.

,

THE

Vr

V'

JOURNAL

Bombay Natural History Society

INDEX AND TITLE PAGE

VOL. XXXIV

NOS. 3 & 4

Price .... Rs. 2-4-0

MADRAS

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Contents of Nos. 3 and 4ofVol. XXXIV

List of Contributors

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THE

JOURNAL

OF THE

Bombay Natural History Society

EDITED BY

SIR REGINALD SPENCE, Kt.. & S. H. PRATER, C.M.Z.S.

VOL. XXXIV

292709

Nos. 3 & 4

Containing 4 Coloured Plates, 47 Black and White Plates,

47 Text-figures, 4 Maps, and 1 Diagram

Dates of Publication

Part III. (Pages 613 to 858) ... 15th November, 1930.

„ IV. ( „ 859 to 1104) .. 2nd March, 1931.

LONDON AGENTS

DULAU & CO., Ltd., 32, Old Bond Street, London, W.L

PRINTED AT THE DIOCESAN PRESS, MADRAS

1931

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIV.

No. 3

Page

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire. Part XII. ( With

a coloured plate ) of The Eastern Grey Plover ( Squatarola

squatarola ) and The Indian Kentish. Plover (Leucopolius

alexandrinus seebohmi). By E. C. Stuart Baker, j.p.,

O.B.E., F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.O.U., H.F.A.O.U 613

Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency.

Part XIII. By Rev. E. Blatter, S.J., pu.d., f.l.s 623

The Lions of Asia. ( With five plates). By R. I. Pocock,

f.r.s 638

The Birds of the Prome District of Lower Burma.

(With a map). By J. K. Stanford, M.C., i.c.s., and Dr.

Claud B. Ticehurst, m.d., m.a., m.b.o.u., f.r.g.s 666

The Panther as I have known him. Part III. (With a

plate). By Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse, I.A., f.z.s 673

Abnormal Tusks of Elephants. (With six plates). By

Sir Frank Colyer, k.b.e., f.r.c.s 694

Fishing in the rivers of C. P. (With three text-figures).

By Major W. B. Trevenen 700

Some Beautiful Indian Trees. Part V. (With two colour-

ed plates a?id two black and white plates ). By Rev. E.

Blatter, s.J., ph.D., f.l.s. and W. S. Millard, f.z.s 716

The Study of Indian Birds. Part VI. (With a plate and

two text-figures). By H. Whistler, f.z.s., m.b.o.u 720

The Malarial Problem in Bombay. (With a map). By

Major G. Covell, m.d., D.ph., d.t.m. and h., i.m.s 736

The Ornithological Station in Heligoland. (With four

plates and a Diagram). By Salim A. Ali, m.b.o.u... 743

A New Indian Dragonfly. (With two text-figures). By

Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser, i.m.s., f.e.s 752

The Origin of Continents and Oceans. (With one plate

and five Diagrams). By W. E. Wait, M.A., f.z.s 754

On the nesting of the Crested Swifts. ( With two plates ).

By H. Whistler, m.b.o.u., f.z.s 772

iv

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIV

Page

The Stinging Caterpillar. {With live text-figures). By

Major R. W. G. Hingston, i.m.s 778

The Toxicity of the Venom of Indian Scorpions. By

Rev. J. F. Caius, s.J., f.l.s 788

Reviews : —

1. Systema Avium ^Ethiopicarue. Part II ... 790

2. Handbook of the Birds of West Africa ... 791

3. The Motor Mechanism of Plants ... ... 791

4. Lefirbuch Der Allgemeinen Pflanzengeographie 793

5. Plant Studies ... ... ... ... 794

6. Zoology ... ... ... ... 794

7. General Botany ... ... ... 795

Miscellaneous Notes —

L Three Tigers at a kill. {With a photo). By Major

C. Swire. 796

II. Panther climbing up to a machan. By R. C.

Morris 797

III. A Panther incident. By G. de L’lsle Sturm 798

IV. Note on the Malay Bear {Ursus malayanus). {With

a photo). By Major E. G. Phythian-Adams ... 798

V. Sounds made by Porcupines. By R. C. Morris ... 799

VI. Observations on the Indian Elephant. By R. C.

Morris 800

VII. On distinguishing between males and females and

other controversial matters pertaining to the

Gaur. Bibos gaurus. By R. C. Morris 801

VIII. Vigils at waterholes. By Lieut. A. Bayley-

de-Castro, i.m.d 802

IX. The heart-shot in game. By R. C. Morris 804

X. The Common Mynah {A. Iristis) as a pest in Sey-

chelles. By P. R. Dupont 806

XI. On the occurrence of the Grey-backed Shrike

{Lanius tephronotus , Vigors) in the suburbs of

Calcutta. By M. N. Acharjie 807

XII. Breeding of the Great Stone-Plover {CEdicnemus

recurvirostris ). By C. G. Che venix Trench ... 809

XIII. Occurrence of the Tufted Pochard {Nyroea fuligula)

in Gilgit. By Capt. M. H. Berkeley.... 809

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIV

Page

XIV. First Indian Record of the Eastern Grey Duck

( Anas pcecilorliyncha zonorliyncha , Swinhoe) and

the occurrence of the Eastern White-eye ( Nyroca

rufa bceri Radde) in Behar. By C. M. Inglis,

F.Z.S., m.b.o.u 810

XV. Migration Notes from Kohat, N.-W.F.P. By Lt.-

Col. G. de la P. Beresford 810

XVI. Birds of a Himalayan Torrent— a study in Behavi-

our. By Major R. W. G. Hingston, i.m.s. ... 811

XVII. Birds seen on a trip from Pottuvil to Kumna,

Ceylon. By George Brown 815

XVIII. A list of some Birds of the Seven Hills of Naini

Tal, U.P. By Major General Corrie Hudson ... 821

XIX. Notes on the Star Tortoise ( Testudo elegans). By

R. Shunker Narayan Pillay 828

XX. Capturing Monitor Lizards and Pythons. By Frank

C. Riches 828

XXL Masheer-fishing in Burma. By Captain S. C.

Macgregor 829

XXII. Ant-mimicking Spiders as victims of Wasps. ( With

a photo). By K. Kunhi Kannan 831

XXIII. A freak Papilio polytes romulus Cr. $ ( With a

plate). By O. C. Ollenbach 832

XXIV. Notes on Pai'antin'hcea marshalli and Prioneris

sita. By J. A. Yates 833

XXV. Notes on Appias libythea libythea . $. By J. A. Yates. 834

XXVI. On the peculiar cross-vein-like structures in the

hind- wings of Croce Hlipennis , Westw., S (Nem-

opteridee), ( With three micro photographs). By

S. Mukerjee 834

XXVII. Butterfly -collecting grounds at Mussooree (U. P.)

By O. C. Ollenbach 836

XXVIII. On the true nature of the Nuclear divisions in old

internodes of local Tradesccntia stems. ( With a

plate). By Prof. S. R. Bose 840

XXIX. On the occurrence of the Vegetative buds on the root

of Gram. ( With a text-figure). By T. C. N.

Singh 841

XXX. An instance of anomalous branching of the conju-

gation-tubes of an Indian form of Spirogyra

neglecta (Hass) Kuetz. (With a plate). By

Kanti Gopal Banerjee 842

vi

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIV

Page

XXXI. Some Liverworts of the order Marchantiales from

Burma. By L. P. Khanna 844

XXXII. Notes on Broomcorn with five brushes. By S. S.

Nehru, m.a., ph.D., i.c.s 847

XXXIII. Cultivation of Broomcorn in India. By S. S.

Nehru, m.a., ph.D., i.c.s 847

Proceedings 850

Contributions to the Museum from January 1 to Sep-

tember 30, 1930... 855

No. 4

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire. Part XIII.

( With a coloured plate') of The Chinese Oyster-catcher

(. Hcematopus ostralcgus oscular s) and The Indian or

Jerdons Little Ringed Plover ( Charadrius dubius jerdoni).

By E. C. Stuart Baker, j.p., o.b.e., f.z.s., f.l.s., m.b.o.u.,

H.F,A.O.U. 859

The Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency.

Part XIV. By Rev. E. Blatter, s.J., ph.D., f.l.s 877

The Birds of the Prome District of Lower Burma.

Part II. By J. K. Stanford, i.c.s., and Dr. Claud

B. Ticehurst, m.d., m.a., m.b o.u., f.r.g.s 901

Proposed classification of the Smaller Indian Field

(or Jungle-) Mice. By T. B; Fry, i.f.s. (Retd.).. 916

Some Birds from the North-West corner of Fars,

Persia. (With a map). By E. C. Capito 922

A New Ceropegia from the Western Ghats. (With a

plate). By Rev. E. Blatter, s.J., ph;D., f.l.s., and

C. McCann, f.l.s 936

Notes on some Rats damaging Crops in South India.

By P. N. Krishna Ayyar, b.a 937

The Nesting Habits of the Baya (Ploceus philippinus).

(With 7 plates and 11 text-fi gures). By Salim A. Ali,

m.b.o.u 947

Indian Dragonflies. Part XXXVI. (With 7 text-figures).

By Col. F. C. Fraser, i.m.s., f.e.s 965

The Fish-Supply of the West Coast of India. By Sir

Reginald Spence, Kt., m.l.c., f.z.s., and S. H. Prater,

C.M.Z.S., M.L.C 973

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIV vii

Page

Flowerless Plants. Part V. ( With 7 plates'). By Mrs. M.

Robinson, b.a 992

The Butterflies of Coorg. Part I. By J. A. Yates....... 1003

The Panther as I have known Him. Part IV. By Lt.-Col.

A. H. E. Mosse, i.a., f.z.s 1015

The Bulbuls of the Nilgiris. By Capt. F. N. Betts..,.., 1024

Notes on Indian Thysanoptera with brief Descriptions

of new Species. ( With two plates arid a text-figure).

By T. V. Ramakrishna Ayyar, b.a., ph.D., f.z.s., and V.

Margabandhu, m.a 1029

The Natural History of Calotes versicolor (Boulenger), the

Common Blood-sucker. By J. J. Asana 1041

Editorial 1048

The Toxicity of the Venoms of Indian Scorpions. By

Fr. J. F. Caius, s.J...... 1051

Miscellaneous Notes—

I. Wanted Bears. By R. J. Pocock, f.r.s 1052

II. On the Fl^jfe of the Vampire Bat ( Megaderma lyra).

By Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse, i.a 1052

III. The Stripe-necked Mungoose (. Herpestes vitticollis).

By Major E. G. Pythian- Adams, i.a. (Retd.) ... 1054

IV. The Indian Wild Dog ( Ciion dukhunensis). By

R. C. Morris 1054

V. Measurements of a large Indian Wolf ( Canis pal-

lipes). By Private Secretary to the Heir-

Apparent of Dewas Sr 1055

VI. Courage and Cowardice of the Hyaena. By Major

C. W. Sanders 1055

VII. Measurements of Big Game. By Lt.-Col. C. H.

Stockley 1056

VIII. Drumming sound made by Leopards. By T. R.

Livesey..... 1056

IX. Malformation in Skull of a Thar ( Hermiiragus jem-

laicus). ( With a photograph). By Lt. R. K. M.

Battye 1057

X. Abnormal horns of Sambhur. ( With a photo).

By Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton, i.a. (Retd.) 1058

XI. A variety of the Thamin or Brow-Antlered Deer.

(. Rucervus thamin). By Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton, i.a.

(Retd.) 1059

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIV

viii

Page

XII. Swamp Deer. ( Cervus duvaucelli ) Head with Nine-

teen points. ( With a phoio). By R. Powell... 1060

XIII. The Occurrence of the Grey Hypocolius (. Hypoco -

tins ampelinus) in North Konkan. By Salim A. Ali 1061

XIV. Courtship of the Scarlet Minivet. ( Pericrocoius

speciosus). By C. McCann 1061

XV. Description of and Notes on the female Chestnut-

mantled Koklas ( Pucrasia m. castanea) from

Chitral. By V. S. La Personne 1062

XVI, Casualties among the Eggs and Young of small

Birds. By Salim A. Ali 1062

XVII. The Origin of Mimicry in Cuckoo’s eggs. By

Salim A. Ali 1067

XVIIL Notes on the Pied Crested Cuckoo ( Clamaior jaco-

binus) in Alibag Taluka. By. Salim A. Ali. 1071

XIX, Birds observed in the neighbourhood of Ranikhet.

By F. S. Briggs 1072

XX. Hovering flight of Birds and No Wind. By H. A.

Allard 1079

XXL Pelicans and Turtles. By D. S. Laud 1081

XXII. Little Indian Grebes or Dabchicks ( Podiceps albi-

pennis) mobbing a snake. By Lt.-Col. C. C.

Hickie 1081

XXIII. Cannibalism in the Indian Cobra. By Beni Charan

Mahendra 1082

XXIV. Unusual size attained by the common Krait. ( Bun -

gams cceruleus). By Capt. F. J. Rimell.... 1083

XXV. An unusually large Shaw’s Rat Snake ( Zamenis

fasciolatus). By Lt.-Col. K.G. Gharpurey, i.m.s. 1084

XXVI. Snakes of Nasik. By Lt.-Col. K. G. Gharpurey,

i.m.s 1085

XXVII. Occurrence of Charasia dorsalis outside the Mysore

Plateau. By S. G. Manavala Ramanujan 1086

XXVIII. Some Measurements of the Estuary Crocodile

( Crocodilus porosus) from Sarawak. By E. Banks. 1086

XXIX. The Ways of Fishing Shikaris. By Col. A.E. Mahon 1088

XXX. A Leaf-mining Moth. By Dr. G. R. Tambe, m.a.,

b.sc., l.m. & s 1091

XXXI. Specific identity of the Butterflies (Terms venata

and T. lata. By Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse, i.a. 1094

XXXII. The Grasshopper ( Isopera pedunculata). By Major

R. W. G. Hingston, i.m.s.... 1095

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXI V ix

Page

XXXIII. A live Beetle in the external auditory meatus of

the human ear. By Lt.-Col. A. G. Tresidder,

C.I.E., i.m.s 1096

XXXIV. The effects of a bite of a Centipede {Scolopendra

sp.). By C. McCann 1097

XXXV. A Centipede after its Moult ( Scolopendra sp.). By

C. McCann 1097

XXXVI. Some Notes on the Flowering of Bamboos. By

Rev. E. Blatter, s.J 1097

XXXVII. On the Flowering of Bamboos. By N. E. Perry,

i.c.s.... 1099

XXXVIII. The Fern-Palm. ( With a photo). By D. S. Laud 1101

XXXIX. An abnormal fruit of Dipterocarpus tuberculatus

Roxb. By L. P, Khanna, m.sc., f.i.S.. 1102

Proceedings 1103

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

VOLUME XXXIV

Nos. 3 and 4

Page

Acharjie, . M. N. ; On the

occurrence of the Grey-

backed Shrik o,{Lanius tephro-

notus , Vigors) in the suburbs

of Calcutta ... ... 807

Allard, II. A.; Hovering flight

of birds and no wind ... 1079

Ali, Salim A., M.B.O.U.; The

Ornithological Station at

Heligoland {with four plates

and one diagram) ... 743

~ — ; The

nesting habits of the Baya

( Ploceus Philip pinns) with

seven plates & eleven text-

figures ... ... ... 947

; The occurrence

of the Grey Hypocolius

( Hypocolius ampelinus) in

North Konkan ... ... 1061

— — — — ; Casualties

among the eggs and young of

small birds ... ... 1062

; The Origin

of mimicry in Cuckoo Eggs... 1067

— — ; Notes on the

Pied Crested Cuckoo ( Clam -

ator jacobinus) in Alibag

Taluka (Kolaba District) ... 1071

Asana, J. J.; The Natural His-

tory of Calotes versicolor)

(Boulenger). The Common

Blood-sucker ... ... 1041

Ayyar, P. N. Krishna, B.A. ;

Notes on some Rats damaging

crops in South India ... 937

Ayyar, T. V. Ramakrishna,

B.A., Ph.D., F.Z.S. and V.

Margabandhu, M.A. Notes

on Indian Thysanoptera with

Page

brief descriptions of new

species ( with two plates and a

text-figure) ... ... 1029

Baker, E. C. Stuart, J. P.,

O.B.E., F.Z.S., F.L.S., M.B.

O.U., H.F.A. O. U.; The

Game Birds of the Indian

Empire, vol. v., Part xii

{with a coloured plate of The

Eastern Grey Plover, Squata-

rola squatarola hypomela and

The Indian Kentish Plover

L eu co p o l u s alexandrinus

seebohmi) ... ... 613

Part xiii {with a coloured plate

of The Chinese Oyster-catcher

Hcematopus ostralegus oscu-

lans and The Indian, or

Jerdon’s Little Ringed-Plover

Charadrius dubius jerdoni) ... 859

Banerjee, Kanti Gopal ;

An instance of anomalous

branching of the conjugation-

tubes of an Indian form of

Spirogyra neglecta (Hass)

Kuetz ... ... ... 842

Banks, E. ; Some measure-

ments of the Estuary

Crocodile ( Crocodilus porosus)

from Sarawak ... ... 1086

Battye, Lieut. R. K. M. ; Mal-

formation in Skull of a Thar

{Hermitragus j e ml a icu s)

{with a photo) ... ... 1057

Bayley-de-Castro, Lieut. A.,

I.M.D. ; Vigils at water-

holes ... ... ... 802

Beresford, Lt.-Col. G. De-

la ; Migration notes from

Kohat, N.-W.F.P. ... 810

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

xi

Page

Berkeley, Capt.M.IL; Occur-

rence of the Tufted Pochard

( Nyroca fuligula) in

Gilgit ... ... ... 809

Betts, F. N. ; The Bulbuls of

the Nilghiris {with 2 plates). 1024

Blatter, E., S. J., Ph. D.,

F.L.S. ; Revision of the Flora

of the Bombay Presidency

Part xiii ( Elatinacece ) ... 623

Part xiv {Sterculiacece) ... 877

; Some

notes on the flowering of

Bamboos ... ... ... 1097

* ;Pb.D,

and McCann, C., F.L.S. ; A

new Ceropegia from the West-

ern Ghats {with a plate ) ... 936

; and Millard, W. S.,

F. Z. S. ; Some Beautiful

Indian Trees, Part v (zvith

two coloured plates , two black

and white plates and five dia-

grams) ... ... 716

Bose, S. R. ; On the true

nature of the nuclear divisions

in old Internodes of local

Tradescantia stems {zvith a

plate) 840

Briggs, F. S. ; Birds observed

in the neighbourhood of

Ranikhet ... ... 1072

Brown, George ; Birds seen

on a trip from Pottuvil to

Kumna, Ceylon ... ... 815

Burton, Lt. -Col. R. W.? I. A.

(Retd.) ; Abnormal horns of

Sambhur ( Cervus unicolor)

{with a photo) ... ... 1058

— — — ; A Variety of the

Thamin or Brow-antlered

Deer {Riicervus thamin) .. 1059

Caius, J. F.; S.J., F.L.S.,

The Toxicity of the Venom of

Indian Scorpions ... 788, 1051

Capito,C.Erik,O.B.E., F.Z.S.

