pycnonotus jocosus (Linn.).

Common in re-growth and low forest up to 5,000 feet.

Pycnonotus flaviventris flaviventris.

I unsexed.

The only bird seen, shot in re-growth at 4,500 feet, which must be near

the upper limits of this species.

Certhia discolor shaneusis.

Doce 2, Os 1 unsexed:

Commonly seen both in the pine forests and also in evergreen from 5,000 feet

upwards, but most often in the pines. The note is a shrill loud ‘duwee-teet’.

It is not a shy bird and appears so absorbed in its hunt for insects in the

bark that it allows a close approach.

Pnoepyga pusiila pusilla.

I ;

The only specimen seen. Was obtained in the undergrowth in evergreen

near a stream at 6,000 feet,

586- JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI -

Tesia cyaniventer.

ry 2%. ;

Obtained in the same place as Pnoepyga at 6,000 feet. It was uttering its

characteristic shrill ‘chirrup’ which betrayed its presence.

[Recorded from Karen Hills and Mt. Byingyi but not before from Karenni.

This specimen belongs to the form olivea.]

Brachypteryx cruralis.

3 65 1 unsexed.

All the specimens were obtained in evergreen undergrowth at about 7,000 feet.

No females of this species were seen, though 2 of the males shot were together.

Brachypteryx nipalensis nipalensis.

2 9; 1 unsexed.

ape)

Two specimens. obtained in thick evergreen undergrowth near a stream

at 5,500 feet and one in grasses in re-growth at 5,000 feet. No males seen.

[Hitherto Kalaw is the only locality where this species has been obtained

between Bhamo in the north and Tenasserim in the south. I have already

given reasons for uniting Heteroxenicus with Brachypteryx (Ibis. 1939, p. 349).]

Saxicola caprata burmanica.

Pairs seen along the road in re-growth at about 5,000 feet. No specimens

obtained.

Rhodcphila ferrea ferrea.

Cy Ole

Common in the open pine forests up to 7,000 feet.

Henicurus schistaceus.

1-0. :

Shot in a stream at 5,o0o0 feet in pine forest and found where the streams

flow through rather open country, as opposed to evergreen.

[Though known from the Karen Hills this has not been recorded before

from Karenni. ]

Henicurus leschenaulti indicus.

DAG

These birds take the place of the Slaty-backed Forktail in the higher reaches

of the streams above 6,000 feet where they run through evergreen. .

[This also has not been obtained actually in Karenni before,. though it

has been in the neighbouring states. }

Chaimarrornis leucocephalus. ;

Birds seen in rocky streams at about 5,000 feet in several places. Un-

doubtedly breeds here. Two birds seen together at a big waterfall on the Mawchi

road at 5,000 feet.

[A slight extension of range southwards from the Southern Shan States

where it occurs. ]

Calliope calliope.

A male seen in thick re-growth at about 4,500 feet.

Turdus obscurus obscurus.

Tee. ;

Specimen obtained out of a party of 15 to 20 birds feeding on ground in

open oak forest at 6,000 feet. Also seen in evergreen. When approached ail

the birds flew swiftly up into the tops of the nearby trees with thin Pipit-lile

calls of ‘zip-zip’. In habits this thrush resembles the Redwings and Field-

fares rather than the Gorund-Thrushes.

[I have already dealt with the question of subobscurus which Salvadori

described from the Karen Hills (Ibis. 1935, p. 255). Wardlaw Ramsay ob-

tained feae in Karenni and probably this and obscurus occur together in

mixed flocks as winter visitors. ]

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NATTA UNG, KARENNI 587

Oreocincia dauma dauma.

oc:

Obtained in oak forest at 6,000 feet, the only bird seen. It was working

through the shrubs and lower branches ro to 15 feet from the ground. The

white wing bar is a good field character.

[Has been recorded in the Karen Hills. ]

Zoothera marginata.

ies Oke

Flew up into a sapling from the bed of a stream in which it was

‘ : apparently

feeding in evergreen at 5,000 feet. The only bird of its kind seen.

Monticola rufiventris.

A male bird seen, but not collected, in pine forest at 5,000 feet. Sat very

erect and still on a dead branch high up in the crown of a tree. Observed

clearly through the glasses for nearly half an hour.

Mycphoneus eugeni.

it OS

Seen in several of the rocky streams in oak forest at 5.000 feet.

Hemichelidon sibirica fuliginosa.

Boe : |

Shot just below the top of Nattaung at 8,500 feet in dwarf bamboo. Not

uncommon in pine and oak forest at 5,000 feet. Partial to dead trees stand-

ing in clearings from which it hunts.

[Has been obtained in the Karen Hills as late as 26 Apel: =a hes status is

uncertain. |

Hemichelidon ferruginea.

Lo. 3 G50 1. unsexed.

A very common Flycatcher along the streams in evergreen between 5,000 fet

and 7,000 feet, and also found in more open country.

[Has been obtained in Southern Shan States and Tenasserim, but not

hitherto in Karenni. Here again the status is uncertain as to whether it is

a winter visitor or resident. ]

Muscicapula hodgsoni.

ee see unsexed:

Found commonly in all types of forest between 5,000 feet and 8,000 feet.

The male has a few (2 to 6) white feathers behind the eve on the sides of

the crown.

Muscicapuia hyperythra hyperythra.

La earcee Bao) :

Obtained near stream in evergreen about 6,000 feet and in temperate forest

at 8,000 feet.

[The nearest locality to Karenni that this bird has been obtained is the

Southern Shan States. Status uncertain. |

Muscicapula melanoleuca melanoleuca.

BiG.) 30.0.5) 12 juvenile.

Common in open oak and pine forest between 5,coo and 6,000 feet. The

note is a thin high ‘Pi-pi-pi-pi’ followed by a low rattle ‘churr-r-r-r-r-’ or

‘Pi-churr-pi-pi-pi-pi’.

Musicapula Sapphira.

areas

In open pine forest at 5,000 feet. Another male was seen in thick re-

growth at 5,000 feet.

[Does not appear to be common anywhere. It has been obtained in the

Southern Shan States once or twice. |

088. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL (EUS TSO CUE ILY, = VolmaeweL

Eumyias thalassina thalassina.

Seen on several occasions in re-growth at about 5,000 feet.

Culicicapa ceylonensis calochrysea.

Seen on numerous occasions up to 6,000 feet in all types of forest.

Niltava grandis grandis.

Sion ipemncc

Seen and heard in many places up to 7,000 feet. It keeps to evergreen,

particularly near streams and works the lower storey 10 feet to 50 feet from

the ground. The note is most characteristic, a loud whistle of 3 notes on an

ascending scale in a minor key.

[Not previously recorded from Karenni, though it occurs as near as

Mt. Byingyi in Loi Long State. ]

Niltava macgrigoriae.

Collected on stream bank on edge of hill cultivation in pine forest at

5,000 feet.

Chelidorhynx hypoxanthum.

rage s Ow iminsexed:

Seen on several occasions in evergreen glades near streams at about

6,000 feet. It allows a close approach and flits about the branches, flirting

out its tail like a Fantail Flycatcher. Two of the specimens were collected in

temperate forest at 8,o00 feet while courting.

[Recorded from the ‘Toungoo Hills’ by which probably was meant the

Karen Hills near Thandaung. ]

Rhisidura aibicollis.

I juvenile.

Several pairs seen at about 5,000 feet, and occasionally found up to

7,000 feet. It has a thin high-pitched whistle of 7 or 8 notes up and down

the scale.

Lanius colluroides colluroides.

iL ee

Collected in pine forest at 4,500 feet, the only one seen.

Lanius nasutus tricolor.

HOw alo :

Shot in re-growth at 4,500 feet where several birds were seen.

[The range of this species is still little known. It breeds at Kalaw and

probably it breeds in Karenni, whence it has not been recorded before, though

it has been taken in the Karen Hills in April. ]

Tephrodornis gularis pelvicus.

Gas

Obtained in pine forest at 5,000 feet.

[Known from the Karen Hills but not hitherto from Karenni. This single

bird with wing 123 mm. is as large as any Burmese or Sikkim examples. |

Pericrocetus speciosus elegans.

| Se aie

Seen once or twice at about 5,000 feet.

[This specimen is in the curious orange-red plumage sometimes found in

Minivets. It is sexed as a male. ]

Pericrocotus brevirostris.

seg asc

ae ye Minivet of Nattaung, being found all over the open forest be-

tween 5,000 and 6,000 feet.

[Males from Karenni measure wing 85-89:-5 and are therefore somewhat

intermediate between affinis (87-93 mm.) and neglectus (81-86 mm). |

2% ere

NOES IONS BAphke DS Ol) NATIAUNG, KAREN NI 589

Pericrocotus solaris.

Collected in pine forest at 5,000 feet, the only birds of this race seen for

certain.

[These appear to be very worn solaris though I cannot match them with

any other specimens. At the same time rippont does not appear to me to be

a recognizable race as none of the specimens from the Southern Shan States

either accord with the description or differ from solaris. ]

Graucalus macei siamensis.

Common in the pine and oak forests, about 5,000 feet. -

Artamus fuscus.

it” webs

Common up to 6,o00 feet particularly on top of pine ridges.

[The ecology of this bird, which appears to have some relationship ta

palms, needs more careful working out. It is local and capricious for which

there must be some cause. It is said to feed on butterflies, including ‘noxious’

ones; why, then, the massive bill? Recorded from Southern Shan States

but not from Karenni. |

Chaptia aenea aenca.

TQ:

Occasionally seen in valleys about 5,000 feet. Not seen on higher ridges,

Bhringa remifer tectirostris.

Seen on several occasions near the clearings for cultivation between 4,500

and 5,500 feet.

[Has been recorded from the surrounding districts but not from Karenni. |

Tribura sp?

A bird making a ‘tschik-tschik’ note was heard in savannah on_ Sosiko

at 7,000 feet, but refused to show itself.

Franklinia gracilis Hlodgsonii.

if oie

Seen in re-growth and grasses about 5,000 feet, and in paddy stubble and

bushes.

Scicercus burkii tephrocephala.

I 2; 1 unsexed.

Both obtained in oak forest at 6,000 feet, the only specimens seen.

[Not recorded before from Karenni, but it is known from the Karen

Hills. ]

Phyllergates cucullatus coronatus.

IG 3 i unsexed. .

A bird of dwarf bamboo brake, one specimen being obtained at 7,000 feet

and the other at 8,500 feet. It has a very distinctive phrase of 4 notes,

4 times repeated each time about half an octave higher, the last so high as

to be almost inaudible. ‘Pee-pi-pi-pee’ 4 times. The bird is most elusive.

It has also a trilling little song, during which it flutters on a branch.

Phylloscopus pulcher pulcher.

3 unsexed.

Shot on top of main Nattaung ridge at 8,oo0 feet in dwarf bamboo.

[This Warbler has long been known in Southern Shan States and Karenni

in April, but we still do not know whether it is a winter visitor or a

resident. ]

090. JOURNAL, BOMBAY ‘NATURAL AIST SOCIETY> Voll XE

Phylloscopus inornatus inornatus.

2 93 2 unsexed.

Phylloscopus are common in the low trees throughout, and are one of the

few genera seen in the dwarf bamboos on the final ridge at 8,500 feet.

Phylloscopus reguioides assamensis.

2 9; 2 unsexed.

Found in the same localities as P. inornatus.

[Judging by the condition of the plumage I should say that these, too,

were breeding birds. Many have at one time or another met with both this

species and with davisoni; as yet there is no record of what the songs and

call-notes are like. |

Phylloscopus reguioides c'audiae.

Tone

[In contradistinction to the somewhat worn dress of assamensis this bird,

which is, of course, a winter visitor to Karenni, was in full body moult. ]

Phylioscopus davisoni davisoni.

Bae pene’

[This warbler is known tc breed on Byingyi in March. Also at Kalaw and

Thandaung and it certainly must have been breeding in Karenni. |

ere e

Suya superci:iaris superci.iaris.

TVG ees

Obtained in re-growth at 5,000 feet and also in grass on open pine ridge

at 6,000 feet. It has a strong shrill double note ‘tu-wut, tu-wut’. Almost

certainly nesting.

[Also known from the Karen Hills. |

Oriolus chinensis subsp.

Seen on Mawchi, road at 4,500 feet uttering a curious call ‘Miaow’ like

a peevish cat.

Orioius traillii traillii.

I rt

Obtained in evergreen at 6,000 teet; one other was seen.

Carpodacus erythrinus roseatus.

210.

Seen in pine and oak forest on the edge of secondary growth at 5,000 feet,

and a party of about six im female dress in pine forest at 6,000 feet.

Hypacanthis spinoides ambiguus.

Cs eae

A party in a cultivation clearing at 5,000 feet and seen on other occasions

in pines at the same altitude keeping to the crowns of the trees. A distinctive,

high-pitched thin call, 3 notes in quick succession followed by 4 notes in

quick succession.

[Is known to breed at Kalaw and it occurs in the Myitkyina Hills. It must

breed early as the specimen obtained on 8 April is a juvenile with fully grown

wings. |

Delichon urbica subsp.

A large flock was seen hawking insects over pine forest at 5,000 feet in

the smoke of a forest fire. Probably on passage.

Motacilla cinerea melanope.

I unsexed.

Fairly common on the Mawchi road at 5,000 feet, frequenting places where

little streams jet on to the road. No other Wagtails seen.

[The question whether the Grey Wagtail nests in the Burmese hills is

still unsolved, Known from the Karen Hills, but not before from Karenni.]

Se ET cn

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NATTAUNG, KARENNI 591

Anthus hodgsoni hodgsoni.

4 @.

Very common in parties along the ridges in open pine and oak forest up

to 7,000 feet.

[These belong to the Siberian form which is the typical race. Not pre-

viously from Karenni, but is almost universally distributed in the non-breeding

season in Burma. ]

Zosterops palpebrosa subsp.

Obtained out of a pair in re-growth at 4,500 feet.

[Zosterops mesoxantha was described from Taho in the Karen Hills by

Salvadori and this specimen is practically a topotype. It has a tinge of yellow

down the middle of the belly as Salvadori describes. However, as I pointed

out some years ago, such specimens are also found in Sikkim and elsewhere ;

otherwise Karen Hill and Karenni birds do not differ from palpebrosa and a

larger series is needed before the validity of mesoxantha can be admitted.

Mr. Riley records what seems to be the same form as cacharensts and had

also named it vicinia. But if it is recognizable Salvadori’s name has many

years precedence. Mr. Riley states that I misled him by uniting cacharensis

and palpebrosa. I had a large series of each for examination. He does not

state how many he has examined from the type localities.

This is an interesting record for another reason. Recently Stresemann has

suggested that szamensis is a race of palpebrosa; we now have palpebrosa from

Karenni whence Wardlaw-Ramsay obtained siamensis, so that here both forms

are found together. ]

Zosterops erythropieura.

sh ee

Shot out of a large party in pine forest at 5,000 feet. The pale lemon-

yellow throat and undertail coverts and the chocolate flanks of this bird are

distinctive. Has the same thin day-old-chick-like cheep of Z, palpebrosa.

[This is an interesting record as this White-eye has been obtained only

-once before in Burma. De Schauensee records it from Monglin in Kengtung,

Southern Shan States on 13 February. Presumably it is a winter visitor.!

Aethopyga nipaiensis karenensis Ticehurst (Ibis. 1939, p. 755-)

Wee Or GU ae

The only Sunbird seen. It frequents both temperate forest, evergreen and

open pine with rhododendron forest from 7,000 feet upwards, where it is

common. Males predominate, the proportion seen being about 3 to 1.

[Birds from Myitkyina Hills and from Bhamo Hilis belong to the typical

form, The good series obtained on Nattaung, four males and three females,

show that the type here is constant and easily separable from any other forms.

There is in the male no maroon cn the back and no scarlet splashing on the

‘yellow breast and so they are widely separable from nipalensis. They are nearer

victoviae; in this form the back is green with a very slight reddish tinge in

it and there are splashings of red on the yellow of the underparts; in karenensis

the back is brighter yellowish green with no red tinge and no scarlet on

underparts. In addition the female is separable from both nepalensis and

victoriae in having the whole crown slate-grey contrasting with the mantle

‘instead of being concolorous with it; the underparts, too, are richer yellow. ]

Arachnothera magna magna.

Collected in oak forest at 6,000 feet.. The only bird seen.

[It is of interest to find that the form in Karenni is magna as no speci-

mens thence were available before. Birds from Arakan and. Southern Chin.

Hills are magna; on the east side of the Irrawaddy in Thayetmyo, in Tharra-

waddy, Pegu and Toungoo the form is auwrata. I had already ‘noted that birds

from Karen Hills are somewhat intermediate between aurata and magna, and

now we find magna in Karenni, as also in the Southern Shan States and

N. Tenasserim. It seems that aurata is confined to the country between the

Irrawaddy and the Sittang in Lower Burma. |

592. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NAPURAL HIST SOCIEL Y= Vel <aen

Dicacum ignipectus ignipectus.

shite!

Common in oak forest at 4,5000 feet.

Psarisomus dalhousiae dalhousiae

One bird seen in evergreen at §,5000 feet. No specimens obtained.

[Recorded from the Karen Hills. ]

Picus chlorolophus chlorvlophoides.

I Gi.

Obtained in oak forest at 6,000 feet. The only bird seen.

Dryobates atralus. :

1 550%

Fairly common in open pine and oak forest between 5,000 and 6,000 feet.

Dryobates nanus.

1 unsexed,

Shot in pine forest at 6,000 feet.

[This single bird is unlike any others from Burma in having a very small

bill. It is also very black on the upperparts, very dark on the crown, and

the central tail feathers are without spots. Further material is desirable though

single specimens from Karenni and the Karen Hills in the British Museum

do not resemble it or differ from canicapillus. The form is highly variable and

possibly this specimen is abnormal.

Recently Mr. Deignan has resuscitated pumilus from S. Tenasserim as

a valid form having browner upperparts as against black upperparts in

canicapillus. In’ Burma brownness and blackness is due partly to individual

variation and partly to wear. Of the large series at my disposal one can

see that most fresh plumaged birds are black but some are blacker than

others; in worn dress most acquire a more brownish tinge and this is irres-

pective of locality. It so happens that the only two from near the type locality

of canicapillus (taken in February) are the brownest of a long series of

Burmese birds. The race pumilus seems very doubtful and the amount of

material from S. Tenasserim is not sufficient to be dogmatic that the form

there is different to that of Lower Burma. ]

Blythipicus pyrrhotis pyrrhotis.

Seen a 5,000 feet in oak forest. It has a harsh, strident call ‘churra-

cha-churra-cha-churra’, No specimens obtained,

Megalaima virens virens.

Often heard in the valleys between 4,500 and 6,000 feet. It keeps to the

tops of the highest trees.

[Is known from Southern Shan States, Karen Hills and the Papun Dis-

trict. ] :

Cyanops franklinii ramsayi.

eae) 3

Common in both pine and evergreen from 4,500 feet to 7,000 feet. Not

a shy bird, and allows a close approach.- Often seen in low trees in the

understorey. It has a loud double-note ‘chu-uck, chu-uck’.

Cuculus canorus bakeri.

One bird heard calling at 6,000 feet in pine forest.

Cuculus micropterus micropterus.

Commonly heard up to about 6,000 feet.

[Recorded in Southern Shan States and N. Tenasserim. ]

, Hierococcyx sparvaroides.

Constantly heard up to 6,000 feet, calling most of the day, and apparently

all the night. i Bees

NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF NATTAUNG, KARENNI 593

Cacomantis merulinus querulus.

Occasionally heard at about 5,000 feet.

Chalcites maculatus maculatus.

ncta

Shot in evergreen at 6,000 feet. The only bird seen.

[Is known already from the [Karen Hills. ]

Rhopodytes tristis longicaudatus.

Seen in re-growth at 5,000 feet.

Entomothera coromanda coromanda.

One bird seen in evergreen at 5,000 feet.

[Apparently a rare bird of which there are but few records outside enas-

serim. Recorded once at Kalaw in Southern Shan States and once in the

Toungoo hills. ]

Harpactes eryihrocephalum erythrocephalum.

Several pairs seen in evergreen about 5,000 feet.

Hirundapus giganteus indicus.

Seen flying over the cleared top of Nattaung, 8,600 feet.

[The distribution of this Swift in Burma is little known. It has been

obtained once in Karenni. |

Caprimulgus macrourus bimaculatus.

Heard at 5,000 feet.

[Said.to be the commonest species of Nightjar in the Southern Shan States.

Not previously recorded in Karenni. ]

Glaucidium brodiei tubiger.

Heard at night at 4,500 feet and in pine forest at 6,o00 feet at 8 a.m.

[Known from Karen Hills.]

_ Sphenecercus sphenurus sphenurus.

tO.

One-of a pair seen at 6,000 feet, the only ones seen.

[Is known from all the parts surrounding Karenni.]_

Ducula badia griseicapilla.

_ Occasionally seen upto 6,000 feet. :

[The type came from the higher parts of Karen seiiicahs ee ee ee

Streptopelia orientalis agricola.

Several seen on the road at about 4,500 feet.

Gallus bankiva robinsoai.

One cock calling in a valley at 5,000 feet, the only one heard. The locality

should be rich in Phasianidae, but no Pheasants were seen, nor were scratchings

noticed. They have undoubtedly been exterminated, with all four-footed game,

by the Karens. .

Arborophila rufogularis tickelli.

eos

Both obtained at between 7,000 and 8,000 feet in evergreen with sparse

ground cover. A few scratchings seen at these elevations. Also seen in

temperate forest.

[Recorded from Southern Shan States, Karen Hills and N. Tenasserim. ]

Francolinus pintadeanus phayrei.

The call of this bird was heard once at 5,000 feet. No specimens collected.

Turnix maculatus maculatus

1 unsexed. i

Obtained in grass in open pine forest at 6,000 feet. Seen on two other

occasions at the same elevation in similar type of forest.

SMALL GAME SHOOTANG IN MYSORE.

Major E. G. Puytuian-Apams, 1.4. (Retd.), F.Z.S.

(With a plate).

The Mysore District is the southernmost of the 8 districts

which comprise the State and covers some 5,500 square miles of

country at an average height of 2,500 feet above sea-level. On

the south and west are extensive forests, but the greater portion

consists of an undulating and well cultivated plateau with occasional

bare stony uplands more or less covered with scrub jungle; while

on the north-east large areas are under sugar-cane. The district

is well watered by two large rivers and there are many tanks, some

channel fed from the irrigation canals, but mostly dependent on

‘the rains of the north-east monsoon. The latter tends to be

irregular and in consequence the amount of water in most of the

tanks varies from year to year; conditions for sport being most

favourable when the monsoon has to a large extent failed and

the duck and teal are congregated on the few tanks which do hold

a sufficiency of water.

Mysore City, the headquarters of the district, lies some 86 miles

by road south of Bangalore and 10c miles north of Ootacamund’

in the Nilgiris; and a radius of 4o miles from the city covers’ all

the tanks and grounds which form the basis of this article on

observations made from 1925 to 1939 and from the records in the

game register covering that period.

Most of the numerous State Forests are Game predieseries

no shooting is permitted, so that for all practical purposes spor

with the shotgun is confined to pigeons and migratory. birds.

Snipe.—As in most parts of the plains of India the snipe is the

most abundant and generally distributed of all game birds in the

district, and though nowhere sufficiently numerous to lend them-

selves to record bags there are always sufficient to add variety to

the bag and at time to afford by themselves an excellent day’s

sport. Anything over 25 couple in a day may be considered excep-

tional, the best recorded being 354 couple to two guns.

The Pintail Snipe, as usual in South India, is considerably -

more numerous than the Fantail. It arrives as early as September

and leaves about 15th April by which time it has mostly paired,

though a few birds may stay on till early May. It is of course a

considerably heavier bird than the Fantail averaging over 4 ounces

as against the latter’s 31 ounces. Swinhoe’s snipe were found

for the first time during the past season, three being brought to

bag; and they are therefore even more uncommon than in Malabar

where their percentage works out at 1 to 280 Pintails as compared

with 1 to 658 in Mysore. :

~ gs

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MYSORE 595

The Fantail snipe generally arrives in October and. is. very

locally distributed. They are on the whole wilder and their flight

more erratic than Pintails, and consequently they are harder to

bag than their more somnolent cousins.

Jack snipe are distinctly uncommon, but their numbers vary

[rom year to year without any obvious reason, as in Malabar.

I*or snipe shooting the writer has for many years used No. IX

shot and finds that the closer pattern gives cleaner kills even at

long range than No. 8, while experience shows that in an emergency

the smaller size can be used most etfectively on teal, always pro-

vided that shots are limited to birds approaching or crossing.

Those who have not yet tried No. IX are strongly advised: to do

SO.

Kor the table the snipe is deservedly prized; but how seldom

one sees it served except roast on toast! Snipe are also excellent

ina pie, or curried, while a thick snipe soup. properly made with

milk and a little onion 1s hard to beat; and an excellent potted

meat can be: made from them. A couple of years back one of

our party had the extraordinary experience of finding a felt wad

inside the snipe he was eating. One has found wads occasionally

in rabbits shot at close quarters when ferretting and heard of them

in pheasants and partridges, but the chances against one being

found inside such a smail bird as a snipe are so great that per-.

sonally I should have found the incident incredible had I not been

present at the table and seen our friend trying to dissect with his

knife what he imagined to be an unusuaily tough ‘trail’! The wad

I may add is still in my possession.

The following table shows the different varieties of snipe shot

during the past fourteen years :— |

TABLE OF SNIPE SHOT.

Year Pintail Swinhoe Fantail | Jack

1925-6 | 30 si 23 | 3

1926-7 | 3 hs 21 ]

1927-8 | 50 ar 31 oF

1928-9 46 So Y Ae 5

1929-30 42 Te 35 1

1930-1 - 190 & 49 3

1931-2 295 a 70 7

1932-3 219 re 43 2

1932-4 67 ae 4 3

1934-5 129 e 80 6

1935-6 51 = 67 3

1936-7 118 et 71 6

1937-8 264 ah 107 10)"

1938-9 334 3 156 oe

Totals ane 1973 3 786 61

596. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

The Painted snipe not being a true snipe is not included in the

above table, but 43 are recorded as having been bagged during the

same period. Though not common, it seems to be fairly widely

distributed. ‘A nest with two eggs was found near Gundlupet on

6-8-1935, and several! immature birds were shot in the same vicinity

On. 23-3-1938. .

Geese.—The only goose found in the area is the Bar-headed, a

considerably smaller bird than the Grey Lag of North India, but

every bit as wary and incidentally excellent eating. Though no-

where common it is widely distributed, gaggles varying in number

from half a dozen to 150 birds though the latter figure is exceptional.

One favourite locality between Gundlupet and Chamrajnagar has

afforded unusual opportunities for observation of a gaggle of over

too. Their custom is to assemble at dawn on a bare stony upland

where an immense amount of gabbling takes place and the birds

presumably secure grit. After about 15 minutes they break up

into small parties which proceed in different directions to feed on

the adjacent stubbles. About 9 a.m. they re-assemble in larger

parties and fly in succession to the tank selected for the day’s

rest. Usually 1 or 2 scouts are sent ahead and then skein after

skein arrives performing as they descend to the water the most

amazing aerial acrobatics to the accompaniment of their usual

clanging cry. By 9-30 all the parties have coalesced into one

gaggle and soon all are floating peacefully asleep (except for the

usual lookouts) in the centre of the tank.

Except where they can be stalked on the stubbles from behind

bushes or walls, or from the bund of a small tank, they are diffi-

cult to approach and seldom allow a suspicious character “to come

within 150 yards. They can therefore best be brought to bag by

studying their lines of flight which seldom vary and taking position

accordingly. Bags are necessarily small and in the past 14 years

only 28 have heen collected, the. best day being 8. They are tough

birds and B. B. or No. 2 will be found the best size of shot. For

cripple stoppers No. 7 does excellently as it gives a closé pattern

on head and neck; winged birds it may be added are adepts at

diving and swimming under water.

Duck and Teal.—Of the Anatide found in the district only the

spotbill duck and the Whistling Teal are resident. All the rest are

migratory and their dates of arrival vary to some extent from

year to year, doubtless being affected by the amount of water

available further North, but chiefly by the date of the setting in

of the North-East monsoon current. Generally speaking they do not

arrive in any numbers till about the middle of November, after

which fresh arrivals may be expected till the end of December. By

the middle of March all the duck have gone except for an occasional

straggler and the resident Spotbills, but Garganey and Cotton Teal

stay for at least another month.

Bags cannot of course compare with those obtained in the more

favoured parts of North India and Burma. With us a bag of

100 duck and teal in a day to 4 or 5 guns is distinctly good, and it

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MYSORE 597

is only in exceptional years (such as the season just ended) that

this figure will be greatly surpassed, as the following list of red

letter days shows :—

11 January 1926—24 duck, 15 teal and 6 snipe total 45 to

2 guns.

7 March 1935—52 duck and teal (mostly teal) in 2 hours

to I gun.

14 March 1936—141 head including io2 teal and 21 blue

rocks to 5 guns.

24 February 1939—30 duck and 75 teal (single tank) to

4 guns.

1g March 1939—187 head including g duck and 143 teal to

5 guns.

In 53% days shooting during February and March 1939, 712 head

were bagged by an average of 5 guns.

What sizes of shot are best? The writer finds that a No. 6 in

the right barrel and an Alphamax No. 4 in the left will deal with

any shots offered within reasonable range. Tor exceptionally high

shots at duck an Alphamax No. 2 proves useful, and on account of

its close pattern No. 8 is recommended for Cotton Teal.

Are duck decreasing in number? As regards Pintail, Garganey

and Cotton Teal there does not appear to be any appreciable diminu-

tion in the past 14 years, but there is a definite and very

noticeable decrease in the number of spotbills. Many of these birds

nest in the district and suffer both from out-of-season shooting

and also from their eggs being taken for food or sale by the

villagers. The following table shows the numbers of duck and

teal shot :—

een aces | ee a eee. (ecanaltce

= Fat ae D ml yee aa a eS

Duck| Year 8 Hat eee > | Oo) = | =

¢ ° yee = ) iS) wo | 5 = | Le}

4 Qy | le SG io) omer H | Ss

Ay Oo | & n | aie = eae

| 1925- 6 ange? 4 Ndere

1026 7 8 | 69 4 5 | a

| 1927— 8 be ea od i 19 | 1

1928-9) 6.5 17 +13 || 22 eae:

1929-30 10 38 2 14 1 bs a «|

19805 1.) 24 8) 31 oe 4 i 2 |

HOS <2) i 0 ha 30 ar 8 oa

1932- 3 Braleoo le 3

1932- 4 dole 229 io a ee Gos

Re OAS) 0 7) 34 na 13 4 1 :

elOSE= Gula20e Soe a, 13 d i

Pose 7. cig h37 2 5 2 ia ete

_ 1937-8 | 36 | 89 a 22 7 | aa ae

1038=.9"|' 10° -| 60 ee ae ee Be ae me

| i | |

'Totals ...| 169 | 565 | 24 | 176 | 37 Pid: ar 1

| | '

598° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL VHIST. SOCIBY VY.) Viol <i

| | .

Meslay Year Common eae Witedne Aieisiine Cotton

1925="6 3 23 sar | 10

1926- 7 3 50 is i

1927- 8 1 33 3 2

1928- 9 34 21 i nas

1929-30 8 122 1 WZ,

1930- 1 4 69 5 34

1931- 2 2 61 4 75

1932- 3 1 43 7) 26

i 3

Note.—The bags till 1934 were mostly made by 1 or 2 guns, since then the

size of the parties has increased to 4 or nore guns. ‘The figures

given are therefore of interest chiefly as showing the relative

proportions of the different species.

The following notes are appended on the various species :—

Pintail.—Large flocks, numbering anything up to 4oo visit all

the bigger tanks during the cold weather. When they first arrive

in November and are still in small flocks they may often be stalked

with success, but later on when they have amalgamated into larger

flocks (generally of different sexes) no bird is warier, and if much

disturbed, the first shot is sufficient to send them clear away to

some quieter spot. As a table bird they rival the Spotbill in excel-

lence early in the season, but their flavour appears to deteriorate

later on and is then sometimes rather fishy.

Spotbill.—Though mainly resident their numbers are certainly

increased by visitors during the cold weather. <A few pairs may be

found on most reedy tanks throughout the year and at times flocks

numbering 100 and more occur on the larger tanks especially late

in the season. Apparently they breed twice in the year, as flappers

unable to fly were found in October 1927, small ducklings in

January 1931, and flappers again in February 1931—all in different

localities. Oviduct eggs were found on 15th October and 24th

November.

On the’ whole they are not very wideawake birds and often

offer easy shots, but wounded birds are expert divers and difficult

to retrieve especially in lotus covered tanks. They are first class

eating.

Widgeon.—An uncommon winter visitor, their numbers varying

greatly from year to year; in fact several years may pass without

a single one being seen.

Shoveller.—A few birds are generally to be found on most tanks

in the cold weather, and at times flocks up to a dozen or more

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MYSORE 599

occur. I do not consider that this bird is a dirty feeder in Mysore,

however bad he may be in the North, at any rate as a rule. They

are generally found on clean tanks (not on village ponds) and feed

on the surface of the water going round in small circles with head

down and bill open to skim the surface; often found in company

with a few teal.

Provided they are skinned and not plucked they are by no means

bad eating.

They are not very wary birds and often give easy shots.

Pochard.—An irregular winter visitor, but by no means as rare

as indicated in Birds of South India. The largest flock I have

seen was estimated by members of our party to number from 300

to 4oo. -This was in January 1938 on a tank near Bannur—on

which occasion five were. brought to bag and several lost.

Once off the water they generally afford a number of chances

as they circle the tank but soon gain height (generally in dense

formation) and clear right off.

As a table bird not bad eating, but not to be compared with

the Spotbill or Pintail.

Tufted Pochard.—A somewhat rare winter visitor. On one

occasion from a flock of 15,2 were bagged and 3 lost—the others

recorded were single birds.

Wounded birds swim fast and low in the water and are such

expert divers that they are extremely difficult to retrieve. In flight

when seen from below they look like large cotton teal. A poor

bird for the table.

White-eye and Gadwall.—Single records.

Brahminy.—Not common. ‘The most seen were 20 on a sand-

bank in the Cauvery River. If skinned the breast can be made

quite palatable.

Comb duck.—None bagged, but 2 definitely recorded as seen

near Gundlupet. Theobald’s record of it from Kollegal no doubt

refers to the Yellandur tanks in Mysore which I am informed were

favourite shooting grounds of his. My recollections of it from

Burma are that it was not a good bird for the table.

Common Teal.—Not common and seldom found in flocks of

over 20, being more abundant some years than others. An excellent

bird for the table, far better in my opinion than the garganey.

Garganey.—The commonest duck in Mysore outnumbering even

the Pintails and Cotton Teal, the flocks varying from 25 to 200 or

more.. Fairly easily brought to bag except when wounded. A good

table bird except late in the season when it is inclined to be fishy.

Large Whistling Teal.—Only recorded once when a single bird

was obtained from a small flock on the Cubbany River behind the

Travellers Bungalow at Nanjangud.

Lesser Whistling Teal.—A common resident generally found on

weedy tanks and sometimes on rivers, and fairly distributed through-

out the district. Flocks number from under a dozen to 100 or more.

On the water they are not particularly wary and may often he stalked;

once in the air they circle round and round the tank uttering their

noisy whistling cry and keeping at a fair height, but sooner or later

600 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLT

come within range if the gun is well concealed. Wounded birds are

expert divers and difficult to recover in the reed and lotus covered

tanks which they generally frequent.

I have found their nests on islands in the Cauvery in August, and

saw no less than 25 pairs om a tank near Gundlupet in June. Two

old birds with 7 ducklings were seen on a roadside tank near

Hampapura on 21-12-1932 and 1 have a record of ducklings from

another locality on 13-12-1936. Their breeding season therefore

appears variable unless they are double brooded.

If skinned it is quite a fair table bird,-and I think I am correct

in stating that in Ceylon it is considered better eating than other

teal.

Cotton Teal.—Common throughout the district in flocks of from

5 to 200. A few certainly stay throughout the year as I have re-

peatedly seen as many as 15 pairs in July, but the great majority

must be migrants. It is a fairly confiding bird and difficult to

rouse from the water, and then at first is inclined to bunch. But

when once it is reaily roused it gives most sporting and difficult

shots as its pace is so easily misjudged. A common habit after

firing has become general is for a flock to leave the tank, circle across

country and then return to the water; as they flash past in this way

at breast height they give a wonderfully good imitation of driven

grouse and are equally hard to hit. With such a small bird No. 8

shot will be found to give the best results—larger shot often results

in a bird being winged and a winged cotton teal is generally lost,

as they will stay under water for anything up to 3 minutes.

It is quite a mistake to suppose that these birds are unfit for

the table—on the contrary, they are excellent eating.

Demoiselle Crane.--Flocks totalling several thousands visit the

Cubbany River above and below Nanjangud annually from about

2oth December when they may be heard circling Mysore city at

night on arrival, and they stay till March. They feed on the paddy

stubbles in the morning and evening, and pass the rest of the day

and the night.on sand-banks in the river. The only other places

where | have seen them is on the Yellandur tanks and at the junction

of the Cauvery and Cubbany Rivers at T. Narsipur.

They are not particularly difficult to bring to bag but are tough

birds, and large size shot is recommended. Wounded birds are apt

to be aggressive and should be approached with caution. Before

they leave in .March they indulge in extraordinary antics on the

sand-banks.. Their harsh clanging cry is responsible for their local

name of Kara Kara. A first class bird for the table.

Pigeons.—Of other game birds Green Pigeons afford the most

sport. They are common and widely distributed during certain

months, being found in flocks of up to 50 and more feeding morn-

ing,and evening on the fruit of the banian trees which line most

of the main roads. Their greatest frequency occurs from October

to February after which their numbers decrease and from March

onwards only a few odd birds are to be seen. The large numbers

seen in..pairs and presumably nesting during May and June in the

Mudumalai forest and at the foot of the Northern slopes of the

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MYSORE.

Demoiselle Cranes.

Ef Mek.

2P vet, $

A halt for lunch.

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MYSORE 601

Nilgiris doubtless come from Mysore and return there later. The

South Indian green pigeon is commonest, but considerable flocks

may be. found of the Grey-fronted whose swifter flight and smaller

size generally identifies them on the wing. Only 2 Orange-breasted

green pigeons have been shot during the past 14 years both near

Gundlupet, and on each occasion they were in company with the

South Indian species.

They are excellent sporting birds and not difficult to bring to

bag, No. 7 shot having been found the most useful size. Up to

40 a day may be expected to 2 guns. For. the table they are

equally good especially if skinned before cooking.

Of other pigeons the Ceylon Green Imperial occurs in small

numbers and the Blue-rock is common. The latter is generally

found about old bridges and temples. The Wellesley bridge at

Seringapatam is a well-known locality, our best bag being’ 63 to

3 guns one evening as the birds came in to roost. I have met the

Nilgiri wood pigeon only once in this area when 2 were shot out

of 4 seen in scrub jungle some 5 miles west of Begur.

Sandgrouse.—Both Common and Painted are found in the district

but they are uncommon and strictly local. Personally I) know of

only one locality where over 100 come to water at a small tank

about 9 a.m. in the cold weather, the best bag being 22, but there

are other suitable areas which no doubt hold them. I have found

their nests in March and April—the average clutch being 2. Only

one painted sandgrouse has so far been brought to bag out of a

pair found near Nagamangala.

Great Indian Bustard.—-As this is a rare bird in all parts of its

habitat, a more detailed account of the 3 I have bagged may’ be

of interest. The first occasion was in December 1929 when: I was

returning across country after shooting a duck tank. Our way was

along the slope of a small hill covered with thorn bushes and low

scrub, and as we topped a ridge I saw 2 large birds on the ground

about 50 yards away, pecking about. They looked like a cross

between a vulture and a peacock, and it was not till they took

to flight a moment later that I realized what they were. As thev

had only flown some 200 vards down into a small valley full of

bushes I sent my 3 men round to the right to drive them while I

fan down tothe left to try and: intercept: their probable line=.or

flight. One came past about 50 yards away and a charge of B. B.

brought it down—the other rose well out of shot and we watched

its steady flight for over a mile till it disappeared behind a hill.

The one shot was a magnificent bird and weighed 25 lb. Its

stomach contained some crystal stones and a number of large red

grasshoppers, with a brown mush presumably consisting of grass

tips; it proved excellent eating. The second was one of those lucky

chances which occur to every sportsman at times. It was a chance

encounter in 1931 round a bush at only 30 yards, and a charge of

No. 6 shot with which T happened to be loaded killed the cock dead

on the spot. 3

On the third and last occasion a year later I visited the same

spot, a rolling stony upland covered with short bushes, and after

602 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

some spying with the fieldglasses spotted the long white neck of

a cock watching us over a bush about 500 yards away, while further

examination of the ground showed 4 more in its vicinity.. A big

detour and a stalk up a convenient nullah brought me within

120 yards when a solid bullet from my ‘318 at the base of the

neck laid low a bird whose suspicions had been aroused and which

was staring at the bush behind which I was sheltering. The

remainder flew off about half a mile and I spent another hour trying

for another shot but without success. The only other record I have

is of a cock seen flying as recently as January 1938.

These birds are already rare and unless steps are taken to give

them complete protection both from sportsmen and from the pro-

fessional snarers, as already suggested in the Survey of wild life

in Mysore, their extinction is only a matter of time.

Other game birds which may be met with are the following :—

Florican.—I have only seen one in the past 14 years, some

30 miles north of Mysore City; so presumably it is a rare bird.

Peafowl.—Formerly common round Gundlupet and no doubt in

other suitable localities, but though protected by the Game Laws

it has much decreased in recent years owing to village poaching.

Grey Jungle Fowl.—Common and widely distributed in suitable

localities, but suffers much from the depredations of professional

snarers.

Spur Fowl.—The Red Spur Fowl is less common than the preced-

ing, but I have shot a few round Gundlupet. Only one painted spur

fowl is recorded from the same locality.

Southern Grey Partridge.—Common and widely distributed but

suffers even more than the Jungle Fowl from the activities of the

Pardies who snare immense numbers annually apparently without

any restriction of season.

I have found only 2 nests of this bird both in July. Not a bad

bird for the table though somewhat dry; but as it is a dirty feeder

at times, the crops of any birds shot in the vicinity of villages should

be examined before they are given to the cook.

Quail.—These are occasionally put up when snipe shooting, the

Rain Quail being more common than the Grey of which I have only

one record at Gundlupet. Other varieties include the Rock bush

quail and the Button, but they are seldom considered worth a charge

of shot.

With the exception of the hare which is seldom seen that ends

the list of small game, but a few notes on shooting may be of interest.

Snipe are of course shot walking in line, but if very wild may

sometimes be driven with success. In shooting a tank it is important

that all guns should be in place before the rousing shot is fired and

cover 1s most necessary. When there are tall reeds these prove

ample, but often the shore is bare when a hide must be constructed

out of branches or by wire netting supported on light poles with

grass plaited into the mesh; the latter is a light and portable type

and has proved extremely useful. A couple of decoy ducks placed

in the water about 30 yards from the gun bring one a number of

extra chances, Spotbills and Garganey being especially attracted. On

SMALL GAME SHOOTING IN MYSORE — 603

p. 167, Vol. XIV of the Journal, is an interesting note on the use of

a pariah dog to decoy duck in Mysore, but I have never heard of

one being used in this way. A trained shooting dog is however

most useful to retrieve ducks, but care should be taken never to allow

one to enter a tank in which there are known to be crocodiles or

where the weed is very heavy. In the latter case a light folding

boat which can be carried on the car and quickly put together, is

the only method which can be used with safety, as it is unthinkable

to allow a cooly to make the attempt however willing he may be.

As regards dress, a green shikar coat with khaki shorts, putties

and hobnailed boots are probably best in the long run. Stockings

and shoes are more comfortable but the former are little protection

against water leeches which abound in some tanks, while the latter

soon get filled with mud. A drawback to shorts is the water itch

which is particularly bad at times, but this can be avoided by

smearing the knees with carbolised vaseline before entering the

water. Water itch is noticeably worse in or near a bed of bull

rushes, but I have been unable to ascertain its cause, though a

small waterflea has been suggested.

The subject of cartridge average is always of interest and the

question is often debated as to what expenditure of cartridges

constitutes a good shot. Conditions of ground, light and weather

vary so from day to day that only the season’s average should

be considered, and I think a good all round shot taking every

reasonable chance should average not less than 50% at snipe and

pigeons and 334% at duck and teal, counting only those birds

which are actually picked up.

Too much importance should not however be placed on cartridge

averages or they may spoil a man’s sport. One has met men

whose reputation as snipe shots, etc. was founded on the fact that

they picked their birds, and never fired at one over 25 yards away,

considering anything over 30 yards as hopelessly out of range.

Such shooting to the average is not conducive to sport nor to a

big bag, and anyone who suffers from such a complex is advised

to discontinue counting his kills to cartridges.

In conclusion, any sportsman visiting Mysore ketween November

and March should certainly bring a shotgun, as the small game

shooting though nothing great, is at least very enjoyable.

ACHROIA GRISELLA FABR. AND hs SiRGEUS IN

SOUTH INDIA.

MuIG: CHERIAN, B.A., °B.SC;, D:1.C:

AND

S. RAMACHANDRAN, L.Ag.,

Agricultural Research Institute, Coimbatore.

INTRODUCTION.

The occurrence of Achroia grisella—the lesser wax-moth—was

till recently supposed to be restricted to the western countries

and information regarding its status as a pest on honey combs

has been somewhat contradictory. To mention a few, Prof. Dr.

A. Borchert, in his article, ‘Wax-moths and their control’, page

374, American Bee Journal, August 1938, appears to take a

serious view of this pest, while F. B. Paddock in ‘Bee Moths’,

page 422, Journal of Economic Entomology, vol, xxill, 1930, states

that it comes only as a scavenger after an attack of Galleria

mellonella. In North India, C. C. Ghosh makes the first record

of this pest on page 24 a Miscellaneous Bulletin, No. 6—Bee-

keeping—of the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, 1936

and states the following: ‘There is a smaller moth known as the

lesser wax-moth—Achroia grisella F. ‘which is a smaller enemy

of combs but to a much less extent than the wax-moth’.

STATUS OF THE PEST AT COIMBATORE.

At Coimbatore,: the pest was for the first time noted! by the

authors in November 1936 causing some minor damage to stored

combs. The damage caused by the caterpillars to the combs in

bee colonies is practically negligible as compared with the ravages

of Galleria mellonella. In nature the caterpillars are generally

found feeding on the debris accumulated on the floor board of

the artificial hive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ADULT.

The following description is given in page 6—Fauna of British

India, Moths, Hampson, Vol. iv.

Genus—Achroia.

Achroia, Hubn Verg, p. 163 (1818).

Type, A. grisella Fabr.

Range—Palaearctic, Oriental, and Australian regions.

Palpi minute and _ porrect; maxillary palpi minute; frons

rounded; antennae minutely serrate; tibia roughly scaled. Fore-

wing short and rounded; male with a glandular fold fringed with

hair at base of costa below; vein 3 from near angle of cell; 4, 5

stalked; 6 from below the upper angle; 7, 8 stalked; 9 stalked

with 7, 8 from cell or abnormally absent; 10 from cell; 11 absent—

ACHROIA GRISELLA FABR. AND ITS STATUS IN S. INDIA _ 605

hind wing with apex acute; vein 2 from close to angle of cell;

4 absent; 3, 5 stalked; 6, 7 stalked; 7 anastomosing with 8 to

near apex.

Achroia grisella Fabr. Ent. Syst., il, pt. 2., p. 280.

A. cinereola; Hubn. Samml. eur. Schmett., Bombyces. Fig. o1.

Uniform grey brown; the head yellow.

The larva feeds on the wax in bee hives.

Hab. Europe, Calcutta, Australia, Exp. 18-20 mm.

How To DISTINGUISH THE LARVAE OF THE TWO WAX-MOTHS.

Occasionally caterpillars of Galleria and Achroia are found in

close association on the combs of neglected bee colonies, but

caterpillars of the bigger moth can be easily made out by their

bigger size, stouter build and greyish colour. Apart from the

size and colour, the two pests can be differentiated by their feeding

habits which are peculiar to each. Caterpillars of the bigger moth

feed voraciously on the combs after having established themselves

near the central partition and constructed the tortuous silken

feeding tunnels. The infestation is noticed by the presence of a

whitish silken webbing over the cells and in bad cases the whole

comb is eaten away leaving behind only a tangled mass of webbing

which is generally white and free of any dirt or excreta. In

the other case the caterpillars feed mostly on the surface hiding

inside silken galleries which are completely covered by the dark

pellets of excreta that adhere to it, giving it an almost brownish

or even a dark colour.

Besides these differences in the feeding

habits, the following few variations on the external structure of

the two caterpillars may also be mentioned.

Galleria mellonella

1. The full grown caterpillar is

nearly 2.5 cm. in length, stout bodied.

Pale dark in colour. Body segments

thickset over the abdominal region 1-6,

the two end regions tapering.

2. Head and prothorax dark brown.

3. A longitudinal whitish streak over

the prothorax is prominent.

4. The adfrontal area between front

and epicranium is dark brown and

clearly demarcated.

5. Between the adfrontal area and

the epicranial shield, there is a_pro-

minent brownish yellow thick line.

6. The body setae are more brown-

ish and arise from small elevated,

circular blackish warts.

7, In segment 9 (abdominal) four

setae lying on the dorsal side and two

on either side of the median dorsal line

are seen on a plate like chitinised area,

Achroia_ grisella

The full-grown caterpillar 1-6 cm.,

slender, pale whitish in colour. Body

almost cylindrical and smooth over the

greater portion except at the extremi-

ties which are slightly thinner.

Head and prothorax light reddish.

The streak is faint and narrow.

The portion of the epicranium to-

wards the centre, the adfrontal area

and the front are of uniform light

brownish tint.

The outer boundary of the adfrontal

area is very feebly indicated as a thin

line.

The body setae are softer and no

conspicuous warts or tubercles present.

The base of the setae are less

chitinised.

No special chitinised plate or area

on the oth abdominal segment,

606 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

LirE History OF THE MOTH.

The moths copulate soon after emergence and remain in

copulation for about 10 or 15 minutes. Oviposition takes place on

the same day. The eggs are laid in small groups but not glued

with one another, generally hidden under the broken fringes of the

combs or in cracks and crevices of the receptacle. The eggs are

roughly spherical in shape, less than 1 mm. in size and pale white

in colour. The maximum number laid by a single female was 186

and the bulk of them are laid within the first three days after

copulation. Eight. other moths laid 184;) 153%; "rie. 110m 103%

94; 88; and 73 eggs respectively. The egg period lasts from 2 to

4 days. The newly hatched larva is fairly active, about 2 mm. in

length, lightly pubescent with the head capsule coppery brown in

colour. The tiny caterpillars burrow into the combs and feed on

them constructing the characteristic silken tunnel covered with their

excreta. The larval period lasts from 34 to 38 days after which

the caterpillar pupates inside a silken cocoon completely covered

with their excrement. The latter is generally found amidst the

debris but in rare cases it is also be found on the sides of the recep-

tacle. The pupal period lasts from 5 to 12 days after which the

adults emerge. The longevity of the moths is not high, the

maximum being 8 days.

THE PEST AND ITs ASSOCIATION WITH THE BRACONID—

Apanteles galleriae.

As already mentioned, the caterpillars are generally seen gathered

on the floor board of the artificial hive. The Braconid appears to

parasitise these freely and numbers of their cocoons are often found

in the debris, which indicate that the pest is, to a considerable

extent, kept in check, by the parasite. The material collected from

the floor boards of individual hives was kept separately under

observation and in all the cases observed, only adults of either

the lesser wax-moth or the braconid parasite emerged. This is

another proof to support the statement that most of the caterpillars

found on the floor board are those of A. grisella.

The parasite lays its eggs singly inside the caterpillar and the

grubs on hatching out feed on the host and when mature, come

out and construct cocoons and pupate inside them. The full grown

grub is plump with the body tapering towards the head and pale

yellow in colour. The total life cycle ranges from 16-22 days.

The parasite is capable of reproducing parthenogetically. The

average longevity of the male and female is 14 and 11 days

respectively.

CONTROL MEASURES.

As the caterpillars are generally found on the floor board,

frequent cleaning of the board would keep the hives free of this

pest. In cases where the stored combs are attacked, drying of the

attacked combs in the morning sun for about 5 minutes (temperature

in the open not exceeding 95-100°F.) would drive out the cater-

pillars when they can be killed.

—

THEE DICINAL, AND POISONOUS “COMPOSITES

OF INDIA.

je EGC AIUs, (SoJ., FS.

The Compositz are found in all parts of the world, spread all

over the warm and temperate regions, and extending even into

the colder ones. They are herbs or shrubs, sometimes assuming

arborescent forms in warm countries. This family far outstrips

all others in the number of genera in the order, and the number

of species in the genus. More than a tenth of all the species of

flowering plants belong to this family, which includes about goo

genera and over 13,000 species.

Bitterness is the prevailing characteristic of the plants which

compose the Order. Therapeutically these may be divided into two

groups:—(1) the Tubuliflore which are generally bitter, tonic,

stimulant, and astringent, and in many instances diaphoretic,

diuretic, and laxative; (2) the Liguliflore which are milky, bitter,

astringent, and sometimes narcotic.

The following are among the substances isolated:—(1) hydro-

carbons—cadinene, dipentene, d-limonene, phellandrene, pinene—;

(2) alcohols—cineol, borneol, mannitol, terpineol, thuyol—; (

phenolic ethers—anethol—; (4) acetones—camphor, thuyone—;}; (

acids—aconitic, alantic, angelic, caproic, carthamic, gallic, lactucic,

nonylic, tiglic—; (6) esters—pyrethrins—; (7) sugars—glucose,

laevulose—; (8) starches—inulin—; (9) resinoids—senecin, lactuco-

picrin—; (10) glucosides—absinthin, anthemic acid, arnicin, cent-

aurein, Cyanin, eupatorin, gaultherin, inulin, lactucenin, lactucin,

moschatin—; (11) alkaloids—abrotine, achilleine, echinopseine, 6-

echinopsine, echinopsine, lobelanidine, lobelanine, isolobelanine,

lobelidine, lobeline, moschatine, senecifolidine, senecifoline, senecine,

senecionine—; (12) miscellaneous drugs-—absinthiin, pyrethrin,

santonin—.

The medicinal and poisonous Composites of the world belong

to 196 genera:—ACANTHOSPERMUM (Hawaii, Singapore; Brazil) ;

ACHILLEA (cosmopolitan; temperate northern regions); ACHyYRA-

CHAENA (Western North-America); AcTINoMERIS (North America) ;

ADENOSTEMMA (cosmopolitan); AGERATUM (cosmopolitan, throughout

the Tropics); AmBrosta (Mediterranean region; America); AMPpHI-

DOXA (southern and tropical Africa); ANacycLus (Mediterranean

region); ANAPHALIS (cosmopolitan; Asia, America); ANTENNARIA

(cosmopolitan, in mountains); ANTHEMIS (cosmopolitan); APLOPAP-

pus (Chile); Arctium (temperate Asia, Europe); Arnica (Europe,

Asia, North America); ARTEMISIA (cosmopolitan ; northern temperate

regions, South America); AspiLia (tropical Africa; Madagascar ;

Mexico; South America, chiefly Brazil); ASTER (cosmopolitan,

northern temperate regions); ATHANAsIA (South Africa); ATHRIxra

608 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

(Arabia, southern and tropical Africa, Madagascar, Australia) ;

ArractyLis (Mediterranean region; China, Japan); BaccHaRIs

(cosmopolitan; tropical America); BELLIs (cosmopolitan, northern

hemisphere); BERKHEYA (South Africa); BrpENs (cosmopolitan,

chiefly American); BrcELowsa (northern and central America);

BLEPHARIPAPPUS (western North-America); BLUMEA (tropical and

subtropical Asia, Africa, Australia); Bojeria (tropical Africa,

Madagascar) ; BoLTonia (northern subtropical Asia, North America) ;

BracHycLapos (Argentina, Patagonia, Chile); BRACHYLAENA (South

Africa); BrickELLia (North. America, Mexico, Brazil); CaLga

(America, Jamaica, China); CALENDULA (cosmopolitan; northern

Africa, southern Europe, western Asia); CALLILEPIS (South Africa) ;

CaARBENIA (Mediterranean region, Caucasus); CARDOopaTIUM (Mediter-

ranean region, North Africa); CARDUUS (cosmopolitan; temperate

Iurope, North Africa and Asia); Carina (Mediterranean region;

Siberia, Canary Islands); Carpesium (Europe; temperate and sub-

tropical Asia); CARTHAMUS (Mediterranean region, Central Europe,

India, Abyssinia, Canary Islands); Crnta (South. Africa); CEnT-

AUREA (cosmopolitan;. Europe, America, western Asia, Australia) ;

CENTIPEDA (Asia, Australia, tropical South America) ; CENTRATHERUM

(Asia, Australia, America); CHONDRILLA (Mediterranean to India;

Siberia); CHRYSANTHEMUM (cosmopolitan, northern temperate re-

gions); CHRysocoma (Caucasus, Siberia; Egypt, Arabia; South

Africa, South America); CrcHorium (cosmopolitan, temperate re-

gions); CINERARIA (Europe, South Africa); CLiBaprum (Central and

South America, West Indies); Cxicus (northern temperate regions) ;

COLEOSANTHUS (Bolivia); Conyza (tropical and subtropical regions) ;

CoTuLaA (tropical and temperate regions); CREPIS (cosmopolitan ;

northern temperate regions) ; CROSSOSTEPHIUM (Central Asia, China,

Luzon); Cynara (Mediterranean region, Canary Islands); Dania

(cosmopolitan; Mexico, Central America); DicHROcEPHALA (Asia,

Africa, Madagascar) ; Dicoma (South Africa, India) ; DrimoRPHOTHECA

(South Africa); Doronicum (temperate Europe and Asia); Ecutn-

ACEA (North America); ECHINOPs (cosmopolitan); EcLipra (cosmo-

politan, tropical); ELEPHANTOPUS (cosmopolitan, chiefly tropical

American); ELyTropappus (South Africa); Emiia (India, tropical

Africa, Madagascar); ENHypRA (tropical and subtropical regions) ;

EPALTES (tropical Asia, Africa, America); EREcHTITES (America,

Australia, New Zealand); ERIGERON (cosmopolitan; northern tem-

perate region); ERIOCcEPHALUS (South Africa); Erau tia (India,

Sunda Archipelago, Java, eastern tropical Africa, Madagascar) ;

Eupatorrum (cosmopolitan, chiefly American); Euryops (South

Africa); Fauyasta (Mascarene Islands); FeExicra (southern and

tropical Africa); Fitaco (Europe, North Africa, Argentina, Para-

guay); FLaverta (Central and South America, Australia); GAamo-

LEPIS (South Africa); GARULEUM (South Africa); Gazanta (South

Africa); Getcerta (South Africa); GERBERA (cosmopolitan ; temperate

regions and mountains); GLossocarpia (India); GLOSSOGYNE

(tropical Asia, Australia, New Zealand); GNapHaLium (cosmopoli-

tan); GONGROTHAMNUS (tropical Africa); GRANGEA (tropical Asia and

Africa); GrinpELIa (North and South America); Gurzor1a (tropical

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 609

Africa); GyMNOsPERMA (Mexico); GyNURA (warm regions of Asia,

Australia, and Africa); HapLocarpHa (South Africa); HELENIASTRUM

(Chile); HeLenitum (North America); HELiantHus (America, mostly

North America); HELICHRYSUM (cosmopolitan; temperate and sub-

tropical regions); Hemizonia (California, Galapagos); HERDERIA

(tropical Africa); HigzRactum (cosmopolitan); HyPOoCHOERIS (tem-

perate regions and mountains; Europe, northern Asia, Mediterranean

region, South America); HysTErironica (Western America, Chile) ;

INULA (cosmopolitan; Europe, Asia, Africa); JuRINEA (Europe,

Western and Central Asia); Lacruca (cosmopolitan; northern

temperate regions); LaGGERA (Asia, tropical Africa); Lampra-

CHAENIUM (India); LasiospERMUM (South Africa); LauNAgEa (Europe,

Canary Islands; South and North Africa to India; West Indies) ;

LreontTonyx (South Africa); LEyssera (Mediterranean region, South

Africa, North America); Liatris (North America); LyGopEsmia

(western North America); Macrociinipium (Japan); Mapia (Chile,

North America); Maracorurrx (North America, California, Mexico) ;

MaTRICARIA (cosmopolitan); MELANTHERA (Bahama, Yucatan);

Meratasia (South Africa); MicroGiossa (Asia, Africa); MICROSERIS

(South America, New Zealand); Mixania (cosmopolitan; America) ;

Monovopia (California); MonraXNoa (cosmopolitan); NIDORELLA

(southern and tropical Africa, Abyssinia, Cape Verde); No Letra

(Africa); Noronra (India, Burma, Abyssinia, tropical Africa);

Onoporpon (Mediterranean region, Europe); ONosERis (Mexico,

South America); OsmiTEs (South Africa); Osmiropsis (South

Africa); OSTEOSPERMUM (Africa); OTHONNA (cosmopolitan; South

Africa); OTHonnopsis (Africa, Asia); PARTHENIUM (North America,

Mexico); PEcris’ (America, West . Indies); PEGoLETTIA (Java;

southern and tropical Africa); PENTzia (South Africa); PEREZIA

(Mexico, South America); PETASITES (northern temperate regions) ;

PEUCEPHYLLUM (western North America); Picriptum (Europe,

Western Asia, North Africa); Picris (cosmopolitan; Mediter-

ranean region, Europe, Abyssinia, temperate Asia); PIGUERIA

(Miexico;, “Ecuador, ‘Peru; Chile); PrEioraxis “(tropical ~Atrica) ;

PLUCHEA (tropical and subtropical regions); Potymnia (America) ;

PRENANTHES (northern temperate regions); PRinTziaA (South

Africa); Pstapia (Arabia, tropical Africa, Mascarene Islands,

Madagascar); -PTERONIA (cosmopolitan); PULICARIA (cosmopolitan ;

Europe, Asia, Africa); RUDBECKIA (cosmopolitan; North America) ;

SANTOLINA (cosmopolitan; Mediterranean region); SAUSSUREA

(northern temperate regions, and mountains); SCHISTOSTEPHIUM

(South Africa); SCLEROCARPUS (tropical Africa, North America,

Mexico); Scotymus (Mediterranean region, Nubia, Caucasus);

SCORZONERA (Central and South Europe, North Africa, Asia) ;

SENECIO (cosmopolitan; temperate climates, mountains of the

tropics) ; SERRATULA (cosmopolitan; Europe, North Africa; western,

central, and alpine Asia); SIEGESBECKIA (cosmopolitan; tropics and

subtropics; Peru); Si~tpHrum (North America); S1tyBum (Mediter-

ranean region; Europe, North Africa, northern India); SoL_maco

(North America; northern temperate regions); SoncHus (cosmo-

politan ; northern temperate regions, Central Asia); SPARGANOPHORUS

610°. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL US Te SOCiE DY iol eel

Australia) ; SPILANTHES (tropical America) ; STENOCLINE (Madagascar,

Brazil); STOEBE (South Africa); SYNEDRELLA (tropical America,

Africa, Asia); TAGETES (cosmopolitan; Argentina to Arizonal); Tan-

ACETUM (north temperate regions); TARAXACUM (temperate and cold

regions); ‘TARCHONANTHUS (Africa); TRaGopocon (Mediterranean

region; Europe, North Africa, temperate and subtropical Asia);

TRICHOLEPIS (India, Afghanistan); TRitisa (North America); TRI-

PLOTAXIS (tropical Africa); TRIPTERIS (South Africa); TRrx1s

(America); TussiLaco (cosmopolitan; northern temperate regions) ;

Ursinia (cosmopolitan; South Africa); VeENipIuM (southern and

tropical Africa); VERBESINA (tropical America); VERNONIA (cosmo-

politan, chiefly tropical; mostly American); VOLUTARELLA (southern

Europe, North Africa, western Asia, India); WEDELIa (tropical and

subtropical regions); WyETHIA (western North America); XANTHIUM

(cosmopolitan; Indo-Malaya, America); XERANTHEMUM (Medi-

terranean region to the East; South Africa).

The medicinal and poisonous Composites of India belong to the

following 80 genera:—-ACANTHOSPERMUM, ACHILLEA, ADENOSTEMMA,

AGERATUM, ANAPHALIS, ANTHEMIS, ARCTIUM, ARTEMISIA, ASTER,

BIDENS, BLUMEA, BOLTONIA, CALENDULA, CARDUUS, CARPESIUM,

CARTHAMUS, CENTAUREA, CENTIPEDA, CENTRATHERUM, CHRYSANTHE-

MUM, CICHORIUM, CNICUS, COTULA, CREPIS, DICHROCEPHALA, DiIcoMA,

DOoRONICUM, ECHINOPS, ECLIPTA, ELEPHANTOPUS, EMILIA, ENHYDRA,

ERIGERON, ETHULIA, EUPATORIUM, GERBERA, GLOSSOCARDIA, GLOSSO-

GYNE, GNAPHALIUM, GRANGEA, GUIZOTIA, GYNURA, HELIANTHUS, HIER-

ACIUM, HyYPOCHOERIS, INULA, JURINEA, Lactuca, LAGGERA, LAMPRA-

CHAENIUM, LAUNAEA, MATRICARIA, MicroGLossa, Mikania, NOTONIA,

OTHONNOPSIS, PEGOLETTIA, PICRIS, PLUCHEA, PULICARIA, SAUSSUREA,

SENECIO, SIEGESBECKIA, SILYBUM, SOLIDAGO, SONCHUS, SPARGANO-

PHORUS, SPHAERANTHUS, SPILANTHES, SYNEDRELLA, TAGETES, TAN-

ACETUM, TARAXACUM, TRAGOPOGON, TRICHOLEPIS, TUSSILAGO, VERN-

ONIA, VOLUTARELLA, WEDELIA, XANTHIUM.

A. Heads with the flowers all similar and tubular. Anthers

cleft at the base. Leaves usually alternate. Flowers

never yellow

I. Pappus absent.

a. Flower-heads 1 or more, glomerate and sessile in

leaf axils a at ne ws» SPARGANOPHORUS.

b. Flower-heads very numerous; peduncles short or

long te 54 ee ... ETHULIA.

II. Pappus short, fugacious.

a. Achenes 8-10 ribbed ane an ... CENTRATHERUM.

b. Achenes terete, shining sas ate ... LUAMPRACHAENIUM.

lll. Pappus chaffy. Heads few-flowered, crowded in

dense bracteate clusters a: es ... ELEPHANTOPUS.

1V. Pappus long, copious. Heads distinct, many-

flowered ; Ab . VERNONIA.

B. Heads with the flowers all similar and_ tubular.

Anthers subentire at the base. Leaves opposite or

alternate. Corolla rarely orange, never yellow

I. Anther-tip truncate; pappus usually of 3 clavate

hairs Het 406 ae ... ADENOSTEMMA.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 611

Il. Anther-tip appendiculate.

a. Pappus usually of 5 paleaceous scales ... AGERATUM.

bd. Pappus of slender hairs; involucral bracts co .., EUPATORIUM.

c. Pappus of slender hairs : involucral bracts 4 ... MiKania.

C. Heads with the flowers all similar or the outer ligulate.

Anthers subentire (cells not tailed) at the base. Leaves

usually alternate. Receptacle almost always naked.

Disk-flowers yellow ; ray-flowers yellow, white or purple

I. Flowers all yellow, those of the ray ligulate

Ligules few; heads in scorpioid panicles ..» SOLIDAGO.

II. Flowers all yellow, ray absent. Pappus hardly any

a. Receptacle conic’ or convex. Achenes with a

terminal toothed or bristly ring ... GRANGEA.

b. Receptacle usually elongate, top flat. Achenes

obtuse, flat, with a thickened border ... DICHROCEPHALA.

I1I. Ray-flowers female, ligulate, never yellow. Disk-

flowers yellow

a. Pappus of short bristles and 2-4 long hairs ... BOLTONIA.

b. Pappus hairs long, copious.

1. Ligules long, uniseriate ... ues .-. ASTER.

2. Ligules 2-3-seriate Le atk ... ERIGERON.

IV. Ray-flowers very slender, tubular. Pappus-hairs

copious, slender, 1-2-seriate, rather unequal ... Microciossa.

D. Heads with the flowers all similar or the outer ligulate.

Leaves usually alternate. Disk- and ray-flowers usually

both yellow

1. Heads androgynous. Receptacle naked. Style-arms

ot hermaphrodite flowers filiform, not truncate, or

style of sterile flowers entire

a. Heads corymbose or panicled.

1. Herbs, often aromatic, with narrow bracts;

pappus I-seriate, caducous

. Anther-bases tailed... Pas ... BLUMEA.

Anther-bases not tailed . LaGGERA,

oe Shits or undershrubs with broad br acts ; pappus

I-seriate, free or sometimes connate PLUCHEA.

b. Heads in dense, globose or ovoid clusters. Herbs

with decurrent leaves; bracts paleaceous, few or

many. Pappus absent a ie .». SPHAERANTHUS.

Il. Heads androgynous or homogamous. Involucral

bracts scarious, usually hyaline. Style-arms of

hermaphrodite flowers truncate

a. Hermaphrodite flowers all sterile with undivided

or merely notched styles

Heads corymbose. Pappus hairs quite free ... ANAPHALIS.

b. Hermaphrodite flowers all or mostly fertile with

divided styles

Female flowers 2-co-seriate. Pappus-hairs never

barbellate ong es ... GNAPHALIUM.

lll. Heads heterogamous, radiate, rarely subdisciform or

homogamous. Receptacle naked. |Hermaphrodite

flowers with linear style-arms, rounded or dilated

at the top

a. Heads rayed. Pappus-hairs few or many, sub-

equal nee ee bane LNULAG

b. Heads rayed or ‘discoid, heterogamous. Achenes

ribbed. Outer pappus of scales, inner of hairs .... PULICARIA.

c. Heads discoid, homogamous. Outer pappus_ of

paleae, inner of hairs ve one ... PEGOLETTIA.

d. Heads discoid, heterogamous. Pappus absent ... CARPESIUM,

612, JOURNAL, -BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

E. Heads usually radiate. Receptacle paleaceous. Anther-

cells not produced into tails. Achenes 3-4-angled or’

terete or compressed

I. Heads heterogamous or unisexual. Hermaphrodite

flowers sterile, with undivided styles; female

flowers apetalous

Involucral bracts of male flowers free, of female

forming a 2-flowered, 2-celled capsule armed

with glochidiate spines be

Il. Heads hetero- or homogamous. Leaves usually

opposite. °

a. Hermaphrodite flowers — sterile. Achenes spinous

with 2 long horn-like spines at top

b. Hermaphrodite flowers fertile.

1. Inner involucral bracts embracing the achenes.

i. Outer involucral bracts 5-glandular St

ii. Outer involucral bracts 4, broad, in opposite

pairs < oe 6 aCe

2. Inner involucral bracts not embracing the achenes.

Outer involucral bracts many sie nec

3. Inner involucral bracts not embracing the achenes.

Paleae of receptacle concave, embracing the

achenes.

i. Ray-flowers with large yellow _ ligules.

Achenes thick ah Age Ss

ii. Ray-flowers with white or yellow ligules.

Achenes ciliate ware oe aie

I1l. Heads very large. Pappus of 1-3 deciduous bristles

or scales or both. Ligule yellow a at

IV. Heads hetero- or homogamous. Hermaphrodite

flowers all fertile or neuter. Achenes dorsally

compressed

a. Outer involucral bracts herbaceous, subequal. Inner

shorter like the paleae of the receptacle

1. Achenes small, 4-angled, sheathed at the tip by

the hairy corolla; pappus absent nee

2. Achenes flat, margins lacerate and winged;

pappus of 2 slender awns aa ia

b. Outer involucral bracts few, small; inner memb-

' ranous, connate below

1. Style-arms with short appendages. Leaves

alternate ai ae ee hy

. Style-arms with short appendages. Leaves oppos-

ite. Achenes usually 2-4-awned Me

3. Style-arms with long appendages. Achenes with

2 bristles Ba ae ee Soh

FF. Heads usually radiate and heterogamous. Bracts of in-

volucre herbaceous. Receptacles without paleae. Pappus

absent or of scales or bristles

Leaves opposite with oil-glands. Heads simple ...

G. Heads heterogamous, rayed or disciform or rayless and

homogamous. Involucral bracts 2-co-seriate. Recept-

acle naked or paleaceous. Style-arms truncate. Leaves

usually alternate. Disk-flowers yellow, — ray-flowers

variously coloured

I. Receptacle paleaceous. Heads usually rayed

a. Achenes margined. Heads corymbose io

b. Achenes 4-§-angled or many-ribbed. Heads ped-

uncled otis ne ce

+ eco

NANTHIUM.

ACANTHOSPERMUM,

SIEGESBECKIA.

ENHYDRa.

EcLipra.

WEDELIA.

SPILANTHES.

‘HELIANTHUS.

GUIZOTIA.

SYNEDRELLA.

GLOSSOCARDIA.

BIDENS.

GLOSSOGYNE.

TAGETES.,

ACHILLEA.

ANTHEMIS.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA

II. Receptacle naked or with fimbriate pits

a. Heads rayed, usually long-peduncled. Achenes 5-

10-ribbed

b. Heads rayed. Achenes ventrally 3-5- -ribbed, dorsally

co-ribbed or plane

c. Heads disciform, peduncled, Involucral bracts

I-2-Seriate See see a :

d. Heads disciform, subsessile. Involucral bracts

spreading in fruit as he :

e. Heads. disciform, corymbose. Involucral _ bracts

co seriate see te ar

cf f. Heads small, disciform, racemose or panicled

2 H. Heads heterogamous,. rayed or disciform. Involucral

| bracts usually 1-seriate and subequal. Style-arms of

hermaphrodite flowers truncate or appendaged. Pappus

of fine hairs. Leaves usually alternate. Disk-flowers

yellow, rays usually also yellow

{. Involucral bracts 1-2-seriate, subequal, free nearly to

the base. Style-arms of hermaphrodite flowers flat-

tened or nearly clavate, papillose

-Involucral bracts uniseriate. Heads rayed,

bracteolate, solitary

II. Involucral bracts 1-2-seriate, free nearly to the base,

usually with a few smaller outer ones

a. Involucral bracts herbaceous, broad, acuminate.

Heads large, rayed, long-peduncled

Receptacle hemispheric. Herbs, leaves alternate.

b. Involucral bracts narrow with a few much shorter

outer ones, except Emilia and some Senecio

Heads homogamous. Style-tips long, hairy ...

Heads homvugamous, ebracteolate ngs

Heads aes ee ovate. FEleshy

shrubs ate sis

4. Heads rayed or “disciform, “homogamous. Style-

tips truncate or short or absent. Leaves

radical or alternate de oi at

5. Heads heterogamous. Hermaphrodite flowers

sterile. Glabrous undershrubs |

I. Heads rayed. Involucral bracts 1-2-seriate, narrow,

subequal. Style-arms of hermaphrodite flowers truncate

or in sterile flowers undivided. Achenes without pappus

Achenes incurved. Herbs, with alternate leaves

J. Flowers all tubular. Involucral bracts many-seriate,

imbricate. Tips scarious, spinous or foliaceous. Achenes

often hard. Pappus various, rarely absent. Leaves

alternate, often spinous

I. Heads 1-flowered, crowded into involucrate globose

balls : ; sae Bee

II. Heads cec- flowered, “separate. Achenes glabrous.

Pappus-hairs distinct or connate

a. Filaments tree glabrous. Pappus _ hairs free,

caducous. Involucral bracts with hooked bristles.

Leaves unarmed ae ss sie

b. Filaments papillose-hairy. Pappus-hairs connate

into a deciduous ring

1. Pappus-hairs simple, not feathery

2. Pappus-hairs feathery

c. Filaments glabrous, connate

Involucral bracts spinous. Receptacle _ bristly.

Pappus simple ee ae

d. Filaments free, glabrous

1. Pappus-hairs uniseriate, feathery, with a few

outer simple ee ane

2. Pappus-hairsce-seriate, rigid, rough or feathery.

Jul

613

CHRYSANTHEMUM,

MATRICARIA.

COoTuLs.

CENTIPEDA.

TANACETUM.

ARTEMISIA.

TUSSILAGO.

DORONICUM.

GYNURA.

EMILIA.

NOTONIA.

SENECIO.

OTHONNOPSIS.

CALENDULA.

ECHINOPS.

ARCTIUM.

CARDUUS.

CNICUS.

SILYBUM.

SAUSSUREA.

JURINEA.

614 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOC LEW. 2 Vole xian

Il1I. Heads separate, co-tlowered. Achenes glabrous.

Basal areole oblique or lateral .

a. Involucre not bracteate at the base or rarely so

1. Filaments _ papillose. Anther-tails —_lacerate.

Achenes smooth es -:4) UIRICHOLEPIS.

Achenes terete, 10-15- -ribbed Ais VOLUTARELLA.

3- Achenes compressed or q-angled, 4-5-ribbed ... CENTAUREA.

b. Involucre bracteate at the base by ‘spinous leaves

Achenes compressed or angled. Pappus paleacous

or absent ae nO _ ,.. CARTHAMUS.

K. Heads hetero- or homogamous, rayed or not. Involucral

bracts co-seriate, unarmed. Corolla 2-lipped, ligulate,

or deeply 5-fid. Style-arms rounded or truncate, not

appendaged. Leaves rarely opposite.

a. Corolla tubular. Pappus hairs feathery. Rigid

shrubs we a ee ... DICOMA.

b. Corolla 2-lipped or ligulate. Scapigerous herbs GERBERA.

L. Heads homogamous. Corollas all ligulate. Ligule

truncate, tip 5-toothed. Style-arms ‘slender, .. Herbs;

juice usually milky. Leaves radical or alternate, never

opposite

I. Achenes truncate. Pappus of scales with sometimes

alternating hairs or absent

Rigid herbs. Flowers blue. Inner involucral

bracts coriaceous, concave ... CICHORIUM.

II. Achenes usually contracted at both ends. Involucre

calyculate, inner bracts often thickened. Usually

leafy herbs, not woolly nor with stellate hairs.

a. Achenes ribbed, rugose; pappus hairs feathery ... Picris.

b. Achenes ribbed; pappus hairs simple, free, white. CREPIs.

III. Herbs, usually perennial, more or less stellately hairy.

Achenes truncate. Pappus hairs simple.

Pappus hairs rigid, bristles usually rough, brown. HIERACIUM.

IV. Scapigerous herbs. Hairs -various. Achenes_ con-

tracted below. Pappus-hairs simple or feathery

a. Receptacle naked. Pappus-hairs simple ... TARAXACUM.

b. Receptacle paleaceous. Pappus hairs feathery ... HyPocHoERIs,

V. Herbs, rarely shrubby below, glabrous or hispid,

rarely scapigerous. Achenes usually narrowed _ be-

low. Pappus-hairs many, simple

Achenes compressed, beaked, ribs smooth sae0 LACTUCAE

b. Achenes compressed, not beaked, A nn

Ribs smooth or rough ae SONCHUS.

c. Achenes narrow, truncate at both ends, 4-5- -ribbed. LAUNAEA.

VI. Herbs, glabrous, woolly or hispid. Achenes with

a broad base, or curved hollow stipes, above

narrowed or beaked ay sh Ses

Involucral bracts 1-seriate. Achenes long-beaked. TRAGOPOGON.

ACANTHOSPERMUM.

This genus numbers three species known from tropical America

and Hawaii.

In Gold Coast Ay hispidum DC. is used “imethe streatmentivor

leprosy.

One of the species, A. Brasilium Schrank, is now established in

and about the town of Singapore. An infusion of the leaves—a

parts in 200 parts of boiling water—is used in Brazil as a diuretic

and sudorific. The aromatic bitter leaves are also recommended

in the treatment of blennorrhagia.

Brazil: Picao da praia—; Uruguay: Yerba de la -oveja—.

THE MEDICINAL AND.POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA ~- 615

ACHILEEA.

The genus includes 115 species, natives of temperate FegIOHS

or the nether hemisphere.

The following species are used medicinally in Europe—A. A ger-

atum Linn., A. atrata Linn., A. Millefoliwm Linn., A. moschata

cq. 71. nana Linn., 4. neon Vinn., A. Piarmica Linn.—3; >in:

China and Indo-China—A. sibirica Ledeb.—; in North America—

A. Millefolium Linn.—; in India—A. Millefolium Linn., A. Santolina

Linn.—.

1. Rays white, pink or purple sal .. A, Millefolium.,

2. Rays yellow Be oe me peas “Santolina.

1. Achillea Millefolium Linn. is found in the western Himalaya,

from Kashmir to Kumaon, at altitudes of 6,000 to 9,000 feet. It

extends to Northern Asia, Europe, and North America. A _ very

common plant on roadsides and pastures and banks.

Many healing virtues have been and are still ascribed to this

herb which, whatever its virtues may be, is still regularly cultivated

for medicinal purposes. The annual consumption in the British

Isles alone is from 10 to 20 tons. The herb is officinal in Austria;

and the leaves are officially recognized in Portugal, Russia, Sweden,

and Switzerland.

The herb is diaphoretic, stimulant, tonic. It 1s most useful in

colds, obstructed perspiration, and the commencement of fevers.

It opens the pores freely and purifies the blood. It has also proved

useful in hysteria, flatulence, heartburn, colic, and epilepsy.

It is much used in England as a vulnerary, and is given

internally for the suppression of haemorrhages and of profuse

mucous discharges. It is employed also in intermittents and as

an antispasmodic in flatulent colic and nervous affections. Its hot

infusion is used as an emmenagogue in France, and also in the

suppression of the lochia; it is sometimes employed in low exanthe-

matous fevers with difficult eruption. In the United States the

infusion is occasionally used in acute suppression of the menses.

An ointment made by the Highlanders of Scotland of the fresh

plant is good for piles, and is also considered good against the

scab in sheep. Milfoil tea is held in much repute in the Orkneys

for dispelling melancholy. A decoction of the whole herb is

employed for. bleeding piles, and is good for kidney disorders. It

has the reputation also of being a preventive of baldness, if the

head be washed with it.

A medicinal tincture is prepared from the whole plant with spirit

of wine. This, when employed in a diluted form of. the first or

third decimal strength, and in small doses from five to ten drops

in a tablespoonful of cold water, will act admirably in arresting

bleeding from the lungs, the kidneys, or the nose, especially in

florid hectic subjects. It has been found by healthy provers that

stronger or larger doses of any preparation of the herb will induce

or aggravate one or another of these bleedings.

To stimulate and promote the appetite the fresh juice of the

plant may be had, a dessertspoonful three times in the day.

616 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Italian peasants apply the fresh juice topically as an astringent to

piles, varicose ulcers, and sore nipples. Among the Spanish-

Californians the fresh plants are used for stanching the blood in

recent wounds.

Linnaeus recommended the bruised herb, fresh, as an cotuca:

vulnerary and styptic. It is employed in Norway for the cure of

rheumatism, and the fresh leaves chewed are said to cure toothache.

In France the powdered dried leaves are used as a sternutatory.

Or the leaf, being rolled up, is applied to the nostrils to cause

bleeding and thus afford relief to headache.

In Scotland a warm decoction of the fresh leaves is regarded

as a family specific against the colds and other ailments common

to childhood.

Externally, a strong decoction of the leaves has been used as

an injection into the nostrils to stay bleeding from the nose. It

is similarly of service for piles, and for female floodings, because

exerting a special local action on the organs within the middle

trunk. It is further of benefit for sore nipples as a lotion, and

for a relaxed sore throat as a gargle; also as a hair-wash.

An infusion was used by the Winnebag Indians of North America

to bathe swellings. For earache a wad of the leaves, also the

infusion was put into the ear.

In California the leaves steeped in hot water are considered

very healing applications to cuts or bruises, and are used for

poulticing skin rash.

The flowering plant or flowers are stimulant, aromatic, sudorific,

tonic, astringent, diuretic, and vulnerary. An essential oil, ex-

tracted from the flowers, is taken in a dose of from three to five

drops to stimulate and promote the appetite.

Mahommedan writers acknowledge the virtues of the plant

collected in the wild state, when in flower.

In Sweden and in some parts of Africa the plant has been

used in the manufacture of beer. Linnaeus considered beer. thus

brewed more intoxicating than when hops were used.

Achilleine, an amorphous bitter alkaloid of unknown composition,

has been isolated.

Afghanistan: Buimaderan—; Arabic: Suila—; Bombay: Rojmari—; Cali-

fornia: Milfoil, Old Man, Yarrow—; Catalan: Herba de tall, Marfull, Milfulles,

Percala—; Colombia: Colchén de pobre—; Cutch: Biranjasif—; Danish:

Roellike—; Dutch: Duizenblaad, Duizendblad—; English: Bad Man’s Play-

thing, Bloodwort, Carpenter’s Weed, Devil’s Nettle, Devil’s Plaything, Knight’s

Milfoil, Milfoil, Nosebleed, Old Man’s Mustard, Old Man’s Pepper, Sanguinary,

Soldier’s Woundwort, Staunch Grass, Staunchweed, Thousand Leaf, Thousand

Weed, Yarrow, Yarroway—; French: Achilléine, Endove, Herbe a la coupure,

Herbe au charpentier, Herbe aux charpentiers, Herbe aux cochers, Herbe aux

coupures, Herbe aux militaires, Herbe aux voituriers, Herbe a saigner, Herbe

de Saint Jean, Herbe militaire, Millefeuille, Saigne nez, Seignenez, Sourcils de

Vénus—; German: Achilleskraut, Angerblume, Anserine, Bauchwehkraut, ”

Edelgarbe, Fasankraut, Feldgarbe, Gachel, Gacht, Gaensezungen, Gaerb

Garwekraut, Gerbel, Gollenkraut, Gor, Gotteshand, Grillen, Grinsing,

Gruensing, Gruettblume, Gruetzenkraut, Grundheil, Hasegerf, Hasengarbem,

Heftkraut, Heidekraut, Jase, Judenkraut, Jungfraukraut, Kachelblume, Kar-

weblume, Katzenfittich, Katzenschwanz, Kelkenkraut, Kerpen, Kraenzel,

Krebselkraut, Loewenfusskraut, Margaretenkraut, Marienkranz, Reels, Reelse,

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 617

Relaka, Releke, MJRelik, MRelkike, Doehlke, Roelken, Roellicke, Roelskraut,

Rohlech, Ruels, Saegkraut, Schabab, Schabor, Schafgarbe, Schaffripchen,

Schafrippe, Schafzunge, Schapschar, Schober, Sichelblume, Sichelschnitt,

Siebengartenkraut, Tausendblatt, Weisses Garbenkraut, Zeiskraut, Zimmer-

mannskraut—; Greek: Myriophyllon—; Hindi: Gandana—; Hungarian:

Ezer-levelu-fa—; Irish: Athairthalmhna—; Italian: Millefoglie, Millefoglio— ;

Kashmir: Momadruchopandiga—; Malta: Common Milfoil, Yarrow, Haxixa tal

morliti—, Pacific Coast: Dog-daisy, Green Arrow, Milfoil, Nose-bleed, Oldman’s

Pepper, Soldier’s Woundwort, Yarrow—; Persian: Buimaderan—; Polish:

Tysiacznik ziele—; Portuguese: Mil em rama, Miifolha, Milfolhada— =;

Roumanian: Coada_ soarecelului—; Russian: ‘Tesyachelistnik—; Saxon:

Gearwe—; Spanish: Filigrana, Manzanilla de los montes, Milefolio, Milenrama,

Milhojas, Yerba de Aguiles, Yerba de San Juan—; Swedish: Roelleke, Roflleka— ;

Urdu: Biranjasifa—.

2. Achillea Santolina Linn. is found in Baluchistan, whence it

extends to Afghanistan, Iran and the Mediterranean. It is widely

distributed in the East and in Northern Africa.

The plant is in common use as a tonic and carminative in Iran

and Sind. At Chaman, in Baluchistan, it is given to children to

cure stomachache. The strong odour of the herb drives away fleas

and other noxious insects.

Arabic: Rebey-el-ghebel— ; Egypt: Ba’eytheran, Bishrin, Ghobeyra, Gesum— ;

Iraq: Gaisum, QOaisum—; Kalat: Bo-i-madaran—; Mach: Boemadran— $;

Persian: Biranjasib, Biranjasif, Bu-i-maderan—; Pushtu: Zawal—; Teheran:

Bumadran—.

ADENOSTEMMA.

The genus consists of 5 or 6 American species, one of them

cosmopolitan.

Adenostemma viscosum Forst. is found in all tropical countries.

It occurs throughout India, Ceylon, and the Malay Peninsula. It

is common in waste ground and in damp spots in forests, ascending

to 4,000 feet in Malaya, to 5,000 feet on the Himalaya and other

ranges, and to 6,000 feet in Ceylon.

The plant is used medicinally in La Reunion, the leaves are

antispasmodic, and the fresh juice is a good stimulant and

sternutatory. .

Malay: Rumput babi, Rumput pasir, Sumbong gajah—.

AGERATUM.

The, venus numbers 45 American species, one of them

cosmopolitan.

Ageratum conyzoides Linn. is one of the commonest weeds of

the Tropics. It is found throughout India, common everywhere in

waste ground and on the outskirts of villages; it ascends the

Himalayas to 5,000 feet.

The plant is applied externally in ague. Its juice is said to

be a good remedy for prolapse of the anus. It is used in Togoland

to cure fever. In Yoruba a decoction is given for ‘craw-craw’

externally and for fever internally. An infusion is prescribed in

618 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Brazil and Guiana as a stimulant tonic in diarrhoea and flatulent

colic. |

The juice of the root is said to possess antidysenteric properties

and, together with the leaves, is a common Indo-Chinese remedy

for diarrhoea and dysentery. The juice of the root is moreover

credited with the virtue of preventing the formation of stone or

calculus in the bladder.

In Ceylon the leaves are commonly applied to wounds and

sores; they act as a styptic and heal them quickly. In Gold Coast

Colony the leaves are squeezed, and the juice is used as a lotion

mor the eyes.. In Sierra Weone the chief use ofthe Jleavessisma.

remedy for craw-craw; they are also applied to chronic ulcers,

and intravaginally for uterine troubles; crushed in water they are

given as an emetic. In Southern Nigeria a decoction is both used

as a lotion for craw-craw and taken internally for fever. In

Siberia pneumonia in children is treated by rubbing an extract of

the leaves on the chest. In South Cameroons the leaves pounded

with Ocimum and macerated in water along with ‘bush pepper’ are

prepared as a purgative enema. Some tribes in Portuguese Congo

use it in the treatment of sleeping sickness.

The plant is a household medicine in Madagascar, Mauritius and

La Reunion. As a fomentation the leaves and stems are used in

skin diseases, more particularly leprosy; and they are prescribed as

a bath to patients with ecchymoses. A poultice of the leaves is

applied on boils; it is said to prevent tetanus if applied to a wound.

A cold decoction of the roots is used as a lotion in purulent

ophthalmia.

Ashanti: Gu-ekura, Guakuro—; Australia: Billy-goat weed—; Bengal:

Dochunty, Uchunti—: Benin: Ebighoedore, Ehigodore—; Betsimisaraka:

Fotsivony, Tinimbo—; Bombay: Osari, Sahadevi—; Brazil: Camara apeba,

Fumo bravo, Mentrasto, Suacuaira—; Ceylon: Pumpillu—; Efik: Ikongifoiyen,

Otitidahadaha—; English: Goatweed, White Weed—; Ewe: Mimang—; Fanti:

Efungmormoe—; French: Herbe &4 Madame—; French Guiana: Raguet fran-

cois—; Gold Coast: Goat Weed—; Gujerati: Ajgandha, Gandharisedardi,

Mankdamari—; Ibo: Ikbu odols—; Ibuzo: Ikbu odolo—; Indo-China: Bong

thui, Bu xich, Cut lon, Thang hong ke—; Karwar: Ghayamari—; Kathiawar :

Makadamari—; Konkani: Sahadevi—; Lagos: Imi-esu—; La Reunion: Herbe

a bouc—; Lepcha: Nam-yu muk—; Madagascar: Hanitrinimpantsaka— ;

Mano: Dah vo—; Malay: Sianggit, Tahi ayam, Tombok jantan—; Malayalam:

Appa, Muryanpacha—; Marathi: Ghanera osadi—; Mauritius: Herbe de bouc—;

Mende: Ngugbe, Ngulugbei, Yanigbei—; Mundari: Purudumbu—; Nepal:

Ilami—-; New Caledonia: Adivijalakara—; Oloke-Meji: Imi-esu—-; Owerri:

Ahihia-nwa-oshi-naka, Akwukwo-moosinaka, Osu angweri ngwa—; Sierra

Leone: Akan yunyun, Craw-craw plant—; Sinhalese: Hulantala—; Timne:

Balkeyan, Ka-balkeyan, Keyan—; Twi: Guakuro, Gu airkuna, Gu-ekura— ;

Umu Ahia: Osu angrocri ngwa—; Uriya: Boksunga, Poksunga—; Wassaw:

Ahaban kankan—; Yoruba: Akkaw-yungun, Imi-eshu—.

ANAPHALIS.

The genus consists of 50 species, chiefly temperate and mountain

plants of Asia, Europe, and America.

A. margaritacea Benth. and Hook. is used medicinally in North

America. |

THE MEDICINAL AND: POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 619

In the Nilghiris several species are used for cut wounds. The

more commonly employed is A. neelgerryana DC., which occurs

at an altitude of 7,000-8,250 feet. The fresh leaves are bruised

and applied to the wound as a plaster.

Nilghivis: Katplaster—; Sanskrit: Raktaskandana, Vranapata—.

ANTHEMIS.

The genus includes 120 species, natives of Europe as far as

Siberia—only one being native of Abyssinia—, and often naturalised

elsewhere.

A. arvensis Linn., A. Cotula Linn., and A. nobilis Linn. are used

medicinally in Europe and in North America; A. Gayana Boiss.

and A. odontostephana Boiss. in Baluchistan; A. Wiedemanniana

Fisch. and Mey. in Persia.

1. Achenes turbinate, tubercled, tip crenulate oe PA COsula.

2. Achenes Smooth, sulcate, slightly narrowed at the

base, angular, truncate at the apex; margin acute,

narrow ae oe or ... A. Gayana.

3. .Achenes cylindtic;’’ ribbed, tubercled; tip of outer

toothed, of inner with a short auricle A. odontostephana.

1. Anthemis Cotula Linn. occurs in Baluchistan and Northern

Asia. It is distributed westwards to Britain and the Canary

Islands; and is found in Europe, North Africa, Siberia and West

Asia. It has been introduced into North America.

The flowers and the leaves are tonic, antispasmodic, emmen-

agogue, and emetic. They have been used with success in sick

headache, in convalescence from fevers, and in the absence or

abnormal stoppage of the menses. The warm infusion of 1 ounce

in rt pint of boiling water is taken in wineglassful doses when

required.

A strong decoction causes sweating and vomiting. It is said

to be nearly as valuable as opium in dysentery. It has also been

used in scrofula, dysmenorrhoea and flatulent gastritis. It is

administered to induce sleep in asthma.

Applied to the skin fresh and bruised it is a safe vesicant. A

poultice helpful in piles can be made from the herb boiled until

soft, or it can be-used as a bath or fomentation. |

In hysteria the herb is used in Europe as an antispasmodic and

emmenagogue. It is prescribed in North America for pulmonary

and rheumatic affections.

The whole plant has a very: foetid odour, which rubbing

increases. It is full of an acrid juice which is liable to blister.

Bees dislike it, and it is said to drive away flies and fleas.

Catalan: Camamilla pudenta—; England: Balder Brae, Baldeyebrow, Cam-

omile, Camovyne, Cotula, Dog’s Camomile, Dog-binder, Dog Daisy, Dog-fennel,

Dog-finkle, Flowan, Hog’s Fennel, Horse Daisy, Jayweed, Madder, Madenwede,

Marse, Marg, Mathes, Mayweed, Morgan, Murg, Poison Daisy, Stinking

Camomile, Wild Camomile—; French: Amarelle, Amouroche, Bouillot, Camo-

mille fétide, Camomille puante, Chaillerie, Chamaran, Chamarou, Herboula,

Maroule, Maroune, Maroute, Maroute puante, Oeil-de-vache, OQueuneron— ;

German: Hundskamille, Hundskamilleniraut, Stinkende Kamille—; Italian:

Camomilla puzzolente—; Pacific Coast: Bald-eyebrow, Chigger-weed, Dill-weed,

620 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL GIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Camomile, Dog Daisy, Dog-fennel, Fetid Mayweed, Fieldwort, Hog-fennel, Horse

Daisy, Madder, Mayweed, Poison Daisy, Stinking Camomile— ; Roumanian :

Mararui-cainalui, Mormorita, Romanita-puturoasa—; Spanish: Cotula fetida,

Manzanilla hedionda—; Uruguay: Manzanilla—.

2. Anthemis Gayana Boiss. inhabits Baluchistan whence it

extends to Persia.

In the Harboi Hills the leaves are eaten to cure pains in the

chest.

Harboi Hills: Piunphuli—.

3. Anthemis odontostephana Boiss. is found at Peshawar,

whence it spreads to Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Persia.

A decoction of the flowers is used in Baluchistan as a febrifuge

and carminative.

ARCTIUM.

The genus consists of 3 or 4 species spread over temperate Asia

and Europe.

Arctium Lappa Linn. is found in Western Himalaya from

Kashmir to Simla at altitudes of 6,o000-8,000 ft, and also in

Western Tibet where it ascends to 11,000-13,000 feet. It extends

westwards towards the Atlantic and occurs in Syria, Persia, and

Khorasan, as well as in Europe. It is common in North and Central

China, and Manchuria, and is abundant in the United States.

The root is regarded throughout India as depurative and anti-

phlogistic. In Teheran the root, with that of sarsaparilla, is used

as a remedy for syphilis. In the Pacific Coast States of America

the dried first year root is considered alterative, aperient, diuretic,

and diaphoretic.

The root, stem, and seeds are used medicinally in China. The

seeds are alterative, depurative, diaphoretic, and diuretic.

The plant grows freely throughout Europe and the United

States on waste ground and about old buildings, by roadsides and in

fairly damp places. It had a great reputation in the past, and its

fruits and roots still figure largely among the drugs commonly used

by herbalists in Europe and America. It is alterative, diuretic, and

diaphoretic; one of the finest blood purifiers in the herbal system.

In all skin diseases it is a certain remedy and has effected a cure

in many cases of eczema. The root is principally employed, but

the leaves and fruits—erroneously called seeds—are equally valuable.

Both root and seed may be taken as decoction of 1 ounce to a pint

and a half of water, boiled down to 1 pint, in doses of a wine-

glassful three or four times a day. The antiscorbutic properties

of the mucilaginous, demulcent root make the decoction very useful

for boils, scurvy, and rheumatic affections; it has in addition been

recommended for external use as a wash for ulcers and scaly skin

disorders. It is officinal in Portugal and Spain.

An infusion of the leaves is useful to impart strength and tone

to the stomach, for some forms of long-standing indigestion. When

applied externally as a poultice, the leaves are highly resolvent for

THE MEDICINAL “AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES.OF INDIA 621

tumours and gouty swellings, and relieve bruises and inflamed

surfaces generally. The bruised leaves have been applied by the

peasantry in many countries as cataplasms to the feet and as a

remedy for hysterical disorders.

From the seeds (or fruits), both a medicinal tincture and a

fluid extract are prepared, of benefit in chronic skin diseases when

taken, in doses of from ten to thirty drops with two tablespoonfuls

of cold water three times a day, steadily for several weeks or

months. Americans consider the seeds more efficacious and prompt

in their action than the other parts of the plant. They are relaxant

and demulcent, with a limited amount of tonic property: Their

influence upon the skin is due largely to their being of such an

oily nature; they affect both the sebaceous and sudoriferous glands

and restore to the skin that smoothness vetoed is a sign of normal

healthy action.

The infusion or decoction of the eecee, 1S employed in dropsical

complaints, more especially in cases where there is co-existing

derangement of the nervous system, and is considered by many to

be a specific for all affections of the kidneys, for which it may

with advantage be taken several times a day, before meals.

The root contains inulin, mucilage, sugar, a bitter crystalline

glucoside called lappin, a little resin, and tannic acid. The ashes

of the plant, burnt when green, yield carbonate of potash abund-

antly, and also some nitre.

Anglo-Saxon: Fox’s clote—; Catalan: Bardana, Llapassa, Repalassa—;

China: E Shih, Niu P’ang, Niu Tzu, Ta Li, Wu Shih—; Dutch: Dokke-

bladen, Klis, Klisse, Klit—; English: Aireve, Airup, Beggar’s Buttons, Burdock,

Clithe, Clot-bur, Cockle-buttons, Cuckle-buttons, Cuckoo Button, Great Burdock,

Happy Major, Hardock, Harebur, MHerrif, Hurbur, Lappa, Love Leaves,

Personata, Philanthropium, Turkey-bur, Thorny Bur—; French: Bardane,

Bardane a grosses tétes, Bouillon noir, Coupeau, Dogue, Glouteron, Glotteron,

Grande bardane, Gratteau, Grippe, Guippon, Herbe aux bardanes, Herbe aux

teigneux, Lappe, Oreille de géant, Peignerolle, Picons, Poire de vallée—;

German: Gemeine Klette, Grosse Klette, Klette—; Greek: Arkeion, Arktion,

Prosopion, Prosopis—; Jtalian: Arsio, Bardana, Lappa maggiore, Lappola

maggiore—; Malaya: Ngow chee—; Pacific Coast: Bazzies, Beggar’s Buttons,

Burdock, Cuckoo-button, Great Burdock, Harebur, Turkey-bur—; Polish: Lop-

ian—; Portuguese: Bardana—; Roumanian: Brustur, Lipan—; Russian:

Lapushnik, Rapeynik—; Spanish: Amores ruines, Bardana, Lampazo, Lapa

Teheran: Bardane—.

ARTEMISIA.

This genus includes about 280 species, natives mostly of the

northern hemisphere, a few from South Africa and South America.

The following species are used medicinally in Europe.—

A. -Absmthium Linn., A. abrotanum. Linn., A. arborescens Linn.,

A. caerulescens Linn., A. campestris Linn., A. Dracunculus Linn.,

A. gallica Willd., A. glacialis Linn., A. Herba-alba Asso, A. his-

panica Lam., A. maritima Linn., A. Mutellina Willd., A. pontica

Linn., A. scoparia Waldst. and Kit., A. spicata Wulf., A. vallesiana

Lam., A. vulgaris Linn.—; in Palestine and Syria—A. Herba-alba

Asso, A. judaica Linn.—; in Arabia and Egypt—A. judaica

Linn.—; in Persian and Turkistan—A. Cina Berg., A. Vahliana

622°. JOURNAL, BOMBAY VNATU RAL TST SO CLE Y ,aVicl Xam

Kostel—; in China. A. annua Linn., A.:apiacea Hance, A. capil-

laws ‘Thunb: 4. japonica, Daunb. Ae em hearn Mig., A: ’ stelleriana

Bess., A. vulgans Linn.—; in ado: China—A. abrotanum Linn.,

A. annua Linn., A. apiacea Hance, A. capillaris Thunb., A. carvi-

Folia. IROxb.y eA: Sian Berg:, A. japonica Vhunb,, A. Heiskeana Mig.,

A. maritima Linn., A. vulgaris Linn.—; in Malaya—A. maritima

Linn., A. vulgaris ane in the Philippine Islands—A. vulgaris

Linn.—; in North America—A. Absinthium Linn., A. ludoviciana

Nutt., A. Santonicum Linn.—; in the Pacific Coast States—A.

Absinthium Linn., A. annua Linn., A. californica Less., A. dracun-

culoides Pursh., A. tridentata Nutt., A. vulgaris Linn.—; in

Mexico—A. mexicana Willd.—; in North Africa and the Canary

Islands—A. ramosa C. Sm.—; in South Africa—A. afra Jacq.—.

A. Heads heterogamous, outer flowers female, disk-

flowers hermaphrodite, sterile. Receptacle naked

1. Perennial . Dracunculus.

ae As He dak

2. Annual. Very strong scented a3 2. A. annua.

3. Annual, or rootstock perennial. Faintly scented 8. A. scobaria.

B. Heads homogamous. Flowers all fertile. Receptacle

naked ee Bs. haces w. 5. A. maritima

C. Heads heterogamous. Ray-flowers female, disk-flowers

hermaphrodite, all fertile.

1. Receptacle puberulous. Perennial with rather large

head ie ae ee i: Osean persica:

2. cee acle naked.

Annual; quite glabrous é nt bee QUA ACO MUL OUIte

a Perennials with usually small heads.

i. Leaves large, ovate, lobed, laciniate or 1-2 pin-

natipartite ie s noel On) Aun UULSATISS

ii. Leaves. long-petioled, ovate- pinnatisect oes Jen te SOCTOUUMT:

D. Heads heterogamous. Ray-flowers female, disk-flowers

hermaphrodite, both fertile. Receptacle covered with

long hairs

1. Perennial ie ae aes .. I. A. Absinthium:

2. Annual or biennial San ae ... 9. A. Siversiana.

1. Artemisia Absinthium Linn. inhabits Kashmir where it is

found at altitudes of 5,000—7,o000 ft. It is distributed over Northern

Asia, Afghanistan, and westwards to the Atlantic. It is now

naturalized and rather common in eastern Canada to Pennsylvania,

growing along roadsides and waste places.