Some Birds from the North-

west corner of Fars, Persia ... 922

Chavan, R. Y. ; Measurements

of a large Indian Wolf ( Canis

pallipes) ... ... ... 1055

2

Page

Colyer, Sir Frank, K. B. E.,

F.R.C.S. ; Abnormal Tusks

of Elephants {with six plates) 694

Covell, Major G., M. D.,

Ph.D., D.T.M. & H., I.M.S. ;

The Malaria Problem in

Bombay {with a map) ... 736

Dupont, P. R. ; The Common

Mynah {A. tristis) as a pest in

Seychelles ... ... 806

Editors, The ; The Heart-shot

in Game ... 805

Fraser, Lt.-Col. F.C.,I.M.S.,

F.E.S. ; A new Indian Dra-

gonfly ( with two text-f igures) . 752

Indian Dragonflies, Part xxxvi

( with seven text-figures) ... 965

Fry, T. B., I.F.S. (Retd.) ;

Proposed classification of the

smaller Indian Field (or Jun-

gle-) Mice ... ... 916

Gharpurey, Lt.-Col. K. G.,

I.M.S. ; An unusually large

Shaw’s Rat Snake {Zamenis

fasciolatus) ... ... 1084

— — ; Snakes of Nasik. 1085

Hickie, Lt.-Col. C. C. ; Little

Indian Grebes or Dabchicks

{Podiceps albipennis) mob-

bing a snake ... ... 1081

Hingston, Major R. W. G. ;

The stinging Caterpillar

{Euproctis icilia) {with five

text-figures) ... ... 778

; Birds of

a Himalayan Torrent, a study

in Behaviour ... ... 811

; The

Grasshopper (I so pier a pedun-

culata ) as a Mimic of the

Black ant C. compressus ... 1095

Hudson, Major General

Corrie ; A list of some

Birds of the Seven Hills of

Naini Tal, U. P. ... 821

Inglis, Chas. M., F.Z.S.,

M.B.O.U.; First Indian record

of the Eastern Grey Duck

{Anas pcecilorhyncha zofiorhy-

ncha, Swinhoe) and the

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

xii

Page

occurrence of the Eastern

white-eyed Duck ( Nyroca

rufa b<zriy Radde) in

Bihar ... ... 810

Kannan, K. Kunhi, Ant-mimic-

king Spiders as Victims of

wasps {with a photo ) ... 831

Khanna, L. P. Some Lever-

worts of the order Marchanti -

ales from Burma ... ... 844

La PersonNe, V.S.; Description

of and notes on the female

Chestnut-mantled K o k 1 a s

{Pucrasii m. castanea) from

Chitral ... ... 1062

Laud, D. S., G. B. V. C.,

F.R.H.S., F.Z.S.; Pelicans

and Turtles ... ... 1081

— ; The Fern-Palm {with

a photo ) ... ... 1101

Livesey, T. R. ; Drumming

sound made by Leopards 1056

MACGREGOR, CAPT. S. C.

Masheer-Fishing in Burma 829

McCann, C. ; Courtship of the

Scarlet minivet {Pericrocotus

speciosus ) ... ... 1061

— . — — — . ; The effects of the

bite of a Centipede ( Scolo -

pe'idra sp.) ... ... 1097

A Centipede {Scolopendra sp. )

after its moult ... ... 1097

— ; F.L.S. See

Blatter, Rev. E.

Mahendra, Beni Charan ;

Cannibalism in the Indian

Cobra ... ... 1082

Mahon, Col. A. E. ; The ways

of Fishing Shikaris ... 1088

Margabandhu, V., M.A. ; See

Ayyar, T.V. Ramakrishna.

Millard, W. S.See Blatter,

Rev. E.

Morris, R. C. Pauther climbing

up to a machan ... ... 797

* ; Sounds made by

Porcupines ... ... 799

; Observations on

the Indian Elephant— Solitary

Elephant ., ... ... 800

Page

Morris, R.C. ; On distinguish-

ing between males and females

and other controversial

matters pertaining to theGaur

{Bibos g aunts) ... ... 801

: ; T b e Heart-shot

in Game ... ... 804

— — ; The Indian wild

Do g {Cuon dukhunensis) ... 1054

Mosse, Lt.-Col., A. H.E.,I.A.,

F.Z.S.; The Panther a§ I

have known him. Part 3

{with a plate) ... ... 672

Part 4.... ... 1015

On the Food of the Vampire

Bat {Lyrodenna lyra) ... 1052

Specific identity of the

Butterflies {Terias venata and

T. Iczta) ... .. 1094

Mukerji, S.; On the peculiar

Cross-vein-like structures in

the hind-wings of Croce

f Hi P ennist Westw.

{Nemopteridce) ... ... 834

Nehru, S. S., M.A.-, Ph. D.,

I.C.S.; Note on Broomcorn

with five brushes ... 847

Cultivation of Broomcorn in

India ... ... ... 847

Ollenbach, O. C.; A freak

Papilio polytes romulus Cr. $

{with a plate) ... ... 832

; Butterfly-

collecting grounds at

Mussooree (U.P.) ... 836

Parry, N. E., I.C.S.; On the

flowering of Bamboos ... 1099

Ph ythia n - Ad ams , Major E . G. ,

I. A. (Retd.); Note on the Malay

Bear {Ursus malayanus) {zvith

a photo) ... ... 798

The stripe-necked Mungoose

{Herpestes vitticollis) ... 1054

PlLLAY, R. SUNKER NARAYAN;

Notes on the Star Tortoise

{Testudo elegans) ... 828

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

xiii

Page

Pocock, R.I., F.R.S. ; The

Lions of Asia ( with live plates

and a map) ... ... 638

; Wanted

Bears ... ... 1052

Powell, R. ; Swamp-Deer

( Rucervus duvaucelli) head

with nineteen points {with

a photo) ... • ... 1060

Prater, S. H., C.M.Z.S.,

M.L.C.; See S pence, Sir

Reginald ... ... 973

Ramanujan, S. G. Manavai.a;

Occurrence of Charasia dor-

salis outside the Mysore

Plateau ... ... 1086

Reviews : —

1. Systema avium ZEthiopi-

carum, Part II ... 790

2. Handbook of the Birds

of West Africa ... 791

3. The motor mechanism

of Plants ... ... 791

4. Lehrbuch der allgemei-

nen Pflanzengeographie 793

5. Plant studies ... 794

6. Zoology ... ... 794

7. General Botany ... 795

Riches, Frank C.; Capturing

Monitor Lizards and Pythons 828

Rimell, Capt. F.J., Unusual

size attained by the Common

Krait ( Bun gar us cceruleus ) 1083

Robinson, Mrs. M., B.A.

(T.C.D.) ; Flowerless Plants

( with Seven plates ) ... 992

Sanders, Major C. W.;

Courage and Cowardice of

the Hyaena ... ... 1055

Singh, T. C. N.; On the occur-

rence of Vegetative Buds on

the root of gram {with a

text-figure) ... ... 841

Spence, Sir Reginald, Kt.,

M L.C., F.Z.S., and Prater,

S. H., C.M.Z.S., M.L.C.; The

Fish-supply of the West Coast

of India ( with three plates)

Page

Stanford, J. K., M.C., I.C.S. ;

The Birds of the Prome

District of Lower Burma with

notes on the collection by

C. B. Ticehurst, M.D., M.A.,

M.B.O.U., F.R.G.S. {with

a Map) 666,901

Stockley, Lt.-Col. C. H. ;

Measurements of Big Game... 1056

Sturm, G. de L’isle; A Panther

Incident ... ... 798

Swire, Major C.; Three Tigers

at a kill {with a photo ) ... 796

Tambe, G. R., M.A., B.Sc.,

L. M&S. ; A Leaf-mining

Moth ... ... ... 1091

Ticehurst, C.B.; See Stanford,

J. K.

Trench, C. G. Chevenix ;

Breeding of the Great Stone-

Plover {CEdicnemus recurvi-

rostris) ... ... 809

Tresidder, Lt.-Col. A. G. ;

A live Beetle in the external

auditory meatus of the

human ear ... 1096

Trevenen, Major W. B.; Fish-

ing in the rivers of the C. P.

{with three text-f igures) ... 700

Wait, W. E., M. A., F. Z. S.;

The origin of Continents and

Oceans according to the dis-

placement theory {with one

plate and five text-figures) ... 754

Whistler, H., F. Z. S.,

M. B. O. U . ; The study of

Indian Birds, Part VI {with

one plate and two text-figures) 720

_____ — ________ ■ On the

nesting of the Crested Swifts

{with two plates) ... .... 772

Yates, J.A.; Notes on Parantir-

rhcea marshall i and Prioneris

sita ... ... ... 833

Notes on Appias

libythea libythea $ .. 834

- The Butterflies of

... 1003

973

Coorg, Part I

LIST OF PLATES

VOLUME XXXIV

No. 3 Page

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire-

Plate. The Eastern Grey Plover ( Squatarola squatarola hy pomelo ) and

The Indian Kentish Plover ( Leucopolius alexandrinus seebohmi ) ... 613

The Lions of Asia : —

Plate I. {A) The Persian Lion in the Surrey Gardens described

by Jardlne as Leo asiaticus. Adapted from Lear’s

drawing.

(B) Persian Lion (Drawn from a flat skin in the British

Museum) ... ... ... ... 644

Plate II. (A) Hurriana Lion in the Tower Menagerie described by

Bennett as Felts leo bengalensis. Adapted from

the original woodcut.

( B ) Gujerat Lion. Drawn from Capt. Smee’s skin in the

British Museum ... ... ... ... 648

Plate III. Gujerat Lion presented to the Zoological Society,

London, by H. H. the Maharajah Sahib of Nawanagar 655

Plate IV. Fig. A. (1) Facial portion of skull of Lioness from

Amreli showing duplication of the

infra-orbital orifice on the left side.

Fig. A. (2) Lateral view of skull of adult Male Lion

from Amreli ... ... ... 657

Plate V. Fig. B. (1) Dorsal view of skull of adult Male Lion

from Amreli.

Fig. B. (2) Ventral view of skull of adult Male Lion

from Amreli ... ... ... 658

Map showing the past and present distribution of the Lion in India... 661

Map of the Birds of the Prome District of Lower Burma ... 667

The Panther as I have known him—

Plate {A) A Kathiawar Panther)

(B) Vultures after a Meal i

Abnormal Tusks of Elephants—

Plate I. Fig. 1. Six tusks from the same side of a “rogue”

elephant.

Fig. 2. The relations of the tusks (Fig. 1) to one

another.

Fig. 3. A specimen made up of eight small tusks.

Fig. 4. A specimen showing a stage in the production

of a double tusk ... ... ... 694

LIST OF PLATES

xv

Plate II. Fig. 5. An example of a double tusk.

Fig. 6. A tusk which has been injured at an early

stage of growth.

Fig. 7. Portion of a tusk which has been injured.

Fig. 8. Section., at the position A, of the tusk shown in

Fig. 7

Plate HI. Fig. 9. Section, at the position B, of the tusk shown in

Fig. 7.

Fig. 10. A tusk which has been injured.

i. General view of the tusk.

ii. View of the free end.

iii. View of the growing end

Plate IV. Fig. 11. Diagram of the arrangements of the tissues of

the tusk shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 12. A tusk removed from the tuskless side of an

Elephant.

Fig. 13. Section through the tusk shown in Fig. 12

Plate V. Fig. 14. A deformed tusk.

Fig. 15. A deformed tusk.

Fig. 16. Section through the tusk shown in Fig. 14 at

the position marked I

Plate VI. Fig. 17. Section through the tusk shown in Fig. 14 at

the position marked II.

Fig. 18. Section through the tusk shown in Fig. 15 at

the position marked in the illustration

Beautiful Indian Trees—

Plate 9. The Scarlet-Bell Tree (Spathodea campanulata)

Plate IX. (1) The Scarlet-Bell Tree (X. campanulata) Victoria

Gardens, Bombay.

(2) Flowers of the Scarlet Bell Tree (S. campanulata ) ...

Plate 10. The Rusty Shield- Bearer [Peltophorum feri'uginetim)

Plate X. The Rusty Shield-Bearer {P. f errugineum ) Trees growing

in the vicinity of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay.

Plate I. The Little Bittern ( Ixobrychus minuta) on its nest

The Ornithological Station at Heligoland —

Plate. I. ( A ) Heligoland from the sea.

(B) On the Beach, Dunen Island (Heligoland in the back-

ground)

Plate II. {A) “Lange anna” — a feature of Heligoland.

( B ) A general view of the Sapskuhle or Trapping

garden, showing dense vegetation

Plate III. (A) Dr. Drost removing trapped birds from Trap No. 1.

(B) Dr. E. Stresemann at Trap No. 3

Plate IV. (A) Ringing in progress at the Sapskuhle.

(B) A ringed Sparrow-Hawk {Accipiter nisus nisus)

ready to be released

The Origin of Continents and Oceans—

Plate. Fig. 1. Upper carboniferous, Fig. 2 Eocene, Fig. 3

Older Quaternary

Page

695

696

697

698

699

716

717

718

719

734

744

745

746

747

763

XVI

LIST OF PLATES

Nesting of the Crested Swifts —

Page

Plate I. Fig. 1. The bottom of the nest ; Fig. 2. Nest and egg;

Fig. 3. A young Crested Swift in its nest,

adult birds in the back -ground ... ... 772

Plate II. (A) The nestling in a defensive pose.

(B) A young Crested Swift ... ... ... 773

Plate. Freak example of Papilio polytes romulus Cr. $ ... ... 832

Plate. Croce filipemiis.

Peculiar cross-vein-like structure in the hind-wings ... ... 835

Nuclear Division in old Internodes of Tradescantia stems.

Fig. 1. Microphotograph of a longitudinal section of the stem

of T. discolor.

Fig. 2. Microphotograph of a longitudinal section of the stem

T. zebrina ... ... ... ... 841

Plate. Spirogyra neglecta.

Branching of conjugation tubes ... ... ... 843

No. 4

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire —

Plate A. The Chinese Oyster-catcher ( Hcsmatopus osfralegus

osculans ) .

Plate B. The Indian or Jerdon’s Little Ringed Plover ( Chara -

drius dubius jerdoni ... ... ... 859

A new Ceropegia from the Western Ghats —

Plate. Ceropegia polyanth.a sp. nov.... ... ... ... 936

Nesting-habits of the Baya ( Ploceus philippinus)—

Plate I. (1) My Observation ‘Hide’ in position at Colony

No. 1.

(2) A * Close up ’ of a portion of above Colony ... 948

Plate II. (3) Acock on Nest in an early stage.

(4) A further stage in the construction ... ... 952

Plate III. (5) After weaving in his bunch of strips, the cock often

perches awhile on the dome as if for breath —

(6) and joins lustily in the frequent community courses... 954

Plate IV. (7) All the builders flutter their wings and join in the

choruses, in whatever position they happen to be

at the time.

(8) Pilfering material from neighbouring nests is exten-

sively practised by certain ‘ habitual offenders’ ... 957

Plate V. (9) A cock, dissatisfied with his partly-built nest, works

in dead earnest for its undoing.

(10) Sometimes two females fight for possession of an

eligible nest ... 958

Plate VI. (11) A pair of white-throated Munias {Uroloncha mala-

barica) persistently haunted Colony No. 1, and

entered and left the nests freely.

(12) When fresh building work is finally abandoned, the

Cocks often occupy themselves in elongating the

entrance tubes of their nests

960

LIST OF PLATES xvii

Page

Plate VII. (13) Some birds alight on a neighbouring branch before

flying into the nest with food for the young.

(14) A Baya shooting up the tube of its nest is a

wonderful sight ... ... ... 963

The Fish-supply of the West Coast of India—

Plate I. (A) Wagli {Try g on microps).

{8) Goal {Scicena diacanthus) .

*{C) Ravas ( Polynemns indicus ).

[D) Warn {Mur<znesox talabonoides) ... ... 976

Plate II. Tambusa Lutianus johnii ... ... ... 977

Plate III. Chand Drepane punctata ... ... ... 984

Flower less Plants —

Plate I. Sporophytes, Rhizomes and Prothallus ... ... 992

Plate II. Ferns with the fertile fronds dififering from the sterile

fronds .. ... ... ... ... 993

Plate III. Different types of Seri ... ... ... 994

Plate IV. Ferns which have the upper part of frond formed

entirely of the sporangia ... ... ... 995

Plate V. Cross section of frond of Aspidium, Sporangium of

Polipodium , Sporangiums of Lygodiuni , Gleichenia

osmunda and part of frond of Angiopteres evecta ... 998

Plate VI. Some Fern allies ... ... ... ... 999

Plate VII. Some more Fern allies ... ... ... 1000

The Bulbuls of the Nilgiris—

Plate I. ( A ) Nest of Red-Whiskered Bulbul {Molpastes cafer

eafer).

(B) Red-Whiskered Bulbul on nest ... ... 1026

Plate II. {A) Yellow-browed Bulbul at nest {/ole icterica) .

(B) Nest of Yellow-browed Bulbul (lole icterica) ... 1028

India Thysanoptera—

Plate I. (1) Erythrothrips asiaticus.— Head and antennae

(2) ,, ,, —Right fore-wing

(3) AEolothrips pandyani . —Head to show antennae

(4) ,, ,, — Fore- wing

(5) Mymarothrips garuda. —Head with antennae

(6) ,, ,, —Right fore- wing ... 1030

Plate II. (1) Heliothrips kadaliphila. —Anterior region of body

(2) ,, ,, —Right fore-wing

(3) Dendrothrips dwivarna. — Head to show setae

(4) ,, ,, —Right fore-wing

(5) Scolothrips asura.—{a) Head and Prothorax [b) n-

tennae ( c ) Fore-wing

(6) Tryphactothrips rutherfordi B. — Fore-part of body

(7) Euoplothrips tnalabarica. — Fore-part of body .. 1031

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME XXXIV

Nos. 3 and 4

Page

Actinopteris dichotoma , PI. figs.

5 & 6 Linear sori 994

Adiantum capillus veneris ,

Pl. fig. 7, Enlarged leaflet ... 994

AElothrips pandyani , PI. fig. 3,

Head to show antennae; fig. 4

Fore wing ... 1030

Angiopteris evecta, PI. figs. 8 &

9, Part of frond with synangia

on under side ... ... 998

Ant-mimicking Spiders photo... 831

Aspidium , PI. figs. 1 & 2, Part

of frond ... ... ••• 994

Aspidium , PI. figs. 1 & 2, Cross

section of frond showing sorus

with Sporangia sp. beneath

the indusium 998

Aspidium

PI. fig. 1. Sporophyte.

2. Creeping rhizome

3-4. Cross section of

rhizome.

5-7. Germination o f

spore producing

young prothallus.

8. Fully grown pro-

thallus.

9. Prothallus with

young sporo-

phyte 992

Asplenium normale, PL figs. 3

& 4 Oval sori 994

Bombay, Map of, showing wards

and sections... ••• ••• 736

Botrychium daucifolium , PI.

figs. 2 & 3, Sporangia en-

larged 995

Burma, Map of the Prome Dis-

trict 667

Page

Burmargiolestes melanothorax

Fore-wing fig. 1 ... ... 965

Anal appendages fig. 2 ... 966

Ceropegia polyantha , PI. ... 936

Cervus unicolor , Photo of

abnormal horns 1058

Charadrius dubius jerdoni, PI.

fig. 2 859

Continents and Oceans, Origin

of : —

Diagram A. showing section

across the Lithosphere or

upper crust of the earth ... 756

Diagram C. Hypsometric

curve of the earth’s surface

after Krummel 759

Diagram D. Section through

margin of continent ... 759

Diagram E. Section through

sial crust 761

PI. Fg. 1. Upper Carbonifer-

ous. *

2. Eocene.

3. Older Quaternary. 763

Croce filipennis , Cross-vein-

like structure in the hind-

wings, Pl. 835

Cycas circinalis, Photo of male

in flower 1102

Dondothrips dwivarna

Pl. fig. 3. Head to show setae.

4. Right fore-wing ... 1031

Dr e pane punctata. PL ... 984

Drymo gloss um pilosella , Pl.

fig. 4. Fertile and sterile

fronds 993

Elaphoglossmn con forme, Pl.

fig. 2. Fertile and sterile

fronds 993

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Elephants, abnormal tusks of: —

Plate I.

Fig. 1. Six tusks from the same

side of a rogue Elephant.

Fig. 2. The relations of the

tusks (fig. 1) to one another.

Fig. 3. A specimen made up

of eight small tusks.

Fig. 4. A specimen showing

a stage in the production of

a double tusk 694

Plate II

Fig. 5. An example of a

double tusk.

Fig. 6. A tusk which has been

injured at an early stage

of growth.

Fig. 7. Portion of a tusk

which has been injured.

Fig. 8. Section, at the position

A, of the tusk shown in fig. 7. 695

Plate III.

Fig. 9. Section, at the position

B, of the tusk shown in

Fig. 7.

Fig. 10. A tusk which has

been injured :

i. General view of the

tusk.

ii. View of the free end.

iii. View of the growing

end ... 696

Plate IV.

Fig. 11. Diagram of the

arrangements of the tissues

of the tusk shown in Fig. 10

Fig. 12. A tusk removed from

the tuskless side of an ele-

phant.

Fig. 13. Section through the

tusk shown in Fig. 12 ... 697

Plate V.

Fig. 14. A deformed tusk.

Fig 15. A deformed tusk.

Fig. 16. Section through the

tusk shown in Fig. 14 at

the position marked I ... 698

Plate VI.

Fig. 17. Section through the

tusk shown in Fig. 14 at

the position marked II.

3

xix

Page

Fig. 18. Section through the

tusk shown in Fig. 15 at

the position marked i n

the illustration ... ... 699

EquiseUmi arvense , PI. fig. 1

Sporophyte with (a) vegeta-

tive and ( b ) fertile branch (c)

sporangia clustered round

club-shaped head.

PI. fig. 2. One sporangium con-

taining the spores in the four

little pockets below the round

top ... 1000

Erythrothrips asi aliens.

PI. fig. 1. Head and antennae.

PI. fig. 2 Right fore-wing ... 1030

Euoplothrips malabcirica.

PI. fig. 7. Fore part of body. 1031

Euprodis icilia (Stinging Ca-

terpillar).

Fig. 1. Caterpillar clothed in

urticating hairs 780

Fig. 2. Caterpillar clothed all

over in simple hairs ... 783

Fig. 3. Caterpillar with con-

spicuous loose tufts ... 784

Fig. 4. Caterpillar suddenly

protruding brushes ... 784

Fig. 5. Caterpillar fenced

round with fringe of hairs 785

E ury aplothrips crassus.

Fig. (a) Outline of insect,

Fig. (6) Fore-wing 1037

Felis leo, Map showing distri-

bution 661

Felis leo ben galensis, PI. fig. 1 648

Felis leo goojratensis , PI. fig- 2

& PI 648, 655

Skull, facial portion PI. IV,

fig. 1, skull, lateral view,

PI. IV, fig. 2 657

Skull dorsal view PI. V, fig.

B. (1) skull, ventral view,

PI. V, fig. B. (2) 658

Felis leo pensions, PI. figs. 1

& 2 644

Gleichenia , PI. fig. 6 sporangi-

um with oblique annulus a . 998

Gymnopteris variabilis , PI.

fig. 1, Fertile and sterile

frond 993

XX

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Hcematopus ostralegus osculans

PI. fig. 1 859

Heligoland, Ornithological sta-

tion :

PI. I (a) Heligoland from the

sea.

(b) On the beach, Dunen

Island 744

PI. II (a) * Lange Anna*.

(b) General view of the

Sapsknhle or Trap-

ping Garden ... 745

PI. Ill Removing trapped birds 746

PI. IV (a) Ringing in progress

at the Sapskuhle.

(b) A ringed Sparrow-

hawk ( Accipiter

nisus nisus) ready

to be released ... 747

Diagram to illustrate system

of traps used in the Saps-

kuhle ... 748

Heliothrips kadaliphila.

PI. Fig. 1. Anterior region

of body.

Fig. 2. Right fore- wing 1031

Hemionitis arifolia.

PI. Fig. 3. Fertile and ste-

rile fronds ... 993

Hemiprocne longipennis.

PI. Fig. 1. The bottom of

the nest.

Fig. 2. Nest and egg.

Fig. 3. A young crested

swift in its nest, adult

birds in the back-

ground 772

PI. Fig. 1. The nestling in

a defensive pose.

Fig. 2. A young crested

swift ... 773

Hemitragus jemlaicus .

Photo of malformation in

skull 1057

Indian Birds (study of)

Fig. 1. Distribution of

pigment centres

in a bird ... 725

Fig. 2. Head of a bird to

show how pigment

centres affect pattern 726

ligule just above ... 1000

lxobrychtis minuta> on its nest

PI 734

Leucopolius alexandrinus see-

bohmi, PI. Fig. 2 613

Lindsay a cultrata , PL. Figs.

8 & 9 994

Lycopodium PL Figs. 1-6 sporo-

phytes 999

Lygodium .

PI. Fig. 5. Sporangium cap-

sule on very short stalk

with annulus around the

apex ... ... 998

Lutianus johnii , PI 977

Marsilia Sp., PL Fig. 7. Spo-

rophyte 1000

Mesopodagrio?i tibetana.

Fore-wing Fig. 6 970

Anal appendages Fig. 7 ... 971

Molpastes cafer cafer.

PL Fig. 1. Nest of, fig. 2 on

Nest 1026

Murcenesox talabonoides.

PL Fig. 4 976

Mymarothrips garuda.

PI. Fig. 5. Head with an-

tennae.'

Fig. 6. Fore-wing ... 1030

Ophioglossum nudicaule.

PL Figs. 4 & 5. Sporangia

enlarged 995

Osmtmda.

PL Fig. 7. Sporangium — an-

nulus reduced to slightly

thickened cells at apex

where capsule splits ... 998

Osmunda regalis.

Pi. Fig. 1 995

Panther (The) as I have

known him.

PI. Ill (,-z) A Kathiawar Panther.

(1 b ) Vultures after a meal

680

INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS

xxi

Polipodium.

Pi. Figs. 3 & 4. Sporangium

capsule showing ruptured

annules 998

Polynemus indicus , Pi. fig. 3 ... 976

Psilotum .

PI. fig. 5. Sporophyte ... 1000

Rhinagrion mima.

Fore-wing fig. 3 968

Anal appendages fig. 4 ... 969

Markings of head and thorax

fig. 5... ... ... ... 970

Rucervus duvaucelli .

Photo. Head with nineteen

points 1060

Salvinia.

PI. Fig. 8. Sporophyte ... 1000

Scicena diacanthus PI. Fig. 2... 976

Scolothrips as ura.

PI. Fig. 5. (a) Head and Pro-

thorax.

(■< b ) Antennae.

(c) Fore-wing ... 1031

Selaginella .

PI. Fig. 7. Sporophyte.

Fig. 8. Section of fertile

Page

branch showing mic-

rosporangium mi. in

upper leaves macros-

porangium, ma. in low-

er leaves.

Fig. 9. Microsporangium

with microspores (en-

larged 10 times.)

Fig. 10. Macrosporangium

with macrospores (en-

larged 10 times) ... 999

Spathodea campanulata , Col.

PI 716

Victoria Gardens, Bombay ... 717

Flowers of 717

Spirogyra neglecta.

PI. Branching of conjugation

tubes ... 843

Squatarola squatarola hypomela

PI. Fig. 1 ... 613

Stenoloma chinensis.

PI. Figs. 12 & 13. Closed sori 994

Tigers (Three at a kill) photo ... 796

Tradescantia discolor.

PI. Fig. 1. Microphotograph

of a longitudinal section of

the stem .. 841

Tradescantia zebrina.

PI. Fig. 2. Microphotograph

of a longitudinal section ... 841

Tricomanes .

PI. Figs. 14 & 15. Cup-shap-

ed sorus with prolongation

of column in centre on

w'hich sporangia are insert-

ed 994

Trygon microps, PI. Fig. 1 ... 976

Tryphactothrips rutherfordi.

PI. Fig. 6. Fore part of body 1031

Ursus malayanus , photo ... 799

ERRATA

Vol. XXXIV, Nos. 3 and 4

, line 4 lor coramendeiica read coromandelica

,, 10 ior Chelidonias read Chlidonias

,, 5 {or melanocephela read melanocephala

,, 8 {rom bottom for erythorgeuys read erythrogenys

,, 23 for tarqueola tarqueola read torqueola torqueola

,, 36 ior Cursbrious read Cursorius

, , 43 {or D. Macrocercus read macrocercus

,, 10 {rom bottom {or TEgialitts read /Egialitis

,, 21 {or foelida read fcetida

,, 12 {rom bottom {or Kleinhovla read Kleinhovia

,, 8 ,, ,, {or Blandford read Blanford

,, 17 {or Blandford read Blanford

Last line o{ Field Notes No. 10 for Nash read Naksh

Field Notes No. 35. Heading should read Monticola

saxitalis instead o{ axitalis

line i0 {royn bottom {or f inchi read finschi

Field Notes oi Nos. 89 and 90 have been trans{erred.

Those now shown under Marbled Duck should be {or

Shoveller and those wider Shoveller {or Marbled Duck

,, line 24 {or elucephala read leucocephala

„ ,, 7 {rom bottom {or Demegratta read Demiegretta

934 ,, 19 {or caudacius 7read caudacutus

1001 ,, 2 {rom below {or Polipodium read Polypodium

1012 ,, 3 {or Pontoporia read Pantoporia

1026 ,, 6 {rom bottom {or Micrsecelis read Microscelis

1040 ,, 6 ,, ,, {or Dondrothrips read Dendrothrips

1056 „ 11 „ ,, {or 33 J" read 23 J"

,, ,,24 ,, ,, {or Shingoshigar read Shingo-shigar

1073 ,, 7 {or Garruilus read Garrulus

Page 820

„ 822

„ 827

„ 856

n

„ 871

„ 878

879

„ 916

,, 917

„ 924,

„ 926,

„ 931

ERRATA

Vol. XXXIV, No, 2

Page 564, Top liiie {or Callousness read Callowness

,, 590, line 9 {rom bottom {or Atlanta read Atalanta

INDEX TO SPECIES

Abelmoschus angulosus

esculentus

- — — moschatus

— rugosus

Abisara echerius

- fylla

- prunosa

Abroma augusta ...

Abrornis superciliaris subsp. ...

Abutilon asiaticum

avicennae

bidentatum

cornutum

crispum

fruticosum

— glaucum

. graveolens

hirtum

indicum

— mnticum

— pannosum

polyandrum

ramosum

ranadei

theophrasti ...

tomentosum

Acacia arabica

Acanthopneuste nitidus viridanus ...

occipitalis occipitalis.

Accentor modularis

Accipiter nisus

nisus

Achalarus bifasciatus casyapa

Acridotheres tristis 806

melanosternus ...

tristis

Page

634

838

1014

838

884

909

629

631

630

629

630

629

630

629

630

779

824

749

930

838

1076

818

825, 910

Acrocephalus arundinaceus orientalis. 908

bistrigiceps 908

stentoreus ... ... 818

Actinopteris 998

dichotoma ... ... 1001

Adanosnia digitata ... ... ... 637

Page

Adiantum capillus veneris

sp.

AEgialitis alexandrina

dealbatus

dubia

hiaticula

tundrse

jerdoni

marginata

mongolica

placida

AEgithal iscus concinnus

iredalei

AEgithina tiphia

tiphia

zeylonica

AEolothrips fulvicollis

pandyani

AEthiopsar f . fuscus

AEthopyga nepalensis horsfieldi

AEtobatis narinari

Agialida roxburghii

Agriolestes melanothorax

Agrobates galactodes familiaris

Alasmon alaudipes dorise

Alauda arvensis

intermedia ...

gulgula australis

gulgula

peguensis

Alcedo atthis bengalensis

pallasii

Alcippe fraterculu's

nepalensis subsp.

poioicephala phayrei

Alectoris graeca waerae

Alseonax latirostris

poonensis

... 1001

994, 998

618, 620,621

... 621

867, 868, 869

... 865

... 869

... 617

... 873

... 871

... 1073

... 822

... 1063

... 672

... 817

... 1030

1030, 1040

910, 1076

... 825

... 974

... 895

... 967

... 926

... 924

... 749

... 924

... 818

... 914

... 826

... 928

... 672

... 671

... 672

... 934

... 1075

... 824

Alsophila

Althaea ludvvigii

Amadina striata

Amandava flavidiventris

999

627

911

XXIV

INDEX TO SPECIES

Page

bonapartei ... 824

Archangiopteris 997

Ardea cinerea cinerea

purpurea manillensis ...

Ardeola grayi

Ardetta minuta

Argya caudata huttoni

earlii ...

— gularis

Argynnis childreni sakontala

hyperbius

Arhopala atrax

centaurus

dodonea

— ganesa

rama

Arius dussumieri

sona

sp.

Artamus fuscus ...

Asio flammeus flarameus

Aspidium 994, 995

Aspidopterys canarensis

— cordata

— . — — — glomerata

Asplenium

normale

Astur badius

820, 931

... 820

... 932

... 926

... 670

... 838

... 984

983, 985

818, 907

... 929

, 998, 1001

... 894

... 998

994, 1001

... 1078

trivirgatus trivirgatus 819

Atella alcippe mercea ... ... ... 1013

phalanta 837, 1013

Athene noctua bactriana ... ... 929

Augiades brahma 838

Anhinga melanogaster 820

INDEX TO SPECIES

xxv

XX vi

INDEX TO SPECIES

xxvii

4

xxviii

INDEX TO SPECIES

XXIX

Fagonia diversifolia

echinella

mysorensis

Falco tinnunculus tinnunculus

Felis asiaticus

barbaricus

bengaleasis

goojeratensis

goojratensis

guzeratensis

— : — leo asiaticus

bengaleasis

goojratensis

gougeratensis

gozeratensis

guzeratensis

indicus

persicus

Fimbriaria augusta

Firmiana colorata

Francolinus francolinus

649,

643

vulgaris arabistanicus

Franklinia gracilis

r. rufescens ...

Fringilla coelebs

• coelebs

Fulica atra atra

Fulmekiola indica

Gaertnera racemosa

Galerida cristata magna

Gallinula chloropus

Gallus bankiva murghi

lafayettii

Gampsorhynchus r. rufulus ...

r. torquatus

Garcinia cambogia

indica

malabarica

morella

ovalifolia

• maorantha

— papilla

— pictoris

— spicata

- macrantha

tinctoria

• xanthochymus

Garrulax albogularis

albogularis

- leucolophus belangeri

Page

... 895

... 929

643, 659

.. 660

... 648

... 645

653, 659

... 645

... 660

650, 660

659, 660

845

879

1079

827

934

908

748, 749

923

933

1034

893

924

933

827

820

670

671

623

624

1073

822

669

Page

Garrulax leucolophus leucolophus ... 822

moniliger fuscata ... 670

pectoralis pectoralis ... 669

Garrulus bispecularis 1073

— bispecularis ... 822

lanceolatus ... 822,1073

leucotis 669

Gazza sp . 99^0

Gelochelidon n. nilotica 820

Gennaeus hamiltoni 827, 1079

Geocichla c. citrina 904

Geranium heliotropioides 896

larvianum 896

— peltatum 896

Gerbilus cuvieri 939

indicus ... 939

Gerres sp. 990

Glaucidium brodiei 735, 1077

brodiei 826

cuculoides cuculoides ... 826

Gleichenia 999, 1002

Golunda meltada 942

Gonepteryx rhamni nepalensis ... 838

Gordonia obtusa 625

Gossypium acuminatum ... ... 636

arboreum 636

var. neglectum. 636

bakeri ... ... 635, 636

barbadense 636

var. barsili-

ense 636

brasiliense 636

herbaceum 635

var. wighti-

anum 635

hirsutum 636

var. religiosa ... 636

jamaicense ... ... 636

latifolium 636

nanking 636

var. bani ... 636

roji . „ 636

rubicunda. 636

neglectum 635

obtusifolium 635

vayt vvighti-

anum ... 635

punctatum 636

stocksii 635

Gracupica burmanica 910

Grammatoptila striata striata ... 822

xxx INDEX TO

SPECIES

Page

Ha^m atop us 859

longipes ... ... 863

osculans ... 863

ostralegus ... 860, 863

— malacophaga... 859

— occidental^ ... 859

osculans. 860,863

ostralegus. 859, 860

Hsematospiza sipahi 721

Halcyon smyrnensis fusca 826

generosa ... 819

smyrnensis ... 928

Haliaetus leucogaster 819

Haliastur indus 819

— indus 827

Haplothrips (Trybomiella) ramakrish-

nai 1038

tirumal-

raoi 1038

Harpodon nehereus ... 990

Hebomoia glaucippe australis ... 1007

Helicteres isora ... 879

Heliothrips kadaliphila ... 1033,1040

Helminthostachys 996

Hemichelidon sibirica cacabata ... 904

— gulmergi ... 904

Hemionitis ... 994, 996, 998

arifoiia 1001

Hermitragus jemlaicus 1057

Hemiprocne comata comata ... 77 2

* coronata ... 772,819

longipennis 772

— — - harterti ... 772

Hemipus picatus ... ... 906,1075

Hemixus f. flavala ... 901

maclellandi 901

— — maclellandi. 823

Heritiera ... 879

Herpestes vitticollis ... 1054

Hestia lynceus malabarica 1008

Hibiscus abelmoschus 634

angulosus 634

- — caesius 633

cannabinus 633

collinus ... 633

fesculentus ... ... ... 634

ficulneus ... 633

furcatus ... 632

gibsoni 633

— ± hirtus 632

-intermedins ... ... ... 632

INDEX TO SPECIES

xxxi

Hibiscus intermedius var. aristaevalvis.

lampas

lobatus ..

— lunariifolius ...

— manihot

— micranthus

mutabilis

pandurmformis

platanifolius

populneoides ...

populneus

punctatus

radiatus ...

rosa sinensis

rugosus

sagittifolia

setinervis

solandra

surattensis

syriaeus

tetraphyllus

tiliaceus

tortuosus

trionoides

trionum

vitifolius

Hieraetus pennatus

Hierococcyx

sparveroides

Hildegardia populifolia

Himantopus h. himantopus

Hiptage benghalensis

madablota

Hiraea cordata

Hirundo daurica

■ erythropygia

rufula japonica

rustica gutturalis

— — - — ■ rustica

Hopea glabra

wightiana

Horaga onyx

Hugonia mystax

Huphina nadina remba

nerissa evagete

Hyarotis adrastus

Hydatothrips ramaswamiahi

Hydrophasianus chirurgus

Hymenophyllura

Hypacanthis spinoides spinoides

Hypericum japonicnm

Page

632

634

632

633

632

634

633

635

633

632

634

632

634

633

634

632

633

929

730

826

878

820

893

894

1076

818

912

927

626

838

893

1006

838

1032

820

998

825

623

xxxil

INDEX TO SPECIES

xxxiii

xxxiv

INDEX TO SPECIES

CEnanthe alboniger

deserti albifrons

finschi

isabellina

oenanthe oenanthe

picata

• xanthoprymna chrysopygia

Oligodon arnensis

subsgriseus

Opbioglossum

- nudicaule

Oreicola ferrea

- ferrea

■ jerdoni

Oreocincla dauma

dauma

Oriolus chinensis tenuirostris ...

oriolus

■ -oriolus ...

— trailii

— xanthonolus ceylonensis

— - xanthornus xanthornus

Orsotriaena medus mandata ..