The herb has a strong fragrant odour which exercises a powerful

influence over the nervous system. Its tendency to produce head-

ache and other nervous disorders is well known by travellers in

Kashmir and Ladak, who suffer severely when marching through

the extensive tracts of country covered with this plant.

The whole plant is an aromatic tonic, and formerly enjoyed

a high reputation in debility of the digestive organs. Wormwood

tea, or the powdered herb in small doses, mixed in a little soup,

will serve to relieve bilious melancholia, and will help to disperse

the yellow hue of jaundice from the skin.

The juice of the larger leaves which grow from the root before

the stalk appears has been used as a remedy for jaundice and

dropsy, but it is intensely nauseous. A light infusion of the tops

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 623

of the plant, used fresh, is excellent for all disorders of the stomach,

creating an appetite, promoting digestion, and preventing sickness

after meals, but it is said to produce the contrary effect if made

too strong.

The flowers, dried and powdered, are said to be most effectual

as a vermifuge, and used to be considered excellent in agues.

Before the discovery of cinchona they were largely used in inter-

mittents.

The plant yields by distillation a dark green or yellow oil which

is used as worm-expeller. However, Caius and Mhaskar have

shown experimentally that neither the herb nor the oil are effective

as anthelmintics against hookworms. In large doses the volatile

oil is an active narcotic poison. The main constituents of the oil

are absinthol and absinthin, the former largely responsible for the

characteristic odour of the plant and the latter for its intense

bitter taste.

The herb is prescribed in the form of a poultice or fomentation

as an antiseptic and discutient.

Arabic: Afsantin—; Bologna: Zicus—; Catalan: Donsell, Donzell, Donzell

mascle—; Como: Medegh—; Danish: Malurt—; Deccan: Vilayatiafsantin— ;

Dutch: Alsem, Groote Alsem—; English: Absinth, Green Ginger, Madderwort,

Mingwort, Mugwort, Warmot, Wermuth, Wormwood—; French: Absin menu,

Absinthe, Absinthe amére, Absinthe commune, Absinthe vulgaire, Alliene, Aloine,

Alunine, Aluyne, Alvine, Alvuine, Aoussin, Armoise-absinthe, Armoise ameére,

Grande Absinthe, Herbe sainte, Herbe aux vers—; Friuli: Assinz, Sinz—; Genoa:

Bonmegu, Erba medgu—; German: Aelsch, Allsam, Allsei, Alsam, Alsch, Alsen,

Baermede, Bitteralsen, Bitterbeifuss, Bitterkraut, Elch, Else, Elzkraut, Isem,

Kampferkraut, Kittelkraut, Knoopvanalsen, Magenkraut, Malnit, Meelrasch,

Pardehan, Pardesan, Vraemte, Waermde, Waermkraut, Warmuede, Wermde,

Weissrauch, Wermuth, Wiegenkraut, Woerken, Woermd, Woermke, Wormeth,

Wraemte, Wroembk, Wuermken, Wurmei, Wurmet, Wurmtod—; Greek: Apsidia,

Apsinthia, Apsinthion, Apsinthos, Apsithea, Apsithia—; Hindi: Vilayatiafsantin— ;

Italian: Assenzio—; Lombardy: Incens, Incens de bigat—; Malayalam: Shula-

bandha—; Malta: Wormwood, Assenzio, Assenziu—; Norwegian: Malurt—;

Pacific Coast: Absinthium, Madderwort, Mingwort, Oldwoman, Wormwood— ;

Padua: Bun maja—; Pavia: Assenzi—; Persian: Afsantin—; Piedmont: Bonme,

Bonmi, Dusang, Erba meja, Erba mia, Fort, Incenso, Insens, Insens grousser ,

Medighdt, Ourtmia, Ourtmiglia— ; Potenza: Naseienzo— ; Reggio: Aluina, Alvina,

Asseinzi— ; Romagna: Absanta, Absent, Absent rumen, Absent dal foj lerghi— ;

Roumanian.: Pelin—; Russian: Polin—; Sanskrit: Damar—; Spanish: Ajenjé,

Doncel—; Treviso: Bon maistro—; Tuscany: Assenzo—; Verona: Medego

maistro—.

2. Artemisia annua Linn. occurs in the Punjab, from Peshawar

to Waziristan, ascending up to 5,500 ft. It spreads to Afghanistan,

Indo-China, China, Siberia, and westwards to Hungary.

In China and Malaya the dried leaves and stalks are used in

skin diseases. The herb is a popular medicine in Indo-China,

where it is considered a good stomachic and diuretic, and is pre-

scribed in jaundice and in skin diseases.

Chinese: Huang Hua Hao, Ch’ing Hao—; Indo-China: Che noi, Hoang hoa

cao, Nhan tran—; Malaya: Ching hoh—.

3. Artemisia caruifolia Roxb. is found in eastern Bengal,

Assam, Nepal, Burma, whence it extends over to China.

624 “JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST? SO Cli ALY, soles xuen

The toasted plant is much used medicinally in Annam. It is

recommended for fevers, chronic diarrhoea, phthisis with emaciation,

purulent scabies with ulcers, and intestinal troubles. Externally

it is applied to wounds due to metallic instruments.

Annam: Cay thanh hao, Co thanh hao, Ran hao, Thanh cao, Thanh hao—.

4. Artemisia Dracunculus Linn. is found in Western Tibet

and in the western Himalaya at altitudes of 14,000-16,000 ft. I1t

is distributed to Afghanistan, Western Asia, South and Mid Russia.

The aromatic leaves are credited with aperient, stomachic,

stimulant, and febrifuge properties.

Dutch: Dragon—; English: Little Dragon Mugwort, Tarragon—; French:

Dragon, Dragonne, Estragon, Fargon, Herbe au dragon, Herbe dragonne—;

German: Dragun, Kaisersalat—; Italian: Dragontea—; Portuguese: Estragao— ;

Roumanian : Tarhon—; Russian: Estragon—; Spanish: Dragoncillo, Estragon—.

5 Artemisia maritima Linn., in its many variations of forms,

has an extremely wide distribution in the northern hemisphere of

the Old World, occurring mostly in saltish soils. It is found in

the salt plains of Western Tibet, where it grows in abundance

and ascends up to 9,000-14,0o00 ft. It occurs at an altitude of

7,000-9,000 ft. in the Western Himalaya from Kashmir to Kumaon.

It covers immense tracts in Northern Asia from Chinese Mongolia

to Central Siberia, the region of the Caspian, and Southern Russia.

It is found on saline soils in Hungary, on the coasts of the Baltic,

of France and the Mediterranean, and in the salt marshes of the

British Isles. In Britain it spreads as far as Wigton on the West

and Aberdeen on the East; it also thrives in north-east Ireland

and in the Channel Islands.

The medicinal properties of the plant are those of a slight

tonic, inferior in efficacy to common wormwood; and it is not

often employed except in discutient and antiseptic fomentations,

for inflammations, tumours, and foul ulcers; where its topical

application has been thought beneficial. It is still often made use

of by country people for intermittent fever. |

In Southern Afghanistan and Baluchistan ‘the plant is much

used as an antiperiodic. An infusion, and also decoction, of the

fresh plant has been very successfully used in cases of ague,

intermittent and remittent fever.

At ‘Kirani, near Quetta, the plant. 1s" siven sto. ;childrenutor

stomach-ache; at Sanjawi it is a cure for jaundice.

In Bombay, the Hakims prescribe it in doses of 2 to 3 drachms

as an anthelmintic, and also deobstruent and stomachic tonic. In

the form of a poultice, they use it to relieve the pain caused by

the bites of scorpions and venomous reptiles. But Mhaskar and

Caius have successfully demonstrated that, whether it be snake

bite or scorpion sting, the treatment is useless.

The flower-heads are collected from the villages around Teheran

and sold as a vermifuge. There is little doubt that they were

used by the Greeks and Romans to expel intestinal worms, and

it is a matter of certainty that Arabian and Persian physicians

have always prescribed them as an anthelmintic. During the war

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 625

both seeds and leaves were tried and found to be effective. Later

Simonsen examined the leaves and flowering tops of A. maritima

(A. brevifolia Wall.) growing in Chitral, Afghanistan, and Baluchi-

stan, and obtained from o to 1 per cent of santonin, the amount

being greater when the flowers are just appearing.

Avabic: Afsanthinulbarh, Sarifun, Sariqun, Shih, Shiharmani—; Bhotta:

Sefedpurcha—; Bombay: Kiramaniova—; Catalan: Donsell mari—; English:

Drooping Sea Wormwood, English Sea Wormwood, French Sea Wormwood,

Levant Sea Wormwocd, Roman Wormwood, Santonica, Sea Mugwort, Sea

Wormwood, Wormseed—; French: Absinthe maritime, Armoise maritime— =;

Gujerati: Chhuvariajamoda, Kirmanidinechi—; Hindi: Ajavayana, Chhuari— ,

Indo-China: Chi nai—; Kivani: Zher—; Marathi: Kirmaniova, Surabandi— ;

Persian: Afsanthinulbarh, Darmaneh, Sariqun, Shih—; Sanjawi: Tarkha-

sperah—; Sanskrit: Chhara, Chauhara, Gandha, Jantunashana, Khurapushpika,

Parasi, Yavani, Yavaniya—; Spanish: Ajengo maritimo—; Teheran: Dhar-

mane—; Urdu: Darmanah—.

6. Artemisia persica Boiss. is found at 9,o00-14,000 ft. in

Western Tibet, whence it extends to Afghanistan, Southern Persia,

and Kurdistan.

The plant is used as a tonic, febrifuge, and vermifuge. |

Arabic: Afsantinulbarh, Sariqun, Shih—; Gujerati : Pardesidauno—; Marathi:

Davana—; Persian: Afsantinulbarh, Sariqun, Shih—.

7, Artemisia sacrorum Ledeb. occurs in Western Tibet and

Kunawar. It is found in Kumaon on the interior ranges bordering

Tibet between 10,000 and 12,000 ft. It extends to MDahuria,

Siberia, Central and South Russia.

The plant is given to horses in affections of the head.

Bhotia: Kalapurcha—; Ladak: Burmack, Tatwen—; Punjab: Burnak,

Chumbar, Jau, Munya, Niurtsi, Tatwen, Zbur—.

8. Artemisia scoparia’ Waldst. and Kit. occurs in Western

Tibet at altitudes of 7,000-12,000 ft., in the Western Himalayz

from Kashmir to Lahul at 5,000-7,000 ft., in Sind, in the Punjab,

in the Upper Gangetic Plain. Eastwards it extends to China and

Japan, westwards to Afghanistan and Central Europe.

In the Punjab the infusion is given as a purgative, and the

smoke is considered good for burns. _

At Las Bela the plant is used as a cure’ for pain in the ear.

Baluchi: Gwatag—; Bombay: Churisaroj, Danti—; Brahui: Jir, Khisunjir,

Luling—; Las Bela: Gajar—; Punjab: Biur, Dona, Durunga, Jhan, Lasaj,

Marua, Pilajau—.

g. Artemisia Siversiana Willd. is found at 8,o00-10,000 ft.

in the Western Himalaya from Kashmir to Lahul, and at 12,000-

Mq,Ooo wit \imeVVestern hibéet. it extends “Wor China- whence 11

spreads westwards to South Russia.

The plant is much used in India where it is considered tonic,

deobstruent, febrifuge and anthelmintic. It is applied externally

as a discutient and antiseptic.

The hakims prescribe the drug freely.

626° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL ist > SiO Chia 5 oles lel

The plant ts also held in great esteem by the vaids and its

place in Ayurveda is undisputed.

Arabic: Afsantin—; Bengal: Dana, Dona—; Bombay: Downa—; Canarese :

Davana—; Gujerati: Damro—; Hindi: Dauna—; Marathi: Davana, Rana-

davana—; Persian: Afsantin—; Sanskrit: Agnidamanaka, Bahukantaka,

Brahmajata, Damana, Damanaka, Damani, Dandi, Danta, Devashekhara,

Gandhotkata, Guchhaphala, Jatila, Kshudradussparsha, Kshudrakantakari,

Kulapatra, Kulapatraka, Madanaka, Muni, Munipatra, Panduraga, Patri,

Pavitraka, Pundarika, Pushpachamara, Tapasaptri, Tapaswipatra, Tapodhana,

Vanadamanaka—; Urdu: Afsantin—.

to. Artemisia vulgaris Linn. is found throughout the mount-

ainous districts of India, ascending up to 5,000-12,000 ft. in the

Western Himalaya, and up to 5,000-8,o00 feet in Sikkim, the

Khasia, Ava and Martaban Mountains. It grows at Mount Abu,

in Marwar, and on the Western Ghats, from the Konkan south-

wards to Ceylon. It extends to temperate Europe and Asia, to

Siam and Java.

The herb has emmenagogue and antispasmodic properties; the

root is tonic and antispasmodic. |

The plant is considered to be a valuable stomachic, deobstruent,

and antispasmodic; it is prescribed in infusion and electuary in

cases of obstructed menses and hysteria. Externally it is used in

fomentations given in skin diseases and foul ulcers as an alterative.

The expressed juice is used in diseases of children. It is applied

to the head of young children for the prevention of convulsions.

The leaves and tops are administered in nervous and spasmodic

affections connected with debility, in asthma and diseases of the

brain, “In Persia, in Afohanistan, “and throughout Indias a strong

decoction is given as a vermifuge, and a weak one to children in

measles. .An infusion is given as a tonic.

The plant is much used medicinally in Indo-China, where the

leaves and the flowers are considered as aromatic, emmenagogue,

stomachic, antispasmodic, and anthelmintic. The boiled leaves are

used as a poultice in headache; dried and cut into small fragments

they are used to cauterize wounds.

In China, Japan and Indo-China inflammable cones or ‘moxa’

are obtained by grinding the leaves in a stone mortar with water,

separating the coarser particles, and drying what remains. Moxi-

bustion,:or:the method jof cauterizine the skin: “by “burning, “is

resorted to for a very larce mlmber of “diseases, irom) i1cheato

sterility.

In Annam the leaf is used in haemorrhage: epistaxis, blood

vomiting, haematuria. It is also recommended for metrorrhagia,

dysentery, intestinal and urinary troubles. It is highly praised as

a vermicide. It is used in eczema, herpes, and purulent scabies.

In Malaya the leaves are employed as a carminative and haemostatic.

The tonic and stomachic properties of the plant are well known

in the Philippine Islands. An infusion of the leaves is commonly

used as an emmenagogue.

The plant is prescribed by Sushruta in the treatment of brake

bite and scorpion sting; but that the plant is. not an antidote

THE MEDICINAL AND .POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 627

to either snake or scorpion venom has been experimentally

demonstrated by Caius and Mhaskar.

Anglo-Saxon: Wyrmwyrt—; Annam: Bang dai, Benh thao, Cuu thao, La

Ngai, Langa cao, las ngai cuu;)La thuoec) cuu, + Ngai-diep, TLhuec’ cuu; Y

thao—; Arabic: Isferaj—; Bombay: Nagdona—; Canarese: Davana, Manijji-

patri— ; Catalan: Altimira—; Chinese: Ai—; Deccan: Dawan, Randawan— ;

Dehra Dun: Samri, Sarmi—; Dutch: Bijvoet, Sint Jans Gordel, Sint Jans

Kruid—; English: Felon Herb, Felon Wort, Fleabane, Indian Wormwood,

Maidenwort, Motherwort, Mugwort, St. John’s Plant—; French: Armoise,

Artémise, Ceinture de Saint Jean, Couronne de Saint Jean, Encens, Encens de mas,

Fleur de Saint Jean, Herbe a cents gouts, Herbe de ja Saint-Jean, Herbe de

Saint Jean, Herbe Saint Jean, Remise—; German: Alsei, Beifuss, Beiposs,

Besenkraut, Bibes, Biboth, Bibs, Biefoth, Biermersch, Buck, Budschen, Kamp-

ferkraut, Roterbock, Sant Johannis Guertel, Weiberkraut, Wiegenkraut, Wiesen-

kraut, Wildes Wurmkraut, Wurmtod—; Garhwal: Kunja—; Greek : Artemisia— ;

Guam: Yerba de Santa Maria—; Hindi: Dona, Gathivana, Majtari, Mastaru,

Mastru, Nugduna—; Indo-China: Cuu ngai da, Lau cao, Ngai, Ngai cuu,

Thuoc cau, Thuoc cuu, Yomogi—; Italian: Amarella, Artemisia, Canapaccia,

Assenzio di siepe—; japanese: Yomogi—; Malaya: Ai, Chi ai, Khee ngai,

Ki ai, Ngai—; Malayalam: Appa, Damanakam, Kattuchatti, Makkippu, Mashi-

patri, Nilampala, Rirunittipacha—; Marathi: Gathona, Surband—; __ Nepal:

Titapat—; Pacific Coast: Common Mugwort, Felon-herb, Green Ginger,

Motherwort—; Persian: Absanthin, Absentin, Afsantin, Afsintin rumi—; Philip-

pines: Santa .Maria,- Yerba de Santa maria—; Punjab: Afsuntin, Banjiru,

Buimadaran, Chambra, Puujan, Tarkha, Tataur, Ubusha—; Roumanian: Pelin

negru, Pelinita—; Russian: Cherdonilnik—; Sanskrit: Barha, Barhikusum,

Barhipushpa, Granthika, Granthiparna, Granthiparnaka, Guchhaka, Gutthaka,

Kakapushpa, Kukura, Nagadamani, Nilapushpa, Saraparni, Shuka, Shukabarha,

Shukachhada,. Shukapuccha, Sthauneya, Sugandha, Svaramaguchhaka, Taila-

parnaka, Vnyadamanaka, Vishirnakhya—; Saora: Adavidhavanamu—; Spanish:

Artemisa, Artemisia—; Tagalog: Camaria, Tinisas—; Tamil: Mashibattiri,

Virunama—; Teheran: Absint—; Telugu: Davanamu, Mashipatri—

Doyona, Gonddhomaro, Nagodoyona

2 Uyiva :

ASTER

The genus includes 4oo species inhabiting mostly the northern

temperate regions of the world.

The following species are used medicinally in China—A. fastigiatus

Fisch. and Max., A. scaber Thunb., A. tataricus Linn. f., A. triner-

vius Roxb.—; in Indo-China—A. tataricus Linn., A. trinervius

Roxb.—; in South Africa—A. erigeroides Harv., A. filifolius Vent.,

A. hispidus Bkr., A. serrulatus Harv.—; in California—A. puniceus

inn.

Aster trinervius Roxb. occurs in the Central and Western

Himalaya, Nepal, Sikkim at 5,000—7,o000 ft., the Mishmi Mountains,

the Khasia Hills at 3,000—6,000 ft. Thence the plant spreads over

to North China and Japan.

The Chinese use the root for coughs and pulmonary affections,

and in the treatment of malaria and haemorrhages.

Cantonese : Tsz uen—; Chinese: Ma Lan—-; Indo-China: Ma lan—; Malaya:

Tsz yoon—.

BIDENS.

The genus includes 150 cosmopolitan species, chiefly American.

B. bipinnata Linn. is used medicinally in West Africa; B. pilosa

Linn. in China, Indo-China, North America, Brazil, Gold Coast,

628 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Kenya, Tanganyika, and South Atrica; B. tripartita Linn. also is

used in China, and B. graveolens Mart, in Brazil.

Achenes ,cuneiform, tip truncate sts ras, 20 Ae eMep Aviat

Achenes long, slender, narrowed from the middle to the top: 91. A. pilosa.

1. Bidens pilosa Linn. is found throughout India, Ceylon, and

most of the warm countries.

In Indo-China the dried flower buds ground and mixed with

alcohol are used as a mouth wash in toothache. For sore eyes the

pounded leaves are applied over the eyelids.

In Gold Coast and in Lagos the juice of the leaves is

commonly squeezed into the eyes or the ears to cure eye complaints

or ear complaints. In the latter case the leaves are first warmed

in water with pepper. It is also used as a styptic to stop bleeding

from a wound.

The Zulus chew the young shoots for the treatment of rheuma-

tism. They also administer the powdered leaf in water as an enema

for abdominal troubles and rub the burnt seeds into incisions on the

sides for the relief of pain. The flower is a remedy for diarrhoea,

and an infusion of the leaf and root a remedy for colic.

The leaves are used in Brazil as a styptic in stopping the flow

of blood, and as a vulnerary. They are applied to foul ulcers and

swollen glands. In Colombia the infusion is used as a sudorific.

Afrikaans: Duivelskerwel, Wevenaar—; Antioquia: Masiquia—; Australia:

Black Fellows—; Bogota: Chipaca—; Ceylon: Ottupillu—; Chinese: Kuei Chen

Ts’ao—; English: Beggar Ticks, Bur Marigold, Spanish Needles, Sweethearts— ;

Ewe: Dzani pipi-—; Gold Coasi: Biack Jack—; Gujerati: Phusiun, Samara-

kokadi—; Iloilo: Tubactubac—; Indo-China: Cuc ao, Quay cham thao, Tu to

hoan—; Kikuyu: Michegi—; Krepi: Adzrorkpii—; Krobo: Dsetshi—; Lagos:

Abere oloko, Akesinmaso—; Lepcha: Mung-gu tuk-tsong, Tuk-tsong mung-

ayap—; Malay: Rumput juala—; Mano: Zikilli wissi—; Mauritius: Ville-

bague—; Mende: Tombolo, Tombo-makei—; Meru: Rathangi— ; Nandi:

Kipkoleit—; South Africa: Beggarsticks, Black Jack—; Suto: Moonyane—;

Timne: Ebamp—; Twi: Ananse mpaane, Dwirantwi, Gyinantwi—; Yoruba:

Abere-oloko— ; Zulu: uQadolo—.

2. Bidens tripartita Linn. occurs in Western Tibet, and in the

marshes of Central and Western Himalaya from Nepal to Kashmir

at altitudes of 3,000-5,000 ft. It is distributed to Northern Asia

and Japan, and westwards to North Africa, Western ere and

North America.

The Chinese use the plant in chronic dysentery and for eczema.

Chinese: Lang Pa Ts’ao—; English: Bur Marigold, Water Agrimony— ;

Greek: Agria katephedia—.

BLUMEA.

The genus is eminently characteristic of India, and the species

may be called the Groundsels of that country. The species number

about 80; they are tropical and subtropical Asiatic, African, and

Australian.

B. aurita DC. is used medicinally in Gold Coast.

A. Heads many, villous, small. Leaves thick, fomentose

beneath ath anit uae nae oe, dlbet ld SLL CEN Gs

B. ‘Heads ‘few, “small; on™ lenge slender | peduncles sof

dichotomous cymes ae in cee ... 4. B. ertantha.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 629

C. Heads very numerous, large or small. Leaves very

large.

1. Pappus white cae ae Ri peeee else | CHINCIISUS.

2 bappus red

a. Vall shrub, camphoraceous. Leaves thick usually

silky above he ie os

b. Leaves 8-18 in. long, very woolly white beneath

puberulous above sas we <i

c. Leaves 6-10 in. long, stiff, shining, quite

glabrous ei bee ... 6. B. myriocephala.

1. B. balsamifera.

O92

. densiflora.

1. Blumea balsamifera DC. is easily recognised by its strong

smell of camphor. It is found in Tropical Himalaya, Nepal, Sikkim

at 1,000-4,000 ft., Assam, the Khasia Hills, Chittagong, and

Burma. It is very common in open places in the whole Malay

Peninsula. It is also common in Java.

A warm infusion acts as a pleasant sudorific, and the decoction

is a useful expectorant. |

In Indo-China the leaves are considered to be stomachic, and

antispasmodic, and they are used in leucorrhoea. In Cambodia they

aré used externally in scabies.

Taken internally the decoction of the leaves is an excellent

diaphoretic in bronchitis. In Java and China it is given as an

expectorant. It is stomachic, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, anti-

septic. As a fumigation it is much used in the Philippine Islands

for rheumatism and headache. :

The leaves are officinal in Holland.

Burma: Ponmathein—; Cambodia: Baimat—; China: Ai Na Hsiang—;

Dutch India: Semboeng octan—; English: Nagal Camphor—; French: Cam-

phrée—; Gujerati: Kalahad—; Hindi: Kakaronda—; Ilocano: Sobsob—; Indo-

China: Bai mat, Dai bi, Tu bi xanh—; Malay: Chapa, Chapu, Sembong— >;

Marathi: Bhangaruda—; Pampangan: Sambon—; Tagalog: Sambon, Sambong,

Sambung—; Visayan: Alibhon, Alibun, Ayoban, Gabuen, Gintingintin, Guintin-

guintin, Guitinguitin, Hamlibon, Lacadbulan, Lacdanbulan, Lalacdan—.

2. Blumea chinensis DC. is found in the Eastern Himalaya,

Sikkim and Bhutan at 2,000—4,000 ft., Assam, the Khasia Hills,

and Penang. It is not rare in the woods of the Malay Peninsula,

whence it spreads over to Java and Southern China.

The leaves or leafy stalks are used in Malaya as a stomachic,

antispasmodic, and diaphoretic.

Chinese: Chin Li Ming—; Malaya: Kow lee meng, Tombak-tombak—.

3. Blumea densiflora DC. occurs in Tropical Himalaya, Sikkim,

Assam, the Mishmi, Naga, and Khasia Hills at altitudes of 2,o00—

4,000 ft. It is found in Tavoy, and extends to the Malay and Fiji

Islands. |

The plant yields camphor. Its leaves are occasionally used as

a sudorific.

Burma: Phummasin, Pungmatheing—.

4. Blumeaeriantha DC. is found in Bundelkhand, Konkan,

Deccan, the Western Ghats, the South Mahratta Country. It pro-

bably occurs on the West Coast of the Madras Presidency,

gio JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.~SOCIETY, Vol. X11

The juice of the plant is administered as a carminative, and the

herb used along with the leaves of Vitex Negundo and Careya

arborea for fomentations. A warm infusion is given as a sudorific

in catarrhal affections, cold it is considered to be diuretic and

emmenagogue.

Marathi: Nimurdi—.

5. Blumea lacera DC. occurs throughout the plains of India,

from the north-west ascending to 2,o00 ft. in the Himalaya, to

Travancore and Singapore. It is a common roadside weed in

Ceylon and Malaya. It is distributed to the Malay Islands, Australia,

China, and tropical Africa.

The plant is described by Ayurvedists as hot, pungent, and bitter ;

antipyretic; good for bronchitis, diseases of the blood, fevers, thirst,

and burning sensations. The root kept in the mouth is said to

cure diseases of the mouth.

In the Konkan the plant is used to drive away fleas and other

insects. It is prescribed as an antiscorbutic in West Africa.

The root mixed with black pepper is given in cholera.

The expressed juice of the leaves is used as an anthelmintic,

febrifuge, astringent, and diuretic; mixed with black pepper, it is

given in bleeding piles.

drabic: WKamafitus—; Bengal: Burasuksung, Kukurmuta, Kukursunga— ;

Bombay: Nimurdi—; Burma: Maiyagan—; Deccan: Divarimulli, Janglikasni,

Janglimulli— ; Golungo Alto: Quitoco antiscorbutico—; Gujerati: Kalhar, Kok-

arunda, Filo kapurio—; Hindi: Janglimuli, Kakronda, Kukkurbanda—,; Konkan :

Numurdi—; La Reunion: Lastron batard—; Malay: Lumai hitam—; Marathi:

Bhamurda, Kukurbanda—; Mundari: Marangkuru—; Porebunder: Kapurio,

Pilichanchadamari— ; Sanskrit: Iwukkuradru, Wukundara, Mriduchhada, Suks-

hmapatra, Tamrachuda—; Yamuil: WKattumullangi, Narakkarandai—; Telugu:

Advimulangi, IKarupogaku—.

6. Blumea myriocephala DC. is found in the Sikkim Himalaya

at an altitude of 2,000 [t., in Assam, Chittagong, Sylhet, and Burma.

It occurs in the mountain forests of the Malay Peninsula.

The leaves are used as a sudorific in Indo-China; they are given

in bronchitis and in aphthae.

Indo-China: Xang song, Nuong song—.

BOLTONIA.

The genus consists of 12 North American and North subtropical

Asiatic species.

Boltonia indica Benth. is found in the Khakyen Hills of Upper

Burma. It extends to China and the Malay Islands.

In Indo-China the plant is considered tonic, stomachic, and

antipyretic.

Indo-China: Hai nhi cuc—.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 631

CALENDULA.

The genus includes 15 species, natives of Central Europe and

the Mediterranean region, as far as India, the Canaries; cultivated

and naturalised elsewhere.

Ligules sulphur-coloured; achenes all curved, marginal

dorsally echinate beaked, inner dorsally muricate Bela Cm aruensts.

Ligules many, bright orange yellow; achenes all curved

boat-shaped dorsally muricate not beaked, outer larger

ventrally crested scarcely beaked ... bee 2. C. officinalis.

1. Calendula arvensis Linn. is a doubtful native of India; found

in Kashmir; distributed over Western Asia and Southern Europe;

naturalised in South America, Australia and Japan.

The plant is used medicinally in Spain; the leaves are considered

sudorific; the flowers are reputed stimulant, antispasmodic, and

emmenagogue.

Catalan: Galdirons, Llevagat, Llevamal, Llevamans—; French: Petit souci,

Souci des champs, Souci des vignes—; Malta: Field Marygold, Calendula, Calta,

Fior-rancio, Sutfeira—; Spanish: Calendula silvestre, Flor de cada mes, Mara-

villa silvestre, Yerba del podador—.

2. Calendula officinalis Linn. is a native of the Mediterranean

introduced in India and run wild. It is found in the fields of

Punjab and Sind, extending to Afghanistan and westwards to South

Europe.

The plant is signally valued for healing wounds, ulcers, burns, and

other breaches of the skin surface; it is a precious vulnerary. The

dried florets are vulnerary, antiemetic, bitter tonic, febrifuge,

anthelmintic, and stimulant to wounds and ulcers.

The plant, especially its flowers, was used on a large scale

by the American surgeons to treat wounds and injuries sustained

during the last civil war, and obtained their warmest commendation.

It quite prevented all exhausting suppurative discharges and

drainings.

In Europe the herb is chiefiy used as a local remedy. Its action

is stimulant and diaphoretic. Given internally, it assists local action

and prevents suppuration. The infusion of one ounce to a pint of

boiling water is given internally, in doses of a tablespoonful, and

externally as a local application. It is useful in chronic ulcer,

varicose veins, etc. The plant was formerly considered to have

much value as an aperient and detergent in visceral obstructions

and jaundice.

The leaves, eaten as a salad, have been considered useful in

the scrofula of children. The expressed juice has been given in cases

of costiveness and proved very efficacious. Snuffed up the nose it

excites sneezing and a discharge of mucus from the head. It has

also been found useful as an extirpator of warts.

It has been asserted that a flower, rubbed on the affected part,

is an admirable remedy for the pain and swelling caused by the

sting of a wasp or bee. <A lotion made from the flowers is most

useful for sprains and wounds, and a water distilled from them

is good for inflamed and sore eyes.

633 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Hist, SOCIETY, Voi, XLI

An infusion of the freshly-gathered flowers is employed in fevers,

as it gently promotes perspiration and throws out any eruption—

a decoction of the flowers is much in use among country people

in England as a posset drink in measles and smallpox, a widely

administered remedy and one of the few which everybody seems

to know. Marigold flowers are in great demand for children’s

ailments.

Druggists now make a medicinal tincture which is advised as

a sudoritic stimulant in low fevers, and to relieve spasms. A sat-

urated tincture of the flowers, when mixed with water, promotes

the cure of contusions, wounds, and simple sores or ulcers; also the

extract will allay chronic vomiting. One drop of the tincture with

two grains of powdered borax when sprayed into the ear is very

useful if a discharge has become established therefrom.

Anglo-Saxon: Merso-meargealla—; Burma: Htattaya—; Catalan: Clavellina

de mort, Clavellines dé mort, Gojato, Gojats, Graugets—; Chinese: Chin Chan

Ts’ao—; Danish: Almindelige koeblomme—j; Dutch: Afrikaantje goudsbloem,

Goudsbloem, Tamme goudeloem—; Fnglish: African Marigold, Calendula,

Common Marigold, Garden Marigold, Golds, Marigold, Mary Gowles, Pot

Marigold, Ruddes—; J*rench: Fleur de tous les mois, Souci, Souci cultivé,

Souci des jardins—; German: Butterblume, Dannblaume, Dotterblume, Faerber-

blume, Gaehl, Gaehlgoelling, Gartringel, Gelken, Gilkenblume, Goeldeke, Goel-

ling, Goldblume, Goldrose, Gugelkopf, Hauswirbel, Huehnernelke, Ingblume,

IXohlblume, olblume, Morgenroete, Rinderblume, Ringelblume, Ringelken,

Ringelrose, Sonnenblume, Sonnenrose, Studentenblume, Totenblume, Wagen-

blume, Warzenkraut, Wegroeslein, Zunenwirvel—; Greek: Chamobyoreta— ;

Italian ; Calendula, Calendula ortense, liori d’ogni mese, Fiorrancio, Furrancio— ;

Kurdish; Hamaishabahar—; Pacific Coast: Garden Marigold, Goldbloom, Holli-

gold, Marigold, Mary-bud—; Polish: Nogieter—; Portuguese : Calendula ortense,

Maravilha bastarda—; Punjab: Aklelulmulk, Saldbargh, Zergul—; Roumanian :

Galbinele, Hilimica—; Russian: Nogotki—; Spanish: Calendula, Calendula

officinal, Flor del muerto, Flor de muerto, Maravilla, Mercaderes dorados,

Mercaderes reales— ; Swedish: Ringblomma— ; Turkish : Qarah koz—; Uruguay :

I‘lor de la virreina—; Yemen: Zobedje—.

CARDUUS.

The genus includes about 80 species, natives mostly of the

Mediterranean region, but extending from Europe to Japan.

C. erispus Linn. is used medicinally in China, C. nutans Linn.

in India.

Carduus nutans Linn. is found in Western Tibet at an altitude

of 13,000 ft., in the Western Himalaya trom Kashmir to Simla,

and in the Punjab. It extends to Northern Asia and westwards

through Baluchistan and Persia to North Africa and Western

ISurope.

The flowers are considered febrifugal in Sind and in the Punjab.

In Kashmir they are used to purify the blood.

Punjab: Badaward, Kanchhari, Tiso—; Urdu: Gulebadaward—; Uruguay:

Cardo—.

English: Musk Thistle, Nodding Thistl—; Kashmir: Gulibadaward—;

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 633

CARPESIUM.

The genus consists of about 10 species in South Europe and in

temperate and subtropical Asia.

Leaves subsessile, never truly petioled, lanceolate acuminate

quite entire or serrate. Heads subsessile inserted along the

whole length of the branches oi ee ... i. C. abrotanoides.

Leaves shortly petioled elliptic-lanceolate obtuse sinuate-

toothed. Heads terminal drooping with broad leafy bracts. 2. ©. cernuum,

1. Carpesium abrotanoides Linn. is found in the Temperate

Himalaya, from Kashmir at 5,000-1,000 ft. to Sikkim at 8,000-10,000

ft. It is distributed to North Persia and Austria, and to China and

Japan. |

The root, the leaf, and the seed are used medicinally in China.

They are said to be diuretic and anthelmintic.

In Indo-China the seeds are considered laxative and_ bechic.

Chinese: Hao Shih, T’ien Ming Ching—; Indo-China: Cau nhi thai, Thien

mong tong—.

2. Carpesium cernuum Linn. is one of the commonest and most

variable Himalayan plants. It abounds in the Temperate Himalaya,

the Khasia Hills, and the Nilghiri Mountains. It is distributed

from the Caucasus to France, Java, and Japan.

The herb is used in China as an astringent, diuretic, and

anthelmintic.

Chinese: Ho Shih—.

CARTHAMUS.

The genus includes about 25 species, natives of the Mediterranean

region, Central Europe, India, Abyssinia and the Canaries.

A. Pappus made of scabrous toothed scales, the inner ones

being thrice as long as the achene oe eel wCmlanatus:

B. Pappus absent.

1. Leaves entire and unarmed or spinulose-serrate ... 3. ©. tinctorius.

2. Leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate; lower shortly

spinulose-toothed, upper half-amplexicaul, very

spinous a ss e

. C. oxyacantha.

1. Carthamus lanatus Linn. is found in Kashmir at 5,0o00o—

6,000 ft. It occurs in the Mediterranean region, Central Europe,

Abyssinia, Madeira, the Canaries.

The plant is used medicinally in France as a sudorific, febrifuge,

and anthelmintic.

English: Blessed Thistle, Distaff Thistle, Woolly Carthamus, Yellow Distaft

Thistle— ; French: Carthame laineux, Chardon bénit des Parisiens—; Maltese:

Xeuk il far, Xeuc ta Cristu—.

2. Carthamus oxyacantha Bieb. occurs in the Punjab, whence,

through Baluchistan and Afghanistan, it extends westwards to the

Caucasus,

634 JOURNAL, BOMBAY > NATURAL’ HIST. SOCIEILY. Volk XL

The oil extracted from the seeds is used medicinally in the Punjab

as a dressing for bad ulcers and as a remedy for itch.

English: Wild Safflower—; Hindi: Kantiari, Karar, Kharara, Poli, Polian— ;

Iraq: Kassub asfar, Suffair, Summaina—.

3. Carthamus tinctorius Linn. is cultivated throughout a large

part of India, Afghanistan, Persia, Syria, Egypt, and Southern

Europe. .

This plant is the Kusumbha of Sanskrit writers, a well known

Hindu medicinal drug.

Mahomedan writers too ascribe many virtues to the plant.

The action of the flowers is laxative and diaphoretic. In domestic

practice these flowers are used in children’s and infants’ complaints—

measles, fevers, and eruptive skin complaints. An infusion is made

of $ oz. of the flowers to a pint of boiling water taken warm to

produce perspiration. -

In China and Indo-China the flowers are given in dysmenorrhoea

and paralysis as a tonic and emmenagogue. In the Philippine Islands

they are employed as a cure for jaundice.

The powdered seeds made into a poultice, are used to allay

inflammation of the womb after childbirth. In Sind they are em-

ployed as a cooling medicine; they are sometimes boiled and made

into a gruel. They are considered to be diuretic and tonic by the

natives of the Punjab. In China and Indo-China they are reputed

purgative.

Koman in Madras administered a decoction (1 in 20) of the

powdered seeds to cases of constipation. The action was very mild,

and in the majority of cases it did not produce the desired effect.

The oil from the seeds is considered a mild purgative in Sind.

It is used as a dressing for bad ulcers, and as a liniment in rheu-

matism. In Bengal it is considered by the ryots as a valuable

remedy for “itch: a cure 1s ‘said to be, effected: alter threemtomsics

applications. The charred oil is used for healing sores and for

rheumatism; as a veterinary medicine it occasionally: finds use in

healing sores on cattle.

The young green plant is said to be very efficacious in colds; it

is believed to keep the system warm.

Saflower, in combination with other drugs, is prescribed for

scorpion sting; but Caius and Mhaskar have experimentally shown

that it is not an antidote to scorpion venom.

Arabic: Akhariza, Bazr-el-abris, Hab-ul-asfar, Hariz, Kirtum, Kurtum.,

’Usfar, Za’faran—; Bengal: Kajirah, Kusamphul, Kusum, Kusumbha—;

Bombay: Kardai, Karophi, Kusumba—; Burma: Heboo, Hshu, Su, Suban,

Supan—; Canarese: Kossumba, Kusambe, Kusumba—; Catalan: Safra bort,

Safranéd—; Chinese: Hong Hoa, Hong Lan Hoa, Hung Lan Hua—; Cutch:

Kusumba—; Dutch: Basterd Saffraan, Wilde saffraan—; Deccan: Kusumb—;

Kgypt: Gartoom, Kurtim, Osfar, Oortom—; English: African Saffron, American

Saffron, Bastard Saffron, Dyer’s Saffron, Fake Saffron, Parrot Seed, Safflower,

Wild Saffron—; French: Carthame, Cnique, Safran batard, Safran d’Allemagne,

Safranon, Carthame des teinturiers, Safran faux—; German: Gartensafran,

Falschesafran, Farberdistel, Safflor, Wildersafran—; Greek: Atractos, Atractylis,

Knikos—; Guilan: Tokhme-Kafisheh, Tukm-i-kajrah, Tukm-i-kazirah—;

Gujerati: Karada, Kusumbo—; Hamadan: Kaufsha, Oushon—; Hindi: Barre,

Karrah, Kasumba, Kussum, Kusumba—; Indo-China: Daccam, Hong hoa,

THE MEDICINAL AND. POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 633

Hong lam hoa, Rum—; Iraq: Qurtum—; Ilalian: Cartamo, Croco ortense,

Zafferano saracinesco, Zaffrone—; Nonkani : Kusbo—; Languedoc: Grano de

perrouquet— ; Malaya: Hong fah, Hsi hung hua, Hung hua, Hung lan hua,

Sai hong fah—; Malayalam: Chendurakam—; Malta: Bastard Saffron, Zaffer-

anone, Ghosfor—; Manipur: Galapmachu—; Marathi: Kadaya, Kararhi,

Kardai, Kasdi, Kurdi, Sadhi—; Mauritius: Carthame, Safran batard—; North-

Western Provinces: Barre, Kar—; Oceania: Kassoumbo—; Pampangan:

Cachumba, Casubha, Castumba—,; Persian: Gulekafshah, Gulemaskar, Kasak-

danah, Kazhirah, Muasfir, Quortum—; Philippines: Azafran de la_ tierra

Portuguese: Acafrao, Cartamo—; Punjab: Kar Karar, Kasumbha, Kurtam,

Kusam, Kushumbha, Ma, Safir—; Rajputana: Bundi—; Roumanian:

Brandusa de tvamna—; Russian: Saflor—; Sanskrit: Agnishikha, Gramya-

kunkuma, Kamalottara, Kamlottama, Kukkutashikha, Kusumbha, Lohita,

Maharajana, Padmottara, Papaka, Pita, Rakta, Vanishikha, Vasraranjana— ;

Sind: IKhoimbo, Quortum—; Spanish: Alazor, Azafran bastardo, Azafran romi,

Azafranillo de Mejico, Azafranillo de papagayos—; Sudan: Essfar, Kurtum—;

Swedish: Saffler—; Syria: Kashni—; Tagalog: Biri, Casabha, Casubha,

Castumba, Catsumba, Lago—; Tamil: Chendurukam, Kusumba, Sendurgam— ;

Telugu: Agnisikha, Kushumba, Kusumbha—; Turkish: Kantawaras—; Urdu:

Karha, Kusum—; Uruguay: Azafran bastardo, Azafran falso—; Visayan:

Casabha—.

CENTAUREA.

The genus includes 600 species, mostly natives of the Mediter-

ranean region, Central Europe and Western Asia, with a few North

and South American and one Australian. The Centaurea are immi-

grants from the west into India and, except perhaps for C. tberica

Stev. and C. phyllocephala Boiss. are visitors rather than even

denizens.

GC. calewvapa tann...cC. Centaurnim Linn., C. cyanus Linn:, C.

jagea Linn., C. montana Linn. are used medicinally in Europe;

Grrbenen Linn. im Persia; C: alexandrina Del., C. praecox Oliv. and

Hiern., C. rhizocephala Oliv. and Hiern. in West Africa.

C. solstitialis Linn. is reputed poisonous to live stock when

mature.

A. Flowers blue 2. C. cyanus.

B. Flowers purple or pink, very rarely white.

1. Involucral bracts with narrow membranous margins

terminating in a long strong spreading spine with

short lateral ones at its base a die ike

2. Involucral bracts ovate-rotund and _ oblong, herb-

aceous, cucullate with hyaline tomentose mem-

brane abi on oe: peta ge (Cn PGI IS.

1. Centaurea caicitrapa Linn. is found in the Punjab and

Kashmir, ascending to 3,500 ft. It also occurs in Mysore. It

extends to Asia Minor, Central and South Europe, North and

Tropical Africa.

The Arabs apply the bruised leaves to the head in cephalalgia.

In Europe the powdered root has long been considered a cure

for fistula and gravel, and the seeds are made into powder and

drunk in wine as a remedy for stone.

Arabic: Morrer, Shok-—; Catalan: Cart estrellat, Floravia, Herba espitlera— ;

English: Star Thistle—; French: Centaurée chausse-trappe, Chardon étoilé,

Chausse-trappe—; German: Flockenblume, Sterndistel, Sternflockenblume— ;

Italian: Calcatrepo, Calcatreppo, Calcatreppola, Calcatrippa, Ipofesto, Ippof-

resto—; Malta: Caltrops, Star-thistle, Calcatreppola, Ippofestco—; Spanish:

Abrojos, Cardo estrellado, Trepacaballos encarnado—,

C. calettrapa.

636 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XLI

2. Centaurea cyanus Linn. is found in corn fields and cultivated

places of North-West India. It is distributed to the Caucasus

and westwards to the Atlantic.

The florets are mildly astringent. A water distilled from them

was formerly in repute for weak eyes; it was famous in France under

the name of Eau de Casse-lunettes.

Quoth Culpepper: ‘The powder or dried leaves of the blue-

bottle, or cornflower is given with good success to those that are

bruised by a fall, or have broken a vein inwardly, and void much

blood dat the mouth’.

In modern herbal medicine the flowers are considered to have

tonic, stimulant, and emmenagogue properties.

Catalan: Angelets, Blauets, Blauhet, Escombrera—; Dutch: Korenbloem— ;

Knglish : Bachelor’s Buttons, Blaver, Blaverole, Blawort, Blue Blawort, Blewball,

Blewblow, Blueblaw, Blue-bonnets, Bluebottle, Bluebow, Blue-caps, Blue Poppy,

Break-your-Spectacles, Brushes, Corn-binks, Corn Bluebottle, Corn-bottle, Corn

Centaury, Cornflower, Cuckoo-hood, Hawdod, Hurt-sickle, Knobweed, Knot-

weed, Loggerheads, Thumble, Witch Bell, Witches’ Thimble—; French:

Aubefoin, Aubifoin, Aubiton, Aubitou, Barbeau, Barbot, Bavéolle, Blavelle,

Blavéole, Blaverolle, Blavet, Blaveolo, Blavetta, Blavette, Bleuet, Bluet, Bluet

des moissons, Boufa, Bouffa, Carconille, Casse-lunettes, Centaurée barbeau,

Centaurée bleuet, Chevalon, Chevalot, Ciano, Cornaille, Cornillat, Cornille,

Courcourille, Créconille, Fleur de Zacharie, Le Chevalier, Péréole, Pérole—;

German: Blaue Kornblume, Kornblume, Roggenblume, Tremse, Ziegenbein— ;

Italian: Battisegola, Fiordaliso—; Roumanian: Albastrea, Dioc, Floarea griului,

Ghioc, Sglavoc, Vinetea—; Russian: Vacilek, Vacilyok, Valoshky—; Spanish:

Aciano, Azuleja, Azulejo, Escobilia, Flor celeste de sembrados, Flor del cielo

espanol, Liebrecilla menor—.

3. Centaurea picris Pall. is found in Sind, Baluchistan, Afghani-

stan, the Levant, Central and Southern Russia, Siberia, and the

Altai Mounts.

At Wad in Jhalawan the plant is pounded in water and used to

cure worms. In Loralai it is a cure for wounds of sheep, used if

wolves tear them.

Brahui: Talkh kah—; Harboi Hills: Tulkha—; Loralai: Kurakh—; Wad:

Talkhakao—.

CENTIPEDA.

The genus numbers 5 species, inhabiting Chile, Madagascar,

tropical Asia, and Australia.

Centipeda robicularis Lour. is found in moist places throughout

the plains of India and Ceylon. It is distributed over Afghanistan,

Eastern tropical Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

The plant, either whole or in parts, is used medicinally in India,

China, the Philippine Islands, and New South Wales.

The powdered herb and the minute seeds are used as a

sternutatory. The drug is administered in ozoena, headaches, and

colds in the head. It is considered a hot and dry medicine, useful

in paralysis, pains in the joints, and worms.

The Mundas of Chota Nagpur snuff the crushed plant in fevers

and colds. In the Punjab the herb is boiled to a paste and applied

to the cheeks in toothache,

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 637

Vyas and Sinha have shown that the herb contains an alkaloid,

a glucoside, and traces of saponin; the watery extract increases the

force of contraction of the frog’s heart, prolongs the systole, and

causes heart block in larger doses.

Arabic: Afkar, Makandash, Uffarkakudush—; Bengal: Chhikni, Hancheta-

gachha, Hanchuti, Mechitta, Nagdowana, Nakkchikni, Pachittie—; Bombay:

Nagdowana, Nakkchikni, Pachittie— ; Chinese: Shih Hu Sui—; English: Sneeze-

weed, Sneezewort—; Gujerat: Chhikani—; Hindi: Nagdowana, Nakchhikni,

Nakkchikni, Pachittie—; Indo-China: Co the, .Thach ho tuy—; Malaya:

Chikkana, Chhikika, Chu tsao, E tai shih, O tai shih, Pe kong chau, Shih

u sui, Yoo pak seek—; Marathi: Nakashikani, Narasinkani—; Mundari: Acuara,

Acusing—; New South Wales: Sneezeweed—; Persian: Gawejahan—; Sanskrit:

Chhikkani, Chhikkika, Ghranadukhada, Kruranasa, Kshavaka, Kshavakrita,

Sanvedanapatu, Tikshna, Ugra, Ugragandha—; Santal: Bediachim—; Sind:

Afkar—; Tagalog: WHarangan—; Urdu: Nakachhikani—; Victoria: Guk-

wenderuk—; Visayan: Harangan, Pissic—.

CENTRATHERUM.

The genus consists of 15 tropical species, mostly Asiatic, with

four American and one Australian.

Centratherum anthelminticum O. Ktze. (=Vernonia anthel-

mintica Willd.) is found throughout India and Ceylon, often

cultivated.

The plant, roasted in a room, or powdered and thrown about the

floor, is believed to expel fleas.

The juice of the leaves is given to cure phlegmatic discharges

from the nostrils.

In Hindu medicine the seeds have long been esteemed as one of

the principal remedies for white leprosy and other skin diseases.

The drug is powdered with an equal quantity of black

sesamum, and a drachm of the powder is taken in the morning

with tepid water after perspiration has been induced by exercise or

exposure to the sun; the diet should consist of milk and rice,

In leucoderma a decoction of emblic myrobalans and catechu is

given with the powdered drug. Externally the seeds are used in

skin diseases in a variety of forms, such as powder, paste, oil,

infusion, juice.

On the Malabar Coast an infusion of the seeds is given for

coughs and against flatulency. In Travancore the bruised seeds,

ground up to a paste with lime juice, are largely employed as a

means of destroying lice.

In the Konkan the seeds enter into the composition of a popular

antiperiodic powder. In the Punjab they are considered febrifuge ;

they are also given in anasarca, and used for plasters for abscesses.

In Ceylon they are recommended for fever convulsions.

European doctors practising in India consider the seeds a

valuable tonic, stomachic, and diuretic.

The seeds are considered as powerfully anthelmintic in South

India, and are also an ingredient of a compound powder prescribed

in snake bites.

The author of the Makhzan-el-Adwiya says that the seeds are

given internally to remove phlegm and worms from the intestines,

638° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL iSite SOCIETY) SVole scien

and that a poultice or plaster is used to disperse cold tumours. He

concludes by stating that the drug is not often prescribed internally,

as it is thought to have injurious effects, but that it is much used

as a cattle medicine.

The seeds are used instead of quinine by the ‘Mundas of

Chota Nagpur. In paralysis of the legs the powdered seeds are

applied externally. When the stomach of cattle swells, the

powdered seeds are mixed in equal quantity with salt and soot

from the fireplace. This is dissolved in water with the addition

of two capsules of Spanish pepper, and given as a drink.

Wrench. (1919), Caius and Mhaskar (1923) have reported un-

favourably of the seeds in the treatment of hookworm infection.

There is conflict of opinions as to the value of the seeds in

the expulsion of roundworms; not only in the past, but also in

more recent times. Whilst Koman (1919-20) finds the seeds to

possess considerable ascaricidal properties, Caius and Mhaskar

(1923) report very unsatisfactory results.

The seeds contain a rather large quantity of resin. This was

tried in a number of cases of helminthic infections at the Carmichael

Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Calcutta. It appears to have very

little effect on the ascaris. It is, however, distinctly effective in

threadworms infections. In several children to whom the resin

powder was administered, threadworms were expelled in the stools

in large numbers and the symptoms which are often very trouble-

some, such as nocturnal enuresis and grinding of the teeth, were

relieved.

Mhaskar and Caius have shown experimentally that the seeds

are not an antidote to either snake or scorpion venom.

Arabic: Atar-i-lal, Itr-i-lal, Kamun-e-bari—; Bengal: Babchi, Bapchi,

Bukshi, Hakuch, Kaliziri, Somraj—; Bombay: WKalenjiri, Kalijiri—; Canarese :

Kadujirage, Kadujirige, Kalajirige, Sahadevi—; Deccan: Kalajira, Kalijiri,

Karviziri— ;_ English: Purple Fleabane, Wild Cumin—; French: Herbe aux

mouches—; Gujerati: WKadvojiri, Kalijiri—m; Hindi: Bakshi, Bukshi, Kalijhiri,

Kaliziri, Somraj, Vapchi—; Kumaon: Kalijiri—; Malayalam: Kalajirakam,

Kattasiragam, Kattujirakam, Puvankuruntala—; Marathi: Kalajira Kalenjiri,

Kalijiri, Karalye, Ranachajire—; Mundari: Warigiri, Karijiri, Karijuri, Piriti-

judiring, Saoraj—; Persian: Atarilal, Itrilal—; Porebunder: Kalijiri—; Punjab:

Bukoki, Kakshama, Kalazira, Kaliziri, Malwabakshi—; Sanskrit: Agnibija,

Aranyajiraka, Avalguja, Atavijiraka, Brihanyali, Kana, Kananajiraka, Krishna-

phala, Kshudrapatra, Putiphali, Sahadevi, Somaraji, Tiktajiraka, Vakushi,

Vanajiraka—; Sinhalese: Sanninaegam, Sanninasang, Sanninavan—; Tamil:

Katchiragam, Kattuchiragam, Neychitti, Nirnochi, Sittilai—; Telugu: Adavi-

jilakatta, Garitikamma, Nelavavili, Vishakantakamulu—; Tulu: Kalajrdari— ;

Urdu: Janglijiri—; Uriva: Somraj—.

CHRYSANTHEMUM.

The genus includes 180 species, natives of the northern

hemisphere.

The following are used medicinally in Europe—C. Balsamita

Linn., C. cinerariaefolium Vis., C. Leucanthemum Linn., C. Par-

thenium Bernh., C. vulgare Bernh.—; in Persia—C. Marschallii

Aschers—; in China—C. coronarium Linn., C. Decaisneanum Max.,

C. indicum Linn., C. sinense Sab.—; in Indo-China—C. indicum

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA ~ 639

-Linn., C. sinense Sab.—; in North America

Vis., C. Leucanthemum Linn.

Annual ae ite a. a Vite. <COronartint.

Perennial me pone 2. a 2s Co Haucuni.

C. cinerariaefolium

1. Chrysanthemum coronarium Linn. is a native of the

Mediterranean region, planted in Indian gardens.

The Yunanists consider the bark a purgative useful in syphilis ;

they apply the leaves topically to lessen inflammation.

The people of the Deccan administer the plant in conjunction

with black pepper in gonorrhoea.

Arabic: Adharyun—; Assam: Pithogarkah—; Bengal: Guldaudi—; Bombay :

Seoti— ; Canarese : Hale—; Chinese: T’ung Hao—; Deccan: Gulchini—; Egypt:

Mandiliye, Oehawan—; Gujerati: Guldaudi—; Hindi: Akurkurra, Gulchini,

Guldaudi— ; Ladak: Kalzang—; Malta: Crown Daisy, Bambageila, Fior d’oro,

Lellux, Zigland—; Marathi: Gulesevati, Tursiphal—; Persian: Guledaudi—;

Punjab; Bagaur, Zaenil—; Sinhalese: Lavulugas—; Tamil: Shamantippu— ;

Telugu: Chamanti—; Urdu: Gulechini—.

2. Chrysanthemum indicum Linn. is a native of China and

Japan, grown in Indian gardens.

The natives of the Deccan administer the plant in conjunction

with black pepper in gonorrhoea.

In China the flower heads are made into tonic and sedative

preparations. Infusions are frequently applied as a collyrium in

eye affections.

In Malaya the flowers are used for sore eyes and to promote

longevity.

In Indo-China the leaves are used as a depurant; they are

prescribed in migraine. The flowers are given for sore eyes and

for inflammations of the abdomen.

The flowers in the form of an infusion are used by the natives

of Guam as a remedy for intermittent fevers, and are valued by

women as a remedy for hysteria and monthly irregularities.

Bengal: Chandramallika—; Bombay: Akurkura, Chevati—; Chinese: Yeh

chu— ; English: False Camomile, Indian Chrysanthemum— ; French: Pyréthre— ;

Guam: Manzanilla—; Hindi: Guldaudi—; Indo-China: Cuc rieng vang, Gia

cuc, Kien cuc am dat, Kim cuc—; Ladak: Kalzang—; Marathi: Shevati—;

Philippines: Manzanilla, Rosa de Japén—; Punjab: Bagaur, Gendi—; Tagalog:

Dolontas—; Tamil: Akkarakkaram—; Telugu: Chamunti—; Urdu: Gule-

dawoodi—.

CICHORIUM.

This genus includes 8 species scattered over the temperate

regions of the Old World; some occur in America as an

introduction.

A. Annual ee ae re wee oe ger Nocanum,

B. Perennial

1. Stem leaves hastate at the base cae ats 1. C. Endivia,

2. Stem leaves entire be re me 2. C.. Intybus.

1. Cichorium Endivia Linn. is a native of the Mediterranean

region, cultivated in India.

It is much valued by the Hakims as a resolvent and cooling

medicine, and is prescribed in bilious complaints,

640 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HUST. “SOCTERY, Wolk excen

The root is used in dyspepsia and fever as a tonic and de-

mulcent; the fruit as a cooling remedy for fever, headache, and

Jaundice.

The root is considered warm, stimulating, and febrifuge; given

in ‘Munjus’, the diluent taken preparatory to purging; the seed

is used in sherbets.

The root is offcinal in Portugal.

Bengal: WKassin—; Bombay: Kasini—; Dutch: Andijire—; Egypt: Abur-

rukeyb, Endiwiya, Hendeba, Hindib, Shikuriya, Silis—; English: Garden

Endive—; French: Chicorée blanche, Chicorée endive, Chicorée frisée, Endive,

Escarole, Scariole, Scarole—; German: Endivie—; Greek: Radiki, Radikion— ;

Hindi: Kasini—; Hova: Saladingita— ; Traq: Hindiba—; Italian: Endivea,

Indivia—; Languedoc: FEnderio, Endevio, Endive—; Mundavri: Risasalad— ;

Portuguese: Chicorea, Endivia, Escarolla—; Roumanian: Laptuca—; Russian:

Laktuk— ; Spanish: Eksarola—; Tamil: Kashini—; Telugu: Koshi—; Turkish :

Hiddiba—.

2. Cichorium Intybus Linn. is indigenous to Persia, and is

cultivated in Europe and India. It is a common weed over all

well-cultivated land in the vicinity of water-courses and wherever

there is damp clay soil in Baluchistan, Waziristan, and North-West

India up to 6,000 ft.

The Mahomedan writers recognize a cultivated sweet variety

and a wild bitter variety.

In Loralai the plant is used as a cure for diarrhoea and bilious

attacks.

In Persia, Baluchistan, and India the root is a resolvent and

cooling medicine for bilious attacks. The seeds are also considered

a cooling medicine.

In Europe the root is a bitter tonic, diuretic, and laxative. A

decoction of tr ounce of the root to 1 pint of boiling water is taken

freely in jaundice, liver enlargements, gout, and rheumatic com-

plaints. In France the leaf is considered as a very good substitute

for the root; it is used in the form of an infusion, and as such

is a very popular laxative.

The seeds are considered carminative and cordial. A decoction

is used in obstructed menstruation and for checking bilious

vomiting. |

The root is officinal in Portugal; the root and the leaves are given

official recognition in France.

Arabic: Hindubar, Indyba—; Baluchistan: Zral—; California: Chicory,

Ragged Sailor, Saccory, Wild Bachelor’s Buttons—; Catalan: Camaroja,

Mastagueres,. Xicoina, Xicoines, Xicoira, Xicoria amarga—; Dutch: Bitterste

Cichory, Cichory, Wilde Cichory—; Egypt: Hendeb, Shikurie—; English:

Chicory, Succory, Wild Endive, Wild Succory—; French: Barbe de capucin,

Bois de corde, Cheveux de paysan, Chicorée amére, Chicorée sauvage, Ecoubette,

Herbe a café, Herbe amére, Inthybe—-; German: Blausamenwirbel, Cichorie,

Hindeg, Verfluchte Jungfer, Weglunge, Wegwarte, Wegweiss, Wilde Endivie,

Zichorie— ; Greek: Kichora, Kikori, Kikorion, Korla, Seris Pikris—; Gujerati :

Kasani— ; Hamadan: Kashni—; Hindi: Hinduba, Kasni—; Italian: Cicorea,

Cicoria, Radiccltio—; Loralai: Kashin—; Malta: Chicory, Cicoria, Radicchio,

Cicueira—; Pacific Coast: Blue Daisy, Blue Dandelion, Blue Sailors, Chicory,

Succory—; Persian: Hinduba, Kasani, Kasni—: Polish: Podroznik—;

Portuguese : Almeirao, Chicorea brava—; Provence : Cicoureio— ; Punjab: Gul,

Hand, Kasni, Suchal—; Roumanian ; Cicoare—; Russian: Tsikorie— ; Spanish :.

4 \)

fue MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 641

Achicoria, Achicoria silvestre, Achicoria amarga, Chicoria—; Swedish: Waeg-

warda—; Tamil: Kashini—; Teheran: Kashni—; Telugu: Kasini—; Urdu:

Kasani—; Uruguay: Achicoria—; Yemen: Hendibe—.

3. Cichorium Noeanum Boiss. is found in Baluchistan whence

it spreads over to Mesopotamia.

In Baluchistan the flowers are soaked in water, and the water

used for sore legs and also for the stomach derangement called

monk’.

Brahui: Kashnen, Kashni, Talka kah—.

CNICUS.

The genus numbers about 150 species found in the northern

temperate regions.

C. japonicus Maxim., C. sinensis Gard. and Champ., C. spicatus

Maxim. are used medicinally in China and Japan; C. arvensis

Ionm., C. benedictus Linn. in Europe; C. arvensis. Hoffm. in the

Pacitic Coast States of North America.

Heads dioecious ue ee ee Ba oes ©.

Heads bisexual “cee eo 23 ane Ma ©

. arvensis.

. sinensis.

1. Cnicus arvensis Hoffm. is found in Bengal and the Gangetic

Plains extending from the Sunderbunds to the Punjab. It occurs

in the Western Himalaya from Kashmir to Kumaon, and in Western

Tibet at 1i,o00-13,000 ft. It is distributed to Northern Asia and

westwards to the Atlantic.

The plant is emetic, tonic, diaphoretic, and reported to contain

an alkaloid.

The root is astringent.

England: Creeping Field Thistle—; Pacific Coast: Canada Thistle—.

2. Cnicus sinensis Gard. and Champ. is a native of China

extending to Burma and India. It occurs in marshy places on the

IXhasia Hills at 4,000-6,000 ft.

The stem and leaves are antiscorbutic. The root is given

internally for flatulence ; externally it is used for ulcers and abscesses.

Chinese: K’u Ao—.

Coruien:

The genus includes 50 cosmopolitan species found mostly in the

southern hemisphere.

C. aurea Loefl. and C. coronopifolia Linn. are used medicinally

in Europe; C. anthemoides Linn. and C. villosa DC. in South Africa.

Achenes ovate with thick narrow wings. Leaves bipinnatifid |

or bipinnatisect a ee aa ... I. C, anthemoides.

Achenes oblong hardly winged. Leaves 1-2-pinnatifid ten 2 (Ce aurea.

1. Cotula anthemoides Linn. is found in the Gangetic Plain

from Rajmahal and Sikkim westwards to the Punjab. It is

distributed to China and to Africa, Northern and Southern.

649 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

The plant heated with oil is applied externally in rheumatism.

The infusion is used as a wash in most diseases of the eye.

A decoction is a Nosa remedy for head and chest colds. The

nostrils are sometimes filled with the crushed leaf for colds.

The Sutos use a decoction of the leaf and root as a colic remedy.

Egypt: Ribbin—; Hindi: Babuna—; Kashmir: Tulobe—; Punjab: Babuna— ;

Suto: Hlapi-e-nyenyane— ; Urdu: Babunah—; Aosa: umHlonyane—.

2. Cotula aurea Linn. is found in the Punjab. It is spread

over Persia, Syria, Malta, Algeria and Spain.

In Spain the plant, chiefly the flowers, is used as a tonic,

diaphoretic, anthelmintic, antipyretic, antihysteric, and for pain in

the bowels. The flower heads are officinally recognized.

Catalan: Camamilla fina—; Spanish: Manzanilla fina—.

CREPIS.

The genus includes 170 species, natives mostly of Europe, Asia

and North Africa.

Crepis acaulis Hook. fil. is common in the subtropical Himalaya

from Jammu to Bhutan, in the Lower Gangetic Plain, Central India,

Kanara and the Nilghiris. It is equally common in Burma.

Among the Mundas of Chota Nagpur the baked leaves, or the

root ground and mixed with goat’s milk, are taken to activate the

secretion of milk in women. ‘The root is also eaten raw in urinary

complaints.

Mundari: Etete-ara, Pirieteke—.

DICHROCEPHALA.

The genus consists of 5 Asiatic and African species.

Dicrocephala latifolia DC. occurs on the Western Ghats from

Bombay southwards, in the tropical and subtropical Himalaya from

Simla to Sikkim at 8,000-9,000 ft., in the Khasia Hills, Cachar,

Burma, and in the Malay Peninsula where it is rare. It is distri-

buted over tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa.

The young shoots are used externally in Cambodia for the

treatment of blennorrhagia in women, and for the bites and stings

of insects.

Cambodia: Kbet choun thom, Kombet choun—; Indo-China: Phuc linh

thai—.

DICOMA.

The genus numbers 30 species inhabiting Africa, Madagascar,

and tropical Asia.

D. tomentosa Cass. is used medicinally in West Africa; D.

anomala Sond., D. capensis Less., D. speciosa IDC., D. Zeyheri

Sond. are used in South Africa.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 643

Dicoma tomentosa Cass. is spread over India from the North-

West and the Punjab to Sind, Gujerat, the Deccan, the South

Mahrata Country, the Carnatic, Mysore, Coimbatore, and the

Nilghiris. It is fairly common in tropical Africa.

The herb is strongly bitter, and is used in the neighbourhood

_of Belgaum as a febrifuge, especially in the febrile attacks to

which women are subject after childbirth.

In Hausa and Nigeria the herb is used as a local application to

putrescent wounds.

Belgaum: Navananjichapala—; Gujerati: Gholoharnacharo—; Hausa: Dau

da, Farin dayi, Kwardauda, Surandu—; Katagum: Dowda—; Rajputana:

Vajradanti—.

DORONICUM.

The genus consists of 25 species, inhabitants of the northern

temperate regions of the Old World.

D. austriacum Jacq., D. Columnae Tenore, D. Pardalianches

Linn., D. plantagineum Linn. have been used medicinally in Europe.

A. Achenes all pappose. Heads 1-2 ... fas we. 2.20); Hooker.

G. Achenes of the ray epappose, of the disk pappose.

1. Herbaceous, 2-4 ft. high. Heads few or numerous... 3. D. Roylei.

Ze OtOutaherDy Wels. ft. digi. Eleads! 1-2 2: wre Lends. Baleoneri.

1. Doronicum Falconeri Clarke occurs in Kashmir at an altitude

of 13,000 ft., and in the Karakoram Range at 14,000 ft.

The root is said to be useful in nervous depression.

2. Doronicum Hookeri Hook. fil. is found in the Sikkim

Himalaya at Lachen and Tungu between 12,000 and 14,000 ft.

The root is an aromatic tonic.

3. Doronicum Reylei DC. is found in Kashmir and Garhwal at

NO, O00: IL.

The root is used to prevent giddiness on ascending heights.

ECHINOPS.

The genus includes 82 species, mostly Mediterranean distributed

over Southern and Eastern Europe, tropical and North Africa, and

Asia to Japan and Siberia.

E. dahuricus Fisch. is used medicinally in China; E. longifolius

A. Rich, in Nigeria.

Turkish Manna is obtained from E. persicus Stev.

Three alkaloids—echinopseine, echinopsine, and B-echinopsine—

have been insolated from the seeds of FE. ritro Linn.

Echinops echinatus Roxb. occurs more or less throughout India

and Afghanistan.

The plant is used by both Ayurvedists and Yunanists.

644 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XLI

At Hesargai the roots are pounded and mixed with Acacia gum

and applied to the hair to destroy lice; also the powdered roots

are applied to wounds in cattle to destroy maggots.

Arabic: Ashtarkhar—; Gujerati: Shuliyo, Utkanto, Utkato—; Hindi:

Gokhru, Utakanta, Utakatira—; Marathi: Wwadechubak, Utanti, Utati, Utka- _

tara—; Ormara: Gurgaj—; Persian: Astarkhar—; Pushitu: Chingamwali— ;

Sanskrit: Kantalu, Kantaphala, Karamadana, Mukhadantarujapaha, Rakta-

pushpa, Shrigala, Shunakashana, Tikshnagra, Ushtrakanta, Utati, Utkantaka,

Utkatotkata, Vrittaguchha—; Urdu: Untkatara—; Yemen: Jirdama—.

ECLIPTA,

The genus consists of 4 species, South American, Australian,

and cosmopolitan.

Eclipta alba Hassk. is cosmopolitan in warm climates. It is

found throughout India, ascending to 6,o00 ft. in the Himalaya

and other mountains.

The plant is an Ayurveda and Yunani medicine.

It is principally used as a tonic and deobstruent in hepatic and

splenic enlargements, and in various chronic skin diseases. There

is a popular opinion that the herb taken internally and applied

externally will turn the hair black.

The fresh plant is applied with sesamum oil in elephantiasis,

and the expressed juice is taken internally in affections of the liver

and dropsy. When used in large doses, it acts as an emetic. It

is also considered cooling. It is anodyne and absorbent, and re-

lieves headache when applied with a little oil.

The plant is considered an astringent in China, and is used

for checking haeniorrhages and fluxes and strengthening the gums.

The plant is rubbed on the gums for toothache, acting as a counter-

irritant.

The plant is much used as a cure for asthma and bronchitis

in Indo-China. In Ceylon it is used to purify the blood.

In La Reunion the plant is considered as pectoral and anti-

asthmatic. The decoction is prescribed externally for skin diseases

and elephantiasis.

In Bombay, the natives use the juice in combination with

aromatics, as a tonic and deobstruent, and give two drops of it

with eight drops of honey to new-born children, suffering from

catarrh. In the Gujrat district of the Punjab, it is used externally

for ulcers, and an antiseptic for wounds in cattle.

The root is given to relieve the scalding of urine. In Chota

Nagpur it is applied in conjunctivitis and galled necks in cattle.

In Assam the leaves are reputed to cure sores when applied to

them. : lee

The juice of the leaves is generally given in one teaspoonful

doses in jaundice and fevers. It is rubbed fresh on the shaven

scalp for the purpose of promoting the growth of the hair. The

pounded leaves are prescribed in haemorrhage.

In Gold Coast the leaves are ground and mixed with cold water;

this mixture is then drunk to cure constipation.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 645

The leaves are used in Brazil as a remedy for diarrhoea and as

a black stain for the hair.

In scorpion sting the leaves are rubbed on the part affected as

well as inhaled. In practice the leaves are first rubbed from above

the inflamed part down to the sting; they are then made into a

paste and applied as a poultice.

Koman, summing up his work with this plant, says: ‘There are

two varieties of the plant—the yellow flowered and the white

flowered—the former variety has thicker leaves which are extensively

used in catarrhal jaundice. The fresh leaves are well washed,

ground with a few pepper corns, and a lump of the size of a lime

is administered early in the morning in sour curd or buttermilk. I

have found this drug very useful in curing the disease when so

administered for five or six days. Occasionally a purgative may be

required to aid the action of the drug. In its action, it resembles

podophyllin and taraxacum. It may be administered in the form

Ol a SuUCCUS. ’

Arabic: Kadim-el-bint, Tolak—; Ashanti: Ntum—; Baluchi: Murida—;

Bengal: Kesari, Keshori, WKesuti, Keysuria—; Brahui: Bikgur—; Canarese:

Garagadasappu, Kadiggagaraga—; Ceylon: Kaikechi, Kaivichi illai, Karichalan-

kanni, Karippan—; Chinese: Han Lien Ts’ao, Li Ch’ang, Me Teou T’sao,

Pa Ko Ts’ao—; Egypt: Sa’de—; Gujerati: Bhangra, Dodhak, Kalobhangro,

Kaluganthi— ; Hasada: Pirikesari—; Hindi: Babri, Bengraya, Bhangra, Moch-

kand, Mochrand—; Ilocano: Tintatinta—; Indo-China: Co muc, Lien tao, Nho

noi, Phong trang, Phong truong—; Iraq: ’Arundis—; Kolami: Hatukesari— ;

-Lagos: Abikolo—; Mundari: Benggaraj, Benggraj, Bhenggaraj, Bhenggraj, Hur-

ingsarsiranu, Sarsingranu—; Rajputana: Jal bangra—; Sadani: Bengaria— ;

Sanskrit: Ajagara, Angaraka, Bhekaraja, Bhringa, bhringaraja, Bhringasodara,

Bhringavha, Ekaraja, Karanjaka, Kesharaja, Kesharanjana, Keshya, Kuntala-

vardhana, Mahabhringa, Mahanila, Markara, Markava, Nagamara, Nilabhringa-

raja, Nilapushpa,. Pankajata, Pararu, Patanga, Pitripriya, Rangaka, Shyamala,

Sunilaka—; Santal: Lalkesari—; Sind: Tik—,; Sinhalese: Kikirindi, Kikirindi-

ha—; Tagalog: Higuismanoc—; Tamil: MKaikeshi, MKaivishiilai, Karisha-

langanni—; Telugu: Galagara, Guntagalijeru, Guntakalaagara—; Urdu:

Bhangra—; Uriya: MKesarda—; Uruguay: Yerba de la oveja—; Yoruba:

Abikolo, Arojoku—.

(To be continued).

NOTES ON BUTTERFLIES OF THE SHAN STATES.

Capt. W. C. CARROTT.

(Continued from page 665 of vol. xl).

Since writing the list of butterflies found in the Shan States

I would like to mention one or two observations made and not

mentioned in the first list.

During April of this year I caught a damaged specimen of

Chilasa slateri marginata. So this butterfly does appear in the

Shan votates. 1 caught the above specimen at Maymyo, 3,500 ft.

Byasa aidoneus. A couple of males of this butterfly was caught

by me during May of this year, so evidently it is double brooded.

In my previous list I mentioned that Papilio noblei was reported

to be plentiful in the Myitkyina District. I) have visited this

district twice this year, end of March and end of June. During

my first visit I caught one male, and the second visit I was fortunate

in getting half a dozen. It flies along with helenus helenus and

chaon chaon and is difficult to differentiate when on the wing.

Like others of this family it settles on the comp patches of ground.

No females were caught or seen,

One other butterfly caught in March in this district and not

recorded as being found in Burma was Elymnias pealu. Evans

mentions it as being found in Assam.

While on this tour end of March I came across Appias nero

galba gathered on the sand near a stream and I never saw so many

butterflies together before. Truly there were hundreds of thousands,

chiefly wet season form and only a few of the dry season form.

Why the wet season form should be out and in the majority instead

of the dry season form I am at a loss to understand. It was

impossible to collect one at a time as each sweep of the net caught

at least fifty. All males of course.

Another interesting capture while on this tour was a Penthema

which differs from lisarda lisarda or darlisa. It favours darlisa

-but does not have sub-marginal spots shaped like arrow heads.

The colour of the spots are not so blue and some other markings

are different. It would appear to be an intermediate race. I caught

two males of this butterfly.

NYMPHALID&.

CHARAXES :

polyxena hiera. Fd. Fairly common all over the Shan States. . Males are filth

eaters and are to be found feeding on excreta of wild animals. The varieties

corax, hipponax and pleistoanax are also found along with hierax.

NOTES ON BUTTERFLIES. OF THE SHAN STATES 647

marmax, Wd. I have seen this only in the South Shan States and is very

rare there. :

fabius sulphureus. Roth. Not seen in the North but fairly plentiful at Lebin,

2,000 ft. in the South.

ERIBEA

schreiberi assamensis. Roth. Caught two males of this very rare butterfly at

Maymyo, 3,500 ft. One on October last year and the other about ten years ago.

athamas athamas. Dr. Very common all over the country.

arja. Fd. Also very common.

moori sandakanus. Fruh. Very rare indeed. Not seen in the Shan States,

but a damaged specimen was given me and caught near Pyinmana probably at

the foot of the Shan States Hills.

dolon magniplaga. Fruh. Found at Kalaw in the South. None seen in the

North. A friend of mine at Kalaw found three chrysalises in his garden and was

successful in breeding two of them, a male and a female.

dolon grandis. Roth. Males fairly plentiful at Kalaw in the South. I used

to catch quite a number while feeding on the bed of a stream near the Railway

Station.

narceea lissainei. Tyt. Very rare indeed. I have seen only one and failed to

met it.

eudamippus nigrobasalis. Lathy. A few caught in different parts of the

States.

deiphis. Db. Not seen in the Shan States proper, but they are fairly plenti-

ful on the Karen Hills in the Toungoo District.

PROTHE

calydonia belisama. Crow. Not seen in the Shan States proper, but a couple

of females were caught by me at Pathechaung at the foct of the Karen Hills,

end of April of this year.

franckii angelica, But. Not seen in the Shan States. <A pair caught at

Pathechaung same time as above.

APATURA

cooperi. yt. I have caught half a dozen pairs at Maymyo which I believe

is the only place in which it is to be found.

ulupi kalaurica. Tyt. This should be spelt kalawiea as it was first found

by my friend Mr. Dingavan at Kalaw and from whom General Tytler got his

specimens. I have not seen it in the North and it appears to be very rare

even in the South.

dingavani. This new butterfly has not yet been officially recorded, but 1

understand Mr. Dingavan of Kalaw has sent specimens to General Evans for

naming. It is somewhat like wlupi florenciae. Strange to say this new butter-

fly is only found in the garden of Mr. Dingavan at Kalaw. The country roufid

about has been searched but no trace of it can be found. About six pairs have

so far been caught, one pair of which is in my collection.

ambica ambica. Koll. Not at all common in the Shan States. I have seen

only one at Maymyo and one other at Kalaw. It is more common on the

plains in the North of Burma.

parisatis parisatis, Wd. I caught a number of males at Yinmabin 1,200 ft.

in the Southern Shan States. I have not seen any females. It does not appear

to fly at higher altitudes.

648 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

HERONA 4

marathus marathus, Db. Fairly plentiful at Maymyo in the North, but not

seen elsewhere.

SEPHISA

chandra. M. Males very common in the Shan States. One female of the

typical form caught by me at Maymyo, and one female of the variety chandrana

in my garden. I have not seen the variety albina.

EURiPUS

halitherses. Dob. and Hew. Two males in my collection. No females seen.

DIAGORA

persimitis persimilis. Wd. Rare in the Shan States. One male caught at

Maymyo this year, and one male at Kalaw.

HESTINA

nama, Db. Fairly common in the South but rare in the North.

CALINAGA

buddha sudassana. Melvill. I generally manage to collect two or three males

every year, end of March or beginning of April. This year I-was more fortunate

and caught two females in coitu.

PENTHEMA .

darlisa. M. Caught a few males in the Momeilk State, just above Mogok

Ruby Mines. This year I caught two males of the variety mentioned at the

beginning of this list.

DICHORRAGIA

A few caught in both North and South.

STIBOCHIONA

Rare and only one seen which I could not net.

EUTHALIA

~ cocytus satrapaces. Hew. Caught a number of these at the foot of the

Karen Hills, but not seen in the Shan States proper.

lepidea sthavara, ruh. Common at Maymyo in the North.

julii sedeva. M. Plentiful all over the Shan States.

jahou jahnu., M. Fairly plentiful.

anoSia anosia. M. Rare. I have caught about six in the course of 15 years.

-telchinia. Men. Very rare. Only seen cne and that many years ago.

mahadeva binghami. De N. Caught one male this year at the foot of the

Karen Hills, end of April. I have not seen it in the Shan States proper.

merta eriphyle. De N. Only one caught by me.

garuda garuda. M. Common all over the country.

jama verena, Fruh. Rare. Only one male caught at Maymyo.

phemius. Db. Rare in the Shan States. A pair caught by me at Maymyo

during 1938.

ubentina. indica Fruh. Not too plentiful. I caught a few in the North

Hsenwl State a few years ago. An occasional one at Maymyo in April.

NOTES ON BUTTERFLIES OF THE SHAN STATES 649

nara shania. Ev. This used to be plentiful at Kalaw, but it is now scarce

and very seldom seen.

Sahadevya narayana. GrS. and Kir. Not rare, and I manage to collect a

few good specimens every year at Maymyo.

pratti cooperi. Tyt. Very rare, and I have only managed to net one during

my many years residence in Maymyo.

patala taooana. M. Fairly rare, but odd ones can be caught both at

Maymyo and Kalaw.

evelina eve'ina. Stoll. Rare. Only two in my collection; both caught at

Maymyo.

ADOLIAS

cyanipardus. But. Rare. One male in my collection caught at Kalaw.

dirtea jadeitina. Fruh. Fairly common at altitudes of about 2,000 ft.

PARTHENOS

sylvia gambrisius. F. Common all over the Shan States.

LEBADEA

martha attenuata. Very common at lower altitudes.

NEUROSIGMA

doubledayi nonius. De N. I have caught a few in Maymyo as well as

Kalaw. I notice Evans records this as from Karens and Dawnas. However the

Karens should be placed geographically in the Shan States, especially from an

entomological point of view.

LIMENITIS

daraxa. Dob. and Hew. I have caught a few males at Maymyo, but to

date have not been able to secure a female. It occurs also in the South.

dudu, Wd. Very rare, and I have only been able to collect a pair during

my many years of collecting.

procris procris. Cr. Very common all over the Shan_ States.

PANTOPORIA

sulpitia adamsoni, M. I have caught a few of these at Maymyo.

nefte inara. Db. Not too plentiful. Two or three specimens caught every

year.

cama. M. Same remarks as the above.

selenophora selenophora. Koll. Very common indeed, especially males which

delight in gathering on moisture on the roads.

zeroca. M. Rather rare in the Shan States.

opalina orientalis. Eb. A few of these can be caught during the rains at

Maymyo.

ranga ranga. M. Not too rare. I have caught a number of good speci-

mens during my residence in the Shan States.

larymna siamensis. Fruh. Rare, but I have succeeded in collecting a few

good specimens at Maymyo.

asura asura, M. Not at all rare.

perius. L. Very common.

NEPTIS

columella ophiana. M. Common.

jumbah jumbah. M. Common.

650 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XLI

magadha khas!ana. M. Very rare. Only one male caught by me.

hylas astola. M. Very common. |

hylas adara. M. Very common.

soma soma. M. are, only one male in my collection.

nandina susruta. M. Not too plentiful.

yerburyi shania. Ev. Fairly plentiful ‘at Maymyo.

sankara quilta. Sw. Rare and very seldom seen.

harita. M. Also rare, only one male caught by me.

anjana nashona, Sw. Rare.

ananta ochracea. Ev. Rare, found at Kalaw in the South.

manasa. M. Not very rare, but very local. I have secured a number from

Kalaw ; and if one knows their feeding plant it is not difficult to get a number.

dindinga assamica. M. Very rare. A couple of males only in my collection

hordonia hordonia. Stoll. Common all over the Shan States.

CYRESTIS

periander periander. F. I have only seen this very fragile butterfly at the

bottom of the Goteik Gorge in the North.

cocles cocles. IF. As above.

thyodamas thyodamas. Bdy. Very common.

CHERSONESIA

risa. Dob. and Hew. Fairly plentiful in all of Shan States.

rahria rahrioides. M. Not so plentiful as the above, but quite a number

can be collected in one season.

PSEUDERGOLIS

wedha. Koll. Very common at low altitudes but rare at higher elevations.

HYPOLIMNAS

misippus. L. Very rare in the Shan States. Common in the plains.

bolina. 1. Fairly common all over the States.

YOMA

sabina vasuki, Doh. Males are very common around Maymyo as they can

be found in swarms feeding on cement bridges.

RHINOPALPA

polynice birmana. Fruh. I have not come across this in the hills, but

secured a couple of males at the foot of the Karen Hills, Toungoo District.

DOLESCHALLIA

bisaltide indica. M. Only found at low altitudes. One male only in my

collection.

KALLIMA

inachus limborgi. M. Fairly common all over the Shan States.

PRECIS

hierta magna. Ev. Very common.

ortihya ocyale. Hub. Common,

NOTES ON BUTTERFLIES OF THE SHAN STATES 651

lemonias lemonias. L. Very common.

almana almana. L. Very common.

atlites. L. Common.

iphita iphita, Cr. Extremely common.

VANESSA

cardui. L. Rare in the North. Odd ones cain be picked up at Kalaw in the

South.

indica indica. Herbst. Also rare in the North; but fairly plentiful in’ the

South, Kalaw to Taungyi.

canace canace. L. Common all over the Shan States,

SYMBRENTHIA

hippoclus khasiana. M. Common.

hypselis cotanda. Rare in the Shan States. I have only collected three of

these in and around Maymyo. Odd ones have been found at the foot of the

hills in the South.

ARGYNNIS |

hyperbius hyperbius. L. Very common at altitudes of 3,000 ft. and over.

They feed and breed on violets in my garden at Maymyo.

childreni childreni. Gray. Rare. Only found this at Kalaw. Not seen in

the North. :

CUPHA

erymanthis lotis. Suiz. One of the commonest butterfiies in Maymyo.

ATELLA

phalanta, Drury. Very common indeed.

alcippe burmana. Ev. Very rare at high altitudes. Very seldom seen at

above 1,000 ft.

ISSORIA

Sinha sinha. Koil. Very common all over the country.

CYNTHIA

crota erota. F. Common at low altitudes. Fairly scarce in the hills.

CiIRROCHROA

fasciata. Fd. I have only seen this at the foot of the Karen Hills near

Taungoo.

neris olivacea. De N. Rare in the hills but fairly plentiful at low elevations.

tyche mithila. M. Also rare in the hills but common on the plains,

CETHOSIA

biblis tisamena, Fruh. Fairly common.

cyane. Drury. Not common.

ERGOLIS

ariadne pallidior. Fruh. Common all over the Shan States.

merione assama. Ev. Also very plentiful.

G32" JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATORAE SHIST.§ SOCIETY: Voll XE

LARINGA

horsfieldii glaucescens. De N. I used to consider this very rare, and pur-

chased a pair for my collection. The following year I secured half a dozen

pairs at Maymyo. It is fairly common at Nanpandet at the foot of the South

Shan State Hills.

PAREBA

vesta sordice. Fruh. Common both at Maymyo and Kalaw. Can _ be

collected by the dozen feeding on young paddy plants.

ERYCINIDA.

LIBYTHEA

lepita lepita. M. Fairly common.

myrrha sanguinalis. Fruh. Common.

warina rohini. Mar. Very rare.

ZEMEROS

flegyas indicus. Fruh. Very common indeed.

DODONA

eugenes venox. Fruh. Very rare in the Shan States.

egeon. Db. Rare, but odd specimens can be found every year.

ouida ouida. M. Same as above.

henrici longicaudata. De N. Very rare. Only one male in my collection.

henrici deodata. Hew. A few specimens collected by me at Maymyo.

ABISARA

fylla. Db. Very common.

neophron neophron. Hewt. Fairly plentiful all over.

chela kalawna. Ev. Very rare.

echerius angulata. M. Very common.

kausambi paionea. Fruh. Fairly rare.

TAXILA

thuisto sSawaja. Fruh. I have only found this at the foot of the Karen

Hills.

haquinus fasciata. M. Found both in the North and South,

(To be continued),

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

I.— BEHAVIOUR OF MONKEYS WHEN ATTACKED.

The extraordinary habit of monkeys leaving trees when attacked

by dogs referred to by Mr. Dunbar Brander on p. 165 of vol. xli

is common also in the case of the Nilgiri Black Langur on these

hills, and a good account of this curious trait will be found on

p. 185 of Game by ‘Hawkeye’ published in 1876; no explanation

is however offered for such peculiar behaviour.

That wild dogs profit by this failing is evident from the fact

' that I have on more than one occasion in the Kundahs found black

monkey fur in wild dog droppings.

E. G. PHYTHIAN-ADAMS,

KaALHATTI, Major.

NILGIRIS.

September 10, 1939.

1..—EFFECTS OF MAULING BY TIGER.

Just after reading Mr. H. A. Fooks’-interesting note on the

above subject in the August number of our Journal I was: reading

Dr. Haliday Sutherland’s latest book—Hebridean Journey in which

he tells the following story about a man he met at an inn at

Pollachar in the Outer Hebrides (p. 164).

‘Outside the inn I met a man who had lost an arm by being

mauled by a tiger when shooting in Ind‘a. Having written an

excellent book about tigers, he was trout fishing at Pollachar

before returning to India in order to make a film about tigers.

I asked him if he had felt pain when the tiger was mauling his

arm.’

‘Not the slightest pain,’ said he.

‘That’s very interesting, because Livingstone had the same ex-

perience when being mauled by a lion.’

‘The only pain I felt was when my friend in trying to shoot

the tiger missed, and like a damn fool put the bullet through my

foot, . That. stune.a bit.’

The above exactly bears out Mr. Fooks’ experience.

LISMORE, W. H. WORKMAN.

WINDSOR,

BELFAST,

654 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

III. A BATTLE ROYAL BETWEEN: TIGERS AND

AUN] EEE een aie 7

While Hitler and Stalin were carrying out a crue! and ruthless

attack on Poland, two other tigers carried out an equally cruel

and ruthless attack in another part of the world. The account

below of a jungle battle to the death was given to me by entirely

reliable eve- and ear-witnesses, and in its main details is very well

authenticated.

The Sarda river, one of the major rivers of the Himalayas,

where it debouches from the hills, spreads out into a mile-wide

bed of boulders and sand, dotted with islands of shisham trees

and coarse grasses. On the right high bank, sixty or seventy

feet above the river, is the small townlet of Tanakpur, with a

railway terminus, a bazaar, and several bungalows situated on.

the bluff, looking across the wide river bed to the wild forest

clad foot-hills of Nepal. In the cold weather Tanakpur is alive

and populated with hill people. Forest contractors are busy export-

ing timber from the extensive forests, and there is a stream of

cross traffic to and from Nepal. In the rains, it is almost deserted.

Malaria then drives away the hill people, and the flocded river

cuts off all communication with Nepal.

Late one evening in the last week of September, three men were

fishing with nets in the waters of the Sarda, two or three furlongs

from the bungalows on the bluff, when suddenly two tigers and a

half-grown cub emerged from one of the grassy islands close by.

The men shouted and yelled and the tigers moved off across the

dry bare bed of the river towards the forest on the right bank, a

quarter of a mile away up stream from the bluff. Simultaneously

from this forest the men heard the trumpeting of a wild elephant.

Shortly afterwards the fishermen, and the few dozen inhabitants

of the bazaar, heard the nerve-shattering roar of a charging tiger,

and the fishermen saw a big male tusker elephant come out into the

open river bed, being attacked by the two tigers. For three hours

the battle between the elephant and the tigers raged up and down

the river bed, below the high bluff, in full view, in the moonlight,

of the bungalows on the cliff. Would I had been there to see and

hear! The bazaar inhabitants were so terrified at the appalling noise

and infuriated roars of the tigers so close at hand, that they

barricaded themselves in their houses and no one, except the

petrified fishermen who were cut off, saw this awe-inspiring and

unique spectacle. About 11 p.m. the noise died down, and next.

morning the tigers had departed, but the dead elephant was lying at

the foot of the bluff, within a stone’s throw of a bungalow.

The marks on the unfortunate elephant were very instructive.

The trunk was quite untouched and so was the face except deep

scratches around the eyes, and both eyes nad been clawed out.

There were terrible bites and scratches on the top of the head and

neck, back and rump, and finally the throat had been bitten and

torn open—evidently the coup de grice.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES | 655

These are the facts as told to me by the eve-witnesses and by

the tahsil officer who heard the battle and who had the job of

getting rid of the body of the elephant. From them we can deduce

the probable—or at least possible—course of events.

It is inconceivable that the tigers made a senseless and unpro-

voked attack on a full-grown tusker elephant, and equally incon-

ceivable that the elephant started the fight. (He was neither ‘musth’

nor a rogue). It is probable that the tiger cub was the cause of the

trouble. He may have blundered into the elephant or gone

snifing around in curiosity and received a kick or a blow for his

trouble, causing him to yelp. This would at once raise the mater-

nal fury of the tigress, and the tiger would come to the help of his

mate.

The wounds on the elephant give an indication of the tactics

of the tigers. It is clear that no frontal attack was attempted, or

the trunk and face of the elephant must have been mauled. Pro-

bably one tiger threatened or demonstrated in front, enabling the

other tiger to leap on the back (an easy leap for a tiger) and start

biting and scratching. It was probably shaken off several times, but

again returned to the attack. At some stage of the fight, one of

the tigers must have managed to jump or crawl on to the top of

the head and from that position to have clawed out the eyes,

perhaps deliberately, for it seems a natural instinct of the cat tribe

to go for the eyes. One can imagine the poor blind elephant, tor-

tured with the fiendish laceration of its back, stumbling along in

agony over the boulders and rough ground, falling ultimately over

some low bank and exposing its throat to a hellish mauling from

the other tiger, and dying from loss of blood or severance of its

wind-pipe. Truly the tigers took a terrible revenge for any

Possible injury to their cub.

No measurements of the elephant were taken. The tusks were

small but old and worn, about 32 inches long excluding a foot or

more embedded and 14 inches girth at the base, and the two tusks

together weighed 122 lbs.

Although I have heard of elephant calves being occasionally

killed by tiger, I have never before heard or read of a ficht to a finish

between tigers and a full-grown bull elephant. That it should have

taken place before eye-witnesses, and within ear-shot of many

more, is a piece of remarkable luck. :

LUCKNow, he Age SIVELY DP His)

December 22, 19309. C.1sE; ; 216K. Se

| Encounters between tigers and elephants occasionally occur.

Mr. Q, G. Corbett writing in our Journal (Vol. vii, p. 119) gives three

instances. Two deal with attacks on female elephants: the objective

in one being a calf which was killed despite the mother’s attempts at

rescue. The third records an attack on a big tusker, which was so

dreadfully mauled along the whole length of its back, that it died

©a few days after. As is usual with big animais een cannot be

easily mastered, the tigers’ attack in the three instances reported

G06 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL. HiSt. SOCIELY, Yolo XiaEr

by Corbett was not frontal, but directed from the rear: the tiger

biting into the hind quarters, back and shoulders. The tigers’

way with elephant calves is to hamstring them or attempt to do so.

Mr. Milroy (four., B.N.H.S., Vol. xmxii, p. 370) in two seasons

shooting in North Cachar came upon 4 or 5 elephant calves that

had been attacked in this way. In the instance reported in our

Journal by Mr. J. K. Swaine (Vol, xxxvi, p. 983) the tiger’s attack

on a cow elephant was directed to the belly and under parts. This

change from the usual method was probably an adaptation to cir-

cumstances. The tiger is a versatile killer and follows no stereo-

typed method :n his killing. The cow elephant was lying down, and

Mr. Swaine concludes that the tiger attacked her as she lay pro-

bably clinging on with teeth and claws tearing away the flesh by

its weight as the elephant got up. She appeared in camp the

next morning with a huge wound stretching from her right fore-

leg to well under her belly, the torn flesh hanging almost to the

ground.—EpDs. |

TV =A LARGE PANTER:

I think it will interest you to know that recently on March 23,

1939 in one of my jungles in Central India I shot a panther which

measured between peg's 8 feet 6 inches. The panther was measured

within an hour of its being shot. The skin of the panther was cured

by Messrs. Van Ingen & Van Ingen, Taxidermists of Mysore (India).

The skin now measures 8 feet 104 inches. I may mention here

that the skin was not unduly stretched in the process of its being

cured.

YASHODHAR SINGH,

Raj-IKUNWAR.

PALACE,

IC HILCHIPUR,

(Central India).

October, 1930.

V.—BEHAVIOUR OF GAUR AND ELEPHANT.

(With a plate).

I have read with interest Mr. Mustill’s note on the behaviour of

gaur on page 731 of the May, 1939 issue.

I have “chad further.” experience. since my. contribution’ (of

September 1938. Using a Cine Kodak ‘8’ and an old Kodak ‘3A’

Camera (in use for the last 20 years) I have been able to take

the accompanying photos of both bison and elephant at under 30

yards, and my previous experience as regards bison is fully borne

out. As with Mr. Mustill’s experience, I found no difficulty on

two occasions in letting a whole herd of bison graze up tome,

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Photos by Major H. J. Rossel.

Bison and Elephant taken within 30 yards distance.

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 657

My tracker on one occasion actually counted 40, and by the time

I had succeeded in reversing the Ciné film behind a totally in-

adequate tree, the herd was grazing on each flank within 20 yards.

They were not in the least suspicious until, having finished my

film, I deliberately sent them off for fear of being run over by

accident should they get my wind on moving behind me.

The photograph of the elephant shows a good tusker in

his prime, which Major Phythian Adams and I succeeded after

some effort, in working out of tree jungle into a fairly good light

about 9 a.m. I managed to take 50 feet of cine film within 30 yards

before the tusker made off into the river bed amidst dense ‘lantana’

growth, which was too thick (and the light too bad) for further

efforts.

Both photos were taken at the northern foot of the Nilgiris.

I was able to obtain a riding elephant for a few days to try for cine

pictures of Chital, (the unburnt grass being 5 feet high) and the

dislike of most animals, particularly pig, and to a somewhat lesser

extent chital, to the near approach of an elephant was extremely

noticeable—sambhur were much more tolerant.

There are many elephants in these forests, and the behaviour of

other animals generally, appears an interesting commentary on the

disposition of solitary elephants towards jungle life, apart from man.

It was noticeable that most animals did not dash away, as they

would have on smelling or seeing man, but (for example chital)

slipped quietly away in the long grass with tails down and no

warning cries. ‘his may be a suitable subject for discussion.

Practically all shooting in South India is done on foot.

fel ROSS ET

Major.

25 Warwick Row,

MEERUT.

Ociober 2, 1939.

VI.—ON THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN INDIAN AND

MALAYAN GAUR.

(With a plate)"

_In the Honorary Secretary’s report for the year 1938, Mammals,

it is indicated that Lydekker differentiates between the Malayan

Gaur and the Indian Gaur by the smaller development of the

cranial ridge in the former as opposed to the marked development

in the latter, and to some differences in colour and markings and

the presence of a dewlap. Mr. Theodore Hubback disposes of this

last suggestion. I therefore think it to be of general interest

if you would publish the enclosed 4 photos which I venture to

suggest completely dispose of the first theory. These four bulls

were all shot within a radius of 10 miles in Darrang, Assam and

658 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

clearly show a marked difference in cranial development although

the horns may be said to be of equal calibre. .

Whilst on the subject of Bison, I should be greatly interested

to hear if any further light has been shed on the vexed question

of whether it has been established that there is a wild species of

Bos frontalis. Any Assamese or Mikir Shikari will glibly talk

of Muh, (buffaloe) Mithan and Gurov, (cow) Mithan, but although

I have seen many mithan I have never succeeded in establishing

any differences. I know many well-known and reliable Europeans

who believe in the two wild species, but is there yet any scientific

proof in the matter? I may say, in case it is suggested that

my photos represent Bos frontalis and Bos gaurus, that all these

animals were large black, almost hairless bulls none of which

on account of size alone could be described as Gurov (cow) Mithan,

but all, from the Assamese standard were Muh Mithan.

VES PAE YS

Hon. Forest Officer.

MOoONABARIE,

MIjJIKAJAN, P.O.,

ASSAM.

September 22, 1939.

| Lydekker in his Catalogue of Ungulates—Mammals issued by

the British Museum recognises three local races of the Gaur. The

distribution of the typical race Bos gauvus gaurus is- given as the

Peninsula of India including Nepal, Bhutan and Assam. The

second race Bos gaurus readi is given as inhabiting the hill forests

of Burma and Tenasserim, while the third race Bos gaurus hub-

backi is assigned to the Malay Peninsula.

The Indian and Burmese races are said to be distinguished

from the Malay race by the presence of a forwardly inclined and

prominent ridge between the horns, which gives the forehead a

concave. outline. This however is a character which may be

absent in both Indian or Burmese Gaur.

Stuart Baker writing of the Gaur in Assam (Journ. B.N.H.S.,

Vol. xv, p. 227) says that the majority of heads have a concave

forehead, but that many have it only very slightly so and some

not at all. He publishes a number of outline drawings in which

he illustrates this variable character. All that can be said for this

point of distinction betwen the Indo-Burmese and the Malay races

is that while it may be applicable in general, it is not an absolute

point of distinction as the concavity of the forehead may be very

slight or entirely absent in many gaurs found within the Indo-

Burmese region.

The Mithun, it is now established, is nothing more than a

hybrid gaur. It is the result of crossbreeding between wild Gaur

and domestic cattle. In Assam where inter-crossing between Gaur

and Mithun still takes place, Mithun still closely resemble Gaur. In

fact, there is more or less a gradual transition between the

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Skulls cf 4 Gaur [Bos (Bibos) gaurus] shot within a radius of 10 miles in

Darrang, Assam. Note the marked variation in the development of the cranial

ridge.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 659

characters of the two animals. As shown by Mr. T. R. Livessey

ievviiwe No S VO. xxxv, ps- 169) in the Chin Hills, where

Gaur have been shot out to a large extent and opportunity for

inter-breeding seldom occurs, Mithun show a considerable differ-

entiation from the Gaur; but it is not till the fourth generation of

inbreeding that the Chin Mithun reach the stage of development

in which is produced those characters which typify the Mithun and

distinguish it from the Gaur. The dome-like ridge between the

horns and the concave forehead disappear. The line of the fore-

head between the horns is straight and the forehead itself flat and

the horns show a slight upward curve and lose their inward sweep.

If breeding with domestic cattle is continued the high dorsal ridge

disappears. The horns become cow-like and the varied colourings

of the domestic cow begin to appear. The persistence of Mithun

depends then on frequent inter-breeding with wild Gaur. Such

inter-breeding is still possible in the hill ranges of Assam. But in

the Chin Hills where Gaur have been greatly reduced in numbers

and the stock is said to be faced with extermination.—EDs. |

VIL—A LARGE HEAD OF THE INDIAN BUFFALO

(BOS BUBALIS Linn.)

I do not know if the measurements of the buffalo head now

in the bar of the Shillong Club have ever been placed on record

in the Journal, but I send them herewith in case they have not.

The details are taken from the engraved plate on the mount.

This enormous head is of a female buffalo whose skeleton was

found on the Manas River near Rajachong in February, 1932 by

fimesiate- Cot P. H- Dundas; C.B.; C.B:E., D.S.0O.

Measurements :—

Length of horns—Right 62 7/8 in. Left 61 1/8 in.

Girth of horns—Right 19 1/4 in. Left 18 1/2 in.

Widest measurement inside—67 3/16 in.

Widest measurement outside—72 1/2 in.

Tip to tip round outside curve—1r ft. 9 3/8 in.

The Manas river forms the boundary between the Kamrup and

Goalpara Districts of Assam. There is nothing to indicate that

the animal was a domestic beast and this, I understand, was very

unlikely.

R. E. PARSONS,

NowcGonc, 3 F.R.E.S.

ASSAM. | Indian Police.

September 1, 1939.

660° JOURNAL, BOMBAY WATU RAT AIST.) “SOCIETY, Vol- rl

{A pair of detached horns of the Indian Buffalo which measure

77 3/8 in.—the largest specimens of their kind were discovered

in the year 1885 in a cellar in Wapping by a Mr. Doyle

who gave them to Sir Hans Sloane. They are now in the British

Museum. The largest head from Assam measures 70 in. and is

now in the American Museum of Natural History, New York.—

Eps: |]

VIII.—MEASUREMENTS AND WEIGHTS OF ELEPHANT

TUSKS,:

Mr. G. L. D. Millar’s note, in the Journal of August 1939,

on the weight and length of the tusks of his elephant is interest-

ing. According to Rowland Ward’s Records of Big Game

T. H. Monteath shot an elephant with a single tusk in Assam:

length: 7 ft. 44 in.; weight: 85 Ibs.