Orthotomus sutorius patia

— sutorius

Osmunda

regalis

Otocompsa emeria

Page

927

926

927

... 1085

... 996

... 1001

... 1074

823, 903

... 903

... 1075

824, 904

... 909

... 1076

... 923

... 910

... 818

.. 909

... 1009

.. 908

.. 818

996, 999, 1002

... 1001

1070

INDEX TO SPECIES

- indicus 825

- nigricollis ... ...911

Page

Passer flaveolus ... ... ... 911

hispaniolensis transpicus ... 923

montanus ... 911

malaccensis ... 911

* rutilans ... ... ... 1076

debilis ... ... 825

Patbysa antiphates naira 1005

Pavo cristatus 723, 820

Pavonia arabica 631

* glechoraifolia ... ... ... 631

odorata 631

platanifolia 633

procumbens 631

zeylanica ... 631

Pedestes masuriensis 838

Peganum harmala 894

Pelargonium inquinans ... ... 897

lateripes 897

peltatum 896

— quercifolium ... ... 897

— radula 897

~ zonale 897

Pelecanus philippensis ... ... 820

sp. ... 930

Pellonasp. ... 990

Pellorneum minus ... ... ... 671

ruficepssubsp 671

tickelli subsp 671

Peltophorum ferrugineum ... ... 717

Pentapetes phoenicea ... ... 882

~ suberifolia ... ... 880

Penthoceryx sonneratti ... ... 727

— — — waiti 819

Pericrocotus brevirostris ... ... 3075

brevirostris, 824

- — — * flammifer 906

— ■ * * fratercuius 906

— peregrinus vividus ... 907

— roseus roseus ... 907

— speciosus 1061

— elegans ... 906

Perissospiza icteroides icteroides ... 825

Phalacroeorax carbo sinensis ... 827

— • subcormoranus. 930

fuscicollis ... ... 820

* javanicus ... ... 520

* pygmseus ... ... 930

Phoenicopterus ruber antiquorum 821, 931

Phoenicurus erythronota ... ... 92j7

*■ frontalis ,823

— * ochrurus ... 748, 749

5

xxxvi

INDEX TO SPECIES

INDEX TO SPECIES xxxvii

xxxviii

INDEX TO SPECIES

xxxix

Page

Triumfetta pilosa ... 889

pseudocana ... ... ... 889

rhomboidea ... 890

rotundifolia 890

_____ tomentosa ... 889

trilocularis ... ... ... 890

Trochalopterum erythrocephalum ery-

throcephalum ... 822

lineatum ... ... 1073

griseicentior 822

Troglodytes troglodytes ... ... 749

Troides minos ... 1004

Tropseolum aduncum ... , 900

majus ... 899

minus ... 900

— — peregrinum ' 900

Tropidonotus piscator 1085

stolatus 1085

Trygon bleekeri 974

khulii ... ... 974

sephen 974

uarnak ... 974

walga 974, 975

zugei 974

Tryphactothrips rutherfordi ... 1036,1040

Turdinulus brevicaudatus striatus ... 671

Turdoides griseus striatus 817

somervillei ... ... 1063, 1071

Turdus albogularis ... 823

atrogularis ... 926

boulboul 823, 1074

castaneus castaneus 823

merula albocinctus 823

Typhlops brahminus ... 1086

Tyto alba alba ... ... 929

Udaspes folus ... ... 838

Upenoides sulphureus ... 990

vittatus 990

Upupa epops epops ... 735, 826, 928, 1077

Urena lobata 631

var. sinuata ... ... 631

palmata ... 631

sinuata ... ... ... ... 631

Uria aalge helgolandica ... ... 744

Urocissa melanocephala ... ... 1073

magnirostris 668

occipitalis ... 822

Uroloncha malabarica ... ... ... 956

punctulata punctulata ... 818

— subundulata ... 911

Uroloncha striata ... ... ... 1066

xl

INDEX TO SPECIES

Uroloncha striata

— striata subsp

Ursus malayanus

— isabellinus

Vanellus vanellus

Vanessa canace

viridis

cardui 837,

— cashmirensis ...

c-album cognata

indica pholoe ...

Vateria indica

Virachola isocrates ...

perse

Visenia indica

umbellata

Vittaria

Waltheria americana

■ indica ...

Xanthochymus ovalifolius

pictorius

spicatus

tinctorius

Xantholsema haemacephala lutea

Ximenia segyptiaca

— agihalid

Page

Ximenia ferox ... 895

Ypthima baldus madrasa 1009

ceyionica ... 1009

hubneri hubneri 1009

sakra 837

Zamenis fasciolatus ... 1084

gracilis 1085

mucosus ... 1081,1084,1085

Zemeros flegyas 838

Zephyr us ataxus 838

birtipa 838

icana 838

syla 838

Zetides agamemnon menides ... ... 1006

doson elaeius ... 1006

sarpedon teredon ... ... 1006

Zipoetis saitis 1009

Zoothera marginata ... ... ... 904

Zosterops palpebrosa ... 1076

elwesi 825

palpebrosa ... 915

simplex peguensis 915

Zygnema sp 843

Zygsena 989

Zygophyllum coccineum 895

simplex ... 895

Page

818

911

798

1056

933

837

1013

837

1013

627

838

883

998

637

624

819

895

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

OFFICE BEARERS, 1931

Patrons.

H. E. The Viceroy of India, g.m.s.i., g.m.i.e.

H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, k.g.

Vice=Patrons.

H.H. The Maharao of Cutch, G.C.Si., G.c.i.e.

H.H. The Maharaja of Jodhpur, k.c.S.i., k.c.v.o.

H.H. The Maharaja of Rewa, k.c.S.i.

H.H. The Maharaja of Bhavnagar.

H.H. The Maharani of Dhar.

Mr. F. V. Evans, Haymans Green, Liverpool.

Mr. A. S. Vernay, New York, u.s.a.

Sir David Ezra, Kt., Calcutta.

President.

H. E. The Right Hon’ble Sir Frederick Sykes, p.c., g.c.i.e., g.e.e., k.c.b.,

Vice=Presidents.

H.H. The Maharao of Cutch, g.c.S.i., G.c.i.e.

Rev. E. Blatter, S.J., ph.D., f.l.s.

Mr. R. D. Bell, c.i.e., I.C.S.

Managing Committee.

Mr. R. D. Bell, c.i.e. , I.C.S. ... ... ... Bombay.

Col. Sir Frank Connor, d.s.o., k.h.s., i.m.s. ... ,,

Rev. Fi\ J. F. Caius, S.J. ... ... ... ,,

Mr. R. B. Ewbank, c.i.e., I.C.S. ... ... ,,

Mr. Alwyn Ezra, f.r.g.s., f.z.s. ... ... ,,

Mr. J. B. Greaves ... ... ... 0.. ,,

Prof. V. N. Hate, b.Sc. ... ... ... ,,

Mr. J. G. Ridland ... ... ... ... ,,

Mr. P. M. D. Sanderson, f.z.s. ... ... ,,

Major S. S. Sokhey, i.m.s. ... ... ... ,,

Mr. A. Forrington ( Honorary Treasurer) ... ,,

Sir Reginald Spence, Kt. ( Honorary Secretary) ... ,,

Advisory Committee,

Mr. T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, f.e.s.

Mr. T. R. Bell, c.i.e., i.f.s. (Retd.)

Brigadier W. H. Evans, c.s.i., c.i.e., d.s.o.

Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser, i.m.s.

Dr. F. H. Gravely, d.sc.

Mr. C. M. Inglis, m.b.o.u., c.m.z.s.

Mr. R. C. Morris, f.z.s., f.r.g.s.

Major E. G. Phythian-Adams, i.a., f.z.s. ...

Dr. Baini Prashad, d.sc.

Lt.-Col. R. B . Seymour-Sewell, i.m.s.

Mr. H. C. Smith, i.f.s.

Lt.-Col. C. H. Stockley, d.s.o., m.c., o.b.e.

Pusa.

Karwar,

Quetta.

Coimbatore.

Madras.

Darjeeling.

Coimbatore.

Mysore.

Calcutta.

Maymyo.

Meerut.

LIST OF MEMBERS

LIFE MEMBERS

Aga Khan, H. H. Aga Sir Sultan Mahomed Shaha

LIST OF MEMBERS

xliii

Cooch Behar, Maharaj Kumar Victor N. Narayan ..

Coode, John M.

Corkill, Dr. Norman L. (m.b., c.h.b.)

Cowie, Rev. A. G. G.

Cox, Major-Genl. Sir Percy (g.c.fe., k.c.S.i.,

K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., F.Z.S., F.R.G.S.)

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

Crawford, W. M. (f.e.s., I.C.S.) (retd.) ..

Culbertson, J. M. S. (a.m.i.c.e.)

Cursetji, Khan Bahadur C. M. ...

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

Bahadur (k.c.S.i., k.c.v.o., k.b.e.) ( Vice-Patron

and Vice-President )

Cutch, Kumar Shri Godji

Cutting, C.Suydam ...

Dalai, Rustomjee D.

D’Almeida, J. F. R. [b.a., b.sc. (Hon.)]...

Davidson, Lt. -Col. J. (d.s.o., i. m.S.)

Dhar, Her Highness Laxmibai Saheb Puar ( Vice-

Patroness )

Dharampur, H.H. The Maharana Shree Vijayadevji

Rana, Maharaja Saheb of ...

Dhrangadhra, H.H. Maharana Sri Sir Ghanshyam

Sinhji (k.c.S.i.)...

Dhunjibhoy Bomanji, Sir, Kt....

Drake-Brockman, Lt.-Col. H.E. (f.z.s. , i.m.s.)

Dungarpur, H.H. Rai Rayan Maharajadhiraj Mahara-

wal Shri Lakshman Singhji Bahadur ...

Duxbury, Lt.-Col. C. D.

Elgee, Colonel J. W. L.

Ellison, Bernard C. (c.m.z.s., f.r.g.s.) ...

English, E. E.

Erb, E. ...

Evans, F. V. ( Vice- Patron)

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

Ezra, Alfred (o.b.e., f.z.s.)

Foulkes, Lt.-Col. T. H. (i.m.s.)...

Frei , Max ...

Frere, Lt.-Col. A. G. (i. a., f.z.s.)

Gammie, Prof. G. A.

Gauriphr, Raja Prabhatchandra Barna

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

Gonsalves, A. F.

Gregory-Smith, Capt. H. G.

Harris, Jr. William P.

Hide, P. ...

Hill, Major R. D. O.

Holkar, Sir Tukuji Rao

Hopwood, S. F. (i.f.s.J

Hotson, Sir Ernest (k.c.S.i., o.b.e., I.C.S.)

Hoyos, Count E.

Husbands, Major H. W. S. (m.c., a.m.i.c.e., s.m.r.e.)

6

Cooch Behar.

Plymouth.

Khartoum.

Rawalpindi.

London .

Rangoon .

S. Belfast.

Karachi.

Bombay.

Bhuj-Cutch.

Cutch.

New York, U.S.A.

Bombay.

Bandra.

Lasswade.

Dhar.

Dharampur.

Dhrangadhra.

Bombay.

Twyford.

Dungarpur.

Poona.

London.

Cornwall.

Bombay.

Liverpool .

Calcutta.

London.

Europe.

Switzerland .

Coimbatore.

London.

Gauripur.

Ahmednagar.

Bandra.

London.

U.S.A.

Oxford.

London.

Indore.

Rangoon .

Bombay.

Austria.

London

list of members

xiiv

Hyam, Khan Bahadur Judah (g.b.v.c., f.z.s.)'

Ichalkaranji, Sardar Narayanrao Govind alias Baba-

sahab Ghorpade...

Idar, H. H. Maharaja Shri Himmat Singhji Sahib

Bahadur

Indore, H. H. The Maharaja, Yeshawantrao

Holkar

Inglis, Chas. M. (f.z.s., m.b.o.u.)

Ivens, J. H. (p.w.D.)

Jamkhandi, Shrimant Shankarrao Parashuramrao alias

Appasaheb Patwardhan

Jind, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Ranbir Singh (k.c.s.i.,

g.c.i.e.)

Jodhpur, Lt.-Col. H. H. The Maharaja Sir Umaid

Sing Bahadur (k.c.s.i., k.c.v.o.) ( Vice-Patron )

Kaiser Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, S.M., Lt.-Gen,

Khairpur, H. H. Mir Ali Nawazkhan

Khetri, , Raja Sardar Singh Bahadur

Khilchipur, H. H. Durjansal Singh

Kirk-Greene, Mrs. Leslie

Kolhapur, H. H. The Maharaja Lt.-Col. SirRajaram

Chhatrapati (g.c.i.e.)

Kotah, H. H. The Maharajadhiraj Lt.-Col. Sir Umed

Singhji Saheb Bahadur (g.c.i.e,, x.b.e.)

Lee, D. H.

Lewis, J. Spedan

Long, G. R. (i.f.s.) ...

Lorimer, Major D. L. R. (c.i.e., i.a.)

Lowndes, Capt. D. G.

Ludlow, F. (m. a., m.b.o.u., i.e.s.)

Lynes, Rear Admiral Herbert (c.b., c.m.g.)

Mackenzie, J. M. D. (i.f.s.)

Manavadar, Khan Shree Fatehdinkhan ...

Mandlik, Narayan V.

Mangrol, The Shaikh Saheb ...

Marshall, Arch. McL.

Marshall, J. McL.

Martin, Col. Gerald

Maxwell, M.

McConaghy, Lt.-Col. C. B. (i.m.s.)

Millard, A. W. P. ...

Milliard, W. S. (f.z.s.)

Mills, Major J . D.

Miraj, Shrimant Sir Gungadhar Rao Ganesh alias

Babasaheb Patwardhan (k. c.i.e.)

Mitchell, PI. H. G. ...

Montagnon, D. J.

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

Morris, Lt.-Col. D. O.

Morvi, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Lakhdiriji Wagbji

(k.c.s.i.)

Mosse, Lt.-Col. A. PI. E. (i.a.)

Poona.

Ichalkaranji.

Himatnagar.

Indore.

Darjeeling.

Guildford.

Jamkhandi.

Jind.

Jodhpur.

Nepal.

Khairpur.

Khetri.

Khilchipur.

London.

Kolhapur.

Kotah.

Europe.

London.

Wood bridge.

London.

Razmak .

Srinagar.

London.

Europe.

Manavadar.

Bombay.

Mangrol.

England.

Scotland.

England.

Europe.

Camberley.

England.

Miraj .

England.

Dibrugarh

Belgaum.

England.

Morvi.

Bhavnagar.

LIST OF MEMBERS

xiv

Murland, Lt.-Col. H. F.

Mysore, H.H. The Maharaja Sir Krishnaraj Woodayar

Bahadur (g.c.s.i., g.b.e.) ...

Namjosi, V. K.

Naraenji, Dwarkadas

Narayanlal Bansilal, Raja

Narsingarh, H. H, Raja Vikram Singhji Sahib

Bahadur

Nawanagar, H. H. The Jamsaheb (g.c.s.i., c.b.e.,

K.C.S.I. )

Nepal, Supradipta Manyaber General Sir Mohun Shum-

shere Jung Bahadur Rana (k.c.i.e.) ...

Newman, T. H. (f.z.s., m.b.o.u.) ...

Noyce, Sir Frank (I.C.S..)

Nurse, Lt.-Col. C. G. (f.e.s.) ...

Oberholser, Harry C.

Ogilvie, G. H. (i.f.s.)

Oliver, Col. H. D. (r.e., f.z.s.)

Page, A. J. (I.C.S.) ...

Palitana, H. H. The Thakor Saheb Bahadur Sinhji

(k.c.i.e.)

Parlakimedi, Shri Shri Shri Krishnachandra Gajapati

Narayan Deo, Raja of

Parlett, L. M. (I.C.S.)

Patiala, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Sri Bhupendar

Singh (G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., G.B.E.)

Patiala, Capt. Rao Raja Birindra Singhji

Patiala, H. H. Maharaj Kumar Brijindra Singhji

Patuck, P. S. (I.C.S.)

Peacock, E. H. (b.f.s.)

Pestonji Jivanji (n.c.s.)

Petit, Dhunjibhoy Bomanji

Petit, Jehangir Bomanji

Phipson, H. M. (f.z.s.)

Poncins, Viscount Edmund de

Porbundar, H. H. The Maharaja Natwar Singhji

Bhavsinghji

Radhanpur, H. H. Shri Jalaluddin Khanji

Rae, Lt.-Col. M. E. (i.a.)

Rajgarh, H. H. Raja Rawat Sir Brindha Singh

(k.c.i.e.)

Ravenshaw, Col. C. W.

Reid, Mrs. D. W.

Rewa, H.H. The Maharaja Sir Gulabsingh Bahadur

(k.c.s.i.) ( Vice-Patron )

Ribeiro, J. (l.c.e.) ...

Roosevelt, Kermit

Roosevelt, Col. Theodore

Ross, Major Tyrell ...

Roumania, H. M. the King of

Sanders, Major C. W.

Sanderson, Henry

Suntikoppa.

Mysore.

Cambay.

Bombay.

Narsingarh.

Jamnagar.

Nepal.

London,

England.

Washington, D. C.

Rangoon.

England.

London.

Palitana.

Parlakimedi.

England.

Patiala.

England.

Mawlaik.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Bombay.

England

France.

Porbundar.

Radhanpur.

Edinburgh.

Rajgarh.

England.

Bombay.

Rewa.

Santa Cruz.

U.S.A.

England.

Roumania.

Jullundur.

U.S.A.

xlvi LIST OF MEMBERS

Sangli, Meherban Sir Shrimant Chintamanrao Appa-

saheb Patwardhan (k.c.s.i.)

Savile, Sir Leopold (k.c.b.)

Schmid, W,

Scott, R. L.

Seton-Karr, Capt. H. W.

Smith, A. Kirke

Smith, Major G. De Heriez

Smith, H. C.

Spence, Dr. Arthur D. (m.b., ch.B.) (Edin.)

Spence, Sir Reginald (Ft.)

Standen, Sir B. (k.c.i.e., I.C.S. retd.)

Stanton, W. C.

Stewart, C. G. (i.p.s., m.a.)

Studd, E.

Suket State, H. H. Raja Lakshman Sen ...

Surguja, Maharaja Ramanuj Saran Singh Deo (c.b.e.)

Swaine, J. K.

vSwithinbank, Mrs. B. W.

Tata, Sir Dorabji J. (A7.)

Tehri-Garhwal, H. H. Raja Nareudra Shah Saheb

Bahadur (c.s.i.)

Thomson-Glover, Capt. J. W. ..

Udaipur, H.H. The Maharana Sahib Bahadur

Venning, Brigadier F. E. W. (c.b.e., d.s.o.)

Ver n ay , A . S . ( Vice- Patron)

Vesugar, Jamshed (P.W.D.)

Waite, H.W.

Wales, H. R. H. Edward Prince of (k.g., m.c., etc.)

( Patron )

Walker, Roland

Wauchope, Major R. S. (i.a. ) ...

Whistler, Hugh (m.b.o.u., f.z.s.)

Williamson, W. J. F. (c.m.g., f.z.s. , m.b.o.u.)

Wilson, Sir Arnold (c.s.i., c.m.g., d.s.o., k.c.i.e.) ...

Wyndham, P. (c.b.e., I.C.S.) ...

MEMBERS

Acharya, H. N. (b.a.)

Acland, Rt. Rev. R. D. [Bishop of Bombay)

Addyman, J.

Aga Khan, H. H. Aga Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah

(g.c.s.i., G.c.i.E.) [Life Member)

Aird, J.

Aitken, C. E. [Life Member) ...

Akka-Saheb Maharaj, H.H.S.S.

Alimahomed Macklai

Ali, Salim A. (m.b.o.u.)

Alington, Capt. N. S. (m.c.). ...

Sangli.

England.

Krenzlingen.

Scotland.

England.

Bombay.

Ootacamund.

London.

Rangoon.

Bombay.

Europe.

England.

Insein.

Calcutta.

Suket.

Surguja.

Matang.

Rangoon.

Bombay.

Tehrj.

Malakand.

Udaipur.

Meerut.

England.

Europe.

Rawalpindi.

England.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

England.

London.

Ahmedabad.

Bombay.

Europe.

Nilgiris.

Bombay.

Kolhapur.

Bombay.

Fort-Sandeman.

LIST OF MEMBERS

xlvii

Alipur, Agri. and Horticultural Society of India, The

xivi'ii

LIST OF MEMBERS

Baroda, H.H. The Maharaja Sir Sayaji Rao Gaekwar,

LIST OF MEMBERS

xlix

1

LIS T OF MEMBERS

Burnett, Prof. K.

Burns, F. G.

Burton, Brig. -General R. G. {Life Member)

Burton, R. N.

Burton, Lt.-Col. Richard W. {Life Member)

Busher, Rev. R. C. ..

Bute, The Most Hon’ble The Marquis of {Life

Member)

Butler, Sir Hareourt (g.c.i.e., k.c.s.i., I.C.S.) {Life

Member)

Butler, S. G.

Caccia, Major A. M. (i.f.s.) {Life Member)

Cams, Rev. John F. (s.J.)

Calcutta Zoological Gardens, The Honorary Secretary

Caldecott, C. D’a

Caldwell, John M. ...

Cambay, H. H. Nawab Hussain Yavarkhan Jafar

Alikhan Sahib Bahadur {Life Member)

Cambridge, University Museum of Zoology, The

Superintendent ...

Cameron, I. L.

Cameron, Thos. H. (f.z.s.) ... ... . ...

Campbell, A. S.

Campbell, R. G.

Campbell, S.

Canning, Fred, (i.f.s.)

Capito, C. Erik (o.b.e., m. inst. c.e.)

Captain, Mrs. A. H. C.

Cardew, Capt. C. G. (r.e.)

Carnegie Museum, The Director

Cartland, Murray A.

Cassamalli Jairajbhoy Peerbhoy ( Life Member)

Cassell, R. H.

Castens, H. E. (i.f.s.)

Cater, A. N. L. (c.i.e., I.C.S.)...

Cave, Capt. F. O.

Cave, R. B.

Chaldecott, H. 1).

Chamba State, H. H. Raja Ram Singh

Chamier, Major R. O.

Champion, F. W. (i.f.s.) .

Champion, H. G. (i.f.s.)

Chartres, C. B.

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

Chota-Udepur, Maharawal Natwar Singhji F.

Chislett, E. V. D. ...

Chopra, Dr. B. N. (d.sc.)

Christopher, Sydney A. (Bar.-at-Law) {Life Mem-

ber)

Chrystall, A.

Clarke, A. D. M.

Clarke, L. O. (c.i.e., I.C.S.) {Life Member)

Hyderabad, Dn.

Shwebo.

England.

Jalpaiguri.

Bombay.

Naini Tal.

London.

Tezpur.

Oxford.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Chanda.

Panighatta.

Cambay.

Cambridge.

Fortrose.

Devicolam.

Karachi.

England.

Bara Jamda.

Naini Tal.

San Fernando.

Bandra.

London.

U. S. A.

Ghazipur.

Bombay.

Moniarah.

England.

Trivandrum.

Petersfield.

Brighton.

Kollengode.

Chamba.

Belgaum .

Lakh imp ur.

Dehra Dun.

Northumberland.

Udaipur.

Chhota-Udepur.

Satara.

Calcutta.

Rangoon.

London.

Ashton Grange.

London.

LIST OF MEMBERS

li

lii LIST OF MEMBERS

Colleges^and Scientific Institutions— continued.

Carmichael Medical College, The Principal

Cathedral & John Connon High School for Girls ...

Central College, The Principal

Central Research Institute, The Director

Daly College, The Principal ...

Deccan College, The Principal

Dow Hill Training College, The Principal

Forest Research Institute and College, The Forest

Botanist

Forest Research Institute and College, The Principal

Government English School, The Head Master

Gujrat College, The Principal

Gwalior, Victoria College, The Principal

H. H. The Maharaja’s College for Women

Indian Lac Research Institute

Institute of Plant Industry, The Director

Intermediate College, The Superintendent

Karnatak College, The Principal

King Institute, The Director ...

Ludhiana, Government Intermediate College, The

Principal

Madras Forest College, The Principal ...

Maharaja’s College, The Principal

Mayo College, The Principal ...

Medical College, The Principal

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

Osmania University College ...

Presidency College, The Principal

Punjab Veterinary College, The Principal

Rajkumar College, The Principal

Raj aram College, The Principal

Ravenshaw College, The Principal

Royal College of Medicine, The Professor ...

Royal Institute of Science, The Principal

St. Joseph’s College, The Principal

University College, The Principal

Victoria College, The Principal

Victoria Technical Institute, The Curator

Wilson College, The Principal

Colombo Museum, The Librarian

Colthurst, Dr. Ida

Colvin, Major E. J. D. (i. a.) ...

Commissioner, The Hon’ble The Chief, North-West

Frontier Province

Congreve, C. R. T. ...

Conley, Andrew

Connor, Col. Sir Frank {Kt., d.s.o., i.m.s.)

Conservator of Forests, Bhopal State

Conservator of Forests, Cochin Government

Cooch Behar, Maharaj Kumar Victor N. Narayan

{Life Member) ...

Calcutta.

Bombay.

Bangalore.

Kasauli.

Indore.

Poona.

Kurseong.

Dehra Dun.

Virajpet.

Ahmedabad.

Gwalior.

Trivandrum.

Namkum.

Indore.

Bangalore.

Dharwar.

Guindy.

Ludhiana.

Coimbatore.

Ernakulam.

Ajmer.

Vizagapatam.

Hyderabad, Dn

Madras.

Lahore.

Rajkot.

Kolhapur.

Cuttack.

Baghdad.

Bombay.

Teppakulam.

Rangoon.

Palghat.

Nagpur.

Bombay.

Colombo.

Kurseong.

Rewa.

Peshawar.

Valparai.

Liguanla.

Bombay.

Bhopal.

Chalakkudi.

Cooch Behar.

LIST OF MEMBERS

liii

liv

LIST OF MEMBERS

Davidson, E. R.

Davidson, Lt.-Col, J. (d.s.o., i.m.s.) {Life Member)...

Davidson, M. N. D. ..

Davies, T. G. B. (a.r.s.m.)

Davies, R. W. H. (I.C.S.)

Davies, Capt. V. K. N. (i.a.) ...

Davis, G. (I.C.S.) ...

Davis, P. W. (i.f.s.)...

Davis, Dr. W. St. T.

Dawes, Lt.-Col. C. D. (i.m.s.) ...

Dawkins, C. G. E. (i.f.s.)

Delacour, Mons. Jean

Delaney, M. F.

Delme-Radcliff, Lt.-Col. A. (d.s.o.)

Dent, T. V. (i.f.s.) ...

Deo, Sri Balavadra Narayan Bhunj

deRhe-Philipe, G. W. V. (f.e.s.)

Dewas (Sr.) Prince Vikram Singrao

Dhar, Her Highness Laxmibai Saheb Puar ( Life

Member and Vice- Patroness)

Dnarampur, H. H. The Maharana Shree Vijayadevji

Rana, Maharaja Saheb of {Life Member)

Dhrangadhra, H. H. Maharana Shri Sir Ghanshyam

Sinhji (k.c.s.i.) {Life Member)

Dhunjibhoy Bomanji, Sir, Kt. {Life Member)

Dickins, K. F. R. (i.f.s.)

Dickson, Lt.-Col. H. R. P. (c.i.e.)

Dinajpur, Maharaja Jagadish Nath Ray ...

Dinshaw, Kaikobad Cowasjee (j.p.)

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

Dixon, A. F. W. (I.C.S.)

Dobson, F.

Dobson, Roderick

Dods, W. K. (c.i.e.)...

Donald, C. H.

Donald, D. R.

Donald, Lt. J. O. S....

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

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

Doyle, Major E. E. (i.m.s.)

Drake-Brockman, Lt. R. F. H., (r.a.)

Drake-Brockman, D. L. (c.i.e., I.C.S.) ...

Drake-Brockman, Lt.-Col. H. E. (i.m.s., f.z.s.) {Life

Member)

Drummond, Major J. G. P.

Dubash, J. K.

Duke, A. H.

Duke, J. A.

Dunbar-Brander, A. A. (o.b.e., i.f.s.)

Duncan, Capt. D. L.

Duncan, John E. (p.w.d.)

Cairo.

Lasswade.

Lampang.

Khaur.

Belgaum .

Bombay.

London.

Mangalore.

Dwarbund.

London.

Dolton.

France.

Bombay.

London.

Calcutta.

Keonjhargarh.

London.

Kolhapur.

Dhar.

Dharampur.

Dhrangadhra.

Bombay.

London.

Persia.

D'inajpur, Rajbati.

Bombay.

Kuala Lumpur.

London.

Panposh.

Talawakelle.

Calcutta.

Dharamsala.

Pyinmana.

London.

Bourton-on-The-

Water.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Poona.

Bangalore.

Fyzabad.

Twyford, England.

Aurangabad.

Bombay.

Bangkok.

Nagpur.

Elgin-Scotland.

Loralai

London.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Duncan, P. R. (i.f.e.s.)

Duncan. Major W. E. (d.s.o., n.c., r.a.) ...

Dundas, A. D. F. (I.C.S.>

Dungarpur, H. H. Rai Rayan Maharajadhiraj Maha-

rawal Shri Lakshman Singhji Bahadur ( Life

Member ) ...

Dunkley, E. J .

Dunlop, Dr. W.

Dunn, C. W. (c.i.e., I.C.S.) ...

Dunsdon, A. C.

Duxbury, Brigadier C. D. ( Life Member) ...

Dyer, Dr. J. C.

Eates, K. R.

Ebden.J.W.

Edge, Mrs. R. C.

Edmonds, A. C.

Edwards, M. Vincent (i.f.s.) ...

Einkaufsstelle des Borsenvereins der Deutschen

Elgee, Col. J. W. L. [Life Member)

Eliot-Lockhart, Lt. Wm.

Elliott, A. (c.i.e.) ...

Elliott, A. G. C.

Elliott, J.

Ellis, C. P. (I.C.S.) ...

Ellis, E.T.H.

Ellis, Ralph Jr.

Ellis, S. F.

Ellison, Bernard C. (c.m.z.s., f.r.g.s.) ( Life

Member)

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

Emerson, Capt. J.

English, E. E. {Life Member) ...

Erb, E. {Life Member)

Evans, E. J .

Evans, F. V. {Vice- Patron and Life Member)

Evans, Col. G. H. (c.i.e., f.l.s.)

Evans, T. M. (j.p.)...

Evans, Brigadier W. H. (c.i.e., d.s.o.)

Evershed, John

Ewbank, R. B. (c.i.e., I.C.S.) ...

Ezra, Alfred (o.b.e., f.z.s.) {Life Member)

Ezra, Alwyn (f.r.g.s., f.z.s.) ...

Ezra, Sir David, Kt. {Vice-Patron and Life Member) .

Fakirjee Cowasji

Farr, E.T. C.

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

Fedtschenko, Prof. Boris

Ferguson, Ed. T. D.

Ferrar, M. E.

Ferrar, Lt.-Col. M. L. (i.a., o.b.e'.) ... ...

Fidlin, J. W.

Field, Capt. F. D. S. (i.m.s.) ...

Dehra Dun.

Naini Tal.

Miranshah.

Dungarpur.

Rangoon.

Baghbad.

Rangoon.

London.

Poona.

Chakrata.

Sukkur.

Ranchi.

England.

Waltair.

Rangoon.

Leipzig.

London.

Jammu.

London.

Moulmein.

Calcutta.

California.

Nasik.

London.

Hoshiarpur.

Bombay.

Cornwall, England.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Liverpool .

London.

Deolali.

Quetta.

E whurst- Englan d .

Bombay.

London.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Karachi.

Travancore.

Calcutta.

Leningrad.

Tonk Raj.

London.

Digboi.

Bombay.

lvi

LIST OF MEMBERS

Ivii

Gondal, Kumar Shree Nutversinhji

Gonsalves, A. F. {Life Member)

Goord, T. D.

Gordon, F. W. (m.c., m.a, (oxon) i.f.s.) ...

Gordon, Major J. W,,,.

Gordon, R G. (I.C.S.) ...

Gore, F. W.

Gothorp, Percy

Government Departments —

Conservator of Forests, N. C. Division, C. P.

Deputy Director of Agriculture, Myingyan Circle

Director of Agriculture, Bombay

Director, Bureau of Science ...

Director of Agriculture, B. & O.

Director of Agriculture, Punjab

Gould, B. J. (c.r.E., I.C<S.)

Gouldbury, C. P.

Gow, Cedric J.

Graham, A. A.

Graham, Sir L. (c.i.e., I.C.S., k. c.-i.e.) ...

Grant, E. R.

Grant, F. A.

Gravely, Dr. F. H. ...

Graves, Mrs. D. J. ...

Greaves, J. B.

Green, E. Ernest (f.e.s.)

Green, M. M.

Gregory-Smith, Capt. H, G. {Life Member)

Gregson, T. S.

Grennan, E. W.

Grieve, R. G. (m.a., c.i.e., i.e.s.)

Grogan, Major J. B. (r. a. m.c.)

Grose, F. S. ...

Gulamkadir, Md.Shahban

Guthrie-Smith, F. J....

Guzder, H. B.

Hakro, Khan Saheb Haji Ali Hassan

Hamber, Capt. L. G. W.

Hamid, A. Ali (I.C.S.) {Life Member)

Hamid Khan, M. (m.Sc., ll.b.)

Hamilton, A. P. F. (d.s.o., i.f.s.)

Hamilton, K. L. B. (I.C.S.) ...

Hance, Major J. B. (o.b.e., i.m.s.)

Hancock, Major C. P.

Hanhart, S.

Hare, Brigadier G. A. (r. a.)

Harman, A. C.

Harper, Lt.-Col. A. Forrest

Harper, William

Harris, W. (m.r.c.v.s.)

Harris, Jr. , Wm. P. {Life Member )

Jetalsar

Bandra.

Baghdad

Lonmay.

Jodhpiir.

Nasik.

England.

Assam .

Jubbalpore.

Meiktila.

Poona.

Manila.

Sabour.

Lahore.

London.

Mattupatti.

Madras.

Rawalpindi.

London.

Washington, D.C.

London.

Madras.

London.

Cam berley- England.

Ardmore, U.S.A.

London.

Bombay.

Belgaum.

Madras.

London.

Myitkyina.

Shikarpur.

Meerut.

Bombay.

Larkana.

Dharamsala, Cantt.

Alibag.

Lahore.

London.

Raipur.

Bombay.

Ajmer.

Bombay.

Kirkee.

Bettiah.

London.

Gauhati.

Michigan, U.S.A.

lviii

LIST OF MEMBERS

Harrison, Mrs. H. Z.

Hartigan, Capt. G. E. R. S. (m.c.)

Hartnoll, E. S. (i.f.s.)

Harvey, Capt. C. W. L. (m.c.)...

Hasted, Capt. J. S. H.

Hastings, J. R. G.

Haswell, Capt. F. W. (i.a.)

Hate, Prof. Vinayakrao N. (b. sc.)

Haughton, Lt.-Col. H. L. (c.i.e.)

Hawes, C. G.

Hay, Major R. (i.m.s.)

Hayes, A.

Heaney, Capt. G. F. (r.e.)

Hearsey, Capt. L. D. W. (m.c., v.d.)

Hector, G. P. (m.e., d. sc.)

Heilner, Van Campen (m.sc., f.r.g.s., f.r.a.i.)

Henderson, Alexander

Henderson, J. L.

Hennessy, Major J. M. R. (i.m.s.)

Heron, F. A. T.

Hewetson, C. E. (i.f.s.)

Hicke, Major F. C. ...

Hickie, W. A.

Hickin, S. B.

Hide, P. {Life Member)

Higginbottom, Dr. Sam

Higgins, J. C. (I. C.S.)

Hiley, A. C. (i.f.s.) ...

Hill, K. A. L. (I.C.S.)

Hill, Major R. D. O. {Life Member)

Hillyer, R. A. N.

Kingston, Major R. W. G. (i.m.s.)

Hislop, Major J. H. (m.c., i.m.s.)

Hodgson, R. C.

Holmes, H. R.

Hopkinson, A. J. (I.C.S.)

Hopwood, S. F. (i.f.s.) ( Life Member ) ... ,..

Hora, Dr. Sunder Lai (d. sc.) ...

Horner. Capt. B. Stuart

Horst, W. (i.SiE. )

Horticulturist, Municipal Gardens, The

Hoshang, N. E. Dinshaw

Hotson, Sir Ernest (k.c.s.i., o.b.e., I.C.S.) {Life

Member)

Hotz, E. ...

Howard-Bradshaw, Lt.-Comdt. C. T. (r.n.)

Howe, P. A. W.

Howell, E. Berkley (c.i.e., I.C.S.)

Howitt, Capt. J. F. G.

Hoyos, Count E. {Life Member)

Hudson, Major-Genl. Corrie (c.b., c.i.e., d.s.o.,

K.H.S., I.M.S.)

Bombay.

Lansdowne.

Bhamo.

Imphal.

Dehra Dun.

London.

Bombay.

Dera Ismail Khan.

Rangoon.

Maymyo.

Kheri.

Dacca.

New Jersey.

Bombay.

Quilon.

Jubbulpore.

Europe.

Bombay.

Quetta.

England.

Sukkur.

Oxford.

Allahabad .

Imphal.

Poona.

Calcutta.

London.

Siam.

London.

Colombo.

England.

Abbottabad.

Rangoon.

Calcutta.

London.

Bhimnagar.

Karachi.

Bombay.

Agra.

Litton.

Pyinmana.

Simla.

London.

Austria.

Naini Tal.

LIST OF MEMBERS

lix

lx

LIST OF MEMBERS

Jodhpur, Lt.-Col. H.H. The Maharaja Sir Umaidsingh

Bahadur (k.c.s.i., k.c.v.o., g.c.i.e.) ( Life

LIST OF MEMBERS

lxi

Kothare, A. K.

Kothavala, T. T.

Krishnalal, Capt. (d.r.t.c., m.i.e. & s., a.f.r.a.s.) ...

Kunhardt, Lt.-Col. J. C. G. (i.m.s.)

Kuroda, Dr. Nagamichi

Kydd, D. ...

Lahora Singh, Dr. ...

Laidlay, J. C.

Lakshminarayanan, C.

Lalljee, Hooseinbhoy A.

Lamb, Thos.

Lambert, Hon’ble Sir George (k.c.S.i., I.C.S.)

Lampard, L. A.

Landells, W. J.

Lane, H. S.

Latham, H. D.

Latif, Hasan (m.i.e., a.m.i.e.e.)

Latif, Sarhan C.

La Touche, J. F. D....

Laud, D. S.

Laughton, Capt. F. E. (i.a.)

Laurie, M. V. (i.f.s.)

Laws, Wilfred

Lawther, B. C. A. (c.i.e.)

Leach, A. H. L.

Lee, D. H. {Life Member)

Lee, Capt. G. H. (m.c.)

Leech, Mrs. A. J.

Lees, L. M. (I.C.S.) ...

LeMarchand, A. E. M.

LeMarchand, W. M.

Leonard, D. G.

Leonard, Lt.-Col. W. H. (i.m.s.)

Leonard, P. M. R. (o.b.e.)

Levett, R. W.

Lewis, J. Spedan ( Life Member)

Ley, Hon’ble Mr. A. H. (c.s.i., c.i.e., I.C.S.)

Libraries—

Agricultural Library, The Librarian, U. P.

Allahabad Public Library, The Secretary

Benares, Hindu University Library, The Librarian...

Burma, Bernard Free Library, The Honorary

Librarian

Hyderabad, The Librarian, State Library

Imperial Library, The Librarian

Lahore, University of Punjab, The Librarian

Lucknow University Library ...