Another large tusker shot in Assam was that of C. N. Shadwell;

its tusks were 7 ft. 4 in. and 7 ft. 3 in. in length, and weighed 774

and 754 Ibs. In South India, Col. F. S. Gillespie shot a rogue

elephant, with tusks crossed at the tips, which I believe

was a record for South India: length: 8 ft. 2 in. ; weight: o7 ibe

and go} lbs. (both tusks were of the same length). I was with

Col. Gillespie at the time; and the elephant charged us furiously.

Curiously enough I shot another very fine tusker, with crossed

tusks, in almost the same place a year previously. The tusks of

this rogue were crossed within about 18 in. of its jaw; and the

elephant must have had considerable difhculty in feeding itself,

which probably accounted for its evil disposition; and evil it was:

it made a most unprovoked charge. The tusks were 7 ft. 74% in.

and 7 ft. 9 in. in length, and weighed 68 and 63 lbs. An elephant

found dead on the Anamallais (S. India) had tusks 7 ft. 10 in.

and 7 ft. 84 in. in length, weighing 824 and 794 lbs.

R. C. MORRIS.

HONNAMETTI ESTATE,

ATTIKAN, Mysore P.O.,

S. iN rA:

September 2, rogo:

IX.—MEMORANDUM ON THE KAHILU SANCTUARY.

(A correction).

The illustration of the foot prints of a Rhinoceros’ which

appeared in my Memorandum on the Kahilu Sanctuary (J.B.N.H.S.

Vol. xii, p. 155) swere inadvertently labelled as. those sores

sumatrensis. Though from their size, it might be assumed, ‘that

EEE a a,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 661

there is little doubt they belong to this species, it should be noted

that this identification has not been definitely established and a

query should therefore have been printed after the specific name.

TuRF CLUB, CAIRO, D’ARCY WEATHERBE.

November 12, 1939.

<= OCCURRENCE. OF THE ALLIED: GREY SHRIKE

(LANIUS EXCUBITOR PALLIDIROSTRIS) IN THE

RAWALPINDI DISTRICT, PUNJAB.

I am informed by Mr. Hugh Whistler that a Grey Shrike (9)

in my collection, which was obtained a few miles from Rawal-

pid on. ‘the 720th . November, .1930, has, with the: -help of

Dr. C. B. Ticehurst, been identified as pallidirostris. This is of

interest as there are only one or two other Indian records of this

race.

: Hew WAELE:

RAWALPINDI, M.B.O.U.

PUNJAB. Indian Police.

September 18, 10939.

XI.—SWIFTS AND TERNS AT VENGURLA ROCKS,

It is strange how almost everybody has an inkling of birds’

nests being made into soup. This is about all that I can remember

of my school text-books, and I have always wanted to see them

at closer quarters.

The trip was most unexpected. On Friday, the 3rd February,

1938, Mr. Prater rang up and inquired if I would care to go

down to the Vengurla Rocks for the Edible-nest swifts on Monday.

French leave was obviously necessary, and I said I couldn’t—but

that I would see him later in the day. I saw Mr. Prater, and

left by the Goa ferry on Monday morning, with Nadir Tyabji,

a stray cousin from Burma, and Baptista, the Society’s veteran

skinner and collector.

The journey down the coast was uneventful. The denuded

ghats, washed down to bare, black rock were usually in sight.

As soon as one gets south of Bombay, the Large-Crested Tern

(S. bergii), advertised by its harsh chirruk accompanying every

dive, is prominent, as also the White-bellied Sea-Eagle (H. leuco-

gaster) soaring majestically out at sea.

We looked into both Hume’s and Vidal’s accounts of the

rocks in Stray Feathers (iv, p. 419; ix, pp. 44-48), but they

862 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIsi. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

appeared unsatisfactory. Hume (February 1875) found no trace

of the swifts, and obtained addled eggs, mummies and remains of

terns, which he has quite confidently identified as Sterna anaetheta.

He also found addled eggs which he has referred to one or other

of the Laridae.

Vidal never visited the islands himself, and merely records that

his shikari brought him nests, eggs and parents on several occa-

sions, between February and April. Vidal also records that the

rights for collecting the swifts’ nests were annually auctioned by

Government and yielded about Rs. 30.

Maps indicated that the Vengurla Rocks are part of a semi-

submerged reef running more or Jess parallel to the coast, at a

distance of 4 or 5 miles. Hume records that the ‘three large

rocks, or rocky islands, are entirely metamorphic, and are com-

posed of numerous varieties of quartzo-micaceous rock, mostly

more or less ferruginous, and in many places a good deal de-

composed and broken-up.’

We landed at Malwan at midnight and were received by

Mr. Kalyani of the Fisheries Department. Motor-boats worked

by the Fisheries Department were expected in, in a day or two,

but in the absence of any definite news, we decided to attempt a

landing with a fishing smack. <A 20 ft. catamaran was obtained

and we left Malwan at 3 p.m., with a stiff north wind blowing.

The Vengurla Rocks, about six miles to the south-west, were

faintly visible in the distance, but the fisher-folk were sceptical

about the landing. The going was bad right from the start, and

we had hardly done a mile, when water was breaking clean over

the prow. A large flock of Sterna bergii on the reef, was

all the bird-life that we saw. Our stores and spirits were soon

dampened, and when it was almost dusk the boat-men refused to

proceed further, and decided to put in at Kochra. Kochra is at

the mouth of a large tidal creek, and the rocks lie about 4 miles

due west of it. The boat-men were positive that the wind would

die down during the night, and that the rocks could easily be

approached in the morning.

We were not particularly optimistic, but decided to have

another shot in the morning. While getting into the boat ai

dawn, I noticed a swift of sorts, rather like a palm-swift, but

a little heavier and clumsier, hawking over the mouth of the creek

in some numbers. With a hazy notion that we had been visited

by the residents of the Vengurla Rocks, we shot a few and the

suspicion was confirmed. The birds, probably a hundred pairs,

moved further inland along the creek, hawking in a loose, scattered

flock.

Luck seemed to be in, and we made for the islands and landed

on the eastern shore of the largest island. Of the three islets,

the southernmost one bears the light-house, while the old light-

house is on the smaller rock to the sea-ward. The island on which

we landed was about 4oo yards long, and 50-100 yards broad.

The landing was bad, and one had to jump on to a thick laver

of Ostrea shells that encircled the island at sea-level. The island

ey Te a

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 663

is high and rocky, and covered with an extremely dense growth of

thick, loose-jointed grass. I saw no soil on the island, and the

grass grew in a thick layer of guano that covered every portion

of the rock, not directly exposed to the brunt of the monsoon.

The grass was everywhere now quite dry, and strewn under

tufts of grass, rocks and boulders, were scores of addled and

broken eggs, and mummified and desiccated remains of terns.

The only pirds visible were a flock of about 10 pigeonsy

The island rises to a height of about 150 ft., and we soon

located the cave which runs into the solid rock for about a hun-

dred yards. The cave is 60 ft. deep and 2o ft. broad, the sides

running parallel and vertical. he tloor of the cave almost runs

on to the ring of shells encircling the island. At the end of the

cave, i.e. about 100 yards inland, the roof has fallen in, forming

a ‘sky-light’. The roof is 5-10 ft. thick.

We had landed without ropes, and descent through the sky-

light was impossible. I managed to climb down the cliff on the

sea-face, and slowly worked my way into the mouth of the cave.

The sky-light arranged ior tne lighting, and my eyes became

accustomed to the gioom in a few minutes. The 6o0-1t. wall on

one side was ‘pocked’ with innumerable nests of swifts, hardly

6-8 in. from one another. There was not a single bird present.

The nests were all just out of reach, and I managed to get a tew

by clambering up a small ledge. In the meantime, the _ fisher-

folk had produced a rope and Tyabji came down through the

sky-light..

We spent some time prospecting on the floor of the cave, and

that lizard Lygosoma sp., with degenerate legs, was extremely com-

mon under the numerous stones and boulders on the floor. Almost

every stone over-turned revealed a lizard. A couple of large rock

scorpions were also unearthed, but not preserved.

Using the rope down the sky-light, we had a look at the in-

numerable nests, all swarming with a bug which proved on identi-

fication to be the common bed-bug Cimex rotundatus Sign. Vidal

also records the taking of these bugs from the nests of these

birds.* The nests were all empty, and in all stages of construction

and probably represented the work of many years. I was unable

to determine that any of them were fresh, and there was no trace

of the pure white variety described by Vidal's shikari. Most of

the nests were on the eastern wall (the cave runs north to south),

possibly because this wall is better illuminated than the other.

The nests, so far as I could ascertain, are no longer collected on

a commercial basis.

There was little other life on the island. We found the eggs of

a lizard (some form of Hemudactylus) on a rocky ledge, and a

* Dr. Baini Prashad informs us that there are specimens of this Bug in the

Indian Museum collected at Calcutta by Dr. Annandale from the nests of the

Swift.—Eps.

664 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

few insects. The small flock of pigeons contained a semi-albino,

and the stomach of one bird shot, contained grass seeds, possibly

obtained on the island. ‘the only other birds seen were a white-

bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaétus leucogaster) and a pair of Blue Rock-

Thrushes (Monticola soltiaria), both the species, strangely enough,

were seen by Hume when he visited the island some sixty years

ago. And instead of a kestrel, we saw a harrier chasing pigeons.

As l|.have already stated, the whole of the island was literally

strewn with the addled eggs and desiccated remains of terns. A

few were collected at ranaom as the boatmen proposed leaving

us on the rock, if we did not care to return before the wind turned:

What we obtained was sent to Mr. Hugh Whistler whose report is

interesting. The eggs were compared with those in the British

Museum, and Mr. Whistler writes:

‘One fragment is obviously from a large egg, and agrees with

eggs of Sterna bergu in colour and texture: All the rest som the

egys and imperfect eggs have suffered trom bleaching and rott-

ing, and might conceivably represent one species. All except two

agree with the eggs of Sterna repressa (olim albigena), of which

there is a good series in the British Museum. ‘The other two eggs

cannot be matched in the B. M. series of S. repressa but they do

agree with eggs of Sterna douwgalli, and there is a small series

ot eggs in the B. M. from the Davidson Collection which are

labelied as having come from the Vengurla Rocks, collected by the

light-house men, and attributed to this species. I am not aware of

what evidence Davidson had tor the identification of these eggs

as Sterna dougalli. The species is not included in his North

Kanara list, and I cannot trace any note published by him about

these eggs. If it is correct: that this species breeds on. the’ Ven-

gurla Kocks, these two eggs probably belong to it. On the other

hand, tern eggs vary to some extent, and itelohad nourseern

Davidson’s eggs, I should have been content to pass these two

eggs as within a possible range of variation for Sterna repressa.’

The mummified remains were handed over to Dr. Ticehurst

who has reported on them as under :—

‘These remains consist of :

(1) Wings and legs which are little more than skeletons, with

some feathers attached. From the shape of the wing and the feet,

they belong to a large tern, and correspond in size very well with

Sterna bergu. From the pattern it is evidently a young bird and

cannot yet fly, and the pattern of the feathers corresponds well with

a juvenile Sterna bergi in the British Museum.

(11) Several wings, legs and heads of a medium-sized tern;

some wings and heads are those of adults and some are of half-

grown young. From the feathers left on the crown of the adult

it is evident that it was a black-capped tern, and therefore couid

not have been the head of S. swnatrana. The remains. are too

small to be those of bergu, bengalensis, anglica, or caspia, and

geographically they could not be those of hirundo, macroura or

longipennis. The measurements of the adult heads, legs and wings

correspond well with Sterna repressa, as does the pattern of the

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 665

adult wing. The juvenile wing has a pattern on the tertials

reminiscent of minuta, but the remains are too large for any form

of that species. Unfortunately there is no specimen of Sterna

repressa in juvenile dress in British Museum for comparison, but

there can be hardly any doubt that the remains belong to that

species. There were remains of no other species.’

There is now real evidence that Sterna bergu, anetheta and

repressa breed on the rocks. I missed anaetheta, but. my collec-

tion of eggs and remains was unfortunately haphazard, and I

might have overlooked them. Alternatively, tern colonies in

England move about in different years, and the same may happen

in the Indian Ocean. As regards douwgaili, apart from Davidson’s

eggs in the B. M., it might be worthwhile drawing attention to

Eha’s statement that they breed on the Vengurla Rocks (Com.

Birds of Bombay, p. 195). On the way back from Kochra on

the following morning, we saw the swifts back on the creek, and

this apparently is their regular feeding area.

I must confess that the information and material obtained are

regrettably incomplete. But I was rushed for time, and an

exhaustive survey at any season would cover a couple of days.

There is room for extensive and interesting tield-work on the

islands, but the difficulty of access is always present. A friend has

offered to drop me on the island from an aeroplane during the

monsoon, and I am waiting for somebody to offer to take me off!

HUMAYUN ABDULALI.

BOMBAY,

October, 19309.

XII.—WOOD SNIPE (CAPELLA NEMORICOLA) NEAR

BOMBAY.

Herewith the Snipe. It was shot by Mr. H. M. Molesworth

last Sunday in tall grass on the edge of a small tenk at Ambarnath.

Mr. Molesworth says that the tank was situated very close to

thick jungle at the foot of a hill, i.e., in a situation in which one

often finds Woodcock. I shall be very glad if you will kindly

identify it.

Ma Jt) HACKNEY.

IMPERIAL CHEMICAL HOUSE,

BALLARD ESTATE,

BOMBAY.

January 3, 1940.

[The bird is a Wood Snipe (Capella nemoricola) an infrequent

cold weather visitor to the neighbourhood of Bombay. Two pre-

vious records are noted in Mr. Ali’s Birds of Bombay and Salsette

Wow. BONS. S Vol» xi.,-p. 642).--Eps.|

666 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

XIII.—ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE BAIKAL OR

CLUCKING TEAL (NETTION FORMOSUM) IN REWA STATE.

I am writing to inform you that at Mukundpur Jheel in Rewa

State on Monday the 11th instant, a ‘clucking teal’ was shot during

the shoot which had been arranged for His Excellency the Viceroy.

I think that you would like to know this fact as the ‘clucking

teal’ is, I understand, very rare in those parts.

I should be grateful if, when acknowledging this letter, you

would say whether you have any recent records of. clucking teal

being shot in Rewa State or that part of India.

VICEROY’S CAMP,

INDIA. B, WM. MATION? pisioneces.

December 16, 1939. Lieut.-Colonel,

Military Secretary to the Viceroy.

[This duck is one of our rarest winter visitors. There are a

few records from various parts of India mentioned in the new

Fauna. The following are additions to the 7 noted:—1930,

Durbhanga (Dutton); 1931, Hardoi, U.P. (Scott Macdougall); 1933,

Kathiar, Bengal (Murphy).—Ebs. |

XIV.—THE LONG-TAILED DUCK (CLANGULA

HYEMALIS) IN KASHMIR.

The other day I was asked to identify a duck which H. H.

the Maharaja of Kashmir shot on the Hokra Jheel on the 17th

October 1939. The bird is a male Long-tailed Duck (Clangulz

hyemalis). The total bag that day was as follows :—

Mallard Pochard Teal Gadwall Pintail Wigeon Shoveller

28 401 745 17, 29 4 IO1

Long-tailed Duck. Total 1,326

F. LUDLOW.

C/o POSTMASTER,

SRINAGAR,

KASHMIR.

November 4, 1939.

[The specimen was forwarded to the Society and is a male

Long-tailed Duck. There is the 4th record of the occurrence of this

duck within Indian limits during recent years. The three previous

records are as follows:—1933, Chaman, Baluchistan (Dredge);

1935, Mesaki, Sadiya Frontier tract, Assam (Parsons); 1936, Drig,

Sind (Lambrick).—Eps. |

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 667

XV.—QUAIL AND CHUKOR (ALECTORIS GRAECA).

(A Query).

At the end of July in some disused fields near water a large

number of chukor were seen coming down to drink. The birds

were hens with chicks three-quarters grown and also cock birds.

The time was 9 a.m. About a fortnight later these birds were

seen in the same area.

At the end of September when the shooting season was opened

a drive in this area produced no birds but a couple of quail were

shot.

The migratory period of quail up near Sandeman is about early

in September.

Can any reader inform me whether it is likely that while the

quail are migrating they will—due to their aggressiveness and

fighting reputation—drive chukor from their feeding areas near

crops. The crops are maize (Indian Corn).

1/2ND GOORKHAS, Cr G., TOOGOOD,;

Fort SANDEMAN. . epee Oole

(SHI) OME IO RSERO),

XVI.—UNUSUAL COLOURING IN A COMMON POCHARD

(NYROCA FULIGULA).

(With a sketch).

We possess a Common Pochard on our Ornamental Duck Pond

at present with a conspicuous white patch on each side of its head,

between the eyes and the bill.

This Pochard was. purchased in

February 1939 from a dealer in

Lucknow, along with a number of

other Tufted Duck, and White-eyed

Pochard, and at that time was exactly

like a female Tufted Duck.

After moulting into the eclipse

plumage, it has just again moulted out

into full Winter Plumage, exhibiting

these two very conspicuous’ white

patches.

In every other respect the pochard

is exactly like any female Tufted

Pochard, the same dusky brown

plumage, and whitish under the tail,

same white wing bar, in fact, identical.

Can you identify the Duck or explain

668 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLl

the presence of these white patches? A sketch of the head 1s

enclosed.

LAHORE, Ds WW IDEEKS:

weplemver. 23, 1980, Vice President,

Ornamental Pheasant Society of London,

Curator, Zoological Gardens, Lahore.

[Young examples of this Pochard frequently show a streak of

white feathers at the base of the bill though these disappear

in the adult stage, but normally there is nothing like the white

cheek patches shown in the illustration. Stuart Baker, however, in

his Indian Ducks and their Allies, says that he has in his collection

a fine young male which has a white face extending back fully

half an inch from the base of the upper mandible and the specimen

' described above is probably a similar aberrant form. Writing to

us on the 2nd February, Mr. Decks says that though ‘still conspi-

cuous, the white facial patches are getting smaller and duller.’—-

Eps. |

XVII.--SNAKE ATTACKED BY FROGS

I was taking my usual early morning exercise near my bungalow

two days ago when I noticed a European nearby obviously inter-

ested in something happening at the edge of a flooded piece of

country. (The monsoon is very heavy at present, and there is a

good deal of casual water about.) On joining him I saw a grass

snake, about 2 ft. long, struggling with a fat frog in its mouth.

A few.seconds later, with the frog still in its mouth, it started

to swim across the flood water, which was only about 15 yds.

wide at this particular place. I noticed innumerable frogs, all

croaking like fury, at the edge of the water, and remember wonder-

ing at the time what would happen if the snake chanced to land up

anywhere near them. This is exactly what did take place, but I

was certainly amazed when three or four large frogs immediately

attacked the snake which was forced to release its victim. It

should be noted that at the time of attack the snake was still in the

water, and I presume this would place it at a disadvantage and at

the same time allow the frogs to adopt tactics which would hardly

have paid on dry land! I wonder if any of your readers have known

this happen before?

H. N. CHARRINGTON.

No. 1, BopyGuarp LINES,

BALLYGUNGE,

CALCUTTA.

Field, PAU eust 10, tO80:

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 669

XVITI.—PYTHON INFESTED WITH NEMATODE WORMS

(OPHIDASCARIS FILARIA).

I had a Python about 11 feet in captivity with me since April;

colour dull and poor-looking. Lethargic more than usual for these

rather slow animals. Took a big dead bandicoot from my hand

on August 30, found dead next morning. On dissection found

bandicoot undigested in stomach, seen through walls about 8 inches

below bottom of lung. Lung collapsed, dark, and found to be

almost a mass of red worms, sent now, all sizes hence probably

breeding in host. Found some of these on the body of a chicken

which was found dead at the same time, a few being always kept

in the python pen. May have crawled out of python’s mouth when

biting, if he bit chicken. Query are these the same as cause gapes

in chickens, can they live in either host. Note chickens bought

in bazaar are often moribund as dealers pick out those which are

ill to sell off quickly. Hence whole pen may be infected by them;

am anxious for remainder of pythons (five).

When I got the Python I noticed on part of its body, about

where lungs would be, a darkish patch. I thought it might be a

stain of earth-oil, petroleum, as I had just had the python-run

oiled.

This patch seemed to grow and did not disappear when the

skin changed, the Python was always very sluggish, probably due

to insufficient oxygen. I presume the patch indicated a certain

amount of what might be called inflammation. It lived about two

months after I got it.

SEABURY EDWARDES.

10 YARDE STREET,

KamayuT P.O.,

LOWER BuRMaA.

September 9, 19309.

[The nematode worms taken from the lung of the Python have

been identified at the Indian Museum as Ophidascaris filaria (Duj.,

1845) Baylis, 1921. This worm is extremely common in Pythons

and has a wide geographical distribution, occurring not only in the

Asiatic forms, but also in Python sebae in Africa and in P. spilotes

in Australia. It has also been recorded from a Monitor (Varanus

sp.) in Zanzibar (Baylis, Parasitology, 1921). The adult forms

are found in the intestine. Immature forms have been found on

several occasions in the lungs of Python molurus and P. reticulatus.

From this it may be inferred that the larvae go through a course

of migration within the body of the host before settling permanently

in the intestine. Their sojourn in the lung appears to be of con-

siderable duration, as they may grow to a length of some 60 mm.

in this situation. They do not, however, appear to acquire the

definitive structure of the lips before leaving the lung.

The adult worms attain a length of about 110 mm. in the male

and 170 mm. in the female.

670" JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL RISE SOCIOL Y, Vola lel

These particular nematodes are exclusively parasites of snakes

and so far have not been known to attack other classes of animals.

Their presence on the body of the chickens must have been effected

by mechanical contact with the python.—Ebs. |

XIX.—AN AGGRESSIVE KING COBRA (NAIA HANNAB).

(With two photos).

I enclose some snaps of a snake. ‘A customer asks whether

you can identify it. It was. killed on a Tea Estate in the hills

behind Tinnevelly after repeatedly attacking a woman. There were

no noticeable markings on the back which was black.

M. W. LOWNDES.

MabRAS,

December 19, 1939.

[The snake is undoubtedly a king cobra. Though famed for

its aggressiveness, king cobras like other snakes, will as readily

seek safety in flight. Instances of unprovoked attack may gener-

ally be attributed to intrusion in the vicinity of the nest.—Ebs. |

XX.--FLY FISHING FOR MAHSEER.

(By courtesy of the Field).

For many years the largest sizes of March brown, teal and

green, and other sea-trout flies have been used for catching the

smaller mahseer fish, up to 5 lb. It was not until after a fishing

holiday in Kashmir, where we found how successful the peacock

and March brown lures were for large brown and rainbow trout

in the early months of the season, that we thought of using a

large fly for the bigger mahseer. Our first experiments were in

the Ganges, in a year when the river was exceptionally low. After

spinning spoons and neatly-mounted dead baits had nearly scared

the fish, we tried the big fly and found it surprisingly successful,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 671

We were delighted with our ‘discovery’, only to find later,

from the classics of mahseer literature, that this was no. new

thing; that many a large mahseer had been caught on flies long

before our days, but that, in spite of this, the fly was disclaimed,

rated one-third as successful as spinning, and rejected in practice.

Subsequent years of fishing, in both India and Burma, make me

think that judgment requires modification. It is true there are,

as at home, some rivers on which the fly is not suitable, but

there are many miles of ideal fly water. If the average size of

fish caught is smaller than when one is spinning, more fish are

caught, and one has the additional joy of playing them on a pliant,

lissome fly rod.

On small rivers medium-size flies, 14 in. to 2 in. in length,

have often been used, but I think that once one finds the trout

rod and the sea-trout flies too small for the water, it is better

to go direct to use of lures from 2 in. to 34 in. Standard patterns

such as the Mar Lodge, Silver Doctor and Jack Scott are very

good, but very expensive in the larger sizes. Simpler patterns,

such as are given at the end of this article, have been found

equally effective. These patterns are tied to represent the pale

green Chilwa fry, silvery fry such as the Barillius Bola, dark fry

like the Kalabanse, and the golden mahseer fry, and have all caught

numbers of mahseer. They are tied with two small single hooks,

one behind the other, joined with Punjab wire. Large single hooks

were found to be far too rank in point and barb and unnecessarily

heavy.

After the monsoon rains, when the rivers, as they fall, are still

too heavy for the trout rod, yet too small for a heavy spinning out-

fit, the big fly has caught many fish. During the hot-weather

months it is successful in all normal-water conditions, but it has

been of most advantage under low-water conditions, when a spoon

and dead bait are not attractive.

Let us imagine a wide, stony nullah, dotted here and there

with islands of trees or long grass, the river, fast flowing even

through the pools, tears its way sometimes in the centre, some-

times on either bank of the river bed. Upstream and to the north,

the foothills of the Himalayas rising to 6,o00 ft. and more, the

weather settled with not a cloud in the sky, the temperature 84

degrees in the shade. Hot?. Yes! but the river is cooling, though

warm enough to dispense with cumbersome waders. Thus un-

fettered, everything is set for an ideal day’s mahseer fishing. The

method we adopt is that used at home for fishing a sunk fly in

the summer months. The cast is almost square across the stream

to the far bank; line is then pulled in, with small jerks, so as to

impart more movement to the lure, and to remove the belly in the

line caused by the fast-intervening water. The quick movement

of the fly, just after it hits the water, is very attractive to the

mahseer, which will often be hooked in the early part of the cast.

At times, when fishing very rapid water, the fly may drag on the

surface, or, without dragging, move too fast for even the speedy

mahseer. Under these circumstances the pace of the fly can be

672, JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

reduced by raising the rod point or by using the greased line

method of rolling the line upstream.

Red-letter days, ten, fishoweighing. 7950 lb... four fish icwling

five fish 57 Ib., and sixty-one fish all over 10 lb. in weight in one

season, indicate the measure of success, but leave to the imagina-

tion the joy and pleasure of catching mahseer on a fly, the most

delightful of all methods of angling.

Here are a few successful patterns: (1) Chilwa.—Tail, golden

pheasant topping; body, pale green seal’s fur ribbed with wide

Siler. tinsel; wings,: teal; throat, wigeon. 4(2\0B. bola:——tail,

golden pheasant topping; body, light silver grey natural fur ribbed

with wide silver tinsel; throat, light blue and wigeon; wings, teal.

(3) Kalabanse.—Tail, golden pheasant topping; body, black seal’s

fur plus silver tinsel; throat, green and guinea fowl; wings,

bronze mallard and a narrow band of teal. (4) Mahseer.—Tail,

golden pheasant topping; body, light silver grey natural fur ribbed

throat, red golden pheasant breast feather; wings, brown black

turkey with white tips overlaid with brown mallard; cheeks,

chatterer. The dubbing of the bodies is very freely picked out in

-all_ cases.

ict ines vie

May 20, 1939.

XXI.—THE FISH MEGALOPS AS AN AID TO COMBAT

THE GUINEA-“W ORM CARRIER (GViCLCGRS:

The prevention of infection by guinea-worm disease has

engaged the attention of investigators all over India. Papers in

various scientific journals attest to the work done on the subject.

Guinea-worm infection, as is well-known, is caused by the swallow-

ing of a microscopic crustacean, or water flea (Cyclops) when

drinking water. The disease manifests itself in human beings if

the Cyclops swallowed happen to carry larvae of guinea-worm.

The disease is not unknown in the Bombay Province and is endemic

so close to Bombay as in the Kolaba district.

Attempts to control the disease here were made in 1928 by

Rao Saheb Y. M. Pradhan, M.c.p.s., who was specially deputed as

Health Officer to investigate the disease. His investigations dis-

closed that on an average 10% of the population there was infected

during the endemic season, i.e., from February to May, and that

the disease reached its maximum incidence in April.

~The Cyclops as is well-known, is the intermediate host of the

guinea-worm. <A good deal of research on this pest has accord-

ingly been directed to the discovery of a suitable fish that will

feed on the Cyclops and in whose stomach the larvae of the guinea-

worm may be destroyed. Rao Saheb Pradhan and other workers

in the field elsewhere in India experimented with different varieties

of fish to destroy the Cyclops. The fishes employed by Rao

Saheb Pradhan were :—

Rasbora daniconius, Haplochilus lineatus (panchax), Barbus

phutunio, Polycanthus cupanus, and Nemachilus.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 673

Dr. V. N. Moorty, Guinea-worm Research Officer, Depart-

ment of Health, Mysore, in his investigations in the Chitaldrug

district where the disease is rampant used the following fishes :—

Barbus (Puntius) puckelli, Barbus (Puntius) ticto, Barbus

sophore, Barbus chola, Lepidocephalocythys ithermalis, Rasbora

daniconius, and Gambusia.

The fishes employed by both investigators were fresh water

fishes. Both authors merely state the extent of the partiality of

the various fishes for Cyclops, but they do not record what their

investigations of the stomach contents of the fishes showed.

The value of the use of fishes to destroy Cyclops is self-evident.

It would not only be more effective and safer, inasmuch as it

would obviate the risk of endangering the purity of the water

supply by the introduction of chemicals, but would be economical

as it could be carried out without excessive expenditure. Dr. Moorty

calls attention, however, to an important tactor, which is that

fresh water fishes of any species do not thrive ethciently enough in

step wells in villages infected with guinea-worm.

A fish that may eifectively exterminate the Cyclops in wells and

ponds, in our opinion, seems to be Megalops cyprinoides. We

have been experimenting with various fresh water fishes to gauge

their suitability to stock sheets of water in pursuance of Govern-

ment’s scheme to develop the fresh water fisheries. The stomach

contents of the fishes selected for the experiment were examined

at the same time as their rate of growth and life history were

being studied. Fingerlings of Megalops, of which the stomach con-

tents were examined varied from 1 in. to 4 in. in length. The

stomach consisted almost exclusively of cyclops. Megalops of also

larger size, measuring in length about 7 in. and collected from

large ponds, showed that the food material in the intestinal

tract consisted predominantly of cyclops and to a less extent of

fragments of other crustacea, and larvae of aquatic insects. The

ponds abounded in other food material also, but the megalops mani-

fested a decided predilection for cyclops.

The observations thus indicate that the Megalops in its early

stages, at least until the time it attains a size of about 4 in. is

essentially a selective feeder. Even in later stages the fish con-

tinues to consume Cyclops. This evidence seems to lend ground to

the view that wherever the fingerlings of Megalops are introduced,

they will tend to feed on Cyclops. The problem for investigation

is to determine the size up to which fingerlings of Megalops sub-

sist chiefly on Cyclops. Even if it be established that fingerlings

up to only a certain size are useful for the destruction of Cyclops,

there should be no difficulty in obtaining such fingerlings for stock-

ing purposes, as fry and fingerlings are available in large numbers

every year around our coast.

An examination of other fishes, including, among others, some

of those listed by R. S. Pradhan and Dr. Moorty, which were

dissected by us, showed but insignificant quantities of cyclops in

‘their intestinal tract. The investigation also showed that several

fresh water fishes, some to a greater, others to a less extent, feed

674 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

on cyclops, but Megalops stands out amongst all as a voracious

and selective feeder of the pest.

Megalops is a marine fish. It breeds in the sea, and the fry

during the monsoon moves up to puddles or ponds of fresh water

which border creeks and flow into the sea. The fry of this fish

is remarkably abundant in such puddles and may be collected in

copious quantities for distribution in either fresh or brackish water

where the occurrence of cyclops is notorious. ‘A _ striking

characteristic noted about the fish in the Kolaba district is its dis-

tribution in large quantities close to the sea specially at such

places as are afflicted with the guinea-worm.

Other characteristics of the fish are its remarkable adaptability

to any type of environment. It flourishes equally vigorously in

fresh water as in dirty muddy water as well as in step wells.

It is extremely hardy and seems to be an air breather. It can

be transported with ease over long distances to wherever the pest

occurs. Its suitability for the eradication of the guinea-worm can

cnly definitely be established by its intensive introduction in areas

where the incidence of the disease is now great.

Observations of this department are of the sketchiest kind and

no finality can be attached to them. Further investigation will be

necessary before it can be established with certainty that the

Megalops is the best agent for the destruction of the pest. The

object of the note is to draw attention to the possibility of the

usefulness of Megalops in this direction.

5. B. SETNA,

M.SC., F.R.M.S., Ph.D.,

Fisheries Officer,

and

C. V. KULKARNI,

BsA.j; 0B. SCs.

Piscicultural Assistant,

Department of Industries, Bombay.

[Wallinger in a note in the Society’s Journal (Vol. xv, p. 720)

refers to the ready adaptibility of Megalops cyprinoides to life in

fresh water. Fingerlings 3 in. in length put into a stock tank

by him in the month of July had by the following April reached

a length of 10 in. and a weight of 4-4 Ib. He recommends the

stocking of tanks with this fish because of its marvellous fly-taking

propensities. The authors of the above note now provide an

additional recommendation. It seems clear that fingerlings of this

fish feed largely on Cyclops: but the question arises as to the

extent to which cyclops form the food of adult fishes. The limita-

tion of the destruction of Cyclops mainly to the fingerling stage

in Megalops would reduce its utility as a destroyer of this pest,

particularly, as we have no evidence so far to indicate that.

Megalops breeds in fresh water.—Ebs. |

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

(one)

<Od-A- CASE OF RECOVERY FROM THE. BITE: OF

THE SAW-SCALED VIPER (ECHIS CARINATA).

The attached Medical Case Sheet in respect of a case of snake

bite Echis carinata which was admitted to the Indian

Military

Hospital, Bangalore on the 23rd September 1939 is forwarded

herewith.

Date History | Treatment

23-9-39 The patient states that he was; 14:25 hours. He was given

| bitten by a small snake on his.

left middle finger while cutting |

grass at 14:00 hours. He was

immediately taken to British

Military Hospital.

15.10 hours. Blood stained |

vomit. |

15°20 hours. Blood stained |

voinit.

| 17°30 hours. Cordition of.

patient improved and he was sent |

to Indian Military Hospital. |

The colleague of the patient had

killed the snake and on the

following day it was brought to

Indian Military Hospital where

Lieut. G. J. Ferris, 1.0.M.,

I.D.S.M., I.M.D. Sub-Charge,

identified it as ‘ECHIS CARI-

NATA’, and this was subse-

quently confirmed by Natural

His. Society of Bombay.

Condition on Admission.— |

(Indian Military Hospital)

23-9-39 Temperature 99.5, Pulse 100, |

Respiration 22. Patient looks

anxious, excited and trembling.

Patient was assured that he

would recover completely which

gave him courage and tended

to allay his anxiety and excite-|

ment somewhat.

21 30 hours. Patient feels much |

better but complains of pain at

site of wound.

23-90-39

24-—9-39 Oozing at site of wound.

Oozing continued till 29-9-39

when it stopped.

Mouth foul due to ulcers on

the buccal mucous membrane.

hour.

coffee every two hours.

30 c.c. anti-venene cencertrated

intravenously and incision made

at site of bite ard potassium per-

manganate crystals applied.

17:00 hours. 20c.c. concentrated

anti-venene given intraverously

and 2 c.c. Calcium gluconate

and 1°5 c.c. Coramine ‘ntraven-

FOuUS. ;

Glucose by mouth 4 oz. every

Keep warm in bed and hot

Calcium lactate 15 Gr. T.D.S.,

Condy’s gargle.

676. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST: “SOCIETY, Vol: XEI

Date History Treatment

2-10-39 Temp2rature 102.0 “Pulse 1167 = Caletum lactate 31 or, Des:

Respiration 26, Mouth foul.| Serum (Intramuscular) given to

Patient looks ill, Haemorrhage| check haemorrhage. In absence

from ear started. Patient placed | of plain horse serum anti-Dysen-

ONG lesleiste teric serum 40 c.c. administered.

Cordy’s gargle.

5-10-39 Temperature 101°, Pulse 94.

Respiration 26. Patient better. |

Removed from S&S. I. List.

9 10-39 Haematuria started. The; Calcium lactate 3lgr. T.D.S.

haematuria continued and|Serum given to check haemorrh-

slowly decreased day by day.|age. Condy’s gargle.

Slight paralysis of tongue} Strychnine injection 1/60Gr.

noticed, and patient finds diff- 9-10-39.

culty in putting the tongue out. Do. 11-10-39.

Do. 13-10-39.

13+10-39 Urine completely free from! Condy’s gargle.

blood. Patient can protrude

the tongue.

17-10-39 Patient is convalescent.

2-11-39 Making good progress.

Patient completely recovered

and discharged to duty.

R. SEN,

Lt.=Gol:.', 1.M.-S.

November 24, 1939.

XXIII.—A VISITATION OF THE SPOTTED, LOCUST

(AULARCHES MILIARIS L.) IN TRAVANCORE,

(With a plate).

Kirby (1914) describes three species of Aularches in India viz. ;

A. miliaris, A. punctatus and A. scabiosae and further states

that according to certain workers the two latter species are only

varieties of the first-mentioned one which forms the type of the

genus. This opinion appears to be correct in view of the close

resemblance of the three forms. A. miliaris, also known as the

Coffee Locust (Lefroy, 1909), due to its frequent occurrence in

large numbers in coftee plantations, in Ceylon, is known to be an

occasional serious pest. (Green, 1898 and 1906 and Hutson, 1926

and 1928). The Ceylon and Travancore forms are identical and

both belong to the same species, scabiosae (Photographs, 1 and 2).

During normal years when there are no swarms, isolated insects

are found in the plains and in the hilly tracts. They are easily

‘(Cy supyiu sayapjnp) ysns07] peyods oy

"ADIA [PSION

“MOIA [PIUIA

SESE SS NER OES SS

eRe

Se aR)

‘20S ‘ISI, ‘JUN Avquog ‘“uimor

.. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ._. 677 |

identified from every other grasshopper by their characteristic

warning coloration, and by the secretion given off from the ‘sides

of the thorax which froths up on coming into contact with air and

gives a very unpleasant smell when handled. ;

Locusts and serious grasshopper pests are practically unknown

in Travancore and the only previous record is of an. outbreak

of A. miliaris (scabiosae?) at Manimala near the lower slopes of

the Western Ghats in Travancore about eighteen years ago. There

-has. been a recent outbreak of this pest in a serious form at

Kalanjoor in Central Travancore about ten miles to the north of

Punaloor (Railway Station). The attack was first reported during

the middle of June 1939 a fortnight after it was noticed. The

insect was first observed in the young teak plantation at Valia-

konam, Kalanjoor; but in the beginning no importance was

attached to it by the local ryots. When after a complete defolia-

tion of the teak trees the vanguard of the swarm invaded the

cultivated areas panic began among them. The following are the

more important of the trees subjected to attack :-—teak, coconut,

mango, areca, jack and plantain. The swarm which was at

first moving as a body divided at the middle of June into two,

one proceeding towards the west into the cultivated area mostly

attacking isolated teak trees and the other towards the south

into the Vazappara teak plantation, and gradually got scattered

in different directions. During the peak of the attack the whole

swarm occupied roughly an area of about quarter of a mile long

and fifty yards wide.

The grasshoppers seldom came to earth except by accident and

hence none of the ground crops like tapioca and rice were affected.

Their preference for teak leaf was remarkable and it was not

unusual to see the branches of this tree bent down by the weight

of the pest. Every leaf had on an average from twenty to thirty

insects and due to their protective coloration it was hard to detect

their presence except for the chirruping noise they made and the

continuous fall of the faecal pellets. When disturbed they always

moved forwards in the direction opposite to that whence they came.

Little is known about the life-cycle of this pest in Travancore.

Since it is of greater economic importance in Ceylon the life-history

has been worked out there and it is briefly as follows. The winged

adults which come out during the latter half of July begin mating

from the third week of August, and about the middle of November

they congregate in large numbers on the ground for egg-laying.

Eggs as usual are laid in masses in the earth by inserting the

abdomen into it. No preference is shown to any particular type

of soil. Each egg mass is about 1.5 to 3 inches long containing

on an average about 80 eggs. The adults die soon after oviposi-

tion. Eggs are pale yellow or honey-coloured when freshly laid

————_—_. a ee

? This interesting phenomenon met with in certain insects is given in detail

by G. D. H. Carpenter and H. Eltringham in Proc, Zool, Soc. Lond. Vol. 108,

Ser. A. Part II 1938, pp. 243-252.

678 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

and turn darker as development progresses. The eggs take about

four months to hatch out and the young nymphs come out in

April. Under normal conditions they pass through six instars

and the nymphal period on an average ranges from five to six

months. The adults live for about 5 months. ‘There is only a single

brood every year. In Travancore judging from the recent attack

the winged adults appear to come out in June, earlier than in

Ceylon.

As the adults always remain on the tops of trees control

measures are possible only either during the hopper stages when

they are devoid of wings or when they congregate in large numbers

in the ground for egg-laying. Very young nymphs may be killed

by spraying them with soap solution and egg masses can be dug

out and destroyed. Shaking the plants on which the adults con-

gregate and handpicking those that fall to the ground may also

be effective. Natural enemies appear to be few for this pest.

I am indebted to Dr. J. C. Hutson, Agricultural Entomologist,

Ceylon, for kindly sending me references regarding this pest there.

REFERENCES.

Green, E. E.—'Visitation of spotted locusts’. Cir. Roy. Bot. Gardens, Ceylon.

FSQS% “Sele, Lest O. 10. ae

Idem.—‘The spotted locust’ (Aularches miliaris L.) Ibid. Vol. iii, No. 16.

Hutson, J. C.—The spotted locust’, Aularches miliaris L. Year-Book Dept.

Agri. Ceylon, 1926, pp. 36-44.

Idem.—‘Be prepared for the Spotted Locust. Trop. Agri. 1928, pp. 121-122.

Kirby, W. F.—‘Fauna of British India’, Orthoptera (Acridiidae) 1914,

pp. 168-170.

Lefroy, H. M.—‘Indian Insect Life’ 1909.

TRIVANDRUM. S. JONES.

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN BATOCERA RUBUS L.

AND BOOK-SCORPIONS (CHELIFER).

XXIV.

On the evening of December 1, at Andheri, Salsette Island,

a large Longicorn beetle (Batocera rubus: Cerambycidae)

attracted by the light, flew in through my window. On examining

the specimen I noticed a Book-Scorpion drop off it. A little later

another appeared from under the wing-cases. On lifting the wing-

cases another nine came to light. On critical examination under

the microscope I discovered that both the beetle and the Book-

Scorpions were infested with minute mites probably of the family

Tyrogbyphidae.

The presence of Book-Scorpions on the bodies of insects is well-

known, this record fixes the identity of one of the carriers in

India. Book-Scorpions are not parasitic, but feed on minute

animal life, and one is naturally tempted to seek an explanation

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 679

for their presence in such a number on a single insect. The only

suggestion that offers itself seems to be that the Book-Scorpions

feed on the mites which infest their hosts, and are therefore

beneficial to the insects in that they reduce the insects’ body

parasites. This reason appears quite plausible as they must be

attracted to inhabit the body of the beetle by something, not

merely for the sake of transport! An examination of another

beetle that came in the following night showed that there were no

Book-Scorpions present, but at the same time the number of mites

was. very small. This seems to show that there is some relation

between the presence of the mites and the Book-Scorpions.

C. McCANN.

BomBay NaAtTuRAL History Society,

BomBay.

December 4, 1939.

XXV.—ON FREREA INDICA.

Mr. McCann’s interesting article on Frerea indica, p. 143 of

your August number.

I had this plant at Kate’s Point, Mahabaleshwar, in October

1924. I have never again been to Mahabaleshwar in the cold

weather, and so have not seen it again. The specimen I took

for my herbarium is still recognizable and has leaves as described

and pictured by Mr. McCann; the flowers have parted from the

stem. Perhaps Mr. McCann would like to call and see the

specimen.

The rough note made at the time was as follows.—‘On outcrop

‘rock exposed to sun. The flower is brown purple with v-shaped

‘yellow markings and interrupted yellow lines. Lobes of corolla

‘sometimes six’.

Its close, but leafless, relation Caralluma fimbriata is common

on the bare grassy hills round Kolhapur, where it grows in small

clumps in the shade of prickly pear, flowers in the rains, and pro-

duces very long thin follicles in the cold weather. I also noted it

(Caralluma) in the Kamkhed taluka of Ahmednagar.

R. D. BOMBAY.

BisHop’s LoncE,

MALABAR HILtL,

BomMBAY 6.

December 22, 1939.

680 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

XXVI.—ON THE OCCURRENCE OF CICHORIUM INTYBUS

LINN. (Chicory) IN HYDERABAD, DECCAN.

_ (With a plate).

Cichorium Intybus Linn., a native of Europe naturalised in

America and familiar to many as a weed, is a pot herb, a salad,

and the leading adulterant of Coffee. It is chiefly cultivated for

its leaves and roots. It is common in Simla, N.-W. India and

W. Asia. There is no record of its- having been grown in the

Deccan. Cooke in his Flora of the Presidency of Bombay says

that Chicory is rarely grown in the Deccan. Gamble in his Flora

of the Presidency of Madras mentions nothing about this plant.

Last year in the month of October the writer by chance visited

a place known as the Lingampalli Canal and came across a single

plant of Cichorium in flower (Fig. 1.), which was an altogether

unexpected occurrence. A few months later the writer visited the

place again and found a single withered plant which was uprooted

to see if there were any tuberous roots. There were none. Think-

ing that it might be an escape, enquiries were made from the

Florists in Poona and Bangalore if they supplied seeds of Chicory.

They expressed their inability to supply the seeds of Chicory as it

was not grown either in the Bombay Presidency or in Bangalore.

The replies aroused more interest in the writer and the place

was visited again in August, 1939 in the early rainy season. It

was a matter of great delight to find a large number of young

plants of Chicory (Fig. 2) growing wild amongst other more vigor-

ous plants, such as Amarantus spinosus Linn., A. oleraceus Roxb.,

Portulaca oleracea Linn., Sclerocarpus africanus Jacq., Vernonia

cinerea Less., Phyllanthus Nirurit Linn., Cynodon dactylon Pers.,

several species of Euphorbia, and others. It was further noted that

as the hardier plants spread more and more they seem to. limit

and overcome the new-comers (Chicory). In spite of this struggle

and the disadvantage of a new environment some of the plants

of Chicory survived and bore flowers.

Since Chicory is a useful pot-herb and needs no special attention

and care as has been observed by the writer, it is advisable to

introduce it on a large scale not only in the Deccan but elsewhere

also. The climatic and edaphic conditions of the Deccan seem to

be quite favourable for the growth of this plant.

M. ABDUS SALAM.

DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY,

OsMANIA UNIVERSITY,

HypERABAD (Dn.),

September 30, 19309.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY V. M. PIIILIP AT THE DIOCESAN PRESS, 18 CHURCH ROAD,

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EDITORS : Hf, M. MCGUSTY, J. F. CAIUS, AND S. Il, PRATER, 6 APOLLO STREET,

FORT, BOMBAY

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Flowers of Chickory (Cichorium Intybus Linn.)

Chicory

Young Chickory plants growing amongst other

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CONLANESOR VOLOME XLT, No.2.

Some BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS. Part IV. By

Seo les Ol, N-As,, D.SCoy FaleeSh iis, and: M. 5B. Raizada,, m.Se:

(With one coloured, four black and whtte plates, and five text-

HIDE LEV ES ets oer sae vse 5 foe solos eee AN nee AS sarod eer csdeeees sedesccsadvuseerscanes

THE INDIAN WILD Doc. By Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton, 1.a. ay ie es

CHYCEOLACK ANA WHE PLALES: AIA © PNHOlO) wosicceconseninesiacrereecuavececies sos si.

A LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE SIMLA Hitits' By M. A. Wynter-

Dlyeln paar anise naman nanny Aeetiction sendee sectidnasie tell sedecsabecr tabacénses ences

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY. PartlI. By C. McCann,

F.L.S. (With nine black and white plates, and three text-figures)......

Notes ON SOME INDIAN Birovs. Part V. By E. H. N. Lowther,

MPT On WNL Zs eal CLILL CEO PLATES ace. cule Sass ct von sajen viet cslese else Wea wed tues

NOTES ON THE ORCHIDS OF MURREE HILL. By Abdu! Hameed, M.Sc.

GUTTER DLQLCS remanent eaadh ane oe sates aeieoss sa ae hie dace sete iadeuetncten.

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA. Part X. By Dr. S. L. Hora, D.Sc.,

F.R.S.E., F.Z.S., F-R.A.S.B., F.N.I. (With one coloured plate, one

QUAGIAQILGUHILE PLAT, ONG LIE LEXTTUSUP ES) owas occ seostssiceseooseestocses0:

SOME COMMON INDIAN HERBS WITH NOTES ON THEIR ANATOMICAL

CHARACTERS, PartIV. By M. Sayeedud-Din. (With three plates).

A NEw SPECIES OF Fossinr FROG FROM THE INTER-TRAPPEAN BEDS OF

WoORLI HILL, BomBay. By Dr. G. W. Chiplonker, p.sc. (With

ONEEPUALE Seve err ecedcete hace rosene soeccte sees ee aela cian casement ca senet atwk cs come aie

NOTES ON THE FuLvous FRuItT-Bat ( Rousettus leschenaulti fae ae By

Co McCann, F:L.S.. (With one plate and one lext-LiZUre) ...0.0.0. 000605 es

ON THE Foop-PLANTS OF INDIAN BOMBYCES A age ear re DaG.

SEMASUOPULO | beak Hi Gece snwane) sae aiuneccseaeee ss

A MAHSIR RIVER OF ue ee INDIA. By Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton, 1.a.

CINCCES) RR CLUDED LO LC Nemes enaintas Miia sent ie cos ates ove salseds nae inc cSvehemeiel

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA. Part II. By

PaO ANISH S Set MeEIOIe Sr sera etaetna yon citecroes cease tatas ouaiesiiee eau rede ove acen tee

THE BIONOMICS OF THE YAM BEETLE [Galerucida bicolor (Hope)].

ia wamaknishtia Ayvanr. Bea. Pit... (W200 DIQLEY .3.cc.ccccssceon es

ON THE ALTERATIONS IN THE TISSUES OF Melochia corchoritolia Linn.

and Corchorus capsularis Linn. ON A CHANGE OF ENVIRONMENT.

By D. P. Mullan. (With two plates and a@ text-figure)...scrcorscecncees

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES :—

I.—The Number of Tigers Shot in Reserved Forest in India and

Burma during the year 1937-1938. By S. H. Prater,

aN ia Zao MU Me AS atsisiisrercteais dsle sc) 0 orto ini: alee asin’ dus os'ce suc ect emiaceue

II.—The ‘Sambur’ Call of the Tiger and its Explanation. By

eee Seen NC ANIIStams cadesiiet setinc.eeteselssdesedok cv sinteeiidseige) deseo accr eden.

IlJ].—A Tail-iess Panther. By Lt. D. frees rown. (With a

PNEGUON BOGE ca Sica RBS D OMAR LOOT EERE ret COPE a nen asnne ae

We yeena Carryineyoth a. Bear Cub ..........200.600. ak atlas seenietdcces:

Vi OM ackAloeme by. Wao) WEWIS 1s) 249 v0sc9n 014 vec Brescia Seine els Lapa nee

PAGE

681

805

881

889

S90

891

ii CONTENTS ‘OF Vol XLT, No.7

VI.—Mongoose attacking a Donkey. By E.5S. Lewis..................

VII.—The Crab-eating Mongoose [Herpestes urva iedes \i) ta

Captivity. | ByvA. Le) Brownlow eee

VIll.—Hybrid American Bison and Indian Domestic Cow. By Sadeg

Z oha bh. CW GO photo) mcrae neste ee eee ee

IX.—Whales in Baroda, with Notes on the Anatomy of the Fin-

Whale (Balaenoptera indica) stranded at Mulvel in March

1939.” _By.s. 1. Moses. Ay, (D.SC., Fez Ge eRe Aa.

X.—Analysis of a Salt Lick in Kollegal, Coimbatore, South India.

By. Riv@) MOrris a,c sthnc semen treane Cacti eesti ac

XI.—The Indian Black Eagle Ce malayanus perniger

Hodgs..) in Salsettes. yo. bua erate a.nenseenee Sennen

XII.—Eggs of Yeliow-wattled Lapwing. [Lodzpluvia malabarica

(Bodd:)]) By Major; /.(G. Phythian-Adams) (Retah) ces. s.e

XIIJ.—Partial Albinism in a Chukor (Alectoris graeca). By Major

Re CaMacnamaran WW/2c a DOL), aes ce teens seeneeay ee pai

XIV.— The Brofize-capped Teal (Aumetta falcata) in the Ambala

District. 7 sBy*Mas or S@ aN Gholase: 40.74 se, once Serene

XV.—Does the Common Whistling Teal have more than one brood

injthe year?) (By RE Parsons 2h aR Sees sere secant

XVI.—Late Stay of Snipe. By Lt.-Col: iG.:O" Brien. vines eee

XVIL:—Mieration of Wild*Howl. "By Sinn aeeeeseretcins doe eee eee

XVIII.—Mieration of Wild Vow]. 2 Goxm7eeida case. seneceneseee are

X1X:—Crocodile‘and Wild Boars" By EMS; Lewisiicc.0...se renee

XX.—An Ingenious Fish Trap. By Lt. A.G. Sandeman. (With a

QLD SHOVE) Coa Nel ised se seh Biwicts ele ee opt eS Lae a ae eee Eee

XXI.—Migration of Butterflies. By Major J. H. B. Lowe, R.........

XXII.—A Bi-Cellular Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) By K. Cherian

JACOD, Li AS IESS) CHCIIG IDL G1) ee mee ee eee ee

XXIII.—A New Variety of Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera L. var.

SPICdld)\... OV, K. ‘Chetian Jacob,rt Ac pe beles ones ceeeeee

XXIV.—Stem Fasciation in the Areca Palm (Aveca Catechu L.).

By K.Cherian Jacob; ©.A¢ 13h. -G: ya (W/tL/7 a plate) ee

XXV.—Preliminary Notes on a recent Botanical Tour to Amrabad

Forest Reserve, H. E. H. The Nizam’s\ Dominions,

Hyderabad (Dn.). By M. Syeedud-Din. (With a plate}...

894

895

907

: & . |

‘ t

7 )

PLaTE 4,

Journ. Bomsay Nat. Hirst. Soc.

John Bale, Sons & Curnow, Ltd London. —

LARGE-FLOWERED TECOMA.

Tecoma grandiflora, Delaun.

(56 nat. size)

JOURNAL

OF THE

Bombay Natural History Society.

TO40,. TaN) Oty reeNaliale No. 4.

“SSOME .BEAUTIFUL. INDIAN CLIMBERS AND- SHRUBS.

P BY

INV SORe MiAL. Mi SC,, Fila Se bE: Ss,

Forest Botanist,

; AND

MEd2 RAIZADAL NM. SOs,

Assistant Botanist,

Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun.

PARTS LV

(Continued front Vol. xli, No. 3 (1940), p. 460).

_ (With one coloured and four black and white plates, and five text-

figures).

Tecoma Juss.

A genus of the Bignoniacee. The name itself is derived from

the Mexican term for a- plant, Tecomanochitl, which means ‘vessel-

flower’ and refers to the large cup-shaped or trumpet-shaped

blooms. .

The genus Tecoma, as known to botanists, contains plants with

a shrubby habit, but horticulturists in India include several scandent

species, now known by other names,. in this genus.

The species of Tecoma, in the hortic ultural sense, are deser vedly

popular in Indian gardens, not only for the large size and profusion

of their gorgeously coloured ‘flowers, but also for their extremely

handsome fohage. ‘ i

In the ‘scandent species treated in this article the methods of

climbing are either’ by the production of aerial rootlets from the

nodes which clasp the support, or by simple twining round a support.

The “leaves of our species are opposite, exstipulate and’ may

be evergreen or deciduous. * The leaf is compound and odd pinnate

with entire or toothed leaflets. 7 !

The flowers, which are: large and showy, are borne in terminal

or axillary panicles’ or racemes. The calyx is 'gamosepalous,

NOV 13 1940

682. [OURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AISt, SOCIETY, Vol. Xi

tubular, with five lobes. The corolla is gamopetalous, more or

less irregular, campanulate, or funnel-shaped with five lobes.

Stamens five, of which one is rudimentary, inserted on the

corolla tube alternate with the lobes. The ovary is seated upon

a fleshy disk and may be one or two-celled, with many ovules

attached to parietal placentae. The style is slender and divided

into two stigmatic lobes. The fruit is a capsule, septicidal or

loculicidal. The seeds are furnished with papery wings.

Glandular hairs are developed on the aerial parts of sever

species of Tecoma. Parija and Samal who investigated these

structures in Tecoma capensis came to the conclusion that they were

hydathodes or water secreting organs. The importance of the

hydathodes lies in their power to secrete water when transpiration

is suppressed, an arrangement which prevents the hydrostatic

pressure within the conducting system from becoming excessive,

and hence protects the ventilating system against the dane er of

flooding (Haberlandt ))

The same two investigators discovered glandular areas on the

floral parts of Tecoma capensis. They proved that these glands

(extrafloral nectaries) secrete glucose and cane sugar, and _ that

they are active long before the sexual parts of the flower are

mature. This being so, it seems that the large black ants which

visit these nectaries in crowds day and night have nothing to do

with the pollination. Some insects, instead of entering the mouth

of the flower to reach the floral nectaries developed at the base

of the corolla, and so assisting the plant in cross-fertilisation, bore

through the base of the corolla and steal the honey. It is possible

and even probable that the presence of ants on the extrafloral

nectaries prevent insect robbers from getting their booty in this

way without working for it. Pariia and Samal. however. consider

that the extrafloral nectaries prevent the ants from visiting the

flowers and so favour self-fertilisation. Cross-fertilisation is, how-

ever, extremely likely in view of the fact that intrafloral nectaries

are developed in the brightly coloured corollas.

Tiwary has given some account of the pollination of Tecoma

vadicans. The flowers are protandrous and the anthers are found

to have completely dehisced even before the flower is open. The

bifid stigma of the immature ovary, with the halves closely pressed

together, remains tucked away behind the filaments. The honey

is secreted at the base of the corolla and is capable of being extracted

by long-tongued insects. The flowers are much visited by bees

which remove quantities of pollen. Subsequently the style elongates

and the stigmatic lobes separate. Cross-fertilisation is now pos-

sible. Tiwary concludes that cross-fertilisation does not take place

because long-tongued insects do not visit the flowers, but surely

the pollen gatherer can perform this service just as well, Black

ants are also found on the calyx and corolla of this plant, and they

may exercise the same function as in the case of Tecoma capensis.

The presence of ants, however, cannot prevent sun_ birds

(Arachnecthra asiatica) from boring a small hole at the base of the

corolla and stealing the honey. They are often seen hovering

about. the flowers of Tecoma stans at Dehra Dun,

: :

: \

AT .

de -

;

7 H

rt .

‘i

” 1

JourN. BomBay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Photo by M,N. Bakshi.

The Yellow Elder or Trumpet-Flower (Tecoma stans (Linn.) H.B.K.),

New Forest, Dehra Dun.

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS 683

KEY TO THE SPECIES.

Shrubs ee be et ne male Stans:

Climbers

Stamens exserted ae BS ee o.2. eapensts.

Stamens included.

Flowers scarlet or orange; climbing by aerial rootlets.

Leaflets 9-11, pubescent beneath, at least on the midrib;

calyx teeth short avs Re ane sul © Vadicans.

Leaflets 7-9, glabrous beneath; calyx 5-lobed to middle ...T. grandiflora

Flowers white, yellowish or pink, climbing without aerial

rcotiets.

Corolla 1.5-2 in. long ust he i D.asminoides.

Corolla .5-75 in. long Sat ae wo le australes.

Tecoma stans (Linn.) H. B. K.

The Yellow Elder; Trumpet-Flower. |

(The specific name means ‘erect’ in Latin).

Bs pe : 23

‘

Pig. 1.--Tecoma stans (Linn.) H.B.K. x8.

684 JOURNAL, BOMBAY: NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY,.Vol. XLI

Description.—A large shrub sometimes reaching the size of a

small tree. The leaves are opposite, compound and odd-pinnate,

Boe sha, long. Leaflets opposite, 5-11. in number, ovate, ovate-

oblong to lanceolate in shape, 1-4 in, long, acuminate, sharply

serrate, sessile or nearly so. The new leaves are a beautiful glossy

green but the foliage looks very: tired after a cold winter and dry

hot weather. It is usual in older trees to see a profusion of erect

shoots from the base of the stem. These shoots bear flowers.

The flowers are borne in large terminal panicles and are fragrant.

Calyx cup-shaped with 5 narrow lobes, glabrous or sparsely covered

with:.short crisp hairs, .2-.3 in. long. Corolla gamopetalous, of

a beautiful yellow-gold colour, contracted to a narrow tube at the

base, expanding above the calyx into an irregular funnel with five

wavy lobes. Stamens four fertile; one rudimentary, included inside

the corolla tube. This is the usual arrangement but one often finds

only three fertile stamens and one unfertile anther on a filament

only half the normal length. The anthers are widely divergent

from the apex and the connective is crowned with a small foliaceous

limb. The ovary is seated in a cupular disk which is wavy on the

margin. The style is long and filiform and divides at the apex

into 2 stigmatic lobes. The capsule is linear, 6-g in. long, com-

pressed, green, turning brown at maturity, and contains numerous

seeds, each with. 2 large thin wings. The eastern and southern

sides of a bush flower first and by the time the pods have replaced

the flowers, the northern and western aspects flower.

Flowers.—Practically throughout the year. The capsules are

produced during the cold weather and remain hanging for a long

time on the plant. |

Distribution.—Native of Tropical America.. Very common in

gardens in the plains throughout India. It is also found in the

hills up to 5,000 ft.

Gardening.—This species grows exceedingly well in our gardens

and flowers profusely. Owing to its rapid growth and dense foliage

down to the ground, the ‘yellow elder’ is highly valued as a screen

for unsightly objects. It ripens its seeds so abundantly that

hundreds of seedlings come up self-sown around old plants. Easily

raised from seeds sown in March.

Tecoma stans (L.) H. B. K. var. incisa Hort. is a form in which

the leaflets are narrow and are cut almost to the midrib. <A plant.

with very graceful foliage,

Tecoma capensis Lindl. [Tecomaria capensis (Thunb.) Spach. ]

The Cape-Honeysuckle.

(The specific name indicates the origin of the plant).

Description.~-~-A rambling shrub about 6 ft, high. Stem and

branches slender, brown, with prominent raised lenticels. Leaves

opposite, compound, odd pmnate. Leaflets 7-9, 45-1. 5 im: long,

broadly ovate to almost orbicular in shape, glabrous, Sey petio-

late, coarsely serrate; teeth often obtuse.

Taforeccenee a pedunicled terminal raceme. Flowers seated on

pedicels up to .5 in. long. Calyx gamosepalous with five regular

\[OURN. BomBay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Photo by N. L, Bor.

The Yellow Elder or Trumpet-Flower (Tecoma stans (Linn.) H.B.K.),

New Forest, Dehra Dun.

‘.SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN’ CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS __ 685

triangular teeth, .2-.25 in. long, cup-shaped. Corolla. tubular or

funnel-shaped, slightly curved, gamopetalous, 2 in. long, orange

or scarlet or flame-coloured, ending: in four. lobes the upper of

which is notched, Fertile stamens four, inserted on the corolla

| Fig. 2.—Tecoma capensis Lindl, x3.

tube and alternate with lobes, Anther-cells spreading at the apices

of the filaments which are longer than the corolla tube. The

connective projects as a small knob above the anther cells. Ovary

oblong; seated in a cup-like disk. Style long, slender, ending in

two stigmatic plates. Fruit a capsule usually 2 in. but occasionally

UPL tOm 4am. longs: |

Flowers.-—Sept.-Oct. Fruits.--Cold season.

Distribution.—Indigenous to the Cape, South Africa. Culti-

vated rather frequently in: gardens throughout India. .

Gardening.—The Cape-Honeysuckle grows luxuriantly in our

gardens. If the long shoots are cut back severely, the plant can

easily be trained into shrub form. It is usually propagated* by

686 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

cuttings which strike root readily during the rains. It is rather

frost-tender and must be protected from ground frosts.

Tecoma Smithii W. Wats. is supposed to be a hybrid between

T. mollis H. et B. and T. capensis Lindl. It is an upright bush

with odd-pinnate leaves of 11-17 leaflets. Flowers in large com-

pound panicles, bright yellow tinged with orange.

Tecoma radicans Juss. [Campsis radicans (Linn.) Seem. ].

Trumpet-Vine.

(The specific name means ‘rooting’ in Latin and refers to the aerial

roots of this plant).

Fig. 3.—Tecoma radicans Juss. X

Rico

Description.—An extensive scandent, deciduous shrub climbing

by means of adventitious roots. Stems and branches cylindrical,

smooth and polished, emitting roots where they touch the soil.

Leaves compound, odd-pinnate, opposite; leaflets 9-11, petioled,

JOURN . BomBay Nat. HIstT. Soc.

Photo by M, N. Bakshi.

Trumpet-Vine (Tecoma vadicans Juss).

New Forest, Dehra Dun.

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS 687

ovate to ovate-oblong in shape, 1.5-2.5 in. long; acuminate or

tailed at the apex, coarsely toothed glossy dark green above, paler

beneath and hairy at least on the midrib. This shrub is leafless

during the cold weather.

Flowers in terminal clusters or panicles. Calyx tubular-campan-

ulate, rather leathery, glandular, shortly 5-lobed, .5-1 in. long.

Corolla narrow tubular below, funnel-shaped or campanulate above,

about 3 in. long, with 5 spreading lobes which are fimbriate on

the margins; slightly 2-lipped, orange in colour with a scarlet limb.

Stamens four, inserted on the corolla tube, two long and two short,

included within the tube. Ovary oblong, seated in a large disk.

Style filiform with two stigmatic plates at the apex. Fruit an

elongated, angled capsule, 3-5 in. long, curved and beaked at the

apex. Seeds many, compressed, with two large, translucent wing's.

Flowers.—Practically throughout the year except the cold

weather. Fruits.—Cold season.

Distribution.—Indigenous to North America. Commonly culti-

vated in gardens throughout India.

Gardening.—This species is particularly adapted for covering

walls and rocky embankments, as it will climb with aerial rootlets

and clings firmly to its support. It is an excellent plant for cover-

ing bare trunks of trees. It is constantly in bloom with a profusion

of drooping corymbs of orange-scarlet tubular flowers. Usually

propagated by cuttings or root-suckers.

Tecoma grandiflora Delaun. [Campsis grandiflora (Thunb.)

K. Schum. ].

Large-flowered Tecoma. Chinese Trumpet Creeper.

(‘grandiflora’ means large-flowered in Latin).

Description.—An extensive climber with few or no aerial roots.

Stems somewhat angled, smooth and glabrous. Leaves opposite,

compound, odd pinnate. Leaflets petioled, often unequal-sided at

the base, 1-2 in. long, ovate, ovate-oblong or lanceolate in shape,

acuminate, coarsely toothed, perfectly glabrous on both surfaces.

Flowers in terminal, pendulous, racemose panicles. Calyx

campanulate, divided almost to the middle into five lanceolate

lobes which end in a subulate point. Corolla up to 2 in. long,

shorter and broader than that of T. radicans, scarlet or orange

in colour, sometimes showing marked scarlet striations in the throat,

terminating in 5 spreading lobes. Stamens four, two long, two

short, not exserted from the corolla. Anther-cells divaricate.

Ovary seated in a disk. Style filiform. Fruit a capsule, not beaked

at the: apex.

Flowers. —Hot and rainy season. Fruits.—Nov.-Dec.

Distribution.—Indigenous to China and Japan, now widely

cultivated in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world.

Gardening.—This graceful climber is very beautiful when in full

bloom during the hot and rainy season and is an ornament to any

garden. It sheds its leaves in the cold weather, when it is advisa-

ble to cut it well back and remove the numerous suckers which it

688. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL VEST SOCT EI. Voln er

sends up all round from the roots. Easily propagated by root-

suckers, cutting and seed. .

Tecoma jasminoides Lindl. [Pandorea jasminoides (Lindl.) ©

: Ke Schuni

The Bower Plant of Australia. 2

jasmine-like’ and probably, refers to,

the foliage).

(The specific name means

Fig. 4.—Tecoma jasminoides Lindl. x3.

.! Description.—A climbing shrub. Stems terete. Leaves oppo-

site, compound, odd pinnate. Leaflets 5-9, narrowly elliptic, ovate

or lanceolate in shape, sessile, blunt at the tips, quite entire, dark

green in colour, glabrous, 1-1.5 in. long. :

Flowers in axillary or terminal many-flowered corymbose

panicles. Calyx .25 in. long, almost truncate or obscurely lobed,

tubular in shape. Corolla tubular, campanulate, expanding into 5,

almost. orbicular, wavy, lobes white or rosy pink in colour, dark

pink or almost purple in the hairy throat, 2 in. wide at the mouth

and .as' long. Stamens four, two: long two short; ‘anther cells -

spreading so that they come to be on the same line. Ovary seated

on!a ring-like disk. Style filiform, 2-lobed, Peg

‘und Piyaq ‘}sa10.. MON

‘(ssn[ suvoipoa puoza L ) autA-joduiniy,

‘MUS4aVE *N *W 4q oj0yd

° SOME BEAUTIFUL“ INDIAN CLIMBERS AND SHRUBS oP bes)

Flowers.—Hot season... Does not fruit in Dehra. |

Distribution.—Indigenous to Australia. Commonly cultivated in

gardens throughout this country. .

Gardening.—This ‘Vine’ has rather handsome evergreen foliage

and beautiful large pink flowers. It is quite frost hardy, but re-

quires a rich soil and a sunny site. Propagated by cuttings during

Bisel lis. 01)

Tecoma australis Rk. Br. [Pandorea australis (R. Br.) Spach. |.

| Wonga-Wonga Vine.

(The specific epithet refers to the country of origin of this plant).

Pig. 5.—Tecoma australis R. Br.

Description.—A very extensive climber. Stems cylindrical,

striate. Leaves opposite, compound, odd pinnate, exstipulate.

Leaflets 3-9, opposite, ovate, elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, almost

sessile, perfectly smooth and glabrous, entire or wavy on the margin,

glossy green.

Flowers heavily scented, borne in axillary or terminal racemose

panicles. Calyx very small, campanulate, regularly 5-lobed, gla-

brous or slightly hairy. Corolla .5-.75 in. long, funnel-shaped with

690 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.” SOCIETY, Vol) XET

five short reflexed lobes, yellowish-white in colour, spotted with

purple in the throat. Stamens four, included. Ovary seated in a

ring-shaped disk. Style filiform, exserted.

Flowers.—March-April. Does not fruit in Dehra.

Distribution.—Indigenous to Australia. Cultivated in gardens

throughout India.

Gardening.—This vine has beautiful dark green glossy foliage

and comparatively small flowers, but is worth cultivating for its

foliage alone. It prefers a soil rich in humus and, if liberally fer-

tilized, it will grow very vigorously. It does not produce fruit in

this country, and is propagated by cuttings.

“Ppuod “M

‘30d PIIM SPISy OTL

‘20S

LSI]

LVN AvaWwog ‘Nynof

THE INDIAN WILD DOG.

LreuT.-CoL. R. W. Burton.

(With 3 plates and 1 photo).

The Journals of the Bombay Natural History Society contain

several informative and interesting articles concerning the Wild

Dog of India, as also a considerable number of sportsmen’s observa-

tions embodied in Miscellaneous Notes scattered over a period of

many years: and in Mr. A. A. Dunbar Brander’s authoritative

work ‘Wild Animals in Central India’, published in 1923, is a

chapter on the Wild Dog which is almost exhaustive on the subject.

Former issues of the Journal are, however, not possessed by

the majority of present Members, so this article is contributed

to collect in one place all information the writer is able to record

from the writings of others, and his own knowledge, concerning

this interesting animal, and the varieties found in Burma and

the adjoining countries.

The Wild Dog is widely distributed throughout the Indian

Empire, and most sportsmen have met with the species during their

jungle expeditions; but the experience of any individual sportsman

is limited, and not all of them have been particularly observant.

Captain Williamson’s well-known and sumptuous work was

perhaps the first book on the wild sports of India, but is unfor-

tunately not available to me for reference. Dr. Daniel Johnson’s

Indian Field Sports in Earlier Days, which attained a _ second

edition in 1824, followed soon after, and in it he relates that he

saw ‘Dholes or Quihoes several times and have heard it said that

their claws are retractile, if so they may be considered as belong-

ing to the feline species ;—and as they are armed with talons they

must be very formidable.’ So we know the good Doctor was not

very strong in Natural History. I cannot trace that word Quihoe;

it 1s not in Hobson Johnson.

In a book concerning the game of South India, ‘Game’ by

‘Hawkeye’ (Major-General Richard Hamilton), published in 1876,

the author says that in former davs (the Nilgiris were first ‘dis-

covered’ in 1818) wild dogs were often met with on the Hills in

really formidable numbers, and he himseif remembers seeing a

very large pack sweeping across the head of the Ootacamund Lake.

‘People in those days were alarmed at meeting these dogs, under the idea

that they were somewhat akin to the wolves of Siberia, and would not scruple

to attack and devour unarmed men. Certainly they exhibited little or no fear

of man; but sportsmen hesitated to shoot them when in packs under the

above impression—that they were liable to attack, and when once their fire-

arms were discharged, they would be at the mercy of the rest, and would

probably ‘‘sup sorrow’’.’

In The Highlands of Central India (1872) page 343, Captain

J. Forsyth mentions a breed of fine, large, red-coloured pariah

692 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLII

dogs which was the indigenous dog of the Upper Narbada forest

country, and suspected them to be descended from the wild species

inhabiting those jungles. The most noticeable distinction between

the wild dogs and the tame pariahs was that the former carried

their tails never raised higher than the line of the-back while the

latter raised their tails at times a good deal higher, with some-

thing of a curl. Another difference was that the wild dog could

not bark. So much did this breed resemble the wild dog that on

one,occasion Forsyth allowed what afterwards proved to be a wild

dog to escape, thinking him to be a strayed red pariah. —

It was suggested by Professor H. Littledale in his interesting

article (Journal, Vol. vii, page 499) that the dental and other

characteristics of these should be compared, but there is no record

of this having been done. There’ is reason to' believe that. this

breed , still. exists; so perhaps some member. of our Society. can

procure skins and skulls for this purpose.

Vhe wild dog and the jackal interbreed on occasion, also’ the

jackal and the pariah dog (Vol. xxx, page 698). A photograph of

a wild dog bitch with her two pups, sired by a jackal in the Mysore

Zoo in November 1930, is published ‘at page 198 of Vol. xxxv;

so there is no reason why breeding between wild dog and pariah

dog should not have resulted in a breed of red pariahs.

The true Indian Pariah Dog is mostly red in colour. At page

105 of Vol. xiv is an interesting article by Lieutenant-General

Osborn on .the sheep and pariah dogs of India. He describes.

how a single red pariah dog pluckily bayed a wounded man-eating

tigress which he would certainly not have been able to kill had

it not been for the assistance of this dog. He also relates how

a village shikari of Mysore used his red pariah dog to attract ducks

within shooting distance of his lake-side pit, just as in some Engtish

decoys the well-known habit of wild birds to. curiously follow or

mob their natural enemy has been used by means of ‘a trained dog

of suitable reddish colour to entice wildfowl to captivity. Much

has come from the East to the West: perhaps this is an instance.

A description is also given of a pack of these red pariahs, owned

by Benders of Ramandroog, 40 miles from Bellary, hunting and

killing sambhur after the manner of Cuon. |

At page 709 of Vol. xiii is a very interesting article on the

Sheep Dogs of India.

Wolves, jackals, foxes, and domestic dogs are all comprised in

the genus Canis; Blandford being of opinion that the latter are

apparently descendants of several wild forms amongst which the

common wolf and the common jackal are the two principal.

An Editor’s foot-note to page 699 of Vol. xxx may be here

suitably inserted. :

‘The origin of the domestic dog is still involved in. mystery. Some Naturalists

believe it to be a distinct species descended from one that no longer exists in

a wild state, others trace its ancestors to the wild ‘or half-wild races either of

true dogs, wolves, or jackals; while others believe it to be the result of mingling

of two or more wild species or races. Blandford is. of ‘opinion that the common

Indian pie-dogs may be in part descended from wolves ; he adds, however, that

they are probably derived chiefly from jackals,’ é

THE INDIAN WELD DOG | +) 693

Darwin, discussing The Origin of Species, admits that domestic

dogs are descended from several wild species, but remarks that there

has been an immense amount of inherited variation. » Blandford

quotes Darwin’s opinion that :—

pltads highly probable that the domestic dogs of the world have descended

from two good species of wolf (Canis lupus and Canis latrans), and from several

races or. species of the jackal.’

The wolf, Canis lupus, is of great antiquity, its bones having

been found in Post-Pliocene (pre-glacial) deposits of the Quaternary

formations of the ‘Cromer Forest-bed’ together with those of

various extinct mammals. It is quite possible that some of the

world’s domestic breeds are descended from wild species long since

extinct. ;

The genus Cuon, to which the Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon javanicus)

belongs, is distinguished from the genus Canis by the more rounded

ears oad proportionately shorter Puzle® Dyathe linen on the. face

viewed sideways being slightly convex, that of Canis being straight

or concave, and by having only two true molars on each. side of che

lower jaw instead of three. The mammae are more numerous, there

being usually 6 or 7 pairs instead of 5 typical in Canis. Blandford

mentions the long hair between the foot-pads, but this is not

unusual in many species of Cunis. In other respects Cuon agrees

generally with Canis. :

A LARGER AND A SMALLER SPECIES.

In his interesting article (Vol. vii) Professor, Littledale touches

upon the remark of Jerdon (Mammals of India, 1867, page 145),

also mentioned by Sterndale, that it has been supposed there is more

than one species of wild dog to be found in India. There has been

in earlier days a belief prevalent among sportsmen of the existence

of two races. . Colonel A. -E. Ward’s. Sportsmen’s. Guide «to

Kashmir, page 88, is cited as recording the assertion of Kashmir

native shikaris that there are two species, the smaller breed

destroying sheep and goats and keeping low down in the ravines,

the larger hunting in the higher mountains. :

This belief in a larger and a smaller. breed is prevalent even

in the present day in the jungles to the north of the Nilgiri Hills

and along the Mysore border.. At page 516 of Vol. xxxi an: Editor’s

Note mentions the same belief being held by the Nagas of the

Mishmi Hills.

Mr. R. C. Morris. mentions the matter at page 491 of Vol. xxxvi,

referring to. the possibility. stated by A. J..W. Milroy; Conservator

of -Forests,.of there being..two kinds of: wild::dog in Assam, a

larger species hunting in pairs and a smaller type hunting in packs

He (Morris) ‘has noticed that wild dogs often hunt in pairs, and

these appear to be considerably larger than even the leaders. of

dogs hunting in packs’. . In the Central Provinces one sees these

pairs of dogs, as also all sizes of « dogs in packs.

Mr. L. E. C. Hurst (C.P.) tells me he has only seen these pairs

in the breeding season, say November to March, and not at other

times of the year. : ) :

604 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Voi. XLI

The present writer has observed that wild dogs of the Siwaliks

and Doon Valley appear to be larger animals and of a brighter

red than those of the Central Provinces and South India, but

obtained no specimens.

Professor Littledale’s suggestion that the small breed is really

a pack of females and young dogs is no doubt the correct answer

to this question. Had there been a larger and a smaller species in

India the inevitable interbreeding would have merged the two races

long ago.

SPECIES AND RACES OF THE WitLp Doa.

The Asiatic Wild Dog has a wide habitat? Pocock (P. Z. S.,

1936, p. 34) gives its distribution as ranging from ‘Saghalien,

Amurland and the Altai Mountains, about lat. 50° N., over the whole

of continental Asia, roughly east of Long. 70° E., and occurring

in the Islands of Sumatra and Java, but not in Japan, Ceylon’ or

Borneo’. Within this wide range the older Zoologists claimed

to recognise two or even three distinct species. Blanford recog-

nised a northern and central Asiatic species under the name

C. alpinus, an Indian species, C. dukhunensis and a Malayan species

which he called C. rutilans. Pocock (loc. cit.) having at his disposal

the great mass of material made available in recent years, con-

cludes that in all Asia there is a single species of Wild Dog, to

which he assigns the name Cuon javanicus ; javanicus is the name

first applied to any form of Cuon, and it therefore antedates dukhu-

nensis by which our Wild Dog has become more generally known.

Pocock recognises a number of local races. The form found in

the Indian Peninsula, south of the Ganges, and also in Assam, he

names Cuon javanicus dukhunensis Sykes, distinguishing it by its

larger skull from the typical Javan Wild Dog (C. 7. javanicus) and

from C. 7. sumatrensis, found in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula,

by its longer, fuller coat, yellower, less vividly red-colouring and

again by its larger skull. The race found in the Central and

Eastern Himalayas through Kumaon, Nepal and Sikkim is Cuon

j. primaevus. Pocock distinguishes this race from the Peninsular

form as being on the average redder in hue, fuller in winter

coat, more amply provided with under wooi and more hairy-soled.

These distinctive characters he states are evident from puppyhood.

The Wild Dog of Kashmir is recognised as a separate race to

: ————— Cr -rOrrrrna ee

a — =

* The wild deg is not found in Ceylon, where the jackal takes its place,

and is occasionally known as a hunter and destroyer of hinds and fawns, but

not to anything approaching the terrible efficiency of Cuon. The Ceylon jackal

(Canis lanka) seemed to me a larger animal than C. aureus. It would be

interesting to have a series of weights and measurements of both species.

Mr. W. W. A. Phillips gives me measurements of Ceylon Jackals as under:

Male—one only—head and body 30:5 in., tail 9:5 in., hind foot 5:3 in.,

ear 2'9 in., weight about 20 Ibs.

Female—average of four—head and body 27-1 in., tail 7-9 in., hind

foot 5°3 in., ear 2:9 in., weight 142 Ibs.

Maximum females—27-4 in head and body, 8-97 in. tail, 5-3 in. hind

foot, 3 in. ear, 18 lbs. weight.

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 695

which the name C. j. laniger is assigned. Pocock distinguishes

the Kashmiri from the Central and Eastern Himalayan Wild Dog

by its much fuller, softer coat and much paler colouring. No

material is yet available to establish the identity of the Wild Dogs

of Burma, though Pocock has described a new race from Moulmein

for which the distribution given is ‘North Tenasserim and _ possibly

Annam’. To this form he gives the name C. j. infuscus, dis-

tinguishing it from the javanicus and sumatrensis mainly by cranial

characters.

THE INDIAN WILp Doc.

Colouration.

From time to time sportsmen bring to notice variations in colour

and in size. These can safely be said to be caused by environment,

more or less abundant food supply, and climatic differences in

various parts of the extensive region inhabited by this widely

distributed animal.

Blandford describes the colour of C. 7. dukhunensis as follows:

‘On upper parts generally rusty-red, varying in some specimens to rufous

gray or even light brownish gray, paler below. The colour is generally not

uniform, being variegated by dark tips to the dorsal hair. The under-fur, when

present, varies in colour from light brown to dull rufous on the upper parts,

and has light coloured coarser hairs intermixed; the longer hairs are light

rufous, with dark rusty-red tips. The terminal portions of tail black (very

rarely the extreme end is whitish) The young animals are sooty brown

throughout.’

Dunbar Brander’s description is:

‘Uniform red, shading into yellow or dirty white on the belly. The points

of the hairs along the dorsal ridge are often black. The ears, which are

pricked, are frequently pointed black. The tail, which is short (about 8 inches)

has a bushy tuft of black hair some 5 in. or 6 in. long at the end. There are

generally a few gray hairs in the middle of this black tuft, and it is not

uncommon for these hairs to be sufficiently numerous to amount to a small

white tuft within the Jarger black tuft.’

He adds, differing from Blandford as far as the wild dog of Central

India is concerned, that the existence of the white tip is much

more common than the black tip.

In an Editor’s foot-note at page 516 of Vol. xxxi it is remarked:

‘In colouring the wild dog varies from uniform red to rufous gray or even

light brownish gray. As regards the colouration of the terminal portion of the

tail, — of a series of thirty-four skins obtained in India and Burma all except

four have black tips to the tail, including specimens from South India and

Canara — of ten specimens in the Society’s collection obtained in the Berars

and C, P. seven have black tips and three white.’

There are often white hairs at the end of the tail not visible unless

the longer black hairs are parted. At page 590 of Vol. xxxii it

is recorded that three three-quarter grown specimens shot from

the same pack (U.P.) had: one a black tail tip, one a few white

hairs, and the third a distinct white tip to the tail like that of the

Silver Fox.

Mr. R. C. Morris notes that wild dogs, when killed, seem to

lose immediately the ‘gloss’ of their coats: so also with Hyzenas,

696 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Melanism.

This appears to be uncommon: only two instances are recorded,

and -one :of these is. not very reliable. At page 813 of.Vol.. xxxvili

R. C. Morris reports that Mr. V. G. Darrington, D. F.O. of North

Coimbatore, saw on the 11th January 1936 near Geddesal a wild

dog which was wholly black with the exception of a white tip to its

tail. I was at Geddesal at the end of January that year and saw

wild dogs but did not, unfortunately, come across the black one.

At page 215 of Vol. xx it is reported by Major H. W. Berthon

that his men saw 7 or 8 wild dogs of which one was ‘bilkul kala’

(wholly black); there was a great variety of colouring and one of

the animals shot proved to be a jackal.

Mr. S. D’Arcy McArthy tells me he saw a wild dog in the U. P.

with a white patch extending from the neck down the shoulder.

It was not shot.

No instance of melanism can he found in any book seen by me.

Weights and Measurements.

Recorded weights and measurements of Cuon of both species are

scanty, and it is suggested that sportsmen should make -a point

of recording all they can from all parts of: India and Burma for

communication to the Society. Those to be found in the Journal

and other, publications are tabulated below: _ . aie

Vol. - vii p.503.- Head and body 34 in. Tail with hair 17 in. Height 20-

Vol. x p. 449. Wo: So hmbals Do. 171 Do: 108 j my

Vole xiao: Boy 343 in. Dov 2 7 Ain. 1 Don Zein

Do. prog: Do. 344 in. Do. 17 in. Do. - 18% in.

All the above females. ; e . i :

Vol. xxxii p. 714. Do. 38 in. ‘Tail 14 in. weight 28 to 32 Ibs.

This is from Kashmir and gives average measurements. |

‘Major’ E. G. Phythian-Adams _(Nilgiris).

Male 36 in. head and body, tail without hair 12 in., height

Lavin. seinth 2a ain wemerke ne) esm:

Male 36 in. head and body, tail without hair 13. in.,<-height

20 ins, Sirtheeoin:, amecks ae in. .

Game-Book for Burma. length 48 to 54 in. of. which.tail rather

more than a foot long; weight 35 to 40 Ibs.. Cuon rutilans. ,

Blandford’s measurements are obviously unreliable and are. not

here given. tad ats

‘Sterndale and Jerdon: ‘Head ahd body 32 to’ 36-in., tail 16° in.,

height 1710.20. 41m. , my?

Dunbar Brander M....22 in. at shoulder, weight 43 Ibs.

-F,..:half an inch:shorter and 5 lbs.’ lighter.

It is apparent how many more data are needed.

Bien Taming, Characteristics, and Disposition.

As already mentioned the mamme may number as. many as

sixteen. Most writers say fourteen. Eight pairs are mentioned

byzPocock at. page.851 ‘of. Vol....xxxix. .T[hes.mamme -are: not

“SVIGQ tld

BOC, PIE

“AqLADAaQU I Tan i i) ydvasojoyg v MMOs in

‘90S “LSIH{ ‘IVN AvaWog

‘NunOo[

; THE INDIAN WILD DOG 697

necessarily in even numbers on either side. On page 449 of Vol. x,

eight one side and six other side are mentioned as having beer

counted by Mr. Inverarity.

The number of young at a birth may vary from two to six or

more. In“ Robin Hood’s” article (Vol. x, p. 127) six puppies are

iIncrancedan tap. Aseuok Volk’ xxxv litters, of Seven and ten are

mentioned by me, also a case of seven embryos being taken from

a shot animal. Major Phythian-Adams tells me that he himself

took nine embryos from. a wild dog shot by him on the Nilgiri

Hills; and his. chauffeur took seven pups from an earth where

there was a bitch from the pack on guard. At this place a number

of the dogs were breeding; there were many earths; a regular

pack nursery! Such places are not uncommon: I recollect one in

the Biba shooting block, C. P., where there were several earths—-

crevices in rocks in a nala bed.

At page 529 of Vol. xiii is-an excellent photograph by Inverarity,

reproduced here, of five wild dog puppies lying outside the earth

from which they were taken on the 27th December in Gugamul

Block, Melghat Forests, C. P.

‘The puppies (three males and two females) were at least a week old.

Three had ticks on them. They were a uniform dark brown colour, slightly

yellow about the neck, and were exactly like pointer puppies, as will be seen

from the photograph’.

‘Robin Hood’, Vol. x, p. 127, described his six puppies as ‘six

lovely little russet-red balls of fur’. |

They were reared by a village pie. The first pie, which had five pups of

her own, was so horrified at their odour that she would have none of them.

The second pie, with three pups, after a great deal of trouble, became as

attached to the jungle puppies as to her own. This was no doubt due to the

‘fact that, in the course of a week or so, her own puppies got to smell as

badly as their jungle confréres. At a very early age the jungle puppies evinced

an incorrigibly pugnacious disposition, and fought with appalling ferocity. It

was incredible to see such small things fighting with so much resolution and

tenacity. If the uppermost belligerent were lifted by the tail to the height

of one’s head it would carry its opponent up with it, and the latter would

likewise decline to relinquish its hold. They would fight in this way day after

day, the sluts being quite as tenacious as the dog puppies. The unfortunate

pie-pups must have wondered into what company they had fallen. They would

yell piteously when the wild foster brethren shook them up, and we were

obliged to send them away when quite small to prevent them getting killed.

Meanwhile the wild pups continued to fight with each other with unabated

ferocity until they were about seven or eight months old when—most singular

to relate, they put a permanent period to their hostilities and lived in perfect

amity. Apparently they had decided which was the strongest amongst them,

as they paid marked deference to one large dog—the largest among them—

who acted as their leader. They never fought with each other after they

became adults. The big dog above referred to had a white spot on the near

forepaw and the extreme end of his tail was tipped with white. This was

observable only on a close and critical scrutiny. The other dogs were similarly

marked; the remaining three were entirely russet-red. They all had large prick

ears (which they laid back flat like a vicious horse when angry or attacking),

and long, heavy, bushy tails. They would eat nothing but raw meat. We nearly

starved them to death in the endeavour to make them eat cooked food, but

without avail. They would eat nothing but flesh, and not that unless it was

raw. They would not eat stale meat. . . The dogs were dangerous to approach

when feeding; but could be handled at any other time.

698. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

They would never molest men; but would ‘go’ for any and every animal.

In consequence they had to be kept on the chain. When they broke loose,

which not infrequently happened, they did not attempt to escape, but always

kept about the house. They all met untimely deaths. One died while still

a pup from confinement in a basket—they appear to require plenty of fresh

air—another died while en route to a railway station; and the remaining four

from diarrhoea engendered by a cannibal propensity they had of killing and

eating any stray dog they could get hold of.

My observation of these dogs has convinced me that for gameness, staunch-

ness, and invincible tenacity we have no breed of domestic dog to compare

with them.’ j

Major Phythian-Adams tells me that the above exactly corresponds

with his own observations of wild dog puppies kept by him.

M...Charles Theobald’s Wild Dog.

The wild dog can be tamed, but has to be taken in hand when

very young. Here is a photograph of one of a pair possessed by

Mr. Charles Theobald of Mysore for about two years.

‘This pair were not related, having been captured in the forest in different

localities. and were about a month old when I got them. At first they had

the strong smell characteristic of most wild dogs, but this wore away with

regular baths, and then they smelt the same as domestic dogs. Both matured

in about a year, and were mated. One pup was born in November but was

accidentally bitten by the mother at time of birth, and died.

Journ. Bompay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Jild Dog Puppies.

Indian

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 699

Although the dogs were quite tame they were difficult to manage and were

not savage. No strangers could go’ near them. The period of gestation was

about the same as that of the domestic dog. The noise the dogs made most

was the usual soft whistling one to call to each other, or to me. They would

come to me when called. When distressed they would whine, and utter a

suppressed bark when angry.

When excited they wet themselves, and the urine would be splashed about

by whisking tails. The urine had no bad effect on human eyes. That was a

personal experience.

They were fed with milk in the mornings, raw meat in the day, and

ordinary dog’s food in the evenings. Sheep’s leg with hair on was regularly

supplied. Food was digested and passed in about twenty four hours.

As to the last sentence it is probable that, in a wild state, food is

passed in a shorter time than this. Phythian-Adams’ pups were

fed much as above.

It will be noticed that this feeding experience differs from that

of ‘Robin Hood’. It is a pity that the gestation period was not

exactly noted, as there appears to be nowhere any record of this.

Here is a photograph of two wild dog puppies possessed for a

short time by Major Phythian-Adams. At time of photo they were

about two months old and did not live long after that.

It may be noted here that until the young ones are able to leave

the place where born they are fed by partially digested meat

vomited by the mother. Breeding season is from November to

February.

Popular names.

To the sportsman and the general public Cuon will always be

known as ‘Wild Dog’ although, as Blandford says, the name is

clearly a misnomer; for in every important detail in which the

genus Cuon differs from Canis—form of skull, dentition, number

of mamme---domestic dogs agree with the latter and not with

the former.

Vernacular names. !

Assamese KKuang-kukur or Rang-kukur.

Bengali. Ban Kutta or Ban-kukur.

Bhil.

Bhutanese. Pharas

Burmese. Tan-kwe.

Canarese. IKKen-nai, chen-nai.

Chenchu. Reis-kukul.

Chin. Nyar.

Gond. Nerka.

Gujrati. Eram-naiko.

Ghurkali. Ban-kukur.

Hindi. Adivi-kuta, Son-kuta, Sona-kuta, Rasa-kuta.

Hindustani. Jungli-kuta, Ram-kuta, Ban-kuta.

Javanese.

* I am indebted to Mr. C. G. Mackarness, Senior Conservator of Forests,

Assam, Mr. W. Meiklejohn, Senior Conservator of Forests, Bengal, and

Mr. F. W. Champion, Conservator of Forests, Western Circle, U.P.,

and to Mr. F. J. Musthill, Game Warden, Burma for assistance in compiling

this list. Will members able to add to the list of local names, kindly com-

municate with the Hony. Secretary.

700° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. “SOCIETY, Volo <r

Kachin. Kyi-kwa-lam.

Kashmiri. Jungli-kuta, Ram-hun, Ban-kuta.

Bhansa (E. Himalaya).

Khond.

Korku. Bun-seeta.

Lepcha Sa-tun,.

Mahratti. Hahmasai-kuta, Kolsun, Kolsa, Kolasri.

Malayalam. Shen-nai.

Nepali. Bwaso.

Malay. | Sirgala, Arjing-kutar.

Punjabi.

Shan.

Tibetan-Hazi. Phara.

Siamese.

Tamil. Chen-nai.

Telugu. Vanna-kooka.

Odour.

Blandford remarks that the strong and unpleasant odour of

Cuon resembles that of the jackal, this being due, in part, to

secretion from the anal glands. But this is not always the case,

as some observers have described the wild dog as having the exact

smell of the domestic dog; e.g., Inverarity, who was an experienced

and reliable sportsman, at page 394 of Vol. viii relates having shot

one of a pack. ‘It was a female and’ had the exact smellijof

domestic dog.’ See also Mr. Theobald’s notes.

Voice.

The difficulty in describing the various voice sounds of the

wild dog is apparent from the writings of naturalists and sports-

men, The word bark has been used but does not convey a correct

impression. Voice noises growl, snarl, whine, are almost the same

as those of the domestic dog. The mate call mentioned by Dunbar

Brander I have, unfortunately, not heard. The sound uttered

when startled, alarmed, or at time of disputing a tiger or panther

kill, as I have myself heard, is a sort of hyzna- -like chattering —

‘analogous to the ‘chuck, chuck, chuck’ of the Indian fox.’

(Dunbar Brander).

The sound used when the dogs are communicating to one

another otherwise than when hunting is difficult to express. A

sort of soft whistling noise seems best to descnibent, “heir sual

call is a highly pitched whine’. (Best).

Other noises described are: ‘A weird bewildering noise—such

as I had never before heard in the jungles—’ described afterwards

by a friend who was with him at the time as ‘a kind of fiendish

iy secneal yapping, in a- shrill chorus, decidedly uncanny and all-

pervading.’ This was when Professor Littledale’s terriers rushed

into bamboo cover near his camp in the Central Provinces. The

hunting notes are variously described. ‘Hawkeye’ mentions ‘a

tremulous: whimper’. | Havelock ‘a whistling howl when running to

view’. Inverarity saw two dogs, which hunted a sambhur hind

and'fawn into a fast-running shallow stream, halt at the water’s

edge and utter ‘loud wailing howls’; these, until they reached the

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 701

water, and on another occasion a pack also, ran mute. I have

seen dogs running mute several times and think that when first on

the trail they run mute, when the scent tells them they are near-

ing the quarry they whimper, and when they run to view, or are

closing on the quarry, they break into what. has been called ‘full

Civ. * this is not the music of foxhounds but ‘an indescribable

howl’. The above is not always the case. The hunting cries have

also been described as a ‘sort of yapping bark’; this in Nepal.

Major Manners Smith could not say they were ‘in full cry’ but

they were evidently hunting, probably thar or barking deer. In

Burma Mr. C. E. Milner one night in Tharrawaddy heard a pack

‘in full cry, rather like a poor-voiced pack of hounds.’

Whistle, whine, whimper, yap, are voice noises mentioned by

Major Phythian-Adams, who has never heard them ‘bark’, as they

are said to do by ‘Hawkeye’. Best also uses this word, but it

is not the bark of a domestic doz: a more hoarse sound. Colonel

A. E. Ward writes ‘when running by scent they only whimper, but

when the prey is in sight and at hand they often break into an

indescribable howl’. A night hunt in Nimar is described as ‘frenzied

whimpering cry’. Mr. La Personne writes of wild dogs hunting

at night as ‘baying’ but that would not, I think, convey a correct

impression.

The Indian Wild Dog does not bark: domestic dogs turned

loose on the island of Juan Fernandez quite lost their bark after

33 years. (Sterndale).

Calling up.

Major Phythian-Adams informs me that wild dogs can be

successfully called up by a series of 3 toots’ on an empty °318

cartridge case, these representing the three whistling notes of the

dozs calling to one another. This method is best employed after

one of a number has been shot; but will also call up from near-by

cover a single dog, or one of a pair, which has been seen. Another

method found successful is the use of a leaf blown upon edge-

ways between the thumbs, as employed in Burma for barking deer.

It 1s useful when no shot has been fired. This leaf noise has been

mentioned by writers in the Journal, and is known to many sports-

men. It is mentioned by Dunbar Brander.

Best (Indian Shikar Notes) describes a similar leaf noise used

by him with great success. R. C. Morris describes their calls to

each other as a shrill ‘ow, ow, ow’, the noise being similar to

that produced by blowing into a medium bore cartridge case, as

described by Phythian-Adams.

Blinding eyes of animals with urine.

Most writers remark upon the belief held by jungle inhabitants

of all parts of India where Cuon is found that the animal deliberately

makes use of its urine to blind game being hunted, either by

sprinkling bushes with it and then driving the animals through

them, or whisking it into the animal’s eyes with their tails, This

702; JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL | HISHeeSOCGLEI Ws ohm <ul

belief, which will probably never be relinquished by the jungle in-

habitants of India and other Eastern countries, is mentioned by

Dr. John Fryer in very early days; also in Williamson’s ‘Oriental

Field Sports’. Blandford remarks that a somewhat similar belief

is held as to wolves in parts of Europe.

Although we know much of wild life lore of jungle peoples

is accurate, or has a substratum of fact, yet in this matter it can

be safely asserted that the wild dog’s urine has no special blind-

ing property, and that the animal does not deliberately use its

urine as an aid to hunting.

Likes and dislikes as to meat.

In his Game-Book for Burma Mr. Peacock rightly states that

wild dogs generally demolish their kill at one sitting, but adds that

they desert their kills, if any meat is left, at the first sign of

decay: also that he has not known or heard of their touching

carrion, though it is likely enough they may do so when very

hungry. Dunbar Brander remarks that high or contaminated meat

is distasteful to them and their kills are therefore nearly always

finished off by vultures.

It is within my own experience on several occasions, and that

of other sportsmen, that wild dogs will appropriate a tiger or

panther kill should they come across it. No doubt they prefer

fresh meat—that of animals they have themselves hunted, but they

do not refuse meals accidentally found. In the C. P. a large pack

demolished the carcase of a skinned tigress thrown outside my

camp. R. C. Morris notes that he has personal experience of at

least a dozen stale kills being eaten by wild dogs in the Billigiri-

rangam Hills of South India, and the North Coimbatore forests

adjacent to them. :

The following note shows that they will sometimes eat very

foul and disgusting meat, but it is perhaps a rather exceptional

case. R. C. Morris’ Note dated 6-2-1937 at page 615 of Vol. xxxix

may be quoted in full :—

‘I recently shot two wild dogs, a male and a bitch, which were as badly

affected with mange as I have seen on any pie-dog. The dogs were feeding

ravenously on a three-days-old tiger kill and seemed to be quite active. With

the exception of the head, which was blotchy, and the ridge of the back the

dogs were almost devoid of hair including the tail. The short pig-like tail,

free of the brush or hair, and the pink and mangy flesh appearance of the

flanks and stomach gave the dogs quite a revolting appearance.’

Peacock also writes that he has never known his tiger or panther

baits to be found or killed by wild dogs. This is contrary to the

experience of sportsmen in India, more particularly in the Central

Provinces, where it is no uncommon occurrence for tethered baits

to be killed by wild dogs.

Domestic stock.

Wild dogs do not ordinarily attack herds of cattle grazing in

the forests, though there have been a few instances of the kind

recorded. The Author of ‘Nilgiri Sporting Reminiscences’ (1880)

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 703

writes that: —...... they make frequent attacks upon the Badaga’s

buffalo calves, and the ryot’s sheep and cattle of the low countries.

A pack of fourteen or fifteen wild dogs, about five years ago, com-

mitted a raid upon a herd of about thirty calves whilst out grazing,

belonging to the Westbury Estate, Segoor, and killed five and

wounded two of them which died some days after; before I could

get with my guns to the spot they had been scared away.’

Such an affair as the above is exceptional, but Phythian-Adams

tells me that he knows several cases of buffalo calves being killed

out of Badaga herds near Anaikutti: and R. C. Morris notes to

me that under certain conditions, in the absence of game animals,

it is within his experience that wild dogs will stay in a locality

and kill cattle. They did not kill cattle all the time, but did so in

the dry weather when the sambhur were noticeably scarce. He

adds that some years ago there were a large number of pig in

those hills (Billigirirangans): wild dogs then increased and killed

scores of pig; since then pig have become quite scarce.

In the other parts of India they occasionaily kill single cattle

and goats, but it is not a common occurrence. In Kashmir they

often worry sheep in the open country’. (Ward).

R. C. Morris sends me the following interesting note :—

‘Wild dog, a large pack, killed 25 calves here in one year, including six

in a go, that were grazing together. This occurred at the time when wild

dog were numerous. Stray mature cattl: were also killed and devoured; so

much so that the Badaga herdsmen at Bellaji (where you camped once) asked

me for poison. I gave them ‘Atlas’ with instructions to dilute with two parts

of water. This the herdsmen did not do, but used the neat poison on a

freshly killed carcase, and then retired to watch events. The dogs returned

and completed their meal, but were soon lying around in great distress. The

Badagas told me that there were about twenty in the pack, and as the reward

for wild dog is Rs. 10 per head in Kollegal and North Coimbatore they were

delighted at the prospect of earning Rs. 200 by the poisoning of the whole

pack. To their consternation however the dogs, one by one, commenced to

vomit up what they had eaten, and eventually made off. Before this they

could have been clubbed to death easily, apparently, but the Badagas were

afraid to approach the pack. I was away at the time. This had the effect

of curing the dogs’ desire for beef for some time.’

It is curious that wild dogs do not molest bullocks in a cart,

or attack a pony ridden past a pack lying about by the side of a

forest road. Postal runners, frequently killed by tiger or panther

in certain parts of India, are never killed by wild dogs. It is

fortunate indeed that they have a non-hostile disposition to man

and, mostly, to domestic animals.

Game Animals.

Wild dogs kill a great many game animals, as also wild pig.

To their diminishing the stock of the latter there is no objection,

for these do much damage to cultivation; but their ravages among

game animals are often very serious. With the exception of fairly

mature bison and buffalo they kill almost all forest animals.

It is fortunate that they do not kill, as does the Dingo of

Australia, for the sake of killing, but only when hungry. An

instance illustrating this is noted to me by Mr. R. C. Morris who,

704 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

with Mr. C. W. G. Morris, saw a pack of wild dogs, obviously

well-fed, lying about on a grass hill-top while sambhur walked,

tails stiffly erect, right up to them: Aparteinomneyemom tae deer

lazily the dogs did not stir. After a few minutes the sambhur

trotted off for a short distance and then commenced to graze!

Some time later the dogs moved off slowly in the opposite direction.

On the Nilgiris Plateau the wild dogs kill black monkeys which

probably leave the satiety of trees and race across the open slopes.

(Phythian-Adams).