Madras, Connemara Public Library, The Principal

Librarian ...

Neilson Hays Library

Nilgiri Library, The Honorary Secretary

Bombay.

Surat.

Indore.

London .

Tokyo.

London.

Katha.

Scotland.

Madras.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Naini Tal.

Quilon.

Tamok.

Bangalore.

Vellore.

Hapamkonda.

Karachi.

Rangoon.

Bombay.

Madras.

Teok.

Peshawar.

Rangoon.

Europe.

Raipur.

Kodaikanal.

Rangoon.

Europe.

Dibrugarh.

Cawnpore.

Bombay.

Rangoon.

Ootacamund

London.

Nawabgunj.

Allahabad.

Benares .

Rangoon.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Calcutta.

Lahore.

Lucknow.

Madras.

Bangkok.

Ootacamund.

lxii

LIST OF MEMBERS

Librari es — con tin ued.

Public Library, Museums and National Gallery of

LIST OF MEMBERS

Ixiii

LIST OF MEMBERS

ixiv

Millard, A. W. P. {Life Member)

Millard, W. S. (f.z.s.) ( Life Member)

Miller, A. C. (o.b.e., m.a.)

Miller, John I. (f.r.g.S., f.z.s.)

Miller, Lt. R. O.

Mills, Major J. D. {Life Member)

Mills, J. P. (I.C.S.) ...

Milner, C. E.

Milroy, A. J. W.

Minchin, A. A. F. (i.f.S.)

Miraj, Shrimant Sir Gungadhar Rao Ganesh alias

Babasaheb Patwardhan (k.c.i.e.) {Life Member) .

Mirchandani, Tolo K. (b.e., a.m.i.e., b.f.s.)

Mirchandani, U. M. (I.C.S.) ...

Mitchell, Lt. E. D. Treneer

Mitchell, F. J.

Mitchell, H. H. G. {Life Member)

Mitchell, Capt. R. S. J. (r.e.) ...

Modi, Sir Jivanji Jamshetji {Kt.) (b.a., ph.D., c.i.e.,

j.p.) ...

Mohomed Raza Ebrahim

Mohr, Dr. V. der Meer

Moloney, W. J.

Montagnon, D. J. [Life Member)

Monte, Dr. D. A. de (l.m. & s.)

Monteath, G. (I.C.S.) {Life Member)

Monteath, J. (I.C.S.)

Montmorency, H. E. Sir Geoffrey (k.c.v.o., k.c.i.e.,

c.b.e., I.C.S.) ...

Mooney, H. F. (i.f.s.)

Moore, Capt. A C. (i.a.)

Moore, G. D.

Moore, J. ...

Morden, W. J.

Morgan, Maior J. S. H.

Morgan, R. W. D.

Morison, Lt.-Col. John (i.m.s.)

Morris, Chas. W. G.

Morris, Lt.-Col. D. O. {Life Member)

Morris, R. C. (f.z.s., f.r.g.s.)

Morton, Geo. B.

Morvi, H. H. The Maharaja Lakhdiriji Waghji

(k.c.s.i.) {Life Member)

Mosse, Lt.-Col. A. H. E. (i.a.) {Life Member)

Mott, John L.

Mudhol, Shirmant Sir Malojirao Raje Ghorpade

(k.c.i.e.)

Mueller, Dr. H. C. (d.sc.)

Mulroney, J. T.

Mundy, N. S.

Munns, F. A. C.

Murland, Lt.-Col. H. F. {Life Member ) ...

London.

Rajkot.

Calcutta.

Murree.

England.

Calcutta.

Rangoon.

Shillong.

Bellary.

Miraj.

Dharwar.

Thana.

London.

Lahore.

London.

Europe.

Bombay.

Mergui.

Medan, Sumatra.

Bombay.

Dibrugarh.

Bandra.

Bel gaum.

Karachi.

Punjab.

Hinoo.

Rangoon.

Bombay.

London.

U. S. A.

Sidapur.

Calcutta.

Rangoon.

Attikan.

London.

Attikan.

Calcutta.

Morvi.

Bhavnagar.

New York City.

Mudhol.

Bombay.

Kurseong.

Silchar.

Turkaulia.

Suntikoppa.

LIST OF MEMBERS

Ixv

Murphy, P. J.

Mursell, D. F.

Musgrave-Hanna, Capt. J. R. ...

Mysore, The Director of Agriculture

Mysore, Government Museum, The Superintendent ...

Mysore, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Krishnaraj Woodayar

Bahadur (g.c.s.i., g.b.e.) {Life Member)

Nagpur, Central Museum, The Curator

Namjoshi, V. K. {Life Member)

Naraenji Dwarkadas {Life Member)

Narayanlal Bansilal, Raja {Life Member) ...

Narsingarh, H. H. Raja Vikram Singhji Saheb

Bahadur

Nash, H. J.

Nawanagar, H. H. The Jam Saheb (k.c.s.i., c.b.e.)

{Life Member) ...

Neal, Dr. W. L. (I.M.S.)

Neatlian, A. P.

Needham, F. M.

Nehru, Dr. S. S. (ph.D., m.a., ll.d., I.C.S.)

Nepal, Supradipta Manyaber General Mohun Sum-

shere Jung Bahadur Rana (k.c.i.e.) {Life

Member)

Nevill, Capt. T. N. C.

Newcome, Lionel

Newland, Lt.-Col. B. E. M. (i.m.s.)

Newman, T. H. (f.z.s., m.b.o.u.)

Nicholetts, W. A.B. ...

Nicholson, Lt.-Col. F. L. (d.s.o., m.c.) ...

Nicholson, Lt.-Col. M. A. (i.m.s.)

Niederer, George

Nilgiri Game Association

Norman, Col. H. H. (r.a.m.c.)

Norris, J. P.

Norton, Col. E. F. (m.c., d.s.o.)

Nougerede, L. J. de la.

Noyce, Sir Frank (I.C.S.) Kt. {Life Member)

Nurse, Lt.-Col. C. G. (f.e.s.) {Life Member)

Oberholser, Harry C. {Life Member)

O'Brien, Lt.-Col. Edward (c.b.e.)

O’Brien, H. C.

O’Callaghan, T. P. M.

O’Donel, H. V.

O’Donnell, C. O.

O’ Donovan, Capt. M. J. W.

Ogilvie, G. H. (i.f.s.) {Life Member)

O’Grady, W. J.

Oldfield, A. V.

Olivares, Senor Luis de

Oliver, A. W. L.

Olivier, Col. H. D. (r.a., f.z.s.) {Life Member)

Qllenbach, O. C. (f.e.s.) .,. ... ...

Ramna, Dacca.

London.

Fort Sandeman.

Bangalore.

Mysore.

Nagpur.

Bombay.

Narsingarh.

Ajmer.

Jamnagar.

Gyantse.

Bombay.

Murkong-Sellek.

Lucknow.

Nepal.

London.

Somwarpet.

Bareilly.

London.

Rangajan.

Quetta.

Bombay.

Ootacamund.

London.

U. S. A.

Quetta.

Sadiya.

London.

England.

Washington, D. C.

Bombay.

London.

Sadiya.

Binnaguri.

U. S. A.

Agra.

Rangoon.

Thomog.

Bombay.

Lista 7, Spain. *

Shanghai.

Winchfield, England.

Mussoorie.

lxvi

LIST OF MEMBERS

Ormiston, W.

O’Rorke, Major J. M. W.

Osborne, A. F.

Osborne- Jones, M. T.

Osmaston, A. E. (i.f.s.)

Osmaston, B. B. (c.i.e., i.f.s.)

Osmaston, F. C. (i.f.s.)

Page, A. J. (I.C.S.) {Life Member)

Palanpur, H. H. Sir Nawab Saheb Taley Mahomed,

Khan Bahadur (k.c. i. e., k.c.v.o.)

Palitana, H. H. The Thakur Saheb Bahadur Sinhji

(k.c.i.e.) {Life Member) ...

Palmer, W. L.

Palmes, W. T. (I.C.S.)

Panday, Mrs. J. L. ...

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

Parlakimedi, Sri Sri Sri Krishnachandra Gajapati

Narayen Deo ( Life Member)

Parlett, L. M. (I.C.S.) ( Life Member )

Parry, N. E. (I.C.S.) ... ... ' ...

Paterson, E. A.

Paterson, T. R.

Patiala, H. H. The Maharaja Sir Bhupendra Singh

(g.c.s.i., g.c.i.e., g.c.b.e.) (Life Member)

Patiala, Capt. Rao Raja Birindra Singhji (Life

Member)

Patiala, H.H. The Maharaj Kumar Brijindra Singhji...

Patten, Hugo J. ... .

Patterson, A.

Pattison, R.

Patuck, P. S. (I.C.S.) (Life Member)

Pawsey, C. R. (I.C.S.)

Pazze, Peter P.

Peacock, E. H. (b.f.s.) (Life Member)

Peck, Mrs. L. J.

Peebles. W. J. M.

Peet, Major L. M.

Peppe, Capt. F. H. (r.a.)

Percival, A. P. (i.f.s.)

Perfect, E.

Pershouse, Major Stanley

Pestonji Jivanji (n.c.S.) (Life Member)

Petit, Dhunjibhoy Bomanji (Life Member)

Petit, Jehangir Bomanji (Life Member)

Petit, S. C. D.

Petit, F. C.

Petley, C. A,

Phayre, Lt.-Col. R. B. (m.c.) ...

Phillips, A. A. (i.s.r.)

Phillips, Charles H. ...

Phillips, W. W. A. ... ... ...

Haldummulle,

Ceylon.

London.

Tuticor.in

Tanjore.

Dehra Dun.

Oxford.

Sambalpur.

London.

Palanpur.

Palitana.

Kalaw.

Minbu.

Bombay.

Rangoon.

Parlakimedi.

England.

London.

Calcutta.

Neora.

Patiala.

Edinburgh.

London.

Bombay.

London.

Makokchung.

Bombay.

Mawlaik.

Simla.

London.

Poona.

Basti.

England.

Guntakal.

London.

Hyderabad, Dn.

Bombay.

Toungoo.

London.

England.

Suffry.

Gammaduw^.

LIST OF MEMBERS

lxvii

Phipson, H. M. (f.z.s.) {Life Member) ...

Phythian-Adams, Major E. G. (i.a., f.z.s.)

Pinhey, Capt. L. A. G.

Pipe, T. S.

Pirpur, Raja Syed Mohoramad Mehdi

Pitman, Major C. R. S.

Pizey, R. M.

Pogson, Major F. V. ...

Poncins, Viscount Edmund de [Life Member)

Pope, J. A. (c.i.e., I.C.S.j

Popper, R. E.

Porbandar, H. H. The Maharaja Shri Natwarsinghji

Bhavsinghji Rana Saheb {Life Member)

Porteous, A. B.

Poulton, Capt. H. M. ... ,

Prendargast, H. V. ...

Procter, Miss Joan B. (f.z.s.) ...

Puekle, Capt. H.

Pudukottai, State Museum, The Curator ...

Pullan, A. U.

Purkis, F. C. (b.f.s.)

Purkis, H. Vernon ...

Purvis, J. L. F.

Quarry, P. S.

Radhanpur, H. H. Shri Jalaluddin Khanji (Life

Member)

Rae, Lt.-Col. M. E. (i.a.) {Life Member) ...

Ragg, H. A.

Raitt, W. Chas.

Rajadhyaksha, G. S. (I.C.S.) ..

Rajgarh, H. H. Raja Rawat Sir Birendra Singh

(k. c.i.e.) {Life Member) ...

Ralston, Lt.-Col. W. H. (d.s.o., i.a.)

Rane, K. R. (m.m. and s.p.)

Ranicar, E. E.

Ravenshaw, Col. C. W. {Life Member)

Readymoney, N. J. ...

Rees, H. N.

Rees, R. ...

Regimental Officers’ Messes —

The Royal

Royal Irish Fusiliers

Small Arms School

1st Bn. The Worcestershire Regiment

1st King’s Shropshire

6th D. C. O. Lancers

2nd Lancers (G.H.)

Queen Victoria’s Own Madras Sappers and Miners.

l/6th Rajputana Rifles

3/6th Rajputana Rifles

4th Bn. 6th Rajputana Rifles (Outrams)

9

London.

Mysore.

Ziarat.

Karachi.

Pirpur.

England.

Gohpur.

Bombay.

France.

Indore.

Bombay.

Porbandar.

Bhilad.

Sibi.

Cawnpore.

London.

Ambala.

Pudukottai.

Matelli.

Kiminini.

Wazirabad.

Mergui.

Dehra Dun.

Radhanpur.

Edinburgh.

Munnar.

Kutta.

Bombay.

Rajgarh.

London.

Andheri.

Valparai.

London.

Bombay.

Tavoy.

Mazbat.

Trimulghery.

Agra.

Ahmednagar.

Meerut.

Poona.

Meerut.

Bangalore.

Razmak.

Landi Kotal.

Mhow.

Ixviii

LIST OF MEMBERS

lxix

lxx LIST OF MEMBERS

Shoveller, H. L. (a.c.a.)

Simmonds, A.

Simmons, R. M.

Simonds, Major M. H.

Sinari, Dr. V. R. P. ...

Sitwell, Major N. S. H. (r.a.) ...

Skinner, Lt.-Col. J. M. (i.m.s.)

Skrine, Capt. P. R. H.

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

Sladen, Dr. R. J. L. (f.r.c.s.) ...

Slater, A. F. (a.m.i.m.e., m.b.e.)

Slingsby, Major T. ...

Smith, A. Kirke {Life Member)

vSmith, A. St. Alban

Smith, Capt. C. C. H,

Smith, Capt. D. R.

Smith, H. C . {Life Member)

Smith, Major G. de Heriez ( Life Member) ...

Smith, Dr. Malcolm ...

Smith, W. J. L.

Smyth, C, P.

Smyth, J. L.

Societies—

Royal Society of ...

New York Zoological Society

Sokhey, Major S. S. (i.m.s.) ...

Souter, C. A. (I.C.S., c.s.i.)

Sparrow, Col. R.

Spence, Dr. Arthur D., m.b., cn.B. (edin.) {Life

Member)

Spence, Sir Reginald, Kt. ( Life Member)...

Spong, Major William A. (r.a. m.c.)

Spooner, T. J. (c.e.) {Life Member)

Srinivasarao, Dr. H. (m.a., b.sc.)

Stable, Capt. R. H. (d.s.o.)

Stables, Major Alex. (r.a. m.c.)

Standen, Sir B. (k.c.i.e., I.C.S.) {Life Member)

Stanford, J. K. (m.c., m.a., m.b. o.u., I.C.S.)

Stanton, W. C. {Life Member) ...

Stapylton, J. M. (I.C.S.)

Steele-Perkins, Lt.-Col. C. S.

Stent, P. J. H. (I.C.S.)

Stevens, Herbert (f.z.s., m.b. o.u.)

Stevenson, Capt. H . A. (i.a.) ...

Stewart, C. G. (i.p.S., m.a.) {Life Member)

Stewart, Prof. R. R. (ph.D.)

Stileman, D. F. (i.f.s.)

Stilemans, Mrs. F. F.

Stirling, J. H.

Stirling, Col. Wm. (c.m.g., d.s.o., r.a.) ...

Stockley, Lt.-Col. C. H. (d.s.o., o.b.e., m.c.)

Bombay.

Dimakusi.

Ahmedabad.

England.

Goa.

Paris.

Bombay.

London.

Karachi.

Bombay.

London.

Wellington .

Bombay.

Singapore.

Hangu.

Mount Abu.

London.

Ootacamund.

London.

Palaw.

Alipore.

Madapur.

Edinburgh.

New York, U.S.A.

Bombay.

Madras.

England.

Bombay.

Cawnpore.

Europe.

Calcutta.

Secunderabad.

Scotland.

Europe.

Rangoon.

London.

Mandla.

Calcutta.

Nagpur.

England.

Shillong.

Insein.

Rawalpindi.

England.

Bombay.

Jodhpur.

London.

Srinagar.

LIST OF MEMBERS

lxxi

Ixxii

LIST OF MEMBERS

Transvaal Museum, The Director

Travers, Sir Walter, Kt. (c.b.e., c.i.e.) ...

Traylen, G. D.

Treasury vala, N. J. ...

Treuthardt, M.

Treshan, C. H.

Trevenen, Major W. B.

Triggs, Bernard

Trivandrum, The Govt. Mus. and Public Garden, The

Superintendent

Trotter, Genl. E. W....

Turkhud, Dr. D. A. (m.b., c.m., etc.)

Turner, G. M.

Turner, Mrs. M. Carrington

Turner, Sir Montague

Tutein-Nolthenins, A. C.

Twinberrow, J. D. (m.c., i.p.) ...

Tyrrell, Lt.-Col. J. R. (c.i.e., i.m.s.)

Tyson, John D. (I.C.S.)

Tytler, Major-Genl. Sir Harry (k.c.b., c.i.e., c.m.g.,

D.S.O. )

Ubsdell, A. R.

Udaipur, H. H. The Maharana Saheb Bahadur of

University of Amoy, The Head of the Department of

Zoology

University of Calcutta, The Librarian

University of Dacca, The Librarian

University of Madras, The Registrar

University of Rangoon, The Registrar

U. P. Chief Conservator of Forests

Upton, Sir Thomas {Kt.)

U. S. Department of Agriculture, The Librarian

Van Ingen, DeWet ...

Venning, Brigadier F. E. W. (c.b.e., d.s.o.) ( Life

Member)

Vernay, A. S. ( Life Member and Vice-Patron )

Vernon, H. A. B. (c.S.i., I.C.S.)

Vesugar, Jamshed {Life Member)

Victoria Memorial Park, The Honorary Secretary ...

Vijayarajji, Maharaj Kumar, Shri

Villar, A. R. (i.f.S. )...,

Volkart, L.

Wadia, D. R. D. (Bar.-at-Law)...

Wadia, Framji Dossabhoy

Wadia, Mrs. P. A. ...

Wah, L. H. (i.f.S.) ...

Wait, W. E. ..:

Waite, H. W. ( Life Member) ...

Wales, H. R. H. The Prince of (k.g., m.c., etc.)

{Patron and Life Member) ...

Walker, Major E. Clare (r.e.) ...

Walker, Roland {Life Member) ...

Pretoria.

Jalpaiguri.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

Solon.

Jubbulpore.

Europe.

Trivandrum.

Bangkok .

Kodaikanal.

Bhamo.

Dehra-Dun.

London.

Ohiya.

Lahore.

Bombay.

Calcutta.

England.

Calcutta.

Udaipur.

Amoy, China.

Calcutta.

Dacca.

Madras.

Rangoon.

Naini Tal.

New Delhi.

Washington, D. C.

Mysore .

Multan.

London.

Europe.

Rangoon.

Bhuj-Cutch.

London.

Zurich 7.

Bombay.

Poona.

Bombay.

Rangoon.

Colombo.

Rawalpindi.

England.

Bombay.

LIST OF MEMBERS

ixxiii

Walsh, E. ...

Walton, S. W.

Wapeshare, J. H.

Ward, Lt.-Col. A. E....

Waterfield, H. G.

Waterfield, T. E. (I.C.S.)

Watson, Sir H. W. A. (i.f.s.) ...

Watson, Lt-Col. J. W. (o.b.e., i.m.s.)

Watt, W. R. (m.a., b.sc., d.i.c., f.g.s.) ...

Wauchope, Major R. S. (i.a.) ( Life Member )

Webb, J. E. N.

Webb, Lt.-Col. Geo. A. (v.d.) ...

Webster, Major W. J. (m.c., i.m.s.)

Welch, Lt. L. O.

Weldon, Dr. R. P. (m.d.)

Weston, A. T.

Whistler, Hugh (m.b.o.u., f.z.s.) {Life Member )

White, L. S. (I.C.S.)

Whitehead, John (i.f.s.)

Whitehead, Capt. W. A.

Whymper, S. L.

Wickham, P. F. (c.e.)

Wightwick, Lt.-Col. H. M.

Wilkes, J. S.

Wilkie, J. S.

Wilkins, P.M.

Wilkinson, Dr. S. A.

William, Major Chas. H. (i.a.s.c., m.b.o.u.)

Williams, Lt.-Col. C. E. (i.m.s.)

Williams, Capt. G. B.

Williams, J. L. H. ...

Williamson, A. (I.C.S.)

Williamson, W. J. F. (c.m.g., f.z.s., m.b.o.u.) {Life

Member)

Wilson, Sir Arnold (c.s.i., c.m.g., c.i.e., d.s.o.,

k.c.i.e.) ( Life Member)

Wilson, Charles

Wilson, The Rt. Hon’ble Lt.-Col. Sir Leslie (p.c.,

G. C.I.E. , C.M.G., D.S.O.)

Wilson, Lt.-Col. P. N.

Winch, H.J.

Winckworth, Lt.-Col. H. C. (r.a.m.c.)

Winterbotham, G. L. (m.l.c.) ..

Withers, D. S.

Withers, F. W. (i.f.s.)

Wood, Noel H.

Wood, W. S.

Wordsworth, Major R. G. (r. a.)

Workman, W. H. (f.z.s., m.b.o.u.)

Wrangham- Hardy, G.

Wright, Capt. D. Mon crieff

Europe.

Bombay.

Guynd, Nilgiris.

Pandr ath an,

Kashmir.

Gwalior.

Sholapur.

London.

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Cawnpore.

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Rangoon.

Astley Bridge.

Tavoy.

Bombay.

Belfast, Ireland.

Darjeeling.

Scotland.

Ixxiv

LIST OF MEMBERS

Wright Neville, Capt. V. R.

Wylie, F. V. (I.C.S.)

Wyndham, P. (c.b.e., I.C.S.) {Life Member)

Yates, A. ...

Yates, J. A.

Yeolekar, T. G. (m.a , b.sc.) ...

Young, Major H. G. (d.s.o., r.f.a.)

Zhob Militia, The Commandant...

Zoologisches Museum, The

Zorawarsingh, Major (m.c.)

Zurmuhle, E.

Hongkong.

Delhi.

London.

Munnar.

England.

Poona.

England.

Ft. Sandeman.

Berlin.

Bhavnagar.

Bombay.

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VOL. XXXIV, No. 3.

Date of Publication , 15tli November , 1930-

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CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXI V, No. 3

Page

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire. By E. C. Stuart Baker,

f.z.s., f.l.s., m.b.o.u. , h.f.a.o.u., Part XII. ( With a coloured

plate ) 613

Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency. By Rev.

E. Blatter, S.J., Ph.D., f.l.s. Part XIII 623

The Lions of Asia. By R. I. Pocock, f.r.s. ( With five plates). ... 638

The Birds of the Prome District of Lower Burma. By J. K.

Stanford, m.c., i.c.s. and Dr. Claud B. Ticehurst, m.d., m.a.,

m.b.o.u., f.r g.s. {With a Map) 666

The Panther as I have known him. By Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse,

i. a., f.z.s. Part III. {With a plate) 673

Abnormal Tusks of Elephants. By Sir Frank Colyer, k.b.e.,

f.r.c.s. {With six plates) 694

Fishing in the Rivers of C. P. By Major W. B. Trevenen. {With

three text figures) 700

Some Beautiful Indian Trees. By Rev. E. Blatter, S.J., Ph.D.,

f.l.s. and W.S. Millard, f.z.s. Part V. {With two coloured

plates , and two black and white plates) . p 716

The Study of Indian Birds. By H. Whistler, f.z.s., m.b.o.u.

Part VI. ( With a plate and two text figures) 720

The Malaria Problem in Bombay. By Major G. Covell, m.d.,

d.p.h., d.t.m. and h., i.m.s. {With a Map) 736

The Ornithological Station at Heligoland. By Salim A. Ali,

m.b.o.u. {With four plates and a Diagram) 743

A New Indian Dragonfly. By Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser, i m.s., f.e.s.

( With two text figures) 752

The Origin of Continents and Oceans. ( With one plate and five

Diagrams). By W. E. Wait, m.a., f.z.s 754

On the NevSting of the Crested Swifts. By H. Whistler, m.b.o.u.,

f.z.s. {With two plates) 772

The Stinging Caterpillar. By C. Major R. W. G. Hingston, i.m.s.

( With f ive text f igures ) 778

The Toxicity of the Venom of Indian Scorpions. By Rev. J. F.

Caius, S.J., f.l.s 78S

Reviews.—

1. Svstema Avium A£thiopicarum. Part II 790

2. Handbook of the Birds of West Africa 79J

3. The Motor Mechanism of Plants 791

4. Lehrbuch Der Allgemeinen Pflanzengeographie 793

5. Plant Studies 794

6. Zoology 794

7. General Botany 795

ii

CONTENTS OF Vol. XXXIV, No. 3

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES—

I. — Three tigers at a kill. By Major C. Swire. (With a photo) .

II. — Panther climbing up to a machan. By R. C. Morris

III. — A Panther incident. By G. de L’lsle Sturm

IV. — Note on the Malay Bear ( Ursus malayanus ) . By Major E. G .

Phythian-Adams. (With a photo).

V.— Sounds made by Porcupines. By R. C, Morris

VI.— Observations on the Indian Elephant. By R. C. Morris. ...

^ VII. — On distinguishing between males and females and other

controversial matters pertaining to the Gaur. By R. C.

Morris

VIII.— Vigils at waterholes. By A. Bayley-de Castro, I. M. D. ...

IX. — The heart shot in game. By R. C. Morris.

X.— The Common Mynah (A. tristis) as a pest in Seychelles.

By P. R. Dupont

XI. — On the occurrence of the Grey-backed Shrike (Lanius

tephronotus Vigors) in the suburbs of Calcutta

XII.— Breeding of the Great Stone Plover (CEdicnemus recurviros-

tris). By C. G. Chevenix Trench, I.C.S

XIII. — Occurrence of the Tufted Pochard (Nyroca fuligula ) in

Gilgit. ByCapt. M. H. Berkeley

XIV. — First Indian record of the Eastern Grey Duck (Anas

pcecilorhyncha zonorhyncha, Swinhoe) and the occurrence

of the Eastern White-eye (Nyroca rufa baeri, Radde) in

Bihar. By C. M. Inglis, f.z.s., m.b.o.u

XV. — Migration notes from Kohat, N. W. F. P. By Lb-Col. G. de

la P. Beresford

XVI. — Birds of a Himalayan torrent. A study in behaviour. By

Major R. W. G. Hingston, I. M. S

XVII.— Birds seen on a trip from Pottuvil to Kumna (Ceylon). By

G. Brown

XVIII.— A list of some birds of the seven hills of Naini Tal, U. P.

By Major General Corrie Hudson

XIX. — Notes on the Star Tortoise (Testudo elegans). By R. Shunker

N aray an Pillay

XX.— Capturing Monitor Lizards and Pythons. By Frank

C. Riches

XXL— Masheer fishing in Burma. By Capt. S. C. MacGregor

XXII. — Ant-mimicking Spiders as victims of Wasps. By K. Kunhi

Kannan. (With a photo)

XXIII.— A fieak Papilio polytes romulus Cr. $. By O. C. Ollenbach.

(With a plate)

XXIV.— Notes on P . marshalli and P. sita. By J. A. Yates

XXV,— Notes on Appias libythea liby.thea, $. By J. A. Yates

Page

796

797

798

799

800

801

802

804

806

807

809

810

811

815

821

828

829

831

832

833

834

CONTENTS OF VoL XXXIV , No. 3

iii

Page

XXVI. — On the peculiar cross-vein-like structures in the hind-wings

of Croce filipennis Westw., {Nemo pte rides) . By S.

Mukerji, M. Sc. (With a plate) 834

XXVII. — Butterfly collecting grounds at Mussoorie, U. P. By O. C.

Ollenbach. 836

XXVill. — On the true nature of the nuclear divisions in old inter-

nodes of local Tradesiantia stems. By S. R. Bose. (With

a plate) 840

XXIX.— On the occurrence of the vegetative buds on the root of

gram. By T. C. N. Singh. (With a text figure) 841

XXX.— An instance of anomalous branching of the conjugation-

tubes of an Indian form of Spirogyra neglect a (Hass)

Kuetz. By Kanti Gopal Banerjee. (With a plate) 842

XXXI. — Some Liverworts of the Order Marchantiales from Burma.

By L. P. Khanna 844

XXXII.— Notes on Broomcorn with 5 brushes. By Mr. S. S. Nehru,

i. c. s 847

XXXIII.— Cultivation of Broomcorn in India, By Mr. S. S. Nehru,

i. c. s 847

Proceedings 850

Contributions to the Museum from 1st January 1930 to the

30th September 1930 855

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

The Eastern Grey Plover. 2/5. The Indian Kentish Plover. 2/5.

Squatarola squatarola h^ypomeia. Leucopolius alexandrinus seebohmi.

JOURNAL

OF THE

Bombay Natural History Society

November, 1930 Vol. XXXIV No. 3

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE.

BY

E. C. Stuart Baker, f.zs., f.l.s., m.b.o.u., h.f.a.o.u.

Vol. V

THE WADERS AND OTHER SEMI-SPORTING BIRDS.

Part XII

( With a coloured plate)

( 'Continued from page 11 of this volume .)

Genus : Squatarola.

Squatarola Cuvier, Regne Anim., i, p. 497 (1816).

Type by tautonomy, Tringa squatarola Linn.

In the genus Squatarola there is present a .small hind toe and

claw ; the bill is straight, stout and about as long as the head ; the

nostrils are linear and placed fairly close to the base of the bill in a

rather deep, broad groove ; the wing is long and pointed and the

first primary longest; the tail is short and rounded; the tarsus is

covered with hexagonal scales ; .outer and middle toes connected by

a small web at the base. The genus is almost cosmopolitan.

Squatarola squatarola.

Key to Sub-species.

A. Rather more brown, less grey.

Slightly larger ... ... S. s. squatarola .

B. Rather more grey, less brown.

Slightly smaller ... ... .S’. s. hypomela.

The difference between the Eastern and Western birds is very

slight and perhaps hardly worth recognising subspecifically. In

Winter plumage, however, the colour of the upper parts in the

Eastern birds certainly seems more grey.

614 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXlV

Squatarola squatarola squatarola.

The Western Grey Plover.

Tringa squatarola Linn., Syst. Nat., 10th ed., vol. i, p. 149 (1758)

(Sweden),

Squatarola helvetica. — Blanf. & Oates, vol. iv, p. 236 (part).

Vernacular Names.— Barra bat an (Hind.)

Description. — Breeding plumage. Upper plumage a pearly-grey,

banded everywhere with black, the long scapulars being paler

brown with blackish bars and white indentations ; primaries blackish-

brown with long wedge-shaped white marks on the inner webs ;

outer secondaries with white bases; extreme forehead, round the

eyes, sides of the head and lower plumage to vent black ; under

wing-coverts, thighs, vent and under tail-coverts white ; axillaries

black and white.

Colours of soft parts. — Iris dark brown ; bill black ; legs and feet

dusky grey.

Measurements . — Wing 189 to 201 mm. ; tail 73 to 83 mm. ; tarsus

45 to 51 mm. ; oilmen 28-0 to 30*5 mm. (Hartert.)

In 7ion-breeding plumage the forehead and lores are white,

speckled with black ; rump and upper tail-coverts white with

narrow bars of brown ; remaining upper plumage dark brown, each

feather edged paler ; scapulars and wing-coverts with broader white

tips and semi-bars : sides of head and neck white streaked with

brown ; breast and flanks white, lightly barred with pale brown ;

remainder of lower parts white.

Chick in down. — The head is regularly marked yellowish-white,

the ground more golden, mottled with black. Hind neck black,

down with yellowish-white tips. Remaining upper sides of the

body and thighs mottled yellow and black, under parts greyish-

white, the breast appearing rather darker, the down of this part

having black bases. The chick is in fact very much like that of the

Golden Plover but paler and duller.

Distribution. — •Greenland, Eastern North America, Arctic Europe

to West Siberia, migrating South in Winter to the coasts of

Southern Europe, Africa to the extreme South, Madagascar, Sey-

chelles, and to North-West India. Records from Eastern India,

Burma and Ceylon all appear to refer to the next race.

Nidi ficat ion.— The Grey Plover breeds in the Siberian tundras

from Petchora eastwards to the Yenesei Province, where it meets

the Eastern race. So far as is known at present, the bird does not

commence to breed until late in June, whilst Seebohm, Harvie-

Brown, Pearson and others found eggs until late in July. The nest

is merely a depression in the moss, sometimes with practically no

lining at all, at other times fairly well lined with moss and bracken

and slender twigs. The bird seems to be very shy about approach-

ing its nest so long as the observer moves about ; but once the

latter lies down and keeps perfectly still, then within a very few

minutes the hen bird usually returns to her nest. Sometimes, how-

ever, according to Seebohm, the bird will not return for half an

hour or even longer, until the watcher in the cold and wet begins to

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

615

give up all hope. Seebohm thus describes the behaviour of a pair

of Grey Plovers, whose nest, the third that morning, had been found

by one of his Samoyedes.

‘ This time I lay down behind a ridge some thirty yards from the

nest, and after waiting a quarter of an hour caught sight of the

bird on the top of a distant tussock. Presently she ran nearer to

another ridge, looked round, and then ran on to the next, until she

finally came within fifty yards of where I was lying. I had just

made up my mind to risk a shot when she must have caught sight of

me, and flew right away. In a quarter of an hour I caught sight of

her again, approaching by short stages as before, but from an

opposite direction. I must have been in full sight of her. When

she had approached within fifty yards of me, as near as I could

guess, I fired at her with No. 4 shot, and missed. I remained re-

clining where I was, with little hope that she would try a third time

to approach the nest, and whiled away the time with watching a

Buffon’s skua through my glass as it cautiously approached in my

direction. Turning my head round suddenly I caught sight of the

Grey Plover running towards the nest within fifty yards of me. I

lifted my gun and fired again, but was so nervous that I missed her

a second time. I was so vexed that I got up and walked towards

the skua, which still remained in statu quo . I missed a shot at it

too, spent some time in a vain search for its nest, and returned to

my old quarters. In ten minutes I saw the Grey Plover flying up.

It took a wheel in my direction, coming almost within shot, and

evidently took stock of me, and satisfied itself that I was a harmless

animal practising with blank cartridge, and having no evil design

upon its eggs. It alighted about fifty yards beyond the nest, and

approached less timidly than before. When it came within fifty

yards of me, I fired, this time with No. 6 shot, and laid the poor

bird upon its back. As we returned to our boat Harvie-Brown

found a fourth nest, and, after watching as before secured the

bird.’

Like most other birds of the family, whilst the hen bird is sitting,

the male Grey Plover usually sits on some slight elevation from

whence he can watch for any danger approaching the nest, upon

sighting which he at once gives his wife due notice by a rather

shrill plaintive whistle rapidly repeated.

Pearson found that occasionally the Grey Plover made its nest

amongst the very coarse grass on low ground close to rivers.

Normally the number of eggs laid is, of course, 4, but on several

occasions the author above referred to found hard set clutches of 3,

or three young birds in a nest, so it would appear that the Grey

Plover does not so invariably lay 4 eggs in a clutch as does the

Golden Plover. The eggs are very similar to those of the latter

bird, but average rather larger and perhaps a trifle longer in pro-

portion. In colour they are less rich than those of the Golden

Plover but otherwise very similar. The ground colour varies from

a very pale grey or yellowish stone colour, sometimes almost white,

at other times tinged with olive or buff. The primary markings

consist of reddish-black and black blotches or spots, often running

into one another. At the larger end of the egg the markings

616 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , TO. XXXIV

are numerous and often form a cap or, less often, a zone, but on

the rest of the egg are less numerous. The secondary markings

are of light grey and pale neutral tint, fewer in number than the

primary markings and sometimes practically absent. Jourdain

gives the average of 40 eggs as 5T6 x 35*9 mm. ; maxima 55' 2 x

35-6 mm. and 50*7 x 38-0 mm.; minima 45'7 X 39*7 and 5T9 X

31'0 mm. Incubation apparently takes 16 to 18 days.

Habits. — Here in India we only know the Grey Plover as a bird

which haunts wide open spaces in flocks, often of considerable size,

which tantalize the sportsman by constantly wheeling about within

sight, but well out of shot. When feeding, the individuals of the

flock as a rule keep fairly close together, though at times they

will scatter over a considerable area. They prefer ploughed lands,

open grass-lands and cultivated fields in which the crops are only a

few inches high, but I have seen both this and the next race feeding

on the almost entirely open sandy banks and . islands of our great

rivers, where they seem to be feeding on what appears to me

to be a microscopic shrimp or sandhopper, their stomachs being

full of these when killed. I found it absolutely impossible ever to

approach these birds within shot when they were thus engaged,

but I often obtained a couple, or rarely, four shots, by lying flat on

the bank and then sending a boat to approach them from the

opposite side of the river. In this way when they first rose they

would often give me an easy right and left and sometimes on

catching sight of the boat again us they wheeled, would again give

me a second chance. In the fields we often got quite good shoot-

ing when the birds first came and were very numerous, by simply

crouching behind a hedge and having the birds driven up to us,

but even then five or six couple to a gun was quite a good morning’s

sport.

The Grey Plover cetainly deserves a place in the list of true

sporting birds, for he is as difficult to hit as he is pleasant to eat,

once he has been brought to bag. Few birds are really more

difficult to circumvent, once suspicion is aroused, and they, are

so fast on the wing, turning and twisting so quickly even when

flying in large flocks, that the shots they give are generally fairly

difficult ones.

In Western India they are said to collect in very large flocks,

sometimes of many hundreds, but in Eastern India, where as a

.matter of fact the next race is the common form, flocks of 20 to 30

are the rule and anything over a hundred exceptional.

. Their food is almost entirely insectivorous, but they will eat

anything almost in the way of small worms, crustaceans, molluscs,

etc., and are particularly fond of the larvae of grasshoppers.

It is said also that they occasionally eat seeds, but I do not

remember ever having found such among the contents of .their

stomachs.

Their call is a shrill musical . pipe, constantly repeated when

the birds are on the wing, but only occasionally uttered on the

ground when feeding. The alarm note is a rather sad double

whistle repeated two or three times at intervals of a couple of

seconds.

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

617

Squatarola squatarola hypomela.

The Eastern Grey Plover .

Charadrius hypomelus Pallas, Reise Russ. Reichs., vol. iii, p. 699

(1776) (East Siberia).

Squatarola helvetica. — Blanf. & Oates, vol. iv, p. 236 (part).

Vernacular Names. — Barra Batan (Hind).

Description. — A slightly smaller bird and distinctly more grey,

less brown in the non-breeding plumage.

Colours of soft parts as in the typical form.

Measurements. — Wing 175 to 193 mm.

Distribution. — Eastern Siberia to Japan. In Winter, South to

Australia, Tasmania, South China and Burma. The Assamese

birds are nearly all of this race and they occur in Eastern Bengal

and down the East coast to Ceylon, where they are by no means

very rare.

Nidificatioji. — This bird undoubtedly breeds on the East Siberian

tundras, and eggs, taken by Smirnoff in Manchuria and also in the

south-west of the Province of Yakutsk on the tundras west of the

Lena, are assuredly of this sub-species for they seem to be too big

to be those of the Western Grey Plover which breeds in the same

areas. The only eggs I have seen of his, measured about 51*3 x

34-8 mm. and are indistinguishable from those of the Western race.