At page 165, Vol. xli, Mr. Dunbar Brander comments upon

the extraordinary behaviour of monkeys when attacked by leopards

and by dogs (presumably domestic dogs), having known them to

abandon the safety of the tree-tops and take to earth to thew

destruction, and remarks ‘In this respect an animal which must be

considered as intelligent, behaves like an imbecile.’

I, also, have observed similar instances, but have noticed that

it was on seeing the human being the monkeys, or lungoors,

vacated their arboreal safety; and “the same has been the expert-

ence of friends with whom I am staying near the Periyar Lake,

Travancore, at time of writing. JI have known, on a moonlight

night, a pair of panthers acting in concert chase lungoors out of

a tree: this being no doubt a normal method of hunting these

creatures to their destruction.

That the imbecility remarked upon by Mr. Dunbar Brander

is not confined to the lower species of Primates is instanced by

the fact that a woman of the Kumaon Hills—sister of the village

shikari employed by me in 1924 during pursuit of a man-eating

tiger—was killed by the tiger because, when in the safety of a tree

gathering oak leaves for cattle fodder, other women being in ad-

jacent trees, and the tiger came under her tree,Ashe cried out. Mhe

tiger has got me! The ‘tiger has (got) me!’ and fell’ frommiies

secure perch into the animal’s jaws!

A week or so previously her aunt had been taken by this tiver

when similarly gathering leaves, but was stalked while on the

ground.

It would seem that black monkeys of the Nilgiri sholas are

frightened out of trees by wild dogs, and perhaps the same thing

happens in forests of the plains, but I rather doubt it.

Mange.

That many pariah dogs are mangy we know, and this may be

communicated to wild dogs. But wild dogs do not ordinarily have

much to do with village dogs. In addition to the instance above

quoted Mr. Morris informs me that when some years ago wild dogs

were at their peak in numbers in the Billigirirangan Hills they

appeared to have developed mange very badly. In 1938 three very

mangy wild dogs galloped down the ghat road for some distance

in front of his motor car.

Major Phythian-Adams draws my attention to the fact that

mangy skins are sometimes produced for rewards in the Nilgiri

Hills and writes :—‘Some of the dogs killed in 1937 were in a

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 705

very mangy condition; and a number were found dead, in 1893/94,

probably from distemper, sometimes as many as three and four

together in one spot.’

Besides the above instances from South India there is a case

of mange noted from the C. P. at page 1046 of Vol. xxix.

It is likely that wild dogs, living in burrows and holes in the

ground and among rocks as they do, may develop their own skin

diseases.

Destruction of Wild Dogs.

Records of the Nilgiri Game Association show that, during

twenty-one years since 1912/13 for which figures are available,

the average yearly destruction of wild dogs in the area controlled

by the Association was 38. It may be that some of the skins for

which rewards were paid were imported from jungles outside the

Association’s area. The reward at the present time is twenty

rupees.

In these days, when the stock of deer in all parts of the

country is rapidly lessening, it should be the fixed policy of the

Imperial Forest Department to offer Government rewards of suffi-

cient amount to encourage the continual destruction of the wild

dog in all Reserved Forests.

Poison.

Apart from the offering of rewards, resulting in the digging

out of litters from earths and shooting of dogs in the jungles, the

animals can be readily poisoned; but this can only be done nde)

proper supervision which must include fool-proof precautions against

any possible accident.

Strychnine is the poison generally used. Care has to be taken

not to use an over-dose. The correct strength appears to be

Io grains to a half pint of water. Strychnine bihydrochloride

should be used as it readily dissolves, whereas ordinary strychnine

does not. The poison should be poured into deep stabs and cuts

and sprinkled on lumps of semi-detached meat.

The failure of strychnine when used in powder form is well

instanced by Mr. R. C. Morris, who writes to me on the 17th

December 1939 :—

‘A pack of 14 wild dog was found feeding on a tiger’s kill (a buffalo, 24

hours old, the kill I mean!) here yesterday by my men. I went out with my

daughter and found the dogs complacently sitting around, within a few yards,

watching my men put up a machan (useless of course after wild dogs had

been at the kill). We shot two, and then poisoned the kill by sprinkling one

ounce of strychnine powder over the open parts, the stomach cavity, the eyes

and nostrils (torn out), and into gashes in the carcase. Solution of the stuff

would have been better doubtless; the poison in the form of powder seemed

to have no effect on the dogs whatever. They devoured the whole carcase,

poison and all and seemed to suffer no ill effects; nor did I see any vomit.

The pack scattered in two directions on my arrival next morning; but,

although they had gone for some distance, they returned when I imitated their

calls with empty °375 and :256 cartridge cases, which they answered continu-

ously. We thus got them within easy rifle range again.’

706 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Another method, said to be very deadly (Dunbar Brander) is

to inject a goat intravenously by means of a hypodermic syringe

with a fairly large needle-bore. The injection should be made into

a vein—one in the ear-flap is convenient— and a large syringe

(20 c.c.) should be used. Care has to be taken that the bore of

the needle remains in the vein and the point does not pierce to

the other side on insertion. The strength of the emulsion for this

purpose should be about 4o grains to the half pint.

For this goat method it is necessary to find a pool of water at

which dogs are drinking, and sit over the pool to ensure that no

one removes the ‘easy meat’ for home consumption. The goat

will fall apparently dead, but there may be only extreme and

exceedingly painful rigor of the muscles, so a blow at the back of

the head with a suitable instrument after, say, half a minute, is

humane.

Some sportsmen use ‘Atlas’ Skin-preservative in camp for pre-

servation of skins. Precautions should be taken against accident,

so the following excerpt’ from a Note by Mr. R. C. Morris on the

subject, from page 338 of Vol. xxxix, is given:—

‘I lost a herd of 24 buffaloes through their being allowed to graze on my

boundaries where the undergrowth had been treated with diluted ‘Atlas’ Tree-

killer. A planter in this District lost cattle through painting posts in a shed

with ‘Atlas’ Wood-preservative: and cattle have been killed in South India

and Burma through their coming in contact with spots where skins had been

treated with ‘Atlas’ Skin-preservative ; in every case the material treated with

‘Atlas’ being licked by the unfortunae animals.’

Attitude to Mankind.

I have been able to find only two instances of wild dogs being

said to have been aggressive to man. Colonel Caton Jones

(Vol. xvili, p. 194) relates that the wild dogs of Nimar were very

bold; that they growled at him several times, and that just before

he left the jungles the Forest Ranger informed him that four or

five of them had attacked two forest guards who had killed one

dog with an axe. He (Col. Jones) feared that unless these wild

dogs of Nimar were killed they would soon become man-eaters.

That was in 1907, but there were no subsequent happenings.

‘Robin Hood’ relates in his article—vol. x, page 127 :—

‘As I was walking along a game-track in the Nuliamalais I came upon a

dog stretched across the path. Instead of bolting away, as wild dogs generally

do at the sight of man—the dog rose up reluctantly and slouched in a semi-

circle, eyeing me with a sinister Jook. I was unarmed. The dog at length

disappeared behind a bush, and I walked on marvelling at its strange behavi-

our. I had gone thus about a furlong when I happened to look behind and

saw the dog rushing after me at full speed, with its nose to the ground (this

was strange as it had already seen me). I immediately faced round with a

large stone which I hastily picked from the ground. The dog rushed almost

to my. feet (still with its nose to the ground and not looking up!) and I hit

it a severe blow with the stone, at the same time rushing to meet it with a

loud shout. The shout appeared to alarm the dog more than the missile. It

started aside and again semi-circled—while I retreated backwards—keeping

my face to the dog—in the direction I had come. I did this as I should have

gone into thicker jungle had I gone on. I felt convinced that the dog would

again attack me there, and perhaps fetch other dogs to its assistance. In

THE INDIAN WILD DOG | 707

this way I backed out of the jungle to my tent. It was fortunate for me

that this dog was alone. Had there been others with it, its aggressive demean-

our would probably have incited them to attack.

He sent for his gun, which had gone by a road to’ meet him

further on, and remembering the dog was a slut with dugs nearly

touching the ground searched the forest and eventually found a

cave concealed in the undergrowth from which the six puppies were

taken. During the night the mother came round the camp and the

servants were throwing fire-sticks at her all night to keep her off.

My impression as to this incident is that there was no intention to

attack; it was the very natural desire of a mother to see a possible

aggressor off the premises.

Native shikaris of Anaikutti below the Northern slopes of the

Nilgiris say that if a single man comes on a pack eating a kill

they will stand their ground: also that a mother bringing meat to

her puppies earth will demonstrate.

European sportsmen have not recorded such experiences; but

note of Caton Jones above cited may be referred to.

It is fortunate that the attitude of the wild dog to. human

beings is almost invariably wholly unaggressive: had it been other-

wise, mankind in the forest areas would never have been safe from

their attacks.

Attitude to larger Carnivores.

No writer on the wild dog of India omits discussion of the

widely prevalent belief and assertion of native shikaris and jungle

people that wild dogs will, on occasion, attack and kill the tiger;

Jerdon, Sterndale, Baldwin, Sanderson, Littledale, Inverarity,

Dunbar Brander, Best, Peacock, and others, all touch on this

subject.

Dunbar Brander gives two pages of his book to discussion of

the question. He once witnessed wild dogs annoying a tiger: and

relates a very circumstantial account by villagers who heard a

fizht in progress: and when after some time they timidly approach-

ed the spot found a dead tigress and two dead wild dogs. He

concludes that there can be no reasonable doubt that they do

occasionally kill tigers.

In his article in Vol. x ‘Robin Hood’, evidently a Forest Officer

of South India, relates occurrences in the Nullamallai Hills, east

of Kurnool and south of the Kistna river, where Chenchus are the

aboriginal tribe, which converted him from his previous scepticism.

Perusal of ‘Robin Hood’s’ article takes my memory back to

1902 and the Bairnuti Inspection Shed near which Robin Hood

witnessed the killing of a Chenchu she-buffalo by a tigress which

killed her calf and then, the mother defending her baby, the slaying

of the marauder by the angered herd. The heat of those jungles.

Terrific !

At page 218 of his very interesting book Leaves from the

Diary of a Soldier and Sportsman, Major-Geucral M. G. Gerard,

708. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL (HIST, SOCIETY. Vol eet

who, as he himself told me, had shot 227 tigers before he left

India, writes:-

‘Two sowars of my Regiment (The Central India Horse), who had been

out prospecting for me, brought back some scraps of tiger skin as big as a

napkin which they had found under the following circumstances. They were

informed at one jungle village that a few days previously a tiger had been

seen on top of a rock on the plateau above, surrounded all day by a pack of

wild dogs. During the night they heard ‘a tamasha’ as they termed it, and

upon my men, accompanied by some of the villagers, repairing to the spot

they found the scraps of skin above mentioned.’

I have recently (January 1940) obtained an authentic instance

of a full grown tiger having been killed by wild dogs. Mr. G. A.

Tippets-Aylmer, a Planter in the Wynaad, South India, tells me

that one day some years ago, when in the forests surrounding his

Istate, he came across the skeletons of a full grown tiger and

seven or eight wild dogs. These were, perhaps, ten to fifteen days

old and had been eaten and pulled Asie by jackals, pigs, porcu-

pines etc. By the bushes having been laid flat and other signs it

was apparent that a great fight had taken place. Perhaps, in this

instance also, the cause of the combat was interference by the

tieer ima ni in which the pack was engaged.

It has been sufficiently established that wild dogs of the Indian

jungles can, and do, kill tigers. Such happenings may not he

very common. No case of the kind has come to my personal notice

during jungle excursions in many parts of India scattered over a

period of fifty years in this country.

It may be that some of these attacks are the result of a quarrel,

or for the sport of baiting these animals (Dunbar Brander), but

probably also for food when they have not encountered other game;

or on finding the blood trail of a wounded beast (‘Robin Hood’);

and, more likelv than ail, on the killing by a tiger of an animal

being hunted by the dogs and the ensuing fight for their quarry by

the ravening pack. That they also kill panther and bear is shown

below.

There are several recorded instances of wild dogs attacking

panthers and bears. In Vol. v. at page 191 is a case of a large

pack of ten or twelve couple treeing panthers in the Central Pro-

vinces. Had the business not been interrupted it is likely one or

both of -the panthers would have been killed’ VAt page: mo7" or:

Vol. xvii wild dogs are said to have treed a female panther; and

at page 218 Vol. xxx, R. C. Morris describes having seen wild

dogs attacking a bear which they would have killed had not a

companion’s rifle intervened. The dogs were quite mute during

the fight. He also relates that he once saw the remains of a

panther killed by wild dogs in a patch of Sholaga cultivation. The

jungle people (Sholagas) described the fight to him. On that

occasion no dogs were killed by the panther: but that the reverse

takes place was the experience of another sportsman of those

same Billigirirangan Hills who found the remains of two wild dogs

which had been killed and eaten by a panther. In the same article

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 709

is the account given to him by his tracker of a tiger having been

killed by wild dogs. At page 744 of Vol. xxxvi is a. note of a

panther having been torn to pieces by wild dogs. It seemed that

the panther had pounced upon one of the dogs which went to

drink at a pool and the noise it made had brought the pack from.

the neighbouring cover. No trace of any other dog being killed

in the fight was found. Following this note is an account by

Colonel J. Pottinger of having witnessed a panther being driven

off its kill at 9 p.m. on a bright moonlight by a pack of ten or

fifteen wild dogs.

Mr. L. E. C. Hurst tells me that he saw a bear treed by wild

dogs in the Chanda forests, C.. P.

No instance of hyenas or jackals being killed by wild dogs is

related. Perhaps there is, as Dunbar Brander remarks, a blood-

brotherhood bar.

Wild dog versus Domestic dog.

A case of a wild dog being killed by two domestic dogs—a

Ceylon Beagle and a Cross-bred Airdale-cum-trish terrier—is

recorded at page 949 of Vol. xxxvu. The wild dog was _ three-

quarters grown and alone among the tea bushes. At page 343

of Vol. xxilt is a case of two pariah dogs keeping a panther off

his kill after dark. And at page 428 of Vol. xxxiii of a pariah

dog, tethered for a panther near a village, successfully resisting

the effort of the pard to make a meal of him until the watcher

in the machan was able to plant a bullet. All pariahs are not

curs.

At page 200 of Vol. xxxii Mr. Peacock asks for an instance

of a single domestic dog successfully joining battle with a wild

one, and gives a photograph of his bull-terrier who would have

probably given the Malay wild dog pictured with him ‘a very thin

time’ had they clashed teeth!

‘My dog chased a wild dog but others came and followed him

to within a few yards of me’ (Pythian-Adams). Dunbar Brander

mentions a similar incident actuated, probably, by curiosity.

Methods of Hunting and Seizing.

The wild dog mostly hunts by day, especially in the early

hours, but not infrequently on moonlight nights, and occasionally

on dark nights. They are on the move early in the morning, and

it is then they get on the trail of some animal the fate of which

is sealed once the hunt has begun in earnest and they have

‘settled: down to the long, lobbing canter that can-at the last run

down anything that runs.’ That sometimes packs will relinquish

the chase is instanced by a stag sambhur, hunted to a river

at a place where there -was a long, wide pool, swimming to the

further bank, the pack having him in full view. Yet the dogs

abandoned the hunt. That was on the Denwa river, C.P. (L. E. C.,

Hurst).

710 jfOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. -SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

They must have excellent noses. Littledale’s Cuon bitch sought

her food more by scent than by sight. Often when she did not

see clearly where a bit of meat had fallen she would nose it cut

with great quickness. In this respect her sight improved: at

first it was very bad. He describes the characteristics of the wild

dog to be:—‘fierce yet shy; no amount of training could teach

it to be gentle; shyness and distrust of man; fierceness and currish-

ness combined; swiftness in snatching; tenacity in hanging on

these are the strong points.’

‘In the adult animal’ he observes, ‘the senses of hearing, sight,

smell, must be developed to an extraordinary degree of perfection,

judging from this animal alone’. That this power of scent 1s

extraordinary is shown by the fact that they can follow a line in

the hot weather when the ground is dry as a bone.

Besides being provided with all the highly developed senses

necessary for successful hunting, as also extraordinarily muscular

bodies, the wild dog has acquired, as has the wolf, an aptitude

for team work. That they hunt in concert is certain. This has

been seen in the Nilgiri hills where open hillsides, wooded hollows,

and distant views provide ideal conditions for such observations.

La Personne remarks upon their team work at page 239) ‘of

Vol. xxxvi.

‘Around Anaikutti and Mudumalai at the foot of the Northern

slopes of the Nilgiris wild dogs come out of the jungle on to a forest

road about 7 a.m., and there idle about for some time performing

their morning offices and, presumably, discussing the day’s plans.

They must be able to communicate or team work would not be possi-

ble.’ (Phythian-Adams). Those who have kept dogs of various

breeds must have noticed that they undoubtedly communicate ideas.

A moonlight hunt, as also the keeping of a tiger off his kill,

is described at page 443 of Vol. xxxv.

In A Game-Book for Burma the author remarks that he has

never seen a wild dog’s kill at any distance from water; and that

the quarry is almost invariably run into, or runs into, a_ pool

or a stream of water in which it is bayed or torn to pieces.

Hunted deer undoubtedly take to water, when there is any,

wherein they have some chance, if not too submerged, the stags

by use of antlers and those without by striking with fore-feet, of

defending themselves. But there are not many pools of water, and

no streams, in many dry jungles where wild dogs are numerous;

so it is probable that the main cause of hunted animals being

killed in pools and streams is not that the water is a place of

refuge, but because hunted animals are naturally forced more and

more down hill as they become exhausted. Most parts of Burma

are better watered than much of the jungle country of India; so

this is the reason why wild dog ‘kills’ in the former country are

almost always found near water. Rie

Seizure is made in several ways. Tearing bites at the flanks

by which the animal is disembowelled; and, as Dunbar Brander

Says, seizure by the ears, nose, eyes, lips, hanging on like leeches,

bearing down the head, quietly waiting and never letting go until

the end. ‘Robin Hood’s’ ‘lovely little russet-red balls of fur’ well

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 711

demonstrated this tenacious grip. No wonder few animals escape

them. He, and others also, relate how a wild dog will cling to

the back of a galloping animal and not be shaken off even when

the heavy beast comes crashing to the ground.

The terrified heart-rending screams of victims of the hunt once

heard cam mewer be forgotten. It is Nature at its worst. The

red fiends do not even wait until the prey is dead.

No doubt the testicles are sometimes seized. Dunbar Brander

shows that this is accidental and not a habit. It is possible how-

ever that some dog may learn by accident the efficacy of such a

hold. In Vol. xxxiii, at page 704, is an interesting account of

pig-hunting in Java by ‘native fox-red pariah dogs, ‘gladak’, said

to be descended from wild dogs possibly crossed with jackal, and

24 inches at the shoulder. These had evolved perfect team work,

and one of the pack, always the same dog, invariably seized by

the testicles which he removed in one rending mouthful.

Mr. L. E. C. Hurst tells me that one of his pig-hunting hounds

always seized a boar by this hold. At page 813 of Vol. xxxi

Mr. Salim A. Ali writes that he saw a sambhur just killed by a

pack of wild dogs and, strangely enough, the only part touched

in the hind quarters were the testicles, which were clean missing.

There are other cases also.

Seizure by the eye is common. The Chenchus of the Nulla-

malais affirm that wild dogs always seize game by the eyes if

possible.

In some instances the eye is removed without damage to the

lids. That is a fact and is due no doubt to eyes of deer being

rather protuberant. Inverarity notes that the eyes are eaten im-

mediately, but doubts whether the dogs seize at that spot. Since

his day—1896—many observations have been recorded. At page 389

of Vol. xxxvili Livesey notes that a sow had both eyes removed

without damage to the lids or any other injury to the head. That

supports Inverarity. At page 267 of Vol. xxviii a Thamin was

killed before the wild dogs had run into it: one eye was freshly

torn out, the other badly gashed. That upsets Inverarity and sup-

ports the Chenchus.

Instances of single dogs successfully hunting deer are not in-

frequently recorded. They often hunt in pairs, but this is pro-

bably only during the breeding season. R. C. Morris notes that

he once saw a solitary large dog watch a sounder of pig into a

patch of tall sword-grass, and then follow the sounder into cover.

It was soon chased out with loud noises! by a wild boar: and on

another occasion he saw a large solitary dog watching, and edging

down to, a ‘tat’ pony that was grazing in the jungle.

Packs may number from a small number up to as many as

forty, and perhaps even more. The ‘Author of the Second Jungle

Book may have had good reason for writing ‘The dhole do not

begin to call themselves a pack till they are a hundred strong’.

Sometimes single dogs are met with, separated from the pack

by some mishap, and these are no less care-free-—‘bold and saucy’

as ‘Hawkeye’ aptly expresses it—in their demeanour than when

in company. I have notes of three in particular. One stood by

712 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Hist’ SOCIETY Vor wece!

the road while the car was stopped to observe it at a distance of

fifteen feet. Another, U. P., was lame and. came to a recent kill

of a cow by a panther, driving off the vultures and tearing off

chunks of meat which were thrown in the air and bolted whole.

In the C. P. a lone doz came to'a tiger s ilimine the -evenina geabic

had a stumpy tail the end of which was completely healed. Bitten

off in a fight? Damaged, fly-blown, and self-removed? I had seen

him the day before and missed him with the ‘22 rifle. I saw no

other dogs in that part of the Jarkahu Shooting Block. The first

I knew of his arrival was a loud staccato hyzena-like noise under

my tree. . Very shortly the red dog crept out—well he knew the

danger of such a chance meal as this—and was soon at work.

There was a marked difference in his now confident demeanour

from that of a jackal in similar circumstances.

After breaking into the stomach from behind, where the tiger

had made things easy for him, he deserted this unpleasant dish and

attacked the flank where he soon had a six-inch piece of the hide

off. It was wonderful to watch him make a small entry and then

cut his way along with his back teeth (one short at back of each

side of his lower jaw!) as neatly as one would do with a pair of

scissors. I have watched a young tiger, also panthers, effect the

same neat removal of skin. The dog Teft at dark and returned

at 11 p.m., by which time the tiger had been shot and was lying

some way off. The dog stayed a few minutes only and returned

early in the morning. He chased away an intruding jackal—such

a hasty pebble-scattering departure! I talked loudly to him without

making him look up. He took no notice of my powerful whistle.

Even when my signal horn was loudly blown to call up the men

he merely jumped about in astonishment—not in alarm—and failed

to locate the startling noise sounded from a short twenty feet above

his head.

I have noticed the same thing with jackals, foxes, deer, and

wild pig, all animals unaccustomed to look above ground level

for their enemies. It has rather surprised me to read in Jungle

Days, a book published in 1935, of a wild-dog’s behaviour at a

tiger kill: —‘After ten minutes the dog displayed great cunning and

knowledge, for he Eegan to look up systematically into each tree

around him, and eventually caught sight of the machan and was

shot’. And some time ago a writer of thrilling shikar yarns in

an illustrated weekly, describing a buffalo-tiger fight, related how

a jackal came to the kill from the neighbouring jungle, looked up

from a distance of forty yards (1 am not sure it was not sixty), saw

the watching sportsman in his machan, and bolted into the forest.

Such happenings are contrary to my observations.

Indifference to pain.

It has keen observed by most of us who have shot wild dog's

how indifferent to pain they appear to be. Never a sound will

they utter however severe the wound, and will go miles with a

body wound or a broken limb. Even when closely approached to put

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 713

them out of pain they utter no sound and do not attempt to attack-

or bite. (page 389, Vol. xxxviii).

Best writes in ‘Indian Shikar Notes’ that he has seen a wild

dog turn and swallow his own protruding entrails, which had to

be dragged from its throat with some force after the beast was

finally killed. Phythian-Adams has seen a wild dog tearing at

the guts of a wounded companion. I have read somewhere that

a panther was seen to remove its entrails protruding from a stomach

wound and impeding its progress. Many animals appear not to

suffer pain from severe wounds. From my own experience I can

say that sudden severe injuries do not cause pain; no doubt it is

the shock to the adjacent nerves. But that is not always the case.

A man shot through the stomach from behind at close quarters,

the Martini Henry bullet missing the spine, suffered shrieking agony

and tore at the extruded entrails with his ‘hands. <A tiger. or

panther with a stomach wound is fighting mad, though the latter

is pretty mad on very slight provocation !

It is certain however that the wild dog shows less sign of pain

than any other beast known to sportsmen in India.

Fluctuating population. *

Various writers and observers have remarked upon the ap-

parently causeless fluctuating wild dog population in a given tract.

At page 162 of Vol. xli Mr. Theodore Hubback writes :—

‘It is possible that wild dogs have a period during which they progressively

increase and then due to some unknown reason become scarce, again increas-

ing until some unknown peak is reached. This phenomenon is well recog-

nized among some species, the Ptarmigan of Alaska being a striking example.

It is Nature’s way of adjusting; and something of this sort may. operate to

keep wild dogs within lirnits.’

The wild dog must have a very wide range within any given

tract of country, and no doubt move to more distant places when

game has been too much hunted by them; but the fluctuations seem

to be greater than can be so accounted for. It may be that dis-

temper carries off a large number from time to time, but there must

be also other causes at work. Perhaps it is that when food is

plentiful the number in litters increases, and vice versa.

imean book Work. and *Sport,. im) the IuC%S;,..1t: is stated. at

page 144 that a District Superintendent of Police—Mr. Sandell—

serving at the time in the Eastern Ghats in the Madras Presidency,

died from hydrophobia the result of being bitten by a wild dog.

The circumstances are not related. It is conceivable that rabies

would be passed by jackals to wild dogs, but this is the only case

of the kind to be found; so it is not likely to be of very common

occurrence.

In ‘The Origin of Species’ I find :—

‘We may confidently assert,—that all animals and plants are tending to

increase at a geometrical ratio,—that all would rapidly stock every station

in which they could anyhow exist,—and that this geometrical tendency to

increase must be checked by destruction at some period of life,’ and ‘In look-

ing at Nature it is necessary never to forget that every single organic being

714 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

may be said to be striving to the utmost, to increase in numbers; (with the

exception, since Darwin’s day, of civilized birth control peoples!) that each

lives by a struggle at some period of its life: that heavy destruction inevitably

falls either on the young or old, during each generation or at recurring inter-

vals. Lighten any check, mitigate the destruction ever so little, and the

number of the species will almost instantaneously increase to any amount.

The causes which check the natural tendency of each species to increase are

most obscute:..... we know not exactly what the checks are even in a single

instance.’

So, as Dunbar Brander observes, the causes of the serious fluctua-

tions of wild dog population are processes of Nature outside our

knowledge.

Does dog eat dog?

We know that in the snowy wastes of the Arctic and Antarctic

regions sledge dogs ‘will, under stress of starvation, kill and eat

their companions. But can it be seriously put forward as an ex-

planation of the fluctuations of wild dog population that they kill

and eat one another, as the writer of a book on sport in Assam has

suggested ?

‘Robin Hood’s’ wild dogs killed and ate pariah dogs.

Mr. i. E. ©. Hurst tells me an-authentic instance of an otiee:

going on service in 1914 who left his two Rampur hounds in care

of servants who kept them chained up and not too well fed. Break-

ing loose one day they chased a pariah dog down the highway,

killed and ate it!

Caton Jones (Vol. xvill, page 195) saw a wild dog bitch return

to a three-quarter grown dog which had just fallen dead from

poison, and begin to drag it away. Probably it was the mother.

He killed: another wild dog in the evening, cut off its tail and a

strip of skin from tail to ears, and left the remains on the foot-

path. Next day the dog had been taken away, apparently by wild

dogs, as there were no marks of hyena or panther.

Mr. D’Arcy McArthy tells me that two wild dogs he shot and

left lying near the tiger kill on which they had been feeding, while

he followed a wounded dog into the forest, had disappeared on

his return and could nowhere be found. He concluded the dogs

had come back, taken the dogs away and eaten them. ‘I believe

that they will finish off and devour any wounded members of their

packs’. (Best, Indian Shikar Notes.)

It cannot be held from those few instances of cannibalism that

wild dogs of India kill and devour one another as a habit when

they unduly increase in number, or their normal food supply becomes

scarce. There is no evidence of that: nor is it probable.

CONCLUSION.

I have to ask Mr. Dunbar Brander to excuse my having so

extensively made use of the Chapter on the Wild Dog in his book.

There are some interesting comments and observations therein

which have not been included by me.

THE INDIAN WILD DOG 715

Those interested in the Wild Dog should read this article in

conjunction with ‘Wild ‘Animals in Central India’. As has been

remarked in another place, no sportsman shooting in the jungles

of India should be without a copy of that authoritative work.

A fitting end to this article are the following lines from the pen

of the master craftsman, author of The Second Jungle Book :—

Rep Doa.

For our white and our excellent nights—for the nights of

swift running,

Fair ranging, far-seeing, good hunting, sure cunning !

For the smells of the dawning, untainted, ere dew has departed

For the rush through the mist, and the quarry blind-started !

For the cry of our mates when the sambhur has wheeled and

is standing at bay,

For the risk and the riot of night !

For the sleep at the lair-mouth by day,

It 1s met, and we go to the fight.

Bay! O Bay!

A LIST OF THE BUITEREPIDS.OF THE SIMPAS HITS

Compiled by

M. A.. WyNnTER-BLYTH, MLA, (Cantab.),

Largely from information supplied by

A, (E. JONES, M.B.05U.

So much fresh information has come to hand since the publi-

cation. of de Rhé. Philipe’s “admirable. list ine Vol) xxx (orethe

Society’s Journal that the need for a ani o list has been apparent

for some time.

This list is intended to cover an area uae corresponding to

that included within the Simla Hill States—that is from the edge

of the hills in as far as the Thibet border by Shipki Pass, with

Chandigarh, Chaur and the Baspa Valley as its eastern limits; and

the Spiti Valley, the Jalori Pass and the debouchment of the

Sutlej into the plains marking its western. This includes a great

variety of country from 2,000! {t."t07 20,00071t.” Up to datemwe

have records of the actual capture of 278 different species within

this area.

While the commoner species may be caught almost everywhere,

dependent, of course, on season and altitude, a knowledge of the

best general collecting grounds is essential to the amassing of a

representative collection. Bare hilltops, lightly-wooded nullahs

containing streams, and certain wooded ridges are generally

profitable localities. Of the nullahs, those at San Damiano near

Mashobra, above Chadwick Falls, and that between Chota Simla

and Jesus and Mary Convent are excellent, especially before the

rains. “After the rains “nullahs of: this (type “are not, neanyaso

profitable, probably because there is no lack of water elsewhere.

Other good nullahs are those below the Walker Hospital and the

Grand Hotei. The plateau on top of Kufri Hill and the summit

of Hutoo are especially good and many valuable specimens may

be taken on the Mashobra-Mahasu ridge, Potter’s Hill and the

country round Narkanda, Bagi and Sungri. In the neighbourhood

of Simla, other good spots are Shamri Nullah (the rocky gorge

between Simla E. and Tara Devi Hill) and some of the nullahs

on Tara .Devi itself. For low elevation forms Chandigarh, Koti,

the valleys and ravines round Kalka and Chaba (especially the

valley between Basantpur and the Sutlej) are strongly to be recom-

mended. The Chaur neighbourhood should be good, but I have

only a passing knowledge of it and it seems to have been little

worked. In a region such as the Simla Hills there must be many

other .excellent localities for those with the time and energy to find

them.

Horse-chestnut and buddleia blossom are canes valuable in

attracting a variety of species, and many good butterflies will be

caught in gardens. In this respect it is interesting to note that

oo ERST MOR THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE SIMLA HILLS (pai

I know of 126 different species caught within the last two and a

half years in the compounds of Bishop Cotton School and the Pre-

paratory School up here. This number approaches half the entire

total of different butterflies caught in the Simla Hills. Many of

my most valuable insects have been taken within fifty yards of my

office.

The best seasons for collecting are undoubtedly May and early

June and after the rains in September and early October, although

good butterflies will be taken during all the warmer months in

Simla and almost throughout the year at lower elevations. Among

the inner hills, beyond the monsoon area, July is the best month—

the season for butterflies there is very short and late.

Apart from the 277 species actually recorded in our list there

are a number of others which I have included in italics, which,

on the analogy of their having occurred to the east and west of

us, should probably turn up in our area. Doubtless there are

others not mentioned at all which may wander into the district or

establish themselves. In this respect it is interesting to note that

the two species, Aporia agathon phryxe Bois. and Papilio pro-

tenor protenoy Cram. are now very common and not at all rare

respectively. De Rhé Philipe noted the former as ‘not plentiful

anywhere in the district’, and the latter he had not met with.

This list is based on de Rhé Philipe’s which has simplified

our task considerably. Those butterflies that were not mentioned

at all in his list I have marked **; those that he mentioned as

likely to be caught but of which he had no definite record of

capture are marked *. To those that have hitherto been recorded

solely as plains and low foothill species and have since been

caught in the immediate vicinity of Simla I have given 7. A few

species have been omitted from his list.

In conclusion we should like to thank Brigadier Evans for his

help in identifying many specimens for us.

PAPILIONIDA.

1. *Tros aristolochiae aristolochiae, Fabricius.

This butterfly has occasionally been caught below Ralka before and after

the rains. :

Tros phifoxenus philoxenus, Gray.

Tros dasarada ravana, Moore.

There is no record of these butterflies having been taken nearer than

Kulu.

2. Chilasa agestor govindra, Moore.

Appears only for a very short time before the end of March and dur-

ing the first two weeks or so of April, although I have a very worn male,

taken on May 14th. It is not a common butterfly, but with perseverance it is

possible to pick up one or two a year. It will be found in oak forest, and

is generally seen flying high among the trees, and will be taken in the wooded

country on Tara Devi and at Summerhill.

3. **Chilasa clytia clytia, Linnaeus.

May be caught very occasionally at low elevations at the end of March

and beginning of April, and again in September,

18 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

t v. dissimilis.

This may be taken at the same times and places as clytia clytia but also

extends into the hills where it is taken chiefly in May and early June. We

have specimens taken here at Bishop Cotton Preparatory [School, 6,800/,

18-5-’38 and 7-6-’39 as well as one caught by Mr. Jones in the Park and

another in my collection caught ‘somewhere in Simla’. These are our only

records at this altitude where it is very rare. Chaba is a likely spot for this

and clytia clytia.

4, “Papilio protenor protenor, Cramer.

The ‘Rose Monal’ may be taken from the end of March until July though

stragglers may be met with as late as the end of August. It is never un-

common though most specimens may be caught about the beginning of the

rains. It does not appear after the monsoon.

5. Papilio polyctor polyctor, Boisduval.

This butterfly has three broods and may be picked up between March and

October from about 3,000’ to 7,500’. To obtain the small D.S.F. butterflies

a visit to the bed of Shamri Nullah where it joins the stream from Chota

Simla is sure to be rewarded with a number of perfect specimens. Early

April is the best time for this form. When the buddleia comes out early in

June it is an unfailing attraction to this butterfly, as also are thistles.

6. Papilio arcturus arius, Rothschild.

An even more beautiful insect than the last which it resembles. It may

be taken above about 7,500/ and can be caught fairly frequently around the

San Damiano Nullah. On the whole, though, it is a butterfly most likely

to be caught among the hills beyond Narkanda. It may be taken in May,

June and again in September.

7. Papilio polytes romulus, Cramer.

This butterfly is met with sparingly above 4,000’, up as far as Simla,

between April and October. Below 4,000’ it is not uncommon. I have met

with numbers below Asni Bridge in July and in the Giri valley below Fagu in

September. Of the female forms, cyrus, which is rare elsewhere, seems to

be the commonest. As Tros hector does not appear in northern India and

Tros aristolochiae only sparingly on the fringes of the district, this is to be

expected. I have, however, caught the stichius variety at 6,600’ in May and

have seen the mimic of hector at 5,700’ in October.

8. +Papilio demoleus demoleus, Linnaeus. |

This butterfly occurs sparingly up to 7,000’. A few orange and lime trees

are to be found up to about 4,600’ in the sheltered valleys and the larva will

possibly be found feeding on these. I have caught it in Simla in April and

May and again after the rains.

9. Papilio machaon asiatica, Men.

May be taken from the end of March to September, above about 4,000’.

The grassy slopes known as Butt Plain below B.C.S. will often afford one

or two specimens but Kufri Hill is better, and it is particularly abundant

around Narkanda, on Hatu and among the Alpine meadowland further into

the hills. We have the short-tailed Jadakensis variety from Puri, a_ short

way beyond Shipki, so-it may turn up on the Shipki Pass just in our area.

10. *Pathysa eurous cashmirensis, Rothschild.

This very local insect has only been taken between the middle of April

and the second week of May. It has been caught at San Damiano, along

the Mashobra road approaching Mashobra, and at Summerhill.

11. Zetides cloanthus, Westwood.

12. Zetides sarpedon sarpedon, Linnaeus.

According to our records these butterflies must have a brood at the end

of March and another at the end of May, but they may also be taken during

the rains and de Rhé Philipe mentions them as post-monsoon species as

well. sarpedon is not common, but cloanthus may often be taken on horse-

chestnut blossom and on buddleia. It can also be caught in the valleys settling

ATLISTPOR EAE sBUTTERELIES, OFF THE VSIMLAVHILLS (al)

on damp mud. They have both been taken from about 4,500’ up to 8,900’

(Kufri Hill).

13. *Parnassius jacquemontii jacquemontii, Boisduval.

14. *Parnassius epaphus nirius, Moore.

These butterflies will not be found below 12,000’. They have been taken

on the Bhabeh Pass, Kunawar, and in the Shipki neighbourhood in July,

Epaphus is the commoner of the two.

15. Parnassius hardwickeii hardwickeii, Gray.

This hardy species is found from 6,500’ (Potters Hill) to 17,000’ (Western

Tibet). At the lower elevations it may be caught during every month of the

year. In Simla itself only occasional specimens are to be seen, but there

are generally some to be caught after the rains on the slopes behind Sanjauli.

From Narkanda inwards, before and after the rains, this butterfly is to be found

in great numbers on the open slopes where the ground is carpeted with

flowers.

16. **Parnassius delphius stoliczanus, Felder.

We received four specimens of this very rare ‘Apollo’ from the Shipki La,

15,0007, this year, taken in July.

Parnassius simo simo, Gray.

Parnassius acco acco, Gray.

Evans gives Shipki as a locality for the former and Spiti for the latter.

They are both very rare and we have no information about either.

17. *Parnassius charltonius, Gray.

We have a number of specimens from Shipki, 14,000’, taken in July.

PIERIDAE.

18. **Leptosia nina nina, Fabricius.

This butterfly has been taken near Kalka and Chandigarh, 2,000’, in

October and November. As this must be the extreme western edge of its

limits it will of necessity be rare. It is not likely to be found at a higher

altitude than 2,000’.

Baltia butleri butleri, Moore.

Euchloe ausonia daphalis, Moore.

Mentioned by Evans as found from Ladak and Chitral to Kumaon, but we

have no record of their capture. They will possibly be caught on the inner

vanges of the district.

Pieris chloridice, Hubner.

We have specimens from Puri, W. Thibet, one day’s march beyond Shipki.,

It may turn up on the Shipki La.

19. *Pieris callidice kalora, Moore.

This has been caught in the Shipki neighbourhood in July above 12,000’

It is not likely to be found below this altitude and will most likely keep to

the inner ranges.

20. **Pieris daplidice moorei, Robertson.

Fairly common in the Shipki neighbourhood in July above 12,000’.

21. Pieris napi ajaka, Moore.

I have not found this a very plentiful species, only having been able to

collect two to date, although I have been on the look-out for it. Possibly one

is likely to confuse it with the next species, and I believe others have been

more fortunate than I. It will be caught in May and June and seems to

prefer woodland and to come to water more readily than others of its genus.

It can be caught at Mashobra and on Jakko, but it is not likely to be found

below 7,000’,

120. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. “SOCIETY Vol. aEl

22. Pieris canidia indica, Evans.

23. Pieris brassicae, Linnaeus.

These two butterflies are so common as to need no description. They will

be found. almost everywhere during most of the year.

24. *Aporia nabellica nabellica, Boisduval.

This extremely local insect may possibly be found in the hills beyond

Narkanda above 8,000’. Our specimens come from further into the hills.

We have it from Pangi, on the Tibet road, 8,500’, and from. the Baspa

valley in July.

25. Aporia leucodice soracte, Moore.

Around Simla this insect appears during the first week in May and is

very abundant until the rains break, when it disappears. It may be taken

almost anywhere between 4,000’ and _ 10,000’.

26. Aperia agathon phryxe, Boisduval.

27. **Aporia agathon caphusa, Moore.

The light form phryxe and caphusa, the medium form, are common almost

everywhere above 5,000’ from the third week of May until shortly after the

beginning of the rains. Some years they literally swarm and are to be seen

in great numbers round horse-chestnut blossom. The two forms seem to be

equally common.

28. *Delias eucharis, Drury.

This species has been taken at Koti, 3,000’, in September, and even as far

into the hills as below the Cecil Hotel at Tutikandi, 6,500’, in October, but, as

this will be the extreme edge of its limits, it will be very rare in our area.

29. Delias belladonna horsfieldii, Gray.

Can be caught fairly frequently from about 4,000’ up to at least 10,000’ from

April to June, and again after the rains. I have also a fresh specimen taken

on July ith. It has a habit of flying high, but, like so many other species,

it comes readily to horse-chestnut blossom.

30. Delias sanaca sanaca, Moore.

Originally taken as a pale form of the last-mentioned butterfly, it appears

just before the rains break. It is rather a scarce species, and Kufri Hill is

a likely spot to find it, although I have caught it at B.C.S., 6,500’. Both

this and the last species extend well into the hills.

Delias thysbe pyramus, Wallace.

Given by Evans as recorded from Simla to Burma, but we have no record

of its appearance here.

31. Belenois mesentina mesentina, Cramer.

This is very common at low elevations but becomes less so higher up and is

not likely to be caught above 8,500’. It will be found from April to June and

again after the rains, though I have also seen it at the end of July. It generally

keeps to open country and the bare spur about a mile below B.C.S. will

generally afford a few.

32. Huphina nerissa phryne, Fabricius.

Common during and after the rains at the foot of the hills, but may be

taken in fair numbers sometimes round Simla itself. Summerhill, 6,500’, is a

favourite spot, but it is not likely to be found higher up nor further into the

hills than Simla itself.

33. **Appias lalage lalage, Doubleday.

The only recorded specimens were taken in the Glen and at Summerhill,

5 and 7-5-°38. They were all slightly worn so presumably the best time to look

for them would be about a week earlier. Simia is probably the extreme western

limit of this butterfly’s range so it is bound to be a great rarity here,

AMES a Oli eee ES Cd ne nn SOR ft rien S TNT A IDLS

bho

34. **Appias libythea libythea, Fabricius.

This is also a great rarity in Simla though it is likely to be of more fre-

quent occurrence at the foot of the hills. We have a specimen from Chandigarh,

2,000, in November, and one caught at B.C.S., 6,500’, in early September.

is the only record for Simla. I suspect that the latter butterfly was on migration

as it was caught in conjunction with a number of catopsiliae and other butter-

flies which I had_ noticed flying in fair numbers. in a northerly direction for

three days during a break in the rains.

35, Catopsilia crocale, Cramer.

A common plains species which may be caught quite frequently in Simla,

and even higher up, during and after the rains.

36. Catopsilia pomona, I abricius.

May be caught at the same times and in the same places as the above and

is abundant some years. The male form catilla is rather less common.

37. Catopsilia pyranthe minna, Herbst.

This butterfly is chiefly a plains species and is of rather uncommon occur-

rence at the altitude of Simla. Like the two previous butterflies it appears

during and after the rains.

38. *Catopsilia florella gnoma, Fabricius.

This is not likely to be found higher up than at the foot of the hills where

it appears very sparingly. We have specimens from Chandigarh in November

and from Chaba, 2,000’, in August.

39. Gonepteryx rhamni nepalensis, Doubleday.

Abundant almost everywhere above about 5,000’ during most months of

the - year.

40. Gonepteryx aspasia zaneka, Moore.

This butterfly is not nearly as common as the last and is rather local round

Simla though quite common on the open slopes beyond Bagi and very common

on the higher parts of the road from Sainj to Chaupal (Balsan State). It

will not be found much below 7,500’ and may also be taken on Jakko, at

Mashobra and further into the hills in April, May, June and after the rains.

41, Terias tibythea, Fabricius.

Very plentiful in open grass country from the plains up to nine or ten

thousand feet. I have caught a specimen near Sungri at 12,000. At low

elevations it will be met with from early spring till late autumn, but round

Simla it will not often be caught except between early July and_ early

October.

42. Terias laeta laeta, Boisduval.

Rather less abundant than the last; it, also, round Simla, is confined

mainly to the monsoon and post-monsoon months, though at lower elevations

it may be caught from spring to late autumn.

43, Terias hecabe fimbriata, Wallace.

A common butterfly of the khudsides below Simla during late August,

September and October, though, again, at lower elevations it may be caught

during most months of the year.

44, *Colias ladakensis, Ielder.

This is an uncommon species of the inner ranges and is not likely to be

found below 12,000%. It has been taken at Shipki, 12,000’, in July.

45. Colias hyale hyale, Linnaeus.

Will be caught fairly commonly in open country above about 5,000, together

with its female form, pallida Staudinger, and its male form, erate Esperance,

between March and June and again after the rains. It is rather commoner

further into the,hills. The two varieties are slightly less common than the

typical form and of the two pallida will be caught the more often,

. 122 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NAT URATE (HSI. . SOGiN DT YeaViale aml

46. **Colias eogene eogene, Felder.

A rare butterfly of the inner hills which will only be taken at high eleva-

tions. It has been caught at Spiti, 12,000’, in July.

47. Colias croceus edusina, Butler. :

An abundant butterfly from the plains to 15,000’, It may be caught in

open country during every month of the year near Simla.

48. Ixias marianne, Cramer.

A common species of the plains and foothills which occasionally may be taken

in open country round Simla after the rains.

49, Ixias pyrene satadra, Moore.

Reported from the plains and valleys up to 7,000’, it has even been caught

in Simla, though it is rare above 5,000. It is quite common below about

4,500 in the Giri Valley below Fagu and has been reported from the Asni

and Sutlej Valleys. We have it from Nachar, 7,000’, B.C.P.S., 6,800’, Giri

Valley 4,400%. It has also been taken at Annandale and Chaba. Season

during and after the rains.

50. Colotis etrida etrida, Boisduval.

This is a plains species that appears sparingly at the foot of the hills.

It may be caught higher up, however, as we have a record from Fagu, 8,000,

though this must be most exceptional.

DANAIDA.

51. ‘+Danais aglea melanoides, Moore.

In June this may be caught rather sparingly round Simla up to the

altitude of Kufri Hill (8,900’) where several have been taken. It will be

found more frequently in the Kalla district at an earlier date.

52. Danais tytia sita, Kollar.

This is a hill species which is not likely to be taken much below 4,000’.

Though never abundant, it is not an uncommon species and may be taken

fairly frequently in the valleys, in Simla and even as far inland as Narkanda.

It generally flies high. Season from April to June, and after the rains.

53. Danais limniace mutina, Fruhstorfer.

This is mainly a plains butterfly but it is by no means uncommon in

Simla itself, though it is not likely to be taken much higher up. Here it

may be taken from May to June and again after the rains.

54. Danais melissa septentrionis, Butler.

May he taken rather infrequently above about 4,000’ in the spring and

autumn.

55. Danais plexippus, Linnaeus.

Round Simla it may be taken in April and May and again after the rains.

It is not common at this altitude and will not be caught much above 8,000’.

56. Danais chrysippus, Linnaeus.

A much more abundant species than the last-mentioned in this area, it

may be taken very frequently round Simla in April, and less so after the

rains. It extends a fair way into the hills and I have seen it at about 9,000’

beyond Bagi, but this is probably about its maximum range. Both this and

the latter prefer open country and are commoner at lower elevations, where

they may be caught throughout the year. |

57. Euploea mulciber mulciber, Cramer.

The range of this butterfly is given by Evans as ‘Simla—Burma’ and

de Nicéville has recorded it as taken ‘near Kalka.’ However we have ng

information about it and have no other record of ‘its. capture.

Ag Simo wiih SOREN EP LIES! Ob iii SIMLA, HILLS 723

58. Euploea core core, Cramer.

59. Euploea core vermiculata, Butler.

Vermiculata is the hill form, but it is much scarcer throughout this area

than core core. Both are common from the plains up to about 4,000’, but

above that they are rather rare and will not be caught much above Simla.

The season at this altitude is from May till autumn, though more protracted

lower down,

SATYRIDA.

Mycalesis francisca sanatana, Moore.

Given by Evans as appearing from ‘Kulu to Burma’, but we have no

vecord of its capture.

60. Mycalesis perseus typhlus, Fruhstorfer.

61. Mycalesis perseus blasius, Fabricius.

De Rhé Philipe states that both of these occur fairly frequently at low

elevations throughout the warmer months up to 3,000’, but the only specimen

we have is of blasius from Chaba, 2,000’, taken in March.

62. Mycalesis mineus mineus, Linnaeus.

Not uncommon at low elevations and occasionally taken as high up as

6,000°.. We have specimens from Kalka in March and August. It is likely to

be taken during most months of the year.

63. Mycalesis visala visala, Moore.

This butterfly is fairly common towards Mussoorie, but our area is rather

out of its range, so it is only likely to be taken very occasionally at low

elevations in the Kalka district. Specimen from Chandigarh, 20-10-37.

64. Mycalesis lepcha lepcha, Moore.

This is the only member of the genus likely to be taken at the altitude of

Simla. It is by no means common but I came across a fair number this, year

at the end of May in the Nullah between the Convent and Chota Simla at 7,000’.

This must be about as high as this species ventures. Hitherto I had only

caught it in early April in one of the Nullahs this side of Tara Devi, and here,

at 6,800’, in the compound. Like all members of the genus it prefers jungle

country, and up at Simla, at any rate, the D.S.F. seems to be the only

form that appears.

65. Lethe sidonis vaivarta, Doherty.

All the members of this genus are lovers of forest country and the majority

of them will be found not lower than 7,000’. Their real habitat is the forest

strip between Narkanda and the inner mountains where the forest country ceases

at the end of the monsoon area.

This ‘species is not common in our district and our spécimens come from

9,000’ in Kulu, de Rhé Philipe mentions having caught one or two near Simla,

but it will undoubtedly be found near Narkanda from July to the autumn.

66. Lethe maitrya, de Nicéville.

Not an uncommon insect in the Narkanda forests. It is not likely to be

found much below 8,500’, and flies in the autumn.

t Lethe nicetas, Hewitson.

We have no record of the capture of this insect. It will probably be found

in the Narkanda-Bagi country in the autumn.

67. Lethe jalaurida jalaurida, de Nicéville.

Is found rather sparingly in the Narkanda-Bagi country and in Kulu above

about 8,000’ from June to September.

68. *Lethe goalpara narkanda, Fruhstorfer.

A rare species found in the same country as the above. Specimens from

Hutoo, 9,500’ and Kulu, 9,000/, in July and August.

724 JOURNAL, BOMBAY, NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. ow

69, Lethe rohria dyrta, Felder.

Very common 6,000’—9,000’ from the end of March to October.

70. Lethe confusa confusa, Aurivillius.

Differs from all others of the genus found in our area in being mainly a low

altitude insect, and near Simla it does not seem to come much above the

3,500 mark, although we have a specimen from Nachar taken at 7,000’. It

will be taken from Spring to Autumn, but is not a common species.

71. Lethe insana insana, Kollar.

A rare and rather local insect whose real home is the country beyond

Narkanda, though de Rhé-Philipe reports captures on the Mahasu—Mashobra

ridge and we have a record of one from Simla at 7,000’. I found it commen

in the middle of September one year in the forest just beyond the Dak-Bungalow

at Sungri, 8,500’. It flies very slowly and is easy to catch.

72. Lethe verma verma, Kollar.

Very abundant in suitable country from May to September 6,000’-9,000’.

73. *Lethe pulaha pulaha, Moore.

A rare butterfly of the inner hills. We have two from Wangtu, 6,000’.

taken in August.

Lethe yama yama, Moore.

Given by Evans as appearing from ‘Kulu to Burma’; but we have no record

of its capture as far west as this. If it is taken it will probably be found in

the Narkanda country just before the rains.

74. Pararge schakra, Kollar.

Very common at most seasons above 6,000°.. Favours sunny banks of roads,.

rocky hillsides etc.

Pararge moerula, Ielder. ;

A rare butterfly of the inner hills which will not be taken much below

10,500. Recorded from Lahoul and we have a dubious specimen from Shipki

at the end of May.

75. Pararge moorei, Butler.

A very local but not uncommon butterfly in the places it chooses to inhabit.

It is most likely to be taken at the end of August and can be caught on the

Thibet road by the Rest House at Kufri. De Rhé Philipe also mentions other

places on the Mashobra-Mahasu Ridge between May and September.

Orinoma damaris, Gray.

Recorded by Evans as extending from ‘Kangra to Karens’; but we have no

record of its capture in our district.

76. *Maniola pulchra pulchra, Felder.

77. Maniola tupinus cheena, Moore.

78. *Maniola daveudra davendra, Moore.

These three butterflies are all inhabitants of the high inner hills and have

been taken in Lahoul, at Shipki and Wangtu, above 12,0007, in July. Pulchra

is common and the other two considerably less so.

79, Eumenis parisatis parsis, Le Cerf.

A local, but not uncommon, insect in the places it chooses. It favours

open, rocky country between 6,000’ and 7,500, but may be caught in other

localities. I have seen a number on the road to Wildflower Hall beyond the

Dhali filter beds, and also flying over the cricket ground at Chail. Season;

early May to early July and during breaks in the rains.

80. *Eumenis mniszechii baldiva, Moore.

Not uncommon in the inner ranges above about 11,500’ in July. Specimens

from Wargtu, 11,500’, and Shipki, 13,000’,

Vcore arr Ipoh hin Eins Ol ThibiesT Wi HILLS

“TI

Sl. Aulocera brahminus brahminus, Blanchard.

De Rhé Philipe gives. Kulu and the Sutlej above Rees but wthis: must

be exceptional as our experience points to its being a high elevation butterfly

seldom found nearer than the Baspa Valley at about 13,500’. We have speci-

mens from the Baspa Valley in July and, judging from the numbers of this

insect we have had brought to us from the Shipki neighbourhood, it must be

common there.

82. Aulocera padma padma, Kollar.

A common butterfly which appears towards the end of April and is most

abundant just before the rains break. A much scantier brood appears after

the rains. Flies from about 6,000’ to 10,000’, but is commonest above 7,500).

83. Aulocera swaha swaha, Kollar.

A fairly common species which makes its appearance at similar altitudes to

the Jast during the middle of August. It seems to patronise sunny forest glades

and the edge of wooded country, whereas...

84. Aulocera saraswati, Kollar,

is more a butterfly of the open khudsides where it swarms from mid-August

until after the rains. It descends lower than padma, Both will be caught

up to quite 10,000’.

85. *Erebia kalinda kalinda, Moore.

An uncommon species of the high hills. Several specimens from Shipki,

14,000, and the Baspa Valley, 12,000’, taken in July, 739.

86. *Erebia shallada shallada, Lang.

A rare species of the high inner hills above about 12,000’. We have it

from the Rhotang Pass in July at 13,500’.

87, Erebia nirmala nirmala, Moore.

88. Erebia scanda scanda, Kollar.

89. Erebia hybrida, Butler.

90. Erebia annada caeca, Watkins.

Apart from scanda which may be recognised by the white irrorations on the

under hindwing, these are confusing members of the genus to separate in flight,

though once caught it is a fairly easy matter. The first three favour damp

wooded localities, but annada caeca seems to prefer open country; they all

fly with the same distinctive hopping flight.

Both hybrida and annada caeca are double brooded, the former being caught in

the middle of May and the middle of August, and the latter, the first and the

last of the four to appear, will be taken from mid-April to the first week in May,

and again early in October. They will be taken from about 5,500’ to 8,500’.

Neither of these is as common as scanda which appears during early and

mid-August. However, much the commonest of the four is nirmala, which swarms

in forest country from the end of May to July and later. They will be taken

from about 5,000’ to 8,000’.

91. Erebia hyagriva, Moore.

Generally a distinctly scarce member of the genus, though one year I found

it fairly abundant. It very much resembles an Ypthima and inhabits the same

open hillsides and lightly wooded country, where it may be taken from 5,000’ to

8,000’ at the end of August and in September.

92. Ypthima nareda nareda, Kollar.

A common butterfly from May to October, 5,000’ to 8,000. Like other

members of the genus it prefers open hillsides and lightly wooded country.

93. Ypthima asterope mahratta, Moore.

A plains species which does not extend any distance into the hills. Common

about Kalka and Chandigarh after the rains.

736 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

94, Ypthima hubneri hubneri, Kirby.

Also a plains species which may be taken sparingly at low elevations up to

a height of 6,000’ after the rains.

95. Ypthimia avanta avanta, Moore.

Will be caught occasionally from low elevations to about 4,500’ during and

after the rains. We have no record of the D.S.F.

96. Ypthima baldus baldus, Fabricius.

May be taken fairly abundantly below about 5,000’ on the Khudsides in

March and early April. Above 5,500’ it is rare but I have caught it here at

6,800’. It will aiso be taken during and after the rains.

97. *Ypthima indecora, Moore.

Will be taken very sparingly up to 5,500 during the rains. We have

records of its capture below Annandale. :

98. Ypthima sakra nikaea, Moore.

Very common in suitable country from May to October, 4,000’ to 9,000’.

99, +Melanitis leda ismene, Cramer.

May be taken very sparingly in wooded country up to 6,500’ before the rains

and also in October and November in the Simla neighbourhood, more commonly

at lower elevations.

100. **Melanitis phedima galkissa, l'ruhstorfer.

A very scarce butterfly near Simla, though presumably met with more

frequently at lower heights. Specimen taken behind Jakko 29-5-39, 7,000,

and two or three worn specimens at 6,000’ in June.

NYMPHALIDAE,

101. *Charaxes fabius fabius, Fabricius.

Very rare here. Recorded from Jubilee Hill, 6,500’, in late April.

102. Eriboea athamas athamas, Drury.

May be caught from plains level up to at least 9,500’ before and after the

rains. It is not a particularly conimon species and, like others of the genus,

is not easy to catch. It may be taken in ‘all types of country.

103. Eriboea dolon dolon, Westwood.

This beautiful butterfly is a rarity here. I only know of two spots where

it may be taken, One is the nullah between Chota Simla and the Convent,

and the other is on the Retreat Hill behind the water tank at Mashobra. It

is on the wing for a very short time from the third week in May and nearly

always flies about the tree tops. I have been told that it may be brought

within catching distance by means of throwing up a handkerchief wrapped round

a stone... being a fighting insect it pursues it on its downward course.

Probably the best method of taking this insect is to climb a tree which

it favours and to await it there with a long-shafted ‘ dodger’. I have seen

several of these butterflies but the only one I have myself caught was one

that was misguided enough to take an excursion near the ground. However

it is caught, this butterfly is a prize well worth having.

104. Dilipa morgiana, Westwood.

This rather rare butterfly may be taken from about 2,500’ to at least 7,500’.

It seems to have three broods as we have records of catches from Chaba, 3,000’,

at the end of March, Shamri Nullah, 4,700’, at the beginning of April, and

from Simla in June and after the rains. The male is rather uncommon but

one or two may be taken each year. The female, however, is excessively

rare and I only know of two records of its capture, one that de Rhé Philipe

mentions near Sipi and one I was lucky enough to obtain at B.C.S. shortly

after I had started collecting—beginner’s luck! This butterfly is greatly

attracted by rotting fruit.

A LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE SIMLA HILLS 737

105. *Apatura ambica ambica, Kollar.

A great rarity of which we know of one capture only . . . in late September

above Chadwick Falls. Rumour has it that it may be talken on the last ‘tibba’

at the Simla end of Tara Devi. It should also be caugit before the rains.

106. Sephisa dichroa, Kollar.

Found from 3,000’ to 8,000’ in late May, occasionally during, and again

after the rains. It is rather local but will be found commonly enough in damp

nullas in oak forest where it comes readily to water. It may be taken freely

at Chadwick Falls, San Damiano, behind Jakko and from the Tara Devi

Nullahs. :

107. Diagora persimilis zella, Butler.

A somewhat scarce insect that may be caught from April to June. I have

caught it both in open and lightly wooded country.

Diagora nicevillei, Moore.

This rave butterfly has been recorded from Dalhousie and Mussoorie, so it

may be taken in our area.

108. **Hestina nama, Doubleday.

One specimen taken in Simla 25-5-’39. ‘This is an extension of its range.

Hitherto it has not been recorded as far west as our district.

, Calinaga buddha buddha, Moore.

We have no record of the capture of this insect in our area though we know

of some taken in Kulu. It appears in the early spring.

109. Stibochiona nicea nicea, Gray.

Has been caught in the Sutlej valley near Rampur, but apart from that

we have no information about its appearance, so it is presumably very rare.

It should be taken just before the rains.

110. Euthalia garuda anagama, Fruhstorfer.

Will be caught rather sparingly round Kalka wherever the mango tree

grows and rarely into the hills up to 7,000... We have a record of its capture

on the Ridge in June. At lower altitudes it will be taken from early spring

to late autummn.

111. Euthalia lubentina indica, fruhstorfer.

Very rare in our area; though it has been caught up to the elevation of

Kufri Hill, 8,500’, the low river valleys are more likely to harbour this insect.

Season --- summer and autumn.

112. Euthalia patala patala, Kollar.

Will be picked up, not uncommonly, in the neighbourhood of oak forest

from the beginning of the rains to August. It is very fond of rotting fruit.

113, Limenitis danava, Moore.

A rare butterfly, especially here, the western edge of its range. I took a

Specimen in the nullah between Chota Simla and the Convent, 17:5. and we

have records of two others from Chadwick Falls, 6,500’, in mid-April. Ii

may also be taken after the rains. Before the rains, damp nullahs would

seem to be the most likely spots to effect a capture.

114. Limenitis trivena pallida, Tytler.

This butterfly is rather local and is out for a short period just before the

monsoon, appearing during the third week in May. It may be taken in very

great numbers on the Mashobra-Kufri Ridge and I have also had it behind

Jakko, and at Theog. It does not seem to descend much below 7,000’.

115. Pantoporia selenophora selenophora, Kollar.

Record from Patalnala, this side of Chaur, which is probably the western

limit of its range. It is not uncommon further east.

728 fOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Hist. SOCIETY, Vol. XLT

116. Pantoporia opalina opalina, Kollar.,

Very common in spring and autumn in damp nullahs,. clearings in forests,

etc. from about 4,000’ upwards. ,

117. *Pantoporia aSura asura, Moore.

A rare butterfly that may occasionally be taken above about 6,000’ before

the rains. We have a specimen from Simla, 6,500’, taken in June and one

from Nachar, 7,000’ (inner hills) in July.

118. Pantoporia perius, Linnaeus.

A plains species that occasionally finds its way up to Simla. I caught a

specimen here 29-5-38, and we have a record of one taken on 20-9-37, at 3,000’.

119. Neptis mahendra, Moore.

A common butterfly from the beginning of May untij autumn above about

6,000° in the usual localities favoured by members of this genus. . . damp

nullahs and forest clearings.

120. Neptis hylas astola, Moore.

121. Neptis hylas varmona, Moore.

Very common butterflies from spring to autumn; varmona will be found in

the foothills and astola higher up.

122. Neptis yerburyi yerouryi, Butler.

Rather similar to mahendra in appearance though slightly less common, It

will be caught in the same localities as mahendra but it appears at rather an

earlier date, being caught from early April up till the rains and again at the

end of September, and at the beginning of October. It will be caught between

about 6,000’ and 8,000’.

123. Neptis sankara sankara, IJsollar.

A very local butterfly that appears just before the rains beiween about 4,500°

and 8,000’. It may be caught in plenty at San Damiano, Chadwick Falls and

in the nullah between Chota Simla and the Convent.

124. Neptis ananta anania, Moore.

This is a great rarity here and the first specimens we had come across were

caught between June 2nd and 5th this year at 5,500° in the nullah below the

Walker Hospital.

Neptis zaida zaida, Doubleday.

Given as occurring from Murree to Kumaon; but we have no record of tts

being taken in our area. It is a low elevation butterfly and appears in the early

summer.

125, Cyrestis thyodamas ganescha, Kollar.

Will be found from fairly low elevations up to about 7,500’. It is a familiar

butterfly which may be caught in any sort of country except deep forest and

bare hillsides, though it has a decided preference for the neighbourhood of water.

It can be taken from early May until the autumn,

126. Pseudergelis wedah, [ollar.

Rather a local butterfly which will not often be found away from water.

In certain nullahs, such as that above Chadwick Falls and the nullah between

Chota Simla and the Convent, it is common. It may be taken from early

spring to the autumn.

127. Hypolimnas misippus, linnaeus. 7

Neither of us have caught this butterfly in Simla, nor seen specimens that

were definitely taken here, but we have sufficient information to state that

this species does occur at this height after the rains. In the Kalla neighbourhood

it is of more frequent occurrence.

A LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE SIMLA HILLS 739

128. Hypolimnas bolina, Linnaeus.

May be taken very sparingly in Simla in September and October, rather

more frequently below 5,o00/.

129. Kallima inachus huegeli, Kollar.

This butterfly is by no means common here. A few may be seen each year,

however, though possibly not caught, because it so often settles in inaccessible

spots. It will be taken during May and early June and again after the rains.

It will not be found very often away from oak forest and consequently will be

caught between about 3,000/ and 8,000’. 1 have found the forest country below

the K. S. Railway on the Simla side of Tara Devi good country for this

butterfly.

130. Precis hierta hierta, Fabricius.

131. Precis orithya swinhvei, Butler.

Both common plains butterflies. Orvithva is common up to 6,500’; hierta

is not nearly so common. Both seem to favour dry river beds and other stony

ground and they may be taken up to 8,500’ from spring to autumn.

132. Precis lemonias persicaria, Fruhstorfer.

A fairly common species that may be taken in gardens up to about 8,000’

at the end of April and the beginning of May, during suitable weather in late

Jely and early August, and again at the end of September and the beginning

of October.

133. Precis almana almana, Linnzus.

A common butterfly in the plains and hills below 4,000’ from spring to autumn,

but rather a rarity in Simla, where I have taken it at the end of September.

134, **Precis atlites, Linnzeus.

Of rare occurrence in the Kalka district where we have taken it in October

and November.

135. Precis iphita siccata, Stichius.

-A common: butterfly from low elevations up to about 9,000’. It may be

taken from spring to autumn.

136, Vanessa cardui, Linnaus.

An abundant butterfly from the plains up to. about 10,000’. It flies

during most of the year and will be freely caught in gardens and in the

neighbourhood of thistles. -

137. Vanessa indica indica, Herbst.

A very common butterfly which will be caught in the same type of country

as the last, above about 4,000’.

138. Vanessa canace himalaya, Evans.

A common butterfly in the neighbourhood of water. May be caught from

early spring to late autumn, from low elevations to quite 9,000’.

139. **Vanessa egea cognata, Moore.

A very rare butterfly near Simla. One was taken at 7,000’, but we know

of no others taken so low. I have taken them on the summit of Hatu 12-9-38

and have heard of others being taken in that neighbourhood. We also have

specimens from Shipki and Chini at 12,000’ in July. In the nearer hills it may

also be taken in June. I can recommend the patches of meadow land between

10,000’ and 11,000’ on Chaur, the Kala Bagh side, as being a headquarters of

this insect—in mid September at any rate. Numbers can be seen and will be

easily caught as they readily settle on flowers. |

Vanessa ladakensis, Moore.

Given as extending from Ladak to Sikkim. No information.

730 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST) SOCIRT i *Volaeiat

140, **Vanessa urtice rizana, Moore.

A rare butterfly of the high inner hills. Specimens from the Shipki Pass,

15,0007, in July.

141. Vanessa cashmirensis aesis, Fruhstorfer.

Will be found during every month of the year round Simla. It is common

from about 5,000’ to 15,000’.

142. Vanessa xanthomelas feryescens, Stichius.

Round Simla this butterfly appears in early spring and flies till May. It

is rather local but not uncommon in certain damp nullahs. In the Narkanda

neighbourhood it is commoner, appearing at a later date and flying till the

rains.

143. Symbrenthia hippoclus khasiana, Moore.

May be taken occasionally from low elevations up to 7,000’ in June. Most

of my specimens have been taken on buddleia flowers.

144. Symbrenthia hypselis brabira, Moore.

May be taken very sparingly from about 4,000’ to 7,000’, from early spring

until the rains and again after them. We have two specimens taken at 6,000’,

8-4. and 14°4.

Symbrenthia niphanda hysudra, Moore.

A rarity throughout its range, Kashmir to Kumaon; we have no information

about ti.

145. Argynnis hyperbius hyperbius, Linnaeus.

Will be found, not uncommonly, from plains level to about 7,000’, June to

October, in open country, glades and gardens.

146. Argynnis childreni sakontala, Kollar.

A common butterfly from May to July and again after the rains, above

about 5,000’.

147. Argynnis kama‘a, Moore.

Abundant above 7,000’ and appears at the same seasons as the last mentioned.

Both species may be taken in plenty on Kufri Hill. It is very fond of flowering

thistles.

148. Argynnis adippe jainadeva, Moore.

Will not be found much below 10,000’. It has been caught on the Jalori Pass

and we have specimens from the Shipki Pass in July. It may possibly be

found on some of the higher hills beyond Bagi.

149. **Argynnis clara clara, Blanchard.

A rare fritillary of the high inner hills. Several from the Baspa Valley,

July ‘39, at 13,000’.

150. **Argynnis eugenia mackinnoni, De Nicéville.

A rare insect of the inner hills. Specimens from Shipki, 12,000’, and from

the Baspa Valley, 13,000’, taken in July.

151. Argynnis pales sipora, Moore.

A scarce butterfly of the inner hills. We have specimens from the Rhotang

Pass at 13,000’, caught in July.

152. Argynnis lathonia issoea, Doubleday.

Very common throughout the year in open country from 5,000’ to 15,000’.

153. Melitaea arcesia sindura, Moore.

Will be found chiefly at high elevations in the inner hills, though de Rh4

Philipe reports one taken on the way to Kulu. Specimens from the Shipki

neighbourhood, 14,000’, taken in July.

A LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE SIMLA HILLS 731

154. Atella phalanta, Drury.

A common autumn butterfly from the plains up to 9,000’. It may also be

taken sparingly before the rains and in July.

155. Ergolis merione tapestrina, Moore.

May be taken occasionally in the Kalka neighbourhood after the rains. It

does not penetrate far into the hills.

156. Pareba vesta anomala, Kollar.

Flies from about 2,000’ to at least 8,500’. It will be found to swarm in

the bed of Shamri Nullah just above its junction with the Chota Simla stream,

from the last week of June throughout most of July. Occasional specimens

make their way up to Simla.

ERYCINIDAE

157. Libythea iepita lepita, Moore.

This butterfly is very common from April till the autumn. It will be found

from about 3,500’ up to about 9,000’, wherever there is moisture.

158. Libythea myrrha sanguinalis, Fruhstorfer.

This species is not as common as the last but it may be taken feeacennly

enough in damp nullahs during the same seasons and at the same altitudes.

159. Dodona durga, Kollar.

A common butterfly that will be found in lightly wooded spots from about

4,000’ to 8,000’ between the end of March and November.

160. Dodona dipca nostia, Fruhstorfer.

A rare butterfly. We have a record of one taken at Potters’ Hill, 6,500’,

in June.

161. Dodona eugenes eugenes, Bates.

Considerably less common than durga, it prefers wooded nullahs and shady

surroundings. It is common behind Jakko some years, and I have taken it in

the nullahs on Tara Devi. It will be taken from May till the rains and again

after them, above about 5,000’.

162. Abisara echerius suffusa, Moore.

May be taken occasionally in the Kalka neighbourhood before and during

the rains.

LYCAENIDAE.

163. +Castalius rosimon rosimun, Fabricius.

A fairly common butterfly at the foot of the hills from spring to autumn.

I have taken a specimen at 6,900’ in September, but it is very rare at

such an altitude. It is a butterfly with a preference for forest glades and

lightly wooded country.

164. Tarucus venosus venosus, Moore.

The members of this genus are generally found in fairly open country among

the foothills and in the plains below them. Some of them may be taken as

high up as Simla itself. Venosus is the commonest representative of the genus

in our area up to about 4,000’, above that height it is rare. Season before

and after the rains.

165. Tarucus callinara, Butler.

Much the least uncommon of the genus round Simla where one or two

may be picked up every year up to at least 7,000’, between April and June and

again in October. Lower down it is common and its season is more protracted.

7382 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL GHIST- SS OGIE IE Volcan,

166. Tarucus extricatus, Butler.

A scarce butterfly that can be picked up at the foot of the hills. We have

a specimen taken at Chandigarh in October, but no other information.

167. **Tarucus alteratus, Moore. :

A common butterfly from the plains up to Oty 4,500" fromm June to. October,

Above that altitude it is rare.

168. **Tarucus nigra, Bethune Baker.

Not an uncommon os) in the lower valleys below about 4,000’ from

June to October.

one is a confusing genus to identify and the specimens upon which we base

list were identified by Brigadier Evans.

169. Syntarucus plinius, Fabricius.

A common insect from the plains up to about 4,000’ from June to October.

It may occasionally be taken in open country and gardens in Simla_ itself

and even considerably further into the hills,

170, tAzanus ubaldus, Cramer.

In the low country where babul trees grow it is a fairly common insect

before, during and after the rains. It may be taken occasionally in Simla itself.

Specimens taken in Simla 24’5; 25-5, 6,800’.

171. Azanus wranus, Butler.

Will not be found quite so far into the hills as the last and may be talxen

during and after the rains.

172. **Everes, argiades indica, Nov.

173. Everes dipora, Moore.

Both of these may be caught quite commonly in open country from early

April until July and again after the rains. Of the two dipora is rather the

commoner and they will both be talen from the foot of the hills to about

9,000’.

174. **Everes parrhasius parrhasius, Fabricius.

Its range is given by Evans as ‘Ceylon... S. India’ but it is interesting to

note that Mr. Jones has specimens from Jubbulpore and Hardwar as well as

Chandigarh, Kalka and Simla, in our area. It is not particularly uncommon

even in the Simla neighbourhood, specimens having been taken up to 6,700’,

between April and October. ce a

175. Lycaenopsis puspa gisca, Fruhstorfer.

Rather scarce in Simla but found to be common at Koti, 3,000’, and pre-

sumably along the foot of the hills. It has been taken up to 10,000’. Season

before and after the rains.

176. Lycaenopsis vardhana, Moore.

A common butterfly in the hills beyond Narkanda up to about 10,000’.

Nearer Simla it is rather local and, though it has been taken as low as 6,000’,

it is uncommon below 7,500’. It may be taken in plenty in the San Damiano

nullah and on Kufri Hill. It likes lightly wooded surroundings and may be

taken from May to the rains and again in September.

177. Lycaenopsis albocoerulea, Moore.

A tare hill) species; especially here, the western edge of its limits. Records

of captures between 6,000’ and 7,0c0’ in June, July and October.

178. Lycaenopsis cardia dilecta, Moore.

De Rhé Philipe mentions a capture near Kufri in October. We have no

other information about this species.

179. Lycaenopsis huegclii huegelii, Moore.

180. **Lycaenopsis ladonides gigas, Hemming.

A-LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE SIMLA HILLS 733

181. Lycaenopsis argiolus kollari, Westwood.

The females of these three butterflies are superficially very similar xcept

in the matter of size and their habitat is the same... gardens, shrubs, hedges,

etc. huegelit is extremely common, ladonides considerably less so. argiolus

seems to prefer higher altitudes ... the Kufri ridge and the top of -Jakko

are good places for it, though I have had it as low as 5,500’ and it probably

can be caught considerably lower than that. The other two may be caught

from about 3,000’ up to the height of Hutoo, 10,450. Season for all three :—

March to October.

Polyommatus vicrama vicrama, Moore.

tvans gives Shipki as a locality for this insect. Our specimens come from

>) 7y. . F ‘ ye ° 5

Purl, W. Thibet, a short way beyond, where’ it is apparently not rare. It

may turn up on the Shipki Pass.

182 Polyommatus astrarche, Bergstrasser.

A fairly common butterfly from March until after the rains, it may be

taken from the plains up to at least the height of Jakko, 8,000’, in open

sunny places.

183. *“Polyommatus pheretes ijehana, Moore.

Not uncommon over 12,000. We have specimens from the Shipki neigh-

bourhood and the Baspa Valley taixen in July.

184. **Polyommatus omphisa, Moore.

A. fairly common butterfly of the higher hills above about 10,000’. Speci-

mens from the Jalori Pass in July.

185. **Polyommatus metallica metallica, Felder.

A butterfly that may be taken above about 9,500’. Common in the Shipki

neighbourhood in July. Also taken on Ganasi Dhar, 9,800’, in July.

186. Polyommatus galathea galathea, Blanchard.

Not uncommon in the inner hills above about 10,500’ in July. I also have

a worn specimen taken as near to Simla as Sungri at 11,000’ in September.

187. **Polyommatus orbitulus ellisi, de Nicéville.

A rare blue of the inner hills. We have had it from Shipki and the

S. W. borders of Thibet in July.

188. Polyommatus eros ariana, Moore.

Fairly common in the Shipki neighbourhood above about 8,000’ in July. A

Polyommatus which seems to be mid-way between ariana and dux may be

taken in the country between Mattiana and Sungri after the rains. Above

9,500 it is by no means uncommon. .

189. Chilades laius laius, Cramer.

May be taken from spring to autumn at the foot of the hills wherever the

lime tree grows. We have records from Kalka and Chandigarh in October

but it does not seem to be particularly common at that season. We have-no

records of its being taken further into the hills.

190. ‘Zizeeria trochilus trochilus, Freyer.

A fairly common butterfly at low elevations though likely to be overlooked

on account of its minute size. It may be taken throughout the year in rough

grass country such as all Zizeeria like. It can be caught up to 7,000’ though

it is not common at that altitude. I have caught it at 6,900’ in Simla in

October and November and have seen it at 5,500’ in February.

191. Zizeeria maha maha, Kollar.

During the warmer months of the year this is a very common butterfly at

low elevations. Above 4,000’ it is common only from July to October though

specimens may occasionally be caught before the rains,

734 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL CEST TS OClE DY a Viol ein

192. Zizeeria lysimon, Hubner.

Fairly common at low elevations between April and = October, it may be

caught not uncommonly about the end of October up to 7,000’.

193. *Zizeeria gaika, Trimen.

May be taken occasionally at low elevations between April and October.

We have a specimen from Chaba, 3,000’, in September and one from Simla,

6,000’, 20-9-39.

194. Euchrysops cnejus, Fabricius.

Like other members of this genus it will be caught in meadow country

and about hedges and bushes. At low elevations it is common from Aprii to

October. It can be taken up to 8,500’ and in Simla it is by no means un-

common in Septeniber and October. .

195. **Euchrysops contracta contracta, Butler.

Two specimens taken at B.C.P.S., 6,800’, 1-5-39 and 9-5-39 are the only

records we have of the appearance of this butterfly in our district. It is

more likely to be caught at plains level.

196. tEuchrysops pandava pandava, Horsfield.

Not very common at the foot of the hills, rare in Simla. We have captures

from Chaba and Simla in September.

197. Catachrysops strabo, Fabricius.

Common in the plains and foothills but scarce in Simia, though it may be

taken up to 10,000’... The season for this insect is July to October in Simla

‘and February to late October at lower elevations. In Simla it is commoner

after the rains.

198. Lampides boeticus, Linnaeus.

Very common to at least 10,000’. In Simla it may be taken from. February

to late November.

199. *Jamides bochus bochus, Cramer.

One specimen from Naldera, 6,500’, 27-9-37. No other record. One would

expect to find this insect at low elevations in damp nullahs and flying round

bushes, etc.

200. *Nacaduba nora nora, Felder.

This year I have taken about a dozen of these insects in the compound

here, 6,800’, on different dates between the end -of April and the beginning

of the rains, so that one may presumably say that it is common even at this

height. It is a very unobtrusive insect and so possibly escapes notice. At

lower elevations it is doubtless commoner and inay be taken from early spring

to late autumn. Here it may be taken again after the rains. It will not

be found much above 7,000’.

201. Lycaena pavana, Kollar.

Very common early spring to late autumn, from about 5,000’, in open,

sunny places.

202. Lycaena phioeas indicus, Evans.

203. Lycaena phloeas flavens, Ford.

Very common early spring to late autumn; indicus will be found above

about 5,000’, and flavens in the inner ranges Shipki way, though intermediate

specimens will be found in the country between.

204. Lycaena kasyapa, Moore.

We have no records of this butterfly having been taken any nearer than

Lahoul and Shipki in July, although de Nicéviile mentions a capture on the

Thibet Road near Simla. It may be found in the Bagi country above 8,000’ in

open places in the forest in the summer, j |

A List On Shy BUT REREPERES JO fie SIMEA. HIELS 735

205. Heliophorus sena, Jsollar.

Very common anywhere the sorrel plant grows... from about 4,000’ to

8,000’. Early spring to October.

206. Heliophorus oda, Hewitson.

This beautiful little blue is rather local and will not often be taken below

about 7,500’, though I once took a very worn female in a nullah below

B.C.S. at 5,400’, in late March. It may be taken in fair numbers in the

San Damiano nullah between about the roth of May and the ist of June.

The bushes at the roadside between the rest-house and the bazaar at Kufri

are another profitable locality. On June 4th I found it common flying around

the bushes beside the mule track on Ganasi Dhar, 9,800’.

Heliophorus bakeri, Evans.

This has not yet been taken in the district, but it 1s included on the grounds

that, though Evans gives its locality as Chitral... Dalhousie, it has since

been taken in Nepal. It would be taken in similar places to oda, which it

resembles.

207. Heliophorus androcles coruscans, Moore.

A rather uncommon butterfly that may be taken in the nullahs on the

Mahasu ridge, on Kufri Hill and in Simla in June and September.

208. *Strymon sassanides, Kollar.

An uncommon butterfly of the inner hills. Specimen from Spiti at 12,000’,

in July.

209. *Euaspa milionia, Hewitson.

A distinctly rare little butterfly. It will be taken in damp nullahs just

before the rains. Specimens from the nullah just below the Walker Hospital

5°6., the Glen 24:5., and the nullah between Chota Simla and the Convent.

210. Thecla icana, Moore.

Members of this genus are generally caught in. nullahs and glades in forest

country. Very occasionally icana may be taken on Kufri Hill, on the Jalori

Pass and in the Narkanda.. . Bagi country where in places it is not rare.

I have taken specimens on the road between Bagi and Khadrala in September

among swarms of Thecla syla. This, I should imagine, is as good a spot

as any for this insect. It flies in August and just after the rains.

211. Thecla bieti dohertyi, de Nicéville.

May be caught in the same localities and at the same seasons as the last.

Round Narkanda ‘it is not particularly uncommon.

212. Thecla ataxus ataxus, Doubleday.

A rare butterfly. We have taken it in the San Damiano Nullah and in

the nullah between Chota Simla and the Convent at the end of May.

213. Thecla birupa, Moore.

Simla is the western limit of this butterfly and it is rare here. We

have had it in the nullah between Chota Simla and the Convent, 7,000’, and in the

nullahs on the north-western slopes of Tara Devi. It has also been taken on

Kufri Hill. It has been observed flying round holly trees.

214. Thecla sylta syla, Kollar.

A very common insect in damp nullahs and glades wherever there are oak

trees above about 7,000%. It will be taken from early May until the rains

and again directly after them.

215. Chaetoprocta odata, Hewitson.

Is common round walnut trees in early June. It may be taken from about

4,500. up to the Chini district.

136 JOURNALS BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.” SOCIETY Voleexrt

216. *Curetis acuta dentata, Moore.

Rare in our district and most likely to be taken in the lower valleys,

though I caught a female on May the twenty-third of 1938 in the compound

here, 6,800... Specimens from Chaba in October, and Koti in September.

217. Iraota timoleon timoleon, Stoll.

Rare in this district. Several specimens taken in early June at 6,000’.

Specimens; female, Chaba 3,000° . . . male, Summerhill 6,500. . . male,

Simla, 6,000’. Mainly a low elevation insect. ;

218. **Amblypodia alemon, de Nicéville.

One specimen taken in early June in the San Damiano Nullah, 7,500’. This

will be the western limit of this butterfly’s range and it will be very rare.

219, Amblypodia dodonea, Moore.

220. Ambiypodia rama rama, Kollar.

221. Amblypodia ganesa ganesa, Moore.

These three butterflies may be caught from early May until the rains and

again in August until late October. They are very common, especially before

the rains, in damp nullahs in oak forest.

222, Surendra quercetorum quercetorum, Moore.

Rare. We have several specimens taken 31-7., Koti, 3,000. It is a low

elevation butterfly and will be talen in jungle country.

223. Apharitis lilacinus, Moore.

Rather an uncommon butterfly that will be taken at the foot of the hills.

We have several specimens taken at Chandigarh in “April and October. It

seems to have a liking for gram fields.

224. Spindasis vulcanus vulcanus, I abricius.

Not uncommon in the lower hills and the plains at their foot. At low

elevations it may be caught from March to July and again after the rains.

It will also occasionally be taken in Simla and even up to Mashobra, just

before the rains and in October.

225. “*Spindasis ictis ictis, Hewitson.

Rather uncommon in the plains and it does not extend into the hills.

Specimens from Chandigarh between March. and July and in October.

226. Spindasis elima uniformis, Moore.

De Rhé Philipe mentions a capture on the Chail ridge in June. No other

information.

227. Spindasis nipalicus nipalicus, Moore.

Not particularly uncommon in the -plains and foothills of our district, it

may occasionally be taken round Simla. Specimens :—two 26°5, 6,000, in

the nullah below the Grand Hotel, ... one at the end of May taken in the

Glen, 6,000’, . . . one in September from Chaba.

228. Pratapa icetas icetas, Hewitson.

A rare butterfly that will be taken in wooded country up to about 8,500’.

It has been taken on Kufri Hill and we have records from Chadwick Falls,

6,500", and Simla, 7,000’, all at the beginning of June. It is mainly a low

elevation butterfly.

229 **Pratapa cleobis, Godman.

Very rare. This is the extreme western limit of its area. It is a low

elevation butterfly and we have a specimen from Chaba, 3,000’, 22-10.

230. **Tajuria diaeus, Hewitson.

Simla is also the western limit of this butterfly and it will be very rare.

Also a low elevation insect. Specimens from the Glen, 6,090’, and Tutikandi,

6,500’, in May.

Se eee

A LISH OF Site BULEEREEIES® (OF LEE SIMLA HILES 737

231. *Tajuria cippus cippus, labricius.

Mainly a butterfly of the eastern Himalayas and Burma, it is rare here

and will mostly be caught at low elevations. All our specimens have been

taken after the rains. Chaba, 3,000", 22-9... Elysium Spur, 7,000’, 3:9 .

Simla, 6,000’, 12:10.

232. Horaga onyx onyx, Moore.

A rare insect that may occasionally be taken from low elevations up to

7,000, Shortly before the rains and in September. Specimens :—B.C.P.S.,

6,800’, 22-5-38 . . . Near Junga, 4,000’, May ... Chaba, 3,000/, September.

Horaga viola, Moore.

A rare species that extends from Kangra to Kumaon. No record of its

capture.

233. Deudoryx epijarbas ancus, Fruhstorfer.

Not uncommon in June and July, it will often be taken settling on flowers.

It should be looked for also where the pomegranate grows as the larvae feed

inside the fruit. At this altitude, however, the larvae feed inside the horse-

chestnut.

234. **Virachola isocrates, Fabricius.

A rare insect at this height, it is more likely to be taken at low altitudes

in May, September and October in the neighbourhood of guava _ plantations.

Specimens from Chaba, 3,000’, in May, Koti, 3,000’, in September, and a

perfect female at B.C.P.S., 6,800/, 20-10-38.

235. Virachola perse perse, Hewitson.

Its range is given as Kangra to Burma. [t must be very rare and we

have no record of it apart from de Rhé Philipe’s mention of a capture some-

where near Kalka. Guava plantations at lower altitudes are the most likely

places to take it.

Rapala varuna grisea, Moore.

Recorded limits, Kangra to Kumaon. No records.

236. **Rapala schistacea, Moore.

A rare insect and the only one that we know of that has been caught in

our region is one taken for me on buddleia blossoms at B.C.S., 6,500’, in

the middle of June. It is more likely to be caught at low elevations.

237. *Rapala melampus, Cramer.

Rather uncommon, it may be taken from plains level to 10,000’, just before

the rains and in September and October.

238. Rapala nissa nissa, Kollar.

The only representative of this genus in our area that is common. It will

be found from the end of April until just after the beginning of the rains.

It is partial to damp nullahs and is also to be found flying round bushes and

settling on flowers.

239. Rapala micans Selira, Moore.

Usually not a common insect but this year it was to be had in plenty.

I caught as many as I needed flying round flowers in the compound here, and

saw a number of others about bushes between the Dhali filter beds and

Mashobra, and settling on damp ground in the San Damiano nullah. It will

be taken from the beginning to the end of May from about 5,500’ to 8,500’.

240. **Rapala extensa, Evans.

One specimen from Spiti, 12,000’, in August. This is rather far east for

this butterfly.

738 JOURNAL, (BOMBAY NATURAL “HEST.3SOGIE TY, 1 Vol. eed

241. *Sinthusa chandrana chandrana, Moore.

A rare butterfly that will be taken in late May and June above about

4,500. Records from the Junga neighbourhood at 4,500’ and 5,000/, 30°5 and

15°6.

Sinthusa nasaka pallidior, Fruhstorfer.

Given by Evans as extending from Kangra to Kumaon. No record.

HESPERIIDAE.

242. 1Hasora alexis alexis, Fabricius.

One of the commoner of our skippers, I have frequently taken it settling

on buddleia flowers between late June and September. It will be found from

plains level to 7,000’.

243. **Ismene jaina jaina, Moore.

This is the western extreme for this butterfly so it is very rare. It will

not be caught much above 3,500’ and our only records are of one or two that

were taken near Chaba at 3,000’, 5:9.

244. *Bibasis sena Sena, Moore.

Again this is the western edge of this butterfly’s limits. It is uncommon

throughout its range and anyone who catches it in our area is very fortunate.

Like the last-mentioned species it is a low elevation butterfly. One record

from Chaba, 3,000’, at the same date as the last.

245. +{Choaspes benjaminii xanthropogon, Kollar.

This fine insect is a rarity here and is most likely to be taken at this

altitude from the beginning of May to June. We have records from the

San .Damiano nullah, 14°5, and the Chadwick Falls nullah 25:5; de Rhe’

Philipe also mentions having taken it at Koti in June. It is worth noting

that, though it flies in the early morning, it does not do so exclusively, the

first two mentioned specimens being caught at about mid-day. It ranges from

fairly low elevations to about 8,000’.

246. Badamia excilamationis, Fabricius.

Not uncommon from the plains up to about 7,000’. Up here it will be

seen from late June till August. I have caught all my specimens on buddleia

blossom.

247. *Ceiaenorrhinus pulomaya, Moore.

Very rare here. One specimen from WKalka taken in May at 2,000’.

248. Celaenorrhinus leucocera leucocera, Kollar.

One of the commoner skippers about Simla, it may be caught from about

4,000’ to 8,000’ from April to July. It seems to prefer damp, shady places

and most of my specimens have been caught near water on bushes. Shamri

nullah in April and May is usually a good spot for this butterfly.

249. *Celaenorrhinus munda, Moore.

We have no reliable record of the appearance of this butterfly within our

limits. It is very similar to leucocera and might easily be mistaken for it

in flight. I have one specimen in my collection. This is a relic of an old

school collection that was handed over to me when I first arrived here and

the insect in question bore unmistakable signs of having been set by a boy...

so it most probably was caught in the neighbourhood of the school. . .this

is the nearest approach to any record we have got.

250. *Achatarus bifasciatus casyapa, Moore.

A rare butterfly that may occasionally be caught above about 6,000’. We

have two records of insects taken in June, one on the Elysium Hill at 6,700’

and the other in the nullah below the old toll bar on the Mashobra road,

ATES. OF, THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE VSIMLA HILLS 739

251. Tagiades menaka, Moore.

Not particularly uncommon in damp shady nullahs during May and June

from low elevations to about 7,000’. It is given to settling flat on the under-

sides of leaves which makes it rather difficult to spot. I have also caught

it on flowers. Chadwick Falls is a good neighbourhood for taking it and I

have also seen it in the nullah between Chota Simla and the Convent.

252. **Tagiades litigiosa litigiosa, Moore.

May be taken in the same places and at the same seasons as the last-

mentioned which it greatly resembles. However, it is a much less common

insect. Recorded from the nullah below the Grand Hotel, 6,000’, October, and

Chadwick Falls nullah, 6,000/, April.

253. Cotadenia dan fatih, Kollar.

Not uncommon from the plains up to about 7,000/. It likes damp, shady

places but it also comes to flowers in gardens. Late June, July and August is the

season in Simla, but we have specimens taken in September and October at

3,000.

254. *Sarangesa purendra, Moore.

255. Sarangesa dasahara dasahara, Moore.

These are two unobtrusive little insects that are likely to be overlooked.

Their home is the scrubby jungle country at the foot of the hills, though they

may be taken in open, grassy country up to 7,000’. Neither of them is at

all common though purendra would seem to be the commoner of the two.

We have taken at dasahara B.C.P.S., 6,800’, 30-4-39 and another at a low

elevation in October. We have taken purendra from July to October up to 6,500’.

256. *Odontoptilum angulata sura, Felder.

An uncommon butterfly in these parts, it is mainly an inhabitant of the

lower regions, though it has been caught on Kufri Hill at 8,000’. Season:

spring and autumn. Specimens: Kufri Hill, 8,000’, in June; Chaba, 3,000’,

in September.

257. Syrichthus galba, Fabricius.

Flies from spring to autumn in the grassy country at the foot of the

hills but is not at all common in this part of India. It penetrates the lower

valleys up to about 5,000’. Specimens: Chaba, 3,000’ in September; Kalka,

2,000’, in October; Shalogra, 4,000’ in July; Shamri Nullah, 4,900’ in October.

258. *Aeromachus stigmata, Moore.

An undistinguished-looking little skipper that is rare here. It seems to

keep to damp nullahs and flies before and after the rains. Records: Chadwick

Falls nullah, 6,000’, 10°6; near Junga Bridge, 4,500’, in September; below

the settling tanks on the Chota Simla... Kasumpti stream in July and

September.

Pedestes masuriensis, de Nicéville.

Recorded between Kulu and Assam. No records.

259. Suastus gremius gremius, Fabricius.

Fairly common at low elevations after the rains, probably in the neigh-

bourhood of palm trees, .it may be taken occasionally up to 7,000’. Records:

Simla, 7,000’, and Chandigarh, 2,000’, both in October.

260. Udaspes folus, Cramer.

A largish, striking-looking skipper that is found from the plains up to

about 7,000%. It is not common and flies in April and May. I have noticed

it settling on dung.

261. Notocrypta feisthamelii alysos, Moore.

A local insect. Once the right spot has been found plenty may be taken.

This year I found them in good numbers in the nullah between Chota Simla

and the Convent where I caught a number of specimens, I noticed them

740 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XEi

also about the same time in the San Damiano nullah. This was during. the

third and fourth weeks of May, but they can also be caught in July and

after the rains, though less commonly. They seem to like flying in the shade

in nullahs where there is water, but they also come to flowers occasionally.

They are very difficult to see in flight but they have a habit of settling on

stones to which they return time and time again. iret : Roahes waledk

Hyarotis adrastus praba, Moore.

Range: Kangra to Burma. No record. A low elevation insect.

262. “*Actinor radians, Moore. . Hes, Jeger

Rare throughout its range. Flies from about 2,000’ to 5,000’. Specimens

from Chandigarh, 2,000’, in October and Kulu, 4,500’, in August.

263. Taractrocera danna, Moore.

A common little insect in open, grassy country from the Mahasu ridge well

into the hills. It does not often come below 7,000’ and I have noticed numbers

of them settling in the dust on the Hindustan . . . Thibet road beyond Mattiana.

Season from early May until about the end of June.

264. *Taractrocera maevius sagara, Moore.

Not uncommon below about 5,000’ in: the same sort of country as the last.

It will appear during most of the warmer months. We have had it from

Kalka, 2,000’, in April.

235. Padraona dara, Kollar.

Flies about bushes and flowers. Not rare above 6,000° from May to

October.

266. **Padraona cato clio, nov.

Fairly common below 6,000’. It is very similar in appearance to the last-

mentioned and its habits and seasons are the same. We have it from Chaba,

3,000’, in August and September.

267. **Astycus augias augias, Linnaeus.

Very rare here. One specimen from Chandigarh, 2,000’, in October.

Pamphita comma indicofusca, Verity.

Pamphila comma dimila, Moore.

Two high elevation insects about which we have no information. The

yrange of the former is given as Chitral to Kumaon, and the latter as Bashahr

to Kumaon.

268. **Baoris eltola, Hewitson.

Not uncommon from about 5,500’ well into the hills to about 10,500. Like

other members of the genus it is given to settling on flowers. It may be caught

in’ May, September, October and occasionally during the rains.

269. Baoris discreta himalaya, Evans.

A hill species that does not seem to be at all common here. Records -from

Simla at 6,500’ in March and. at 6,000’ in July. pies:

WWE Looe

270. Baoris sinensis sinensis, Mab.

Not rare. We have records of specimens caught in mid-April, June and

July all at 7,000’ and I believe it is a post-monsoon species as well. Mahasu

is reputed to be a good spot for this insect. ay

271. *Baoris mathias mathias, Fabricius.

A low elevation skipper which is fairly common in the Kalka.. . Chandigarh

and Chaba districts. Our specimens are dated September and October but

it will be on the wing during most of the warmer months of the year, ,

272. Baoris guttatus guttatus, Bremer,

Aeris OFotin BUTTER ELIES OF THE SIMEA HILLS 741

273. Baoris guttatus bada, Moore.

The hill form, guttatus guttatus, will be found well into the hills...

I have had it at Sungri, 8,500’. It is quite common in September and October

when it will often be seen darting about flowers. Bada the low elevation

form, will be caught at the same season up to 7,000’ but it is not nearly as

common. We have specimens taken in Simla at 7,000’ in September and

October.

274. Baoris zelleri cinnara, Wallace.

We have no record of this species ourselves, but de Rhé Philipe mentions

having caught one in Simla. It is more likely to be taken in the Kalka

country.

275. Baoris bevani bevani, Moore.

Quite common from the plains up to 7,000’, it appears in April and early

May round Simla but will be caught after the rains at low elevations...

we have it from Chaba, 3,000’, in September. I have caught it settling on

mud. in Shamri Nullah and also flying about flowers in the garden here.

276. *Gegenes nostradamus karsana, Moore.

Not common but will occasionally be caught at low elevations during and

alter the rains. Specimens from Chaba, 3,000’, and Koti, 3,000/, in July,

August and September.

ADDENDA

LYCAENIDAE.

277. “‘Zizeeria otis otis, Fabricius.

Common up to 7,000’ at the end of October and beginning of .November.

NyYMPHALIDAE.

278. *Neptis narayana narayana, Moore.

A rare and very local insect which is out for a short time just before the

rains. It may be caught in the nullah between Chota, Simla and the Convent

and I have seen it near Theog, mile 20/5, Tibet road.

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY,

CHARLES MCCANN, F.L.S.

ParT I

(With 9 plates and 3 text-figures).

INTRODUCTION.

This paper is an attempt at grouping together in a presentable

form many of my notes and field observations on Reptiles and

Amphibians. It covers a period of many years of intermittent field

study. Much of the information relates to animals met with in

the vicinity of the islands of Bombay and Salsette, but observations

made further afield have also been incorporated. Whenever possible,

an endeavour has been made to record the findings photographically.

HIBERNATION AND AESTIVATION.

It is well known that the temperature of reptiles varies with

the temperature of the atmosphere and also its humidity. The

fluctuation of the climatic conditions increases or retards activity ;

thus it is that we find that certain animals ‘disappear’ during certain

seasons and ‘reappear’ at others. In the case of lizards, for example,

heat is responsible for greater activity, except when too severe;

while cold on the other hand, retards their activity and forces them

to seek shelter. Amphibious animals, such as crocodiles, turtles

and frogs, are less influenced by atmospheric changes, and are

largely dependent on water supply; but land tortoises react in the

same way as lizards to atmospheric conditions. Frogs are dependant

on water supply and humidity of the air, hence it is we find that

most frogs aestivate during the dry weather but some move about

during this period under the cover of darkness when evaporation

is low. Frogs can stand a good deal more cold, provided it is

not dry, than lizards.

REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS.

In the female, a pair of ovaries is present and both become

functional only during the breeding season. The mass of embryonic

eggs, when visible, appear as small creamy, spherical bodies situated

near the middle of the body on either side of the vertebral column.

The number of ova varies considerably in the different families and

in some instances with the species, from but a few in the Hemi-

dactyls, to several hundred in many of the Ranids. In the breed-

ing season the ova exhibit all stages of development, from the

microscopical to the mature. The ova that do not mature in anv-

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY 743

one season undergo a process of resorption as in the case of birds,

and the whole genital system undergoes complete reduction, often

making it really difficult to sex an animal from a casual survey.

During the breeding season, the whole oviduct is in a state of

hypertrophic turgescence, i.e. it is much enlarged. This condition

is clearly seen in the photograph illustrating the difference between

the breeding and non-breeding condition of the ovaries in the Marsh

Crocodile (Pl. Il). The genitals of immature, non-breeding animals

also show a certain amount of enlargement during the general breed-

ing season, but not, by any means, to the same extent as those of

breeding animals. This is well illustrated in the photograph of the

Bull-Frogs (R. tigrina) which appears in part II of this paper. In

the non-breeding period the genitals are so reduced, that in many

cases, it is dificult indeed to sex a specimen.

Like the ovaries the male organs are paired and both become

functional during the breeding season. The seminal ducts lead into

the cloaca. In crocodiles, turtles and tortoises there is a single

extrusible copulatory organ; in lizards and snakes it is a paired

process; while in frogs and toads no such organ exists. Fertilization

is external in frogs and toads and generally takes place in water.

ORDER: LORICATA.

FAMILY: Crocodilidae.

Crocodilus palustris Lesson. The Marsh Crocodile or Muggar.

The Marsh Crocodile (C.palustris) I have met in several parts

of its range: in Sind, along the banks of the Indus River and

canals, and also in some of the lakes; in the United Provinces, in

the marshes of the Gola (Kheri Dist.); in Rajputana, along the

bed of the Banas River; and in the Bombay Presidency—Tapti

River, Salsette Island, and the Kala Nuddi, Kanara. I have also

visited the famous ‘Muggar Pir’, near Karachi, where the animals

are kept in a-small area enclosed by a wall.

In spite of its size, the muggar is an extremely shy animal

whose senses of hearing, sight and smell are highly developed; it

is difficult of approach, and only a ‘sleeping’ individual may some-

times be taken by surprise. Though, generally speaking, the

muggar is an inhabitant of sweetwater, in the. lakes near Tatta,

Sind, it is found in water so saline as to be undrinkable. The

hillsides bordering some of these lakes show distinct traces of

‘crocodile paths’ leading up from the water. I followed up some

of these; the ascent was often steep, with a lot of loose sand and

stones. The ‘paths’ invariably terminated in a large deep hole

in the hillside, evidently the work of a crocodile. The entrance

was often two feet or more in diameter. The burrow descended

for some 8-15 feet terminating in a large chamber, sufficiently wide

to allow the animal to turn round and lie comfortably. In cone, or

the burrows a ten-foot crocodile was at home! Though an _ un-

sporting thing to do, I shot the beast. Being June, the usual

breeding season, I examined the burrow for eggs, but there were

none. It would appear that these burrows are just retreats in which

the animals spend the hottest part of the day.

744. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLi

When hit by the first bullet, the brute lashed out furiously with

its tail and created an awful dust within the burrow, at the same

time ‘roaring’ loudly. The noise can only be compared to the

roll of a big-drum. Apart from this sound, muggar hiss loudly

and make a clapping noise by snapping the jaws together. When

cornered they face the enemy with open mouth, the tail ready to

strike, and the snapping is often repeated. When attacking, they

may Jump slightly forward (more true of the young) with the mouth

open in an endeavour to bite, or they may bring the tail round

with a powerful sweep towards the head, and the head moved

inwards towards the tail. When an object is gripped between the

powerful jaws it is ‘dusted’ by vigorous shaking of the head.

While sailing down the Indus towards the sea from Baggarh,

I often saw large numbers of these huge reptiles lying on the muddy

banks, and presenting the appearance of a timber curing yard;

there must have been well over a hundred in some places, baskiny

in the sun, motionless, yet ever ready to plunge into the river

on the slightest suspicion of danger. They were seen at all hours

of the day. Once I had the opportunity of seeing one make a

meal. As our boat passed close to the bank, I noticed the water

was much disturbed in the shallows. Suddenly, out jumped a

fish about two feet long on to the bank. No sooner had this

happened, than a crocodile broke the surface and followed the

fish to the bank, caught it, swallowed it—head first, and then dis-

appeared into the river.

In the Gola, Kheri District, crocodiles are numerous in the

swamps. The marshes, during the cold season, form large expanses

of water surrounded by tall grass, often twelve feet or more

high. On the banks crocodiles make definite paths to the spots

where they le up. In such places one may scmetimes surprise a

‘crock’. Its first impulse on the slightest sign of danger is to get

back into the water and disappear, only to show the top of its head

some distance off as it drifts gently away without causing a ripple.

The marshes are also the home of Swamp Deer and Pythons;

and during the winter months they are visited by hundreds of

duck and other wild fowl. In this area the crocodiles probably

feed largely on wild fowl and Swamp Deer.

In the Banas river (Rajputana), which is dry for several months

of the year soon after the rains, the crocodiles tenant some otf

the large and deep pools left along the bed of the river and some

of the permanent pools in the neighbourhood. During floods they

travel a long way up and down stream.

The Fauna’, with regard to the basking of crocodiles states:

‘They do not leave the water until the sun is well up, and

return to it before the sun has set.’ My experience is that they

come out much at night. I have shot them at all hours of the

night on banks with the aid of a torch. In the Bombay Municipal

lakes of Tulsi, Vihar and Powai on the island of Salsette, crocodiles

are frequently seen. In these areas I have found them lying upon

the banks both during the day and during the night.

I, .B. Ind. (Reptitha), vol.a, p. 361031, endedn,

(é) ft

aye] ising, ‘z

‘yoynpo sures oy} jo suaunoeds epueyg ‘9g ‘S “bh ‘1

‘uOSssa’T Siaysnjpd snjipor0dg

‘UUDIDIT, *“Q 20104

Ht inpirengp (ioe eft

SRL So

00S “JSIT “IUN Avquiog ‘‘usnoge

‘uosvasS SUIPseIq 94} Je S[e}lUes VAT}Oe-UOU puUe

JAIJIV UdIMJoq BIUBIEYIP oYy1 Surmoys ‘(uossa’] Ssi4ysnjog SnjpiporosD) erpos0jg yYssey ay} JO suiaysks [ejiues apeway

‘UUDDIWY °D 2 0104

I] d1ivIg "00S ‘JSIET “JUN Avquog ‘‘uanoe

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY 74)

This crocodile is a very nasty-tempered reptile; even after weeks

and months of captivity it still remains savage. All attempts to

‘tame’ them generally resulted in a lacerated finger or hand, though

they recognised well the feeding time and the food and readily came

for it, but any attempt at familiarity was immediately resented.

When in water the food is easily caught and swallowed, but pick-

ing food off the floor is a difficult process as the meat has to be

seized with the side of the jaws.

Young.—Recently I had the opportunity of examining four

preserved specimens of hatching crocodiles sent in to the Society

by the Divisional Forest: Officer of North Chanda, Central Pro-

vinees: Two of .the. four specimens were half out of the egg, one

out, and one stiil in the egg. ‘Two of the eggs measured 79X50 mm.

and 80X50 mm. Hes gone and the hatchling 294 mm. from: tip

of snout to tip of tail (over the back). The same animal measured

with dividers, from. tip of snout to vent 118 mm., from vent to

tip of tail 132 mm. (=250 mm.). The latter measurement agrees

with that given-in the Faunu (p. 48). Besides the Chanda specimens

there are a few small specimens in the society’s. collection; of these

only one has still its egg-tooth. This specimen measured 283 mm.

over the back. All the Chanda specimens exhibit the egg-tooth

clearly. The egg-tooth is a small wedge-shaped calcareous point

attached to the rostrum shield. The egg is invariably ruptured at

one of its poles.

Big: 1.—Egg-tooth of Crocodilus palustris.

A. & B. lateral and front view of egg-tooth on the rostrum.

C. & D. outline of egg-tooth.

746 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL. HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Breeding.—Crocodiles breed regularly in the municipal lakes in

Salsette Island. On the 2oth April 1940 Mr. Humayun Ali gave

me three eggs which had been taken about a week previously. These

eggs were fairly new. On the 3rd May 1939 Mr. Ali brought me

two specimens shot by him in the Powai Lake, Salsette. One

measured 6 ft: 4 in., the other 5 ft: 4 im, both females. )Dissec:

tion clearly showed that the former was just entering on the breed-

ing season. The ovaries were considerably enlarged and contained

some large ova, while the oviducts had become considerably dis-

tended and elongated, obvious indications that the animal was

about to breed. The other, on the other hand, showed no signs

of genital activity; the ovaries and oviducts were small and un-

developed (Pl. II). On the 13 June (1940) I shot two specimens,

oné a female, measuring Oft. 54 in., and the otheria male 4 it.7o. im.

Examination of the genitals indicated that the female had laid

eggs some time back. The ovaries were undergoing resorption

and contained no large ova. The oviducts, though still considerably

enlarged, were now contracting. The genitals of the male were

still immature. Does this then give us the approximate size at

which the females of this species reach sexual maturity?

Fig. 2.—Copulatory organ of Crocodilus palustvis Lesson,

Grewth.—Gadow! referring to the age at which crocodiles

become sexually mature writes: ‘They are capable of propagation

long before they are anything like half-grown, may be at the age

of little more than ten years’. If this observation is correct, and

if we accept the average annual growth (Fauna, p. 35), a sexually

mature animal should measure approximately 100 inches (=8 ft. 4 in).

In the present instance the animal is only 6 ft. 4 in., estimating

its age by the same standard of growth, it would be only 7} years

— tad

* Cam. Nat. Hist, Series (Aniphibia and Reptilia) p. 448.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Piate ITI

Photo: C. McCann.

A gravid Pond Turtle [Lissemys punctata granosa (Schoepff.) ]

E. eggs; Re. Ruptured eggs; Od. Oviduct. |

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN: MISCELLANY VEYA

old. However, with reptiles, I think, it is perhaps better to arrive

at the size at which they breed rather than place any reliance on age.

The very young generally leave the lakes and live in the neigh-

bouring pools and streams during the rains, but return to the lakes

when the water in the surrounding country dries up.

Hocd.— Ane VOMime, XxXxvAll,, ps 409 Of the, Journal J. referred: to

the diet of the Salsette Crocodiles. In Salsette these animals appear

to feed largely on aquatic beetles, Cybister spp., Hydrophyllus

spp., such fish as they can catch, and the giant water-bug,

Belastoma indica Sep. et Serv. To this must be added numerous

snails. The process of digestion devolves on numerous small stones,

some of them as much as an inch in diameter, which are always

present in the stomach. An examination of the stomach contents of

the two animals shot on the 13 June revealed that the stomach of the

laksen One was empty except for a number of stones. Im the

smaller there was an entire carp (Barbus chrysopoma Cuv. &

Val.) about to in. long, in a partially decomposed state and a

complement of stones. The size of the stones apparently vary

with the size of the animals. The larger beast contained stones

some of which were ‘slightly over an inch in diameter, while those

in the stomach of the smaller, barely exceeding half an inch.

ORDER: TESTUDINES: Tortoises, Turtles and Terapins.

Famity: Trionychidae: Soft-shelled Turtles.

Lissemys punctata granosa (Schoepff.). The Pond Turtle.

During the rains both the adults and young of the Pond Turtle

(L. p. granosa) often cover considerable distances at night moving

from one tank to another. Though the gait on land is far from

graceful, this animal can travel comparatively fast. Flooded

fields are often halfway stops. The young appear in fields and

small pools later in the season.

On the night of the 5th August 1937 my cook brought me a.

large female, which had wandered into our compound at Andheri,

Salsette. The carapace measured 212X149. mm., plastron

200X160 mm. (The plastron was measured after its removal, flat.).

The turtle was evidently on its way from one tank to another.

The two closest tanks to my bungalow, one to the west and the

other to the north, are about a mile and three-quarters of a mile

respectively. This meant that the animal would have had to travel

approximately two miles. When captured it was unhurt and

showed no signs of injury. I placed it along with some other

tortoises in a wire enclosure. Next morning, to my surprise, the

animal was in a precarious condition, and it died a couple of hours

later. On dissection it was found to be gravid. It contained ten

eggs, the three largest of which had burst, the contents over-

flowing the body cavity. It had evidently climbed up the mesh

of the enclosure in an effort to escape, and dropped down several

times with this fatal result. Numerous other ova at various stages

of development were present in the ovaries, the largest of these

measuring 24 mm. in diameter. The oviducts were considerably

dilated but contained no eggs.

748. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLT

Eggs.—This species is accredited with laying 10-12 eggs at

one time, but there appears to be the possibility that further clutches

are laid by the same individual at different intervals, as indicated by

the presence of a ‘surplus’ number of eggs. This, however, is a

mere surmise, because we know that in the case of ‘birds ‘surplus’

ova are absorbed during the non-breeding season.

The eggs are spherical and hard-shelled. They are laid in soft

mud not far below the surface. The time of deposition has not

been definitely ascertained, but the newly hatched turtles appear late

during the season. The eggs are presumably laid and hatched dur-

ing the rains. On March 28, 1939 Rev. T. Williams of Balaghat

District sent a couple of eggs of the Pond Turtle for identification.

Referring to the circumstances under which they were found

Rev. Williams wrote, ‘A few days ago while having some earth dug

out of the tank close to my bungalow a clutch of eight eggs was un-

earthed by the coolies.” The eggs seemed to be quite fresh as there

were no signs of incubation or decomposition. One of the eggs

measured 28 mm. across, the other was broken.

Growlh.—Growth is, at first, fairly rapid, and newly hatched

young are not seen alter thewams, (As the poolsidiy, the youn

wander to larger and more lasting expanses of water which only

dry up in the hot weather or a little before, so that the aestivating

period in many instances is not a long one. Turtles do not aesti-

vate when water is perennial, and under such conditions are often

seen basking on rocks and vegetation, but on the slightest sus-

picion of danger disappear into the water.

Food.—The food of this turtle consists mostly of frogs and

water plants, in fact one may safely say it is omnivorous. In

captivity the animals feed readily on raw meat and bread. The

food is held in the mouth and torn to bits by the sharp claws.

During the process, both forelegs are brought up together to bear

upon the food, sometimes alternately. Vhough generally voracious

feeders, they are able to survive considerable periods of starvation.

One JI kad in captivity refused food for nearly two years after it

had been captured. After this long period, the animal, which had

been living in a water tank, died. Externally it showed barely any

signs of its long fast, but when dissected it was surprising to

find that it was ‘full of water’! Most of the muscles had dwindled

to shadows and the alimentary canal was but a thin membrane

filled with water too! In passing, the following examples of reptiles

surviving without food may be of interest. A Checkered Water-

Snake [Natrix piscator (Linn.)| which went on hunger strike and

kept at it, survived ten months. An Earth Boa [Eryx johnii (Boie) |

went one better than his aquatic brother. The Boa was a good

healthy specimen which had been in captivity a few years—perhaps

two or three. It was kept fasting for eighteen months, at the end

of which it was somewhat emaciated, but as the test had lasted

long enough the animal was given small mice and rats. Gradually

it returned to normal and lived for another three years.

General.—-Not far from my bungalow a well was being dug on

a site formally occupied by a water-tap. The surroundings were

slushy. About six inches below the surface a pickaxe pierced the

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY 749

carapace of a Pond Turtle which was aestivating there! This

took place in the month of April.

The flesh of the Pond Turtle is eaten by the East Indians and

Goans, and animals are often seen in the bazaars exposed for sale.

ORDER : SQUAMATA.

SUBORDER : SAURIA.

Famity. Gekkonidae: The Geckos.

This group of lizards is perhaps the most familiar of all in India,

some of the species are found in almost every Indian household

and there are numerous quaint superstitious beliefs attending to

them. Geckoes are commonly referred to as Fly-catchers or House-

lizards—-general terms with neither generic nor specific value. House-

lizards in different districts are not always the same, while many

species found in houses are also found far from habitations on

trees and rocks.

Poisonous Geckoes.—Iin India many geckoes are regarded as

poisonous. Some are even said to be identical with the mythical

Bis-cobra. Not only their bite, but mere contact with their excre-

tions is believed to be attended with fatal results. The truth is

that if geckoes were in any way poisonous this paper would not

have been written. Nevertheless, like all superstitions the Pozsonous

Gecko will die hard. Owing to these beliefs, geckoes are often

killed. On the contrary, they should be encouraged in the house,

as without either injury to persons or property they feed on insects

many of which are harmful.

Eggs.—-Usually only two eggs are laid at a time. These are

slightly agglutinated together and to the surface they are laid on.

In shape they are generally spherical and are covered with a fragile,

calcareous shell. The size varies greatly from species to species anc

there is also a slight difference between those laid by individuals of

the same species. The presence of smailer eggs in the ovary together

with the developed pair, suggests that perhaps more than one clutch

is laid by the same individual at different intervals. This mav

explain the presence of half-developed eggs in Hemidactylus brook:

obtained on the roth May by which time the general breeding season

is nearing its close (Salsette).

Egg-tooth.—The rupture of the egg in geckoes may sometimes

be described as ‘circumscissile’ (i.e. splitting along the equatorial

line), but this is not always true, the shell more often breaks up

irregularly. Referring to this Dr. Malcolm Smith’ writes :—

‘For the rupture of the shell the embryo is provided with a sharp calcareous

egg-tooth at the extreme tip of the mouth. This is shed shortly after birth.

- In the Geckoes the tooth is double, but in all lizards, so far as’ is known, it

is single.’

Mr. Mahendra? observes that there is no egg-tooth in_ the

case of H. flaviviridis. My observations agree with those of

Dr. Smith, viz., the egg-tooth is present and is double. The ege~ .

tooth in geckoes is composed of two pear-shaped bodies which

tp. B. Ind: (Reptilia), vol, 41; p. 5, 2nd edn. (1935).

2 Proc, Ind, Ac, Se., vol, iv (1936).

700 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL “HmST. SOCIERY.§ Vol. rl

only protrude very slightly from under the upper ‘lip’. If casually

looked for they are barely visible, but if the mouth of a newly

hatched young is examined, the two bodies are clearly seen. A

pocket lens is not always sufficient to verify this point definitely.

Territorial rights.—Territorial rights are preserved at all seasons,

but when food is abundant, particularly in the neighbourhood of

lights, several lizards may be seen feeding in close proximity.

During the breeding season in some cases I have observed a certain

grouping of individuals within definite limits. Intruders are vigor-

ously chased out of the area. The same diurnal retreat is occupied

day after day, and unless the animal is frequently disturbed it will

not change its place.

Colour-markings. Colour in’ geckoes, as with many _ other

lizards, I have found to be a very unreliable character, and accord-

ingly, from a diagnostic point of view, has little, if any, importance.

There may be ‘definite’ markings, often seen in preserved speci-

mens, and certain colour characteristics in the young, but in life

these markings may or may not be present. Perhaps an exception

to this ‘rule’ is seen in H. maculatus. It has very characteristic

markings, both in life and in the preserved state. Here again the

markings tend to disappear when the animal becomes very dark in

general tone; the blotches merge into the surrounding hue, but

when the lighter tones are assumed the markings stand out very

prominently. H. maculatus does not appear to be able to dim

the series of blotches to any great extent. Whether by day or by

night, I have always found that Hemidactyls simulate the colour-

ing of the surface they are on at the time. Colour change is

imperceptibly gradual.

Fragility of Tail. The fragility of the tail in geckoes 1s well

known. In the first place, the tail is used (in some species) as a

store for reserve food material. Well-fed lizards develop a thick

basal portion which in some species becomes annulated, but gener-

ally, after the ‘winter sleep’ is very lean. In the second, it is used

as an evasive device, when detached, forming a distraction to the

enemy as it actively wriggles about for quite a long time after

being severed, while the lizard itself makes its escape—a tail for

a life! There is a limit to the point at which a tail may be

detached. In males the last point of detachment is usually one

segment below the termination of the pockets of the hemipenes,

but in females it is a little higher up. Generally it is about 2-3

segments below its union with the body. The tail is soon rejuv-

enated and may become as long as the original, but the scaling

and colouration is quite different from the original. Injury to the

original may result in bifurcation at the point of injury, but at

times two or even three new tails may be formed at the point of

severance. By injection of a fluid into a fresh tail I was able to

break it up at various points.

Eyes.—The dilation of the pupil appears to be controlled by

the activity of the animal. Even in bright lamp-light the pupils

remain wide open or but slightly closed, the eyes appearing quite

black, instead of having the characteristic slit. A similar condition

I have observed in the Chunam Frog (Rhacophorus maculatus).

Journ,, Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

baa

£e

£3

bis

Photo:

The Rock Gecko (Hemidactylus maculatus Smith).

(Top row females; bottom row males).

(Ge

PLATE

McCann.

A REPTILE. AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY 751

Hemidactylus maculatus Smith. The Rock Gecko.

This gecko, one of the largest Indian. Hemidactyls, shows a

predilection for rough surfaces and is generally found in caves and

rock crevices. It is common in the Kanari Caves, Salsette, but

I have not observed it elsewhere in the island. At Panchgani

(4,000 ft.), where the majority of the houses are built of blocks

of laterite, this lizard is the common ‘House Gecko’, living chiefly

on the unsurfaced exteriors of the buildings, but it also frequents

the internal walls, particularly during the rains. During the day

it retires into cracks or under the roofs.

At Panchgani, on two occasions only, I have found this lizard

on trees; once an immature one, on the stem of a Silver Oak

among Ivy quite close to a bungalow; and another on the ‘fluted’

stem of a Ficus near a street lamp. Perhaps the more abundant

food, attracted by the light, occasioned the ‘unusual’ situation,

though in the case of the former instance no light was near the tree.

Breeding season.—In Salsette, the general breeding season coin-

cides with that of the other species present in the area, i.e. between

February and April. The sexes appear to live together. In the

Kanari caves, Mr. H. Ali and I collected them in March (1939),

generally in couples; however, in one cave there were three females

together and in another a single immature male. Immaturity

appears to be outwardly indicated by the strong, very characteristic

banding of the terminal third of the tail; but a rejuvenated tail

does not show the markings. The young born in one year are

just a little smaller than full adults at the next breeding season.

Evidently they do not breed till the second season after birth.

During the Easter holidays of 1939 (9-13th April) I visited Panch-

gani with the express purpose of collecting further specimens in

breeding condition. Having secured H. maculatus in full breeding

condition in Salsette, I expected to find the Panchgani in-

dividuals in much the same condition, but dissection soon dispelled

this notion. The Panchgani lizards were just at the beginning of

their breeding season. The reproductive organs in both sexes were

small when compared with those of the Salsette specimens. This

variation in the time of the breeding season may perhaps be ex-

plained by, (a) the altitude and consequently cooler nocturnal tem-

perature; (b) the food supply, a very serious factor on the dry

hills of the Deccan. If young were hatched before the rains they

would obtain but little food. Therefore I am of the opinion that

the Panchgani individuals breed later in the year. On the whole

the Panchgani specimens were much more emaciated in appearance

than the Salsette ones. A further point of interest which is coin-

cident with the later breeding season, is that, at Panchgani im-

mature (half-grown) individuals were far more common than in

Salsette, this possibly is a result of later breeding and_ scantier

food supply.

Eggs.—A pair caught in the Kanari Caves, on the 12th March

(1939) were kept in a box. On the 20th two eggs measuring

tgX16.mm. were laid. They were slightly glued to the surface,

and proved to be sterile,

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Measurements of Hemidactylus maculatus in millimeters. St

Species | Locality Date Sex | Pores aie or | eee | ee spouse Vent to tip of tail Remarks S

= —————$———_—_—— ———— - = Se —__—_————_— ————— ] — S

Hemidactylus Kanari_ Caves, | | | =

maculatus .... Salsette Isl. ...] 12-3-1939 | @ oe 0 #242 fi 104 62 (R) t | :

Do. =a Do. on do. 2 tee O32 24+3 9x15 109 127 |Smallereggs1l1=9, &

Larger eggs in 2

| ovidust. =e

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Do. e To. do. | 2 9 102 | 91 (R) mR

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| Laid 2 eggs on ==

20-3-39 3

Do, on Do. = do. da 16416 | Imperfect cas ae 88 114 |non-breedingmale. 5

Do. ° Do. 2 do. & 19419 8x6 ao ce 115 136 | =

Do. ea Do. oe do. | @ | 19+17]| lox6 at em 121 124 (R) o

Do. at Do. do. é 19+ 20 ton | a (7d | eo. |Not dissected. =

Do. .-! Panchgani ...|Easter1939) ¢ | 19-19} 5x2 Ae peallll act 108 71 (R) >

Do. oma Do. sel do. ae 18+19 4<2 a ee 104 58 (R) Ss

Do. on Do. do. é 19419 | 4:5x2 cn con i 1€4 (R) p

Do. ne Do do, ¢ 19+19 ae O55 oo 107°5 103 (R) Not dissected. wo

Do. 2 Do. ss do. ¢ |18+19 a es 74 97 |Not dissected F.P. 8

| | | obscure. S}

Do. wee! Do do. Q 70 92 jNot dissected. g

Do. xr Do. do Q 81 107 | do. &

Doms es Do. do 2 80:5 | 99 | do.

Do. Do. do 2 | 64 80 do. a

Do. Do. do. Q 76 79 (R) do st

Do. Do. do g 77 99. do u

Do. Do. do. i) 101 91 (R) do. ie

Do. Do. a do. Q oP - 100 99 (R) do. zs

Do. Do. do. Q 0+8 3mm. ili 117 (R) do.

Do. Dow =. do g Bs Ps 0+8 | Small 97 87 (R)

Do. aaa Do. wes do. 2 0+12 3 113 113 (R}

Do. = Do. sof do. 2 0+7(?) 3 118 104 (R)

Do. aed Do. co do. J 0+8 |3mm. 112 74 (R)

Do. oes Do. oy do. 2 0-11 3 108 95 (R)

Do. x Do. ay) do. 2 “0 = 66 O08 1cé 91 (R)

Do. a] Do, 5 do. a 18418 om woe ax |) es 105 (R)

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Do. by Do. oe do. 2 | coo tea és 110 $7 (Rj

Do. oe Do. ais do. Q | | 108 102 (K) a

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Do, ...|Kanari Caves, | ; Gi

| Salsette Isl. ...) 8-6-1939 | 2 } 6 Small 115 114 (R) Genitals under- =

| | going reduction =

| | (resorption). S

Do. a Do. xed do. ¢ 17416 | a | | 1 104 | 112(R) Not dissected. =

Do. 5 Do. 4 do. d 19+18 | Small | 106 | 88 (Ry Genitals reduced =

Do. EI Do. “or do. a 17+17 Do. | 92 106 Juv. genital very 3

| reduced, =

| =

| 4

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| |

* The first figure indicates the number of maturing eggs, the second the smaller eggs.

+ Asingle figure indicates the eggs are spherical and still in the body cavity. 2

} R = rejuvenated. &

XLI

Vol.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAE HIST. SOCHEDY,

754

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Measurements of Hemidactylus spp. in millimeters.

err

Species } Locality Date Sex Pores | Testes | Eggs Eges Body Tail Remarks s

Hemidactylus \Andheri, | | =

Do. Do. g 243 | 10x6 | 55 55(R) | 5

Do. Do. 9 ? Small | 53 46 (R) |

Dow 2 Do. g 2+2 |95x8 | 50 50 (R) 3

Do. Do. ; & 2+3 0x7 | 48:5 50 (R) =

Do. 3 Do. Q 3 § ) Si 54 (R) S

DD, cas Do. g eicO ees roti) =

Do. on Do. } a | 55'S lost | i

Ds ae Do. 2 a 52 445(R) | 2

Do. Do. 2 oo 51 lost =

Do. Do. g on 51 58 (R) 2

Do. Do. 2 “op lessthan4) 55 53 (R) 3

Do. Do. 2 ase oe | 45 45 (R) =

Do. Do. I Gs 7+ 6 } 48 53 (R)

Do. Do. | @ || 28 54:5 41 (R) =

Do. Do. | g@ | 13+13 55 50 (R) a

Do. Does | g | 7+8 54 59 3

Do. 2 Do. «| 16-4-39 | ¢ 7+ 8 57 59 | Testes spent.

Does Do. ...| 16-4-39 g ay | 54 39(R) |Caught in March; laid 3

| 2 eggs on 3 April. io}

Do. Do. 39 d 6+6 Sx4 | a 58 56 (R) S

Do. " Do. 9-3-39 Q 244 6 55 ? | 4

Do. .. [Panchgani Easter 1939] 9 |24+? | Large 53 Broken | Not dissected. Eggslarge <>

Hemidactylus \Andheri, | | | o

frenatus ...| Salsette Isl. ... 5-2-3¢ do | 144+15! 6x3°5 52:5 40 (R) i

[DOM Do. 17-2-3¢ a | 15+14 525 | 46 52 fa

bottled 164-39. Eggs

| o hatched on 15th and

16th May.

Measurements of Hemidactylus spp. in millimeters.

Species | Locality | Date Sexillspocssilllerester'| easel Mesos Body ail | Remarks

| | |

Hemidactylus Andheri, | me

frenatus ...| Salsette Isl. ... ob | oP 175 14 Egg laid 3 April; hatched

out on 16-5-39, =

Hemidactylus Andheri, | | | |

flaviviridis ...| Salsette Isl. ...| 5-2-1939 2 ono : 77-5 85 | 3

Do. Be Do by, |) a ‘ 75 52 (R) 5

Do, 00 Do. -| 17-2-1939 | @ - 79 65 (R) to}

Do. “0D Do. «.. | 13-5-1938 | Q . 85 96°5 =

Do. ne Do. ... | 17-2-1939 | 2 83 105 K

Do. ant Do. «| 14-5-1938 2 81 77(R)_ | Tail bifid. =)

Do. cos Do. «| 6-2-1939 2 | 84 79'S | Tail trifid, 3 eggs matu- —

| | | | ring together. =

Do. con Do. .-. | 20-5-1938 é 7+6 Not | 89 71°5 (R) 2S

develop- =

1 _ ed | =

Do. oa Do. «| 5-2-1939 Gl 747 | 7x45 65 61 (R) =

Do. Do. +s | 15-4-1939 | 2 (?) = 0 30°5 32 A recent hatchling. =

Do. Do. ..|_ 9-3-1939 |" ¢ | 6+6 | 6x4 54 70°5

Do. Do. are Do. | 6+6 | 9x45 | 88 58 (R) S

Do. Do. ... | 164-1939 | ¢ 7+6 | 5x2 | wl 97 Testes exhausted. 4

Do. 1 an|| ie, || | 7A || 6B 5

Do. Do. on Do. 2 | 75 39 (R) S

Do. Do. con Do. |e. | 76 52 (R) =

Doe Do. __...| 17-4-1939 | (?) 30 31 =

Do. eal Do. ... | 28-4-1939 | (?) . 5 ye || aR :

ID oxy Do. Ee Se?) a = 29 32 Egg laid 1-4-1939;

hatched 24-5-1939.

Bottled immediately on

hatching.

| a

756 JOURNAL, BOMBAY, (NATRU RAL SEES S OCLs ailiol mein

Sise.—The Fauna (Vol. 11; p. 86), gives the maximum length

of this species as, ‘snout to vent 115; tail 130 mm.’ It will be

seen from the table of measurements that North these sizes have

been exceeded. The old males are usually larger than the females.

Voice.—The only sound I have heard this lizard produce is a

drawn out noise, which can be likened only to the ‘straining of a

rope.’

Food.—The food consists chiefly of insects ; but one specimen

contained a full-sized H. brooki—the stomach was so distended that

it extended from the neighbourhood of ihe heart to the lower part

Ol@the rectum.

Hemidactylus brooki Gray. Brooks’ Gecko.

According to the Fauna, p. 91, H. brooki is supposed to be

the commonest house-gecko in India. It certainly may have fhe

widest distribution, but it is certainly not the commonest ‘House-

Gecko’ in all parts of the country.. In Salsette, for instance,

H. brooki is very common and lives mainly in the forests, on trees,

rocks and under stones. in the vicinity of human habitations, on

compound walls, on the external walls of houses and in houses not

already tenanted by H. flaviviridis. The latter usually hunts out

the former.

Breeding Season.—-In Salsette, the breeding season generally

sets in with the commencement of the warm weather, about the

end of February. .On the roth May (1938) I captured a gravid

female at Andheri, with two half-developed eggs measuring 5°5 mm.

This specimen measured: snout to vent 51 mm.; vent to tip of

tail 60 mm. Another gravid specimen was caught on the 29th

January (1939), containing a single egg, 9 mm., in the right oviduct

and five smaller eggs in the body cavity. It measured, snout ic

vent 55 mm.; tail lost. (For further details see table).

In Panchgani, during the Easter holidays of 1939 (April 9-13th),

I often found this gecko on the outside walls of buildings in

company with (but never near) H. maculatus. At the time H. brook

was in full breeding.

Mr. Mahendra! referring to this species observes that at Agra

it lays in July and August and not throughout the year. This

later breeding at Agra is probably in keeping with the climatic

conditions and the food supply.

Eggs.—From a comparison of the eggs (see table) it appears

that the eggs in this species remain in the body cavity till they

are 6 mm. in diameter and then .enter the toviduct.- While ine the

body cavity the eggs are spherical, but become longer than broad

on entering the oviducts. On being laid they once more assume

the spheroidal shape.

Voice.—H. brooki is perhaps the most vociferous of the com-

moner geckoes, but more so at the breeding season. It indulges

in a loud, sharp, ‘chuck-chuck’ repeated several times, like

‘audible kisses.’

Proc, Ind, Ac, Sc. voleiv, (1636), 277.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Pate V

fas

Brook’s Gecko (Hemidactylus brooki Gray). ;

igcaice ig NR

Photos: C. McCann,

The Common House-Gecko (Hemidactylus flaviviridis Rippel.)

Note the female with the trifid tail and three maturing eggs.

PLaTE VI

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

A. R. Hughes.

Hind foot of Prashad’s Gecko.

(Hemidactylus prashadi Smith).

Photo

McCann.

Rock Gecko.

maculatus

female

and

Male

Smith).

(Hemidactylus

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY 859

Food.—The animal is mainly insectivorous. When not on or in

houses, Brook’s gecko feeds largely near or on the ground, on

grasshoppers. I have often taken specimens with a single grass-

hopper completely filling and distending the stomach.

Hemidactylus prashadi Smith. Prashad’s Gecko.

This species was first described by Dr. Malcolm Smith in the

Fauna in honour of Dr. Baini Prashad of the Indian Museum. The

first specimens were obtained by Drs. Prashad and Rao at Jog,

N. Kanara. While cn a visit to the Gersoppa Falls s (Jog) in com-

pany with Mr. A. R. Hughes, at the break of the rains 1938 we

caught nine specimens of this species living in the bungalow at

the head of the Falls (British side). Others were taken on neigh-

bouring trees. |

Markings.—The ‘cross-bars or series of spots’ noted in the

Fauna are not always seen in living specimens. Examples caught

in the Bungalow, on the colour w eed walls, certainly showed these.

marking very clearly; but those caught on trees showed no trace of

them, they were mottled like the bark. Specimens preserved in

alcohol do not all show the body marking, but on.the tail the

banding is distinctly visible. In the young the ground colour is

usually darker than in adults, but the white banding of the body

and tail stand out prominently. Most of the young were about

one-third to half-grown (June).

Measurement.—Below 1 give a few measurements from the

material collected:—The largest male from snout to vent 98 mm. ;

vent to tip of tail 136 mm.: preano-femoral pores 32 (16+16).

Whe largest female, snout to. vent 87.5 mm-., vent to tip of tail

iat.5 mm, The males appear to be generally larger. In females

the preanal scales are somewhat conical while in males the same

region is covered with imbricate scales.

Hemidactylus frenatus Schlegel. The Bridled Gecko.

On the 5th June 1938 three specimens of H. frenatus -were

caught in the District Bungalow at Sutgutti, near Belgaum. This

was the only ‘House-Gecko’ observed in the locality.

Colour.—At Sutgutti it was found both on the interior and

exterior walls of the bungalow and on the trellis of the verandah.

On the white-washed walls at night the lizards were flesh-pink

throughout, with no markings whatsoever (observed with an electric

torch), but on the blackened trellis they were dark greyish-brown

with broken longitudinal lines of a darker hue.

Two males seen on a tree in Salsette were greyish-brown, with

longitudinal lines faintly visible. I have since seen further examples

of this lizard in Salsette and the longitudinal stripes have always

been present when on dark surfaces.

Breeding.—At Andheri two males were caught on _ roadside

trees; and a single female which entered the house on the 1st April

(1939). She was gravid, a point easily observed in geckoes through

the thin abdominal skin. On the 3rd April she laid two eggs,

measuring 8x65 mm. The young hatched out on the 15th and

758° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCTETY. Vol. ET

roth May, 42 and 43 days respectively after the eggs were laid.

One escaped from the glass container. They were at perfect ease

on the glass surface and showed no difficulty in climbing. The

eggs were firmly agglutinated to each other and to the glass sur-

face. The two males referred to above were in full breeding con-

dition, the testes being fully developed (see table).

Egg-tooth.—The egg-tooth is definitely present in this species.

It forms two parallel pear-shaped bodies just under the median line

of the upper ‘lip’ and only protrudes very slightly, making it diffi-

cult to observe, just as in H. flaviviridis.

Voice.—At Sutgutti in June the lizards were very vociferous

and frequently called at intervals all night. The call is similar to

that of H. brooki.

Distribution.—The Fauna p. 96 records, ‘Southern India, Ceylon,

Bengal;’ as far as India is concerned. Outside India it is widely

distributed. The occurrence of this species as far north as Bombay

shows an extension of its range on the west.

Hemidactylus flaviviridis Rippel. The Common House-Gecko.

The Fauna describes this species as the northern form of H.

leschenaulti, from which it is certainly difficult to separate, as

certain characters overlap. If any reliance can be placed on the

number of the femoral pores of which H. flaviviridis has the fewer

(5-7 on each side) there should not be much difficulty in separating

the males, but as this is purely a masculine character, what are we

to do with the females?

H, flaviviridis is the common house-gecko in Bombay and

Salsette. In this area it frequents more often the inside walls of

buildings than the outer, where its place is often taken by H. brooki.

It monopolizes the inside walls, driving out the smaller species,

but it is also found on outside walls and trees not far from human

habitation. In some respects it may be said to be commensal with

man, and in houses where it is not molested it is almost ‘tame’,

not minding the inmates. As I have not observed this species at

Panchgani, 4,000 ft. I wonder whether its absence is due to

altitude.

In Bombay and Salsette they are in evidence throughout the year,

and their activity is dependent on weather conditions. In the cold

season they are less active and generally secrete themselves, but

as the weather becomes warmer, about the middle of February,

the males begin to call. The call at this season is a low one which

can only be imitated by the finger nail being jerkily drawn over a

half-empty match box. It appears to be partly a challenge to other

males and partly an invitation to the opposite sex. Fights between

rival males are frequent at this period—it is the approach of the

breeding season. Two males will challenge from a distance, then

draw nearer and manceuvre round in semicircles, at the same time

swaying their tails with slow undulating movements. They then

stop, take stock of each other for a while, and suddenly one rushes

at the other. If the opponent is strong enough it faces its anta-

gonist and a fight ensues, but if weaker, it makes off and is pursued

out of the victor’s territory. In fights they bite each other fiercely,

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Pirate VII

Common House Gecko Prashad’s Gecko

(Hemidactylus flaviviridis Ruppel). (Hiemidactylus prashadi Smith).

Gecko (Hemidactylus brooki Gray).

A. R. Hughes.

Piate VIII

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

C. McCann.

Egg laid on April Ist 1939

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The Common House-Gecko (Hemidactylus flavivirid

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY 759

often bruising the delicate skin and in their ardour fall to the

ground in the struggle. Here the contest may continue, but usu-

ally both take to flight. Ugly wounds are rare, but the tail is

sometimes lost.

Territorial rigths.—Territorial rights are zealously preserved, but

there appears to be a certain grouping during the breeding season,

when two or more lizards occupy the same area—possibly a single

male and the rest females; certain ‘intruders’ are chased out of the

area. The predominance of females suggests that these lizards are

polygamous. The diurnal retreats are regularly occupied—a more

or less secluded spot away from bright light. Behind pictures and

furniture are their favourite retreats. Behind pictures they are

often crushed when a spring cleaning is in progress, but if they

escape that fate, they invariably fall on the good housewife, much

to her discomfort and perhaps to her detriment if standing on a

chair! Screams soon summon the whole household to the ‘disaster’

and the ‘offender’ is hunted and if found is mercilessly dispatched !

Though generally nocturnal, to see these lizards hawking insects

by day is not uncommon. Once I saw one catching insects on a

culvert in bright sunlight at 2 p.m., when the stones were hot!

In Salsette I have observed H. flaviviridis is more dependent

on human habitations than any of the other species in the area,

for though I have taken it on trees, the trees were never far from

habitations. Once it establishes itself in a house, it does so, almost

to the exclusion of the other smaller species. Sitting out in the

garden of an evening I have frequently seen this lizard, at dusk,

leave the house and go to the neighbouring trees or to the com-

pound wall.

Courtship and breeding.—The courtship, at first, appears some-

what like the commencement of a contest between rivals. The male

watches the female for a time, then slowly, but steadily, approaches,

manoeuvring round, wagging his tail and uttering the ‘scratching’

sound as he approaches. He then stops, and both ‘signal’ by

tail waggings to each other. The male approaches again, then

suddenly the female makes off pursued by her suitor. As they

run he catches up with her and takes hold of either the leg or the

tail. As soon as she is seized she submits with a gentle trembling,

uttering a faint cry the while. He releases her, and away she

goes, but without loss of her tail which one might expect under

the circumstances. This peculiar behaviour is repeated frequently

and is just a prelude to the final act. Before copulation the male

holds the female behind the neck with its jaws but releases this

hold before completion of the act. In the first grip, the skin of

the neck is often ruptured. On the 13th March 1940 I witnessed

the prelude to and copulation itself in a pair of H. flaviviridis ; the

following observations were made:-—-The male rushed at the

female, caught it by the right hind leg, the female did not resist

The male gradually transferred its grip from the hind leg to the

skin of the abdomen, and finally to the back of the neck, calling

from time to time as it did so. The body of the two lizards were

now almost in the same line. Gradually the female moved the

lower part of her body over the back of the male, lifting her tail

760. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. ¥LI

occasionally as she did so. In the struggle she would now and

again loose her position. The male endeavoured to keep her in

position with his left foreleg. Eventually the male twisted the

hind end of his body in such a manner as to bring his cloaca in

contact with that of the female. Copulation followed, the male

releasing his hold of the female’s neck at the same time. The

whole process lasted about ten minutes. During the breeding

season, several lizards may be seen bearing the marks of combat

or of copulation. Another curious habit observed was that one

lizard would approach another then put out its tongue once or

twice, and as it were, lick the other’s snout. This done the two

would separate without any further attention.

In Bombay and Salsette mating usually takes place after the

middle of February, when the weather warms up. The mating

period appears to last for a month or two. In 1939 owing to the

warm conditions during the latter part of December (1938) and

during January (1939), the lizards were out earlier than usual. |

have no dehnite information on the period of gestation but Prashad!

tells us: ‘The lizards laid two oval eggs on the 8th March just

about two months after copulation’. if we are to accept this state-

ment, viz., ‘just two months after copulation’, then copulation took

place on the 8th January—the winter period in the Punjab. This

is, however, not in keeping with his previous statement: ‘The pair-

ing season, it appears, is the beginning of the hot weather, just

after the long hibernation period’, nor with the statement ‘with the

approach of the winter-the lizards retire .. .; coming out of thes

retreats about the beginning of March. Throughout the winter one

never sees any of these lizards.’

Eggs.—The eggs are generally laid in couples, occasionally only

one or three. They are slightly agglutinated together and to the

surface they are laid on—yjust enough to keep them together.

Mahendra .(l.c. p. 270) states: ‘I have not observed the presence

of any such adhesive substance in the eggs of H. flaviviridis,

even when new laid, nor have I so found the eggs stuck to each

other, or to a substratum.’ Though I have never attempted to

systematically rear or breed these lizards, I have often found their

eggs, and kept gravid females which laid in captivity. Some of

the situations in which I have found the eggs, have been vertical

walls, on the backs of cupboards and other furniture, on ledges,

on curtains, and in table drawers, and im crevices of wallss Uli

an adhesive were absent it would be difficult to explain their

presence on a vertical surface! The eggs are generally laid away

from strong lght, and what is more, the adhering surface of at

least one egg is slightly flattened. These points I have also ob-

served in H. maculatus, H. brooki and H. frenatus. -Old eggs

generally drop off at the slightest touch.

‘Another point which Mr. Mahendra doubts is that geckoes do

sometimes lay ‘collectively’, 1.e. in the same crevice or other suitable

spot. On a few occasions it has been my experience that geckoes

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do lay collectively, provided the locality is really a suitable one. In

one of the Museum buildings there was a crevice under a cornice

which was literally filled with eggs and egg-shells, most of which

were stuck to the stone surface. Again in a disused table drawer

in Mr. J. Jacobs’s bungalow (P. W. Museum) there were three pairs

of old eggs, besides shell remains of others. At the Kanari Caves,

Salsette, I have found the eggs of H. maculatus similarly deposited

together.

Eges of different individuals vary slightly in size, but eggs laid

by the same lizard are generally equal in proportions. Eggs

measured by me varied between 9 and 14 mm. A pair of eggs laid

on the rst April (1939) measured 14X11 mm. One of these hatched

out on the 24th May—in this case an incubation period of 54 days—

mae Other I had opened before its time and found in it a well-

developed embryo. Prashad (l.c.) referring to the eggs laid on 8th

March writes:—Out of the eggs the young hatched out on the 13th

iiimes about 27 days ‘after the eves had been.laid .: .’ There

is evidently something wrong—8th March to 13th June is 95 days!

‘March’ should probably read May’. Mr. Mahendra records 34 and

33 days as the incubation period. There is a slight difference be-

tween the incubation periods recorded by Prashad and Mahendra

but a considerable difference -etween their observations and my own.

The reason for this variation is difhcult to surmise. That the

period is generally comparatively short is perhaps supported by the

fact that hatchlings appear in April (Salsette) and early May, but

later hatches are not uncommon. A recent hatchling was caught

in my bungalow on 15-4-39, and another in the Prince of Wales

Museum on 18-4-39.

Emergence of Hatchling.—I had the opportunity of observing

the hatchling of 24-5-39 emerging from its egg. The procedure is

as follows:—At first a small fragment of shell, barely a couple of

millimeters across was slightly lifted—the snout of the lizard pressing

against it—there was just space enough to allow air in. In this

condition the egg remained for a few minutes; then followed a

vigorous wriggling within the shell (the darker colour of the body

could be seen against the thin shell) which fractured large pieces

of the shell. These pieces fell away and the animal remained quiet

none a couple of minutes before it finally left the shell, with the

remains of the ‘egg’ still attached. At this stage the animal was

very active. On emergence the first shedding of the skin takes

place. The entire loose epidermis is clearly seen all over the body.

Egg-tooth.—On opening the mouth after the animal was put

into preservative the double pear-shaped egg-tooth was clearly seen

(see diagram). Only the two pointed ends of the pear-shaped

bodies protrude very slightly, just enough to rupture the egg. The

fresh egg-tooth appears somewhat hyaline. Prashad (l.c.) refer-

ring to the egg-tooth in H. flaviviridis remarks :—‘No egg-tooth was

to be seen on the head of the young ones.’ Mahendra (l.c.) refer-

ring to the same ‘organ’ writes: ‘Although I have examined several

newly-hatched young ones, as well as ready-to-hatch embryos of

Hemidactylus flaviviridis, | have not been able to find any trace

of the egg-tooth, and I am, therefore, in a position to confirm

762 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XLI

Baini Prashad’s observation about its absence in this lizard.’ That

both these authors could not discover the ege-tooth in H. flaviviridis

is not surprising for both evidently looked for it ‘on the head’ where-

Vig, viviridis Ruppel.

A. Inner view of upper jaw showing egg-tooth in position.

B. Transverse section of head showing egg-tooth in position.

Both figures diagrammatic. E. egg-tooth. L. lip. M.- maxilla.

as in H. flaviviridis it is not on the head or snout, but fixed to the

inner extremity of the upper jaw, and with the exception of tlic

minute tip, is concealed between the jaws (see diagram).

Climbing powers.—Hatchlings spend a lot more time on the

ground than their elders, of whom they appear afraid. A reason

for this ‘terrestrial’ habit may be due to a weakness of the digital

lamellae. Though the adults climb easily on glass, the young often

experience difficulty. Mahendra (/.c.) also remarks on this weakness :

‘but experiments show that it 1s not able to climb up vertical glass

surfaces as most adults can.’ In my experience the young do ex-_

perience difficulty in climbing vertical glass faces when covered by

a slight film of dust, but clean surfaces they easily manage. It

seems from this that the film of dust prevents the lamellae from

getting a firm hold. Nevertheless, this difficulty. is soon got over

with age. Growth is fairly rapid as no really small young are

seen at the time when the period of hthernation is approaching.

Sexual variation.—Referring to the difference of size between

the sexes, Prashad states, ‘The male is much smaller than ‘the

female and is much more active and agile, in build also it is much

slighter, and can be easily distinguished even from a distance.’

My experience does not support any of these statements, the males

are generally larger and are not less active than the females. Even

. Ls anpeieaag

A REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN MISCELLANY 763

in the hand the sexes are none too easy to distinguish, except dur-

ing the breeding season when the promunermcest of the hemipenis

plese ase OF “the tail (of course the femoral peres) are clearly

visible. The fact that males may copulate with females larger than

themselves may have given rise to the above conclusion, but there

seems little doubt that old males are larger than old females.

Food.—Like most geckoes H. flaviviridis is mainly insectivor-

ous, the young feed on smaller fry than the adults, but during

Ces even adults will stoop to ‘small game’. Even large moths,

such as Theretra nissus Drury are Syallowed. Mantids are also

eaten, even the large green mantis Hierodula coarctata Westw., but

in this case the gecko often comes otf second best. Largish centipedes

(Scolopendra) do not go amiss. In January (1940) I saw a gecko

catch by the tail-end a cetipede two and a half to three inches long

and immediately batter it on the ground. When the victim, which

made several attempts to bite, was listless the lizard took it up

aeawooden panel and from time to time rebattered it as it tried

to curve up towards the head of the assailant; gradually the

whole centipede disappeared, the lizard wiped its jaw on the

panel and then made off to its usual haunt behind a picture.

Large insects are hammered against the surface till dead or nearly

so, before being swallowed. This habit has often disturbed the

slumbers of the inmates of a home and aroused the suspicions of

the presence of a nocturnal visitor either material or ethereal!

Protruding wings and whiskers are rubbed into the mouth by side-

way brushings of the jaws. Frequently the jaws are rubbed against

the surface after a meal, followed by the licking of the jaws, as

in satisfaction. Once I saw this gecko catch a large spider in its

web which was close to a wall. The gecko jumped at the. spider,

got it, but the web being strong enough to hold the gecko, it

Beeriined suspended with the spider in its mouth. The lizard

wriggled to free itself and in its struggles dropped the spider;

but later it managed to reach the ground, where it finished its

well-earned meal !

Though the diet 1s varied, certain families of insects are left

severely alone, among these are Hemiptera (Garden bugs), Can-

tharidae, Dyticidae and Hydrophyllidae (Water Beetles), (Hymeno-

ptera (wasps and bees, though many ants are taken), certain

Carabidae and Lampridae, Ichneumonidae (perhaps on account of

their close resemblance to wasps}, certain Elateridae—such as

Agripinis fuscipes F., and certain moths. During the dry weather

geckoes appear to drink water regularly. Every evening at dusk

a particular lizard which lived in my room, went to a cup on the

bathroom shelf and had a long drink before it started on its

nocturnal rounds.

Gekko gecko Linn. The Tuck-too.

My first introduction to living specimens of this large and magni-

ficent gecko was in Northern Ree during the Vernay-Hopwood

Expedition in 1935. During the early part of the trip I never

saw or heard this animal; it was winter, but when we arrived

Maungkan (21-3-35) we heard the geckoes calling for the first time,

764 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

all over the tea gardens. The call was unmistakable. As we des-

cended the Chindwin the animals were a lot more vociferous and

numerous. We secured several for the collection.

Colouring.—The young, like other gecko voung, are differently

coloured from the adults, the banding being most prominent on the

tail. Not having made any notes at the time, I cannot refer to the

colouration accurately. The adults have a wide range of. colour,

but the orange spots in rows across the back, particularly in

freshly killed specimens, are very characteristic.

Habitat: They frequent houses, huts and trees and at nights

are often seen on fence posts. In forests they live in holes or on

the bark of trees. \At Pantha, 1 tound severale living together,

both young and old, in a hollow trunk on perfectly amicable terms.

Voice.—The call is loud and can be heard much more than a

hundred yards away (as mentioned in the fuuna) especially in open.

forests. It may be divided into two separate parts, the first a

crock, crock, repeated several times, followed immediately by the

familiar tuck-too similarly repeated and which gives the animal its

name.

(To be continued).

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NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS.

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(With 8 plates). .

V.—THE SPORTSMAN’S GALLERY.

(Continued from page 547 of Vol. xli, No. 3).

It must not be supposed that because an individual does not

collect eggs, nor kills birds in order to determine to which species

or sub-species they correctly belong, he therefore cannot shoot for

sport. As a matter of fact 1 am a keen shikari and have had

excellent sport after duck and partridge in the United Provinces

in addition to spending many a happy day in Bengal and Bihar

walking up snipe or having jungle-fowl driven. How hot it can

be, how exhausting it is to squelch through the paddy fields after

ine Chop. nas, been :cUt, in quest of the “long bills’; but of! the

joy of a ‘right and left’ and the thrill when the birds rise well and

one is shooting straight. Many a mile also have I trudged along

jungle path or sandy nala to take up a fresh position in a beat for

jungle-fowl, and if at times I have felt that I simply could not put

another foot forward, always I have enjoyed myself, and the hard

exercise apart from giving me a hunter’s appetite, has ensured

a sound night’s sleep. How much more relished too is the bird

one has shot than the snipe or duck purchased in the bazaar!

What memories also are revived of early awakenings and a snatched

meal so that we can be on the jhils hefore dawn breaks. How

cold=ieise at that early “hour; how... But I digress.

Ee liveshes present article the intention is not -to: tell of shrkar

adventures but to recount experiences when photographing some

of the game birds resident in the plains of northern India. The

number of species dealt with is small, not because there are not

many other representatives but owing to the great difficulty in

obtaining photographs of this family: many members readily desert

their eggs if their nesting arrangements are interfered with in any

way; others seem to possess a sixth sense which tells them of

the hidden presence of the photographer, and, taken as a whole,

the nests of the different game birds are not easily come by.

The game bird commonest throughout the year in those parts

of India with which I am best acquainted is undoubtedly the Grey

Partridge. It will be as well, therefore, to start with this species.

There are two types of country which, in my experience, the

Grey Partridge favours more than any other for nesting purposes.

The first is irregular ravines, neither narrow nor too deep, studded

with light to medium scrub jungle, a facies which is characteristic

of many parts of the Agra and Etawah districts, especially in the

riverain areas; the second is light scrub land with babool trees

Nea

766 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISt, SOCIEDLY, “Vols xen

intervening, and bordered by cultivation. A bush common in such

country is a green, thorny kind of creeper—the kareel, I think—

bearing small red flowers which, in February and March, are much

patronised by sunbirds and migrating rosy pastors. Partridges

regularly settle on these babool trees with the object of roosting

in the branches, and it is under the different bushes, well concealed

from view, that the bird lays her eggs. The nest is a small scrape,

lined with two or three dead leaves, perhaps a bent or.two, and

possibly a few feathers from the bird’s breast. Although up to

nine eggs have been recorded I have never seen more than seven

in a nest; commonly the full clutch does not exceed five in number.

These are cream coloured. The hen sits closely and although |

have on several occasions been within an inch (as it were) of

photographing her, it has always been the removal of the last twig

in order to obtain a perfectly clear view of the bird that has ruined

my chance of success. The signs have invariably been the same:

the bird suddenly running off the nest, and then a whir of wings.

I believe, regretfully, that in every single instance the partridge

never returned to her eggs. Every rule, however, has its excep-

tion, and I have met this once, and once only, in the case of this

species. Sakroo had observed that the owner of the nest in question

was absent for approximately an hour and a half every day between

6 and 8 a.m.; while she was away he had from time to time re-

moved a few twigs and gradually introduced the hiding tent nearer

to the nest. Photography was, in his opinion, now possible—

would I come at oncer Such an opportunity was not to be missed

and I was soon on the scene. Because I did not touch any twigs

the sitting bird took no notice whatever of me even though I was

in full view of her while actually making the exposures. It would

appear, therefore, that the only sure method of photographing this

species successfuily at home is to wait till the hen has left the eggs

and then proceed in the manner adopted by my shikari.

I am acquainted with only one species of Spur-Fowl, the Painted

Spur-Fowl. This occurs throughout the Chota Nagpur division

wherever there are hills or rocky ground well covered with bamboo

or other jungle. The bird is a great skulker and in a beat will

seldom take to flight, preferring instead to run either across, with

the object of getting away between the beaters and the guns, or

to slip down some wooded nala and along the foot of a bank, some-

times singly, but more often the pair together.

The Painted Spur-Fowl likes to be well out of sight when in-

cubating and therefore lays her eggs either in a recess under the

roots of some tree growing on a bank, or deep under an over-

hanging rock on a hill-side. Another favourite nesting site is in

the heart of a thick clump of bamboos at the foot of which dead

leaves have collected. No nest worth mentioning is made, the three

or four buff coloured eggs, rather smailer than those of the country

fowl, lying in a scrape with, perhaps, a few leaves collected round

about, probably more by accident than design. The photograph

of Sakroo looking down on to an incubating Painted Spur-Fowl

gives an excellent idea both of the habitat of this species and of

a typical nesting site,

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NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS . 767

Although the Painted Spur-Fowl sits very closely, in such dark

places does the hen usually lay her eggs that I have never heen

ale to photograph her. on the nest. Whe only exposure I have

succeeded in making was of a female walking on to her eggs. My

hopes that the bird would take up a position more suitable for my

purposes were frustrated by her unexpectedly turning away more

sharply from the lens than I had anticipated so that when finally |

released the shutter the beak and eye were lost to view. What a

fright the noise of the shutter gave the Spur-hen! She just jumped

and scuttled away, and although she hung around, clucking, would

mor ceturm to her egos.- At the end of two hours I abandoned the

idea of taking subtle photographs, and removing the camera, etc.

made myself scarce. My relief was great when, passing by early

the same evening, I noticed she was sitting again.

Ww ‘riting of “ce Painted Spur-Fowl reminds me how very differ-

ent in temperament members of the same species can. be. On

29 May 1935 I investigated a bundle of hay lying within five yards

of the road that encircles the reservoir at Topchanchi, .twenty-two

miles distant from Dhanbad. Within three yards of each other,

in cavities under this, a Red Jungle-Fowl and a Painted Spur-Fowl

mchemimecubating three and’ four eggs respectively. “The former

deserted because I had almost trodden on her. Not so the Spur-

Fowl, and as her eggs were at the edge of the hay I entertained

great hopes of photographing her. My shikari knew the habits

of the species well and during the next two mornings cleared the

way for photography while the female was absent ‘feeding. Un-

fortunately the hide had not been placed in quite the correct posi-

tion, and equally unfortunately, the Spur-Fowl was ees

wien I -arrived- on the scene on June 1. Long before I had: fixed

matters up to my liking she had run off and disappeared into the

jungle. Nevertheless, I felt hopeful of success. During the next

two hours or so she walked all round me, once or twice even peck-

ing at the hay used on the outside of my tent, her presence made

known all the time by the crinkling of leaves. Occasionally too I

obtained a glimpse of her. I felt she must, every minute, walk

on to her four eggs, and was keyed up to concert-pitch. Alas!

she scented me or some instinct told the bird MAN was now inside

the strange-looking bush, and again I failed in my object.

The same evening (June r) Sakroo found another Painted Spur-

Fowl’s nest, high up on the hill-side overlooking the reservoir, the

one into w hich he is looking in the accompanying plate. The hide

was setup beside the nest and as he reported the following day

that the hen was sitting and not in the least afraid of the tent, |

decided to try my luck once more. June oyutneretore, BSaw * me

toiling up the precipitous hill, pausing constantly to mop my brow

and regain my breath. Sel dom have’ T felt so done as: when

reached the nesting site: I lay in a state of collapse for half an

hour or more before I could rouse myself to investigate matters.

The Spur-hen was at home, sitting tight, very tight, looking

straight at me, her body sunk into the sight depression of ihe

nest and with feathers fluffed out so that ane appeared more like

a Jungle-Fowl in size. It seemed clear that the eoes must be near

768 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCKET Vo Vols X4ek

old fe 4

hatching. At first I thought of

gave up the idea, as only with difficulty could she be seen with

the naked eye, while she did not show up at all on the ground-

glass. I therefore set up the hide, intending to put the Spur-Fowl

off the nest and obtain her portrait as she returned to the eggs.

But it was of no use, and whereas the bird I had attempted to

photograph on June 1 would not return to the nest, this individual

absolutely declined to leave her eggs. Debating in my mind the

queer ways of the female of the species, I left her in peace. I

derived no little satisfaction a few days later when I discovered

from a close inspection of the nest that the eggs had hatched suc-

cessfully. A week previously that particular hill-side -had been

scoured from top to bottom by one hundred or more Manjis (the

local savage), everything being killed or taken which they came

across. I had seen their ‘bag’ which included snakes, lizards,

iguanas, tree rats, two long-tailed nightjars, a pitta, two kinds

of doves, dozens of birds eggs, and a wild pig. But the Spur-

Fowl’s home escaped detection, a fact which speaks volumes for

Sakroo’s ability to find nests.

The Red Jungle-Fowl is not so Secretive im its <chotce” one

nesting site as is the Painted Spur-Fowl; not that the nest is not

well-hidden, because it is—often in a tangled thicket in a jungle

nala. What I would imply is that occasionally this species nests

in fairly open situations, under a bush or sapling, amongst a carpet

of leaves, but always in some sort of jungle, and usually on a hill-

side. When first I found a nest in such a situation I entertained

great hopes of photographing the Jungle-hen at home, but was

soon to learn that some sense tells these birds that Danger is

lurking round the corner, -so to speak, when I am inside the hiding

tent, so that I have not yet taken a single photograph in spite of

the fact that I have tried my luck with more birds than I have

fingers on two hands. So wary is the species that I have not

known the hen come anywhere near, even when she was absent

foraging when I arrived to set up the camera in a hide to which

she took no exception when this was unoccupied.

If anybody succeeds in photographing the Red Jungle-Fowl in-

cubating he will have obtained a really valuable prize. Some real

attempt appears to be made by this species at nest-building as in

addition to the eggs lying in a hollow these often repose on quite

a substantial pad of leaves. Three to six eggs are laid, five, per-

haps, being the most usual number. These vary from cream to

buff in colour and are about the same size as the desi murghi’s

eggs which we are accustomed to have served up for breakfast

every morning.

On one occasion I imagined I was bound to obtain at least one

photograph of a Red Jungle-hen on her nest. The hide had been

in position three or four days and been moved gradually nearer

to the sitting bird. When investigating matters on a Saturday

evening I discovered that two of the eggs were chipping. I visited

the nest again before six the following morning, but as I approach-

ed, the hen ran off, followed by the chicks, which took cover in

different directions, the mother subsequently flapping about from

taking a time exposure of her but —

. BomsBay Nar. Hist. Soc.

RED: JONGLE-FOWL. CHICKS.

Journ. Bompay Nar. Hist. Soc.

PEAHEN’S EGGS

IN AO DREE:

A PEAHEN INCUBATING HER EGGS.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 769

time to time and clucking repeatedly. This was in fairly open

jungle well covered with leaves. An addled egg remained in the

nest, and other evidence of the successful hatch.

After a prolonged and very careful search—we were naturally

afraid of treading on the young ones hidden under the leaves—

two chicks were found and replaced in the nest. My patience was

thoroughly tried taking their photographs, because no sooner had

I succeeded in quieting one than the other decided to run away;

and so on it went for well over an hour, during which time I

made six exposures. Such, however, is the perverseness of wild

creatures that when I had packed the camera in its case and folded

up the tripod, the young ones refused to leave the nest and re-

mained perfectly quiet! More remarkable still, when I walked

away they followed me for a distance of several yards, so that I

was compelled to retrace my steps and place them back in the nest.

But this was not all; when, the second time, I had proceeded an

even further distance, something made me look round, and there

were the two chicks following me again! This time I put them

under a bush into which I had last seen the hen disappear, and so

succeeded in getting away unaccompanied.

Although the adult Red Jungle-cock is a gloriously handsome biril

with his golden-orange-red hackles, deep chestnut back and rump,

chestnut coloured wings, and green and purple glossing, I consider

he must give way for sheer beauty to the chick. This has what is

described as ‘a broad plum-brown coloured band extending from

the crown to the tail, enclosed in lateral bands of buff, a plum-brown

coloured line passing through the eye and down the sides of the neck.

The sides of the body are rich warm reddish-buff changing to pale-

butt on the chin; -throat and centre of the abdomen.”

It is surprising how, sometimes, the bird photographer allows

to slip by opportunities of portraying at the nest a species which

occurs commonly in his neighbourhood, only because of his anxiety

to photograph some other species, with the result that only too

often the species coming under the first category remains unphoto-

graphed due to an unexpected transfer, or for some other similar

reason. These remarks are prompted by an inspection of my photos

(taken recently) of a Peahen incubating her five eggs. During the

long years when I was stationed in different parts of the United

Provinces in the earlier part of my service numerous nests of this

species came to my notice, many of them in fairly open situations,

so that if I had taken a little trouble I feel I ought to have succeeded

more than once in photographing the bird at home. Always, how-

ever, I had some other subject in mind at the time and put off

making the attempt until I had more leisure for the purpose, with

of course, the inevitable result. When, therefore, I found myself

back at Allahabad in 1938 I made up my. mind to leave no stone

unturned in an attempt to photograph the Peahen chez elle. The

bird, however, turned out to be a far more difficult subject than

anticipated, even though its nest, a hollow scraped in the ground

* New Fauna, Vol. v, p. 297.

71) f[OURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL SAISiG SOCIETY iV ol xen

and lined with two or three straws, was situated in a bajra crop

close to a village which it is not improbable the bird was in the

habit of visiting at other seasons for roosting purposes. The hide,

as usual, was first placed at some distance from the nest, and

moved nearer the following morning. The Peahen was allowed

to incubate for some hours and had apparently accepted the new

situation. But in the afternoon, when the lens was introduced, she

gave ample proof of what a shy bird this species can be, and walked

round and round the nest before finally settling down. (Although

I did not photograph her for some considerable time, even then

the Peahen was all suspicion. The noise of the shutter going off

the second time caused the bird to leave the nest for nearly half

an hour, and when finally she returned, it was not to settle down

but to move the eggs further away and rather to the side, a distance

of nearly five feet. This she did by levering them towards herself

with the chin applied to the far side of each egg, and moving

backwards. No further attempt was made to photograph the bird

and when my shikari turned up to release me, the Peahen was

sittine- the eges hard m the mew nest.

Peahens usually lay from three to five eggs; clutches of six

eggs, however, are not uncommon. ,Normally these are laid on

the ground, in some standing crop, or in a‘thicket. Occasionally

they are deposited at some height from the ground, as for example,

in an old nest of -a vulture. 1 myself ‘once came acrhossmes

Peahen’s nest in a mango tree, about twelve feet from the

ground, in the space formed by the junction of a number of branches.

with the main trunk. Not only was the site unusual but the ‘nest’

contained nine eggs. I have also seen a perfectly wild Peahen

incubating her three eggs under a pile of faggots placed on the

roof of a hut in the centre of a yvillace: | Another -nestonmiime

species which I inspected was situated in the heart of an aloe bush

alongside the railway line. Passing by again a few hours later

I was surprised to see a wild cat jump out of the bush. Only

one of the five eggs remained and the shell of this also had been

perforated by the animal’s teeth.

In northern India Peafowl are considered sacred, which accounts

for their occurring in such numbers in many places, and being so

tame. There they frequent the fields in the immediate vicinity of

man’s habitation and even roost in village trees. How inordinately

shy though is the species in those parts of the country where it is not

sacred and where, as throughout Chota Nagpur for example, every-

body’s hand is turned against it. Here the Manjis and Kols regard

it as a particular prize, and the sahib too considers himself fortunate

when he brings one to bag. Suspicion and cunning are written on

every look, on every movement of Peafowl, in districts where they are

hunted, and it is remarkable, if any are in a patch of jungle that is

being beaten, how successful these birds usually are at evading the

guns. i

Everybody is familiar with the Peafowl’s normal call, a loud,

screaming mee-ow; few, however, are aware that it has another

note which sounds as though somebody were blowing down a reed.

Journ. Bompay Nar. Hist. Soc.

THE COMMON BUSTARD-QUAIL.

It is the male alone who attends to the incubating

of the eggs.

A female approaching the nest.

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 771

To the best of my recollection, this is heard only in the breeding

season, that is to say, during the rains.

The Common Bustard-Quail is a very small bird, smaller even

than the Common Quail, and occurs more generally than i is imagined ;

in many parts of Chota Nagpur it is definitely common. In addition

to having two distinct nesting seasons—the beginning of the hot

weather, and again from the middle to the end of the. rains and even

later—this species is remarkable for its breeding” arrangements.

The female is larger and more handsomely coloured than the male

and appears to ‘wear the trousers’ at all times. I have tried hard

to learn which of the two builds the nest but have no ocular evidence.

I believe, however, from the manner in which the female completely

dominates her husband, that to the latter must fall this task. At

all events it is the male who alone attends to the incubating of the

eggs and the bringing up of the young, the female, as soon as she

has laid four eggs, finding another husband and planting a further

clutch on him; which pleasant diversion she keeps on repeating

until she cannot find more mates—or possibly till she is tired of laying

more eggs. There is considerable variation in the colouring and

markings on the eggs of this species; these, however, run the same

not only in the one clutch, but in different clutches in the same area,

the inference being that they are all laid by the one bird in each

area. In this connection I should state that the female Bustard-

Quail is a great fighter and will not tolerate the presence of another

einer sex in the area she considers her own. In support of this

statement I may add that one day I saw five nests of this species

in two widely separate areas. The eggs in three nests in one area

had clearly been laid by one and the same bird while those in the

other two nests were obviously the product of a second female.

I have twice photographed the male Bustard-Quail at home

and found him to be of a nervous, timid disposition although not

eiraid of facing the camera. On one occasion the nest was at

the foot of a large bush, under a straggling tussock of grass

surrounded by leaves. The first lot of photographs not being

particularly successful I returned to take more, to find that the

Bustard-Quail had rolled the eggs out of the nest and that these

were now about two feet away from their original position. I had

not been two minutes in the hide when the male returned and

at once covered the eggs. He was, however, obviously ill at ease—-

it was certainly not the hiding tent that worried him because this

had been in position five days—and kept running off, only to

return, the bill open all the time. Later he rolled the eggs still

further away from me, using his bill for the purpose. Then he

rolled them in my direction, again away from me, and finally to

the side. He continued to do this even after I had removed the

hide.

It was only after trying for three whole seasons that I succeeded

in obtaining a photograph of the female Bustard-Quail. The nest

at which the hiding tent had been erected contained an incomplete

clutch and I hoped to photograph the female as she walked on

to the nest to lay the last egg. When I arrived Sakroo informed

me that she had been wandering all round the nest, accompanied

72 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

by the male, and that he had had some difficulty in keeping her

from going on. I therefore anticipated—and obtained—a quick

photograph. Not only is the black band down the centre of the

neck clearly shown in the accompanying plate but the photograph

conveys a vivid impression of anger—anger at having been pre-

vented from going on to the nest. In addition it will be seen

that the bird possesses no hind toe, a feature which at once dis-

tinguishes all representatives of this family from the true Quails.

The noise of the shutter so alarmed the female that she did not

return to the nest but instead laid the fourth egg in the grass

about six feet away. This did not, however, prevent her from

chasing the male round and round, till finally he came to the con-

clusion that discretion was the better part of valour, and settled

down to incubate, looking, I thought, the picture of abject misery.

Five minutes later I could hear the female calling, the sign to

males that she was in search of another husband. The call I can

only liken to the hum of an aeroplane in the great distance, or a

motor cycle .being started up, also far off—kurr-r-r-r-7, continued

for some time. That of the male is entirely different—pook-pook-

pook-pook.

Although the New Fauna states that the Jungle Bush-Quail

occurs in well-wooded localities from the Himalayas to Ceylon’, !

have come across this species only in the Manbhum and Hazaribagh

districts.* There, if not abundant, it is by no means uncommon

although local, and several times I have been startled by one of

these birds suddenly rising only a yard or two in front of me with

a great whir; and as I have followed its flight, been still further

alarmed by three or four more getting up from almost the identical

spot, each, however, usually flying in a different direction for a

short distance before dropping into the undergrowth again.

The Jungle Bush-Quail is a gregarious creature, for not only

do numbers feed together, even in the nesting season, but at times

several pairs breed in close proximity to each other. In October

1935 I had four nests of this species under observation, all within

a thirty yards circle, in a patch of tulsi surrounded by fairly heavy

scrub jungle. Year in and year out this particular spot was a

sure find for eggs of the Jungle Bush-Quail, and in two other

similar patches not two hundred vards distant we could always

bank on finding one or more nests. The eggs, which are a creamy-

white in colour, number from five to seven as a rule, and rest on

a pad of grass in coarse grass at the foot of the tuls1 and other

plants. The breeding season is from about the middle of August

to the end of November.

As in the case of the female Bustard-Quail it was only after

three seasons of constant endeavour that I succeeded in photograph-

ing the Jungle Bush-Quail at home. Sometimes it was a rat, at

others a snake or other enemy that had eaten-the eggs; on one

SaNVOl. We Daa 758

2 I have since found it common in the Mirzapur and Etawah districts in

the United Provinces.

= ae

Soc.

Hist.

BomBAY Nar.

JOURN.

Btiiwes a ar

: ite

a : = Sams

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 773

occasion a buffalo had ‘put its foot into it’; on another the young

hatched out before an opportunity presented itself of attempting

photography. When, therefore, October 1935 came and I had not

yet photographed the species and everything pointed to this being

my last nesting season in the Manbhum district, added to which

I knew that I could not stand the heat and incomeemence of the

hiding tent much longer in the plains of India, I made up my mind

to photograph the Jungle Bush-Quail now—or the opportunity

would for ever be lost to me. Accordingly, we concentrated on

the species, and it was not long before my shikari telephoned that

he had found four nests—those referred to in the preceding para-

graph. However, it was not until we had placed the hide before

the third of these that Fortune smiled on us at all, rats or that

arch enemy MAN having destroyed the contents of the others,

including the eggs in the fourth nest, near which the tent was

| never erected.

Between October 27 and November g I spent six days trying

to or actually photographing the Jungle Bush-Quail. I shall not

attempt to recapitulate my experiences on each occasion or tell of

my failures until November 6, when, changing my tactics, success

at last came my way; to do so would only bore the reader. In-

stead let me outline what I learnt of the nesting habits of the

Species and the steps taken to correct my initial mistakes. To

begin with, the Jungle Bush-Quail, like other game birds, left her

nest early every day in order to feed, and was absent for this

purpose for approximately two hours between 6 and 8 incubation

thereafter continued until about ro-30 when the male approached—

though I never saw him-—uttering a sibilant sirr-r-r-r-r-v, much like

one of the notes of the common iora, for which, as a matter of fact,

Imimistook it at first.. The female then left the nest and did not

return till the sun was at its meridian. Again she incubated until

between 3 and 4 p.m. when, on the male again arriving and calling

as he did earlier in the day, she once more left the eggs, this time

for a shorter spell of between forty and sixty minutes.

I do not suggest that all Jungle Bush-Quails work to the same

time table; indeed, even my bird varied this on one occasion by

going off at 10-30 and not returning till after 3-00. Except once,

ey the noise of the shutter frightened her rather badly, these

prolonged absences were entirely voluntary and must, I think, have

accounted for the eggs having taken so long to hatch. The nest

when found on October 15 contained two eggs, this number being

added to on alternate days, so that the clutch was completed on

the 21st. Three eggs hatched out during the late afternoon of

November 11, and all five had done so when the nest was visited

for the last time the following morning. As the female did not

sit until the full clutch was laid incubation lasted from twenty-two

to twenty-three days, which appears to be inordinately long for

so small a species; under normal conditions I should think that

eighteen days would be sufficient.

The real difficulty in photographing the Jungle Bush-Quail was

that the tulsi patch, at the foot of which was situated the nest,

was some two and a half feet in height. To cut this down in a

W4 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY. Vol, ol

small circle so as to expose the nest entirely was quite out of the

question, as to expect the bird to return to her eggs in the cir-

cumstances would not only have been gross cruelty—she would

almost certainly have deserted—but a photograph (if obtained)

would have given a wrong conception of the nesting site, and of

the deep shade in. which the female incubated. What .I did was

to make a narrow lane down which the lens looked on to the nest.

There was a great drawback to such an arrangement—very little

light reached the sitting bird, the result being that in spite of my

using the largest stop I could and working at only 1/25 second ~

the few photographs I obtained during my first four days were

hopelessly under-exposed. It was on November 6, therefore, that

I decided to take my courage in both hands and try for time

exposures instead, about 4-30 p.m., when I knew from previous

observations that the Bush-Quail would be settled down for the

night session. This, however, meant long exposures because 1

was determined to do the thing thoroughly—use the smallest stop

in order to obtain the greatest detail. To make matters worse,

the sun by this time had gone below the hill behind *mery gm

remains only to add that although the camera still remained inside

the hide, | worked it from outside, standing less than five feet

away from the sitting bird, and that except when the shutter was

released for the first time, she did not move a muscle. The photo-

graph reproduced here was a forty-five seconds exposure taken

with stop F 22,—on a Panchromatic Special Rapid Plate.

I am certain this Jungle Bush-Quail would never have hatched

out had I not employed a chowkidar to keep watch over the nest

all day and every day till late in the evening, until the young

actually left their prisons.

I have omitted to make mention of one matter, the normal call

of this species. To me it sounds very like pity-pity-pity.

March, April and May are the months in which to search for

the eggs of the Common Indian Sand Grouse. Fallow fields and

wide expanses of maidan on which saltpetre exists, with a scanty

outcrop of short, coarse grass obtaining, are greatly favoured by

this species for breeding purposes. Nest there is none really, the

three long, cylindrical-shaped eggs, dark greyish-yellow in colour,

spotted and blotched with reddish-brown, with underlying markings

of a light purple shade, resting on the bare ground under no shelter

of any description. Wonderfully though this bird harmonises with

its surroundings at all times, never does it do so better than when

covering eggs. Consequently the nest is a most difficult one to

discover. But having located one the photographer’s troubles have

only just started, because the Common Indian Sand Grouse, like

the Grey Partridge, readily deserts her eggs if her nesting arrange-

ments come under too close investigation: once she has been

flushed off the nest the Sand Grouse will not return to her eggs.

Such at all events has been my experience on a number of occa-

sions, an experience all the more exasperating as each time I had

the bird beautifully focussed, and had only to pull out the slide

venetian, and release the shutter to obtain the Sand Grouse’s

picture, when off the bird has flown without giving warning of

“ASNOYUOAGNYS NVIACNI

NOIIANOD

“DOG -.LSIF] (LYNN AVAINOG *NyunNof

NOTES ON SOME INDIAN BIRDS 775

any description. In each instance the eggs were fresh, so ponder-

ing the matter it seemed that the only chance of meeting with

success was, next time, to let the bird continue to incubate for

a week or ten days before attempting photography. The plan

worked excellently and in the end, with my last plate, I photo-

eraphed the bird at a range of only six feet from the lens. Then

only did the Sand Grouse leave her nest, to trail apparently broken

wings and feet before me. As I examined the eggs, one of which

was already chipping, she remained quite still, but as I retreated

she resumed her tactics, moving away the whole time till she had

gone about fifty feet from the nest, when she fluttered into the

air, and landing near the eggs, at once rushed to sit them.

Another Sand Grouse’s nest which 'I was shown was situated

amongst kanker lying on somewhat uneven ground, and was only

eighteen feet away from the track carrying the East Indian Rail-

way main line from Calcutta to Delhi. It is strange the biru

should have selected such a spot when wide stretches of fallow

fields were immediately at hand and apparently more suited to her

purpose. Perhaps she enjoyed the noise of trains thundering past

her day and night—some peculiar people do.

-At the time of my inspection two of the eggs had just hatched

and the young already vacated the nest which was now swarming

with small black ants. Looking round I saw the female Sand

Grouse not ten yards away, with a nestling sheltering against

her. She was joined presently by the male bird while I was

photographing the. chick.. Together they ran first. in one

direction and then another but finally the male took wing and flew

out of sight. Shortly he returned, to settle some. way inside a

field. At once he called, and as I had by this time finished camera

operations, he was immediately joined by his wife and child, the

chick remaining between its parents (who lay surprisingly low)

motil I had taken my departure. The other chick I] never saw:

perhaps it had already fallen a victim to one of the numerous enemies

of all ground-nesting birds.

I noted at the time that the Sand Grouse nestling is ‘light

reddish-brown above with much light buff markings, most pro-

nounced on the head. Underparts white or buffish-white’ but I

expect the New fauna describes the colouring more accurately :

I therefore quote Mr. Stuart Baker’s remarks :—‘Above pale ginger

broken by white patterns and lines, picked out in black; underparts

isabelline-white, darkest on the throat; the pattern on the head

and on the back assumes the shape of a figure of eight’!.

Four species of ducks breed commonly in the plains, the Nukta,

Lesser Whistling Teal, Cotton Teal and Spotbill. I have personai

knowledge of the nesting of only the first two. On the extensive

Boran jhil in the Bhagalpur district, on the right bank of the

Ganges, the Lesser Whistling Teal used to breed commonly; per-

haps it still does so. One nest I found was in a hole of a tree

standing in water, and as I counted the twenty-four eggs in the

— a a nl

776 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

cavity the teal splashed about, striking the water first with one

wing, then the other, and finally with both, just in front of me,

obviously trying to decoy me away. Occasionally the eggs rested

on a fallen-down collection of sticks, about five feet above the water,

probably the old nest of an open-bill. Most often, however, they

reposed in a nest of coarse grass built by the teal on the floating

islands of grass and weeds which were a feature of this Jhil. Al-

ways over these nests was an awning to conceal the sitting bird.

The boatmen knew this type of nest so well that frequently as the

‘whistler’ flew sluggishly off her eggs, they knocked the bird down

with the long pole with which they propelled their flimsy craft.

Once only—in the Mainpuri district—have I seen a nest of this

species on the ground; this was built on a narrow, grass-grown

bund of a small tank, about five yards from the shore. I have not

seen down incorporated in a single nest and believe the bird dis-

penses with this luxury altogether.

Both because of its large size and owing to its beak being

low at the tip and high at the base the layman may well be for-

given for terming the Nukta a goose and not a duck. Normally

the bird goes about in pairs, the drake noticeably larger than the.

duck and possessing also a large knob on. the upper mandible

which becomes even more pronounced with the approach of the

nesting season, a knob looking like an inverted swarm of bees,

the type which hangs dangerously at the entrances to old

Moghul buildings. At the close of the nesting season, however,

I have occasionally seen parties of fifty and even over one hundred

Nuktas paddling about near the weedy margin of a favourite jhil

round which grew many mango trees, the tree most favoured by

this species for breeding purposes. The nest is generally butit in

a hole but sometimes in an open position in the considerable space

formed where two or three large branches radiate from the main

trunk, and is usually situated at no great height from the ground,

twelve to fifteen feet being the average. It is made of sticks and

grass but as the bottom of the nest cavity may be three or four

feet from the entrance, as was the case with the bird whose photo

is here reproduced, it is not always an easy matter to say how

many eggs have been laid; at one moment it appeared that this

particular nest contained twelve eggs but five minutes later fourteen.

Normally I think eight to ten are laid but as many as forty-seven

have been recorded, not improbably the produce of two or more

birds. These are of an ivory colour when first laid but soon

become discoloured with incubation. The breeding season extends

roughly from the middle of July to the middle or end of September.

With the exception of the Red Jungle-Fowl, no bird with which

I am acquainted, not even the water-rail, is more shy or suspicious

in the approach to the nest than the Nukta. Nor is this surpris-

ing if we remember that once the duck is inside the nest cavity

she can easily be caught: a fate which only too often the bird

meets with at the hands of villagers, to whom its nesting habits

are usually well known.

From the time that the duck perches on some thick branch

high up on the nesting tree, apparently for no other reason

DOC.

—~

Journ. BomBay Nat. Hi

JKHTA AT

ravourec

»)

Tango trees are most

MB-

a8)

pecie

by this s

NOTES ON: SOME INDIAN BIRDS a

than to rest or preen herself, till by slow degrees she enters the

nesting cavity, always travelling by the same route and after each

stage in the journey preening herself again or looking round non-

chalantly, it is nothing unusual for an hour or more to pass. There

is nothing clumsy about the bird’s movements as she flies down

from one branch to another, nor does she give one the impression

of having some definite object in view; rather does she leave one

with the feeliug that the last perch was not too comfortable and

that one more suited to her needs is now being sought.

In the case of the pair of Nuktas with which these notes deal,

during the five days the nest remained under observation the drake

visited the home tree once daily during the hours of daylignt.

Always he circled round first, calling loudly, before alighting, high

up, but well concealed by the foliage, so that he could not be

seen. | Not once did he venture near-the nest cavity. On one

occasion the duck answered the summons—for such it appeared to

be—and the pair left the tree together, the drake leading. It was

amusing to watch how, when leaving the nest, she disclosed her-

self very gradually and only emerged when confident the coast was

perfectly clear. Then, before flying off, she ascended the tree by

stages, following in reverse order the procedure adopted when

going to the nest. It was nearly an hour before she re-appeared

and a further thirty minutes before she reached the nesting’ hole.

At other times the drake remained on the tree till the late after-

noon when finally he left by himself.

By combining business with pleasure I have frequently managed

to spend more than the odd day indulging my hobby but I shall

always regret that the short leave which I too rarely can avail

of has been insufficient to watch for a prolonged period the nest-

ing habits of such an interesting species as the Nukta. Particul-

arly would I have liked to see how the young are initially taken

to the water. A samindar friend who said he had once witnessed

the event but who was known to be given to exaggerating matters,

stated the duck took the young down in her jill, fone at<a time,

to the ground at the foot of the tree, and that when they had been

marshalled Benes they were led away to the jhil, which was only

a few yards distant, the drake there joining the family party.

Perhaps one day some competent and reliable observer more fortunate

than J may be priv ileged to witness this interesting milestone in

the Nukta duckling’s life and describe exactly how the young leave

their home.

NOTES ON THE ORCHIDS OF MURREE HILL.

ABDUL HAMEED, M.SC.,

Lecturer in Biology, Lawrence College, Ghora Gali, Punjab.

(With g plates).

The plants have been collected from a small area only. This

area forms a small part of the uncultivated mountainous wedge of

the outer Himalayas. Murree, the most important hill station of

Northern India, is situated on top of this wedge. It varies in

height from 5,459 ft. (Murree Brewery) to 7,413 ft. (Kashmir Point)

above sea-level. The area is two-faced as regards the distribution

of vegetation. The eastern face is dry, with scanty undergrowth,

and ‘Chil’ pine (Pinus longifolia) as the commonest tree. The

western face is dampish, with dense undergrowth, and oaks and the

blue pine (Pinus excelsa) the commonest trees. Most of the orchids

collected from the area grow on the western slopes.

Only nine species of orchids are found in this locality. They

are all terrestrial. This small number is perhaps due to the in-

sufficient rainfall during the year (55-60 inches). 38 species of

orchids have been described from Simla and its neighbourhood,

which area though situated at the same height above sea-level

as Murree, gets more rain during the year (85-90 inches).

I take this opportunity of expressing my gratefulness to Mrs.

Pushong who illustrated the specimens.

The flower of an orchid. (See Plate VIII).

The flower of an orchid is unlike a common flower in certain

respects. It is greatly modified, especially in its essential parts, in

order to adapt itself for pollination by insects. In most orchids, the

flower is twisted round in such a way that the parts which have

developed anteriorly come to lie posteriorly in the open flower.

Generally each flower has 3 sepals and 3 petals. In most orchids,

one of the petals is of a characteristic shape. It is called the

labellum, or the lip (1). It performs various functions. It serves

as a landing place for visiting insects, secretes honey, and in some

cases is produced into a long, honey-filled spur. The stamens

are confluent with the pistil to form a structure called the

column (c). The stamen is situated on top of the column. It is

without a filament. The pollen is not in the form of a loose, dusty

powder, but the grains are bound together by means of elastic

threads to form masses called pollinia. These pollinia are very

sticky, but can be removed easily with a needle. The stigma (st)

lies below the stamen on top of the column. In certain flowers a

peculiar structure lies between the stamen and the stigma. This

structure is known as the rostellum (r). According to Darwin it

represents a modified stigma. It generally secretes a viscid matter,

NOTES ON THE ORCHIDS OF MURREE HILL 779

to which the pollinia adhere very easily, thus they can be reached

and easily removed by the visiting insects.

Cephalanthera ensifolia. The Narrow Hellebcrine Plate I.

This beautiful orchid is locally, but wrongly, known as_ the

‘Lily of the Valley’. The thin creeping rhizome lies deep down in

the soil, and bears long, unbranched, thick adventitious roots.

The embedded portion of the stem bears colourless, sheathing, scale-

like leaves. The green leaves are narrow, simple, alternate, and

sheathing. The lower leaves are broader than the upper leaves.

The creamy-white flowers are borne on a long, slender spike.

Each flower is bracteate. The sepals are free, with converg-

ing tips. The lateral petals are as long as the sepals. The labellum

consists of two parts, a cup-like, orange-tinted basal portion em-

bracing the base of the column, and an outer portion with orange-

tinted tip, and raised side walls, hinged on to it.

The column is erect, with the stigma on its summit. Rostellum

is absent. The stamen stands behind the stigma. Each anther

lobe is longitudinally split, and stands like a pillar. The pollen

grains are not gathered into pollinia, and are very friable.

The absence of pollinia, and the complete abortion of rostellum

in this orchid is, according to Darwin an evidence of its degrada-

tion. He looks upon this orchid as a degraded Epipactis.

Flowering season:—Middle of April to middle of May.

Liparis rostrata. Plate i

A very common and delicate orchid, found abundantly on the

shady slopes along the West Road. The basal portion of the stem

is bulb-like, and bears slender roots. The leaves are broad, and

sheathing. The flowers grow on a slender spike.

Each flower is bracteate, the bracts being smalJ. The sepals

are broad. The two lateral petals are rolled in on themselves, and

hang downwards like threads. The labellum is bi-lobed, slightly

tinted, with glandular spots at the base, and supported by lateral

sepals. The stamen is in the form of a triangular flap, hinged at

the back to the top of the column, which is short, and slightly bent

towards the labellum. The stamen lies bent over the stigma at

the top of the column. When it is lifted up, the pollinia, yellow

and round, are left behind. The stamen is prolonged into a long

beak.

The top of the column has a wing-like expansion, which partly

conceals the stigma.

Flowering season :—Middle of July to middle of August.

Herminium angustifolium, Plate III.

A very graceful and rare orchid found growing among the

undergrowth on shady slopes. There are two root tubers at

the base of the stem, and a few unbranched fibrous roots. The

stem is slender and hairless, and bears simple, linear, sheathing

leaves. The flowers are small and greenish, and crowded on a

long, slender spike.

780 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLi

Each flower is bracteate, the bracts being small, linear, and

smaller than the ovary. The sepals are small and greenish. The

lateral petals are thin, and as long as the sepals. The labellum is

adnate to the base of the column. It is bi-fid, with long, divergent

side lobes, and a small point in between.

The column is short, and expanded at the top. The two anther

lobes are attached to its face. .The pollinia are provided with

caudicles and glands. The stigma is bi-lobed.

Flowering season:—Middle of July to middle of August.

Habenaria Edgeworthii, Plate IV.

A very common orchid. The stem generally bears one large

root tuber, and a few root fibres at the base. The leaves are

simple, alternate, and sheathing. The flowers are developed on

a long spike.

Each flower is bracteate. The sepals are greenish, with the

upper sepal erect, and the two lateral sepals bent downwards. The

lateral petals are longer than the sepals, linear, and yellowish. The

yellowish labellum is undivided, its basal portion is broad, and the

terminal portion narrow, and bent downwards. It is produced into

a long spur, which is narrow and slightly curved.

The column is short. The anther lobes are adnate to its face,

and separated by a space.. Each pollinium bears a caudicle and

a sticky gland. The stigma consists of two projecting arms.

Flowering season:—Middle of July to middle of August.

Habenaria intermedia. Plate V.

A rare orchid with large and beautiful flowers, and found on the

shady eastern slopes. The base of the stem bears two large tubers,

and a few slender roots. The stem is stout, and hairless. The

leaves are simple, alternate and sheathing. Only a few flowers are

developed on a twisted spike.

Each flower is bracteate. The bracts are leaf-like, the lower

being longer and the upper smaller than the ovary.

The sepals are greenish. -The upper sepal is broad, with a

green centre and thin white bent-in edges. The lateral sepals are

out-spreading. The lateral petals are thin, with divergent tips.

They stand out in the centre. The labellum is very remarkable.

Its basal region is narrow, and produced into a long, greenish-

yellow, honey-carrying spur with a slightly enlarged tip. The

terminal portion is tri-lobed. The central lobe is linear, and un-

branched and as long as the side lobes, which bear along their outer

sides long thread-like projections. In most of the flowers examined

the labellum and the spur were partly bitten off, probably by insects.

The column is short and stout. The anther lobes are separated

by a deep space. Each anther lobe is like a deep, longitudinally

split space with projecting sides. The pollen grains are bound

together by elastic threads into pollinia. The stigmas are small

and rounded, and placed on top of needie-like, closely applied arms

in the centre.

Mlowering season:—Middle of August to middle of September.

NOLES @ON THE ORCHIDS Oi MU Rigk a. fie 781

Habenaria Aitchisonia. Plate VI.

This is a very common orchid, found on damp shady slopes.

The base of the stem bears two fleshy root tubers and a few un-

branched root fibres. The stem is slender and slightly rough. It

bears only two prominent leaves that lie flat on the ground. Each

leaf is nearly circular, bluish-green in colour, patched with white,

and has a short pointed apex. A few bract-like leaves lie above

them. The spike bearing flowers is long and slender.

Each flower is bracteate, the bracts being linear, brown-tipped,

and smaller than the ovary. The upper sepal is erect, and support

the yellowish-green lateral petals. The lateral sepals are out-

spreading. The labellum is thin, tri-lobed, and produced into a

fone spur at the base. The-lateral lobes ate supported on the

lateral sepals in freshly opened flowers. The middle lobe is slightly

thicker.

The column is short. The anther lobes lhe apart, each looking

like a longitudinally split space. The pollen grains are united to

form pollinia. The stigma is fleshy.

Flowering season:—Middle of August to middle of September.

Epipactis latifolia, Plate VII.

This is a very common orchid. The creeping rhizome bears

many unbranched adventitious roots, forming together a compact

nest-like structure. The stem is erect, stout, and bears many

simple, alternate, sheathing leaves. The flowers are crowded on

a long spike.

Each flower is bracteate, and greenish-yellow. The lower bracts

are longer and the upper shorter than the ovary.

The sepals are pouched, greenish-yellow, and erect in young

flowers, but out-spreading in older flowers. The lateral petals are

as long as the sepals. The labellum consists of 2 parts. The basal

part is-thick, cup-shaped, glandular, and filled with honey in certain

flowers. The terminal portion is hinged on to the basal portion,

and turned downwards in open flowers. It is like the labellum of

Cephalanthera ensifolia.

The column is short and stout. The stamen is attached behind

to the top of the column. Each anther lobe is longitudinally split,

and the pollen masses are visible.. The rostellum. is well developed,

and stands on top of the column. It is covered over by a cap of

sticky, soft, and whitish substance. The stigma is broad and

projecting.

This orchid, according to Darwin is pollinated by wasps.

Flowering season:—Middle of August to middle of September.

Neottia listeroides. RBird’s Nest Orchid. Plate VIII.

This orchid is a total saprophyte, and commonly grows in

shady places among dead and decaying vegetable matter along the

West Road. It is practically devoid of chlorophyll. The rhizome

bears thick, unbranched adventitious roots interwoven to form a

compact nest-like structure—hence the name. The older roots

sometimes grow into a new plant. The stem is erect, and covered

782, JOURNAL, “BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCEET Ve AVole eer

over with stiff, colourless, sheathing scale leaves. The small

yellowish flowers are crowded on a long and hairy spike.

Each flower is bracteate, the bracts being smaller than the

ovary. The sepals are out-spread in open flowers. The lateral

petals are small and linear. The labellum is very conspicuous. It

hangs down at an angle. It is flat, greenish along its centre, and

bi-lobed at the tip. There is no spur.

The column is long and slightly bent towards the labellum.

The stamen is free and protected from behind bv a flap-like exten-_

sion of the top of the column. The pollinia in open flowers rest

against the tongue-like rostellum, which partly hides the stigma

below.

Flowering season:—Middle of August to middle of September.

Satyrium nepalense. Plate IX.

A rare orchid, found on the sunny slopes above and below the

Rifle Range. The stem bears two large and fleshy root tubers,

and a few unbranched root fibres. The leaves are large, thick,

alternate and sheathing. A few leaf-like bracts lie above them.

The flowers are pinkish, scented, and crowded on a long spike.

Each flower is bracteate. The bracts are pink-edged, and

turned down in open flowers. The flowers are remarkable in the

fact that they are not twisted round like other flowers described

before.

The sepals are pink. The upper sepal is recurved, but the

lateral sepals are out-spread. The lateral petals are smaller than

the sepals, and their tips are turned down. The labellum is post-

erior in position, hood-like, and adnate to the base of the column.

It is produced into two long, slender, downward pointing spurs.

Each spur is green-tipped, and longer than the ovary.

The column is short and slender, and a broad, concave stigma

is placed at its top. It is produced in front into a beak-like pro-

jection immediately below the stigma. Each antherlobe hangs on

either side near the base of this projection. The pollinia with their

caudicles and the sticky glands are quite visible.

Flowering season:—Middle of August to middle of September.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. Arber, A.—Monocotyledons. Camb. Univ. Press, 1925.

2. Bamber, C. J.—Plants of the Punjab. Govt. Printing Press, Lahore,

1916.

3. Collet, Henry.—Flora Simlensis.. Thacker Spink and Co., Calcutta,

1921.

by insects. John Murray, London, 1899.

5. Fritch and Salisbury. An introduction to the Study of Plants. G. Bell

and Sons, London, 1925.

6. Lowson and Sahni.—Text-Book of Indian Botany. Indian Edition.

University Tutorial Press, London, 1925.

7. Strasburger—Text-Book of Botany. Macmillan and Co., London, 1930.

8. Willis, J. C.—Flowering Plants and Ferns, Camb, Univ. Press, 1925.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Cephalanthra ensifolia.

\ we

. y wo -

3: mie

a a,

hue

Pirate |

For explanation see end of article,

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Pirate II

Liparis rostrata.

For explanation see end of article.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Prate III

Herminium angustifolium.

For explanation see end of article.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

(Q6Biccen -

SU,

Pits

(CUES vs Y

HES ede

WW? S

Habenaria Edgeworthii

For explanation

Prate IV

see end of article.

‘x

Peete Ur, eae

mY aos aie a

Pah i

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

OH TH Weegee

ey Y | > & LURE

YY, ‘\ yee asins

Sip)

Pe? Tura

SARC:

CASAS

Te, vim } ey

AE ANY

TY KE

AS:

Habenaria intermedia.

For explanation see end of article,

Pcate V

Journ,, Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Pirate VI

Habenaria Aitchisonia.

For explanation see end of article,

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

‘>

gS VY pill,

Re WW) AVN ean) /a dey

SITUA ory me WY ry,

: WIS

a sit PILSEN OO ay ig

ers ily

Uy »

| wy

Uy ans er

Epipactis latifolia.

For explanation see end of article.

Pirate VIi

Puate VIII

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Neottia listeroides.

Gay

ay \?

For explanation see end of article.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Pirate IX

epee

gta Cae

saree era

ern

—— ee

=z Se

Ae)

Satyrium nepalense.

For explanation see end of article.

NOTES ON THE ORCHIDS OF MURREE HILL 783

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

Plate I. Cephalanthera enstfolia.

A. Entire plant.

B. Flower showing labellum (1). Sepals (sp). Stamen (s).

Plate II. Liparis rostrata.

A. Entire plant.

B. Flower showing sepals (sp). Petals (p). Labellum (1). Column (c).

Bract (d).

Plate III. Herminium angustifolium.

A. Entire plant.

B. Flower showing sepals (sp). Petals (p). Labellum (1). Stamen (s).

Bract (d).

Plate IV. Habenaria Edgeworthit.

A. Entire plant.

B. Flower showing spur (Kk). Labellum (1). Stamen (s). Ovary (o).

Plate V. Habenaria intermedia.

A. Plant showing tuberous roots.

B. Spike bearing flowers.

Pilate VI. Hahenaria Aitchisonia.

Plate VII. Epipactis latifolia.

A. Rhizome with adventitious roots.

B. Portion of the stem.

C. Spike.

D. Flower showing labellum (1). Stamen (s). Ovary (0).

Plate VIII. Neottia listeroides.

A. Entire plant. B. Single flower. C. Flower showing only ;—

Labellum (1). Column (c). Stamen (s). Stigma (st).

Rostellum (r). ;

Plate IX. Satyrium nepalense.

A. Portion of the stem. B. Spike. C. Anterior view of the flower.

D. Posterior view of the flower. E. Flower showing only ovary (0). Spur. (k).

Labellum (1). Column (c). Stamen (s). Stigma (st).

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA?

SUNDER [au THIORA, D:SC.) hoRi SoBe) 8.25.9 bReAc SB eh aNGlee

Assistant Superintendent, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta.

(With one colour plate, one black and white plate, and

five text-jfigures).

(Continued from page 525 of Vol. xli, No. 3).

X.—THE MAHSEERS OR THE LARGE-SCALED BARBELS OF INDIA.

3. THe Mosat Manseer, Barbus (Tor) mosal (Hamilton).

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction 2 784

Synonymy and Description 785

Measurements 789

Mode of feeding and the ‘role of the ares Teeth 790

Acknowledgments 794

List of References 794

Explanation of Plates 794

INTRODUCTION.

‘Though the earlier authors recognised the specific validity of

Hamilton’s (5, p. 306)? third large-scaled Barbel, Cyprinus (Cyprinus)

mosal, the later workers regarded it only as a synonym of Barbus

tor. In 1936, Hora and Mukerji (6; ps 140}-Stated: that according

to Hamilton’s descriptions C. putitora and C. mosal have much in

common and, therefore, considered them to be conspecific. In

arriving at this conclusion they attached special importance to the

form of the dorsal surface in front of the dorsal fin, and to the pale

colour of the fins in both the species. In the material before them

from the Eastern Doons they regarded the form with enlarged

lips as male representing B. putitora, and the form with ordinary

lips as female representing B. mosal. In an earlier article I (8,

pp. 279-282) have surmised that the enlargement of lips is pro-

bably not a sexual character but may prove to be an adaptative

feature induced by life in swift currents. As is well known Hamil-

a a

* Published with permission of Director, Zoological Survey of India.

* Numerals in thick type within brackets refer to the serial numbers of the

various publications listed at the end of the paper.

—_____—____ eee —————— = a a —_——

———

‘(uoyIMeH) “IVSOW (AOL) SALAVEA ‘JoosTeW TPSOW IL

nen A,

‘20S ‘JSIET ‘JUN Avquiog ‘winof

"T Id

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA 785

ton’s descriptions are’more or less) “generalized, but in his

notes on the fish and fisheries of Bengal (wide Day 3, p. 65) he

compared Mosal with Tor and observed that

‘The Mdsdl of the Kusf is a very large fish, which many people think still

better than the Rohu, and compare to the salmon. I cannot say that I could

perceive any resemblance. It does not grow to such an immense size as the

Mahdsaul of the Brahmaputra, but has very large scales, and has a_ great

affinity to that fish, and still more to the one last mentioned.’ (Turfya or

Sahara of the Kosi R.).

From the above statement it is clear that Hamilton’s mosal is

more closely allied to his tor than to his putitora. Though in his

brief characterization of the species Hamilton (9, p. 388) says

‘pinnis pallidis’, his full description shows that ‘The fins have no

spots, and a slight orange tinge.’ The Mosal was found in the

river Kosi where it is said to grow to four or five feet in length.

leas Stated to be «ot a long; compressed, but thick form, more

prominent on the back than on the belly; its colours shining above

with green and gold, and below with silver’. According to Hamilton,

‘The head is sharp, oval, and narrower than the body, and smooth,

with a small tubercle between the nostrils, as in the last species

| Cyprinus tor| but less strongly marked.’

Fortunately Hamilton made a drawing of his Cyprinus mosal

which was reproduced by Gray (4, I, pl. xcili, fig. 1) in his ‘TIllus-

trations of Indian Zoology’ without any acknowledgment or letter-

press. Some of the salient features of the fish can be made out

from this illustration, which is reproduced here on plate 1. The

head is sharpish and the body is almost as deep as the length of

the head. The lips are not enlarged, and the eye is situated wholly

in the anterior half of the head. The dorsal spine is strong and

bony; it 1s almost as long as the head without the snout. The

tail narrows gradually towards the posterior end.

SYNONYMY AND DESCRIPTION.

Barbus (Tor) mosal (Hamilton)

1822. Cyprinus (Cyprinus) mosal, Hamilton, Fish. Ganges, pp. 306, 388.

1832. Cyprinus mosal, Gray, Ill. Ind. Zool., I, pl. xciii, fig. 1.

1839. Barbus megalepis, McClelland, As. Res., XIX, pp. 271, 337.

1877. Barbus hexastichus, Day, Fish. India, p. 565, pl. cxxxvi, fig. 4.

1889. Barbus hexastichus, Day, Maung Brit. India, 1s ps) 308.

1889. Barbus hexastichus, Vinciguerra, Ann. Mus. Civ. Stor. Nat. Genova,

TX (2) ) pa 20r-

1929. Barbus hexastichus, Prashad & Mukherji, Rec. Ind. Mus., KX Xt,

p..200; text-fig:, 7.

1934. Barbus tor, Mukerji (in part), Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.,

KAO ILL. sp. 63.

In characterizing Barbus mosal I have relied mainly on the

description and figure of the species by Hamilton (5); features that

distinguish it from B. putitora and B. tor are given above in the

introduction. In this species the depth of the body is more or less

equal to the length of the head (considerably greater in B. tor and

considerably less in B. putitora); the dorsal profile is more elevated

than the ventral, the head is sharpish in front and the dorsal spine

786 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

is very strong. In the collection of the Indian Museum, B. mosal

is represented by a few specimens and even these are mostly from

Burma. The species may be described as follows :—

D. 4/8-957 803/52. 7 Ve Sonn ice:

Text-fig. 1.—Lateral view of a specimen of Mosal Mahseer, Barbus (Tor)

mosal (Hamilton) from Upper Chindwin, Burma, in the collection of the

American Museum of Natural History. x 3.

The Mosal Mahseer (text-fig. 1) is a graceful fish in which the

dorsal profile is more prominently arched than the ventral. The

head is of moderate size and more or less pointed anteriorly. The

length of the head is contained from 3°5 to 4’o times in the standard

length; the height of the head at the occiput is considerably greater

than its width. Though in Hamilton’s figure the eyes are shown

in the anterior half of the head, in the specimens examined by

me the eyes are only Slightly nearer the tip of the snout than) to

the posterior margin of the operculum; the diameter of the eye is

contained about 3°3 times in the length of the head in smaller

individuals and 4°2 times in medium-sized specimens. In Hamilton’s

drawing the eye is contained 7 times in head, but it has to be

remembered that Hamilton may have made his sketch from a

specimen ‘four to five feet long’. As has been indicated in an

earlier note on the Silond Catfish (7, p. 144) the proportions vary

considerably with the growth of the fish. In young specimens the

snout is almost equal to the diameter of the eye, but with growth

it becomes considerably longer than the eye. Similarly the interor-

bital width in relation to the diameter of the eye increases con-

siderably with the growth of the fish. The depth of the body is

more or less equal to the length of the head and is contained

from 3°3 to 4’o times in the standard length. The,least height

of the caudal peduncle is contained from 1°4 to 1°6 times in its

length.

The mouth is of moderate width; its gape does not extend to

below the eyes and is somewhat obliquely directed upwards. The

lips are fleshy and continuous at the angles of the mouth. In the

specimens examined by me the posterior lip is produced into a

median lobe, the extent of which varies considerably; the post-

labial groove is continuous. With regard to the enlargement of

the lips observations have already been made in the two earlier

articles on the Putitor and the Tor Mahseers. In Mosal Mahseer

Ee eee

———

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Pcate If

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Copies of Hamilton’s original drawings of Cyprinus (cyprinus) mosal.

2.—Lateral view.

1.—Outline of dorsal view. Fig.

Fig.

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA 787

also, the lips may be plain as shown in Hamilton’s figure of the

species (plate ii) or hypertrophied as is the case in the specimens

Text-fig. 2.—Ventral surface of head and anterior part of body of the

specimen of Mosal Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) mosal (Hamilton), collected by

Mr. D. E. B. Manning from the Mintha Stream, Tavoy District, Burma.

Nat. size.

before me (text-fig. 2). With regard to the various forms of

Mahseer based on this character Beavan (I, p. 43) observed that

‘These fish vary so much, however, with regard to the apparent shape

of their heads and the thickness of their lips, according to their age, the kind

of stream they are living in, and the season of the year, that I think it safer

at present to leave them under one name, although they may possibly turn

out eventually to belong to two or more distinct species. I have found

generally that those which are found in still water, or such as have been

feeding chiefly on water weeds, and the larger specimens, have soft thick

lips, more or less lobed, of which the upper has a tendency to project over

the lower one, and to make it out, the only reliable point seems to be the

comparative length of the head.’

These observations, though they do not bear out my contention

that the enlargement of the lips is a character which may be in-

duced for purposes of adhesion in individuals living in swift cur-

rents, show that the hypertrophy of the lips is not a sexual character

but may be produced through the operation of environmental

788° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. “SOCIETY, Vol. XEL

factors, such as food, nature of stream, etc. As indicated in an

earlier article (8, p. 282) it is desirable that to elucidate this point

anglers should make comprehensive observations on the nature of

the streams and the Mahseers caught therefrom.

The maxillary barbels are longer than the rostral barbels and

are somewhat shorter or longer than the diameter of the eye. The

scales are large, there being 23 to 26 scales along the lateral line

and 24 rows between it and the base of the pelvic fin. The general

lepidosis is similar to that described for the other two kinds of

Mahseer. There is a well-developed scaly appendage in the axil

of each pelvic fin.

The dorsal fin commences opposite to or slightly in advance of

the pelvics; it commences midway between the tip of the snout

and the base of the caudal fin, but this character may vary with

the size of the specimen. The last dorsal spine is very strong

and bony, and though it is generally less than the depth of the body

below it, in young specimens it may be equal to it. The pectoral

fins are low, pointed at the top and considerably shorter than the

length of the head. The pelvic fins are also sharp and do not extend

to the anal fin. The caudal fin is deeply forked with both the lobes

pointed.

The colouration of the species varies considerably with the type

of waters inhabited by it. Hamilton (5, p. 306) noted that its

colours are: ‘shining above with green and gold, and below with

silver. The fins have no spots, and a slight orange tinge. The

eyes are silvery, dotted above.’ . In sendine me a specimen @and

colour sketch of B. mosal collected in the Mintha Stream, Tavoy

District, Burma, Mr. D. E. B. Manning observed that ‘The fish

is very much duller than the true Mahseer and is more yellow than

gold in appearance.’ With his kind permission I am reproducing

his sketch as the colour plate for this article. It will be noticed

that in the Tavoy example the dorsal surface of the head and the

anterior part of the body is olivaceous yellow which is replaced

posteriorly by a burnt amber colour. A small portion of the body

behind the head is purplish yellow, while above the lateral line it

is Indian yellow, and below bluish silvery white. In front of the

caudal fin the tail is vinaceous pink; the fin itself is orangish yellow

with a border of purplish yellow. The dorsal fin is light reddish

orange with neutral tint at its basal part. The basal parts of the

pectoral and pelvic fins have a neutral tint while the distal portions

are light orange yellow. The anal fin is reddish neutral. Below

the eyes the head is yellow with shades of silver blue and pink.

Bionomics and Distribution.x—No_ specific observations on the

bionomics of B. mosal are available. Mr. Manning in his notes

remarked that ‘This fish is not common, but generally frequents

mahseer streams where it is said to be mainly leaf eating. I took

this specimen on a 2” spoon in the Mintha Stream in the Mintha

Reserve.’ The Burmese name for it is Mgayan-weh and according

to Mr. Manning it is possibly the Yellow Mahseer. From the

specimens examined by me, B. mosal appears to be more common

in Burma than in the Himalayan streams,

INDIA

GAME FISHES OF

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790 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

MopE OF FEEDING AND THE ROLE OF THE PHARYNGEAL TEETH.

Like all Cyprinoid fishes, the Mahseers are devoid of any teeth

in the jaws, but this loss is compensated by the remarkable develop-

ment of the fifth branchial arch, the pharyngeal teeth and _ the

WW) ae ee

HN SSS

Text-fig. 3.— Ventral view of the branchial arches and a portion of the

hyoid arch of Putitor Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) putitora (Hamilton). x 1}.

g. Gills; ph.b. Pharyngeal bone; ph.t. Pharyngeal teeth.

Notice the position of the pharyngeal bones and their teeth in the throat

of the fish just behind the four gill-bearing arches. The teeth can be readily

exposed by making an incision along the mid-ventral line of the head.

pharyngeal muscles. These teeth lie in the throat of the fish (text-

fig. 3) and, in consequence, are not used in catching or holding the

prey, but are employed for tearing and masticating purposes. In

Cyprinoid fishes, as a rule, the upper jaw is protrusible and, as these

fishes are mostly bottom-feeders the upper lip, in apposition with

the lower, forms a sucking cup. I have noticed that when the young

of Catla [Catla catla (Ham.)|, Rohu [Labeo rohita (Ham.)] and

Mirgal [Cirrhina mrigala (Ham.)| were introduced in a filter bed

of the Calcutta Corporation Waterworks at Pulta the surface of

the bed became covered with small regular pits owing to the

bottom-feeding habit and the suctorial action of the mouth. The

sucking action of the mouth in the case of Mahseer is discussed

in detail by Thomas (9, pp. 45, 46) who made the following test

to verify this action :—

‘To test their power of sucking up, I have fed them at a place where they

were accustomed to be fed, and tempted them nearer and nearer, till they were

well within observation, and having then thrown in a good handful of rice,

THE GAME FISHES OF INDIA 791

so that much of it must sink to the bottom before they could get it, I watched

them taking it off the sandy bottom. They sucked it up with great rapidity,

so that it wanted close observation, but I watched them very carefully for

Text-fig. 4.—Left pharyngeal bone and teeth of Putitor Mahseer, Barbus

(Tor) putitora (Hamilton). x 3.

a. Dorso-lateral view, showing the pitted surface; b. Lateral view, showing

arrangement of teeth in three rows—5, 3, 2; c. Ventro-lateral view, showing

the decaying basal portion of the second tooth of the outer row.

The teeth are curved near their extremity and are hooked and pointed. The

length of head of the specimen is 110 mm.

7928 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL sHISi *SOCtRT Y. Volt ec

some time, and distinctly saw the upper lip thrust out from its socket, and

brought down over the rice, and then there was a clear act of suction for

each grain, though the grains were taken up one after another nearly as fast

as a fowl picks up corn. The fish the while were not swimming level in the

water, but with their tails just enough inclined upwards to allow the pectoral

fins to work without touching the bottom. The pectoral fins were so near the

bottom that the motion contributed to the water by each vibration stiried up

the fine sand, but they did not touch the bottom. By the suction from the

mouth, however, I could not perceive that’ any sand at all was disturbed.

They picked up the single grains of rice cleanly and cleverly, and quickly.’

According to Thomas, this type of sucking mouth enables the

fish to feed at various depths at pleasure, and this is corroborated

by the fact that Mahseers can suck floating objects as easily as

the organisms lying at the bottom. Moreover the power of com-

pression exercised by the lips and jaws is so great that small fish

etc. are instantly killed.

Anglers in India often preserve the pharyngeal teeth (text-fig. 4)

of Mahseers as trophies, especially as they provide a fairly reliable

evidence of the size of the specimen to which they belonged. In

the circumstances the sportsmen are naturally interested in

some knowledge of the growth, form and function of these teeth.

So far reliance has been placed on the account given by Thomas

(9, p. 47), but recent enquiries made through the Bombay Natural

History Society show that more up-to-date and detailed information

is now sought. Thomas stated:

‘These pharyngeal or throat teeth are not set in sockets like human teeth,

but are continuations of the pharyngeal bones. Unlike other teeth in fish

instead of dentine, they have a coating of enamel, which is continued to their

base. There seems to be no provision for renewing them in case of loss, no

adjoining row of teeth as in the shark, no second tooth below as in the human

being; and in an instance in which I noticed that two were wanting on one

side, the place where they should be was quite smooth. They are not used

for capturing food at all, but for crushing it in its passage down the throat.

The fine perforations through which. they are supplied with nerves and nutri-

ment are easily seen. The attachment of the muscles to the pharyngeal bones

is also very apparent and in keeping with what we know of the power with

which they .are_ used.’

Though in general Thomas’s statement about the pharyngeal

teeth is quite sound, the views about their development and replace-

ment are not correct. It is now known that in Carps of various

kinds the teeth are developed from the mucous membranes over-

lying the inner lateral surfaces of the pharyngeals and later become

ankylosed to the bony processes of the pharyngeals. ‘They are

‘shed from time to time and new ones coming in from the side

succeed them throughout life.’ (2, p. 95). In making preparations

of the pharyngeal teeth, sometimes, besides the functional teeth

which are attached to the pharyngeals, other teeth (text-fig. 5) in

various stages of development may be observed freely embedded

in the mucous membrane and destined to replace the old teeth whea

they are lost. It has also to be borne in mind that ‘Although the

teeth of Cyprinids are so intimately incorporated with the pharyn-

geals that they appear as a part of the bone, they are of different

morphology and origin. The pharyngeals are cartilage bones en-

tirely of mesodermal origin, while the teeth have a double origin--

HE GAME FISHES “Ol. IN DYA 793

the enamel from the ectoderm; the dentine, pulp and cemenc trom

the mesoderm and arise independently of the pharyngeals.’ (2, p. 95).

The fact that most of the anglers, when macerating’ the teeth,

are liable to throw away the young growing teeth with the muscles

and membranes has probably led to the belief that the teeth, once

shed, are not replaced.

. Text-fig. 5.—Young teeth of the Putitor Mahseer, Barbus (Ter) putitora

(Hamilton), in various positions and stages of development removed from the

mucous membrane of the teeth. x Io.

In Mahseers there are ro teeth on each pharyngeal bone

arranged in three rows of 5, 3 and 2 teeth (text-fig. 4 b) respectively.

It has been observed that up to about 7 lbs. weight the teeth are

hooked and pointed (text-fig. 4), but from 9g Ibs. upwards

they show signs of wear and are invariably flattened and

smooth on their tops. This wear and flattening becomes more

and more marked as the fish grows older. The form of the

teeth is generally correlated with the nature of the food and

it is well-known that whereas in the younger stages Mahseer feed

on algae, insects, smali fish, etc., middle-sized specimens and

older ones take to feeding on crabs, molluscs and other hard

objects for which powerful crushing and grinding teeth are required.

In this connection it may be recalled that larger Mahseers, over

30 Ibs. in weight, are chiefly taken by bottom fishing with Regi

paste and are generally difficult to take on a spinner of any sort.

Probably all teeth are not shed at the same time, and in my pre-

parations of the pharyngeals of Putitor Mahseer, weighing 4 to

* If the pharyngeal bones are left for a shorter or longer time in a weak

solution of caustic potash, the period depending on the strength and quantity of

the solution used, the muscles and membranes are dissolved and a good pre-

paration of the pharyngeal bone with the attached teeth results. The young

growing teeth and the cast off teeth, if any, can also be collected from the

bottom of the vessel.

794 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

6 lbs., | found the basal parts of one or two outer teeth worn out

(text-fig. 4 c) and the teeth about to drop off. In the tissues in

between the teeth apical portions of about 3 developing teeth in

each set were found in different stages of development (text-fig. 5).

Whatever may be the case-with the European Carp, Cyprinus

carpio (Linnaeus), which is believed to shed its teeth annually

before spawning time, in the case of Mahseer there is presumptive

evidence from the observations made by anglers in various parts of

India that the whole set of teeth is not shed at one time. The teeth

are shed individually as.they become worn out and replaced by the

fresh teeth that may be found growing in the adjoining mucous

membrane.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

The Bombay Natural History Society has very generously borne

the entire cost of illustrating this article and for this my best thanks

are due to the authorities" jof® the ‘Society. 1 amv indebted

Mr. K. S. Misra for preparing the table of measurements. I am

obliged to Mr. D. E. B. Manning, Divisional Forest Officer, Burma,

for sending me a specimen and a colour sketch of the Yellow

Mahseer from the Tavoy District. The illustrations were prepared

under my supervision by Babu B. Bagchi with his usual skill and

care.

List OF REFERENCES.

i. Beavan, R.—Handbook of the Freshwater Fishes of India, p. 43 (London,

1877).

2. Chu, Y. T.—‘Comparative studies on the scales and on the pharyngeals

and their teeth in Chinese Cyprinids, with particular reference to taxonomy

and evolution.’ Biol. Bull. St. John Univ. Shanghai, No. 2, p. 95 (1935).

3. Day, F.—The Fish and Fisheries of Bengal’. In Hunter’s A Statistical

Account of Bengal, vol. xx, p. 65 (London, 1878).

4. Gray, J. E.—Illustrations of Indian Zoology, vol. i, pl. xciii, fig. 1

(London, 1830-34).

5: Hamilton, F.—An Account of the Fishes found in the River Ganges

and its branches, pp. 306, 388 (Edinburgh, 1822).

6. Hora, S. L. and Mukerji, D. D.—‘Fish of the Eastern Doons, United

Provinces’. Rec. Ind. Mus., vol. xxxviii, pp. 139-142 (1936).

7- Hora, S. L.—‘The Game Fishes of India. IV. The Silond Catfish, -

Silonia silondia (Hamilton)’. Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. xl, PP. 137-147

(1938). |

8. Hora, S. L.—The Game Fishes of India. VIII. The Mahseers or the

Large-scaled Barbels of India. 1. The Putitor Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) putitora

(Hamilton)’. Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. xli, pp. 279-282 (1939).

9g. Thomas, H. $.—Rod in India, 3rd ed., pp. 45, 46 (London, 1897).

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

Explanation of Plate I.

Colour Sketch of a Mosal Mahseer, Barbus (Tor) mosal (Hamilton).

The specimen was collected by Mr. D. E. B. Manning, Divisional Forest

Officer, Burma, from the Mintha Stream in the Tavoy District. He also made

a rough colour sketch when the specimen was still fresh.

Explanation of Plate II.

Copies of Hamilton’s original drawings of Cyprinus (Cyprinus) mosal

(MS drawing No. 122, vol. iv, A. S. B. Library).

Fig. 1.—Outline sketch of dorsal view.

Fig. 2.—Lateral view.

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Sayeedud-Din—Common Indian Herbs: Leonotis nepelaefolia R. Br.

For explanation see end of article.

SOME COMMON INDIAN HERBS WITH NOTES ON

THEIR ANATOMICAL CHARACTERS.

M. SAYEEDUD-DIN,

Prof. of Botany, Osmania University, Hyderabad Deccan.

| (With three plates).

(Continued from page 550 of Vol. xli, Ou Be

[V.—LEONOTIS NEPETAEFOLIA R. Br.

(EAB EAA):

SYNONYMY AND SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION.

Leonots meperacfola RK. br. Prodr. 504;.H.. FE. B. 1., IV, Gor;

Cooke.“i) Bomb, Pres. V. 11,4Pt. 111, 471; Benth. int DC. Prodr:

Pol e2ui Cran. Cat. 15 3; Dalz & Gibs: Bomb. Fl, 21rr & Suppl.

67 Wight. Icons ts; 8675. brim, F- Ceyl., V. 3; 387 ; Prain. Beng.

PE S575) att. Diets con. Prod. “l.,V...4; 625, Syn:—Prlomis

nepetaefolia Linn.; Roxb. Fl. Ind., III, 8. Leonurus globosus

Moench Meth. 4oo. ae eae

A tall erect herb, 4-6 ft. high; stem stout, quadrangular with

thickened angles, deeply furrowed, finely pubescent. Leaves mem-

branous, ovate, acute, coarsely crenate-serrate, finely pubescent on

both sides, base shortly cuneate, running down into the petiole;

petiole winged in the upper part; leaves in the floral region lance-

olate, deflexed. Flowers in axillary globose many-flowered distant

whorls; bracts linear, deflexed, spinous-pointed, pubescent. --Calyx

% in. long, ribbed, tubular, incurved, pubescent or villous, teeth

spinescent; throat glabrous. Corolla 1 in. long, orange-scarlet ;

tube (my observations tally with Cooke’s in that the corolla- tube

is not exserted) densely clothed in the upper part with orange-

scarlet hairs, annulate inside with 3 transverse parallel rings of

white hairs; upper lip § in. long, densely wooly with orange-

scarlet hairs: lower lip 5 in. long, deeply 3-lobed. Stamens 4,

didynamous; anthers conniving, cells divaricate. Pollen grains

ellipsoidal when dry, and spherical when moistened. Disc equal.

Style subulate, upper lobe very short. Fruit of 4 oblong-obovoid,

angular, Spliatety truncate, glabrous nutlets with a deep triangular

pit at the apex. (Plates I & II). Flowers: Sept.-Dec. Medicinal

(Kirtikar, 4).

INDIAN NAMEs.

Hejur-chei (Hind); Dipmal, Ekri (Mar.); Rana Cheri, beri,

hanumanta bira (Tel.).

(96 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. Xit

HABITAT.

Throughout hotter India, not very common, cultivated and

naturalized, doubtfully indigenous (Hooker, 2). Pretty common in

the Deccan (Cooke, 1), commonly found in Hyderabad (Sayeedud-

Din, 7); found in waste places in Madras (Mayuranathan, Si

Distrib. Ceylon, Tropical Asia, Africa and America.

ANATOMICAL NOTES.

Structure ef the-Jeaf. (Plate jJ1l, (Migs? 1-4)2, tes deatagis

bifacial and consists of a single layer of palisade tissue and two

or more layers of spongy tissue. Stomata occur on both surfaces,

being more numerous on the lower, sunk in pits. They are accom-

panied by two or more subsidiary cells, arranged transversely to

the pore. The guard cells possess well-developed outer cuticular

ridges.

Oxalate of lime is present in the stem as well as in the leaf in

the form of minute acicular or octahedral crystals.

The hairy covering (Plate HI, Figs. 1-3 and 5-7) consists of

ordinary clothing hairs and capitate glandular hairs. They occur

in.the stem, leaf, and floral parts. The ordinary trichomes are

uniseriate and either straight and long or smaller and bent at an

angle to the stalk. Their basal cells are spherical and are seated

on pedestals formed by several epidermal cells. The glandular

hairs are of three types :—(1) with a small stalk and a spherical

head which is divided by vertical walls into four or eight cells,

(2) the same form except that the cuticle of the glandular head is

raised like a bladder, owing to the accumulation of secretion (the

integumental glands, Solereder, 8), (3) with a longer stalk and a

spherical head divided vertically into two or four cells. The

cuticle is not raised like a bladder.

_ structure. of the petiole and stem. _In the petiole theresicean

arc of vascular bundles. The epidermis of the ridges of the stem

is composed of thick-walled, narrow, vertically elongated cells

(Plate III, Fig. 6), while that of the furrows consists of thin-walled,

wide, parenchymatous cells (Plate III, Fig. 5). Stomata occur in

the region of the furrows or grooves. ‘The cortex is composed of

collenchyma and chlorenchyma, the former is extensively developed

in the four ridges, and the latter is more confined to the furrows.

At the internal margin of the primary cortex an endodermis is

present. Its cells show Caspary’s dots. The secondary xylem is

more strongly developed towards the four ridges or angles, and

the medullary rays are narrow. The pith consists of unlignified

parenchymatous cells. Cork is developed subepidermally.

The above-mentioned observations tally a great deal with those

of Mullan (6) on Leuccas aspera Spreng (Labiate) and conform to

the anatomical characters of Labiatee described by Solereder (8).

CONCLUSIONS.

-The - following’ features seem to be very characteristic: —

(1) shortly stalked bladder-like integumental glands in which the

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. PLatE

Sayeedud-Din—-Common Indian Herbs: Leonotis nepetaefolia R. Br.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Sce. Pirate III

Sayeedud-Din—Common Indian Herbs.

For explanation see end of avticle.

SOME COMMON INDIAN HERBS LOG

head is composed of 4-8 cells. (2) capitate hairs with a unicellular

or bicellular head. (3) simple uniseriate trichomes. (4) stomata

with subsidiary cells lying transversely to the pore. (5) oxalate of

lime in the form of small acicular or octahedral crystals. (6) typical

collenchymatous tissue in the angles of the stem. (7) strongly

developed secondary xylem in the same region. (8) presence of

endodermis. (9) sub-epidermal development of cork.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

My thanks are due to Mr. Sri Ramloo for the drawings which,

as before, were prepared under my supervision. I am also thank-

ful to my pupil, Mr. Riazul Hasan Qurieshi for the preparation of

several microscopic. slides. \

LITERATURE CONSULTED.

1. Cooke, T.—The Flora of the Presidency of Bombay, Vol. II, Pt. ee

Pp. 471-472 (1906).

2. Hooker, J. D.—The Flora of British India, Vol. IV, p.: 691 (188s).

3. Dalzell, N. A. and Gibson, A.—The Bombay Flora, p. 211 (1861).

4. Kirtikar, K. R. and Basu, B. D.—Indian Medicinal Plants, Pt. II,

p. 1047 (1918).

5. Mayuranathan, P. V.-—The Flowering Plants of the Madras City and

its Immediate Neighbourhood, p. 232 (1920).

6. Mullan, D. P.—‘Observations on the Biology and Physiological Anatomy

of some-Indian Halophytes’. J..B.S., vol. xii, Nos. 3 and 4, pp. 235-236

1933).

ee Sayeedud-Din, M.—A Further Contribution to Some of the Common

Flowering Plants of the Hyderabad State; their distribution and economic im-

portance. Dicotyledons’. - J.B.N.H.S., vol. xl, No. 2, p. 208 (1938).

8. Solereder, H.—Systematic Anatomy of the Dicotyledons. Engl. Ed.,

Vol. I, 1908.

9g. Watt, G.—Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. V, p. 625

(1890).

EXPLANATION OF PLATES I To ITI.

Leonotis nepetaefolia R. Br.

PEATE 1h

Fig. 1.—Black and white drawing of a part of the upper portion of Leonotis

nepetaefolia R. Br. (Nat. size).

Fig. 2.—A leaf from the lower region of the plant.

Fig. 3.—Corolla opened out, showing three parallel rings of hairs, and

stamens. (X2). .

Fig. 4.—Pistil. (x 2).

Fig. 5.—T. S. Ovary. (x2).

Fig. 6.—Fruit, showing nutlets. (x 10).

Fig. 7.—Pollen grain in dry condition. (xX 600).

Fig. 8.—Pollen grain, moistened. (X 600).

PLATE II.

798 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

PuaTE III.

Fig 1.—Leaf-epidermis, showing the glandular hairs and stomata in surface

view.

Fig. 2.—Shortly stalked integumental gland.

Fig. 3.—Long stalked glandular hair.

Fig. 4.—T. S. Leaf, showing a stoma, the palisade and spongy tissue.

Fig. 5.—Stem-epidermis in the region of a furrow, showing wide epidermal

cells, stomata and a glandular hair in surface view.

Fig. 6.—Stem-epidermis in the region of a ridge, showing elongated cells,

and a glandular hair in surface view.

Fig. 7.—Clothing hair, curved type.

(all x 600)

(To be continued).

A NEW SPECIES OF FOSSIL FROG FROM THE

INTER-TRAPPEAN BEDS OF WORLI HILL, BOMBAY.

G. W. CHIPLONKER, D.SC.

(Department of Geology, Benares Hindu University)

(With one plate).

The species of fossil frog described here comes from the Frog

Beds at the Worlt Hill on the west coast of Bombay. A full account

of these beds is given by Carter,’ Buist,* Wynne*, and Ribeiro."

These are fresh-water Inter-trappean shale beds belonging to the

upper part of the Deccan Trap Series, and are probably of the

early Eocene age. These shales are light to dark grey in colour,

often rather fragile, fine to coarsely grained, much impregnated

with carbonaceous matter, and are full of minute kidney-shaped

carapaces of crustaceans. Among the fossils thus far recorded

from these beds, are Cypris semi-marginata Carter, C. cylindrica

(Sowerby), C. sp., Platemys leithi (Carter), Indobatrachus pusillus

(Owen), an indeterminate large-sized species of frog,’ some fresh-

water gastropods probably referable to Melania and Pupa, some

plant stem, seed and leaf impressions. |

Though the earliest occurrence of the Salientia dates back to

the upper Jurassic times,® their fossil record, on the whole, 1s

very incomplete. This is due mainly to the fact that frogs in

general make poor fossils. But, as the study of the present-day

distribution of the frog fauna and the routes of migration and the

lines of evolution of their various families, must take into con-

sideration the paleontological evidence, it is of the utmost import-

ance that every fossil find of the Salientia, howsoever poorly pre-

served, be critically examined and put on record.

In India fossil frogs have, since long, been known to occur in

the Inter-trappean beds at the Worli Hill, Bombay. They were

first described by Owen * in 1847, as Rana pusilla. Stoliczka*

matter 1857, ps 110;

= Buist 1857, px 169:

* Ribeiro’ 1921, p. 582.

5 Dr. Leith found a part of the posterior extremities of a large-sized frog

computed to be nearly three inches long, Vide Carter 1857, p. 139; Lydekkar

£557, PP: Od;, 77.

6 Woodward 1932, p. 231; Moodie 1912, p. 286,

7 Owen 1847, p. 224.

8 Stoliczka 1869, p. 386.

800 JOURNAL, BOMBAY-NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

re-examined and transferred them to the genus Oxyglossus (or

Oxydozyga as it is now known) which is found in south-eastern

Asia and the neighbouring islands. Noble’ in 1930 recognised the

bufonid nature of these frogs and transferred them to the genus

Indobatrachus, which was created for their reception.

While studying the fossils collected by the present writer from

the Worli Hill, associated with Indobatrachus pusillus (Owen),

were found some specimens which differed from it mainly in hav-

ing a less acutely rounded snout and a relatively longer vertebral

column. These are described here as constituting a new species.

The material available for study is in skeletal condition and rather

ill-preserved. The cranium is crushed down in the plane of partings

in the shale laminz, rendering the various constituent bones ob-

scured and rather difficult to be distinguished. The material was

examined in xylol under a low-power microscope so as to bring

out clearly the various details which cannot be observed on dry

surfaces. In view of the frequent dislodgement of the head from

the shoulders, and of the pelvis from the vertebral column, the

lengths of these parts were measured separately to ensure the

accuracy of the measurements.

The author very much regrets that the fossils and the matrix

being very closely similar in the shade of grey, the photographs

could not be better.

SYSTEMATIC POSITION.

That the specimens under consideration do not belong to the liopelmid

frogs, is evident from the fact that they have eight pre-sacral vertebrae, no

ribs and two condyles on the coccyx; the last character also excludes the

pelobatids. Because of the pro-coelous vertebrae and the absence of the

ribs in these specimens, the Discoglossidae ‘are eliminated. The Pipidae are

ruled out on the ground that our specimens have pro-coelous vertebrae. The

broadly expanded diapophyses of the sacral vertebra clearly show that these

frogs cannot be included in the Ranidae nor in the Polypedatidae. In most

of the specimens available, all the digits are very well preserved, and the

absence of any inter-calary cartilages or any space for them is beyond doubt ;

this excludes the Hylidae. The procoelous nature of the vertebrae is present

in the Bufonidae and a few of the brevicipitid genera.” But, the pro-coelous

nature of the vertebrae combined with the presence of the free inter-ccentral

discs, the arched clavicle divergent to the coracoid, the maxillary teeth and

the broadly expanded sacral diapophyses clearly show that our specimens must

be assigned to the Bufonidae and not to the Brevicipitidae.®

Though the cranial region is much crushed, it is possible, from an examina-

tion of a number of specimens, to verify the presence of the nasals, which

were probably free, the palatines, the fronto-parietals separated by the median

ethmoid and the T-shaped para-sphenoid; further, the presence of teeth

on the maxillaries, pre-maxillaries and on the pre-vomers is clearly indicated

by sockets. These features along with the above-mentioned bufonid characters

show that these specimens under consideration belong to Noble’s genus

Indobatrachus.*

Noble 1930, p. 2.

Gadow 1923, pp. 143, 152, 160, 185, 237.

Noble 1930, pp. 4-7; Gadow 1923, p. 166.

Noble 1930, pp: 2-9.

PB cf RD

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‘OOM WSSO.. JO SHIOddS MAN

aLVIg 205 “SIT *}eN Avquog ‘‘usmor

—

NEW SPECIES OF FOSSIL FROG FROM WORLI HILL 801

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES.

Family: Bufonidae.

Genus Indobatrachus Noble, 1930.

Indobatrachus trivialis sp. nov.

Alas dee ake, ee

Description :—The head is large, anteriorly rounded off rather obtusely,

and has its posterior width only a little more than its length. The teeth

sockets are seen on the mazxillaries, pre-maxillaries and on the pre-vomers—

on the last they are rather obscure. The presence of the various investing

bones can he verified as mentioned above, by examining a series of specimens ;

but they do not permit of any detailed description.

The vertebral column consists of nine pro-coeious vertebrae, which are

broader than long and have well marked zygapophyses. The third vertebra

has its diapophyses a little longer than those of the fourth and the fifth verte-

brae. The sacral diapophyses are broadly expanded. Between some of the

vertebrae are seen minute discoid elements which are most probably the free

intercentral discs. The cocoyx has two condyles and no lateral processes. The

length of the pelvis is slightly more than half of that of the vertebral column.

The humerus is nearly as long as the supra-scapula. The femur is a little

shorter than the tibia-fibula. Of the meta-tarsal bones, the fourth one is the

longest and the first one is the shortest; the second meta-tarsal is a little

more than half the length of the fourth one, while the third and the fifth

are sub-equal to each other. No inter-calary cartilages nor any space for

them, is present. The phalanges are tapering and have minute terminal knobs.

In Table No. I are given the available measurements for five of the speci-

mens representing the present species. The Table No. II gives the ratios of

the measurements of the different parts of Indobatrachus trivialis sp. nov. and

of I. pusillus (Owen).

COMPARISON.

To compare Indobatrachus pusillus (Owen)! with the present species, the

first striking difference is found in the ratio of the length of the vertebral

column to that of the pelvis, which is 181-183/100 in the new species and

150-153/100 in I. pusillus (Owen); this gives to the new species a little

longish appearance as compared to pusillus. The ratio of the length of the

head to its width is fairly different, being 94-95/100 in JI. trivialis and

97/100 in I. pusillus (Owen). Again, the ratio. of the length of the femur

to that of the tibia-fibula is 96-97/100 in the present species and 100/100 in

pusillus. Further, the species described here has slightly stouter bones than

pusillus (Owen),

GEOLOGICAL AGE.

The lower Eocene age of the upper part of the Deccan Trap Series (which

includes the Frog-Beds of Bombay) is to be accepted as very probable, since

they are unconformably succeeded by the Nummiulitics of Surat and Broach.’

The genus Indobatrachus has its nearest allies in some of the living Australian

bufonid genera.* This relation as Noble points out, is of very great zoogeo-

graphic importance;* but unfortunately it does not. help us to fix the age

of the Inter-trappean Beds of Bombay, on the basis of this genus. It is, how-

ever, to be hoped that some direct evidence bearing on this problem will

come forth from the study of the crustacean fossils from these beds, with which

the author is now busy.

1 Noble 1930, pp. 2-9.

* The upper Eocene age assigned by Woodward (1932, p. 231) to Oxyglossus

pusillus cannot be accepted.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

In conclusion, my sincere thanks are due to Dr. Raj Nath, Head of the

Department of Geology, Benares Hindu University, for his keen interest in

the present work. I am much thankful to H. W. Parker, Esq., Keeper of

the Reptiles Section, British Museum (Natural History), for his valuable criti-

cism and to the Director, the Geological Survey of India, for loan of books

from the Survey library.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1. Buist, G. (1857)—‘Geology of the Island of Bombay’ in Carter, H. J.—

Geological Papers on Western India, pp. 169-206.

2. Carter, H. J. (1857)—‘Geology of the Island of Bombay.’ Geological

Papers on Western India, pp. 116-68, (also in J. Bom.- Br. R. As. Soc., 1852,

vol. :

ne H. (1923)—‘Amphibia and Reptiles’ in The Cambridge Natural

History. edtd. by Sir S. F. Harmer and Sir A. E. Shipley, vol. 3.

4. Lydekkar, R. (1887)—‘Fossil Vertebrata of India’. Rec. G. S. I., vol.

XX, pp. 50-80.

5. Mocdie, R. L. (1912)—‘Ag American Jurassic Frog.’ Amer. Journ. Sci.,

vol: xxiv, p.; 286.

6. Noble, G. K. (1930)—‘The Fossil Frogs of the Inter-trappean Beds of

Bombay, India.’ Aimer. Mus. Novitates, No. 4or. ;

7. Owen, (1847)—‘On the Batracholites indicative of a small species of frog

(Rana pusilla Owen).’ Q. J. G. S., vol. 3, pp. 224-25 (also in Carter-

‘Geology of Bombay Island.’ J. Bom. Br. R. As. Soc., 1852, vol. 4; and in

Geological Papers on Western India, 1857.)

8.. Ribeiro, J. (1921)— Geology of the Worli Hull.’ Journ. Bom. Nath fists

Soc., vol. xxvii, pp. 582-95. i

9. Stoliczka, F. (1869)—‘Osteological notes on Oxyglossus pusillus (Rana

pusilla Owen), from the Tertiary Frog-Beds of Bombay.’ Mem. G. S. I., vol. vi,

pp. 387-94.

10. Woodward, A. Smith. (1932)—Text Book of Palaeontology. Zittel—-

Eastman. 2nd Ed. Revd. + vol. “11.

11. Wynne, A. B. (1866)—‘Geology of the Bombay Island.’- Mem. G. S. I.,

VO, Vv, 7pi=2: .

12: Weare A. B. (1869)—‘On the Occurrence of Frog-Beds at a locality

hitherto concealed, but now exposed by the reclamation works in Bombay

Island.’ Ibid, vol. vi, pp. 385-86.

EXPLANATION OF PLaTE No. I.

Fig. 1.—Indobatrachus trivialis sp. nov., approx. x 1%.

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NODESVON DHE FULVOUS FRUIT-BAT (ROUSETTUS

LESCHENAULTI DESM.).

CHARLES MCCANN, F.L.S.

(With one plate and one text-figure).

The Fulvous Fruit-Bat (R. leschenaulti) is one of the smaller

fruit-bats commonly seen in Salsette Island. During the day it

tenants disused caves and tunnels. At the roosts the bats usualiy

congregate in fair numbers, both sexes sharing the same retreat.

But in the Tunnel near the Tulsi Lake, where these observations

were made, I sometimes got a net full of males only at one spot

and only females at another, which seems to suggest that the sexes

congregate separately.

The largest assemblage I have ever seen, was in the tunnel cut

through a hill’ for an outlet pipe south of the Tulsi: Lake.. Here

there were actually thousands hanging in dense clusters from the root

of the tunnel one against the other, or even one on top of the other

like bunches of grapes! The incessant squealing of the animals,

as they fight for space, is continuous. The pipes and the sur-

rounding rocks are covered thick with excreta. As water flows

through the tunnel alongside the pipes, the air inside is damp

and strongly permeated with a foul ‘batty’ odour, which assails

one long before entry into the tunnel. Inside, the air is alive with

winged bat-parasites which settle on the intruder; while the walls

are crawling with wingless forms; wings whiz by and missiles

pass at top speed—just bats and bats, hurrying to safety further

into the tunnel, or. out of it into the open. With a torch one

runs the risk of the dazzled bats hitting one in the face or settling

in numbers on one’s person, but one has little to fear, for the bats

are fairly good-natured and do not readily bite. The Tulsi Lake

tunnel has to my knowledge been occupied exclusively by this fruit-

bat for over twenty years. Other localities in Salsette where |

have noted this bat roosting are the Kanari and Makal caves.

Mr. C. A. Crump’, one of the Society’s collectors on the Mammal

Survey, found this bat also in thousands in a tunnel at Tanakpur,

Naini Tal District. He wrote as follows :—

‘There were several thousands of these bats in a long tunnel through which

flowed a canal. The bats, driven towards me by men carrying lanterns, came

on in a mass, their screeches and the beating of their wings filled the tunnel

with an almost deafening noise. I had no difficulty in filling several butter-

fly nets with specimens both male and female, most of the latter being heavy

with young.’ ;

Another of the Society’s collectors, Mr. G. C. Shortridge?, records

the following from Pagan, Burma:—‘A large colony was found in

an old Pagoda at Pagan, where they roosted in company with

= (ourn: SBN H.S, xxili,, 286,

* [bid., 465.

)

806° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL’ BiST, SOCIETY,” Voll XL!

Laphozous kachhensis.’ At the Kanari caves, I have found them

in a cave occupied by Taphozous melanopogon Temm., and at the

Makal caves in a cell occupied by a species of Hipposideros.

In general colouring this bat is a dusky brown with little or

no variation, except that the underside is slightly paler than the

upper. The wings are a darker brown than the body fur, but the

phalanges are demarcated in a lighter tone. Young animals! are

coloured like the adults. The skin covering the nape and the area

between the scapulars is sparsely clad or naked. Preserved speci-

mens (cabinet specimens) tade considerably and there is always a

distinct light collar behind the ears—the sparsely clad area. This

bare patch is not evident in living specimens. Some specimens,

particularly old males, are almost naked or thinly clad in areas

over the pectoral and rump regions. I have seen several almost

entirely naked. It is difficult to account for this general nakedness,

but it seems possible that the conditions under which the animals

live, in close contact and constant scrambling over one another,

plus the complement of parasites, contribute to their condition.

{1 could discover no skin complaint that would explain it. How-

ever, there is one point which is clear and that that the maies

exhibit this condition much more than females.

As far as I have been able to discover there is little difference

between the sexes, except that the adult males appear larger, a

statement supported by the table of measurements, but this differ-

ence is small. Another slight difference is that males have a slight

ruff round the throat, again a slight characteristic. The gular

region in both sexes (adults) may be yellowish or not, but this

character in skinned examples may disappear or become slightly

russet. The eyes are dark brown with a small black pupil, but

the brown is so intense that the eyes appear like ‘black’ beads.

The wing span may vary from 20-22 inches (50-60 cm.).

The bats are infested with winged and wingless parastitc flies.

The winged ones belong to the Streblidae and are known as

Nycteribosca gigantea Speis. They are bright yellow. These flies

live more on the surface, and feed on the naked areas, particularly

the wing membranes, which show the marks of their attacks.

The wingless flies are less showy, live buried in the fur, and only

move when disturbed. They belong to the Nycteribidae—Eucamp-

sipodia hyrtli (elonati). The development of the forelimbs into

organs of flight has certainly given the bats an advantage over

other mammals, but not without a sacrifice. They are doomed

to view the world upside down and use their feet as organs of

suspension and little else. The wings are useless as scratching

with body parasites than most quadrupeds! Thus it is they have

to submit to a host of body parasites which run about freely,

almost unmolested, one is tempted to say, for the bats do not

appear to worry much about them. So far I have not discovered

any parasitic worms in the alimentary canal. Several of the bats

——=

er na EL ET EL

1 Those nearly mature.

NOTES ON THE FULVOUS FRUIT-BAT 807

caught were blind in one eye, apparently the result of injury from

a neighbour's claws. The parasites do not appear to take to

human hosts.

BREEDING.

Anderson! on Rousettus writes, ‘Scarcely anything is known

about the habits of the Oriental and Austro-Malayan species’, and

[can find’ no reference to the breeding of R. leschenaultt. In

Salsette, the general breeding season of leschenaulti is undoubtedly

during the cold months, i.e., December to March; I have repeatedly

taken gravid females in January and February. Fresh observations

made recently have confirmed this. Incidentally Crump’s statement,

quoted above, shows that the breeding season at Janakpur coin-

cides with that of Salsette. On the 21 January 1940, Mr. J. Alfrey

and I visited the Tulsi tunnel and I secured nine gravid females

with well-formed foetuses (one in each). Breeding at this period is

evidenced by the condition of the testes which are prominent and

considerably enlarged in mature specimens, each body measurtag

12-18 mm. In a few males (4 examples) I observed that only one

testis was developed, the right, whereas the other was barely the

size of a pea. I have not observed the act of copulation, but

Anderson (L.c.) describes it in the case of an allied species R. leachi

which bred in captivity in the zoological gardens, London and

Cologne, as follows :—

‘During the act of copulation the male is suspended (as usual by the hind

feet) behind the female, its underparts being in contact with the lower back

of the female; an embracing with the anterior extremities does not take place;

period of gestation (in one case, Cologne gardens) precisely 15 weeks after

last copulation.’

In Salsette the majority of the young appear to be born about

the middle of March or after. On 3rd March (1940) Mr. Alfrey

and I revisited the Tulsi tunnel for further details and specimens.

All females were heavily gravid. The foetuses were large,

apparently close on their time, but the skin of the foetuses was

not pigmented. I kept several of the bats caught that day in

the hope of obtaining newly born young, but this hope was soon

frustrated as all the bats aborted; only one was born alive, and

this too was unpigmented, which clearly showed it was slightly

premature. Except for the whiskers this young one was devoid

of all hair. Its eyes were closed and it squealed from time to

time, but the parent completely disregarded it. Some of the

foetuses were partially eaten including the afterbirth, but only the

soft membranes were taken. The eating of foetal membranes is

common to most mammals and is well-known. This habit is

believed to stimulate the secretion of the lacteal glands.

On the roth March (1940) we again visited the tunnel. Many

females were still gravid. Dissection of two of them showed that

the foetuses were by this time almost full term; the skin was

strongly pigmented over the dorsal area. With a lens a covering

* Cat. of Chiroptera in the coll. of the B. M. Vol. I (1912) 21.

808 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

of short hair was clearly visible. The underside, ears, and snout

remained a flesh pink.

We revisited the Tulsi tunnel again on the 17th March (1940).

A number of females were now carrying newly born young,

numbers were still gravid. I secured four females with newly

born young and two containing foetuses. The two foetuses

indicated that they were very close on their time, perhaps they

would have been born in a day or two. The dorsal area was

clothed in a dense crop of short hairs. All males examined on

this day showed a considerable decrease in the size of the testes.

When the bats were in flight the newly born young could be

clearly seen as dark patches against the lighter underside of the

parents. The newly born is a dark ashy brown or dark slate grey

above. The dorsal surface is deeply pigmented as already observed

earlier. The ventral area is almost nude, particularly about the

abdomen, but in the thoracic region there is a thin barely visible

covering of short whitish hairs. The skin is flesh pink. At first

the snout and ears are pinkish like the abdomen, but soon become

pigmented. The wings are lighter in tone than the body.

The young bat is generally huddled up on the right or left

side of the mother’s body depending on which nipple it is fixed

to at the time. The nipple is kept constantly in the mouth and

forms a means of attachment to keep the young in position during

flight, but its feet are its main —support.. “Omegiles is) stretched

across the abdomen of the mother, the hooked toes securing a

firm hold on the pelvis; the other is folded under its own body

with the toes pointing forward, thus that when the bat changes

its position from one side to the other the folded foot automatically

stretches out to the holding position. The wings take no part

in securing the position of the young. Clinging in this fashion

the young does not interfere with the flight of its parent. The

teeth are slightly errupted and assist in securing the hold on the

base of the nipple. At this stage the eyes are usually half closed.

The measurements of the young taken on 17 March, given in the

accompanying table, indicate that the young are born only when

they are almost half the size of the parent, which seems to show

that the period of parental care is considerably shortened; a

necessity, perhaps in a volant animal which must carry her off-

spring about till it is able to fly. The young has a call quite

different from that of the adult—a call that is difficult to describe.

On 7 April (1940) we made yet another ‘assault on the battery’

to see what further observation could be made. My companion,

Mr> Alfrey, was chiefly interested in butterflies, but we invariably

ended our day catching these ‘mammalian butterflies’ in nets

wholly unsuited for the purpose—it generally meant providing a

new net or frame for the next occasion. After examining some

forty specimens I selected eleven for further examination and

preservation. Of these nine were females with young and two old

males. Most females, if not all, had by this time given birth—

no gravid individuals were observed. An examination of the young

indicated a general increase in size (see table) and a further covering

of fur; their eyes were fully open; and they were more active than

NOTES ON THE FULVOUS FRUIT-BAT 809

those collected previously, but they were yet quite incapable of

flight. The dorsal fur was denser and of a smoky brown hue,

that of the lower surface was greyish.

One Vor the) females j died’ overnight,, next morning | found

another female suckling two young! The young one had deserted

the body of its mother and gone to another. Whether such an

example of fostering would take place in nature is difficult to say—

I doubt it.

On the 12th May we disturbed the peace of the tunnel for the

last time. By this time the majority of the young had left their

parents to lead an independent life. Some were still being suckled,

but flew off on their own on our approach. A few were still being

carried about in spite of their size. No. 4oA is a good example

(see table and photo). As the newly born young were first observed

on 17th March and the young were still being carried about by

the parents on 12th May, this indicates that the young remain

with the parents for approximately two months.

By this time the genitals of the males had almost ‘atrophied’.

A large cockroach Periplanata sp. was fairly plentiful in the depths

of the tunnel.

Mr. > Phillips™ ‘referring to the breeding of -R. seminudus in

Ceylon writes :—

‘The period of gestation is said to be fifteen weeks. For the first week or

so after birth the single young one remains suspended from or clinging to, the

mammae of its mother, but as it becomes older and heavier, it is probably

left behind at the roosting place to await its mother’s return from feeding.’

dal

ea :

Sane

* Rousettus leschenaulti Desm, Mother and young, nos. 4o, & 40A.

The suggestion that the young remain with the parent for only

‘a week or so after birth’ and that the young are then left behind

at the roosting place till the parents return, does not agree with

my observation on leschenaulti. The bats caught on the 17th March

1 Manual of the Mammals of Ceylon (1935) p. 70.

* Photo from life.

810 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLi

were Carrying newly born young, those examined on the 7th April,

three weeks later, were carrying much larger young and flew about

with them without any difficulty. It seems most unlikely that the

young are left behind at the roosts. What a confusion there would

be at the nursery when on the return of the bats they endeavour to

seek out their respective young among hundreds! The young do

not desert the parents till they are able to fly and fend for them-

selves. That parental care is comparatively short seems to be

indicated by the size of the young at birth.

Foon.

The question of breeding naturally leads to a consideration of the

food, as these two factors, breeding and food-supply, are most inti-

mately linked. What then is the food of this bat? Its name implies

it is a fruit-feeder; the ‘fauna (Blanford) says, ‘Like the other fruit-

bats, this animal is very voracious and possesses great powers of

flight’.! It is a common belief that fruit-bats consume large quantities

of fruit, but my observations on the largest of the fruit-bats, the

Flying-Fox,* has convinced me that this general conception needs

explanation. The Flying-Fox subsists almost exclusively on fruit

juices and nectar, rejecting all solid pulp and seeds after masti-

cation, except in the case of fruits that liquefy readily. This

appears to be the case also with Rousettus. An examination of the

stomach contents yielded nothing solid. If bats did eat fruit entire,

we might reasonably expect that their comparatively small stomachs

would be very soon full of solid matter. If they gorged themselves

they would be hampered in flight. The litter under a tree where

bats have been feeding is due to the habit of mastication and

rejection of solid matter after the juice has been extracted.

About thirty specimens were kept in captivity for a week.

During this time they were fed on pawpaws and plantains, which

they ate greedily. The following observations were made. The

bats before biting out pieces of the fruit did much licking with the

long rasp-like tongue. Then large chunks were bitten out over-

filling the mouth till the cheeks bulged and parts of the fruit

protruded on all sides. The bat would then retire to finish the

mouthful. Hungry companions try to help by licking at the pro-

truding fruit and then trying to bite off a share. Such assistance

was resented. The bat moved away and, when done, it turned round,

suspended itself with its ‘hooks’ excreted, and then returned to the

fruit to resume its meal. While feeding the bats’ excrete fre-

quently indicating a rapid passage of the food through the ali-

mentary canal. In doing so they always turn round and suspend

themselves by the hooks of one or both wings, some assisted by

one or both feet. The seeds of the pawpaw were also chewn to

extract the juice in the surrounding skin, but the seeds and skins

were rejected. When at rest the animals huddled together in com-

— — ee)

* F.B.I. (Mammalia) p. 262.

2 Journ. “BIN TD: S, XXxVviiep: 143

NOTES ON THE FULVOUS FRUIT-BAT 811

pact masses just as they did in the tunnel. In the cage they did

not seem to mind the beam of an electric torch after a while. In

the natural state they immediately take to flight, much sooner than

Flying-Foxes do when a torch is turned on to them.

POLLINATION OF FLOWERS.

This bat, like the Short-nosed Fruit-Bat! (Cynopterus sphinx)

is one of Nature’s ‘pollinators’. Just as some birds and insects

assist in the pollination of certain flowers, so also we find some

of Nature’s agents among the smaller mammals, perhaps particul-

arly among the bats. Some flowers are so adapted, and _ their

dependence so linked with pollinating agents, that without them

these plants would soon be extinct! Thus we find certain flowers

are especially adapted for bat pollination. During the flowering

period of the Silk Cotton Tree (Bombax Ceiba L.) and an allied

species Ceiba pentandra Gaertn, I have observed numbers of these

bats visiting the flowers for the sake of the ample secretion of

nectar, which is most profuse towards sunset. Likewise, I have

seen them hovering round the flowers of Bassia latifolia L., some

Bignoniaceous and Sapotaceous trees, before settling down to feed.

Some of these trees flower just when the bats are in full breeding

condition and later when the females are suckling young. Thus

we see the intimate relation between the breeding season and the

food-supply. The fruit of the Custard Apple (dnona squamosa L.)

and allied species, the fruit of the Sapodilla Plum (chiki) and a few

others are attacked just when they are on the verge of ripening.

Thus it is that this bat crosses the path of man and does much

damage in fruit gardens. To destroy the bats on this account

would not be a difficult matter once the roosts are discovered,

but let us pause before such a step is ever taken as their extermina-

tion may be a costly experiment in other fields which cannot be

foreseen before the problem is thoroughly understood.

On the authority of Layard, Anderson (l.c.) writes, ‘in default

of fruit it devours insects, snapping them off flowers -and leaves

without alighting.’ This to my mind is a misinterpretation of

actual facts. The bats certainly do a lot of hovering before alight-

ing, but they are after nectar, not insects, it is an examination

flight. Again there is a statement in the Fauna which reads,

‘Dobson was informed that near Moulmain a colony of X. amplexi-

caudata (=R. leschenaulti in part) was found to feed on mollusca

left exposed by the tides.’ This is a similar statement to that

made about the ‘fishing’ propensities of the Flying-Fox (see my

paper’). Anderson uses this hearsay evidence as a possible explana-

tion for the occurrence of an allied species R. arabicus, inhabiting

Kishm Island in the Persian Gulf; he writes, ‘this would seem to

explain the occurrence of an allied species (I. arabicus) in so dreary

a desert as the island of Kishm, Persian Gulf, where an exclusively

fruit-eating mammal could hardly exist.’ With regard to Blanford’s

BR OUNH ADIN cil Soe XMM) Dok DAG

812 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLi

statement I do not think that members of the same species are

likely to differ so widely in respect of diet—animals are a lot more

conservative. The habit of dipping down to expanses of water

for a drink is not restricted to bats, but is commonly witnessed

in the case of swallows and swifts. This habit may easily be

misinterpreted as attempts at fishing. The bats were either after

a-drink of water, and mistook the glisten for a stretch of fresh

water, or perhaps they were after a ‘salt sip’, just as terrestrial

animals will lick rock salt. With regard to the bats of Kishm

Island and Anderson’s suggestion, it might be pointed out that

the island in question is close to the mainland, within about 20 miles.

Rousettus is a fast and powerful flier and consequently would not

find much difficulty in crossing to the mainland where it would

probably be able to find a source of food. The Flying-Fox, which

is a heavier and slower flier than Rousettus, is known to under-

take long journeys to and fro from its roost to its feeding grounds.

Again, Rousettus is much earlier on the wing than most fruit-bats,

appearing at or soon after sundown when there is still a bright glow

in the sky, an habit which would give it an early start to cover

long distances.

1Tist OF PLANTS VISITED BY ROUSETTUS.

Species. Flowering and Parts attacked.

Fruiting.

Anona squamosa L. feo

Wn one aes i } Tuly-August ... Ripening fruit.

Adansonia digitata L. Late May-July ... losers:

Bombax Ceiba L. Late Dec.-early

April ... Flowers.

Ceiba pentandra Gaertn. Dec.-January ... Flowers.

Eugenia jambolana Lamk. Late May-June .... Hlowers and

fruit.

Psidium Guyava L. ... Flowers and

ripening fruit.

Careya arborea Roxb. March-May ... Flowers.

Bassia latifolia L. March-April ... Flowers.

‘Mimusops hexandra

Roxb: Nov.-Jan. ys Lutte.

*Achras Sapota L. More or less

throughout

the year Pesta beicr

Oroxylum indicum May-July ... Flowers.

Heterophragma Roxburghit

XC: Feb.-April na PLOWERS:

Radermachera xylocarpa —

Ke Schum: March-May ... Flowers.

1 The flowering and fruiting periods of the plants vary slightly with the

climatic condition from year to year. Flowers, it should be noted, are visited

for nectar. :

* It is doubtful whether leschenaultt pollinates the flowers.

7a AES

NOTES (ON THE: FULVOUS FRUIT-BAT). 813

The two species of Sonneratia (apetala and acida occurring in

the mangrove swamps are probably visited by these bats also.

Though pawpaws and plantains are eaten in captivity, I have

no record, of these bats damaging either fruit crops. This, how-

ever, may be explained by the fact that both these fruits are gener-

ally removed from the trees before they are ripe, and the milky

juice in the skin of pawpaws and the acrid juice of raw plantains

act as deterrents. In passing it might be of interest to note that

though India has its full complement of fruit-bats no damage is

done to the mango crop, while in Australia (Queensland) the local

Flying-Foxes do considerable damage to the mango crops. This

may be explained by the fact that the fruit are allowed to ripen

on the trees in Australia (so I was informed) while in India the

fruits are removed before they are ripe. Another singular difference

is that the Indian Flying-Foxes generally roost in or near villages,

whereas the Australian live in the mangrove swamps away from

humans, and the roosts are not easy of access.

GENERAL.

Before concluding I wish to draw attention to a few minor

anatomical details. Rousettus is able to put out its tongue to a

considerable length, a useful accomplishment for a nectar feeding

animal. Towards the middle of the tongue there is a roughly

diamond-shaped area covered with oblique rows of broad, sharply

tridentate papillae. Surrounding this area are rows of flat-topped

papillae, the margin of the flat top being fimbriated; towards the

throat the papillae become more simple, just sharply pointed, parti-

cularly along the sides. Another anatomical detail is the structure

of the teat. It is large, ovate, and considerably compressed, the

flattening being along the long axis of the body. Its free portion

is firm and below this slightly hardened portion it is soft. The

young one takes the entire firm part into its mouth and the extre-

mity of the jaws close over the nipple on to the softer area, thus

giving the young a firm hold.

The position of the foetus is as follows: The chin rests on

the chest; the fect are folded over the- abdomen; the- wings’ are

folded with the ‘wrist’ of the left resting under the base of the left

ear. The right ‘wrist’ is on a higher level than the left with the

claw of the pollex or thumb resting on the centre of the crown

of the head. The entire foetus lies slightly obliquely across the

abdomen, the head being usually situated on the left side.

At what age these bats reach sexual maturity is perhaps difh-

cult to say, but from a rough estimate, after comparison, I am

inclined to the opinion that they become sexually mature by the

end of the second year, or the third breeding season after birth

(including the season in which they were born as the first).

Finally, I wish to express my thanks to Mr. J. Alfrey for his

company and assistance in the field, and to Dr. Baini Prashad for

the identification of the parasites at his institution. The speci-

mens on which this paper is based, I have deposited in the collection

of the Society, with the exception of Nos. 27 and 28, 23A, 24A and

XLI

Vol.

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Measurements of Rousettus leschenaulti Desm. in millimeters (57 specimens).

| 1 | | =

Species Sex Date |H. =| T. | FA.) E. | Remarks i

| | | | =

! | | =

Aeousettus leschenaulti ...)_ 3 21-1440 122) 18 | 83 | 195 =;

Do. a Il do. 120 | 12 85 21 | Mature males with the testes highly developed. Average ~

Do. cd do. 125} 15 | 87 | 22 ! of eight H. B. 123; F. A. 85:5. Largest H. B. 127;

Do. a do ee 12 85 21 | F.A.89. Smallest H. B. 119: F. A. 83.

Do. ¢ do 125/ 1 85 20 t

Do. dee || do 19 | 17 83) |}| 19 }

Do. ad | 7-4-40 125 17 89 | 20 Mature males showing a considerable reduction in the

| gs

| Al | | size of the testes at this period. Ree two specimens

Do. 4 do. 127 | 18 87 | 18 ) very nude. No. 37 had a span of mm.

Do. d 21-140 112} 14 | 73 | 20 |

Do. 2 b 105} 1 72 7 ; i

De | Ao: ilo | ig 70 | U7 Pimmature males with the organs suppressed.

Do. aul do. 113} 14 | 79 | 20 J

Do. 3 | do. 116 | 15 79 | 20 )

Do. g | 7 6 9 | 54 15 .

we en g ace | a | 2 | 44 | 43 jecang male sucklings.

Do. 2 do: FO 49 | 14 Wing span 239 mm. young of 23.

Do. dq | 17-340 6 6 |} 40 | 11 | » 212 mm. young of 24.

Do. a do. 6 | 33 | 10 Newly born young.

Do. of | do. 61) 7 34 | ll \ Wing span 215 mm. young of 25.

Do. Sielendo: 60; § a |) " 222 mm. young of 26.

Do. dq | 12-540 86 | 2 66 4 . in) 404 mm. young of 40.

Do. Q | 21-4-40 | 120] 15 | 82 | 19 i =

Do. 9 | do. 118 | 11 | 77 | 19 | =

Do. Q do. 116 | 17 80 19 >»

Do. g do. | 123/ 16 | 80 | 20 | | iS

Fs a : x

Dos % a5 a u er | a Females containing embryos.

Do. mS: do | 113 13 80 19

Do, 2 do. 121 UG) 83 19

- i —-

Do. g 21-4-40 117 13 79 19S) )

Do g 17-3-40 118 | 12 82 19 , Average of 23, H. B.117:3;

Do. 2 do. 17) 312) 81 20)8) } Mature females with newly | F.A. 81:1: Largest H.B.

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Do. Q do. 116 | 16 86 18 i

Do. 2 do. 117 | 13 85 18 |

Do. 2 7-4-40 | 115) 16 80 20 |

Beh Q do. } 113] 16 81 | 19 J

[3) 2 do. 116 | 20 79 18 \ Ps

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Do. dp | do 119 14 81 18 S

Do. 9 | do. | 119] 18 | 79 19 =

Do peice ey | 177 | S09) s

Do, Q | 21-1-40 | 102] 17 | 695) 18 =

Do. Cl) do. 94) 13 68 | 18 | Immature females. =

Do. 2 | 12-5-40 , 115) 12 383i) 19) Wing span 440 mm. S

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8167 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAE Ais ESOChET Vo" Wiel. air

the embryological material, which I have forwarded to Dr. W. C. O.

Hill, mM.p., of Colombo, Ceylon, for study.

APPENDIX: THE STATUS OF Rousettus seminudus GRAY.

Mr. R. C. Wroughton records three species of Rousettus,

namely, fe. arabicus, leschenaulti and seminudus as occurring in

Indian and Ceylonese limits. Of these R. arabicus has been record-

ed from Karachi and adjacent country; leschenaulti throughout India

and Burma, but seminudus is said to be exclusively Ceylonese !

Wroughton’s key! to the species separates leschenaulti and seminu-

‘“B.—Pollex 24-30 mm.; second phalanx of

third digit 36-47°2 mm.

(a) Fur on nape and shoulders not usually

sparse; forearm 80°5-87'5 o. 2 2., leschemanlins

(b) Nape, and shoulders semi- naked ; fore-

arm 79-85°5 mm. ae wo 13. SCMmmnudits:

: scones reads=—‘similar: to’ Rs leschenanlia sput

Anderson’s

p. |=premolar| deciduous, nape and shoulders semi-naked,

Referring to the skull the same authority writes, ‘Size and shape

of skull as in R. leschenaulti.’ Mr. Phillips’* recorded measure-

ments indicate no difference between those of leschenaulti and

seminudus. The difference of the forearm measurements is very

meagre indeed. The measurements of the specimens listed in this

article from the Tulsi Lake tunnel, as shown below, are equal

to or exceed all the measurements in the above key. As such the

difference in forearm length is valueless as a means of differentiating

between the two species. The second distinctive character upon

which the species seminudus is established is ‘nape and shoulders

semi-naked’. That this semi-nakedness is a constant character is

not borne out by specimens from Ceylon obtained by the Mammal

Survey and identified at the British Museum by Wroughton him-

self (Specimens collected by E. W. Mayor Nos. 870, 881, 889, 919).

Beyond the usual bareness behind the neck and between the scapulars,

already referred to above in leschenaulti, there is no further naked-

ness. No. g19, an old male, is more thinly clad than the other

three, over the dorsal surface. I. leschenaulti can be obtained in

all possible stages of nudity and could accordingly be assigned

to the ‘species’ seminudus. ‘Gray’s type is very probably one of

these semi-naked examples which Gray assumed was a_con-

stant character. The nakedness, as I have pointed out, is frequent,

and more prevalent among males, but what it is due to I am not

prepared to state definitely, though I have suggested the possible

causes. There is no apparent skin complaint.

Thus it is clear that Rousettus seminudus Gray must be regarded

as a synonym of R. leschenaulti Desm. and that the Ceylon Rousettus

is the same as the Indian and cannot be separated by the characters

recorded “by “Gray.

tour, BIN aS.) XXV ee p- 565.

2=Cat. of ‘Chirop: (B.M.5 p30.

° Manual of the Mammals of Ceylon (1935) p. 69.

Mii

ON THE FOOD-PLANTS OF INDIAN BOMBYCES

(HETEROCERA).

De GG. SEVASTOPULO,= FRE. S;

The lack of knowledge of the early stages, etc. of our Indian

Heterocera was brought home to me very forcibly recently. I had

obtained a batch of fertile ova from a captive female of the very

common Syntomid Eressa confinis Wik. and wished to know what

food to give to the newly hatched larvae. I therefore consulted

my books but was unable to obtain the information I required.

Butler and Hampson in Vols. v to ix of Illustrations of Typical

Specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the

British Museum do not mention a single Syntomid larva. Moore

in The Lepidoptera of Ceylon figures and describes one species only,

and this is quoted by Hampson in the Fauna of British India—

Moths. Hampson in his Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae

mentions the larvae of two Oriental Syntomids only, the species

described by Moore and referred to above and a closely allied

Javanese species. Whilst Seitz in the Indo-Australian Bombyces

mentions the same two species and adds a remark that the larvae

of one genus live on low plants.

Species of economic importance are better known and much

information can undoubtedly be found in the publications of the

Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, of the Imperial Agricultural

Research Institute, New Delhi, and of the Tea Research Institute,

Tocklai, but neither these nor the many scattered papers of a non-

economic nature are readily referred to by amateur entomologists

in India.

The present paper is, therefore, an attempt to summarise such

information as I have been able to find concerning the food-plants

of Indian Bombyces, to add my own personal experiences and to

make suggestions based on what is known about allied species in

other countries. I have made no reference to the Sphingidae as

this group is most adequately dealt with in Bell & Scott’s Sphingidae,

Fauna of British India—Moths, Vol. v.

My principal sources of information have been Moore’s Lepidop-

tera of Ceylon, Seitz’? Indo-Australian Bombyces, Macrolepidoptera

of the World, Hampson’s Fauna of British India—Moths, the same

author’s Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae (Syntomidae and

. Arctiidae only) and Butler’s and Hampson’s Illustrations of Typical

Specimens of Lepidoptera in the Collection of the British Museum,

Vols. v to ix. These have been abbreviated in references to Lep.

Ceyl., Seitz, Fauna, Lep. Phal. and Ill. Het. respectively.

I have followed Seitz in the arrangement of families,

818 = JOURNAL, “BOMBAY. NATURAL HIST. SOCIEDY Wiol xcor

CASTNIIDAE.

Nothing known.

ZYGAENIDAE.

Himantopterus Wesm.-—It is suggested that the larvae of this genus have

a relationship with Termites similar to that between Lycaenid larvae and Ants

(Seitz). ‘

Phauda Wlk.—Ficus and Terminalia (Seitz).

Callizygaena Hamps.

C. sempbert Druce.—Myrmecylon tinctorium (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Trypanophora Koll.

T. semihyalina Woll.—Terminalia (Seitz), Lagerstroemia indica and L. flosre-

ginae (mihi).

T. tabrobanes Wik.—Lagerstroemia (Lep. Ceyl., Seitz).

T. javanica Sneil.—Terminalia, Anacardium, Spondias, Mangifera, Eugenia,

Rosa (Seitz). (non-Indian).

T. dissimilis Snell.—Cinnamonum (Seitz). (non-Indian).

T. luzonensis Semp.—Eugenia and Myrmecyion (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Cyclosia Hbn.—Larvae as far as known on Solanaceae and Aroideae (Seitz).

C. panthona Cr.—A. Lindleyana (Lep. Ceyl.).

C. macularia Guer.—Pierardia racemosa (Seitz). (non-Indian).

C. papilionaris Drury.-—In Java on Solanum ardisioides (Seitz).

Pompelon Wk.

P. marginata Guer.—Cinnamomum (Seitz).

Erasmia Hope.

E. pulchella Hope.—Wild coffee’ (Seitz), Hibiscus (mihi).

Eterusia Hope.—‘at least partly, polyphagous on various plants, as_ tea,

roses, Polygonum, etc.’ (Seitz). :

E. pulchella Koll.—Roses, tea, Polygonum (Seitz).

E. risa Dbl.—Symplocos and Thea (Seitz).

E. aedea L.—Tea and other plants (Seitz). ssp. cingala Moore—Lager-

stroemia (Lep. Ceyl.) and tea (Seitz).

Ek. distincta Guer.—-Jambosa densiflora and Melastoma polyantum (Seitz).

Chalcesia Hbn.

C. phalaenaria Guer.—Symplocos fasciculata (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Artona Wik.-—Larva found by Piepers on Bambusa and Cocos, as well as

another plant not determined with certainty, which in Java is called Dawon-

oundjek (perhaps a species of Pittosporum or Caryodaphne). (Seitz).

Iiberis Wlk.—A_ Japanese species feeds on Pirus communis (Seitz).

Thyrassia Btlr.—Larva found by Piepers on Vitis (Seitz).

T. philippina Jord.—Cissus acida (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Epizygaena Jord.

FE. cashmirensis Woll.—I have never bred this species but I strongly suspect

that it feeds on Dodder.

EPICOPEIDAE,

Epicopeia Westw.

E. inencia Moore.—On an elm, which is designated by missionaries as the

Chinese or small leaved elm (Seitz).

SYNTOMIDAE.

Syntomis O.—The larvae feed on low plants (Seitz).

Euchromia Hbn.

Kk. polymena L.—On Convolvulaceae (Lep. Ceyl., Lep, Phal.)

E. horsfieldi Moore.—Djoscoreae (Lep. Phal., Seitz). (non-Indian),

eS Se SS SS FS a ee SIS TS

ON THE FOOD-PLANTS OF INDIAN BOMBYCES eh)

URANIIDAE.

Nothing mentioned about the food-plants.

ARCTIIDAE.

Nolinae.

The Fauna wrongly states that the larvae feed on Lichens.

Nola Leach.

N. argentalis Moore.—Castanopsis indica (Lep. Phal., Seitz).

N. cucullatella L.—Blackthorn, hawthorn, apple (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

Roeselia Hbn.

R. nitida Hamps.—Ilex (Lep. Phal., Seitz).

R. lignifera Wik.—Terminalia catappa (Seitz).

R. fola Swinh.—Quisqualis indica (mihi).

Rk. albula Den. & Schiff.—Rubus (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

R. strigula Den. & Schiff.—Oak (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

‘Celama Wik.

C. fasciata Wlik.—Lantana camara (Seitz).

C. internella Wik.—Internally in Rubus (Ill. Het., ix, Fauna, Lep. Phal.,

Seitz) and on Durio zibenthinus (Seitz).

C. taeniata Snell.—Fimbristylis miliacea (Seitz).

C. centonalis Hbn.—Trifolium, Lotus, etc. (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

C. confusalis Herr.—Schaff.—Quercus, Pomus, etc. (Lep. Phal.).

Lithosiinae.

The larvae feed on Lichens (Lep. Phal., Seitz).

Stigmatophora Stgr.—Rock lichens (Seitz).

Asura WIk.—Presumably without exception on lichens (Seitz).

A, lutara Moore.—Lichens on different trees (Seitz), Solanum indicum (Lep.

Phal.). ;

Al. “senufascia- Wikk.—-Mosses -(lkep. -Ceyl., Ill. Het., ix, ‘ep. Phal., Seitz).

A. humilis Wilk.—Lichens (Seitz).

Asuridia Hamps.

A. ridibunda Snell.—Durio zibethinus (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Chionaema Herr.—Schaff.—Lichens (Seitz).

C. javanicu Btlr.—Muscus (Lep. Phai.), moss (Seitz).

C. pitana Moore.—Mosses on wet walls (Seitz). (non-Indian).

C. bianca Wlik.—Mosses on trunks (Seitz).

Halone = Wik.

H. sinuata Wllgr.—Lichens on rocks (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

Pseudoblabes Zell.

P. oophora Zell.—Mosses and Lichens (Seitz).

Oeonistis Hbn.

OF “entelia Cr.—lLichens (Ul, Het., .ix,° Lep. Phal., Seitz) and according te

Piepers also on Flacourtia and Ficus heterophylla (Seitz).

Lithosia F.—Lichens (Seitz).

L. tumida Wik.—Mosses (Seitz). ,

L. apicalis Wik.—Moss and lichens, also on the leaves of Tamarindus and

L. eugenla (Seitz). (non-Indian).

L. natara Moore.—White lichens on Citrus (Seitz). _

L. depressa Esp.—Lichens (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

L. complana L.—Lichens (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

820" JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL EIST. SOCIETY) “Violw cr?

sericea Gregson—Lichens, dead leaves (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

lurideola Zink.—Quercus, Rhamnus, etc. (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

griseola Hbn.—Lichens, dead leaves (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

caniola Hbn.—Lichens, flowers of Lotus (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

palliatella Scop.—Lichens (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

. lutarella L.—Saline lichens (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

. sororcula Hufn.—Lichens (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

igrioides Btlr.

puncticollis Btlr.—Mosses (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Nog PPD SES

Hypsinae.

Tree larvae (Seitz), in my opinion they would all eat Ficus spp.

Aganais Bsd.

A. ficus F.—Peepul (mihi).

Asota Hobn.

A. caricae Bsd.—Various trees (Seitz), Ficus oppositifolia (Lep. Ceyl., mihi).

Arctiinae.

Most species are polyphagous and will eat Compositae, Labiatae, Polygon-

aceaes CLC.

Maenas Hbn.

M. maculifascia Wik.—Convolvulus, Dioscorea oppositifolia and Erythrina

(Lep. Phal., Seitz). (non-Indian).

Diacrisia Hbn.

D. rhodophila Wik.—Cherry (Ill. Het., vii, Lep. Phal.).

D. urticae Esp.——Rumex, Mentha, etc. (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

_D. lubricipeda L.—Plantago, Mentha, Rumex, etc. (Lep. Phal.).

D, subfascia Wik.—Mussaenda, Trema and other plants (Ill. Het., ix).

D, lutea L.—Rumex, Plantago, Mentha, etc. (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

D. obliqua Wlk.—Geranium (Il. Het., vii), Sunflower and Dahlia (mihi).

D. sannio L.—Hieraceum, Erica, Scabiosa, etc. (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

D. strigatula Wik.—Dioscorea oppositifolia, etc. (Lep. Phal., Seitz).

D. mendica Clerck.—Rumex, Myosotis, Plantago, etc. (Lep. Phal.), (non-

Indian).

Amsacta WIk.

A. lactinea Cr.—-Menispermum glabrum (Lep. Phal.).

A. moorei Btlr.—Groundnuts (ep. Phal.).

Creatonotus Hbn.

C. transiens Wlik.—Galing (? Cissus) (Lep. Phal.), Compositae (mihi).

Pericallia Hbn.

P. erosa Wlik.—Gloriosa superba (Lep. Ceyl., Lep. Phal.), Thunbergia (Lep.

Phal.).

P. ricini F.—Notonia, Fagraea (Lep. Ceyl., Lep. Phal.), Dahlia (Lep. Ceyl.,

mihi), Castor and many low plants (mihi).

Euarctia Stgr.

E. proserpina Stgr.—Artemisia, Euphorbia (Lep. Phal.). (non-Indian).

Arctia Schrank.

A. caia L.—Urtica, Plantago, etc. (Lep. Phal.), also Dock, Lettuce, Dandelion,

Virginia Creeper (mihi).

A. villica L.—Myosotis, Plantago, Rumex,. Ulex, etc. (Lep. Phal.). (non-

Indian).

Utetheisa Hbn.

U. pulchella 1.—Myosotis, grasses, etc. (Lep. Phal.),

U, lotrix Cr.—Dahlia (mihi).

eo:

Wien) |

ON THE FOOD-PLANTS OF INDIAN BOMBYCES gi

Rhodogastria Hbn.

k. astreus Drury—Beaumontia (Lep. Ceyl.).

Migoplastis Fidr.

M. alba Moore-—Probably lichens (Ill. Het., ix).

Argina [Ebn.

A, argus WKoll.—Crotalaria (Lep. Ceyl.), an unknown Papilionaceous plant

(mihi),

A. syringa Cr.—Crotalaria (Lep. Ceyl.).

A. cribraria Clerck—Low plants (Seitz).

Callimorphinae.

Callimorpha_ Latr.

C. principalis Koll.—Plantain (Ill. Het., vii), low plants (Seitz).

Nyctemerinae.

For the greatest part confined to plants of the genus Senecio (Seitz).

Nyctemera Hbn.-—Senecio species (Seitz).

N. coleta Cr.—Gynura and other Compositae (Lep. Ceyl.).

N. plagifera Wlk.—Gynura sp. (mihi).

LYMANTRIIDAE.

Dasychira Steph.

D. dalbergiae Moore.—Dalbergia sissoo (Ill. Het., vii).

D. complicata Wlk.—Apple, Bracken, Montbretia, Lagerstroemia indica

mihi).

of mendosa Hbn.—Citrus (Lep. Ceyl.), tea, cotton, Terminalia catappa,

Ziziphus -jujuba, Caesalpina sp. (Seitz). Mango and Lagerstroemia indica

mihi).

securis Hbn.—Grasses (Lep, Ceyl.).

horsfieldi Saund.—Tea (Seitz).

moerens Fldr.—Smilax and Vitis (Ill. Het., ix).

varia Wllx.—Leucosceptrum canum (Seitz).

thwaitest Moore—Erythrina indica (Lep. Ceyl.).

bhana Moore.—Various plants (Seitz).

grotet Moore.—Rose and willow (Ill. Het., vii).

pudibunda \..—Oak and other trees. (non-Indian).

SSeyessss

Orgyia O.

O. postica Wik.-—Caesalpinia (Lep. Ceyl.), Caesalpinia, almond and apple

(Seitz), tea and Lagerstroemia indica (mihi).

Aroa WIk.

A. leucogramma Tldr.—Bamboos (Seitz). (non-Indian).

A. ochracea Moore.—Bamboos (Seitz).

Laelia Steph.

L. suffusa Wik.—Grasses (Seitz).

L. calamaria Hamps.—Calamus huegelianus (Seitz).

Leucoma Steph.

L. subvitrea Wik.—Terminalia catappa (Seitz).

L. marginalis Wik.—Mangifera and Terminalia sumatrana (Seitz). (non-

Indian).

An unidentified species from Tea (mihi).

Thiacidas Wk. |

T. postica Wik.—Zizyphus jujuba (Seitz).

822 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. “SOCIETY Vol cli

Lymantria | Hbn.

L. obfuscata Wik.—Oak and hawthorn (Seitz).

L. obsoleta Wik.—Eugenia sp., Ficus indicus (Seitz). Ficus religiosa (mihi).

L. incerta Wikk.—Acacia arabica (Seitz).

L. grandis Wlk.—Careya arborea, etc. (Lep. Ceyl.).

L. ampla Wik.—Almost omnivorous (Lep. Ceyl.), Palms, Mango, Casaurina

and Crotalaria (mihi).

L. lunata Stoll.—Diospyros sp., Eugenia sp., Psidium, Sesbania, Ricinus,

‘“Mauzanas de China’ and Terminalia (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Cispia Wk.

C. alba Moore.—Dysoxylon (Lep. Ceyl.).

Perina Wik.—Fig trees (Seitz).

P. nuda F.—Acanthads (Lep. Ceyl.), Ficus religiosa and F. indica (Seitz),

I’. religiosa (mihi).

Porthesia Steph.

P. scintillans Wi)k.—Wild Barberry (Ill. Het., vii), Coffee, tea, rose and

various shrubs (Ill. Het., ix), Gynurus (Lep. Ceyl.), Sesbania and willow (Seitz),

Lagerstroemia indica, Tamarisk, Sunflower (mihi). f. limbata Btlr.—Tea (mihi).

{. subnolata Wlk.—Cycas circinalis, etc. (Lep. Ceyl.).

Euproctis Hbn.

E. bimaculata Wlik.—Acanthads (Lep. Ceyl.), polyphagous (Seitz).

Ek. fraterna Moore.—Coffee, tea, Rubus, Rosa and many other shrubs (Ill.

Het, 1X).

E. apicalis Wlilk.—Various forest trees (Ill. Het., ix), Terminalia (Lep. Ceyl.).

i. guttata Wik.—Lagerstroemia indica (mihi).

Ek. diplaga Hamps.—Schima wallichii (Seitz).

E. fulvipuncta Hamps.—Litzea zeylanica (Ill. Het., ix).

E. decussata Moore.—Loranthus (Lep. Ceyl.).

E. sulphurescens Moore.—Willow (Ill.. Het., vii).

FE, vitellina Kolil.—Lotus corniculatus (Ill. Het., vii).

£. atrosquama WIk.—Sesbania_ sp., Caesalpinia sp., Pithecolobium sp.,

Psidium sp., Bambusa sp. (Seitz). (non-Indian).

THAUMETOPOEIDAE.

A European member of the family is a pest on Pines and Firs.

RATARDIDAE.

Nothing known.

LASIOCAMPIDAE.

Lebeda Wk.

L. nobilis Wik.—Bracken, Pine, Rubus (mihi).

Suana Wk.

S. concolor Wik.zCareya arborea, ‘etc. (Lep. Ceyl.).

Metanastria Hbn.

M. hyrtaca Cr.—Spiridium (Lep. Ceyl.), Mimusops elengi (mihi), Guazuma

tomentosa, Terminalia catappa, Mimusops elengi, Nyctanthes arbor-tristis,

Bassia longifolia, Schima wallichii, Eugenia jambolana, Acacia arabica,

Albizzia_ stipulata and Anthocephalus morindaefolius (1938, Subramaniam and

Anantanarayanan, Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., xl, 262-3).

Chileaa Wk. ;

C, strigula’ Wilk.—-Acacia-like thorn bushes (Seitz).

Malacosoma Hbn.

M. neustria L.—Prunus, Crataegus, Apple, etc. (non-Indian),

ON THE FOOD-PLANTS OF INDIAN BOMBYCKS 8233

Trabala Wk.

ae vishnu Lef.—Terminalia and Eugenia (Lep. Ceyl.), Ricinus, Rosa, Rubus,

Quisqualis indica, Lagerstroemia_fiosreginae (mihi).

Lenodora Moore.

L. vittata Wik.—Gramineae (Lep. Ceyl., Seitz).

Cosmotriche Hbn.

C. potatoria L.—Grasses. (non-Indian).

LE UPTEROTIDAE,.

Eupterote Hbn.

E. fabia Cr.—Ditferent shrubs on road-sides (Seitz), Acanthads (Lep. Cey!.).

FE. mollifera Wlk.—Bushes on the road-sides (Seitz), Acanthads (Lep. Ceyl.).

BOMBYCIDAE.

The larvae seem to live exclusively on trees and frequently prefer cultivated

trees (such as fgs, mulberries). (Seitz).

Bombyx L.

B. mort L.—Mulberry.

Ocinara WIk.

O. varians Wik.—Artocarpus integrifolia (Lep. Ceyl.), Ficus religiosa (mihi).

O. dilectula Wik.—Ficus sp. (Seitz). (non-Indian).

O. waringt Snell.—Ficus (benjamina?) (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Mustilia | Wk.

M. phaeopera Hamps.—Camellia caudata (Seitz).

Andraca WIk.

A. albilunata Hamps.—Cudranus javanicus (Seitz).

DREPANIDAE.

Very little known about. the Indian species. In Europe on Oak, Birch,

Beech, Sallow etc.

Teldenia Moore.

T. vestigiata. Btlr.—Eugenia firma (Lep. Ceyl.).

Drapetodes (Guen.

D. fratercula | Moore.—Cardamons and allied plants (Lep. Ceyl.).

CALLIDULIDAE.

Nothing Known.

SATURNIDAE. 5

Mostly polyphagous (Seitz).

Actias Leach—-Juglans, Mango, Careya and many other shrubs (Seitz).

A. selene Hbn.—Odina Wodier (Lep. Ceyl.), Mango, Juglans, cherry, apple,

willows and other foliage trees and ornamental bushes (Seitz), apple and

willow (mihi).

Attacus L. i

A. atlas L.—-Berberidae, Simarubaceae, Cupuliferae, Salicineae, also Ailanthus

glandulosa (Seitz). ssp. taprobanis Moore—Cinnamon and other trees (Lep.

Ceyl.).

824 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Samia Hbn.

S. cynthia Drury.—Ricinus, Ailanthus (Seitz, mihi), Lagerstroemia indica

(mihi).

Loepa Moore.

L. katinka Westw.—Cissus and Leea, probably also vine (Seitz).

Cricuia Wik.

C. trifenestrata Helf.—Various trees such as Canarium commune, Mangi-

fera and other Anacardiaceae such as Anacardium occidentale and orientale, as

well as on species of Prunus (Seitz).

Antheraea Hbn. |

A. paphia L.—Ficus, Gnidia, Terminalia, Ziziphus jujuba (Seitz). — ssp.

cingalesa Moore—Terminalia (I.ep. Ceyl.).

A. knyvetti Hamps.—Wild cherry and birch (Fauna), wild cherry and other

trees (Seitz).

A. roylet Moore..—Muhowah, oak, birch (Fauna), different foliage trees such

as oak, birch and others (Seitz).

A. ussamensis Westw.—Numerous species of trees and bushes (Seitz).

_ Dictyoploca Jord.

D, simla Westw.—Cocoons found commonly on Lagerstroemia indica (mihi).

D, cachara Moore.——Possibly Juglans regia (Seitz).

Eriogyna Jord.

E. pyretorum Westw.—Various foliage trees (Seitz).

BRAHMAEIDAE.

Brahmaea Wk.

B, wallichii Gray.—Vraxinus macrocantha (1936, Graham, Journ. Bomb.

Nat. Hist. Soc., xxxviii, 594), Ligustrum robustum (1938, Scott, Journ. Darj.

Nat. HastisSoc., 7ei1;).30):

EPIPLEMIDAE.

Epiplema Herr.—Schaff.

KE. latifasciata Moore—Fagraea zeylanica (Lep. Ceyl.).

FE. quadricaudata Wik.—Cinchona (Lep. Ceyl.).

NOTODONTIDAE.

Dudusa Wis.

D. nobilis Wik.—Schleichera trijuga (1935, Bell, Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist.

SOC., XXXVIil, 1736):

Nadata Wik.

N. niveiceps Wlk.—Quercus sp. (mihi).

Phalera Hbn.

P. parivala Moore.—Lespedeza Thompsoni (mihi).

P. goniophora Hamps.—Quercus serrata (Seitz).

Turnaea Wlk.-—Seitz suggests Monocotyledons, but I was unable to induce

newly hatched larvae of T. acuta Wlik. to eat Grasses, Palms or Bamboo.

Norraca Moore.—Seitz suggests Monocotyledons.

Niganda Moore.--Seitz suggests Monocotyledons.

Pydna Wlk.—Seitz suggests Monocotyledons.

Dinara Whk.—-Seitz suggests Monocotyledons.

Antheua WIk.—Seitz tentatively suggests Monocotyledons.

ON THE FOOD-PLANTS. OF INDIAN BOMBYCES

Stauropus Germ.

S. alternus Wik.—Cassia fistula (Lep. Ceyl.).

825

~S. stkkimensis Moore berberisae Moore.—Berberis and Wild Pear (Ill. Het.,

vil). .

S. mcelusa Hamps.—Quercus griffithii (Seitz).

S. diluta Hamps.—llex exsulca (Seitz).

Netria | Wik.

N, viridescens Wlk.—Sapotaceae (Lep. Cey].).

Desmeecraera Whligrn.

D. fasciata Moore.—Quercus sp. (mihi).

Cerura Schrank.—The European species on Populus, Salix and Alnus.

C. kandyia Moore.—Salix (Lep. Ceyl.).

Dicranura Bsd.

D. vinula L.—Salix and Populus. (non-Indian).

D, himalayana Moore.—Willows (Ill. Het., vii, Seitz).

Neopheosia Mats.

N. fasciata Moore.—Cherry (ill. Het., vii).

Pygaera O.

P. restitura WIk.—Elaeocarpus (Lep. Ceyl.).

CyMATOPHORIDAE.

Vhyatira tibn.

T. batis L.—Raspberry (Ill. Het., vii), Rubus sp. (mihi).

LIMACODIDAE.

Polyphagous (Seitz).

Cheromiettia Moore.

C. ferruginea Moore.—Coffee etc. (Lep. Ceyl.).

C. lohor Moore.—-Coffee, Banana, Ricinus, Mango (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Nagoda Moore.

N. nigricans Moore.—Coflee (Lep. Ceyl., Seitz).

Narosa Wik.

N. conspersa Wlik.—Coffee (Lep. Ceyl.).

N. doenia Moore.—Erythrina (Seitz).

Cania Wk.

C, bilinea Wik.—Banana, Cadamba and Guettarda (Seitz).

Altha WIk.

A. adala Moore.

Miresa Wk. |

M, bracteata Btlr.—Cinchona and Coffea (Seitz).

M. fulgida Wil.—Canarium album (Seitz). (non-Indian).

M. argenitifera Wik.—Musa (Lep. Ceyl., Seitz).

M. thermistis Hamps.—Bucklandia (Seitz).

M. brunnea Semper.—Cassia (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Bauhinia (Lep. Ceyl.), Anona and Bauhinia (Seitz).

Chalcocelis Hamps.

C. albiguttata Snell.—Coffee and Erythrina (Seitz).

Chalcoscelides Her.

C. castaneipars Moore—Spondias and Trevesia (Seitz).

826 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLIi

Scopelodes Westw.

S. venosa Wlk.—Polyphagous on coffee, rose, etc. (Lep. Ceyl., Seitz).

S. pallivittata Snell—Musa sp. (Seitz).

S. unicolor Westw.—Eugenia, Phaseolus, Nephelium (Seitz).

S. ursina Btlr.—Diospyros (Seitz).

Parasa Moore.

P. lepida Cr.—Coffee and Tea (Ill. Het., ix, Lep. Ceyl.), polyphagous (Seitz),

Mango and Gardenia (mihi). 5

P. bimaculata Snell_—Mangitera and Nephelium (Seitz). (non-Indian).

P. canangae Her.—Cananga odorata (Seitz).

P. bicolor Wik.—Bamboo (Seitz).

Trichogyia Hamps.

T. senifascia Hamps.

Euphlycta Snell.

E. erastria Snell.—Coffee (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Susica Wk.

S. pannosa Snell.—Musa sp. (Seitz). (non-Indian). |

Setora Wik. |

S. nitens Wik.—Coffee, tea, banana etc. (Seitz). |

Thosea Wik.

T. loesa Moore.—-A great number of cultivated plants (Seitz). |

T. cervina Moore.—-Polyphagous (Lep. Ceyl., Seitz). |

TI. cana Wik.—Cassia auriculata, etc. (Lep. Ceyl.), Cassia, etc. (Seitz).

T, tripartita Moore.—Ricinus and other plants (Seitz).

IT. bisura Moore.—Polyphagous (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Lagerstroemia and Coffea (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Macroplectra Hamps.

M mnararia Moore.—Lagerstroemia indica (mihi). |

M. signata Moore.—Abutilon, Ficus, etc. (Lep. Ceyl.). |

Oxyplax Hamps. |

O. ochracea Moore.—Food various (Lep. Ceyl.), Apple (mihi). |

Phocoderma Btlr. |

P, velutina Koll.—Tung (C. M. Inglis in litt.). |

EPIPYROPIDAE.

The larvae live on Homoptera (Psyllidae, Jassidae, Cicadae) and feed from

their wax-secretions, though some species also seem to suck sweet saps.

(Seitz).

PSYCHIDAE.

Pteroxys Hamps.

P. goniatus Hamps.—Zingiberaceae, grasses, etc. (Ill. Het., ix).

Mahasena Moore.

M. graminivora Hamps.—Grasses (Seitz).

M. theivora Dudg.—Tea (Seitz).

Chalioides Hamps.

C. vitrea Hamps.—Grewia hirsuta (mihi).

Amicta Heyl.

A. rhabdophora Wamps.—Tea and Cinchona (Ill. Het., ix).

Liothula Fer.

L. omnivora Fer.—Willows, conifers and many other plants (Seitz). (non-

Indian).

ONS PHE FOOD-PLANTS OF INDIAN BOMBYCES 827

Oiketicus Guilding.

O. tertius Templ.—Citrus decumana (Lep. Ceyl.).

Clania Wik.

C. cramerii Westw.—Lagerstroemia indica, Alseodaphne semicarpifolia and

many others (mihi).

C. destructor Dudg.—Tea (Seitz).

Amatissa WIk.

A. consorta Templ.—Citrus decumana (Lep. Ceyl.).

A. cuprea Moore.—Banana (1938, Brahmachari, Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist.

S0C., xls S7)e

‘THYRIDIDAE,

Dysodia Clem.

D. viridatrix Wik.—Bores in wood (Fauna).

AEGERIIDAE.

Fleshy internal feeders on bark or pith (Fauna). Entirely endophyte. They

partly live in wood, partly inside the ‘stalks of plants, and are mostly mono-

phagous or oligophagous. We know next to nothing about the early stages

of the Indian and Australian species. As a number of elsewhere known larvae

of Melittia live on Cucurbitaceae, it may be likely that also Indo-Australian

members of this family are to be found on the stalks of such plants. A

great many Aegeriid larvae live in hard wood, and some have been observed

to be particularly fond of cancroid swellings of the bark, which may also be

caused by them. (Seitz).

INDARBELIDAE.

Borers in wood (Fauna).

Indarbela Fletcher—A_ species is reported as damaging Ziziphus jujuba,

Phyllanthus emblica, Bauhinia purpurea (Seitz).

. quadrinotata WIlk.—Probably Bauhinia (mihi).

theivora Hamps.—-Tea and Mango (Seitz).

campbelli Hamps.—Ochna squarrosa (Seitz).

dea Swinh.—Erythroxylum coca (Seitz).

CossIDAE.

Wood of trees or stems of reeds (Lep. Ceyl.). Internal feeders, boring

galleries in wood or the pith of reeds etc. (Fauna).

Zeuzera Latr.

Z. coffeae Nietn.—Coffee (Lep. Ceyl., Fauna).

Xyleutes Hbn.

X. nephocosma Trnr.—In the trunks of Melaleuca leucodendron (Seitz).

(non-Indian).

X. nigra Moore.—In the root of the Coffee tree (Lep. Ceyl.), Coffee (I‘auna,

Seitz).

X. strix Cr.—In the wood of Agati grandiflora (Seitz).

X. kochi Semp.—In the wood of Gliricidia sp. (Seitz). (non-Indian).

Phragmataecia Newm.

P. castaneae Hbn.—In Europe in reeds.

HEPIALIDAE.

On the roots of plants (Lep, Ceyl.). Internal feeders in wood or the roots

of grasses etc. (Fauna).

Phassus Wlk.—Borers in trunks of trees (Fauna).

Hepialiscsu) Hamps.—Roots of grasses (Fauna).

A MAHSIR RIVER OF SOUTHERN INDIA.

MEvUr Con, UN] We bURTON:

(With a plate).

The majority of visitors to the ‘Blue Mountains’ of Southern

India see the Bhavani river at Mettupalaiyam, where it is spanned

by road and rail and is a very ordinary looking stream of no

particular attraction: yet, but a few miles up the valley, it is a

rapid and beautiful river of many moods.

Those who come to the Hills from the direction of Mysore

cross the largest tributary—the Moyar—which is, during some

twenty miles of its course, one of the most inaccessible rivers in

India, for it runs at the bottom of a tremendous ravine close

upon a thousand feet deep known as ‘The Mysore Ditch’. Apart

from this natural obstacle the river there passes through forest

country inhabited only by wild beasts and jungle tribes, and the

steamy depths of the gorge are protected by a malaria said to be

deadly even to the aboriginal people, who dare not remain on the

river banks after sundown.

There are monster mahsir in those wonderful pools and deep

runs, as has been discovered by a few adventurous sportsmen;

but malaria—the most efficient and ever-watchful of all Game

Wardens—preserves the wild beasts and the fish from the all-

destroying hand of Man. To some extent the Bhavani is similarly

protected for the first ten miles above Mettupalaiyam, but for

twenty-five miles above that it is a lovely fishing river.

An affluent of the mighty Cauvery, the Bhavani joins that river

at the town of Bhavani (another name for the Hindu Goddess

Parvati, also known as Durga—The Earth Mother) which is twenty-

four miles below the recently constructed Mettur Dam. This

junction is some sixty miles below Mettupalaiyam and forty miles

after the Moyar comes in on the left bank.

Through the writings of H. S. Thomas, whose work The Rod

in India is as deserving: of immortal fame as Izaac Walton’s

Compleat Angler, so charmingly is it written and so full of wise

advice, this river is known to many by name; and the terrible

reputation the lower gorge of the valley had sixty years ago for

malaria obtains even to the present day. The fact is that along

some twenty miles of the wider portion of the valley there is little

malaria during the months of August and September, though all

the usual protective precautions have to be taken for oneself and

the camp followers, while the myriad mosquitos and other biting

insects which greatly mar many a fishing trip are entirely absent.

Is there then no snag—apart from the many in the river—to

this Angler’s Paradise? There is—the necessity of enormous

patience! At other times of the year the water is either too low

or always in flood, but during these months mahsir are in all the

pools and rapids. The fisherman must, however, have both time

Journ. BomBay Nat. Hist. Soc.

A Mahsir River of South India.

Photo by Bhavani Scenery: the Varagaar Pool. Author.

Photo by A 26lb. Mahsir. Author.

A MAHSIR RIVER OF SOUTHERN INDIA 829

at his disposal and the patience to wait, as there may be many

spates during which no fish can be caught and the angler has to

assume the role of rusticus expectans. On the occasion of his first

visit the writer sat seven days in his tent dum defluit amnis, for

heaven’s flood-gates were open all the time. It is only one who

is ‘passing his pension days’, as the Aryan brother expresses it,

who can spare the time for such idle occupation.

Let us get to our furthest camp which is a mile beyond the

Irula village of Seerakadavu. Here the river leaves the mountain-

ous country which it has traversed from its sources on the south-

ern slopes of the Kolaribetta Hill (8,624 ft. and only 26 ft. lower

than Dodabetta, the highest point in the Nilgiris), and gathering

to itself many streams well known to trout fishermen, descends

through dense and malarious: forests and a precipitous gorge to

the village of Attapadi (The Abode of Leeches)—where it makes

a left hand turn to shape a very direct north-easterly course for

Mettupalaiyam. So it can be well realized why the South-West

Monsoon occasions so many floods and freshets to the annoyance

of the fisherman, though but little rain falls in the valley itself

at that time of the year. |

Within the angle above mentioned is the conspicuous hill

named Malleswara (5,458 ft.), with its remarkable pinnacle having

a 400 ft. perpendicular scarp, which dominates the whole valley

and can be seen stabbing the sky from Mettupalaiyam. It is said

that no man has ever set foot on the top of the pinnacle though

it looks not too difficult of access by the eastern slope. On the

opposite summit is a shrine visited by the Hindus of the country

side during the month of August. It can be conceded to the

perspiring pilgrims that they have indeed earned ‘merit’ as a

reward for this toilsome journey, which no women are permitted -

to perform.

In the upper reaches above this camp the river narrows greatly,

and as the fish mostly run small those waters should not be fished.

Ordinarily one returns to the water all fish below about six pounds.

A beginning.is made with Camp Pool and Camp Run which empties

Lem River Sinton aq Jone, «deep, tree-bordered stretch “of swater.,* In

Camp Pool are some bad snags. Several fine fish up to fifteen

pounds have been taken from it; and one good one bored to the

bottom, below the heavy water spilling into the pool, so boulders

were heaved in to dislodge him. Suddenly He’s off—(not the exact

exclamation !)—and it was found that the steel link next to the

bait had snapped. Probably one of the stones was too well aimed

for otherwise this breakage, not taking place. at the moment of

seizure, is difficult to understand. The day before fish of seven

and twelve pounds were killed, and the next day a heavy fish took

a crocodile spinner in the deep pool and tore off one of the wire-

mounted hooks. It is seldom artificial spinners are used for they

often fail one and are more liable to catch in snags, whereas one

treble hook, mounted on wire and used with a small dead bait

as Thomas directs, has the least chance of mishap; and if properly

adjusted the spin is more natural and effective.

That same day a fish with an edge to his appetite took the

830 5 JOURNAL BOMBAY "NATURAL HIST. SO CUE MYo Viole axe!

bait almost as it touched the water when popped over a rock;

the wire trace was in twirls from the pull and the reel screamed.

In August this year (1939) an unusually heavy fish for this part

of the river was killed. Taking the bait—a four-inch fish-—in

shallow rapid water above a long, deep pool, he raced a full

hundred yards before the coracle could be started after him; and

another fifty yards before we were properly feeling him. Then

all went rigid—not a move—and after some time it was realized

that the line was hung up in some way. All that could be done

was to reel in with rod top touching the water beneath over-

hanging branches, the coracle held by a man on the bank. Then

the boatman dived with hand on line and found some fifteen feet

down that it had passed under a projecting snag. The relief of

mind when the line sprang to the surface! But we were not yet out

of the wood, or the fish out of the water, for he was fifty yards

further down and could not be felt; another snag. This time he

was moved by rod work, and having been well rested did a hundred

yards sprint to yet another snag. How well he knew all the safe

anchorages! There he was soon dislodged, and after further down

river cavortings was gaffed after a full hour at least five hundred

yards from the start. Nose to. tail-fork 43 in., girth 27 in.,

weight 41 lbs.; a fine cock fish; and the hook dropped from the

roof of his mouth as he was laid on the ground!

In the remaining water from this camp, extending for a mile

or more as far as Village Pool, fish have been taken on various

trips the best being 18 lbs., and one or two certainly nearing the

thirty-pound mark have escaped for one reason or another; it -is

mostly snag-like arguments which cause these lamentable partings.

Storms of the N.-E. monsoon along this river are. very

violent, as evidenced by the many charred and riven giant trees

along the banks and lying in the pools and rapids. Occasionally

there are heavy storms from the South-West. In the late after-

noon of one 30th August when at this place—‘Top Camp’ I call

it—the sky became overcast and thunder growled among the hills.

The great sky-piercing tooth of Malleswara was lost to view and

the hills changed from purple to pitch black. Soon the darkness

deepened into night and the fireflies spangled the near-by bushes.

Nearer and nearer came the storm, heralded by loud thunder claps

and long flashes of vivid lightning. Now the thunder spoke in a

long menacing growl and the incessant lightning disclosed a tur-

moil of leaping waters, for the rapid mountain torrents had already

brought the river down in spate. The big trees lining the river

banks swayed before the rushing wind, and in a few minutes the

camp was flooded deep with torrential rain.

It had already been arranged to move camp down the valley

in the morning so the coolies found the sodden tents rather more

than they had bargained for; a small extra payment and gift of

chewing tobacco heartened them for the nine mile march to Koora-

pati, which is a favourite camping place opposite where the

Siruvani, joined a mile above by the Gopanari, comes in on the

right bank. These rivers are a great nuisance. They drain a

tea and coffee estate area so become turbid on the slightest excuse

A MAHSIR RIVER OF SOUTHERN INDIA 831

(an instance of the great denudation of soil caused by planting

operations), so all the lovely length of the Bhavani from here to

the Kundah River junction, ten miles down on the left bank, is

often unfishable; and the Kundah carries on the bad work all the

way to Mettupalaiyam.

The river being in spate we must switch off to another year.

The coolies having been started off I get into the coracle to jour-

ney down the river, fishing all the best places on the way. Fish

of ten to twenty pounds are usually found at certain known spots.

One favourite place, where the Varagaar stream runs in on the

left bank from its mountainous descent, has now been spoilt for

many years by the fall of a forest giant which completely snags

the incoming water. I doubt if it will ever be shifted. Leaving

the Varagaar Pool, which ends a two-mile stretch of deep and

mostly placid water, containing fish ‘as big as bullocks’ say the

‘locals’, the river becomes shallow and rapid for some two fur-

longs. In this length mahsir up to ten pounds may be expected

and an occasional murrel: good eating, poor sport.

While the coracle is being taken down some turbulent water

it may be given a few lines of description. It is rather wonder-

ful what it can do. Being but six feet in diameter and fourteen

inches deep yet it will safely ferry five men and several hundred

pounds of baggage. The weight when dry is 45 lbs. and one

man can carry it for miles without difficulty. Photographs of it

in transit and in use are seen with ‘Coracles and Chimpanzees’ at

page i116 of vol xli The covering is of buftalo: hide stretched

over a basin-like basket of bamboo. There is but one seam, and

the leather being kept in condition by applications of mustard

oil lasts a long time. The resilience of construction admits of

any amount of bumping over and against boulders, and any

damage is easily repaired.

My fishing seat is a hinged-lid packing case 19 in. by 15 in.

by 1o in. high, with padlock. A leather-covered cushion is

necessary to soften the rigours of the box, or what naturalists

call ‘ischial callosities’ will result. Fish up to 15 lbs. or so—

two of them—go into the box; more, or bigger, stay outside.

The whole affair—coracle and seat—-costs twenty rupees: if one

goes to another river the framework is left behind and a new

one quickly made at the next camp. Hire of coracle, boatman,

cooly, and boy to cook their rice is less than three rupees a day.

On arrival at Koorapati camp the tents are found pitched and

breakfast ready. Let us have a look at our surroundings. The

valley is very green just now, and along the length of it are the

beautiful Nilgiri Hills down the slopes of which the footpath

brought us over 3,000 feet in three miles, from a temperate climate

to a more than warm one. The inhabitants of the valley are

Irulas, an aboriginal people now busily ploughing their stony fields

for sowing the ragi crop. In the group photograph the type of

the people is seen. They are small in stature and very dark

skinned; their noses are broad, and the people of this tribe are so

like the Kurumbars that they can with difficulty be told apart.

The men wear a top-knot, and the women wear their upper cloths

832 -JOURNAL, BOMBAY NAFURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XEI

stretched straight across the breast and passed under the arms.

Their ornaments are brass bangles and necklaces of beads, so

the similar goods from Woolworth’s presented by me from time

to time have been met with broad smiles. The numerous children

appreciate scrambles for pice.

The Irulas will not eat beef. Each village has its cemetery,

the dead being buried in a sitting position with the legs crossed

tailor fashion. A lamp, knife, and hatchet are placed beside the

body. The huts the people live in are but little different to those

they run up in a few hours for the visiting sportsman and _ his

servants. Their physical condition is poor, and it is curious that

they should remain in this primitive condition within but a short

distance of motor trate and the civilization of Mettupalaiyam.

Except along the river banks, which are fringed by large ever-

green trees, the jungle of the level country and the lower slopes

of the hills is thorny, abounding with cactus and several species

of euphorbia. Snakes are numerous. The wife of a river watcher

was bitten by a viper a while ago, but happily recovered. It was

a small snake, the husband said, so more than likely echis carinata

was the culprit, for there was internal hemorrhage a few hours

after: the bite and the local symptoms) were .very oseveren« ne

woman was in a great fright as.there had been several deaths in

the valley from snake-bite.

On the right bank of the river there is Government Forest

which contains a few animals and some jungle fowl. One hears

no sounds at night so the few tigers must live on cattle. This

side of the river the Irulas have killed off everything and now

complain of having no meat! A tigress killed a cow about three

hundred yards from my tent at this camp on one occasion, but

being an inexperienced young female did not make a neat job of

it so the bellowing protestations of the poor cow brought shouting

villagers to the scene and the beast went off without her dinner.

Now that the storm has ceased the sun is drying up the earth

almost as fast as it was saturated by the rain. Those exquisitely

coloured insects, with soft plush-like oval bodies about the size

of a small cherry stone but more flat, are making their appear-

ance. Soon they will lie about so thickly in places that\they will

redden the earth. Touch one and it will remain quiescent, a

method of self-protection common to many things which creep

and crawl. Brilliant butterflies are again flying about and one

wonders how they escape damage during such boisterous weather ;

some indeed are bedraggled, and some have bits of wings clipped

out by pursuing birds, but many are intact. Dragonflies and other

insects hawk the rain-washed air; the song of birds is among the

trees; hawks and vultures circle in the sky; all nature is smiling,

which means that everything is more than ever busy eating every-

thing else!

The rive, being again fishable an hour’s walk takes me to

‘Top Pool’ by half-past eight to begin fishing by nine o’clock.

Three four-inch fish from the bait-can are carefully mounted and

the spin of each tested along the water’s edge. Long practice

makes perfect, and it is but seldom the spin is not satisfactory.

A MAHSIR RIVER OF SOUTHERN INDIA | 833

The bait must spin quickly for, as Izaac Walton wrote some

280 years ago in regard to spinning minnows for trout; ‘... try

how it will turn, by drawing it across the water or against the

Stream, and it 1t do not turn: nimbly, then turn’ the tail a little to

the right or left hand, and try again, till it turn quick; for if not,

you are in danger to catch nothing; for know, that it is impossible

that it should turn too quick.’ I make sure that the spin

‘remains put’ by means of sundry sewings with strong thread,

white or khaki it matters not, and the coracle is quietly paddled

to where the Varagaar rapids come in with a pleasing turmoil.

Away the bait goes with a Hillman bullet of suitable weight

to keep it well down, and the cast being across and a little up

stream it sinks to somewhere near the floor of the river and

swings round with the current. Again and again this is repeated,

the coracle quietly drifting, until a cast into the very edge of the

current swirling along the steep, tree-rooted bank on the further

side results in a furious tug, and that thrilling scream of the reel

denoting a heavy fish. The tail of the pool is a full hundred and

fifty yards away and he stops some eighty yards short of that,

thus leaving that most promising place undisturbed. The first

run safely completed the fish 1s humoured by steady strain to work

up Stream a bit, and so by degrees, after several other long or

short runs and sundry shakings of head, is gradually tired out.

Soon we see a surface swirl; there are tugs and short excursions

which must not be too strenuously resisted; the coracle is beached

against the sandy shore, the gaff made ready, and after some

twenty minutes of play a fine hen mahsir of twenty-two pounds,

is safely laid on the bank. A lovely fish; mahsir are a never ceas-

ing source of delight to the eye and ae mind of the fisherman

im the Hast:

Again we set out, but this is on another day in another year,

and at the tail of the pool where the escaping water divides either

side of a jamun bush the questing bait is taken by a heavy fish.

The coracle is committed to the pull of the left channel and the

fish prefers the right! Ouick work with the rod takes the line

sliding over the bending twigs of the first bush but the fish is too

fast to permit of similar escape from one a few yards below, so

coracle and fish race down the rapid water, the latter an easy

winner.

Obviously the coracle must be swung to a halt against the left

hand boulders and bushes as soon as possible, which is some

eighty yards from the start; while the fish is quietly resting in

the deep water of the pool a hundred and twenty yards from where

hooked: the line is held taut by the twigs and the fish can have

fifty more yards of line if he wants it, so all is well—perhaps!

Two men, a fish watcher and the coracle cooly, have a difficult

arm-Clasping-arm crossing through the strong water of the run

and make a diving plunge at the last moment to seize a saving

branch. Soon the line is passed over the bending twigs and a

furious winding in finds the fish still on; it puts up a stubborn

fight in the strong water but is eventually tired out and brought

to the sandy bank beneath the giant trees where he soon showed

834 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

his broad bullock-like back and bright red fins. A deep and

heavy fish of thirty pounds. Such happenings as this almost

bring on a heart attack! It was noted on that occasion that a

multiplying reel must be the next purchase.

After this pool—I call it Lower Pool—there is a most promis-

ing run into a long, deep stretch of water—Halcyon Pool—but

only once have I taken a fish in it and that only six pounds. Then,

after another portage, comes Mug’s Pool, so named because there

has so often been an easily taken seven-pound fish at that junction

of two channels of the river. Then down a heavy rapid to Falls

Pool which is formed by a rocky barrier across the river. It is

at the tail of this, where it narrows towards the left bank, that

one always expects a good fish. These come up Grandfather’s

Run from the deep pool below to lie on the sandy floor and feed

on whatever the strong stream may bring down. When the river

is ‘just right’ it is with confident expectation that the bait is sent

to search out every yard of that lie. Fish of twenty to, twenty-

seven. pounds have been hooked there many times, and all have

to be followed in the dancing coracle to the pool for to attempt

otherwise spells certain disaster. Where the long and turbulent

run ends big fish may also be expected.

Now comes a lengthy portage—except when the river ts high

and a heavy rapid with three feet waves is negotiated—taking one

to Temple Pool (a small, primitive jungle shrine in among the

lofty trees) and fish not above fourteen pounds; below that a poo!

where a fish of eighteen pounds was taken on the first trip nine

years ago (no other at that place since then at that seemingly

excellent lie), and so down runs and rapids and long still pools in

all of which a few fish have been caught from time to time, but

only parts of it really good water, to Koorapati Camp.

In the intervals of searching the more likely places with the

spinning bait there is much of interest to be observed and charm

of scenery to delight the eye as the coracle moves down this lovely

river. There are long, deep pools shaded’ to the “water's” edge

by evergreen trees within the shadows of which are widening rings

and splashes of surface-feeding fish; amidst the foliage birds and

monkeys are descried, and sometimes a large maroon and buff

squirrel is detected through the dropping of a fruit from the top-

most branches of a giant tree; pied hornbills pass over with

peculiar undulating flight; kingfishers of three varieties are perched

or hovering; a snake-necked darter rises spattering from the

water; a fish eagle is perched on the bare out-stretched branch of

a tree; a disporting school of otters may be seen, and at certain

known places a crocodile is Jooked for.

Fitful air movements run light wrinkles over the water, while

an occasional puff of wind causes a flash of darkness to sweep

across the placid surface. Looking upstream the vista of the

wide waterway framed by the forest trees is backed by the dark

green of the streaming ravines set off by the grassy or jungle-clad

slopes of the billowing hills. Sometimes all is clear and detailed

to the sight, then a turn of the river affords a distant view where

the receding hills are clothed in a tint of the finest purple. The

AR VARS ER RIVER VOB “SOUTEEIRN IN DIA 835

delicate blue surface of the water reflects the azure of the sky;

each turn of the river discloses an ever-changing scene and over

all is a feeling of perfect peace. Yet all the while one is sensible

of that tragic world which lies beneath the surface of the waters,

where there is no thought of mercy for any living thing which

can neither fight nor flee. Nature, while smiling and beautiful to

the human eye, is full of horror based upon the killing of things,

sometimes with great cruelty, and seemingly with infinite futility

and wantonness, as is instanced by the immense destruction of

fishes eggs and small fry; but nature does not ruthlessly exter-

minate as does the ever destroying hand of man. Some thirty

years ago this river was almost entirely denuded of fish life. Only

the provision of fish watchers by the Government has restored it

to something approaching what it should contain.

After this long. discursion we set off at three thirty—the

Siruvani being almost clear—to fish the very excellent downstream

runs and rapids which have produced many fine fish. Close below

camp is a good place denied to me for the past nine years by

many snags; it may perhaps never be fishable, so firmly are the

great trunks and branches interlocked. Then comes a long, narrow

channel in which I have taken fish from ten pounds to fifty pounds.

At the tail-end, where the heavy run curls over to break into

boisterous waves is the place where hope runs high. In 1935

eleven fish were taken from that channel, the best being 51 Ibs.

(45 in. to tail-fork, 29 in. girth). That fish was unfortunate

for he was held by only one strand of the three-ply wire trace

and the points of the hook had not penetrated beyond the barb.

There were imany anxious moments during the hour of play,

and it was fate in the evening when the photograph was taken.

The spinning rod on that occasion was a 1o ft. 6 in. green-

heart; for parts of the river where fish below fifteen pounds are

expected a 7 ft. rod is suitable.

Below the channel is a mile of good water where fish are

always found (Siruvani permitting) which ends in a deep pool

where big fish lie. From here to Sundapati is four miles of pools,

runs, rapids, and shallows but no fish over fifteen pounds have been

found init:

To travel fast downstream is a great delight. There is the

shallow transparent water where the always beautiful mosaic floor

of the river rises to the eye. Every pebble, every tiny fish, can

be clearly seen. Now comes the increasing speed of the water

sliding into the turmoil of the rapidly descending torrent; the

rushing sound of the wave-tossed rapid; the deep. growl of the

angry waves obstructed by a boulder, and the exhilaration of a

slight element of danger as the dancing coracle is dexterously

eine’ to. pass the peril of a surface-breaking rock: then, shoot-

ing down at a speed which is faster than the stream itself, descent

is made into the long reach of waves and eddies merging into

sullen swirls like richly watered silk as the chastened stream

mingles with the placid waters of the next long pool.

These entrances and exits of the pools are where the big ones

lie; but unless the harbouring pool is really deep no fish of size

836 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

will be found, for the mahsir likes his rest in the intervals of

feeding excursions to be wholly undisturbed by surface happenings.

At Sundapati is some deep and heavy water and a splendid out-

going run some fifty yards wide yet, for some reason unknown,

it 1s seldom one gets fish there. That there are some is certain,

but those great-grandfathers do not come to the spinning bait:

too lazy perhaps. In 1900 a Colonel MacArthur fished the pre-

viously baited pool with ragi paste on his large hook and killed a

mahsir of 92 lbs. which was much admired and appreciated by

Boer Prisoners of War in camp near Wellington. The late

Mr. Mark Clementson of Ootacamund killed fish of between sixty

and seventy pounds in the same pool by the same style of fishing,

which is the method by which all the hundred-pound mahsir one

hears of from Mysore waters of the Cauvery and Cubbany rivers

are taken. Heave afar a large lump of ragi paste and sit expect-

ant while the mosquitos eat you and the fish eats the paste! Good

enough when coracle and spinning rod, or fly rod, sport is not

possible.

It is after a week or more at Koorapati that one moves down

to Sundapati, from where about three miles up and down stream

can be fished. Possibly the sport here would be better in the

warmer months of January and February. Certainly there would

be good fun with the fly rod, for Carnatic carp run to ten pounds,

and there are numerous other fly-takers also.

Sometimes, when the weather during August-September has

been warmer than usual, I have had good sport with the fly rod

in the long, still pools. The coracle is quietly floated down the

centre of the stream and casts made under the shadowing’ trees

and close to the steep banks. When the flying white ants emerge

in their countless thousands many of them fall into the river to

be gulped down by the ravenous fish, for the water will boil with

rises when this luscious feast is served. A fly to imitate this

insect has recently been put on the market with the name of

‘Gibby’s Ant’, and is excellent for use at that time. For ordinary

times there is a variety of flies—mostly dark ones; and a small

green caterpillar on a worm tackle, the hooks considerably stronger

than those used for trout, is very effective. The rod should be

about ten to eleven feet in length, and casts of suitable strength.

Six miles: below Sundapatt is the Kundah river junction, and

for almost a mile before that there is good water holding big

fish. The Kundah has its sources in the high hills and comes in

by many shallow channels, while below is a deep, rocky run bare

of trees and vegetation where there are at times big mahsir diff-

cult to entice to a spinning bait. I have seldom fished there.

Now the river descends steeply in a series of roaring rapids,

cascades and waterfalls, quite impossible for the coracle, into the

deep malarious gorge mentioned early in this article. I do not

know if anyone has really fished there. It would be very exhaust-

ing and difficult work in those steamy depths and safe foot gear

would be very necessary. I have just come across the perfect

boot for slippery rocks, whether these be under or out of the

water. They are made of. rubber uppers and soles of compressed

A MAHSIR RIVER OF SOUTHERN INDIA 837

felt. Perhaps I may some day essay that gorge and if so the

Journal shall have news of it.

At the foot of the gorge is fishable water which can be got at

from Tekampati situated two miles by bridle path from the river

bank. od in India should be read as to this part of the river;

‘fish as big as portmanteaus’, wrote Thomas. Arrangements from

Mettupalaiyam, six miles distant, would present no difficulty. There

is a motorable track.

Now the reader has been conducted from the top of the valley

to rail head and nothing remains but to wish the intending sports-

man the best of luck, which includes good weather and ‘tight

lines’.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES

OF INDIA. .

1, Oe OATS. Sy Parr ale ts:

COMPOSITAE

PART UL

(Continued from page 645 of this volume).

[E;LEPHANTOPUS.

The genus consists of 20 tropical species, mostly American.

Elephantopus scaber Linn. is found throughout India. It is

distributed over tropical Asia, Australia, and America.

The plant is an Ayurvedic and Yunani drug.

In Travancore a decoction of the roots and leaves is given in

dysuria; the bruised leaves with rice are given internally for

swellings or pains in the stomach.

In Chota Nagpur a preparation from the root is given for fever.

The Mundas use the roots as a remedy in diseases believed to

be caused by a spell.

The plant is much used as a diuretic in Indo-China, as a diuretic

and febrifuge in Madagascar, and as a vulnerary in Jamaica.

In the French Islands of the West Indies the herb is considered

tonic, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue. The warm infusion is given

in dyspepsia, intermittent fevers, loss of appetite, and menstrual

derangements due to colds.

The herb is used in Brazil as an emollient and discutient in the

form of a decoction or a poultice. “A decoction of the Troops

prescribed in asthenic fevers.

Arabic: Kibnaite—; Bengal: Dadishaka, Gajialata, Gojialata, Samdulam,

Shamdulum—; _ Betsileo: Tambakombako—; Bombay: MHastipata, Mhaka,

Pathri—; Brazil: Fumo bravo—; Burma: Katoopin, Matoopin—; Canarese:

Hakkarike—; Ceylon: Anichchovadi—; Chanda: Kaliagangawan—; English:

Blue Elephant’s-foot, Prickly-leaved Elephant’s Foot—; French: Lastron marron,

Pied d’ éléphant—; Guwjerati: Bhopathari, Kharsatbhopatri—; Hindi: Gobhi,

Samdulam—; Indo-China: Chi thien—; Jashpur: Murgichundi, Talmuli—; La

Reunion: Tabac marron—; Malaya: Tee tam tou, Ti tan, Tutup bumi—;

Malayalam: Anashovadi—; Marathi: Gojibha, Pathari—-; Matheran: Jirao,

Junglijira, Lapoti— ; Mauritius : Herbe la jouissance, Lastron marron, Libéralis— ;

Mundari: Maracuta—; Persian: Kalam-e-roomi—; Porto Rico: Lengua de

vaca—; Rio de Janeiro: Erva do collegio—; Sanskrit: Adhomukha, Anadujivha,

Darvi, Darvika, Darvipatrika, Gobhi, Gojivha, Gojivhika, Hdhapushpi, Khara-

patri, Kurasa, Satamulika, «Vatona—; Santali: Manjurjuti—; Sinhalese:

Ataddeya, Etadi—; Tagalog: Tabatabacahan—; Tamil: Anashovadi—; Telugu:

Eddumalikechettu, Enugabira, Hastikasaka—; Tupi: Sucuaya—; Urdu: Gobhi—.

otek

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 839

EMILIA.

The genus consists of 5 palaeotropical species.

E. sonchifolia DC. is used medicinally in India, Indo-China,

Gold Coast, La Reunion—; EF. flammea Cass. in Lagos—; E.

sagittata DC. in Lagos, Nigeria and Sierra Leone—; E. adscendens

DC. and E. graminea DC. are used in Madagascar.

Invélucral bracts much shorter than the scarlet flowers ... 1. KE. flammea.

Involucral bracts about equalling the purple flowers ... 2. E. sonchtfolia.

1. Emilia flammea Cass. is found in the Konkan. It occurs

in the Philippine Islands, Lagos, Angola, Zanzibar.

It is used medicinally for children in Lagos.

Lagos: Aro agbe, Odundun odo—.

2. Emilia sonchifolia DC. is a common tropical weed found

everywhere in India from the Punjab to Tenasserim and Ceylon,

ascending to 4,oo0o ft. in the hills. It is common in waste ground

and road sides over the whole Malay Peninsula, and over most of

the tropical and subtropical regions.

In Malabar a decoction ,of the plant is said to be a febrifuge.

Mixed with sugar it is given in bowel complaints.

In Travancore, pure juice of the leaves is poured drop by drop

into the eyes in night-blindness. The natives consider the juice

as cooling as rose-water and prescribe it in eye inflammations.

In Gold Coast the leaves mixed with Guinea grains and lime

juice are a remedy for sore-throat.

In Indo-China a decoction of the leaves is prescribed as an

antipyretic.

In La Reunion the plant is used as an astringent, antiasthmatic,

and vulnerary.

Arabic: Oud el karah, Saela—; Ashanti: Guakuro—; Bengal: Sadimodi— ;

Bombay: Sadhimandhi—; Canton: Hong Pei Ts’ao—; Cawnpore: Hirana-

khuri— ; Central India: Hiranakhuri— ; Ceylon: Kadupara—; Indo-China: Chua

len Chu te; Elen’ so, Hoa mat loi, La: mat. gioi, Mat gioi, Mat trang,

Reang tuk, Tam toc, Tiet ga—; La Reunion: Goutte de sang, Lastron bdatard,

Petit lastron—; Malaya: Katumbit jantan, Satumbak merah—; Malayalam:

Mulshevi— ; Mende: Gipoi, Kipoi—; Mundari: WKulaeara, Kulaebasu, Pirim-

aniare— ; Pampangan: Tagulinao—; Tagalog: Tagulinao—; Visayan: Libun—.

ENHYDRA.

The genus consists of g tropical and subtropical species.

Enhydra fluctuans Lour. occurs in Eastern Bengal, Assam,

Sylhet, and the Malay Peninsula. It extends to Sumatra, the

Malay Islands, and China.

The leaves of this aquatic plant are regarded as laxative and

useful in diseases of the skin and nervous system. The fresh juice

of the leaves, in doses of about a tola, is prescribed by some

kavirajas in Calcutta, as an adjunct to tonic metallic medicines,

given in neuralgia and other nervous diseases.

The leaves are antibilious. The expressed juice of the leaves

is used as demulcent in cases of gonorrhoea; it is taken mixed with

840° JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XL1

milk, either of cow or goat. The leaves are pounded and made

into a paste which is applied cold over the head as a cooling agent.

The Chinese prescribe the plant for torpidity of the liver.

Bengal: Hingcha, Hingeha—; Hindi: Harhuch, Haruch—; Malaya: Chin-

kro— ; Sanskrit: Achari, Bramhi, Chakrangi, Helanchi, Hilamochi, Hilamochika,

Jalabramhi, Mambi, Matsyakshi, Matsyangi, Mochi, Rochi, Shankhadhara,

Trinittaparni, Vishaghni—.

ERIGERON.

The genus includes 180 cosmopolitan species, mostly North

American.

The following species are used medicinally : in Indo-China—E.

aegyptiacus Linn.—; in North America—E. annuus Pers., E. canad-

ensis Linn., E. philadelphicus Linn.—; in La Reunion—E. canadensis

Linn.—. |

Heads j-3 in. diameter. Ligules bluish violet longer than

the involucral bracts axe ay: aoe ig Le le astexordess

Heads 4-4 in. diameter. Ligules pale rose or purplish,

scarcely exceeding the pappus = 6 2:1 Eeanadensis:

1. Erigeron asteroides Roxb. is found throughout India and

Ceylon, up to 4,000 ft. in Sikkim.

The plant is a stimulant and diuretic, and is given in febrile

conditions.

Bombay: Maredi, Sonsali—.

2. Erigeron canadensis Linn. is believed to be indigenous in

North America. It occurs in all warm countries. In India it is

found in the Upper Gangetic Plain, the Punjab Plain and the

Western Himalaya where it ascends up to 3,000 ft.

According to the Ayurvedists the plant is styptic, diuretic, and

astringent to the bowels.

The herb is used in America as a stimulant, astringent, and

haemostatic. It has been found a useful remedy in the treatment

of diarrhoea, dysentery, and dropsy. The oil is used in venereal

diseases; it has been reported useful as a urinary and pulmonary

haemostatic.

English: Cobbler’s Pegs, Canada Fleabane, Squaw-weed—; French: Verge-

rette de Canada, Vergerolle—; Iraq: Dhail-as-saba’—; Italian: Impia—; La

Reunion: Fausse camomille—; Pacific Coast: Fleabane, Horse-weed—; Sanskrit :

Jarayupriya, Makshikavisha, Palita—.

ETHULIA.

The genus consists of 6 species spread over Asia, Africa, and

South America.

Ethulia conyzoides Linn. is found in Eastern Bengal, Assam,

and Sylhet. It extends to the Sunda Archipelago, Madagascar,

and tropical Africa.

In Liberia the juice is squeezed into the eyes for headache; the

root along with red pepper is given by.enema for constipation ;

the leaves are eaten by pregnant women to prevent abortion; for

Til MEDICINAL’ AND. POTSONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA. &4i

pelvic pain a hot decoction of the leaves with those of Baphiu is

poured on the ground and covered with a mat on which the patient

SIUS. .

The Zulus use the plant as a remedy for intestinal parasites, for

abdominal disorders, and for colic.

An infusion of the plant is used in Madagascar for dysentery,

haemoptysis, and bruises. The pounded leaves are applied ove:

sprains and fractures; the boiled leaves are used for wounds and

traumatic haemorrhage. 7

In combination with other plants this herb is used to poultice

phagedenic chancres and to wash purulent ulcers. The Betsileo use

it in the treatment of scabies.

Betsileo: Vsimandra—; Hova: Homandra, Tangentsahona—; Madagascar :

WWelihomandra—; Mano: Suo longo lah—; Zulu: umSokosoko—.

EUPATORIUM.

The genus includes 450 species, mostly American; a few in

Kurope, Asia, and tropical Africa.

The following species are used medicinally in Europe—£. can-

nabinum Linn., E. perfoliatum Linn.—; in China—E. chinense

Linn., E. japonicum Thunb.—; in Indo-China—E. cannabinum

Linn., E. stoechadosmum Hance, E. triplinerve Vahl—; in Malaya

—E, japonicum Vhunb.—; in the Philippine Islands, La Reunion,

Mauritius, the West Indies—E. triplinerve Vahl—; in Jamaica;

E. nervosum Sw., E. villosum Sw.—; in North America—E.

ageratoides Linn., E. avomaticum Linn., E. incarnatum Walt., E.

perfoliatum Linn., E. purpureum Linn., E. teucrifoliwm Willd.—;

in Mexico—E. collinum DC.—; in Central America and Guiana—

E. parviflorum Sw.—; in Brazil, South America, Madagascar—E.

triplinerve Vahl—; in Ecuador—E. glutinosum Lam.—; in Colom-

bia—E. aromatisans DC., FE. scabrum Linn.—.

Pubescent. Flowers nearly white fe .. I. E. cannabinun.

Glabrous. Fiowers slaty blue at ... 2. E. trplinerve.

1. Eupatorium cannabinum Linn. is found in the temperate

Himalaya at 3,000 ft. ascending up to 11,000 ft., in the Khasia Hills

between 3,000 and 6,000 ft., and in Burma. It is spread over

temperate Asia and Europe.

An infusion of a handful of the fresh herb acts as a strong

purgative and emetic, and is excellent for fomenting ulcers and

putrid sores.

The herb is a good wound herb, whether bruised or made

into an ointment with lard. In Holland the peasants use it for

jaundice with swollen feet, and also give it as an alterative or

purifier of the blood in the spring and against scurvy.

Herbalists recognize its cathartic, diuretic, and antiscorbutic

properties, and consider 1t a good remedy for purifying the blood,

either used by itself, or in combination with other herbs. A

homoeopathic tincture is prepared, given in frequent small well-

diluted doses with water, for influenza or a similar feverish chill.

ifs |

w43. fOURNAL,-BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

A tea made with boiling water poured on the dry leaves will

give prompt relief if taken hot at the onset of a bilious catarrh or

of intluenza. The infusion is a valuable tonic.

The freshly gathered root, boiled in ale, purges briskly, but

without producing any bad effects; it is to this day a popular

remedy tor dropsy. |

The herb is used as an emmenagogue and a purgative in

Indo-China.

Bombay : Bundar—; Cataian: Canabassa, Lladreca—; Dutch: Boeiskenkruid,

Koninginnekruid—; English: Hemp Agrimony, Holy Rope, St. John’s Herb—,

French: Chanvrin, Eupatoire, Eupatoire d’Avicenne, Eupatoire a ieuilles de

chanvre, Eupatoire chanvrine, Lupatoire commun, Lupatoire de Mésué, Herbe

julienne, Herbe de sainte Cunegonde, Origan aquatique, Origan des marais,

Pantagruelion—; German: Ikunigundenkraut, Wasserdost, Wasserhanf—; Indo-

China: Bach son, Thach lam—; Italian: Canapa acquatica, Eupatorio, Eupat-

orio di Avicenna— ; Malta: Hemp Weed, Water Agrimony, Canapa acquatica— ;

Roumanian: Canipioala—; Spanish: Cannabina de agua, Cafiamazo, Cafamo

silvestre acuatico, Eupatorio, Kupatorio de los Arabes, Lupatorio de Avicenna,

Yerba del angel—; Swedish: Floks—.

2. Eupatorium triplinerve Vahl is a native of America, planted

in Indian gardens.

Ayapana may be compared with chamomile in its effects; it

is stimulant and tonic in small doses, and laxative when taken in

quantity; the hot infusion is emetic and diaphoretic, and may be

given with advantage in the cold stage of ague and in the state of

depression which precedes acute inflammatory affections.

An infusion of the whole plant is used as a stimulant, diaphoretic,

and tonic in the Philippine Islands, Mauritius, La Reunion, and

Madagascar.

The decoction of the plant and the juice of the leaves are con-

sidered detergent and applied to foul ulcers in the Philippines.

An infusion of the leaves is given in Indo-China and Guiana as

an alexipharmic and a sudorific.

The herb is a snake remedy in Guiana, Brazil, the Philippine

Islands, and India. The whole plant is given in the form of a

decoction, and the juice of the leaves is given internally and applied

externally to the part bitten. But Mhaskar and Caius have experi-

mentally shown that the plant is useless in the symptomatic treat-

ment of snake bite, and that the leaves are useless whether given

internally or applied, externally to the part bitten.

Annam: Cay bach son, La da yot, Trach lam, Trach lam diep—; Bengal:

Ayapana— ; Betsimisaraka: Ayapana—; Brazil: Ayapana—; Ceylon: Ayapeni— ;

Cochin China: La ba giot—; English: Ayapana Tea-—; French: Ayapana vrai—;

Gujerati: Alleppa—; Indo-China: Ba dot, Ca dot—; Marathi: Ayapana—;

Mauritius : Ayapana—; Sinhalese: Ayiyapana—; Spanish: Ayapana—; Tagalog :

Apana, Ayapana— ; Telugu: Ayapani—.

GERBERA.

~The genus numbers about 4o species, temperate or mountain

herbs inhabiting Asia and Africa.

Gerbera piloselloides Cass. is found in the Central and Eastern

Himalaya, ascending to 7,000 ft. in Sikkim and Nepal. It occurs

tHE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 843

in the Khasia Hills at 5,000 ft., and in the Karen Hills of Lower

Burma. It extends to China and South Africa.

The Zulus apply an infusion of the root made with human urine,

tothe: ear for earache:

The Sutos use a decoction of the root as a tonic and as ear-drops

in earache, and a milk decoction or infusion for chest complaints.

In addition they use the plant to fumigate the hut of a person

suffering from a cold in the head.

Suto: Mothuntsetso, Tsebapelo, Tsebe-ya-pela—; Zulu: in Dlbe-yempithi—.

GLossocarp1k.

The genus consists of 1 Indo-Malayan species.

Glossocardia Bosvailia DC. (=G. linearifolia Cass.) 1s found in

the Upper Gangetic Plains, Central India, Konkan, the Deccan,

the South Mahratta Country, North Kanara, and all the plains

districts of the Madras Presidency.

The plant is much used in complaints of women.

Bombay: Phatursuwa, Pithapra——-; Hindi: Seri—; Marathi: Patharasuva— ;

Naguri: Pusikata—; Poona: Pittapapada—; Sanskrit; Pithari—; Telugu:

Parapalanamu—.

(SLOSSOGYNE.

The genus consists of 5 Indo-Malayan and Chinese species.

Glossogyne pinnatifida DC. occurs in the Punjab Plain, the

Upper Gangetic Plain, Kumaon, Chota Nagpur, the South Mahratta

Country, Western Bengal, the Northern Circars, and the Deccan of

the Madras Presidency.

A preparation from the root is employed by the Santals as an

application to snake-bite, and scorpion sting.

Mhaskar and Caius have shown that the root is useless in the

antidotal and symptomatic treatments of snake-bite and scorpion-

sting.

Gujerali: Pardeshibhangro—; Santali: Barangom bir barangom—.

GNAPHALIUM.

The genus includes 260 cosmopolitan species.

The following species are used medicinally in Europe—G. luteo-

album Linn., G. norvegicum Gunner, G. supinum Linn., G. sylvati-

cum Linon., G. uliginoswn Linn.—; in China—G. luteo-album

Linn.—; in North America—G. decurrens Ives, G. obtusifolium

Linn., G. vamosissimum Nutt., G. uliginosum Linn.—; in South

Africa—G. luteo-album Linn., G. undulatum Linn.

Gnaphalium futeo-album Linn. is found throughout India. It

occurs in most of the hot and warm temperate countries.

The leaves are used in the Punjab as an astringent and vulnerary.

844 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XII

The Sutos burn the plant in the sickroom to drive away sickness.

Afrikaans: Roerkruid—; Arabic: Ra’ra’, Sabun’afrit—; Burma: Byaing-

chepiu— ; Egypt: Luban, Ra’ra’, Sabun’afrit—; Hova: Ahitrakohovavy, Trano-

mandrita— ; Igorrote: Onanat—; La Reunion: Immortelle marronne—; Punjab :

Balraksha—; South Africa: Cudweed—; Suto: Manku, Musuwane—.

GRANGEA.

The genus consists of 2 palaeotropical species.

Grangea maderaspatana Poir. is a common weed, growing flat

on the ground, found throughout India, Baluchistan and Ceylon.

It is distributed over tropical and subtropical Asia and Africa.

The herb is’a) Yunany drug.

The leaves are regarded as a valuable stomachic and to possess

deobstruent and antispasmodic properties, and are prescribed in

infusion and electuary in cases of obstructed menses and hysteria.

They are also sometimes used in preparing antiseptic and anodyne

fomentations.

The juice of the leaves is employed as an instillation for earache.

In Indo-China the leaves are considered as an excellent stomachic ;

they are also used as an antiseptic in fomentation. A decoction

of ‘the roasted lJeaves is\ given in cough and) 1s) used: jace,an

emmenagogue.

In Madagascar the leaves are used as a stomachic and anti-

spasmodic.

In Brazil the plant is a popular substitute for chamomile.

Arabic: Afsantin, Khatareka—; Bengal: Namuti—; Betsileo: Angea—;

Brazil: Marcella—; Canarese: Dovana—; Gujerati: Jhinkimundi, Nahanigora-

khamundi—; Hindi: Mukhatari, Mustaru—: Hova: Motomaso, Voamonio-

mosa—; Indo-China: Cai dong, Cuc rai, La chan vit—; Loanda: Macella—;

Malayalam: Nelampala—; Marathi: Mashipatri—; Persian: Baranjasifkowhi,

Murava—; Santali: Bhediachim—; Sinhalese: Velkolondu—; Sudan: Phunat—;

Lanul: Mashipatri—; Telugu: Save—; Urdu: Afsantin—.

GUIZOTIA.

The genus consists of 8 African species.

Guizotia abyssinica Cass. is a native of tropical Africa, culti-

vated in various parts of India.

The oil from the seeds is employed as a substitute for ghee and

sesamum oil.

Chemical data are available.

Bengal: Gunja, Ramtil, Sirguja—; Bombay: Werani, Ramatila—; Canarese :

Huchchellu, Ramtil—; English: Niger Oil Plant, Niger Seed Plant—; Gujerati:

K.alatel—; Hasada: Jhatinggi—; Hindi: Kalatil, Ramtila, Surguja—; Kolam1:

Kallatil, Sarguja, Til—; Marathi: Kalitil—; Naguri: Maga, Magha, Surgunja—

Portuguese: WVerbesina da India—; Santali: Surguja—; Telugu: Valesulu,

Vulisi—.

GYNURA.

The genus includes 29 species, inhabiting the warm regions of

Asia, Africa, and Australia.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 845

G. auriculata Cass. and G. pinnatifida DC. are used medicinally

in China; G. cernua Benth. in Madagascar; G. amplexicaulis Oliv.

and Hiern, G. cernua Benth. G. crepidioides Benth., G. sarmentosa

DC. in tropical West Africa.

Gynura Pseudo-China DC. is found in South India and Ceylon,

in the Sikkim Himalaya at 2,000-4,000 ft, in Pegu and Martaban,

extending to Java and Indo-China.

The plant is held in great repute in Indo-China as an emollient

and resolvent; it is used whole as a poultice in erysipelas and for

tumours on the breasts.

The powdered root, mixed with tea, is given as a drink to

parturient women and also to regulate the menstrual flow.

The juice of the leaves is used as a gargle for inflammation of

the throat.

Indo-China: Bau dat dai, Tam that gia—; Mauritius: Jacobée, Muel schévy,

Shoudy mourdi—.

HELIANTHUS.

The genus includes 60 American species. H. angustifolius

Linn., H. annuus Linn., H. petiolaris Nutt., and H. tuberosus Linn.

are used medicinally in North America.

Helianthus annuus Linn., a native of America, is cultivated

in India and in many other tropical and subtropical countries.

The growing plant is said to be a cure for malaria, and is used

in malarial fever by the inhabitants of the Caucasus. The leaves

are spread upon a bed covered with a cloth, moistened with warm

milk, and then the patient is wrapped up in it. Perspiration is

produced, and this process is repeated every day until the fever

has ceased.

The boiled flower heads were used by American Indians for

pulmonary affections.

A tincture of the flowers and leaves has been recommended in

combination with balsamics in the treatment of bronchiectasis.

The seeds have diuretic and expectorant properties, and have

been employed with success in the treatment of bronchial, laryngeal,

and pulmonary affections, coughs and colds. If browned in the

oven and then made into an infusion they are admirable for the

relief of whooping cough.

In China the seeds are administered in dysentery.

A tincture prepared from the seed with rectified spirit of wine

is useful for intermittent fevers and ague, instead of quinine. It

has been employed thus in Turkey and Persia, where quinine and

arsenic have failed, being free from the inconveniences which often

arise from giving large quantities of the ‘other drugs.

The oil from the seeds is officinal in Russia; its properties are

the same as those of the seeds.

Arabic: Arzivana—; Bengal: Bhramoka, Shuriamukti, Suriamuki—; Bombay:

Surajmaki, Suryakanta—; Cataian: Girasol, Mirasol—; Chinese: Toung K’oui

Teeu—; Deccan: Suriyakajhar—; Dutch: Zonnebolem—; Egypt: Habb-esh-

846 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLT

shems—; English: Lady Eleven o’Clock, Marigold of Peru, Sunflower—; French :

Anthilion, Couronne de soleil, Girasol, Grand soleil, Grand soleil des jardins,

Hélianthe, Soleil cultivé, Soleil rigide, Tournesol—; German: Sonnenblume— $;

Greek: Hilios, Hiliotropion—; Gujerati: Surajamukhi—; Hindi: MHurhuja,

Surajmukhi—; Ivaq: ’Abad-ash-shams, ’Ain-ash-shams, Shams-wa-gamar, Ward-

ash-shams—; Italian: Clytia, Girasole, Harpalio—; Konkani: Jirasol, Suria-

kamal— ; Kurdish: Gulah barruzhah—; Marathi: Brahmoka, Surajmaka, Surya-

phula—; Pacific Coast: Comb-flower, Common Sunflower, Garden Sunflower,

Sunflower Persian: Aftabi, Guleaftabeparasta, Guliaftab—; Portuguese:

Girasol, Heliotropio—; Punjab: Surajmukhi—; Roumanian: Floarea soarelui,

Ruja_ soarelui—; Russian: Padsolnechnik—; Sanskrit: Adityabhakta, Surya-

mukhi, Suryavarta, Suvarchala—; Spanish: Girasol, Mirasol—; Telugu:

Adityabhaktichettu, Foddatringuddachettu, Poddutiruguduchettu—; Turkish:

Ounah bagan—; Urdu: Surajamakkhi—.

HIERACIUM.

The genus includes about 400 species, mostly natives of Europe,

but extending all over the Mediterranean region, Northern Asia,

Japan, North America, the region of the Andes, and South Africa.

H. amplexicaule Linn., H, murorum Linn., H. pilosella Linn.,

H. virosum Pall. are used medicinally in Europe.

Hieracium virosum Pall. is found in Kashmir at a height of

between 7,000 and 8,ooo ft. It occurs in Northern Asia from

Dahuria westwards to Europe.

The plant is considered aperient and vulnerary in Spain. It ts

said to be poisonous.

HYPOCHOERIS.

The genus includes about 45 species, natives of Europe,

Northern Asia, the Mediterranean region, and South America. Two

of them are widely diffused through cultivation.

Hypochoeris glabra Linn., a native of Europe, is found in

the Nilghiris at an altitude of 7,000-8,000 ft. |

The root is credited with diuretic, tonic, and slightly aperient

properties.

The powdered leaves are a good .astringent in haemorrhage.

The green herb is vulnerary.

INULA.

The genus includes about 100 species, natives of the Old World.

The following species are used medicinally in Europe—lI. Conyza

DC., I. crithmoides Linn., I. germanica Linn., I. graveolens Desf.,

I. Helenium Linn., I. viscosa Ait.—; in China and Indo-China—

I, britannica Linn.—; in Malaya—I. japonica Thunb.—; in North

‘America—I. Helenium Linn.—.

The root of I. Helenium is officinal in Holland and Portugal.

A. Shrubby. Heads solitary 1. I. grantioides.

B. Herbs. Heads turbinate, terminating numerous slender

branches, io ay ae rere ... 2. I. graveolens.

Tall, stout herbs. Heads large, ‘solitary or racemose

1. Heads racemed, 13-2 in. diameter ow. 3: 1. racemosa:

2. Head solitary, 3-4 in. broad angie .. 4. I. Royleana.

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 84%

1, Inula grantioides Boiss. is found in Cutch, Sind, Baluchi-

stan, and Waziristan. It occurs also in South-eastern Arabia.

In Las Bela it is given steeped in water to patients suffering

from asthma.

Baluchi: Kolmir, Kulmir, Pir--; Brahui: Kolbur, Kulmir—; Las Bela:

Kolmur, Naro—.

2. inula graveolens Desf. is found in North-Western India,

extending westwards to Spain.

In the Punjab the plant is recommended as a diuretic, useful in

calculous diseases.

At Basrah the plant is used as a specific for eye-diseases.

Basrah : Shuwasar—; Cape Peninsula: Khaki Bush, Khaki Weed— ; Malta :

Fleabane, Fulichi, Zghazigha—.

3. Inula racemosa Hook. fil. is found in the temperate and

alpine Western Himalaya, ascending from 5,000 [t. to 14,000 ft.

The root and the seeds are used by Yunani practitioners.

The plant is commonly used as an expectorant, and as a resolvent

in indurations.

In Kashmir the root is mixed with that of Saussurea Lappa as

an adulterant.

Arabic: Rasan, Zanjabileshami—; Kashmir: Poshkar—; Persian: Gharsa,

Pilgush, Rasan, Zanjabilishami—; Urdu: Rasan—.

4. Inula Royleana DC. is found in the temperate Western

Himalaya between 7,000 and 11,000 it.

The plant is considered poisonous.

In Kashmir the root is mixed with that of Saussurea Lappa as

an adulterant.

Kashmir: Zaheiniilkohee—.

JURINEA.

The genus includes 50 species, occurring in the Mediterranean

region, Europe, and Asia.

Jurinea macrocephala Benth. is found in the Western Himalaya,

from Kashmir to Kumaon at 11,000-14,000 ft.

The bruised root is applied .to eruptions, and a decoction is

given in colic. It is also considered cordial and administered in

puerperal fever.

Kashmir: Dhup—; Punjab: Dhup, Dhupa, Gugal, Zhangar—.

LACTUCA.

The genus includes roo species, inhabiting the Northern Hemi-

sphere, chiefly the northern temperate regions of the Old World.

All lettuces possess a milky juice that flows freely from any

wound. When dry, the juice hardens, turns brown, and is known

as ‘lactucarium’. It is a calmant, often used as a substitute for

opium, It is officinal in Holland, Hungary, Portugal, and Spain.

S48 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST.” SOCIETY, - Vol. XLI

The following species are used medicinally in Europe—L.

Sagiitata Waldst. and Kit., I. Scarola linn... wivosa inne im

China—L. Scariola Linn., L. Thunbergu Max.—; in Indo-China—

L. Fischeriana DC., L. indica Linn.—; in North America—L. cana-

densis Linn.—; in Guiana——L. quercina Linn.—; in West Africa—

L. capensis Thunb., LE. taraxacifolia Schum. and Thonn.—.

A, eaves runcinate, pinnatifid Bs Ede ... 2. L. runcinata.,

B. Nearly entire (rarely sinuate-pinnatifid) smaller leaves ... 1. L. remotiflora.

C. Leaves suberect, sessile, runcinate-pinnatifid, spinulose-

toothed ; midrib prickly beneath a ole SCOMOlE:

1. Lactuca remotiflora DC. is found in the Deccan, Banda,

and Sind, extending to Arabia.

The whole plant is used as a remedy for chronic obstructions

of the liver and bowels, and as a diuretic in calculous affections.

Goa: Taraxaco—; Gujerati: Pathardi—; Marathi: Undirachakan, Undira-

kani—.

2. Lactuca runcinata DC. spreads over the Punjab, the Upper

Gangetic Plain; Sind, the Deccan)yand most of the plains districts

of the Madras Presidency.

The plant is diuretic, tonic and slightly aperient.

Goa: Taraxaco—; Marathi: Undirachakan—; Pab: Shamur—.

3. Lactuca Scariola Linn. occurs in Western Tibet at 9,000-

12,000 ft., in the Western Himalaya from Murree to Kunawar at

6,000-11,000 ft. It extends to Siberia and westwards to the

Atlantic. |

The plant occupies an important place in the materia medica

of the Yunanists. |

The fresh plant is a mild sedative, anodyne, purgative, diuretic,

diaphoretic, and antispasmodic. It has been found useful in the

treatment of the coughs in phthisis, bronchitis, asthma, and

pertussis.

A decoction of the seeds is. commonly used as a demulcent.

Boiled, and made into a confection, the seeds are given in cases of

bronchitis, especially chronic ones.

Water distilled from lettuce is used in France as a mild sedative

in doses of 2 to 4 oz., and the fresh leaves boiled in water are

sometimes used as a cataplasm. Lettuce poultice is applied to

burnings and scaldings, and to painful and irritable ulcers.

Arabic: Khas—; Bengal: Kahu, Salad—; Catalan: Ansiam_ llarch—;

_ Chinese: Pai Chu, Wo Chu—; Danish: Laktuk—; Dutch: Latuw—; English:

Garden Lettuce, Lettouce, Lettuce—; French: Laitue, Laitue cultivée, Laitue

des jardins—; German: Gartenlattich, Gartensalat, Lattich, Salat, Sommeren-

divie—; Greek: Thridax—; Hindi: Wahu, Khas, Salad—; Hungarian: Kerti

salata— ; Italian: Guado, Lactuga, Lattuga—; Languedoc: Lacholebri, Lachou-

go, Lachuga—; Malta: Prickly Lettuce, Lettuce, Lattuga, Hass, Hassa _sal-

vagga—; Pacific Coast: Compass-plant, Horse Thistle, Prickly Lettuce, Wild

Lettuce—; Persian: Kahu—; Polish: WLoczyga, Loezya—; Portuguese: Alface

brava, Alface menor, Leituga—; Punjab: Kahu—; Roumanian: Laptuc—;

Russian: Laktuk—; Sind: Kahu—; Sinhalese: Salada—; Spanish: Lechuga,

Lechuga larga, Lechuga romana—; Swedish: Laktuk—; Tamil: Salattu—;

Telugu: Kavu—; Urdu; Kahu—; Uruguay: Lechuga silvestre—,

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 849

LAGGERA.

The genus consists of ro species, tropical African and Indian.

Laggera alata Schultz-Bip. occurs in the tropical Himalaya

between 1,000 and 5,000 ft. from Simla eastwards to Sikkim, and

southwards in hilly districts ascending to 6,000 ft. in the Nilghiris

and! t0.77,000) ft: an Ceylons Its is: distributed) over Java, the

Philippine Islands, China, and tropical Africa |

The herb is used in Madagascar as a disinfectant.

Hova: Ahitandriana—; Menabe: Argodro—.

LAMPRACHAENIUM.

L. monocephalum Benth., the only species known, occurs at

Mahableshwar, the Konkan, the South Mahratta Come. and

Mysore.

The plant smells of chamomille, and is used as an aromatic

bitter. The Ayurvedists recommend it for leucoderma and other

skin diseases.

Bombay: Brahmadandi—; Sanskrit: Ajadandi, Brahmadandi—.

LAUNAEA.

The genus consists of 30 tropical and subtropical species.

Achenes winged

B. Achenes not winged ‘

I. Heads terminal on the paniculately branched flowering

513. eo elOmerata,

stems

1. Radical leaves sinuate lobed or pinnatifid ve 1. Lo asplemipyola:

2. Radical leaves rosulate, runcinate-pinnatifid ... 2. L. chondrilloides.

Il. Heads more or less racemose on the flowering stem

or its branches nee = ba .. 4. L. nudicaulis.

Ill. Heads solitary or fascicled at the nodes of the

flagelliform rooting flowering stems 1s 5 L. pinnatifida.

1. Launaea aspleniifolia Hook. fil. is found throughout the

plains of India, from the Punjab and the Upper Ganges to Bengal

and Assam, fie Sunderbunds, the Circars, Burma, Tenasserim,

and the acai eine

The root of this plant in combination with other drug's is used as

a lactagogue by the Santals.

Bengal: Tikchana—; Santali: Birmalla—.

2. Launaea chondrilloides Hook. fil. is found in the Punjab,

at Multan and in the low hills at Rawalpindi, in Sind, Baluchistan,

Afghanistan, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt.

The plant is credited with the properties of a lactagogue.

Baluchi: Halaku, Mahari—.

3. Launaea glomerata ‘Hook. fil. occurs in the Punjab, Balu-

chistan, Sind, Cutch, Kathiawar, and Mount Abu. It extends to

Persia, Arabia, Egypt, and Algeria,

850 JOURNAL, (BOMBAY NATURAL “HISt SSO GiE TE Yan Vole

In Baluchistan the decoction, mixed with some wheat meal,

is made into a poultice and applied to sore eyes.

Arabic: Halawat-el-ghazlan, Hufeifah, Huwwa, Huwwat-el-kilab—; Baluchi-

stan: Aghut, Machi halako, Reki halaku—; Egypt: Abad, Helawan, Hudan,

Huveywa, Huwry, Huwweyt-el-kilab, Shegeret-el-libbeyne—; Quetta: Alko—.

4. Launaea nudicaulis Hook. fil. is found more or less through-

out the plains of India, from Bengal and Bihar to the Punjab,

ascending the Western Himalaya to 8,ooo ft. in Kumaon. It is

distributed over the Deccan, Sind, and Baluchistan, extending west-

wards to Afghanistan and the Atlantic.

In Las Bela the leaves are applied to the head of children

suffering from fever.

Arabic: Hindibe, Hua—; Baluchi: Halaku, Kahoshonk, Khargoshkah, Machi

malaku, Mahari halaku, Reki halaku—; Brahui: Halaco, Marubahi—; Kharan :

Maharialoko—; Las Bela: Bhattri—; Ormara: Shatrag—; Pab: Kharsagut— ;

Punjab: Batthal, Dudhlak, Spudukei, Tarizha—; Rajputana: Akvia, Ban gobi,

Jangli gobi—.

5. Launaea pinnatifida Cass. is found along the sandy coasts

of India, from Bengal to Ceylon, Penang, Madras, and Malabar. It

extends to the East African Coast, Egypt, and Mauritius.

In Bombay the plant is used as a lactagogue; in Goa it is given

as a tonic, diuretic, and mild aperient.

The juice is applied in rheumatic affections, and used as a

soporific for children.

Bombay: Pathri—; Cutch: Gewar—; Goa: Almirao—; Gujerati: Bhon-

patri— ; Hindi: Bankau—; Indo-China: Pissenlit maritime—; Marathi:

Bhonpatri, Pathradi, Paththa—; Porebunder: Kormani—; Sind: Bankahu—.

MATRICARIA.

The genus includes about 50 species, mostly natives of Europe

and the Mediterranean region as far as India, and of South Africa.

M. Chamomilla Linn. and M. suaveolens Pursh. are used medi-

cinally in Europe; M. glabrata DC., M. globifera Fenzl., M. multi-

flora Fenzl., M. nigellaefolia DC. in South Africa; M. Chamomilla

Linn. and M. discoidea DC. in North America.

Leaves bipinnatifid ee hes SE ...1. M. Chamomilla.

Leaves small in outline, narrowly oblong, cuneate, pinnati-

partite ee ~ a ae ... 2. M. lasiocarpa.

1. Matricaria Chamomilla Linn. occurs in the Punjab and the

Upper Gangetic Plain. It extends to Japan and Northern Asia,

and westwards to the Atlantic.

The plant is a well known Yunani drug.

The flowers are considered stimulant, attenuant, and discutient.

They are used in constitutional debility, hysteria, dyspepsia and

intermittent fevers. The warm and strong infusion of the flowers is

emetic, while a weak infusion acts as a tonic and febrifuge. In

flatulence and colic, Chamomile oil is the most effectual of all

remedies ; in Gujerat it is used externally for rheumatism,

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 851

The flowers.are considered an excellent remedy in children’s

ailments in many parts of Europe. They act as a nerve sedative

and also as a tonic upon the gastro-intestinal canal. It is a useful

remedy during dentition, in cases of earache, neuralgic pains,

stomach disorders, and infantile convulsions.

The flowers are officinal in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Holland,

Hungary, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden,

Switzerland, and Turkey.

In China the leaves are used as a depurant.

Arabic: Babunah, Shajrab-el-kaffoor, Tuffah-el-ard—; Catalan: Camamilla,

Camamilla comu, Camamilla de Urgel—; Chinese: Houng Kiou—; Danish:

Kamille—; Egypt: ’Ain-el-qutt, Babunngi, Babunnguy—; LEnglish: Bitter

Chamomile, German Chamomile, Persian Chamomile—; French: Amarou,

Astartife, Camomele, Camomille d’Allemagne, Camomille commune, Camomille

du Nord, Chamille, Malherbe, Mandiane—; German: Feldkamille, Gelbermai-

blume, Haermelchen, Halmerl, Hameln, Harmel, Haugenblume, Helmerchen,

Hermaennle, Hermchen, Hermeln, Herminchen, Hermligen, Hermuentzel, Her-

munel, Kamilechte, Kamille, Karnille, Kummerblume, Laugenblume, Magdblume,

Maidblume, Matronenkraut, Mutterkamille, Mutterkraut, Raimain, Ramerian,

Romeien, Romer, Romerai, Romey, Saekfit, Stomeienblume, Thamillen, Zaeu-

wih—; Greek: Armen—; Gujerati: Babuna—; Italian: Camomilla comune,

Capomilla—; Maita: Chamomille, Gowan, Camomilla, Camumilla—; Naples:

Cambomilla—; Norway: Kamille—; Parma: Margariteine de pra—; Pavia:

Crespola—; Persian: Babunah—; Piedmont: Amoreggiola, Camamia—; Portu-

guese:, Camomilla dos Allemaes—-; Potenza: Cambomilla—; Punjab: Babuna,

Suteigul— ; Reggio: Camamella—; Romagna: Camomella, Matricaria, Matri-

cheria— ; Roumanian: Musatel, Romanita—; Russian: Romashka aptetchnaya— ;

Sardinia: Carbomiglia, Capomilla, Crabumiglia—; Sicily: Calumidda—;

Spanish: Manzanilla comun, Manzanilla de Urgel—; Swedish: Kamomill— ;

Tuscany: Camomila, Camumilla, Capomilla, Caprimilla, Capumilla—; Urdu:

Babunah—; Verona: Erba Maria, Margarite, Samariza—.

2. Matricaria lasiocarpa Boiss. occurs in Baluchistan.

At Nushki a decoction of the flowers is used to cure fever.

Dak: Piunpulli—; Nushki: Painphuli—.

MICROGLOSSA.

The genus consists of 6 species, Asiatic and African.

M. Afzelii O. Hoffm. and M. volubilis DC. are used medicinally

in tropical West Africa.

Microglossa volubilis DC. occurs in the Khasia Hills, Assam,

the Naga Hills, Cachar, Burma from Pegu to Penang, the hill forests

of Malaya and China. It is also found in some parts of tropical

West Africa.

In Gold Coast the plant is given as an enema to cure fever

in babies. In Liberia it is used as a vermifuge. In Cameroons

Mountain area it is a remedy for severe cough.

A’ decoction “of the ‘root™ is. used’ for colic in Malaya. The

powdered root is used as a snuff to relieve colds in West Africa. The

juice of the root is the part used as an eye medicine in West

Tropical Africa, it is dropped through fine linen in the eye. The

refuse from the crushed roots is mixed with shea butter, melted

and smeared over the eyelids to reduce the slight swelling of the

lids, This is applied at bedtime and is repeated weekly,

852 JOURNAL, BOMBAY. NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol KET

The juice of the warmed leaves is put in sore eyes, and applied

also as a remedy for ringworm of the scalp. A tea-like infusion is

taken for fever with headache, and also as a lotion or fumigation

to Cause perspiration, or by inhalation. A decoction is taken by

women in labour. It is said to be a specific for yellow fever and for

dropsy, and a reliable remedy in blackwater fever.

Bakwirt: Bendem-bende—; Basa: Gban-gbah—; Fanti: Esono-mbabae— ;

fbo: Okbak kwu-—-; Wibbi: Asomerewa—; Malay: Poko ragin—; Mende:

Gimbo yufi, Gimbui, Gimbu lufi, Kimbo yufi—; Twi: Asomerewa, Esono-mba-

bae—; Ubuluku: Okbak kwu—.

MIKANIA.

The genus includes about 60 species, all American, one cosmo-

politan.

M. cordifolia Willd. and M. officinalis Mart. are used medicinally

in Brazil.

Mikania scandens Willd. is found in Eastern Assam, in the

Duphla Hills, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula from Tenasserim to

Singapore. It is distributed over Siam, the Malay and the Philippine

Islands. |

The Thongas use the plant as a remedy for snake bite and

scorpion sting. :

Fiji: Wa batako—; French Guinea: Nore—; Mexico: Guaco—; Thonga:

Kamele—; Yoruba: Iyawa—; Zambesi: Wedwedwi—.

NOTONIA.

The genus consists of 12 palaeotropical species.

Netonia grandiflora DC. occurs in the hilly districts of the

Western Peninsula from the Konkan southwards: Konkan, Deccan

and Western Ghats of the Bombay Presidency, South Deccan and

Carnatic of the Madras Presidency. Also in the Batticaloa district

of Ceylon.

The plant was brought forward in 1860, by Dr. A. Gibson, as

a preventive of hydrophobia. The mode of administration is as

follows :—About 4 ounces of the freshly-gathered stems, infused in

a pint of cold water for a night, yield in the morning, when subjected

to pressure, a quantity of viscid greenish juice, which, being mixed

with water, is taken at a draught. In the evenings, a further

quantity of the juice, made up into boluses with flour, is taken.

These medicines are directed to be repeated for three successive days.

Dr. Waring says that from official documents placed at his

disposal, it appears that the remedy has been tried in numerous

cases; but as at the time of the infliction of the wound, caustic

was applied locally in the majority of cases, it is difficult to deter-

mine how far the Notonia operated, if at all, as a prophylactic.

An extract of the herb was tried by the late Dr. Haines and

myself on dogs, and afterwards at the European Hospital in Bombav

- (1864). In one drachm doses it had a feebly aperient action; no

other effect was observed (Dymock).

Bombay: Gaidar—; Marathi: Wanderroti—; Telugu: Kundelucheviyaku—.

THe MEDICINAL AND POTFSONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 853

OTHONNOPSIS.

The genus consists of 8 species, inhabiting Africa and Western

Asia.

Othonnopsis intermedia Boiss. is found in Waziristan at 6,000-

7,000 ft. and in Baluchistan whence it spreads westwards to Persia.

In Baluchistan the plant is used as a poultice for the chest. The

leaves are made into a paste with oil; they are then spread on a

large chapati and laid on the head of a patient suffering from cold

or fever.

In the Bolan Pass the plant is used as a cure for head aches;

in Loralai for boils and pimples.

Baluchi: Mangali—; Bolan Pass: Mungli, Munglian—; Brahui: Manguli— ;

Loralai: Gango—; Quetta: Gangu, Manguli—; Shahrig: Gangu—; Zhob:

Gangu—.

PEGOLETTIA.

The genus consists of 5 species, one in Java, the others in

Africa.

Pegolettia senegalensis Cass., a native of tropical Africa, occurs

in Baluchistan.

At Kharan, in Quetta, it is given with ghi to children to make

them strong. It is boiled and the juice is applied to wounds of

camels as a cure.

Kharan: Wuchitho—; Kohlu: Shin Bunt—.

PIGRIS:

The genus includes about 45 species, found in Europe, North

Africa and Asia, one cosmopolitan.

Picris hieracioides Linn. occurs in the Temperate Himalaya

from Murree to Bhutan at 6,000-8,000 ft., ascending to 10,000. ft.

in Sikkim. It is also found in the Khasia Hills at 4,000-6,000 fft.,

and in the Nilghiris at 5,000-8,o00 ft. It extends to North Asia

and Japan, and to West Asia, Europe, and North Africa.

In Indo-China the bitter leaves are used by the Muong as a

febrituge. :

Indo-China: Mao lien thai, Mat dat—.

PLUCHEA.

The genus includes 30 tropical and subtropical species.

The following species are used medicinally in Indo-China—

P. eupatorioides Kurz., P. indica Less., P. polygonata Gagnep.,

P, pteropoda Hemsley—; in Brazil—P. Quitoc DC.—; in Somaliland

—P. ovalis (Pers.) DC.—.

I. Leaves obovate or oblanceolate, subserrate, glabrous ... 1. P. indica.

II. Leaves sessile, very coriaceous, oblong or oblanceolate,

hoary-pubescent er Le site oteue2en lee Lanceolata:

L111. Leaves pinnatifid ay on a aes 3 PB. pinnatifida,

854... JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL oHISti) SOGIEIY A) oleienl

1. Pluchea indica Less. is found in salt marshes from the

Sunderbuns to Malacca and Penang, the Malay Archipelago, and

China.

The root and leaves are used in Patna as peak 20h)

antipyretics.

in Indo-China the roots in decoction are prescribed in fevers

as a diaphoretic, and an infusion of the leaves is given internally

in lumbago.

Bengal: Kukronda, Munjurukha—; Burma: Kayu--; Cambodia: Pras

anlok— ; lloilo: Tulolalaqui—; Indo-China: Cuc tan, Cuc tan o, La luc, Pros

anloc, Tu bi—; Malay: Poko beluntas—; Tagalog: Lagundilati—.

2. Pluchea lanceolata C. B. Clarke is found in the Punjab and

the Gangetic Plain as far as Cawnpore, in Sind, Afghanistan,

westwards to North Africa.

The leaves are aperient.

Agra: Chotikalia—; dAligarh: Banserai—; Cawnpore: Sorahi—; Gujerati :

Rasana, Rashana—; I/indi: Rasana, Rashana—; Marathi: Rashna, Rasna— +;

Punjab: Marinandai, Rasana, Reshae, Reshambuti, Reshami, Sarmei—; Pushtu :

Marwande— ; Rajpulana: Chotaixalia—; Sanskrit: Rasna—-; Sind: Kurasanna—.

3. Pluchea pinnatifida Hook. fil. occurs in Baluchistan and

Somaliland.

In Ormara the plant is rubbed on inflamed or wounded places.

The stems are employed by the Somalis for the cure of almost

all diseases; but especially for pain in the bowels, lack or loss of

the appetite for food, and debility after fevers.

Ormara: Majassar, Zika-—.

PULICARIA.

The genus includes 30 species, European, Asiatic, and African.

P. dysenterica Gaertn. is used medicinally in Europe; P. capensis

DC. and P. scabra Drme in South Africa; P. crispa Schultz-Bip. in

West Tropical Africa.

]. Involucral bracts slender. Pappus double, outer of a

crown of short scales, inner of slender hairs he 2. be dy senbericue

Il. Involucral bracts very slender. Pappus-hairs bearded,

thickened at the tips; outer scales connate with

the hairs and deciduous with them ... sande pin CtOS POs

III. Involucral bracts elliptic-lanceolate, acute. |Pappus

double ; outer a short jagged crown, inner of flattened

shining rigid scabrid hairs Ne 20 Bat. glavcescens

1. Pulicaria crispa Schultz-Bip. occurs in the Punjab, the

Upper Gangetic Plain, Behar, Bengal, Sind and Baluchistan ; whence

it spreads to Afghanistan, Persia, North and West Africa.

In the Salt Range the dried plant is applied as a vulnerary to

bruises and sores of bullocks.

In Jaisalmer and Jodhpur the bruised leaves are applied to the

head to relieve headache.

In Baluchistan the plant is podeds and the liquid given to child-

ren in whose stomach milk turns sour.

THE MEDICINAL AND +OiSONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 855

In Northern Nigeria it is applied locally for swellings and bruises,

and rubbed on the temples for headache; a decoction is also taken

for febrile conditions.

Arabic: Afrakh, Dekhded, Desdas, Dithdath, Kanuf, Karwan, Qutqat, Ra’ra’,

Sabut, Tajar—; baluchi: Bo-i-madaran, Boraku—; Brahui: Bo-i-madaran,

Pihupulli, Rambo—; Egypt: Afrash, Dithdath, Gidiai, Khauf, Kutkat, Ra’ra’,

Sabat, Tagar—; fFulani: K’urar shanu—; Hausa: Bafuri, Balbela, Farar

saura—; Hindi: Buhrna—; Iraq: Jitjaf, Juwaifah—; Kano: K’urar shanu—;

Katagum: Bilbila—; Pila-pila: Paria zoupen—; Punjab: Bui, Gidi, Phatmer,

Sutei— ; Rajputana: Dhola lizru—; Songhai: Yarkunde dierfendu—.

2. Pulicaria dysenterica Gaertn. is found in Kashmir at

5,000-6,000 ft., extending westwards to Algeria and Britain.

The root is still a popular remedy for dysentery in many countries

of Europe.

Arabic: Rara ejub, Rara jeub—; English: Cammock, Common Fleabane,

Fleabane, Fleabane Millet, Herb Christopher, Middle Fleabane—; French: Aunée

des prés, Aunée dysentérique, Conyse, Conyse des prés, Enule tonique, Herbe

saint Roch, Inule conysiere, Inule dysentérique, Pulicaise dysentérique— ; German :

Dumrians—; JIraq: Jifjaf, Juwaifah—-; Malta: Common Fleabane, Menta

selvatica, Mentastro—.

3.. Pulicaria glaucescens Jaub. and Spach. is found in the

Punjab, the Salt Range and Murree, Waziristan, Baluchistan, and

Persia.

-The plant is ravenously eaten by eamels and is reputed to be

strengthening to them; but it acts as a strong purgative.

Baluchi: WKolbur, Kunchid, Kunchito—; Brahui: Kolbur, Ler Mazonk—;

Makrant: Kunchid—.

SAUSSUREA.

The genus includes 125 species, occurring in the northern

temperate regions.

A. Heads sessile or shortly peduncled

I Pappus double, hairs all feathery. -Stem 4-10 ft.y....4. SS: Lappa.

II. Pappus brown, outer bristles scabrid or absent. Stem

I-18 in. a bag Bis us hs es OUUallata,

B. Heads long-peduncled

I. Heads inclined, nodding i tit = 03. OD. AV poleuca,

It Heads. jerect

1. Inflorescence glabrous. Achenes smooth to-ribbed. 1. S. affints.

2. Inflorescence cottony. Achenes 5-angled muricate. 2. S. candicans.

1. Saussurea affinis Spreng. is found in Bengal from Sylhet

to the foot of the Nepal Hills. It also occurs in Burma, and it

extends to China, Japan, and Eastern Australia.

In Assam the juice of the root is given with other medicines

for diseases of women.

Assam: Gangamula—.

2. Saussurea candicans Clarke occurs from the Salt Range,

Hazara and Kashmir to Bhutan at 2,000-7,000 ft. It is found in

Baluchistan and Afghanistan.

656 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. KL

The seeds are carminative. They are used for horses in the

Punjab.

In the Pab Hills in Jhalawan the seeds are considered as a

cure for horse bite.

Pab Hills: Kareji—; Punjab: Batula, Kaliziri—.

3. Saussurea ypoleuca Spreng. occurs in the Temperate

Himalaya from Kashmir to Sikkim at 7,000-13,000 ft. It extends

to Indo-China.

The leaves are considered purgative and antisyphilitic in Indo-

China.

Annan: Moc huong—; Indo-China: Mu_ hsiang—.

4. Saussurea Lappa Clarke is found in Kashmir between 8,000

and’ 12,000 ft.

The root is equally popular with Ayurveda and Yunani practti-

Lioners.

The root is prescribed as a stomachic and tonic, and in the

advanced stage of typhous fever. In the Punjab, it is applied in

powder to ulcers, for worms in wounds, and also in rheumatism;

it is also considered depurative and aphrodisiac. |

In Persia Costus root is prescribed externally and internally

for various complaints, and is applied locally to ward off the effects

of snake and animal bites. |

For snake bite the root is given in Ceylon internally in powder

form or in the form of a decoction.

Sanskrit writers on Materia Medica have prescribed the root

and stem in snake bite and scorpion sting, but Mhaskar and

Caius have shown experimentally that neither of these drugs is

an antidote to either snake or scorpion venom.

As a medicine the root is considered carminative and stimulant in

China, whereto it is exported in enormous quantities.

Chopra and De (Ind. Journ. Med. Research; October, 1929)

are responsible for a very valuable investigation into the properties

of the root. They thus summarise their work :—

(1) Saussurea Lappa or kuti root grows on the moist slopes

of the Northern Himalayas at a height of 8,000 to 13,000 ft. above

the sea-level.

(2) The chief active constituents of the root are:—

(i) An essential oil 1.5 per cent, (11) an alkaloid which has

been named saussurine 0.05 per cent, (iii)...Résin 6.0 per cent.

Besides these there occur a fixed oil, traces of a bitter substance,

small quantities of tannins, inulin, potassium nitrate, sugars, etc.

The leaves contain no essential oil but 0.025 per cent of the

alkaloid saussurine.

(3) The essential oil has a strong aromatic, penetrating and

fragrant odour. It has antiseptic and disinfectant properties; it

relaxes the involuhtary muscle tissue; it is a cardiac stimulant, a

carminative, an expectorant and a diuretic.

(4) The alkaloid saussurine has a depressant action on the

vagus centre in the medulla as well as on the involuntary muscle

fibres of the bronchioles and gastro-intestinal tract. It produces a

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 857

slight but persistent rise of blood-pressure and increases the force

of contraction and amplitude of the ventricles.

(5) The drug has a remarkable effect in controlling attacks

of bronchial asthma, especially those of the vagotonic type. The

paroxysms are cut short by the combined action of the essential oil

and the alkaloid present in the root. The essential oil during its

excretion in the lungs not only relaxes the bronchial muscle but has

a marked expectorant action which relieves turgescence of the

mucosa. It may be pointed out, however, that although the drug

relieves asthmatic attacks, it does not produce permanent cure unless

the casual factors are investigated and removed.

The drug is also useful in persistent hiccough.

(6) The drug has no anthelmintic action, nor has it any action

against malaria, leprosy and rheumatism as has been claimed by

writers of the indigenous systems in this country.

Arabic: Kust, Kustabeheri, Kustulhalu—; Bengal: Kur, Pachak—,; Bhote:

Rusta—; Bombay: Ouplate—; Canton: Muk heung—; English: Costus—

Gujerati: Kut, Upaleta—; Hindi: Kot, Kur, Kust, Kut, Pachak—; Kashmir :

Postkhai— ; Malaya: Mook heong, Mu hsiang—; Malayalam: Sepuddy— ;

Persian: Bughenagh, Khost, Koshnaha, Kust, Kutshirin, Kuttalkh—; Punjab :

Kot, Kust, Kut, Kuth—; Sanskrit: Agada, Amaya, Apya, Bhasura, Dushta,

Gada, Gadakhya, Gadavha, Gadavhaya, Haribhadraka, Jarana, Iadakhya,

Kakala, Kashmirja, Kaubera, WKinjalka, NKushtha, Kuthika, JKutsita, Niruja,

Padmaka, Pakala, Pakalam, Paribhadraka, Paribhavya, Pavana, Rama, Roga,

Rogavhaya, Ruja, Ruk, Utpala, Vaniraja, Vyadhi, Vyapya—; Sinhalese:

Godamahanel—; Tamil: Goshtam, Kostum, Putchuk—; Teheran: Butenak— ;

Telugu: Changala, Kustam—; Urdu: Kut—.

5. Saussurea obvallata Wall. is found in the Western Himalaya

from Kashmir to Sikkim at 10,000-15,000 ft., spreading to the

Altai Mountains.

The root is applied to cuts and bruises.

North-Western Himalaya: Bergandutongur—; Punjab: Birmkanwal, Kan-

wal—. é

SENECIO.

The genus includes 1,450 cosmopolitan species, inhabiting chiefly

the temperate regions and the mountains of the tropics.

The following species are used medicinally in Europe—S. Ciner-

ing WErcio. Moma stinn:. S8 mcanus . Linn; 9S. Jacobaea Winns,

S. viscosus Linn., S. vulgaris Linn.—; in China—S. campestris DC.

Su ntRoensis.’ Miqs, S/.palmatus Pall, S.’ scandens Hami—>* im

Indo-China—S. Kaempfert DC. S. palmatus Pall., S. scandens

Ham.—; in North America—S. aureus Linn., S. Cineraria DC.,

S. vulgaris Linn.—; in Mexico—S. cervariaefolius Sch, S. Gray-

anus Hemsl.—; in Madagascar—S. Ambavilla Pers., S. erechthi-

toides Baker, S. faugasioides Baker, S. Hildebrantii Baker, S.

microdontus Baker—; in Mauritius and La Reunion—S. Ambavilla

Pers.—; in South Africa—S. albanensis DC. var. letophyllus, S.

asperulus’ DC, S. brachypodus ,DC.,:S. ‘bupleuroides: DC... S.

concolor DC., S. deltoideus Less., S. Dregeanus DC. var. discoideus,

DELerUDescens mit. WS Geravar tary... 5. ‘lastormizus, DE. eS:

leontodontis DC., S. macrocephalus DC. var. hirsutissimus, S.

858 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL Hist. “SOCIBETY, Vol ex

orbicularis Sond., S. othonnaeflorus DC., S. quinquelobus DC.,

S. vhyncholaenus DC.,"S. Serra Sond:, sS-oserraruloides DCm aoe

speciosus Willd.,.S. subcoriaceus Sghitr:, S.. tamoides DCX Ws:

tanacetoides Sond., S. vulgaris Linn.—; in Nigeria—S. abyssinicus

Sch.-Bip., S. baberka Hutch., S. Biafrae Oliv. and Hiern—.

The genus SENECIO is of considerable toxicological importance

in. South Africa. Various species have from time to time been

regarded as causing disease in man and animal.

_ Two alkaloids, senecifoline and senecifolidine, have been isolated

from S. barbellatus DC.; one, senecionine, from S. vulgaris Linn.

A. Heads turbinate or obconic, all radiate, usually bracteo-

late. Involucral bracts 1-seriate ae wos) de De LENMUIFONUS.

B. Perennial herbs with long-petioled, very broad orbicular,

reniform or palmate radical leaves and cauline leaves

with large sheaths

Leaves palmately lobed. Heads corymbose 2. S. Jacquemonti-

anus.

C. Heads few- or many-flowered. Flowers all pappose.

Involucral bracts uniseriate

1. Herbaceous, glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Leaves

petioled, membranous, cordate or subreniform and

3-7-angled or palmately lobed

eh ..- 3. S. quinquelobus.

2. Shrubby. Heads in axillary and terminal corymbs ...

. S. densiflorus.

me OO

1. Senecio densiflorus Wall. is found in the Central and

Eastern Himalaya from Nepal to Bhutan at 5,000-7,000 ft., in the

Khasia Hills at 4,000-6,000 ft., and in Burma.

The leaves are applied to boils as an emollient and maturant.

Punjab: Chitawala—.

2. Senecio Jacquemontianus Benth. is apparently endemic in

Kashmir between 8,o00 and 13,000 ft.

The root is used in Kashmir as a nervine tonic.

Kashmir: Hatermul, Poshkar—.

3. Senecio quinquelobus Hook. fil. and Thunb. occurs in the

Temperate Himalaya from Garhwal to Bhutan at 10,000-12,000 ft.

In Kanawar the seeds are given for colic.

Punjab : Morta—.

4. Senecio tenuifolius Burm. is found on the dry hills of the

Western Ghats from the Konkan southwards. It also occurs in

Java.

The leaves are used as an emollient and vulnerary.

Punjab: Mentog, Nimbar, Sanggye—.

STEGESBECKIA.

The genus consists of 4 species, found in tropical and warm

temperate regions.

Siegesbeckia orientalis Linn. occurs throughout India and

Ceylon, ascending to 5,000 ft. in the Himalaya and other mountains.

It is found in most of the tropical and subtropical regions of both

hemispheres.

VHE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 859

It has a high reputation as a valuable depurative, and also for

its healing properties in gangrenous ulcers and sores. It is

strongly recommended in diseases of the urethra.

Externally, a mixture of equal parts of the tincture and glycerine

has been tried in Europe with good effect in ringworm and similar

parasitic eruptions. Antiseptic properties have been ascribed to the

fresh plant, applied to unhealthy ulcers.

In Indo-China the whole plant is prescribed as a cardiotonic.

In La Reunion the plant is used as a stimulant, diaphoretic,

antiscorbutic, and sialagogue. It is considered anthelmintic in small

doses.

In Tahiti the plant enters into the preparation of every cure

for wounds, sprains, dislocations, contusions. It is also used to

favour menstruation.

China: Hsi Hsien—; French: Guérit vite, Herbe de Flacq, Herbe de laque,

Herbe divine, Herbe grasse, Herbe guérit vite—; ‘Garhwal: Lichkura—;

Gujerati: Pilibadkadi—; Indo-China: Cho de, Hy thiem thao, Kinh gioi dat,

Luoi dong, Nu ao ria, Riem—; La Reunion: Colle-colle, Guérit-vite, Herbe

divine, Herbe grasse, Herbe Saint Paul, Souveraine—; Mauritius: Herbe divine,

Herbe de Flacq, Herbe grasse, Herbe guérit vite—; Mundari, Bindiramkata,

Hatubirbiri, Ribribi—; Sadani: Latlati—.

SILYBUM.

The genus consists of 2 Mediterranean species.

Silybum Marianum (Linn.) Gaertn. occurs in the Punjab and

the North-Western Himalaya at Peshawar and Hazara, and from

Kashmir to Jamu at 6,000-8,000 ft. It extends westwards to North

Africa and Europe.

The plant probably possesses antiscorbutic and _ lithotriptic

properties. It is in popular use in Germany for curing jaundice

and kindred biliary derangements. It also acts as a demulcent in

catarrh and pleurisy. The decoction when applied externally is

said to have proved beneficial in cases of cancer.

Disarmed of its prickles and boiled, it is worthy of esteem,

and thought to be a great breeder of milk and proper diet for

women who are nurses. The warm infusion scarcely ever fails to

procure a proper supply of milk. It is considered one of the best

medicines which can be used for the purpose.

The leaves are sudorific and aperient.

The seeds are pungent, antispasmodic, and demulcent; they have

been found of special value in haemorrhages.

California: California Mustard—; Catalan: Card gallofer, Card maria,

Cardot, Cart gallofer, Cart de Maria—; Dutch: Mariendistel, Melkdistel, Vrou-

wendistel—; Egypt: Lekhlikh, Shok-el-ghazal—; English: Holy Thistle, Lady’s

Thistle, Marian Thistle, Milk Thistlh—; French: Artichaut sauvage, Carthame

maculé, Chardon argenté, Chardon lacté, Chardon Marie, Chardon Notre-Dame,

Chardon taché, Epine blanche, Lait de Notre-Dame, Lait de sainte Marie— ;

German: Feedistel, Frauendistel, Froschdistel, Mariendistel, Silberdistel, Wehe-

distel, Wolldistel—; Greek: Silybon—; Ivaq: Gul aghan—; Italian: Cardo

del latte, Cardo di Maria, Cardo Mariano—,; Malta: Blessed-Thistle, Milk Thistle,

Cardo mariano, Xeuk baghli—; Pacific Coast: St. Mary’s Blessed Thistle, St.

Mary’s Holy Thistl—; Roumanian: Armurariu—; Russian: Ostropestro— ;

Spanish: Borriquero, Cardo borriquero, Cardo de asno, Cardo de Maria, Cardo

lechal, Cardo lechero—; Swedish: Sempertin—; Uruguay: Cardo asnal, Cardo

lechero,’ Cardo maria, Cardo mariano—.

860 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

SOLIDAGO.

The genus includes go species, mostly North American, one of

them cosmopolitan in the northern temperate regions.

The following are used medicinally in Europe—S. Virgaurea

Linn.—; in Indo-China and Malaya—sS. Virgaurea Linn.—; in

North America—S. canadensis Linn., S. californica Nutt., S. lepida

DC., S. odova Ait; 3S. rigida. Linn. Ss. \isemperurens: Mainn-saa se

Virgaurea Linn..—; in Brazil—S. microglossa DC.—.

Solidago Virgaurea Linn. is found in the temperate Himalaya

from Kashmir eastwards at 5,000-9,000 ft., and in the Khasia Hills

at 4,000-6,o00 ft. It is distributed over Europe, temperate Asia

and America, and Hongkong.

The plant is aromatic, stimulant, and carminative. It is astrin-

gent and diuretic, and “efficacious for “stone” in: the “bladder It

allays sickness due to weak digestion.

In powder it is used for cicatrization of old ulcers. It has

been recommended in many maladies, as it is a good diaphoretic in

warm infusion, and is in this form also helpful in dysmenorrhoea

and amenorrhoea.

As a spray and given internally, it is of great value in

diphtheria.

Catalan: Vara d’or—; Chinese: Chi Nu, Lui Chi Mu—; English: Aaron’s

Rod, Banwort, Common Golden Rod, Golden Rod, Woundwort—; French :

Herbe des Juifs, Verge d’or, Verge dorée—; German: Edelmindkraut, Golden-

mundkraut, Goldenrautenkraut, Goldraute, Goldrute, Goldstengel, Gueldenwunder-

kraut, Gueldenwundkraut, Hainschwung, Heidnischwundkraut, Heilwundkraut,

Klapperschlangenkraut, Nachtheil, Sankt Peterskraut, Sankt Petersstab, Stock-

schwungkraut, Stopfzu, Stoppkehrt, Stopploch, Wisselnkraut, Wunderkraut,

Wundkraut—; Indo-China: Hoang Kam _ phuong, Nhat chi hoang hoa—;

Italian: Erba pagana, Verga d’oro—; Japanese: Akino-kirins6—; Malaya:

Chec noo—; Portuguese: Vara d’oiro—; Roumanian: Splinuta de aur, Varga

d’aur—; Russian: Solotoschnik—; Spanish: Vara de oro—; Swedish: Gulbris—.

SONCHUS.

The genus includes 45 species, natives of northern temperate

regions and Central Asia, a few spread over the world with

cultivation.

In Spain S. avvensis Linn’, S.asper Hill, S.crassiolius Bourne.

S. maritimus Linn., S. oleraceus Linn., S. tenerrimus Linn. are all

used as emollients.

A. Annual

1. Glabrous or sparsely glandular, above 2. S. asper:

2. Glabrous or sparsely glandular hispid _... {2-4 SS euoleraceus,

B. Perennial

1. Leaves runcinate-pinnatifid, spinous-toothed Ean OV U EWS Se

2. Leaves linear-oblong, quite entire or sparingly sinuate-

toothed ise fe ee. .» 3. S. maritimus,

1. Sonchus arvensis Linn. occurs throughout India, wild or

cultivated, scarce in the plains, but more common on the hills where

it ascends to 8,ooo ft. in the Himalaya and the Khasia Hills. The

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 861

plant is found, wild or introduced, in all temperate and many

tropical countries.

The plant is slightly bitter, diuretic; useful in chronic fevers,

and in the treatment of the coughs in phthisis, bronchitis, asthma,

and pertussis.

Among the Santals the root is given in jaundice.

Bengal: Banpalang—; Ceylon: Musalkatha, Poilaippillu—; Hindi: Sadhi,

Sahadevibari— ; Punjab: Bhangra, Kalabhangra—; Santa: Birbarangan, Bir-

barangom—; Sinhalese: Valdunkola—; Telugu: Nallatapata—; Urdu:

Sahadevi—.

2. Sonchus asper Hill. is found throughout India, in fields

and cultivated places, ascending tOrl2,O00 Tt. im the Himalaya. tt

occurs, wild or introduced, in all warm countries.

wt Loralai the plant is pounded and applied to wounds or boils.

In Spain it is commonly used as an emollient.

La Reunion: Lastron piquant—; Loralai: Garwa, Machal—.

3. Sonchus maritimus Linn. is found in the Punjab and in

Baluchistan, whence it extends westwards to the Atlantic.

In the Punjab it is used in the treatment of the coughs in

phthisis, bronchitis, asthma, and pertussis.

Egypt: Libbeyn—.

4. Sonchus oleraceus Linn. is sparingly distributed throughout

India and Ceylon; it ascends to 8,ooo0 ft. in the Himalaya. It is

found, wild or introduced, in all temperate and many tropical

countries, in many varieties and forms.

An infusion of the root and leaves is used in Bengal as a tonic

and febrifuge.

In Indo-China the stems are prescribed as a sedative and a tonic.

The plant is a popular laxative and diuretic in Italy.

The early Cape settlers applied the juice of the plant for cleans-

ing and healing ulcers.

The brownish gum formed by evaporation of the common Sow-

thistle, when taken internally in a dose of 2-4 grains, behaves as

an ‘intensely powerful hydragogue cathartic’ and acts powerfully

upon the liver, duodenum, and colon. In its general effects, it is

said to most resemble elaterium, producing large and watery dis-

charges so that it has proved a valuable therapeutic agent in ascites _

and hydrothorax. It requires, however, great care in its adminis-

tration, since it has the disadvantage of griping like senna, and

producing tenesmus like aloes.

The California Chinese use the juice as an anti-opium remedy.

Afrikaans: Melkdissel, Seidissel, Suidissel, Suigdissei—; Antsianaka: Bero-

beroka—; Arabic: Myrrejr—; Betsileo: Anamboraka—; Bombay: Mhatara

Brahui: Aghud—; Catalan: Liacso, Lletso, Llicso, Llitso—: Chagai: Aghut— ;

Chinese: Ku Tsai—; Egypt: Besikh, Galail, Libbeyn, Qelawil, Tibsikh

English: Du Tistel, Hare’s Lettuce, Hare’s Palace, Hare’s Thistle, Milk Weed,

Milk Thistle, Sow Thistle, Sprout Thistle, Turn Sole—; French: Labyrinthe

étrille, Laceron, Laisseron, Lait d’ane, Laiteron, Laiteron commun, Laitron,

Laitue de murailles, Lasseron, Liarge, Palais de li¢vre—; German: Gaensedistel,

HasenkohI—; Gippsland: Thalaak—; Hova: Beroberokamboa—; Indo-China:

Tuc doan—; Ivaq: Mbrrair, Um-al-halib—; Italian: Cicerbita, Cicerchia,

862 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

Crespignia, Crespignoli, Crispignolo, Sonca, Sparaghella—; Kharan: Gokiza-

ban—; Kotra: Gogru—; Languedoc: Engraisso por, Lachassou, Lachenca,

Lacheyroun— ; La Reunion: Lastron doux, Lastron tendre—; Malta: Sow-thistle,

Cicerbita, Crespino, Tfef—; Mastung: Agut—; Mexican: Chichicaquihuitl— ;

Pacific Coast: Annual Sow-thistle, Common Sow-thistle, Hare’s Lettuce, Hare’s

Thistle, St. Mary’s Seed, Sow-thistle—; Patna: Titaliya—; Punjab: Dodak— $;

Roumanian: Sussiu—; Russian: Zayatchiya kapusta—; Spanish: Camaroja,

Cerraja, Lechecilla, Lechugilla—; Suto: Bono-sa-lekxwaba, Lesabe—; Telugu:

Ratrinta— ; Uruguay: Cerraja, Lechon—; Yemen: Myrreja—.

SPARGANOPHORUS.

The genus consists of only one species, 8, Vaillantii DC., a

native of tropical America, now a weed in Africa and Asia. It is

found on the edges of ponds, rice-fields, and ditches throughout the

Malay Peninsula.

It is used medicinally for headache by the natives of East Akim

and Gold Coast.

Sierra Leone: Ewaruda—; Yoruba: Ewuro odo—.

SPHAERANTHUS.,

The genus consists of 25 palaeotropical species.

S. senegalensis DC. is used medicinally in Mauritania, Gambia

and Nigeria.

Glabrous or pubescent; branches with wings entire... 1. S. africanus.

Tomentose or villous; branches with wings toothed ... 2. S. indicus.

1. Sphaeranthus africanus Linn. is common in swamps, in

damp waste ground, and in mud, throughout the plains of Bengal

and Sylhet, and southwards to Ceylon and Malacca, extending to

the Malay Islands, the Philippines and Australia, China, Persia, and

Africa.

The herb is stomachic and diuretic.

In Indo-China the plant is used as an emollient and resolvent ;

it is applied as a poultice to any dolorous part of the body. The

juice of the leaves is used as a gargle in inflammation of the throat.

Indo-China: Bo xet, Bo xit, Chung vit, Cuu vit—; Malaya: Gelumak

susu—.

2. Sphaeranthus indicus Linn. is common in the rice fields of

India and Ceylon. In Tropical Himalaya it occurs from Kumaon

to Sikkim, ascending to 5,o00 ft. From Assam and Sylhet it

spreads over the Malay Peninsula to Singapore, the Malay Archi-

pelago, China, and Africa.

The plant is recognized by both Ayurved and Yunani systems

of medicine.

The herb is a reputed general tonic, deobstruent, alterative and

aphrodisiac.

The root and the seeds are considered as anthelmintic.

The powdered root is given as a tonic. The bark, ground and

mixed with whey, is a valuable remedy for piles.

In the Punjab the flowers are highly esteemed as _ alterative,

dipurative, cooling and tonic, |

' THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA _ 863

In Java the plant is considered as a useful diuretic.

This small plant was used in the form of a decoction as a

diuretic in urethritis. The result was unsatisfactory (Koman).

The rind of the fruit, dried and pounded, is used as a fish

poison.

Among the Mundas the bruised plant is thrown into rivers and

ponds to kill fish. It is stuffed into the holes of crabs to kill

those animals. The plant is pounded with a little water, and the

juice is expressed and used as a styptic. The juice of the fresh

leaves, similarly obtained, is boiled with a little milk and sugar-

candy, and drunk for cough.

On the Gambia the plant is gathered and spread thickly on

beds on which sick persons are laid, to relieve pain and to induce

sleep. |

Arabic: Kamazariyus, Kamdaryus—; Bengal: Chagulnadi, Ghorkmundi,

Murmuriya—; Bombay: Gorakhmundi, Mundi—; Cutch: Munderi—; Deccan:

Mundhri, Mundi—; Gambia: Lookidge—; Gujerati: Bodiokalara, Gorakha-

mundi, Mundi—; Hasada: Najompuru, Paru—; Hindi: Gorakmundi, Mundi— ;

Malayalam: Adakkamanian, Attakkamanni, Mirangani—; Marathi: Barasa-

vodi, Gorakhamundi—; Mundari: Kardanidudmuritasad, Kutunaara, Puru—;

Naguri : Kardanidudumuritasad— ; Persian: Kamaduriyus, Randarummitalkha— ;

Porebunder: Gorakhamundi—; Punjab: Gundhi, Gurukmundi, Khamadrus,

Mundi, Mundibuti, Zakhmihaiyat—; Sadani: Khutlasag—; Sanskrit: Alam-

busha, Aruna, Avyatha, Bhikshu, Bhukadambika, Bhukanda, Bhutaghni, Boda,

Chhitragranthika, Kadambapushpa, Kadambapushpika, Krodachuda, Kumbhala,

Lochani, Lotani, Mahamundi, Mahashvranika, Mata, Mundakhya, Mundi,

Mundirika, Nadikadamba, Nilakadambika, Palankasha, Parivraji, Pravrajita,

Shravana, Shravanashirshika, Shravani, Sthavira, Tapasvini, Tapodhana, Vika-

cha, Vridha—; Santal: Belaunja—; Sinhalese: Etmadamahana, Mudamahana— ;

Tagalog: Sambonggala—; Tamil: Kottakkarandai—; Telugu: Bodasoram,

Bodatarapu—; Urdu: Kamdaryus, Mundi—; Uriya: Buikadam, Murisa—.

SPILANTHES.

The genus includes 35 tropical species, mostly American.

Spilanthes Acmella Murr. occurs throughout India and Ceylon;

it is found in all warm countries. It has been met with at an

altitude of 5,000 ft. in the Himalaya and other mountains.

The whole plant is pungent to the taste, and the flower heads

especially so, though when distilled with water these afford a

distillate free from pungency.

The plant is used as a specific for toothache in Old Calabar.

In South Africa the powdered leaf is placed in a carious tooth,

and rubbed on the lips and gums for sore mouth in children.

The flower-heads are by far the most pungent part. They are

chewed in India and Malaya to relieve toothache, which they do

by producing redness of the gums and salivation. In Cameroons

they are rubbed on the forehead for headache.

In Assam the plant is sometimes administered to women after

childbirth. In Cameroons it is used in combination with others,

chewed and swallowed, for snake bite, with local treatment of the

wound.

Among the Mundas of Chota Nagpur the crushed plant is used

as a fish poison, When in the rainy season, the children playing

about in the water get their feet and legs covered with rash, they

864. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

rub them with the leaves of this plant to soothe the itching. Poor

people chew its seeds instead of pepper to provoke salivation when

their mouth is dry.

In Indo-China the plant is boiled in water and the whole,

liquid and solid, given in dysentery. In Ceylon the leaves and

flowers are used for toothache and sore throat; they are also given

to women at childbirth.

In the Philippine Islands a decoction of the root.is given as a

purgative. A decoction of the leaves is used as a bath in rheu-

matism, or as a lotion in scabies and psoriasis; the juice is

considered vulnerary, as also the pounded leaves made into a

poultice. Internally the decoction of the leaves is given as a

diuretic and lithotriptic.

In Madagascar it is used as an antiscorbutic, diuretic, sialagogue,

odontalgic, tonic, and digestive.

Dr. W. Farquhar has used and recommended a tincture of the

flower-heads for toothache, in place of tincture of pyrethrum. He

says it is a specific for inflammation of the periosteum of the jaws.

A bit of lint, dipped in the tincture and laid on the gums, repeated

three or four times a day, has a speedy effect in reducing the pain

and swelling.

An active principle, spilanthol, with a local anaesthetic action,

has been isolated from the flowers.

Ashanti: Nyamengen—; Assam: Pirazha—; Awka: Osana—; Bakwiri:

Sekke—; Betsileo: Wimotodoha—; Betsimisaraka: Anamafana—; Bombay:

Akarkara—; Brazil: Agriao do Para, Mastruco, Pimenteira do Para—; Burma:

Henkala—; English: Toothache Plant—; French: Abéadaire, Abécédaire, Acmel-

le, Alemelle, Cresson de |’Ile de France, Cresson des Indes, Herbe de Malacca— ;

French Guiana: Cressonpara—; Hova: Anamalaho, Anamalahokely, Ana-

malahombazalao, Anamalahoye—; Ibo: Osana—; Indo-China: Cuc ao, Ngo

ao—; La Reunion: Acmella—; Madagascar: Cresson des Indes, Cresson du

Para—; Malay: Gutang—: Mauritius: Acmella—; Mundari: Barandu, Birbiri,

Bocotupuri, Cirbiri, Dudmuritasad, Hatukesari, Hatulkisari, Kesari, Khesari,

Marceia—; Naguri: Marcaia—; Oloke-Meji: Awere-pepe—; Pampangan:

Palunag, Palunai—; Punjab: Akarkarha, Pokarmul—; Russia: Akmella—;

Sakalave : Anamafana—; Sinhalese: Akmalla—; Tagalog: Hagonog, Hagonoi— $;

Telugu: Maratimogga, Maratitige—; Uganda: Tonjatula—; Visayan: Agonoi— ;

Yoruba: Awerepepe—.

var. Oleracea C. B. Clarke (=S. oleracea Jacq.) is cultivated

in gardens.

The whole plant is very acrid, but the flower-heads are especially

so, having a hot, burning taste, which causes profuse salivation.

They are considered a powerful stimulant and sialogogue, and used

in headaches, paralysis of the tongue, affections of the throat and

gums, and for toothache. A popular remedy for children who

stammer. |

In Madagascar it is considered to have the same therapeutic

properties as S. acmella proper.

Bengal: Roshaniya—; Betsileo: Kimotodoha, Mangevitsa—; Betsimisaraka:

Anamafana—; Brazil: Mastruco, Pimenteira do Para—; Catalan: Creixans del

Para—; English: Brazil’ Cress, Para -Cress—; French: Bréde malgache,

Cresson du Brésil, Cresson du Para—; French Guiana: Cresson-para—; German:

Parakresse—; Hova:. Anamalaho, Anamalahokely, Anamalahombazaho, Ana-

malahoye— ;' Russian: Brazilskiy Kress, Tsarskiy Kress—; Sakalave: Anama-

fana—; Spanish; Berros del Para, Espilanto—,

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 865

SYNEDRELLA.

The genus consists of 2 tropical American species, one also

African and Asiatic.

Synedrella nodiflora Gaertn. occurs in cultivated places in

Assam, Martaban, and the Andaman Islands. It is found in

tropical Africa and America.

The leaves are boiled and used as a laxative by the natives of

Gold Coast.

Ashanti: Kwadupo, Nkwadupor, Tutummirika kohwe epo—; Timne: Bal-

keyan-karuni— ;_ Yoruba: Aluganbi, Zannaposo—.

TAGETES.

The genus includes 20 species, natives of warm America.

Po erecta Winn. is: used medicinally im, Vexicos 1, minutia Linn.

and Bonpl. are used in Colombia.

Tagetes erecta Linn. is a native of Mexico, grown in Indian

gardens.

The leaves are used as an application to boils and carbuncles ;

their juice 1s given in earache.

The flowers are employed in diseases of the eyes and for un-

healthy ulcers, internally they are said to purify the blood; their

juice is given as a remedy for bleeding piles.

Arabic: Hajai, Hamahama—; Bengal: Genda, Gendha—; Bombay: Gul-

jajari, Makhmal—; Brazil: Cravo de defunto—; Ceylon: African marigold— ;

Egypt: Gatife—; English: African Marigold, French Marigold—; Gujerati:

Guljharo, Makhamala— ; Hindi: Genda, Gendha, Gulatora, Kalaga, Lalamuraga,

Makhamali—; Hova: Anantsinahimbazaha, Tsipolobazaha—; Ivaq: Ja’fari—;

Kathiawar : Gulgoto—; Marathi: Makhamala, Rojiachaphul, Zendu—; Mexico:

Cempoalxochitt— ; Nasirabad: Gulgaindo—; Persian: Kajekharusa, Sadabarg— ;

Punjab: Genda, Mentok, Sadbargi, Tangla—; Sanskrit: Sthulapushpa, Zandu,

Zanduka—; Telugu: Banti—; Urdu: Genda—; Uriya: Gendu—; Yemen:

Naufar, Ranjes—.

‘TANACETUM.

The genus includes 30 species, found in the north temperate

regions.

T. vulgare Linn. is used miedicinally in Europe, and its flower-

heads are officinal in Belgium and Portugal.

Leaves }-} in. 1-2 pinnatisect a =

: 1. T. fruticulosum.

Leaves 3-1 in. few scattered palmately 2-pinnatisect

T. gracile.

1. Tanacetum fruticulosum Ledeb. is found at 12,000-15,000

ft. in the Western Himalaya. It is also found in Baluchistan and

Afghanistan, and in the Altai Mountains.

The herb is used as a tonic and anthelmintic. Soaked in cold

water it makes a decoction which Baluchis consider very good for

colds.

Baluchi: Drana—,; Brahui: Butau, Drani, Jir—; Kalat: Butau—; Noshki:

Drani—.

866 .JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL "HIST “SOCIETY, Vole Xian

2. Tanacetum gracile Hook. fil. and Th. is found at 13,500 ft.

in the Alpine Western Himalaya, from Kashmir to north of Kumaon.

It also occurs in Baluchistan.

At Pab in Jhalawan the plant is considered as a cure for

fevers.

Pab: Drane—.

TARAXACUM.

The genus includes 25 species, inhabiting temperate and cold

regions. ;

I’. officinale Wigg. is used medicinally in Europe, China and

La Reunion. The whole herb or some of its parts are officially

recognized in several countries: the dried plant in Japan; the root

in Great Britain, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland; the root and the

dried plant in Russia; the root and the leaf in Austria; the leaf

in France.

Taraxacum officinale Weber in Wigg. is found throughout the

Himalaya and Western Tibet from 1,000 ft. up to 18,000 ft. It

also occurs in the Mishmi Hills. The plant is almost cosmopolitan ;

it is at home in all parts of the north temperate zone, in pastures,

meadows and on waste ground, and is so plentiful as to be a

troublesome weed.

The plant is largely cultivated in India where the root is a

very popular remedy for liver complaints.

The root is diuretic, tonic, and slightly aperient. It is a general

stimulant to the system, but especially to the urinary organs, and

is chiefly used in kidney and liver disorders. It is, perhaps, one

of the most generally prescribed remedies in Europe.

At Kironi in Baluchistan the leaves are used for fomentations.

In China the leaves are prescribed internally as a_ bitter

depurant, externally they are used for poulticing after having been

pounded.

In Derbyshire, the juice of the stalk is applied to remove warts.

Baluchi: WHalako—; Bogoté: Diente de ledn—; Brahui: Aghud, Bahi,

Halako, Pochaku, Pochku—; Catalan: Angelets, Apagallums, Caixals de vella,

Dents de Ileo, Llitso d’asa, Pixallit, Pixallits, Xicoina de burro—; Chinese:

P’u Kung Ying—; Cornwall: Dashelflower—; Deccan: Pathri—; Devonshire :

Dashelflower—; Dutch: Paardenbloem—; English: Blowball, Dandelion, Milk

Gowan, Pissabed, Priest’s Crown, Swinesnout, Time-Table—; French: Chopine,

Cochet, Couronne de moine, Dent de lion, Florion d’or, Laitue de _ chien,

Liondent, Pissenlit, Salade de taupe, Téte de moine—; German: Ackerzichorie,

Apostemkraut, Augenmilch, Baerenzahn, Bettpisser, Bettseiger, Bissanliwurzel,

Butterblume, Ejierblume, Feldreis, Gaddeliese, Habichtskraut, Hundslattich,

Hundszahn, Jungeblume, Kuhblume, Kuhlattich, Laternen blume, Loewenzahn,

Luchten, Maistoeckel, Milchadistel, Milchroedel, Milchstoeckel, Mistfinke,

Moenchsblume, Moenchskopf, Papankraut, Pfaffendistel, Pfaffenoerhlein, Pfaffen-

schnell, Pfaffenstiel, Pfefferoeslein, Pferdeblume, Saumelke, Saustock, Seherrk-

raut, Schweineroesl, Schwiblume, Sommerdorn, Sonnenwirbel, Teufelsrippen,

Tiefstand, Weglattich, Wiesenlattich, Zunehmkraut—; Irish: Cais tsearbhan— ;

Italian: Dente di leone, Smirnio, Soffione, Tarassaco—; Kironi: Gulsagh— ;

Ladak: Rasuk, Yamaghika—; Languedoc: Lagaina, Pissolet-—; La Reunion:

Chicorée sauvage, Pissenlit—; Lepcha: Ta-klok bi—; Malta: Dandelion, Dente

di leone, Pisciacane, Tarassacio, Cicueira salvagga—; Pacific Coast: Blow-ball,

Dandelion, [Trish Daisy, Lion’s-tooth, Puff-ball, Yellow Gowan—; Portuguese:

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA _ 867

Dente de lead, Taraxaco—; Punjab: Baran, Dudal, Dudhbattal, Dudli, Kan-

phul, Radam, Shamuke—; Roumanian: Papadie, Parasita gainelor—; Russian:

Oduvanchik, Papovo gumentse—; Sind: Bathur, Buthur—; Spanish: Amargon,

Cardillo, Dente de leon, Hocico de puerco, Tagarnina, Taraxacon—; Tasmania:

English Dandelion—; Uruguay: Achicoria silvestre, Amargon, Diente de leon,

Radicheta—.

‘TRAGOPOGON.

The genus includes about 24 species, natives of the Mediter-

ranean region and Central Asia.

Peduncle much inflated under the head. Ligules purple... 1. T. porrifolium.

Peduncle hardly thickened under the head. Ligules

yellow se ee Bes mepees L. “pravense.

1. Tragepogon porrifolium Linn. is found in cultivated places

at Simla and in Western Tibet. It extends westwards to the

Mediterranean.

Culpeper says of Purple Goat’s Beard: ‘The virtues of this are

the same as the other, only less pleasant, therefore more bitter,

astringent, detersive and medicinal. This, however, may be eaten

in great quantities, and so will be useful in chronic complaints.

The roots are particularly specific in obstructions of the gall and

the jaundice; the best way to use them is stewed like chardoons.’

It ranks as one of the most salubrious of culinary vegetables,

being antibilious, cooling, deobstruent, and slightly aperient.

The root is used in Spain as a diuretic, aperient, and pectoral.

English: Purple Goat’s Beard, Salsafy, Salsify, Vegetable Oyster—; French :

Barbebon, Salsifis blanc, Salsifis des jardins—; Malia: Salsify, Salsefica, Salsifi,

Lehjet il botbot—; Spanish: Barba de cabra, Barbon, Salsifi blanca—.

2. Tragopogon pratense Linn. occurs in Western Tibet and

the Western Himalaya, between 12,000 and 14,000 ft. It extends

westwards to the Atlantic.

Culpeper tells us: ‘A large double handful of the entire plant,

roots, flowers and all, bruised and boiled and then strained with a

little sweet oil, is an excellent clyster in most desperate cases of

strangury or suppression of urine. A decoction of the roots is very

good for the heart burn, loss of appetite, disorders of the breast

and liver; expels sand and gravel, and even small stone. The

roots dressed like parsnips with butter are good for cold, watery

stomachs, boiled or cold, or eaten as a raw salad; they are grateful

to the stomach, strengthen the lean and consumptive, or the weak

after long sickness. The distilled water gives relief to pleurisy,

stitches or pains in the side.’

The fresh juice of the young plant has been recommended as

‘the best dissolvent of the bile, relieving the stomach without

danger and without introducing into the blood an acrid, corrosive

stimulant, as is frequently done by salts when emploved for this

purpose.’ .

In Italy the plant as a decoction is a home remedy for chest

troubles and a popular sudorific.

In Spain the root is used as a diuretic, aperient, and pectoral.

Catalan: Barba de cabra, Barbata, Barbeta—; Dutch: Boksbaard—;

English; Buck’s Beard, Gait-berde, Goat’s Beard, Go-to-bed-at-noon, Jack-by-

868. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL! HIS SOCTED VY: Wore ein

the-hedge, John-go-to-bed-at-noon, Joseph’s Flower, Nap-at-noon, Noon Flower,

Noontide, Shepherd’s Clock, Sleep-at-noon, Star of Jerusalem—; French: Barbe

bleue, Barbe de bouc, Barbe de porc, Ratabout, Salsifis des prés, Salsifis

sauvage—; German: Bocksbart, Ziegenbart—; Italian: Barba di becco—;

Rouwmanian: Barba caprei, Barba popii, Barba tapului, Tita caprei—; Spanish:

Barba cabruna, Barba de cabra, Barbajo, Barbon, Salsifi verdadera—.

‘TRICHOLEPIS.

The genus consists of 12 Indo-Malayan species.

Pappus absent : & A .. I. T. angustifolia.

Pappus short but conspicuous a) Ae -. 2 2. glabemama.

1. Tricholepis angustifelia DC. is found in the Western Penin-

sula, Canara, Mangalore, Travancore.

The plant is a bitter tonic and diuretic, used in cough.

Travancore: Utakatara—.

2. Tricholepis glaberrima DC. is common in western Raj-

putana, Central India, the Konkan, the Deccan, the South Maratha

Country, the Western Ghats in the Bombay Presidency, South

Canara, Coorg, and the hills of Mysore.

The plant is used in leucoderma and skin diseases, in inflam-

mations.. It is believed to be a nervine tonic and an aphrodisiac.

Bengal: Chhagaladandi, Vamanadandi—; Bombay: Motabor—; Canarese :

Brahmadandi—; Gujerati: Brahmadandi, Phusiarun, Talakanto—; Hindi:

Brahmadandi—; Marathi: Brahmadandi, Motachor—; Sanskrit: Ajadandi,

Brahmadandi, Kantapatraphala

TUSSILAGO.

The genus consists of 1 species distributed over Asia, Europe,

and North Africa.

Tussilago Farfara Linn. is found at 6,000-11,000 ft. in the

Western Himalaya from Kashmir to Kumaon.

The Hindus consider that the leaves have the power of regulat-

ing the functions of the central and sympathetic nervous systems,

and that they are valuable in the treatment of rheumatism; they

also use the cotton-like down of the leaf as a styptic.

From the earliest times the plant has been esteemed useful

in coughs and other pectoral affections. Hippocrates recommends

the root with honey in ulcerations of the lungs. Dioscorides, Pliny,

and Galen relate that the smoke of the leaves, received through a

funnel or reed, is efficacious in coughs and dyspepsia.

Most of the Arabian and Persian medical writers describe the

herb as bitter and carminative. The Yunanists use the roots and the

leaves in chronic bronchitis, asthma, chest complaints, and inflam-

mations; they are maturant and abortifacient.

Culpeper says: ‘The fresh leaves, or juice, or syrup thereof,

is good for a dry bad cough, or wheezing and shortness of breath.

The dry leaves are best for those who have their rheums and

distillations upon their lungs causing a cough: for which also the

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 869

dried leaves taken as tobacco, or the root is very good. ‘The dis-

tilled water hereof simply or with elder-flowers or nightshade 1s

a singularly good remedy against all agues, to drink two oz. at a

time and apply cloths wet therein to the head and stomach, which

also does much good being applied to any hot swellings or in-

flammations. It helpeth St. Anthony’s fire and burnings, and is

singular good to take away wheals.’

Coltsfoot has been justly termed ‘Nature’s best herb for the

lungs, and her most eminent thoracic’. The leaves are sometimes

applied to wounds in Europe; and Sussex peasants esteem the white

down of the leaves as a most valuable medicine. The dried leaves,

when soaked out in warm water, will serve as an excellent emollient

poultice.

In China the flowers are used as an expectorant in cough,

asthma, apoplexy, and phthisis.

The leaves are officinal in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway,

Portugal, Russia, Sweden, and Turkey. The flower heads are

officinal in France.

Arabic: Ajanjiwun—; Catalan: Fills abans que el pare, Pota de caball,

Pota de cavall, Pota d’euga—; Chinese: K’uan Tung Hua—; Danish: Foeldfod,

Hestehov—; Dutch: Hoefblad, Klein hoefblad—; English: Asse’s Foot, Ass’s-

foot, Bull-foot, Bull’s Foot, Clatter-clogs, Clayt, Clayweed, Colt, Colt Herb,

Colt’s-foot, Coughwort, Coutfit, Cowheave, Dishalaga, Donnhove, Dove-dock,

Dummy Weed, Fieldhove, Foalfoot, Foal’s Foot, Foalswort, Foilefoot, Hallfoot,

Hogweed, Hoofs, Horse-hoof, Horse-hove,’ Son-before-the-Father, Sow Foot, Tun-

hoof, Tushalan, Tushylucky Gowan—; French: Chou de ‘vigne, Filius ante

patrem, Herbe aux pattes, Herbe de saint Guérin, Herbe de saint Quirin, Pas

d’Ane, Pas de cheval, Pas de poulain, Procheton, Racine de peste, Taconnet,

Tussilage, Tussilage commun—; German: Ackerlattich, Auflattig, Berglaetsche,

Brandlattich, Brandlatsche, Brustlattich, Derrelatten, Eselfuss, Eselhuf, Fahlen-

fuss, Feldlattich, Foelfod, Fuelifuess, Haberlattich, Haferlattich, Hoaflotcher,

Huflattich, Hundblume, Hustenkraut, Kuhblume, Labaschen, Latten, Lehmblatt,

Logjehn, Loedke, Maergabluemli, Negenkraftkraut, Pappenmuentz, Pferdehuf,

Querniskraut, Rosshuf, Rosslattich, Sandblatt, Sandkraut, Sommertuerle, Weis-

slabeschen, Werschlabeschen, Zeitroeslein—; Greek: Bichion—; Hindi: Wata-

pana—; Italian: Farfarello, Farfaro, Farfugio, Fayfaro, Unghia cavallina— ;

Languedoc: Pepoulit—; Malaya: Kuan tung hua, Toong fah, Tung hua—;

Norway : Hestehof—; Persian: Fanjiwun—; Portuguese: Farfara, Tussilagem— $;

Punjab : Watpan—; Roumanian: Podbeal, Podbol—; Russian: Bielakopitnik— ;

Spanish: Pie de caballo, Ufa de caballo, Tusilago—; Swedish: Haesthov,

Haetshof—; Urdu: Fanjiwun—; Yorkshire: Cleats—.

VERNONIA.

The genus includes 650 species, chiefly tropical, and mostly

American.

The following species are used medicinally in Indo-China—

V. cinerea Less., V. teres Wall.—; in La Reunion—V. cinerea

Less.-—; in Madagascar—V. appendiculata Less., V. pectoralis

Baker, V. scariosa Baker—; in Nigeria—V. amygdalina Del.,

V. Kotschyana Schultz, V. nigritiana Oliv. and Hiern.—; in Gold

Coast—V. amygdalina Del., V. Biafrae Oliv. and Hiern., V.

conferta Benth., V. nigritiana Oliv. and Hiern., V. senegalensis

Less.—; in Guinea—V. nigritiana Oliv. and Hiern., V. senegalensis

Less., V. Thomsoniana Oliv. and Hiern.—; in Gambia—V. colorata

Drake, V. nigritiana Oliv. and Hiern., V. senegalensis Less.—;

in Lagos—V. cinerea Less.—; in Sierra Leone—V. amygdalina Del.,

870 jOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

V. mgntiana ‘Oliv.,and Hiern:—-* in’ St, Thomas—V. amy gdalina

Del.— ; in Angola—V. senegalensis Less.—.

A. Achenes glabrous. Pappus white, outer hairs few ... 2. V. elaeagnifolia.

B. Achenes slightly narrowed at the base, clothed with

appressed white hairs. Pappus white or dirty white,

outer hairs very short ie : ere ws CAMO edn

C. Achenes silky. Pappus yellowish or reddish, outer hairs

few short caducous Mdm. MEeves.

D. Achenes sparsely hairy. Pappus dirty white or reddish,

outer hairs often absent de ot wus. Jkoxburghi:

1. Vernonia cinerea Less. is one of the commonest Indian weeds,

occurring throughout India ascending to 8,000 ft. in the Himalaya,

and in the Khasia and Peninsular hills. It is spread over tropical

Asia, Africa, and Australia.

In the Nighantas the plant is described as cold, sweet, tonic,

stomachic, astringent, and correcting all the humors; useful in the

treatment of asthma, bronchitis, and consumption. The flowers

are reputed to cure fevers.

The plant is used in decoction to promote perspiration in febrile

conditions. The expressed juice is given in piles. In Senegal and

French Guinea an infusion of the plant is used to wash a newborn

infant, and is given also to children with incontinence of urine.

The bitter root is a vermifuge.

The seeds are employed in Patna as an alexipharmic and anthel-

mintic, and as a constituent of masalas for horses. In Chota

Nagpur, the whole plant is given as a remedy for spasm of the

bladder and strangury; the flowers are administered for conjuncti-

vitis; the root is given for dropsy.

In Ceylon it is used for wounds and sores, and taken internally

to promote perspiration.

This plant is considered to possess strong diaphoretic properties,

and is generally given by vaidyans to produce perspiration in fever.

By itself, it has no antiperiodic property, but when combined with

a small dose of quinine, it appears to help the action of the latter

in malarial fevers. At Cannanore I found that one of the vaidyans

there was treating cases of malarial fever with V. cimerea and 5 grs.

of quinine made into a bolus with lime juice administered every

morning. I tried this method in several cases and found it to

be a useful combination (Koman).

Sushruta recommends the plants for the treatment of scorpion-

sting; but it is not an antidote to scorpion venom (Caius and

Mhaskar).

Bengal: Kalajira, Kukshim, Kuksim—,; Brahui: Aghud—; English: Ash-

coloured Fleabane—; Ewe: Osikonu—; French: Ayapana sauvage, Vernonia

cendré—; Gujerati: Sadeori, Sadodi, Sedardi, Shedardi—; Hindi: Dandotpala,

Sahadevi, Sadodi, Sadori—; Indo-China: Bac dau—; Lagos: Ewe jedijedi,

Orungo—; Malay: Rumput sabagi, Rumput susor daun, Sembong hutan, Tahi

babi, Tambak bukit, Tambak tambak—; Malayalam: Puvankuruntal—; Malinke :

Kungueni—; Marathi: Sadodi, Sahadevi, Osari—; Matheran: Mothisardori,

Sahadevi—; Mauritius: Ayapana sauvage—; Merwara: Kaliharr, Lalia—;

Mundari: Toaara—; Nasirabad: Bhumbak—; Oloke-Meji: Elegbe oju—; Pore-

bunder: Sadedi, Sadevi, Sadodi—; Punjab: Sahadevi—; Sanskrit: Dandotpala,

Devasasha, Devi, Devika, Gandhavalli, Govandani, Saha, Sahadeva, Sahadevi,

Vishamajvaranashini, Vishvadeva—; Santal: Bahututuri, Barangom, Birlopon-

——————————————

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA s87i

garak, Duryaarak, Jhurjhuri—; Sinhalese: Monarakudumbia, Monerakudim-

beya—; Tamil: Puvamkurundal, Sahadevi Sirashengalanir—; Telugu: Gariti-

kamma, Gharitikamini—; Timne: Kubwo kerokani—; Yoruba: Bojure, Elegbe

oju, Ewe jedijedi, Orungo—.

2. Vernonia elaeagnifolia DC. is found in Tenasserim and

Pegu, extending to Siam and Indo-China.

In Cambodia the wood is used for troubles of the respiratory

tract, more particularly of the nose. The wood is dried in the sun,

finely scraped, and smoked with tobacco in the form of cigarettes.

It is said to be very good for Enulbguscucnartion and ulceration of the

mucous membrane.

Cambodia: Kanlak chak, Karleuk chak—.

3. Vernonia Roxburghii Less. is found in the Upper Gangetic

Plain, Kumaon, Bengal, Burma, Central and Western India.

It is used as a substitute for V. cinerea.

Bonat: Banjatangi— ; Mundari: Kutunaba—; Santali: Dorabohok’—; Uriya:

Agnijal—.

4. Vernonia teres Wall. occurs in the tropical Himalaya from

Kumaon to Sikkim, Bihar, Central India, Pegu, Burma, Indo-China.

A popular medicine in Annam for luxations, ulcers ‘and wounds.

It is given for dysmenorrhoea and dropsy. The flower-heads are

considered ascaricidal.

Annam: Cay man tuoi, Trach lan thao—; Quang-iri: Cay muoi tuoi—;

Tongking: Man tuoi—; Vinh: Co xanh—.

VOLUTARELLA.

The genus consists of 5 species, occurring from the Mediterranean

to India.

Volutarella divaricata C. B. Clarke is found in the Punjab Plain,

Central and South India, Baluchistan and Afghanistan.

The plant is credited with tonic, aperient and deobstruent

properties. It is slightly mucilaginous and used in coughs. It

is also used as a febrifuge, and often prescribed in fevers and

general debility.

Arabic: Shaukat-el-baida—; Bombay: Badaward—-; Gujerati: Badaward,

Bhonyadandi—; Hindi: Badaward—; Marathi: Sakayi, Sukayi—; Persian:

Asfar-e-bari, Badavard, Mangar-e-sufid—; Syria: Sanskhurda—; Turkish:

Lufiniki— ; Urdu: Badavarda—.

WEDELIA.

The genus includes 65 tropical and subtropical species.

Leaves subsessile, linear-oblong or oblanceolate, acute or

obtuse, entire or subcrenate Mar .. I. W. calendulacea.

Leaves petioled, ovate-acuminate, serrate fo .« 2. W. Weallichii.

1. Wedelia calendulacea Less. is found in wet places through-

out Bengal, Assam, Sylhet and Burma, the Konkan, the plains

872 jOURNAL, BOMBAY, NATURAL HIST.) SOCIETY) Vom cut

districts of the Madras Presidency, and Ceylon. It is distributed

to the Malay Archipelago, China and Japan.

In decoction the plant is used as a deobstruent, and is given

in uterine haemorrhage and menorrhagia. |

The leaves are considered tonic, alterative, and useful in cough,

cephalalgia, skin diseases and alopecia.

An infusion of the plant is given in Indo-China for the swelling

of the abdomen. In Annam the plant is used to prevent the

effects of bad waters in the hill tracts.

Bengal: Bangra, Bhimraj, Kesaraja, Kesraj, Kesuria—; Bombay: Pivala-

bhangra—; Chinese: P’ang K’i Kiou—; Deccan: Pilabungra—; Gujerati:

Bhangaro, Pilobhangro—; Hindi: Bhangra, Bhanra—; Indo-China: Hoa muc.

Ngo nui, Tan sa—; Marathi: Pivalamaka—; Sanskrit: Bhringaraja, Devapriya,

Haripriya, Harivesa, Kesaraja, Pavana, Pitabhringaraja, Pitabhringi, Svarna-

bhringara, Vandaniya—; Sinhalese: Ranvankikirindi—; Tagalog: Hagonay— ;

Tamil: Patalaikaiantagerai—.

2. Wedelia Wallichii Less. is found in the tropical Himalaya

up to 5,000 ft., from Kumaon to Bhutan, the Khasia and the

Mishmo Hills, Burma and Java.

In Assam the plant is said to heal wounds when applied to them.

NANTHIUM.

The genus includes 25 species, probably all of American origin.

X. spinosum Linn. and X. Strumarium Linn. are used medicinally

in Europe, North America, and Brazil; X. canadense Mill. is used

in North America and Brazil; X. Strumarium Linn. in China, Indo-

China, Malaya, and La Reunion.

Xanthium Strumarium Linn. is cosmopolitan in the warmer

parts of the world. It is found throughout the hotter parts of

India and Ceylon, usually near houses; ascending to 5,000 ft. in

the Western Himalaya.

The root is a bitter tonic, useful in cancer and strumous diseases.

The prickly fruit is considered cooling and demulcent and is given

in small-pox. In Southern India, the prickly involucre is applied

to the ear, or tied in bunch to the ear-ring, to cure hemicrania.

The whole plant is supposed to possess powerful diaphoretic and

sedative properties. It is generally administered in the form of

decoction, and is said to be very efficacious in long-standing cases

of malarious fever. ?

In some parts of Germany the plant has a popular reputation

as a remedy for ague, and in Russia it is considered to be a

prophylactic in hydrophobia.

In’ China the burs are used as a°tonic, diuretic, diaphoretic,

and sedative. |

The herb is used as an emollient and astringent in China and

Indo-China. An extract of the root 1s applied to ulcers, boils, and

abscesses.

In La Reunion the plant is considered bitter, astringent,

antiscrofulous, and anttherpetic.

The leaves were formerly official in Europe and were ad-

ministered internally in scrofula and in herpes. |

THE MEDICINAL AND POISONOUS COMPOSITES OF INDIA 873

In America and Australia, this plant has been observed to

prove fatal to cattle and pigs.

Caius and Mhaskar have shown experimentally that the plant

is not an antidote to either snake venom or scorpion venom.

Afrikaans : Boetebossie, Spitzklette—; Assam: Agara—; Bengal: Banokra— §;

Bombay: Shankeshvara—; Brahui: Bichudi—; Burma: Chosa, Koukpin-— ;

Catalan: Bardana borda, Bardana menor, Escorpins, Llepassa borda, Llepassa

menor, Rapalassa borda—; Chinese: Hsi Erh, Ts’ang Eul, Ts’ang N’1—;

Egypt: Kharag-el-bahr, Shubhey—; English: Bur-weed, Clotbur, Cocklebur— ;

French: Glaiteron, Gleitron, Gléteron, Glouteron, Petit glouteron, Grappelles,

Herbe aux écrouelles, Lambourde, Lampourde, Lampourde commune, Petite

bardane—; German: Spitzklette—; Gujerati: Gadriyun—; Hindi: Banokra,

Chhotagokhru, Chctadatura, Ghagra, Okura, Shankahuli—; Indo-China: Gi

nhi, Ke, Ke dau ngha, Quyen nhi tu, Tuong nhi—; Iraq: Hasach, Lizzaij—;

Italian: Lappola minore—; Kashmir: Lanetsuru, Tsur—; La Reunion: Grosse

pagode—; Malaya: Buah anjang, Chong yee chee, Tsang ehr, Tsang yee—;

Marathi: Dumundi, Dutundi, Sankeshwara—; Pacific Coast: Broad Cocklebur,

Burweed, Button-bur, Bur Thistle, Common Cocklebur, Dike-bur, Lesser’

Burdock, Sea Burdock, Sheep-bur, Small Burdock—-; Punjab: Chirru, Gokra-

kallan, Gudal, Jojre, Kuri, Sungtu, Wangantsuru—; Pushtu: Baggiari—;

Roumanian: Scaietele-poppii—; Sanskrit: Arishta, Bhulagna, Chanda, Itara,

Kambumalini, Kambupushpa, Kiriti, Malavinashini, Mangalyakusuma, Medhya,

Pitapushpi, Raktapushpi, Sarpakshi, Shankhagalini, Shankhakusuma, Shankha

puspi, Shankhavha, Shwetakusuma, Sukshmapatra, Supushpi, Vanamalini— ;

Sind: Gokhrukallan—; South Africa: Clotbur, Cocklebur, Noogoobur— ;

Spanish: Bardana menor—; Tamil: Marlumutta—; Telugu: Marulamatangi,

Marulutige, Parsvapu, Veritallanappi, Talnoppi—; Yemen: Kavar el abid,

Manj el ma—. Ss

ADDENDUM.

J ioe (Veen oy

4. Style-arms with long appendages. Achenes awnless ... Chrysantheiluim.~

CHRYSANTHELLUM

The genus consists of 4 tropical species,

Chrysanthellum indicum DC. is found in the Upper Gangetic

Plains; Kumaon and Garhwal, at Hawalbagh and Naini-Tal, up

to 4,000 feet; Nagpore. It is distributed to Madagascar and

Tropical Africa.

The Mundas of Chota Nagpur bruise the leaves and rub them

over aching heads; they mitf the juice against headache. <A piece

of root is inserted into the hollow of a tooth to kill the maggot

which is believed to live there and cause toothache.

Hasada: Peanggu—; Naguri: Piribaranggu—.

THE BIONOMICS OF THE YAM BEETLE

[GALERUCIDA BICOLOR (Hope)| A PEST OF

CULTIVATED YAM! IN S. INDIA.

T.. We RAMAKRISHNA AYYAR, BUA:, Ph p-

(IVith a plate).

Though numerous species of Galerucine beetles have been noted till now

from different parts of the Indian region, as far as the writer is aware,

there is very little on record om ‘the life histories’ and; habits-’ of the, very

common forms included under the well-known, large and widely distributed

family Chrysomelidae. While we have some published notes on the life habits

of several genera of the allied Hispine and Halticine groups, like Haltica,

Clitea, Longitarsus, Podontia, Hispu, etc., our knowledge of the bionomics of

the members of the Galerucine sub-family is unfortunately very limited. The

information available so far in this direction pertains to only two or three

species. These include Lefroy’s* Notes on two. species of Galerucella

(G. placida B. & G. birmanica J.), life history notes on the red pumpkin beetle

(Aulacophora foveicollis L.) first by Fletcher® and later on by Hussain and Shah‘,

Khatib’s paper? on the biology and life history of G. birmanica J., and Maulik’s®

recent description of the structural features of the mature larva of the beetles

‘Oides bipunctata F., and Periclitena vigorsi H. It is hoped that this short

paper on another species of this group will add to our present knowledge of

the bionomics of the Galerucinae. The insect which forms the subject of this

paper appears not only to enjoy a very wide distribution all over India, but

also to have attracted the attention of Entomologists from as early a date as

1899. But it is rather surprising to find that none of the recent workers on

Indian insects—not even well-known official entomologists like Lefroy and

Fletcher, have referred to this insect in any of their numerous publications.

The writer noted this beetle for the first time in September 1921 in the

Amalapur taluq of the Godavari District as a minor pest of cultivated

yam (Amorphophailus campanulatus), and the first record of this insect as a

crop pest is to be found in a short note in his paper on South Indian insects

read before the Sfth Entomological meeting at Pusa in 1923; since then it has

been recorded on the same plant both by the writer and others, including Maulik,

in parts of the Malabar District, and in the Cochin State. During the past

season the author had some opportunities of studying the pest on his farm in

South Malabar and the- following is a brief summary of the observations so

far made.

The insect, its distribution and generai organisation :

Galerucida bicolor (Hope). This is a small active beetle, about 8 to 9 mm.

long, belonging to the sub-family Galerucinae under the family Chrysomelidae.

The general coloration is a pale reddish brown with dark spots or blotches

on the elytra; there is a good deal of variation in the arrangement of these

dark markings; in some, they are arranged in spots, and in others the spots

1 Paper read before the Entomological Section of the Indian Science Congress,

Madras, January 1940.

2 Memoirs of the Deptt. of Agr. India, Ento. Series II p. 146 (1909).

* Rept. 2nd Ent. meeting Pisa, p.)302,e (rei).

4 Mem. Deptt: of Agr: of India, Ent. Series TX, 4, (1926).

* Ind? Jl. of Agr. “SciencemIV “oly 19345

* Fauna of British India series—Galerucinae—pp. 26 & 34 (1936),

PLaTE [

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

icolor (Hope) |

am Beetle [Galerucida b

‘_he Y

(Grub and adult)

=, i ae F

. ‘ 7 7

oo 7 r

= - A) :

os) 7

: Th

~s mar ~

’

‘

THE BIONOMICS OF THE VAM “BEETLE 875

are fused and form elongate or broad blotches. Maulik gives three or four types

in the arrangement of the biack markings. The common types the writer has

so far collected are the following : 1. Each elytron, with two round black spots

on the basal area, one near the suture and the other near the humeral angle

and then a large dark patch covering almost the whole of the hinder half of

it. 2 as in 1 with the Jarge dark patch broken up either completely into

different roundish spots or 3. entirely into roundish spots without any large

patch. The distal segments of the antenna, the small scutellum and the tarsi

of the legs are dark brown. Head distinct but narrower than prothorax which

is covered by large shield and is more or less convex anterior to the middorsal

region. Antenna medium sized with eleven segments. Elytra with longitudinal

double rows of minute punctures. Maulik gives a detailed description of the

adult. Though there are as many as 13 species recorded from different parts

of India, G. bicolor H. is the only one so far noted from South India. —

Life history :

Eggs are laid in clusters of about fifty or more just below the soil in the

vicinity of the food plant; cach egg is spherical and shining with the surface

finely and smoothly sculptured. Hatching takes place in about two weeks. The

early stage larva has the head, legs and prothorax shining black with the

rest of the body pale yellowish; with each mault the grub develops a darker

hue, and by the time it matures and approaches pupation it assumes a

uniform shining black colour with the ventral side assuming a paler hue.

In general form the full-grown larva is moderately elongate with the dorsal

region flattish oval and the ventral side slightly concave. It measures 7 to

8 mm. in Jength. The head capsule is convex smooth and shining with a

few short setae. The antennae which are minute are retractile though dis-

tinct; each of them rises from a broad basal piece and is one jointed bearing

a Hleshy sense cone. There is one ocellus on each side of the head. The

prothoracic shield is a large single piece strongly chitinised and overlapping

the head in front. Each of the following body segments is divided into many

irregular regions by transverse and lateral grooves, and these areas ‘are

covered over by chitinous sclerites. The ninth abdominal segment is a

single shieldlike plate like the head and prothorax and it almost covers thie

roth (last) segment; this latter is in the form of a retractile many lobed fleshy

sucker or pseudopod with the anus in the middle and this structure is used

by the larva for safely fixing itself on any surface. The legs are distinct

though small provided with pointed short claws; each leg has five joints in-

cluding the claw. The thoracic and abdominal spiracles are minute and not

clearly visible. The lateral regions of the body are provided with minute

setae and hairs. Due to some difficulties in getting the larvae to develop under

artificial conditions it has not been possible to make out definitely the actual

number of larval stages; so far only three stages have been noted and the

writer is not sure whether there are more than three instars. The larval

period lasts from two weeks to 20 days. Pupation takes place just under

the soil surface in oval earthen cocoons prepared by the grubs; occasionally

the pupa is found naked in loose soil also. The pupa is 3 to 4 mm.

long, short, broadly oval and curved anteriorly with the head touching the

prosternum. It has a pale yellowish colour with wing pads and antennae pale,

almost transparent. The body surface is fringed with transverse rows of

short setae which are of a dirty brown colour; these are very conspicuous on

the head and the abdominal segments where some of them arise from dark

tubercles. The pupation period noted in captivity was from 12 to 15 days.

General habits :

The adult beetle feeds on the foliage of its food plant, the elephant yam

(Amorphophallus campanulatus), by eating small holes characteristic of most

leaf beetles. The grubs not only bite holes on the foliage but during their

later stages completely skeletonise the leaves and_ start gnawing into the

succulent leaf stalks and main stem. They feed gregariously, several being

found together on each infested leaf or stalk. Badly infested plants are not

only deprived of all foliage, but the stem and _ leaf stalks get

riddled and the whole plant becomes covered with black patches of larval

excreta. The grub when disturbed has the habit of curling up like cut

worms. Besides yam, garden balsams are also attacked by both beetle

§76 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol, XLi

and prub. No natural enemies of the ~grubs; havespbeeny, moted | iso mary

However, when the mature grubs drop to the ground and wander about the

soil before pupation some carabid beetles and centipedes have been found

very partial to these grubs and it is perhaps not unlikely that there may be

some closer relation between the two; ior, Silvestri has recorded that a

Galerucine beetle (Galeruceila luteola M.) is the host of a parasitic Carabid

beetle (Labia scapularia F.). Some of the sickly pupae collected from the soil

were also found to be associated with minute round worms. These are

most probably internal parasites on the beetle Jarva in view of the records by

Cobb and others that many chrysomelid beetles harbour these nematode worms.

Incidence and seasonal habits:

The beetle starts breeding by about the outbreak of the South West

monsoon, late in May or early in June when the yam crop is just rising

from the soil and putting out tender shoots and leaves. The first generation

of grubs appears on the food plant by the 2nd or 3rd week of June, and by

about the middle of July they are fully fed and go into the soil to pupate. If the

rains continue right up to the end of July we find another strong brood by

the middle of August, after which the pest is not very much in_ evidence.

It is very likely the adult hibernates during the subsequent months—this has

not been properly verified as yet.

Economic status and control:

Though it becomes a fairly serious sporadic pest during certain favourable

seasons and causes appreciable damage when the first generation is allowed

to breed uninterrupted, it is easy to check the same by mechanical methods,

especially in view of the gregarious habits of the larvae. Leaves containing

numerous grubs feeding together can be easily hand-picked or shaken over

a pan of water into which they easily drop. Hoeing of the soil around

the plants in July will also help in destroying the underground pupae and

prevent a further generation of the pest. It has not been found as a pest of

any other cultivated crop as yet, though as stated before the beetle is found

as a minor pest of garden balsams.

These notes are issued in view of the fact that this beetle appears to have

some economic importance and there is nothing published so far on its biono-

mics.

ON THE ALTERATIONS IN THE TISSUES OF

MELOCHIA CORCHORIFOLIA. LINN. AND CORCHORUS

CAPSULARIS LINN. ON A CHANGE OF ENVIRONMENT.

Ds B= MuUnrAN,

St. Aavier’s College, Bombay.

(With two plates and one text-figure).

One of the most marked anatomical characters of aquatic and marsh plants

is the existence of a highly developed system of air-chambers. The latter

serve for ventilation and the storage of air, allowing a ready diffusion of

gases for the submerged organs which are in water or badly-aerated, swampy

soil. Such a lacunar tissue which has large air-spaces for ventilation and

storage of gases is termed aerenchyma. Schenck (1889) restricts the term

aerenchyma to the ventilating tissues of secondary origin which are homologous

with cork; whilst Goebel (1891) and Haberlandt (1914) prefer to define the

scope of the term from the ecological or anatomico-physiological standpoint.

It has been recorded in several cases, that when parts of terrestrial plants

grow in water or in water-logged soil, they develop internal air-chambers in

the submerged parts or in portions growing in wet mud. Schenck (1889),

Witte (1906), Gluck (1911), Batten (1918) and others have demonstrated the

arising of aerenchyma in members of the Onagraceae, Lythraceae, Primulaceae,

Leguminosae, etc.

Melochia corchorifolia Linn. and Corchorus capsularis Linn. are annuals

found growing wild, in the Bombay Presidency, during the monsoon. As

Saxton (1922) has pointed out, during heavy rains many low-lying areas get

flooded, so that the plants growing in such places have to live under swamp

conditions. Under the circumstances, only such individuals as are able to

adapt themselves to living as marsh plants or helophytes survive. The two

plants considered in this paper, start their lives as land plants. The _ indivi-

duals which are rooted on fairly well-drained soil continue to live as_ land-

plants, while those which happen to be on low-lying, water-logged soil get

easily adapted to living as marsh plants for the greater period of their lives.

In order to study what particular factor in their anatomy helps the plants in

successfully tiding over swamp conditions, apart from field observations, young

plants of the same size were grown in pots under different habitats. Some

specimens were allowed to grow as land plants, while others were submerged

in water so that the root-system as well as about 20 cm. of the lower portion

of the stem were under water. After nearly three months of immersion, the

basal portions of the stems showed a remarkable change, both externally and

internally, in which they differed from the stems of the plants growing on

drained soil. As is the case with other marsh plants, noted by Schenck (1889),

Goebel (1893) and others, the compiementary tissue of the lenticels hypertrophy

under water and protrude from the surface of the submerged stem in _ the

form of white spongy masses. Within a week of immersion, fine much-

branched, adventitious roots burst out in all directions from the submerged

part of the stem. Such roots mostly remain free-floating, only a few entering

the mud later on. The basal portion of the submerged stem has a distinctly

_wider girth than that of the land plants and the outer portion feels soft to the

touch. For anatomical examination, sections at the same height on the stems

of plants growing in water and on land were taken.

Melochia corchorifolia Linn., a member of the Sterculiaceae, is often found

growing on the margin of fresh waters. Saxton (1924) has placed it in his

synusium of typical helophytes and has figured a cross section of the stem,

which appears to be that of the aerial part, but has not mentioned any struc-

tural peculiarities induced by submergence. In a young stem, the epidermis

is followed by a 1-2 layered chlorenchyma. The outer cortex is composed of

a three-layered, loosely-arranged more or less collenchymatous zone; while

the inner cortex consists of large, thin-walled parenchyma. Medullary rays

broaden outwards, in the region of the cambium, and form radial groups of

878. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL (HISt) SOCIETY. aViol exter

large thin-walled, clear cells, separated by the bast portions of the vascular

bundles. Mucilage-cavities, occurring in the cortex and in the outer pith,

are schizogenous in origin (Fig. 1). In the cortex they arise in the thin-walled

parenchyma, opposite the primary rays. As growth proceeds, the part of the

cortical parenchyma around the mucilage cavities break down so that, in mature

stems, large lysigenous spaces are formed in the cortex. The spaces occur,

as a rule, opposite the rays and alternate with bridges of cortical parenchyma.

Tanniniferous cells occur in the cortex, the medullary rays and the outer pith.

The phellogen or cork cambium arises sub-epidermally and gives rise, towards

the outer side, to a two-layered suberised tissue (Fig. 2).

In the case of the marsh form of the plant, the aerial part shows no

change from that of the Jand form. From the water level downwards, how-

ever, the primary cortex of the stem becomes distinctly lacunar. The outer

cortical cells stretch out in all directions forming more or less stellate cells

which remain hanging together by their arms, enclosing prominent, schizo-

genously-formed air spaces (Fig. 3). The inner parenchymatous cells of the

cortex also hypertrophy and stretch in various directions, the innermost cells

having a tendency to elongate in a radial direction (lig. 4). Thus after a

time, the submerged part of the stem gets covered with a broad zone of soft,

lacunar tissue which adds to its girth. In Melochia corchorifolia, the soft

ventilating tissue, derived from the primary cortex, may thus be regarded as

of the nature of aerenchyma which enables the plant to react in an advantageous

way to the stimuli of an aquatic environment. At the water: level, the outer-

most cells of the aeriferous tissue hold a few chloroplasts. The secondary

wood is more porous and less lignified in the submerged part of the stem than

in the land form.

The young roots of land forms have a cortex composed of 3-4 layers of

comparatively large, thin-walled cells with small intercellular spaces. As _ the

cork cambium arises in the pericycle, in the older roots the cortex peels off.

In the marsh form the adventitious roots, arising on the submerged stem,

show a contracted, tetrarch stele and a broad, lacunar cortex which resemb!es

that of atypical: marsh plant. The cortex is composed: of a number of

rounded cells with prominent air-spaces, arranged more or less radially

(Fig. 5). The free-floating roots thus seem to serve mainly for aeration. In

the old roots which enter the mud, the phellogen arises in the pericycle, as

in the land form, and gives rise to cork on the outer side, as a result of

which the lacunar cortex falls off. In such roots, the inner pericyciic ceils

develop wider air spaces than is the case in the land form.

Corchorus capsularis J.inn., a member of the Tiliaceae, is another plant

which has adopted an amphibious habit. As noted by Solereder (1908), in

agreement with the close relationship of the Tiliaceae with the Sterculiaceae, the

same anatomical features are found in C. capsularis as in the plant treated

previously. The mucilage cavities occur in the parepchymatous zone of the

cortex and in the outer pith. As in the previous plant, they are schizogenous

in origin, but in mature stems, owing to the breaking down of the part of the

parenchyma around each, they appear as lysigenous spaces separated by

bridges of cortical parenchyma (Fig. 6). In the old stems, owing to the

increase of the woody tissue and the destruction of the cortical parenchyma,

the cortex appears as a narrow strip of tissue. The cork cambium arises sub-

epidermally.

In the marsh form of C. catsularis, the aerial parts show the same

structure as that of the land plant. Near the water level, however, the

cortical cells get stretched in various directions and thus lead to the develop-

ment of prominent, schizogenously-formed lacunae (Fig. 7). In the submerged

stem, the cortical cells rapidly hypertrophy and form irregularly stellate cells

which remain hanging by their arms (Figs. 8, 9). In the case of deeply

submerged parts, even the outer pericyclic cells hypertrophy and add to the

lacunar tissue. Thus, at times, the thin-walled cells on the inner side of the

outermost group of bast fibres hypertrophy (Fig. 10). In the !and form, this

region is seen to be composed of closely-fitting, thin-walled, polygonal cells

(Fig. 11). The phellogen layer of the submerged part gives rise to 1-2 layers

of thin-walled, suberised cells towards the outer side (Fig. 8). Thus, as in

the previous plant, the submerged stem of C. capsularis gives rise to a spongy,

air-containing tissue, derived mainly from the primary cortex. In parts near

the water line, the outer layers of this aeriferous tissue hold chloroplasts ;

PLatE I

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Melochia corchorifolia Linn.

lor explanation see end of arlicle.

Pirate II

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Jeeta)

5 ay

Corchopus capsulavis Linn.

For explanation see end of article.

ALLERALTONS IN TISSUESLOR Mr CORCHORIFLOIA LINN. 879

while the inner cells remain clear. A few tanniniferous cells appear in the

lacunar cortex. In comparison to the wood of the land form, that of the

submerged part is soft, more porous, and feebly lignified. In plants submerged

after secondary growth has started, the inner zone of xylem stands out as

a more compact and lignified part, in contrast to the more porous wood

formed after submergence.

The roots also show a resemblance to those of the previous plant, The

cortex of the young roots of the land form is composed of 3-4 layers of

large cells, with small intercellular spaces (Fig. 12). After secondary growth,

a phellogen arises in the pericycle so that in the old roots the cortex peels

off. In the marsh form, the young roots, buried in the wet soil, show a

distinctly lacunar cortex (Fig. 13). As in the roots of aquatic and marsh

plants, the aerating system of the floating roots is to be found in the primary

cortex which is composed of rounded cells with more or less radially placed

air-spaces (Fig. 14). The phellogen arises in the pericycle so that in old roots

which enter the mud, the lacunar cortex falls off. In the land form, the

inner pericyclic ceils are more compactly arranged (Fig. 15), while in the

submerged old roots of the marsh form they hypertrophy and give rise to a

spongy tissue with prominent air-spaces (Fig. 16). Since the lacunar, primary

certex peels off after cork formation, this narrow strip of loosely-arranged

cells, on the inner side of the pericycle, seems to help in the aeration of the

older roots.

Fig. 14.—Photomicrograph. T. S. floating root, showing the. cortical

air-chambers (xX 180).

A comparison of the basal regions of the stems of land and marsh forms

of Melochia corchorifolia Linn. and Corchorus capsularis Linn. shows that even

in the land forms there is a tendency for the outer cortex to be loosely-arranged.

If such parts get submerged, the lacunae develop more vigorously, the cortical

cells hypertrophy and form an aeriferous tissue. The roots arising under water

880 -. JOURNAL, “BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCEETIY Wolken suet

also develop an aerenchyma of their own which is absent in the land form. This

quick response, of the submerged stems and roots, to the aquatic miliew enables

the plants to live successfully in a badly-aerated, water-logged substratum.

SUMMARY.

Melochia corchorifolia Linn. and Corchorus capsularis Linn. are found grow-

ing both under dry and swamp _ conditions.

_In the marsh forms, the submerged part of the stem develops an aeriferous

tissue. derived mainly by the hypertrophy of the primary cortex.

The roots arising on the submerged stem develop a lacunar cortex, which

adds to the aerating system of the submerged parts.

In the land forms the stems and roots lack such aeriferous tissues.

REFERENCES.

Batten, L. (1918).—Observations on the Ecology of Epilobium hirsutum.

Journ. Ecology, vi, 3, pp-, 161-177.

Glick, H. (1911).—Biologische und morphologische Untersuchungen uber

Wasser- und Sumpfgewachse. III, Jena, pp. 94, 602.

- . Goebel, K. (1891).—Pflanzenbiologische Schilderungen. II, p. 256 sqq.

Haberlandt, G. (1914).—Physiological Plant Anatomy. Engl. Ed., p. 441 sqq.

Saxton, W. T. (1922).—Mixed Formations_in Time: a New Concept in

Ecology. Journ. Ind.. Bot., ili, pp. 30-33.

Saxton, W. T. (1924).—Phases of Vegetation under Monsoon Conditions.

Journ, Ecology, xii, pp. 1-38.

Schenck, H. (1889).—Ueber das Aerenchym, ein dem Kork homologes

Gewebe bei Sumpfpflanzen. Pringsch. Jahrb., xx, pp. 526-574.

Solereder, H. (1908).—Systematic Anatomy of the Dicotyledons. Engl. Ed.,

Oxford, “pps 2.S4 ac 3155,0.040.

Witte, H. (1906).—Uber das Vorkommen eines aerenchymatischen Gewebes

bei Lysimachia vulgaris L. (BRotaniska Studier, Tillagnade F. R. Kjellman,

Uppsala, 1906, pp. 265-274).

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

Plate “I.

Figs. 1 to 5.—Melochia corchorifolia Linn.

Fig. 1.—T. S. stem, showing a mucilage cavity (m) in the pith; s, starch grains

(xe550):

Fig. 2.—T. S. basal region of the stem of land form; c. cork; J, lysigenous

space; m, medullary ray cells; b, bast fibres (x 240).

Vig. 3.—T. S. submerged stem, showing the outer cortical region; p, phellogen ;

a, aeriferous tissue (x 240).

Fig. 4.—T. S. stem, showing the inner -aerenchyma;_.b, bast fibres; s, starch

(x 240).

Fig. 5.—T. S. submerged root, showing the lacunar cortex (x 150).

Plate II.

Figs. 6 to-16.—Corchorus capsularis Linn.

Fig. 6.—T. S. mature stem of land form; 1, lysigenous space; b, bast fibres ;

m,-dilated ray cells (x 240).

Fig. 7.—T. S. submerged stem. (at water level), showing the outer cortex

(x 240).

Fig. 8.—T. S. submerged stem, showing the outer aerenchyma; p. phellogen

(x 240).

Fig. 9.—T. S. submerged stem, showing the inner aerenchyma; b, bast fibres;

m, medullary ray cells (x 240).

Fig. 10.—T. S. submerged stem (x 240). Explanation in the Text.

Fig. 11.—T. S. stem of land form (x 240). Explanation jn the Text.

Fig. 12.—T. S. young root of the land form; s, stele (x 240).

Fig. 13.—T. S. young root of the marsh form; s, stele (x 240).

Fig. 14.—Photomicrograph. T. S. floating root, showing the cortical air-cham-

bers (x 180).

Fig. 15.—T. S. old root of the land form; p, phellogen; b, bast fibres (x 240).

Fig. 16.—T. S. old submerged root; c, cortical cells; p, phellogen; b, bast fibres:

:t; tannin cells. (x ‘240). eras Lt

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

I.—THE NUMBER OF TIGERS SHOT IN RESERVED

FOREST IN INDIA AND BURMA DURING

THE: YEAR 1937-1938:

A question was recently raised by the editors of the Encyclo-

pedia Britannica as to the number of Tigers shot annually in India

and Burma. No recent records covering the whole area were

available. The information published below was kindly supplied to

the Society by the Chief Conservators of Forests with the various

‘Provincial Governments and States and by the Game Warden,

Burma. The data made available give the number of tigers shot

by licence-holders in forests under the control of the Forest Depart-

ment. It is compiled from the returns which the licence-holder is

required to submit indicating the species and number of animals

shot. The extent of demarcated forests in the various provinces

is given. It should however be indicated that forests under Gov-

ernment control include forests where no tigers are found, or from

which tigers have been long since exterminated. Statistics were

not available from all the Indian States, but the list includes data

from the major Indian States where tigers occur.

Number of tigers shot by licence-holders in Government-con-

trolled forests in the British Provinces and Indian States in India

during the year 1937-1938 :—

Province or Area of controlled No. of Tigers

State. forest in square Shot.

miles.

Assam te 6,429 18

Bengal ee 65385 51

Behar 1,310 10

United Provinces é 6,173 116

Cooch Behar an — 2

Indore ms 260 14

Gwalior ae — Il.

Rewa 26h —_ 39

Surguja Bae — 18

Orissa ae 2. Tc 19

Central Provinces and Berar 19,432 Tele

Bombay aa 10,819 3

Hyderabad State Ae 546 18

Madras ts i524 19

Mysore xe 4,434 54

Nilgiris ve a j 5

TOTAL sain AO

and

3882 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL? HIST, SOCKEY.. Vialwmeweal

The figures given show the number of tigers actually shot in

the reserved forests of India and Burma during the year 1937-1938.

It should however be indicated that a fair mumbesx, ot tigerss ane

also shot at and wounded and not recovered. The total casualties

from shooting should therefore be taken at about 20% in excess

of the recorded figures, because quite a number of tigers must die

subsequently from bullet wounds. On this basis the total number

killed might be estimated at approximately 650.

Tigers shot in areas outside control of the Forest Department.

Except from the province of Madras, no figures have been made

available of the number of tigers shot outside demarcated forests.

For the Province of Madras, Mr. C. C. Wilson, the Chief Con-

servator, very kindly obtained figures separately from the Revenue

Department. For the year 193 1938, they are as follows :—

Malabar S. Kanara Coimbatore Bellary E. Godavery Total

37 7 : I 5 51

The remaining districts of the province report nil.

it will be noted that the number of tigers shot in Malabar, ice.

e7,, exceeds «those for zheswhole! of the Presidency. Mr. Wilson

expresses doubt as to the correctness of the figure and believes that

the number® has been enhanced by. the inclusion of panthers.

The data supplied ae a total of 51 tigers killed during the

year in the Province of Madras-.in forests. outside the .controleor

the Forest Department, as compared with 24 within controlled

forests, inclusive of the Nilgiris. How far these comparative

figures reflect the position in other provinces in India, one is

unable to ‘say. As regards the United” Provinces,, Mi Pai

Champion writes: ‘a limited number of tigers occur outside reserved

forests and it is probable that an average of about 25 tigers are

shot in areas outside the control of thee Forest “Depariment: 2 Jin

Assam, the Conservator of Forests considers that the number of

tigers shot outside reserved forests is certainly not less than within

these forests. The number of tigers killed outside reserved forests

would obviously add considerably to the total destroyed in reserved

forests; but the figures made available provide reasonably accurate

information as to the number of tigers shot within reserved forests,

which in their extent cover about 1/3 of British India, and give

interesting data for, analysis.

Tigers shot in Controlled Forests.

Northern India.—Out of a total of 540 tigers accounted for in

reserved forests in India, 197 were shot in the United Provinces,

Bengal, Bihar and Assam. These Provinces together contain

roughly £8,g00 square miles of controlled forests in the greater part

of which tigers are found. Out of the 197 reported killed, 116—by

far the largest number—-were killed in the United Provinces, which

has about the same extent of controlled forest as Bengal or Assam,

i.e. roughly 6,000 square miles, and in which, apparently, a larger

MISCELLANEOUS: NOTES 883

number of tigers were slain than in any other province in India;

including the Central Provinces, which come next and which, in-

clusive of Berar, has reserved forests covering some 19,000 square

miles.

Miia Smyinies, (Chicr Gonservator of Forests, U, P:, has

also given data covering the number of tigers shot annually over

a period of 10 years. Between TO2zQgnand 1630, M074 tigers were

killed in the reserved forests of the United Provinces ; ie average

number per year being: 1074. Since july 1931, eon in the case

of man-eaters, the payment of rewards by District Officers for

the destiction of tigers in the U. P.. bas been. stopped. The

Chief Conservator of Forests adds that the discontinuance of the

reward has had no effect on the number of tigers killed.

Despite the large number of tigers killed annually i n the United

Provinces Government Forests, the Chief Conservator of Forests

considers that ‘they are not being reduced in numbers, and in the

vicinity of the Hailey National Park, tigers appear to have in-

creased. W. es on this point Mr. F. W. Champion, Deputy

Conservator of Forests says-——‘Considerable numbers are bred every

year in the United Provinces forests, particularly in the Western

Cirele, whereas there is a tendency for Nepal tigers to migrate into

the hetter stocked and fire protected forests of the Eastern Circle,

which in Oudh march with the plains forests of Nepal. The recently

formed Hailey National Park is also breeding many tigers which

spread out beyond the boundaries of the Park. Altogether the

position as regards the stock of tigers in the United Provinces is

quite satisfactory and there is no known man-eater at the present

time.

Out of the 57 tigers killed in Bengal in the year 1939, Mr. W.

Meiklejohn, Senior Conservator of Forests reports that 31 were

shot in the Sundarbans division, comprising the civil districts of

the 24 Parganas and Khulna: ‘In that division the tigers are man-

eaters and must be kept down to permit of the extraction of forest

produce. Shooting is therefore encouraged and generally a reward

of Rs. 100 per tiger is paid and sometimes in special cases the

amount is raised to Rs. 150.’ In the Northern Bengal division,

the shooting of tigers is controlled by three Shooting and Fishing

Clubs: no rewards are paid and two tigers are allowed per each

permit per annum.

Rewards are paid for the destruction of tigers in Assam and

in Bihar. The number of tigers killed in reserved forests in Assam

during 1937-1938 was 18. Figures are not available for previous

years. Mr. G Ho Marshall, who keeps the Game Resister

for the Naga Hills district, recently published a note (Jour. B.N.H.S.,

Vol. xl, p. 740) giving’ a total of 59 tigers shot in this district over

a period of 10 years (1927-1939).

The number of tigers shot in Cooch Behar State in 1937- 1938

is given. as 2. Data regarding the number of tigers shot in

this State over a period of 27 years (1880-1907) are provided from

the*diary. obs is the ieaee of Cooch Behar, which is incor-

porated in his book, Thirty-seven Years of Big Game Shooting,

884°. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL AIST SOCIETY, Vol oer!

1908. In 27 years the total number of tigers killed in the State

was 295 :--go between 1881-1890, 102 between 1891-1900; and 103

between 1gort-1907. The average number per annum works out

at 7°36: the highest number shot in any one year was 24 (1892)

and the lowest 4. The last 7 years (1g00-1907) showed the best

average, which is 14°3.

Central India.

Coming to Central India, tiger shooting in most of the Central

Indian States is a royal prerogative and _ therefore strictly

controlled: In ‘the 4 ‘Central Indian States; 1-e:,, Indore; ‘Gwalior,

Rewa and Surguja from which data were made available, 82 tigers

were killed during the year 1937-1938. Some idea of the reduc-

tion in the number of tigers may be obtained from Tiger Shooting

m India, written by Lt._ William Rice, of the 25th Bombay Regi-

ment, who in the year 1850 was stationed at Neemuch, Gwalior, C.I.,

where in the neighbouring jungles in one year he and his brother

officers accounted for 98 tigers, killing 68 and wounding 30.

The most extensive area of controlled forests in India lie within

the Central Provinces and Berar, where such forests cover 19,432

square miles. The total number of tigers killed within this area

by licence-holders in 1937 was 112. No rewards are paid in the

Province for shooting tigers except for the destruction of man-eaters

and cattle-lifters. The number of tigers shot in 1929-1930 was 143,

and in 1930-1931 was 118. After that year the number shot annually

has varied between 105 and 130. The average for the last 5 years

WOCKS Out pate 119.3) Vir Eo Cox: Ste Tce: Conservator of

Forests is of opinion that the stoppage of a general reward has had

little apparent effect on the number of tigers killed. Conditions in

the Central Provinces have considerably changed since Forsyth’s days

when conditions were somewhat parallel with what now obtains in

the Sundarbans, and when it was the custom of the Forest Officers

in the Betul District to spare a few weeks every year in the height

of the hot season ‘for the purpose of making an impression on the

numerous tigers which at that time rendered working in the forests

-and carrying timbers so dreaded and consequently so costly to Gov-

ernment’. Between 500 and 6co human beings and an incalculable

number of cattle were killed by wild beasts in the Central Provinces

every year. Forsyth was of opinion that the heavy rewards offered

for the killing of tigers and other dangerous animals contributed to

their more rapid destruction: though he admitted that he had no

statistics of the number killed during the years when no rewards

were paid. -In 1865 rewards were ‘claimed m the @entral” Pro-

vinces for the killing of 1,863 tigers, panthers, bears and wolves,

and in 1867> the number “rose toge,.04.

In the Province of Orissa the total area of demarcated forests

is limited to 2,118 square miles in which 19 tigers were shot. The

average number for the last 3 years is 16. In controlled forests

in Central India, covering the major Indian States and the British

Province, the total number of tigers killed in 1937-1938 was 213.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 885

Bombay Province and Hyderabad.

In the Bombay Province there are 10,819 square miles of

demarcated forests: in much of this area tigers are not usually

found or have long since been exterminated, Khandesh and Kanara

being now the main strongholds. The total number killed within

the Province in 1937-19038 was 34. The average’ number for the

last 6 years was 37. Except in the case of man-eaters, no rewards

are-given for killing tigers.

The total area of reserved forest in Nizam’s Dominions covers

roughly 545 square miles. The total number of tigers killed within

this, area was 17. -No tewards are paid within the State. The

total number of tigers killed in controlled forests in the Bombay

Province and Hyderabad State in 1937-1938 was 51.

Southern India.

The total area of demarcated forests in the Province of Madras

iM 1937-1938 was 15,124. square miles. Of this total 15,124 sq.

miles represent reserved forests under the control of the Forest

Department and the remainder reserved forests under the control of

Panchayats, and reserved lands. As in the Province of Bombay,

tigers are no longer found or: have been exterminated from

a large part of this area. The total number of tigers reported

killed ime these forests. im the year 1937-19036. amounts to 19,

Fortunately, from this province, figures are also available for areas

outside the control of the Forest Department, which during that

year amounted in all to 51; 37 of which were accounted for in

the forests of Malabar which apparently contains the largest number.

But as stated previously, doubts have been cast upon the correctness

of this figure. South Kanara comes next with 7. Shooting of

tigers within the reserved forests of the Nilgiri division is controlled

by the Niigiri Game Association, which is perhaps the most success-

ful organization of its kind in the whole of India. In 1936-1937

the total number of tigers shot in the Nilgiris was 8; and in

1937-1938, 5. No rewards are paid for the shooting of tigers in

the Nilgiri areas. In the Madras Province, a maximum reward of

Rs. 50 is paid in 4 districts and Rs. 30 in other districts. |

In Mysore State, tigers are listed as a ‘game animal’ and a

licence has to be obtained tor shooting them. Shooting is how-

ever not permitted in Tiger Preserves or in the Game Sanctuaries.

Areas where tigers are reported by the District Magistrate to be

causing ‘havoc’ to human life or to cattle, are thrown open to free

shooting for such periods as may be considered necessary. The

approximate area of forests in Mysore State is 4,434 square miles.

The number of tigers shot, within this area in 1937-1938 is 54.

In Travancore State there are a little over-360 Square miles of

reserved forests and the number of tigers reported shot within the

last 11 years is 8.

The total number of tigers -killed in reserved forests in the

Province of Madras and in Mysore is 81, of which 54 were accounted

for im Mysore State:. If the areas.outside reserved forests are

$86 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL: HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

included, the total number reported killed in Southern India, i.e.

Madras Province and Mysore, was 132. |

wen Of tiwers shot:

Details are available from a few provinces regarding the sex of

the animals killed in the year 1937-1938 :—

Assam 17 tigers 1 tigress

Bengal 40 i 11 tigresses

Behar 74 Er 2 a

United

Provinces 7 - 43 s :

Bombay Pie ar a “A

Nilgiris RON ts 3 an

Out of the 195 animals shot in the Provinces of Northern India

137 were males and 58 females: the proportion of sexes working

out roughly to 70 males to 30 females.

For the Bombay Province figures are available for the last

3 years: out of a total of r10 animals reported killed between

the years 1936 and 1939, 72 were males. and 38 females) ihe

proportion of sexes for the 3 years working at is 65 : 34.

For Mysore State: out of 54 animals reported, killed, 50-were

males and 4 females.

The figures everywhere reveal a great preponderance of males

over females.

The data is interesting when brought into relation with a note

published by Mr. R. CG. Morris (Jour. BN ASS.; Volo xxxinpaion2)

in which he says that out of 16 tigers killed in the Coimbatore

District in the last few years, ro were tigresses and 6 were tigers.

An- excess of females over males is also shown in Mr. G. H.

Marshall’s note on tigers killed during 10 years (1927-1937) iu

the Naga Hills, Assam where out of a total of 59 animals, 27 were

tigers arid 32 tigresses.

Finally we have the data provided by the three censuses of

tigers taken in the Game Range, Palamau Division, Bihar, by

Mr. J. W. Nicholson, I.F.S., in 1934 and over the whole division

by Mr. C. M. Chaudhri, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bihar in

1936 and again in 1938. The data provided in all three censuses

again shows a considerable preponderance of males over females.

The tigers were enumerated “as they ‘came: to) drink atm ayater

holes. The time of the censuses was during the hot weather, and

due precautions were taken to avoid error in the counting. Details

of the svstem adopted and of the results will be found in

Mr. Chaudhri’s ‘interesting paper s(Indian, Forester, - Sept.) 1638,

p. 612)... The vesults of the three Censuses may “be tabularedmas

Follows ;——

Game Range, Palamau.

Year Total Males Females

enumerated

1934 ni Be 22 10

1936 ay 28 17 La

193 he 18 12 6

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 887

The reduction in the total number counted in the year 1938 -as

compared with 1936 is ascribed to a fire which took place in one

of the forest blocks, and to the block being thrown open to work-

ing, resulting in a migration of tigers into adjoining Zemindari

jungle.

The data for the two censuses covering the whole division are as

follows :—

Year Total Males Females

enumerated

1936 rie 45 27, 18

1938 oF 29 1g 10

Both Mr. Nicholson and Mr.. Chaudhri comment on the low pro-

portion of females to males.

It is difficult to draw conclusions from the data _ provided,

but if the records available of tigers shot by licence-holders in

reserved forests in British India are taken as an indication, then

the forests of the United Provinces, in relation to their extent,

contain easily the’ largest number; next comes the Central Pro-

vinces, then Bombay, and finally Madras where the numbe:

dwindles considerably except in the rain forests of the Malabar

Coast and Mysore.

Commenting on the depletion of tigers in the forests of Southern

India Mr. R. C. Morris writes—

‘The chief cause of the disappearance of tigers in South India

is, however, not in their destruction, but the killing-oft of their

natural source of food supply. There is not the slightest doubt

to my mind that the wholesale slaughter of sambhur and chital by

poachers and village licensees has affected the breeding of tiger

detrimentally. In Sanderson’s time the Chamarajanagar taluk of

the Mysore District held a number of tigers; there are now none,

or only an occasional wanderer. This is entirely due to the exter-

mination of the deer in the Chamarajanagar forests, including the

Chamarajanagar Game Sanctuary. As the deer were shot out the

tiger left, and their numbers in the adjoining taluks of the Coim-

batore District have decreased with the diminution of deer, con-

tinually harassed and shot as they are increasingly. The reason

for the satisfactory position of tiger on the Nilgiris, and in the

area under the control of the Nilgiri Game Association, is due to

the fact that sambhur and chital abound in these parts. A poacher

nowadays, sitting up over a water-hole, has no hesitation in shoot-

ing a tiger, should it turn up instead of a chital or sambhur. I do

think however that a limit of a tiger per gun, per district, per

annum should be imposed, as is now the rule in Mysore’.

The abolition of rewards for tiger has presumably little effect

on the numbers destroyed as a dead tiger (like the Rhino) has a

market price-—-the skin—the meat and the fat, are all in great

demand, as also the clavicles, teeth and claws, all of which bring

profit to the poacher. The rewards offer little or no incentive to

sportsmen.

Secondly the data available suggests a predominance of males.

Finally the payment or non-payment of rewards appears to have

888 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

had ‘little effect: on’ the numbers killed.) -@hindiy “stoppagevor the

rewards in the United Provinces, Central Provinces, and elsewhere

has not been followed by any appreciable decline in the number

of tigers killed.

Burma.

Reserved forests in Burma cover an incomparably greater area

than in any province in India. There are 31,374 sq. miles of

reserved forests. Throughout these forests tiger shooting is con-

trolled under an ‘unprotected game’ licence which costs Rs. to.

In addition there are ‘unclassed’ forests covering 94,468 square

miles. Here tigers may be shot without restriction. Much of this

unclassed forest however contains no tiger... While in the reserved

forests, according to the Game Warden, tigers are ‘far more numer-

ous than is generally appreciated’.

As regards Burma, Mr. F. H. Mustill, the Game Warden has

favoured us with a statement showing the number of tigers reported

shot during the last 10 years. In a period of 4 years, between

1928-1932, 1,382 tigers were reported) Shot: the averase number

per year being 365. The maximum ‘number “reported, killed’ in

any one year within this period being 492, and the minimum 2or.

The subsequent 6 years show an abrupt decrease in the number

of tigers reported killed: the average dropping to 94 per annum,

the figures for 1937-1938 being only 67, and the maximum being

182 and the minimum, 57. Mr. Mustill states that ‘from Sep-

tember 1931 a general reward of Rs. 20 for each tiger shot was

discontinued. Hence the figures from that date show considerable

diminution and are in all probability unreliable’.

Mr. Mustill adds, ‘My contention that the discontinuance of a

general reward for shooting of Carnivora (which includes bear,

leopard and wild dog, in addition to tiger) brought about consider-

able diminution in the number of tigers shot applies also to the

other Carnivora :—

Year Leopard Bear Wild Dog

1928-29 ont 1,242 Inti 219

1929-30 Se: 82 1,018 210

1930-31 ne 478 327 121

1931-32 ae 615 307 107

1932-33 runt: 479 306 79

1933-34 oe 539 408 87

1934-35 te 205 146 47

1935-36 vs 30 30 | 8

1936-37 vee 51 IOl el eabg

1937-38 a 38 209 66

The figures for Carnivora shot during 1935-36 had shrunk ‘to

such an extent that Divisional Forest Officers were specially asked

to see that steps were taken to report all deaths of Carnivora. As

seen from the above table some improvement in results has occurred

but the figures nowadays in no way approach those for years pre-

vious to 1931. That this diminution in shooting of Carnivora is

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 889

due in no way to diminution in stock is plainly evident from the

numbers of tiger and wild dog especially which are to be found in

the Burma Forests today.’ The position appears to be at variance

with what obtains in India where the discontinuance of payment of

rewards in various provinces, as shown by the figures available,

has had no appreciable effect on the number of tigers killed.

BomBAay NATURAL History SOcIETY, S. EH. uPRAVER,

April 15th, 1940. Curator.

I1.—THE ‘SAMBUR’ CALL OF THE TIGER AND ITS

Xe NATION:

I hope the following will be of interest.

Early in April 1940 1 was shooting with the Maharaj Kumar

of Vizianagram in the jungles of the Maharani of Khairigarh in

akhinpury Kher, Oudh, and invthe Nepal barat,

On the 6th I took my seat in a comfortable machan at about

5 p-m. in a thick and secluded part of the jungles on the Nepal

border. Behind me was a small though thick tree and_ ringal

clump and on the other sides was a sea of narkul and ratwa grass

ranging from 2 to 20 feet in height.’ My object was not to shoot

but watch wildlife and use my Cine-Kodak to the best advantage.

At about 5-20 p.m. a tiger and a tigress came out of the ratwa grass

into a clearing in front of me and about 150 yards away. At first

they sat down to survey the country and then they started to gambol

like a couple of overgrown kittens.

I was directly in their path and they would certainly have come

past me, and given me a magnificent picture, when I saw the tigress

stiffen her limbs and look in my direction a little to one side and

towards: the tree. junele. | felt certain she had not winded me.

On looking back I found that one of my two look-out men, who

had been placed in an improvised machan, was trying to scale

another tree. I was naturally annoyed but could do nothing. How-

ever these preceedings were of considerable interest as by this time

the tiger too was all attention and I heard and saw him utter the

much-discussed ‘sambar’ call. From the way the tigers stared

I was convinced that they had not made out what they had seen

and, as they were uncertain whether it was friend or foe, they

uttered this cry. Ther expressions and attitude were a picture of

suspicion mixed with a certain amount of alarm, and it struck me

that the cry was also a cry of warning, for the tiger on uttering

it promptly looked back at his mate who was a little behind him.

After staring intently for another minute the pair turned round and

disappeared from view.

In connection with this call I should like to narrate another

incident which I experienced when shooting in the East Fen Block

of the Mandla district, C. P., a few years ago. In a secluded part

of thick jungle was a small pool very much used by wild animals.

On three sides was thick jungle and on the fourth was a ridge

about 4 feet high with rank grass and shrubbery, and beyond this

890 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

was an open glade of grass. On the previous evening at’ about

5-30 p.m., while sitting on the ridge with two shikaris, we saw a

tiger moving along in the thick jungle evidently on his evening

prowl.

On the following evening we again repaired to the ridge and

about 5-30. p:m. a, large herd of »pig entered the water and were

snouting about in the weeds, After half an hour they jerked yup

their heads, listened intently looking towards the opposite bank, and

then started to feed again though they appeared to be decidedly on

the alert. Meantime we sat practically motionless smoking and

chatting in whispers. One of the shikaris got up to hand me my

binoculars when we heard the ‘sambar’ call from the direction in

which the pig had been looking. The swine bolted and my friend

and I did not in any way connect this with the call we had heard

which I must confess we took to be that of a Sambar. However

our shikaris were certain it was a tiger who, on suddenly noticing

suspicious objects on the ridge, uttered the call in surprise and

alarm and possibly as a warning. We saw no tiger but later veri-

fied from pug marks that one at least had passed along the jungle

from where the sound had. come: “It. seems to ime what am ibot

cases the ‘Sambar’ call was uttered as a note of sudden surprise or

suspicion coupled with alarm and the instinct possibly to warn a

mate close at hand.

If you think this worth publishing in our Journal I shall be

interested to see comments.

19, RajpoRE Roap, Be sos oe ENVaise

DELHI.

April 24, 1940.

Iti.—A TAIL-LESS. PANTHER.

(With a photo).

A: Tail-less Panther.

On the 18th-r9th night of December 1939, I shot a panther at

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 891

panther with two other British Officers we found it was completely

‘tail-less’; there was not even a stump, and the panther showed no

signs of a scar, or that the tail had been bitten or cut off. The

panther, an old male, measured 4 ft. io in. from snout to the base

of its spine..

D. RAMSAY BROWN,

ForRT SANDEMAN, . Ite ia

February 16, 1940. 2nd Goorkhas,

1st Battalion.

[In Vol. xxxvil, p. 719 of the Society’s Journal we published

a photegraph of a tail-less tiger sent to us by Mr. R. C. Morris.

lips.

IV.—HYAENA CARRYING OFF A BEAR CUB.

‘A bear provided an interesting experience.- I had wandered

down Sultan’s Road (Talamalai) about eleven o’clock with Jeddia

hoping to see a bear in the bright moonlight. Presently a bear came

along and I fired at it. It ran off as hard as it could go, yelling and

I thought I had missed; as it went, I let it have another or at least

attempted to do so. As I fired I saw it had a baby riding like a jockey

on its back in the usual bear way. It cleared right off. Presently I

heard the calling of what sounded like a small bear from where

the bears had disappeared. This was a second young one which

had not heen getting a ride when I fired at the mother. Presently

there was a fiendish noise and I saw a hyaena tearing through the

open, yelling or laughing or whatever you like to call it, and it

picked up the little bear and carried it off before my eyes! In

spite of the bright moonlight I could not get on to it quickly

enough to fire and it ran into the jungle emitting a series of

fiendish giggles—it could not laugh on account of the. bear in its

mouth! Next morning we found the dead mother bear and the

jockey young one with it.’

|The above is an extract from a letter: dated the 3rd April 1940

trom: Wir TE; Shortt, oes meme Guindy, Madras, forwarded

by Mr. ak

V.—ON JACKALS (CANIS INDICUS),.

The following two incidents occurred when T was out with a

party in the foot hills in the Ambala district.

(a) Curious behaviour of a Jackal.

We were having a jungle beaten for anything from panther

downwards. I lay “asain with a friend on the bank of a nallah,

and between the nallah and the jungle which was being beaten

was a pool of water 20 ft x20 ft. and about 6 in. deep. A game

path led from the jungle to the water through which animals

692 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

passed to cross the nallah into thinner scrub jungle. It was about

2 p.m. and I was lying with my hands under my chin, and staring

towards the game path in the hopes of seeing the panther which

was known to be there. Nothing nobler than a glabrous jackal,

however, came out and entered the water without seeing me. When

he was half way through I purposely made a _ slight movement

which was at once detected. The beat could be heard some

200 yards away and, after a hurried glance back, the jackal to

my surprise proceeded to submerge his head. He took it out after

a few seconds for a breather and ducked again. After he had

repeated this a few times we could not control a subdued laugh.

This was too much for our friend who bolted back into the jungle

now preferring to face the beat. It is obvious that he first con-

sidered himself between the devil and the deep sea and was so

taken by surprise that he resorted to a silly subterfuge.

(b) Jackals hunting hare.

At the same place on another occasion I was lying down

facing the scrub jungle at about 2-30 p.m. The open jungle con-

sisted of interspersed thorn bushes and small clumps of sarkanda.

I saw a jackal walk quietly upto a sarkanda clump and lie down

against it in the shaded part. Then some 60 yards behind and to

one side I saw a hare moving about and almost. at the same

moment caught sight of another jackal who moved slowly and

apparently unconcernedly in such a way that the hare drew closer

to the bush where the other jackal lay in ambush without move-

ment. Within a few minutes the hare was hopping past the snare

when he was knocked over and secured. I suppose that jackals,

like wolves and‘ wild dogs, work on carefully preconceived plans

but this is the first time that I had occular proof of this.

19, RAJPORE Roap, ES) bEW IS:

DELHI,

March 24, 1940.

[The jackal appears to have emulated the legendary behaviour

of the ostrich in the sand. Unfortunately in crouching to escape

observation—instinctive behaviour—he was compelled to have

recourse to’ a less convenient element. As regards the tactics of

Jackals in hunting the hare,’ there is: a) note inisour Journal, apy,

Mr. Salim A. Ali (Vol. xxxi, p. 812). There were two jackals, says

Mr. Ali, but only one took part in the hunt—the other sneaking off

when observed. There was no subterfuge in their hunting. The jackal’

went straight for the hare and kept at the chase in spite of being

fired at twice and wounded with a charge of small shot. There is

also an instance of two jackals attacking a spaniel (C. M. Inglis,

Vol. Uxxxvill, p. 1122); one stood) fo ‘engage the dos.) the. other

coming’ up from” behind. tried to takerit fromthe tear Jackals.

usually carrion-feeders, will hunt any small animal they can master

and in their hunting they probably resort to methods sometimes

adopted by the larger carnivores. The lion is known to drive its

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

He would take hold of a hard object in his hand and crash it down on the

ground with great violence.

He was a friendly animal, allowed loose about the house.

Tue CRraAB-EATING MUNGOOSE.

Herpestes urva (Hodgs.).

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 893

quarry in the direction of the ambushed lioness and _ cubs, and

tigers have been observed to follow the same strategy.—Eps. |

VI.—MONGOOSE ATTACKING A DONKEY.

We were duck-shooting last February about 20 miles from

Delhi and were approaching water at about 11 a.m. About

200 yards away were two donkeys grazing in grass some 6 in.

high. Suddenly one fell over and all we could see were legs kick-

ing frantically in the air. We could not understand what had

happened and so walked up to have a look. A huge slaty-coloured

jungle mongoose (locally known as jhund) had seized the donkey

by his snout and would not let go. A tap on the back with the

butt end of a gun sent him scampering off and he was then shot.

Is it a fact that donkeys are thus killed and is this usual? Surely

prey of these dimensions is ordinarily beyond the killing capacity

of a mongoose however big!

19, RajJPORE Roan, De sae Ia Als).

DELHI,

April 24, 1940.

[The mongoose can be a pugnacious and sanguinary creature,

and may quite easily resent and punish disturbance by a blundering

donkey; but we doubt whether it makes a practice of attacking

donkeys, or is so ambitious as to want to kill and eat one.—EDs. |

VII.—THE CRAB-EATING MONGOOSE [HERPESTES

WEVA HT OUGS. IN CAPTIVITY.

(With a plate).

I send herewith four snaps of a pet Mongoose; perhaps you

could let me know to what species he belongs as he is not the usual

type of smaller mongoose. I am of opinion that he is an im-

mature crab-eating mongoose, a specimen of which I sent you for

identification from Tavoy last year. This little animal is extremely

tame and is about four months old. He does not show much

all kinds.

He is a very friendly little animal and is allowed loose about

the house. He spends much of his time feeling with his fore

paws in crevices or under carpets apparently in the hope of finding

a frog or snail concealed there. Another little trick he has, which

I have tried to show in the accompanying photograph, is his

habit of taking hold of any hard object, such as a stone or golf

ball, and hold it in his fore paws and crash it down on the ground

with great violence, so that it is flung behind him; at the time of

impact he jumps so as to clear his hind legs of the missile. Photo-

graph No, 1 shows him in the act of crashing a stone on the

894 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST; SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

ground; in No. 2, he is apparently about to commence another

throw. He prefers to carry out this game on a hard surface and

J think in the natural state these animals use this method for

opening shelfish. The force used in crashing the stone or other

object on the ground is really astonishing and to stand behind him

when he is playing this game on a hard surface may lead to a

severe bruise on the shin. He spends most of his time feeling

under stones and crevices with his paws from which I gather his

main diet is frogs.

MOULMEIN, A. L°E. BROWNLOW,

january 11, 1940. Dist. (Supts OfeePolice.

{The subject of the note is the Crab-eating Mongoose, Herpestes

urva, which is found in the South Eastern Himalayas, Assam,

Arakan, Pegu, and Tenasserim. Compared with other species of

Mongoose it is exceptionally heavy in build, a character associated

with its distinctive habits. Very little has been recorded about the

habits of this animal. Blanford, quoting Hodgson, states that it

is somewhat aquatic and lives chiefly on frogs and crabs which

abound in the Himalayan and Burmese streams. The habit displayed

by this mongoose of sitting up with any hard object in its hands

and dashing it violently on the ground is probably an indication

of its customary way of dealing with hard-shelled crabs and molluscs

upon which \it*feeds.. Like other species, 1t- lives am holes ine the

ground. In this species, the anal glands are about the size of a

cherry and the animal has the power of squirting out a foetid fluid

from them backwards with great force.—Eps. |

VIII.—HYBRID AMERICAN BISON AND INDIAN

7 DOMESTICICOW:

The enclosed photo of a cow and her young one may interest

you. The cow is by an American bison from an ordinary cow.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 895

Then she was served by a Watussi bull and the young one is the

result. Also I am enclosing a separate photo of the young one.

SA DEG 2, SLi Er,

Assistant Secretary to His Highness

the Maharaja of Mysore, Mysore.

THE PALace,

BANGALORE.

February 8, 1940.

Ti WALES IN BARODA, WITH NOTES ON THE

ANATOMY OF THE FIN-WHALE (BALAENOPTERA

INDICA) STRANDED AL MULVEL IN MARCEH 1920:

Baroda City is somewhat inland, but the State has her sea-

board both in Gujarat and Kathiawar : Okhamandal and Kodinar dis-

tricts in-the latter, and Navsari district in the former. The

Kathiawar seas receive only a few rivers, like the Singoda or the

Gomti, while in Gujarat as many as nine run through Baroda

territory before emptying themselves in the Arabian Sea and its

arm, the Gulf of Cambay. In these seas whales are not uncommon

having been seen spouting, not only from steamers or fishing and

other vessels but also from ashore, especially near Dwaraka and

Muldwaraka.

The stranding of dead whales is, however, rare; for, so far,

there are only three instances of the washing ashore of such

carcases. The earliest on record was in 1879, when a 50 ft. whale

came ashore at Dwaraka opposite the Political Officer’s Bungalow

and very nearly caused a pestilence. In 1883 a baby whale’ 12 ft.

long was cast up on the beach at Varvala near Dwaraka. Both

were eventually cut up and buried in the sandy shore. A lot of the

blubber was carried. away by the Dheds who ate-a portion of it

and converted the remainder into oil by boiling it down. In 1919

a huge whale 71 feet long was washed ashore near Tithor up the

Mahisagar river.

On the 21st March 1939 the pearlfishers working in the various

bays near Mulvel in Okhamandal were scared by an amazing scene,

a huge Magar Machi splashing, spouting and struggling in the

Doribid bay. Apparently in its pursuit of food it had been carried

along by the treacherous currents for which the Gulf of Cutch is

* In the course of a discussion, Mr. Dereniyagala, Director of Fisheries

Ceylon, expressed doubts about the identity of the animal as a whale because

of the small size. The old records give the size, and call the animal a whale,

but throw no further light on its zoological position.

896, JOURNAL, “BOM BAW (NATURALS HiSRa SS OC lind You alia) amxein

notorious, till it suddenly found itself in the shallows of the Rann

Bay; in its desperate efforts to escape, it became more and more

incapacitated by the glairy mud, dangerous even to man, though

the favourite haunts of the Placuna Pearl Oyster. It was indeed a

ticklish problem to float the huge carcase which had sunk more

than half in the mire and the solution involved no little trouble and

time. Finally on the 25th the carcase was towed away to Okha

by two Motor launches the ‘Indira’ and the ‘Yaswant’. The body

bore neither marks of damage nor any harpoon or other evidence

of having been hunted. Another whale, which was stranded at

about the same time, further south in the Arabian Sea, in the

Bardez district of Goa, is said to have borne a harpoon.

Whales, with their pigmy cousins, the dolphins and the porpoises,

are generally looked upon by fishermen as helpers in their vocation.

For fish, in their terror at the approach of these giants, rush away

as if blinded and are easily netted. Sometimes the dolphins damage

the nets. When carcases of these aquatic monsters are washed

ashore, villagers usually consider themselves lucky. In South

India the belief is otherwise. Ananda Ranga Pillay in his famous

Diary refers to a dead fish. stranded in Pondicherry in 1757, 160 feet

long and also mentions a smaller one 30 feet long driven ashore

there 9 years previously and is sure that the giant forebodes dis-

aster much greater than that ushered in when the smaller creature

appeared. The Mulvel whale, after being taken to Port Okha,

received offerings, floral mostly, from lady visitors who shared the

general belief that the Dev Massa was the harbinger of prosperity

and good luck. At Mulvel where the State is, running a Pearl

Fishery, the arrival of the whale spelt a loss as it stopped the

fishery temporarily. Sharks', the terrible scavengers of the sea,

gathered round the carcase and naturally the workers refused to

go near the oyster beds. This was the main reason why the carcase

was towed away to Port Okha where it was auctioned. As the

whale was being cut up by the lessee, I availed myself of the

opportunity to examine it and the notes and observations made

are embodied in this preliminary report. Details regarding muscu-

lature, osteology, etc. will be published later.

The Mulvel whale identified as Balaenoptera indica measured

79 feet in length and 19 feet across. Its height was 6 feet.) Whe

width is more than what it, should correctly be and the height

much less, but that is due to postmortem changes. The head

measured 18 feet. The flippers were 6 “feet lone. pRachiajaw

measured 17 feet in length.

A characteristic of the genus is the plaiting of the skin of the

throat and the undersurface and sides of the chest. The whale,

when dead, usually turns on its back and so the telltale plaits on

the throat and belly made identification simple. The dorsal fin

which gives the animal its popular name ‘the fin whale’ was noth-

" Among the sharks which came to feast on the whale at Okha, one 11} feet

long was caught and auctioned,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 897

ing but skin and blubber. The tail, which is extended horizont-

ally and vertically had each fluke 9 feet in length. It was also

composed of soft parts, skin and blubber. The general colour of

the whale was said to be dark grey while the tail, the flippers and

the underside were lighter.

The general public thought that the whale ‘committed suicide’

because she had swailowed treasure or something else equally dis-

agreeable. The common belief is that the whale runs ashore to

die, maddened by pain. An ancient rule in Britain makes all whales

stranded or captured in the tidal waters the perquisites of the

Sovereign, the king claiming the head and the queen the tail. Here

the bones and stomach contents were reserved for Government and

excluded from the sale. The vast quantity of matter in the inside

of the whale created great surprise among the observers. The

general idea entertained was that immediately an opening was made;

the bowels, heart and other organs would be seen. Instead several

hours were spent in cutting away the vast masses of flesh below

the blubber and the viscera was not reached till later. The

apparent hardness felt in the abdomen and which raised the hopes

of treasure was because of the gases arising from the whale’s last

meal. The entrails on exposure disappointed every one and even

disgusted those present, for so foul did the contents smell. The

stomach contained in its chambers—four could be distinctly made

out—mostly unrecognisable matter, but for the illdigested remains

of fish. The intestines were very long and seemed to be full of

little pouches. |

The purchaser of the carcase bought it for the sake of the oil,

which he extracted from the blubber and meat. The blubber was

mere tissue, tough and fibrous, but containing a large amount of

oil. It invested every part of the whale, but was thicker in some

regions like near the back fin. The thin but tough dark skin

covered a two-inch layer of yellowish-white fat beneath which lay

the fibrous-textured blubber and then the reddish muscular tissue.

Ligaments and tendons were broad and flat and yellowish-white in

colour. While at Mulvel, volumes of blood were spouted up and

the water all round about dyed red. Later, as the carcase was

towed from Mulvel to Port Okha, a matter of 15 miles, it left a

trail of blood and fat. The heart was a ponderous mass of flesh

which quite filled a large drum. Blood-vessels were found to break

up into ‘retiamirabilia’. The brain was a huge mass, the cerebral

hemispheres being much convoluted. It filled a bucket and weighed

7 lbs. There were 15 pairs of ribs the lontest having the curvature

measuring 15 feet. The vertebrae totalled 63 and in the hinder

part of the body had cartilaginous cushions between them. Two

smal! curved bones were found embedded in the flesh near the re-

productive opening; these apparently represent the pelvis. The

specimen was apparently a female.

S. T. MOSES,

Ju POZE St eR SAeTe

g9g8 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XLI

X.—ANALYSIS"OF A SALT LICKIN KOELEBGAE,

COIMBATORE, S. INDIA. 7

I am enclosing a copy of the analysis of some salt-lick earth

which the Director of the King Institute, Guindy (Col. Shortt) has

haddone for me.

I have alwavs found this earth salty to the taste, which has

not been the case with earth of game salt-licks I have tasted else-

where. The earth was of a powdery nature, exuding in narrow

belts on the face of the salt-lick, and ochre in colour. Fresh exuda-

tions of earth take the place of any removals. I may add that

the previous sample of earth IT sent in to the Society from this salt-

lick was not of this exudation but merely of the salt-lick face, lighter

in colour, and containing little or no sodium chloride.

The salty powdery earth now analysed was taken by me from

the well-known Kottuguli salt-licks in the Kollegal taluk of the

Coimbatore district. Herds of cattle are driven to the salt-licks

annually from both the Kollegal and N. Coimbatore ranges and

game animals visit the salt-licks extensively. Col. Shortt comments

on the analysis as follows :— ;

‘Only traces of the insoluble matter were soluble in dilute acid.

The solution gave a reaction for iron and magnesium. The solu-

tion contained traces of aluminium and calcium salts. The absence

of ammoniacal nitrogen would indicate that the chloride was not

due to urine from the animals.

It is obvious from this that the sample contained quite a high

percentage of sodium chloride which would easily account for the

salt taste. This percentage is about twice that of sea-water. I

believe this percentage of sodium chloride is much higher than iS

usually found in salt-licks. Samples previously tested by Father

Caius have shown a chloride content of from 0.074 to I 343° pels

cent.’

ANALYSIS.

Insoluble inorganic ca) 402 pper cent

Sodium chloride Seah Atel re oo

Sodium sulphate Peete gl cleat em

Ammoniacal nitrogen “cl, peractically -albsemt.

Phosphate vele TNDSemt

Organic matte inn, 3 Be peracent:

Water ; tee g'6 7) ms)

Not accounted for (Soluble) “2+ 12.55, 05:

TOO OR BE nian,

HoNNAMETTI ESTATE, Rea GC. MORRIS:

AttiKAan, Mysore P.O.,

S. INpta.

March 18, 1940.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 899

XI.—THE INDIAN BLACK EAGLE PCTIN ABT USS MALAY-

ANS] PRICNIGHR Ti@DGS.) IN SALSETTE,

-In Mr. Ali’s paper on the Birds of Bombay and Salsette a few

doubtful records are given of the occurrence of this eagle in

Salsette; a specimen was shot at Virar on Saturday the 14th

January 1940 by Mr. G. B. Kotwal. . The head and legs were sent

to the Society. A second specimen was observed by Mr. C. McCann

at Andheri: on the 25th March 1940.

-Bompay Nat. Hist. Society, S. H. PRATER,

6, APOLLO STREET, BOMBAY. Curator.

April 16, 1940.

XII.—EGGS OF YELLOW-WATTLED LAPWING

[LOBIPLUVIA MALABARICA (BODD.)|

With reference to Stuart Baker’s interesting note on what

is known as the erythristic type of egg of this bird (Journal;

VOL XkXV, P. 250), it may be of interest to record that. I have a

clutch of 2 eggs of this type taken near Mysore City on 9-6-36 and

another clutch of 3 from Mavinhalla at the foot of the Northern

slopes of the Nilgiris taken on 23-6-38. Both these localities pro-

vided eggs of the normal type also. Of a number of clutches

found near Gundlupet in South Mysore all were of normal coloura-

tion except one which can best be described as a medial form

between the normal and the red.

On p. 48 of vol. xl Mr. Betts also records the occurrence of the

erythristic type in Coorg, so apparently its distribution is con-

siderably wider than previously supposed.

IXALHATTI, E. G. PHYTHIAN-ADAMS,

NILGIRIS. Major I. A. Retired.

Mlavch 5, 1940,

XI1I.—PARTIAL ALBINISM IN A CHUKOR (ALECTORIS

: GRAECA).

(With a photo)

It may interest you to know that when shooting Chukor recently

in Swat I shot rather an unusual Chukor which had white feathers

on its wings as follows :—

Right wing—-3 outer primaries pure white.

Left wing—g outer primaries pure white.

Also some of the primary coverts.

There was also a large patch of white feathers on the upper

breast, and some of the claws on both feet were yellowish white.

This bird got up three times and went forward in front of the

guns before I eventually shot it and the tracer with me at once

900 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

recognised it as a bird which they had seen on the same ground

last year. ;

I took some photos of this bird which have not yet been deve-

loped; and I have skinned the left wing which I could send you

if you are sufficiently imterested.

I may add that the other three guns, all of whom have had

great experience of chukor shooting, agreed that they had never

seen a similar example of unusual colouring among chukor.

HEADQUARTERS, R. C. MACNAMARA,

PESHAWAR BRIGADE, Major.

PESHAWAR.

February 16, 1940.

XIV.—THE BRONZE-CAPPED TEAL (EUNETTA

FALCATA) IN THE AWIBAELA*DISTRICT.

I thought that it might be of interest to your Society to record

that on February 15th my wife shot a male Bronze-capped Teal

(Eunetta falcata) on a hill some 20 miles north of Karnal. The

bird was in company with a party of about 15 other duck which

were taken to be Gadwall. One other bird was shot out of this

party and at a quick glance was taken to be a female Gadwall;

in view, however, of the close resemblance which the female Bronze-

capped bears to the female Gadwall, it is possible that an error

of identification occurred, and that the whole party were Bronze-

capped Teal. The female was, unfortunately, given away and a

more detailed examination was not possible.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 901

Stuart Baker makes no reference to this Teal as a table bird,

and the above-mentioned bird, which we ate this evening, was not

first class being somewhat fishy in taste.

BUNGALOW 145, Re -C. NICHOLAS,

AMBALA CANTT., Mayor,

PUNJAB. 3rd Bn. 15th Punjab Regiment.

XV.—DOES THE COMMON WHISTLING TEAL HAVE MORE

THAN ONE BROOD IN THE YEAR?

In looking through my Game Register, I find the following

details which may be worthwhile placing on record. At Palasbani

in the Kamrup District, ‘Assam, on the 3rd Nevember 1938, I was

shooting duck and saw what I took to be a small group of non-

descript-looking waterfowl swimming among the weeds; and as

my boatmen asked me to shoot some of them for their evening meal,

I fired and secured one. Much to my surprise the bird turned out

to be a very young Common Whistling Teal (Dendrocygna javanica)

which was still in down and quite unable to fly. There were a

number of flights of mature birds of this species on the gheel I

was shooting over; but this brood of youngsters I saw was un-

accompanied by the parent birds who seemed to have left the young

birds completely to their own devices. The brood could not have

hatched before the middle of October which is surely very late in

the year? It almost seems to indicate a second, if not a third

brood.

SYLHET, R. E. PARSONS,

ASSAM. FARE. S.5.,.

January 24, 1940. Indian Police.

[The Common Whistling Teal commences to breed about the

end of June. Most eggs are laid in July and August. The taking

of young birds in down so late as November suggests either late

breeding or the production of more than one brood which may

occur when there is a superabundance of food supply.—Ebs. |

XVI.—LATE STAY OF SNIPE.

Yesterday on a tank six miles from here I saw five common

snipe and shot three of them. This is a fairly hot place and the

first eleven days of April were the hottest of the month 103° to

105°; the middle of the month was cool but after the 10th the

maximum reached 105° on three days. Is not the 3rd May very

late for snipe to be found so far south? Ramdurg is 60 miles east

of Belgaum. The birds I shot weighed 5 oz. each and were very

fat.

RAMDURG, : G. O'BRIEN,

S:. Mz. Country. | Lt.-Colonel.

May 4, 1940.

XLI

Vol.

SOCIEEY,

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BOMBAY

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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 903

XV MIGRATION, OF | WILD FOWL:

CORRIGENDA.

Vole xxxiitpe NO, hs Dp. 710,

For :—No. 43. 45 km. S. of Tara, lying N. of Omsk on River Irtysh

50) Aq N>, fairy E: ia ee |

Read:—W. Siberia, near the mouth of the river Tara, affluent of

the Intyshy, Case5O0, 30: Na74< stot,

7 2 XT Ever aie

Vol soc NOw2 2 D500:

For:—No. 3126. New Boukhara (Russia) ca. 40°Nx70°E.

Read :—Uzbekistan, near the station Kangan.

For:—No. 3624. Kzyl-Orda (approx. 40° 45’N, 65° 30/E.)

Read.—W. Siberia, near the mouth of the river Tara, affluent of

tie Irtysh, ca, 56° 30'N,( 74, 40°F.

XIX.—CROCODILE AND WILD BOAR.

A party of sportsmen, of which I was a member, was after

partridge in the Ferozepur district of the Punjab close to the river

Sutlej. At about 11 a.m. we put up a boar which made off in the

direction of the river, and an hour later we got to the bank for

lunch. We had barely sat down when the boar sneaked out of

some bushes and took to the water making for a kikar tree about

roo yards in. He was swimming in water about 4 feet deep and

had gone some 30 yards when a crocodile suddenly rose and faced

him from about to yards. The boar immediately turned towards

the bank when the crocodile showed himself between him and the

bank. These tactics were repeated two or three times when the

boar, which was exhausted with his effort and loss of blood, sud-

denly disappeared having doubtless been pulled under by his anta-

gonist. Has any one else seen anything akin to this? The

crocodile must have been lying up close by and doubtless discovered

the condition of the boar as the water was considerably stained

with blood.

1g, RaJPORE Roan, B.S. ue WwIs.

DELHI.

April 24, 1940.

XX.—AN INGENIOUS FISH TRAP.

(With a diagram).

I enclose a diagram with explanation of a very cunning fish

trap which is used a certain amount in the Shan States.

$04 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HisT, SOCIETY, Vol. XLi

For all I know it may be used in India too although I have

never seen one myself exactly similar to it.

It consists of a bamboo fence (the strips of bamboo being very

eee GSES EE ee

River Bank

SI =TtA (a)

Stream

close together) forming three sides of a rectangle—the fourth side

being the river bank. The area of the rectangle is about 12 square

yards. The bamboo fence is about four feet high and, being in

shallow water, a certain amount of it protrudes out of the water-—

the remainder of course being underneath the water with the

bottom of the fence on the bed of the river.

At point A (see diagram) there is a gap, some four feet

across, made by rolling back four feet of bamboo fence to one

side (point Aa). At points B and C there are lengths of ordinary

string tied across from the bamboo fence on one side to the river

bank on the other. Height about the same as the water level.

Tied on to these lengths of string are two or three bundles of a

certain green weed which is met with in this country and has a

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Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Bi-cellular coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) showing the septum.

Bi-cellular coconut showing the two enlarged ‘eyes’.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 905

little red flower. Actually the bundles of weed used for this purpose

have buds which have not yet flowered.

In order to prevent these lengths of string from sagging due

to the weight of the weed bundles pieces of string are tied on to

them and stretched to the river bank (which is sloping) and fastened

on to some root or tree. (I have not marked these in the diagram).

Now the system on which this trap works is simplicity itself

but it is nevertheless a cunning idea.

The fish enter the enclosure at point A (which is of course at

the downstream side of the enclosure). They go up to feed at points

B and C. When there are sufficient fish inside the door, Aa is

pulled over the gap by a string attached to it and operated by a

man who hides behind a mass of undergrowth at point D.

Fishing with rod and line is disappointing in the Shan States

and although there are mahseer they will not look at artificial

bait.

BURMESE FRONTIER FORCE, A. G.. SANDEMAN,

LasHio, N. SHAN STATES. [bie

january 31, 1940.

XXE—MIGRATION OF BUTTERFLIES.

I have to record the following instance of a migratory flight

of butterflies :—

‘Catopsilia crocale. 16 July, 39. Near Ranikhet (Kumaon). Fly-

ing to west against slight wind. Approx. two butterflies in a

breadth of too yards per minute.’

I watched the flight for about 1$ hours, but cannot say for how

long it lasted. I caught three specimens (two 2 one d). I cannot

send them as I have the wings only mounted behind celophane on

cards. There is no doubt as to the identity of the species.

STAFF COLLEGE, Jats B LOW EE.

QUETTA. Major R..E.

April 29, 1940.

XXH.—A BI-CELLULAR COCONUT [COCOS NUCIFERA L.)

(With a plate).

The ovary of the coconut has 3 cells, two of which become

abortive and only one develops. In rare instances two-celled coco-

nuts are met with. In this there are within the single outer cover-

ing two chambers separated by a thin septum of endocarp. Each

of these chambers has its own endosperm and embryo. Of the

three ‘eyes’ on the endocarp, the two, corresponding to the fully

developed cells, are large and soft, while the third, corresponding

906 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

~ to the undeveloped cell is small and hard. If this coconut had been

planted two seedlings would have been produced.

Photo 1. Cross section of the nut showing the two cells with

a thin shell separating the two endosperms.

Photo 2. Showing two enlarged soft ‘eyes’ corresponding to the

two cells, while the third remains small and hard.

The specimen is preserved in the Madras Herbarium, Coimbatore.

Literature.

Qusumbing Eduardo (1926).

Piwilip. Aoris:) 15, pp-. 37! le

Garden’s Bull. 3, pp. 274-279.

Garden’s Bull. 4, pp. 78-86.

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, K. CHERIAN JACOB,

COIMBATORE. LOASe, By LaS:

April 20, 1940.

XXII.—A NEW VARIETY OF -COCONDT arr

(COCOS NUCIFERA L. VAR. SPICATA K. C. JACOB).

(With a plate).

A note on a peculiar coconut tree is published in the Madras

Agricultural Journal, Vol. v, page 86. Its peculiarity lies in the

inflorescence which, unlike that of the ordinary coconut palm, is

unbranched. There is a note on the ‘suppression of spikelets in

coconut spadices’ in the Garden’s Bulletin, Vol. iv, page 81. Here

the author mentions that the palms which produce the monstrous

inflorescences have the habit of producing such monstrosities many

times during the year. Mention is also made by the same author

of a side branch which is occasionally found in these monstrous

inflorescences.

The present writer had occasion to study palms which produce

these monstrous inflorescences in more detail in a garden in Coim-

batore. In this garden there are half a dozen such palms. The

occurrence of a side branch is noticed in some inflorescences. From

the history of these palms, it is noted that the production of this

abnormal spike-like inflorescence is not a freak, but a heritable

character. Several similar instances are also noted in_ other

parts of this Province. Hence this new type of coconut palm with

the spike-like inflorescence is separated as a new variety, Cocos

nucifera L. var. spicata K. C. Jacob. In the light of this knowl-

edge, the description of the spadix of the species, Cocos nucifera L.

may be altered to ‘usually panicled, sometimes spiked’.

On account of the spike-like nature of the panicle, there is not

enough room for the development of a large number of nuts.

Nevertheless, this variety produces innumerable female flowers

(potential nuts), which character may be utilized with advantage

by coconut palm breeders.

u0s09 Bw YAM ayidg ‘g ‘poyluseum ‘y se “gq = ‘aoUadSeIOyUI SuNnoX

‘qooef "dQ “NM DipIids “1eA “UUITY Daafianu soI0D JO adUadSaIOYU]

a .

20S “ISIT “JEN Avqmog ‘‘uimor

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Branched Areca Palm (Areca catechu L.), Kallar Gardens.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES . 907

Literature.

Cocke, sBombay Fiora, Vol; Il, p. 312:

Madras Agri. Journal, Vol. V, p. 86.

Garden’s Bulletin, Vol. IV, p. 81.

Anmrlard. Bot. Buitenzorg, Vol. XXXII (1923), .p. 24.

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, K. CHERIAN JACOB,

COIMBATORE. L.Ag., F.L.S,

April 20, 1940.

XXIV.—STEM FASCIATION IN THE ARECA PALM (ARECA

CATECHU 1.)

(With a plate).

Stem fasciation in the Areca palm is a rare phenomenon. An

interesting instance of it was noticed in an Areca palm garden at

Kallar, Coimbatore District. The palm is about 55 years old and

65 feet in height. At this height it has produced g branches, all

in one plane. All the branches, except one which is dead, though

much thinner than the parent stem, are growing well, producing

flowers and nuts regularly. These branches are about 15 years old

and 8 feet in height. There is no evidence of insect attack or other

disease likely to have caused this fasciation.

The hill tribes of the Lower Nilgiris, the Irulars, hold this plant

in veneration, and make offerings for its blessings.

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, K. CHERIAN JACOB,

COIMBATORE. TEAS cu SS,

February 20, 1936.

XXV.—PRELIMINARY NOTES ON A RECENT BOTANICAL

TOUR. @OAMRABAD- POREST, RESERVE, FH. E.. H.

THE NIZAM’S DOMINIONS, HYDERABAD (Dvy.).

(With 1 plate).

Having studied in some detail ('), the flora of the Mulug Taluqa

of the Warangal District which is country typical of the Telangana

side, it was proposed to study the vegetation of Amrabad

Taluga in the Mahboobnagar District, situated at a distance of

116 miles south of Hyderabad city. It is 1,913 ft. high and is

surrounded by eight hill ranges which extend up to the river

Krishna. The only Botanical work which helps one to get some

knowledge of the vegetation of Amrabad is the one by Partridge (*),

a forest officer, who does not seem to have spent much time in

the study of the vegetation on this side, as is evident from his

description of the localities of the plants he has recorded. In his

908 fOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XLi

book he mentions Amrabad about five times, and leaves out many

important and prominent forest trees of this region. To take only

one example, he does not mention the occurrence in great abundance

of Bauhinia Vahhi W. & A. in Amrabad. Salim Ali (°) in his more

recent Ornithological Survey of Hyderabad gives a brief but in-

formative and interesting note about Mananur and Farahabad in

which he mentions a few important and dominant forest trees and

shrubs in these places, and he evidently does so because of the

intimate relation of bird-life with vegetation.

The author with his colleagues in the Botany Department of the

Osmania University undertook a botanical tour to Amrabad Forest

Reserve in February, 1940. Making Mananur the head-quarters,

Farahabad and Amrabad proper were visited. The latter is not

described in detail here as the stay there was short and the collec-

tions do not include any thing new to Mananur or Farahabad.

MANANDR.

Mananur is situated on the Amrabad Plateau at an altitude

of 2,059 ft., and a distance of 3111 miles from Hyderabad city.

The soil for the most part is laterite and the country is mostly hilly.

Nearing Mananur one sees luxuriant tree vegetation, otherwise

about hundred miles of the journey is frightfully monotonous.

Considering the vastness of the land the cultivated portion is sur-

prisingly small. Along the roadsides Cassia auriculata Linn.,

Anona squamosa Linn., and Wrightia tomentosa Roem. & Sch.

amongst shrubs, and Melia Azadirachta Linn., Acacia spp. amongst

trees are repeatedly noticed. Toddy palms occur and their appear-

ance is a Clear sign of nearing a habitation. While climbing the

first hill range on which Mananur is situated we came across wild

trees of Moringa pterigosperma Gaertn. (Plate I, photo 1).

Mananur forest was studied in some detail by paying visits to

Omamaheshwaram, 4$ miles from the traveller’s bungalow. One

has to cover this distance on foot. ‘After walking a few furlongs

from this bungalow one enters the forest to climb a hill. Here

and there are thick Bamboo clumps (Dendrocalamus strictus Nees,

Plate.T, photo -2).° The hillsides are- strewn? with large. stones,

walking on which is very tiresome. They are cut across by narrow

nallahs (streams). Near the last nallah before we began climbing

up the rugged steps to reach the plateau we came across wild

mango trees of enormous size. Terminalia spp. (Maddi chettu etc.),

Hardwickia binata Roxb. (Ippa, Anjan), Pterocarpus Marsupium

Roxb. (Biasal), Bassia latifoha Roxb. (Mhowa) are some of the

dominant trees in this region. Tectona grandis Linn. (Teak) is

not so plentiful as in Farahabad, and is of a stunted growth. A

few furlongs brought us to the plateau with its seattered and

scrubby vegetation. Thorny shrubs of the Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae

and other families are abundant. After crossing the plateau we

came to the edge of the hill with a steep valley to our right, facing

Pedda-Omamaheshwaram which was our destination. We care-

fully went down hill and arrived at the dripping rocks. To

us the interest lay in the vegetation of these rocks and not in the

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

ve.

rest Reser

ad Fo

Sayeedud-Din—Botanical Tour to Amrab

of article.

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10n

planat

for e

MISCELLANEOUS. NOTES 909

famous temple which is carved out of the rock in this region. Ja

the valley lofty trees with the dominant Bauhinia Vahlii W. & A.

could be seen. The dripping rocks were covered with liverworts,

mosses and ferns which will be included in the detailed list of

collections at the end.

FARAHABAD.

Twelve miles south of Mananur les Farahabad on another

plateau rising above Amrabad Plateau at an altitude of 2,800 ft.

The forest consists of mixed deciduous species as in the Mananur

forest, but considerably thicker, and containing a good deal of

more bamboo and teak. The thickest bamboo forest is met with

near the Chinchuar Hut (Chinchuars otherwise known as Bhils are

a primitive tribe), 5 miles from the Farahabad traveller’s bungalow.

Coming out of this thicket one has to walk in about a foot thick

layer of the fallen leaves of Bauhinia Vahlii W. & A. Tectona

grandis Linn. is more plentiful than in the Mananur forest. Buchan-

ania latifolia Roxb. and Dalbergia latifolia Roxb. which were very

scarce at Mananur are widespread in this region. Mundulea

suberosa Benth. in its pinkish bloom was a striking little tree near

the roadsides.

The collections which have been so far identified include :—

I. Flowering Plants.

(a) Trees:

Boswellia serrata Roxb. Mangifera indica Linn.

Feronia elephantum Correa. Diospyros Melanoxylon Roxb.

Aegle Marmelos Correa. Diospyros tomentosa Roxb.

Cassia Fistula Linn. Terminalia tomentosa W. & A.

Butea frondosa Roxb. Alangium Lamarckii Thwaites.

Bombax malabaricum DC. Atalantia monophylla Corvea.

Tectona grandis Linn. Buchanania latifolia Roxb.

Murraya Koenigii Linn. Chloroxylon Swietenia DC

Ponganuia glabra Vent. Bassia latifolia Roxb.

Hardwickia binata Roxb. Anogeissus latifolia Wall.

Dalbergia latifolia Roxb. Ailanthus excelsa Roxb.

Strychnos potatorum Linn. Phyllanthus Emblica Linn.

Stephegyne parvifolia Worth.

(b) Shrubs :

Zizyphus Ocnoplia Mill. Gymnosporia montana Roxb.

Grewia hirsuta Vahl. Zizyphus trinervia Roxb.

Cassia auriculata Linn. Grewia pilosa Lamkk.

Dodonaea viscosa Linn. Capparis horrida Linn.

Randia dumetorum Lamk. Helicteres Isora Linn.

Andrographis paniculata Linn. Pavetta indica Linn.

Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir. Vitex Negundo Linn.

Cardiospermum Halicacabum Jinn. Plumbago seylanica Linn.

Blepharis molluginifolia Pers. Striga spp.

Sansiviera zeylanica Willd.

(d) Lofty Climbers :

Bauhinia Vahlii W. & A. Argyreia speciosa Sweet.

Hiptage Madablota Gaertn. . ;

910 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XLI

(e) Parasites :

Loranthus longiflorus Desr. Loranthus elasticus Desr.

on Buchanania latifolia, on Bassia latifolia.

Bassia latifolia and others.

Viscum articulatum Burm.

on Diospyros tomentosa.

II. Bryophytes.

(a) Anthoceros sp.

(b) Moss?

IIt. Pteridophytes.

(a) Selaginella sp.

(b) Ferns:

L, Adiantum caudatum Linn.

2. Cheilanthus mysorensis Wall.

3. Actiniopteris dichotoma Forsk.

4. Nephrolepis sp.

REFERENCES.

1. Sayeedud-Din, M.—Some of the Common Flowering Plants of the

Hyderabad State; their distribution, economic and medicinal importance.

PAS2Bs,. SCs) ViOlciie INOw 1, toss

Sayeedud-Din, M.—Further Contribution to some of the Common Flower-

ing Plants of the Hyderabad State; their distribution and economic importance.

Jour. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., Vol. xl, No. 2, 1938.

2. Partridge, E. A.—Forest Flora of H. E. H. The Nizam’s Dominions

(Hyderabad-Deccan)—10911.

3. Ali, Salim.—The Hyderabad State Ornithological Survey, Part I,

Jour. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., Vol. xxxvi, No. 2, 1933.

EXPLANATION OF Pate I.

Photo 1.—Panoramic view of a hill range on the way to Mananur. The

arrow showing the site of the wild trees of Moringa pterigosperma Gaertn.

Photo 2.—A bamboo clump. Note the scattered stones.

M. SYEEDUD-DIN,

Prof. of Botany.

OsMANIA_ UNIVERSITY,

HyDERABAD, DEccaN.

January, 1940.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY V. M. PHILIP AT THE DIOCESAN PRESS, 18 CHURCH ROAD,

VEPERY, MADRAS

EDITORS: H. M. MCGUSTY, J. F. CAIUS AND S. H. PRATER, 6 APOLLO STREET,

FORT, BOMBAY