They were taken in early July.

Habits. — The habits of the Eastern form of Grey Plover differ in

no way from those of the Western. It is a common bird in Assam,

Eastern Bengal, and Burma, occurring frequently as far south as

Ceylon. A male in full breeding plumage which I shot from a flock

of many hundreds, had been feeding entirely on a small black beetle

which infested the mustard crops in myriads, extending into the

ploughed fields all round the latter.

Leucopolius Bonap. Comp. Rend., vol. xliii, p. 417 (1850).

Type by taut., AEgialitis marginata Vieillot.

This genus has hitherto been generally united with Charadrius

( /Egialitis auct.), of which hiaticola is the type. It differs, how-

ever, from the birds of that group, according to Lowe, in having

the lacrymals free and presenting outward projecting processes

like the Gulls ; there is no foramen for the nasal duct, its place

being taken by a groove.

In Leucopolius most of the characters, except the important ones

mentioned above, are also those of Charadrius. The bill is small

and practically straight ; the tarsus fairly long and reticulated

throughout ; there is no hind toe.

Genus : Leucopolius.

Key to Species.

A. White band on hind-neck not 'divided

from back by black band

L. alexa7idrinus .

B. White band on hind-neck separated from

back. by a black band ...

L. peronii.

618 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

Leucopolius alexandrinus.

Key to Sub-species.

A. Upper parts with no trace of rufous in

breeding plumage ; culmen 13 to 15 mm.

(a) Wing 106 to 114 ... ... L. a. alexandrinus.

\b) Wing 93 to 107 ... L. a. seebohmi.

B. Upper plumage suffused with rufous ;

culmen 17 to 19 mm. ... ... L. a. dealbatus.

Leucopolius alexandrinus alexandrinus.

The Kentish Plover .

Charadrius alexandrinus Linn., Syst. Nat., 10th ed., vol. i, p. 150

(1758) (Egypt).

sEgialitis alexandrina. Blanf. & Oates, vol. iv, p. 240 (part).

Vernaczdar Names. — Punchi-oleyiya (Cing.) ; Sinna-kotan (Tam.).

Description. — -Forehead white, followed by a broad black patch ;

above and behind the eye white ; lores black, running back under

the eye and in a streak behind ; anterior crown, nape and hind neck

rufous, more grey on the nape ; whole remaining upper plumage

sandy grey-brown, the four middle tail-feathers blackish, the outer-

most white throughout and the intermediate white on the outer

webs and tips, blackish elsewhere ; primaries blackish, the first

white-shafted throughout, the others increasingly brown at their

bases ; innermost secondaries like the back, outer blackish-brown

with white tips and edges ; median, greater and primary coverts

blackish with white tips forming wing-bars ; a broad black patch on

each side of the breast, remainder of lower plumage white.

Colours of soft parts. — Iris brown; bill black; legs and feet

plumbeous-grey.

Measurements. — Wing 106 to 114 mm. (one 118); tail 48 to 50 mm.;

tarsus 27 to 29 mm.; culmen 13 to 15 mm. (one 16 mm.)

In Winter the rufous and black crown is lost, these parts assum-

ing the colour of the back : the white forehead is restricted in extent

and the black eye-streak is replaced by grey-brown.

Female similar to the male in Winter but with less white on the

forehead ; the lores, ear-coverts and eye-streak are sandy-brown

and the breast-patches brown. In Summer, when freshly moulted,

the edges of the feathers of the crown, as well as those of the

brown breast-patches, haverufescent edges.

Young birds are like the female but have nearly all the feathers of

the upper part fringed with sandy-buff.

Nestling in down. — Forehead, a ring round the back of the neck

and the lower parts white ; an ill-defined eye-streak dark brown

and sometimes faint indications of a black edging to the crown ; a

dark brown horse-shoe mark on the wings ; upper plumage and

crown pale buffy-grey speckled with brownish.

Distribution. — Breeding in Europe and Western Asia to Mesopo-

tamia and Sind. Several specimens in the British Museum collection

from Khandesh in Bombay with wings 106 to 111 mm. and

culmens over 15 mm. are in my opinion also of this race and not

seebohmi as noted on their data labels.

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

619

Nidilication. — The Kentish Plover breeds over practically the

whole of Europe and a great part of Western Asia through Mesopo-

tamia to Sind, while it is also probable that a few birds may even

breed so far South as the Northern parts of the Bombay Presidency.

The breeding season is apparently a very long one, but doubtless

varies a great deal according to the rainfall. In Mesopotamia,

Gumming found young ones hatched as early as March 9, which

infers that the eggs were laid in the latter part of February. On

the other hand, Bulkley took eggs in the Rann of Cutch as late

as August. The majority of eggs will, howrever, be found in April

and May. Birds which lay early probably have a second brood in

June and July. The birds breed invariably either on large sandy

wastes and sandhills or on the sea shore, the nest as a rule being

nothing more than a shallow scrape lined with bits of broken shell,

dead leaves or tiny pebbles. The birds cannot be said to breed

in colonies, though where one nest is taken, other nests may be

found in the near vicinity, yet nowhere do they collect in close

nesting communities like the Terns and Pratincoles. In Sind,

Ticehurst found a favourite site to be the top of one of the little

wind-blown mounds which pile round the Sueda bushes. Ticehurst

believes that the Kentish Plover breeds on the sand banks

of rivers like the Indus in Upper Sind and is probably correct in

this, although I have never received eggs thence. Like most of the

small Plovers the hen bird leaves the nest at the slightest sign of

danger and she is generally assisted by the male who spends much

of his time seated on some prominent point not far from the nest

and gives his warning note when he sees his enemies afar off. He

is not, however, nearly as vigilant a guard as the Golden Plover, so

that often his wife has to depend on her own cleverness in avoiding

danger. The nests are not difficult to find, as, each time the little

birds visit them they alight some distance away and then run up

to the nest, so that in a short time there is a network of footprints

all round and leading up to it. The number of eggs laid is either

three or four, most often the former. In shape they are typical

little Plover’s eggs, that is to say a conical oval, and they are so

deposited in the nest that they lie point to point with the larger

ends raised above the smaller. The ground colour varies from

pale yellowish — or greyish — stone to an olive or buff brown, some-

times quite rich in tint. The markings consist of small blotches,

specks and scrawls of black or blackish brown, generally most

numerous at the larger end. In most eggs also there are a few

secondary markings of pale grey but these are very inconspicuous

and often absent. 100 British eggs average 32*5 by 23*5 mm. ;

maxima 35' 2 by 23*7 mm. and 32*0 by 25'0 mm. ; minima 30' 2 by 23*2

mm. and 32*6 by 22' 5 mm. Indian eggs average almost exactly the

same, but the minima are 31*2 by 23*1 mm. and 32*0 by 21*5 mm.

When the nest is discovered or when there are young hatched,

both cock and hen bird often try to lure an observer away from the

eggs or young by feigning injury, and, it is said that they will

repeat this trick time after time, showing that it is performed as

an act of reason or instinct and not merely as an uncontrollable

impulse.

620 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

Habits . — Within Indian limits, the Kentish Plover is confined to

the North-West only, but, wherever found, is comparatively common,

in the winter sometimes associating in small flocks ; it is, however, a

sedentary bird and its numbers do not appear to be augmented in

winter by others on migration. In that season it is found more

inland and more often on the banks and islands of the larger rivers

than in the breeding season. Wherever found, however, it keeps

always to open land such as sandy banks and shores, open dry

country or the dry mud banks surrounding the lakes and swamps.

Its flight is typically that of a Plover, of considerable speed and

varied with many turns and twists. It also runs swiftly, generally

proceeding in little spurts, head and tail depressed, each spurt

finishing with a little halt when the bird stands for a moment or

two with head erect. It is noticeable in life that the Kentish Plover

and indeed most other small Plovers seem to keep their heads

tucked in close to their shoulders and one very seldom sees the

neck raised in the manner so often depicted in illustrations. They

feed on tiny Crustacea, mollusca and insects. Ticehurst found

those he examined had fed entirely on tiny crabs, whilst others

have been found to contain nothing but sandhoppers. Its breeding

note is a rather sweet trill, uttered whilst it flies about in the air

more like a butterfly than a bird. Its alarm note is a shrill double

whistle, syllabified by Witherby as ‘ too-it, too-it, ittup, ittup.’

LeUCOPOLIUS ALEXANDRA US SBBBOHMI.

The Indian Ke?itish Plover.

Charadrius alexandrmus seebohmi , Hartert & Jackson, Ibis, 1915

p. 529 (Ceylon).

MEgialitis alexandrina. — Blanf. & Oates, vol. i, p. 240 (part).

Vernacular Names. — Puchi-oleviva (Cing.) ; Sinna-kotan (Tam.).

Description. — Slightly smaller than the preceding bird and with a

rather smaller bill ; it is also rather browner and darker.

Colours ol soft parts as in the typical form.

Measurements . — Wing 93 to 107 mm. ; culmen 13 to 15 mm.

Distribution. — Coasts of the Red Sea, Somaliland and Ceylon.

Nidification. — The Indian Kentish Plover breeds in some

numbers on the shores of Ceylon and on the thin sandy pastures

around them, whilst it also occasionally breeds on the shores of the

huge inland tanks. The nest is a shallow scrape made in sand

or mud but, unlike the preceding bird, it is very seldom lined with

shells, etc. On the other hand, whilst the Northern race seldom

seems to bury its eggs except by accident, the Ceylon bird appears

very often to lay them in loose sand which it piles round them

until they are buried, or almost buried in it. The eggs of course

are merely small fac-similes of those of the larger race and the

only difference in colouration is that on the whole this little bird’s

egg is the more richly coloured and occasionally almost of a reddish

buff ground. 40 eggs average 29*9 by 22-0 mm. ; maxima 33'2 by

22-0 and 29*9 by 23-1 mm.; minima 29*1 by 22*3 and 29-3 by 2P3 mm.

The majority of birds breed during June or July, but Wait has

taken eggs from the end of April to early September. The number

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

621

of eggs laid is usually three, never four, though two only are

sometimes incubated.

Habits. — This little Plover is a permanent resident wherever

found, though it may range over a larger area of country in winter

than in summer. In voice, flight and diet it does not differ in any

way from its European relatives but, in the non-breeding season,

it may be more often found in small flocks of from half a dozen to

a dozen. It is said to be comparatively common on the great

inland lakes or tanks in Ceylon at some distances from the sea and

also to frequent grass fields when these are dried up from the sun

and very bare. Legge describes them as far from shy, though

much wilder in some localities than in others.

Leucopolius alexandrinus dealbatus.

The Chinese Kentish Plover .

AEgialitis dealbatus Swinhoe, P.Z.S., 1870, p. 138 (S. coast of

China).

AEgialitis alexandrina . Blanf. & Oates, iv, p. 240 (part).

Vernacular Navies. — N one recorded.

Description .• — Differs from the two preceding birds in being

slightly larger on an average and in having a longer bill ; in breed-

ing plumage the upper parts are often suffused with rufous.

Colour of soft parts as in the other races.

Measurements . — ’Wing 106 to 113 mm. , tail 45 to 50 mm. ; tarsus

28 to 30 mm. ; culmen 17 to 18 mm. (one 19 mm.). The bill is

also slightly stouter than in the other races. In a large series of

Chinese specimens, it measures 16 to 19 mm.

Distribution. — The coasts and large tidal rivers of South China

and the Indo-Chinese countries. Four specimens have been obtained

in Tenasserim and one as far west as Calcutta.

Nidification.- — K. H. Jones found this bird breeding in some

numbers on the sandy flats so common in the East Coast of China

round about Chefoo. The nests were often found in close proxi-

mity to one another and, at other times, close to the nests of

Sterna sinensis. At the same time they have never been known

to breed in actual colonies. The nests are described as mere

hollows in the sand in which the eggs, generally three in number,

were deposited without any decorative shells or pebbles. In one

nest taken by Messrs. Vaughan and Jones there were five eggs

which appeared to be the production of one bird. In appearance

the eggs are like those of the European Kentish Plover. 50 of them

average in size 32-4 by 22-8 mm.; maxima 34'9 by 24-3 and 33*3

by 24-'! mm. minima 29‘8 by 22-0. The breeding season, so far as

is known at present is restricted to May and June. It apparently

breeds all round the East and South east coasts of China, for Jones

records it as one of the most common breeding birds on the Yellow

Sea and Gulf of Pechili, whilst Latouche records taking eggs as

far south as Swatow and also observed the bird near Hong-Kong

at the end of May.

Habits. — The Chinese Kentish Plover seems to differ from the

preceding race in that it is to some extent a migratory bird. Jones

622 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

remarks that these birds breed in thousands on the flat tracks of

sand between Wei-hai-wei and Chefoo but that during September

they leave for the South, at which season they may be found

practically anywhere in South China, the Islands, and as far west

as South Burma. In all other respects the habits of these birds

differ in no way from those of their relations, though in their

favourite haunts they would appear to be found in far greater

numbers.

Leucopolius peronii.

The Malayan Kentish Plover.

Charadrms peronii Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, p. 33 (1865) Borneo.

Vernacular Names. — None recorded.

Description. — Similar to L. a. alexandrinus but in breeding plumage

the white band at the back of the neck is succeeded by a broad

black band linking with the black breast-patches, whilst in Winter

these patches are rufous and not black.

Colours of soil parts. — ‘ Iris dark chocolate-brown ; bill black,

orange at the base; orbital skin orange; feet grey, claws black,

(Everett).

Measurements.— Wing 92 to 101 mm.; tail 39 to 41 mm.; tarsus

28 to 30 mm. ; culmen 14 to 15 mm.

Female has no black band across the forehead, whilst the black

band above the scapulars and the breast-patches are replaced by

brown mixed with rufous.

Distribution. — The islands of the Malay Archipelago, Java to the

Philippines, Borneo and the Celebes.

Nidification. — At present there is very little known about the

breeding of this little Plover, but Whitehead obtained young birds

almost fully fledged as well as three eggs in Luzon on May

26. The eggs are described as ‘ pale cream, the whole shell

covered with small blotches, streaks and zigzag pencilling of rich

sepia and pale lavender.’ The measurements of the eggs are 30 by

42 mm. The breeding range of this bird is probably a great deal

more extensive than is at present known, for observers in China,

Latouche, Jones, Vaughan and others have recorded its presence on

the coasts of China as well as on some of the islands during May and

June, when it assuredly must have been breeding.

Habits. — At present it is not known for certain whether this bird

is entirely sedentary or more or less migratory. It has certainly

been observed over a far greater range in winter than in summer.

At the same time in the Philippines, where it is known to breed and

at other points where it is supposed to breed, it is undoubtedly

resident throughout the year. It appears to be almost exclusively

a bird of the seashore or of waste land and mud flats in their

immediate vicinity, and has hitherto never been found any distance

inland. In flight, food and voice, etc., it differs in no way from the

various races of Leucopolius alexandrinus.

( To be continued.')

REVISION OF

THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY

BY

E. Blatter, s.j., Ph.u., f.l.s.

PART XIII

ELATINACEAE (Cke. i, 72).

Bergia, Linn. (Cke. i, 73).

Cooke’s 3 species are here retained.

1. Bergia odorata, Edgew. in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. vii (1838), 765.

The plant, though generally decumbent or spreading, is sometimes pendulous.

Leaves rather thick, varying from broadly elliptical in the more rigid small-

leaved forms to oval, obtuse or subacute, crenate-serrulate, margin often

revoiute. Petals white. The filaments are opposed to the sepals. Styles

purple. The plant has a smell like that of Chamomile.

Distribution : Rajputana Desert, Gujarat, Sind, Persia, Egypt, tropical

Africa.

2. Bergia ammannioides, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 34.

Locality : Add : W. Khandesh (Blatter !).

Distribution : Throughout India (also Rajputana Desert) and Ceylon,

Afghanistan, Persia, Egypt, tropical Africa, Australia.

3. Bergia capensis, Linn. Mantiss. (1771), 241.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Dadar (Blatter \ ). —Deccan : Igatpuri (Blatter !).

Distribution : A widely spread herb in the tropics of both hemispheres, not

in S. Africa.

HYPERiCACEAE (Cke. i, 74).

Hypericum, Linn. (Cke. i, 74).

Species about 200, 2 in the Bombay Presidency.

1. Hypericum mysorense, Heyne in Wall. Cat. (1828), 4808.

Distribution : W. Peninsula, W. Ghats in the Nilgiris, Anamalais, Pulneys,

and Travancore hills above 5,000 ft., E. Ghats (Madgol hills), Ceylon.

2. Hypericum japonicum, Thunb. FI. Jap. (1784), 295 quoad de script., tab. excl.

Distributiofi : Temperate and subtropical Himalaya from Sikkim to

Garhwal, Kasia Mts., Assam, Sylhet, Burma, N. Circars, hills of Ganjam,

Deccan, W. Ghats from Nilgiris to Travancore above 5,000 ft., High Wavy

Mt.— China. Java, Australia, N. Zealand, Japan to Philippines, Madagascar.

OUTTIFERAE (Cke. i, 75) .

Garcinia,' Linn. (Cke. i, 76).

Species about 180. — Tropical Africa, Asia, New Caledonia.

Cooke describes 5 species. Garcinia spicata , var. macrantha , T, Anders, is

considered as a distinct species by Talbot : G. malabarica.

1. Garcinia indica, Chois, in DC. Prodr. i (1824), 561 ; Cke. i, 77.

Distribution : Bombay Pres. : Moist tropical rain forests of the W. Ghats

evergreens of S. Konkan and N. Kanara ; Madras Pres. : W. Ghats of S.

Kanara, Coorg and Wynaad.

2. Garcinia Cambogia, Desrous. in Lam. Encycl. iii (1789), 701 ; Cke. i, 77.—

G. papilla , Wight 1c. t. 960, 961. — G. conicarpat Wight lc t. 121.

Distribution.— Bombay Pres. : Konkan, Southern Ghats of N. Kanara in

evergreen rain-forests ; Madras Pres. : W. Ghats from Coorg to the Nilgiris

and Travancore up to 6,000 ft. in evergreen and lower Shola forests (Gamble) ;

Ceylon.

624 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

3. Garcinia morelia, Desrous. in Lam. Encycl. iii (1789), 701 ; Cke. i, 78.

Distribution: E. Bengal, Khasia Hills, W. Peninsula: Kanara evergreen

forests, W. Ghats from S. Kanara and Mysore to Travancore up to 3,000 ft.—

Ceylon, Malacca, Singapore, Siam.

4. Garcinia xanthochymus, Hook. f. in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 78 ; Cke. i, 78.—

Xanthochymus pictorius , Roxb. Coromandel PI. ii, 51. t. 196 (not Garcinia

pictoria , Roxb.) -A', tinctorius , DC. Prodr. i (1824), 562.

In Gamble (Madras FI. 74) this species appears under the name of Garcinia

tinctoria , Dunn. Dunn remarks in Kew Bull. (1916), 64 that ‘ Xanthochymus

tinctorius , DC. is the oldest available name for the species ; Roxburgh’s

X. pictorius is older but the trivial name is preoccupied by G. pictoria , Roxb.

which is a different species.’ ( = G. Morelia ).

Dunn’s new combination is founded on X. tinctoria , DC. Craib rightly

thinks that this combination does not seem desirable since a reference to the

Prodromus shows that tinctoruis is clearly a misprint for pictorius.

Distribution : Eastern Bengal and E. Himalaya, Burma, Penang, Anda-

mans, N. Circars, Ganjam, W. Peninsula on the Ghats from Bombay to

N. Kanara, Mysore, Coorg, Nilgiris.and N. Travancore up to 3,500 ft.

5. Garcinia spicata, Hook.f. in Jour7i. Linn. Soc. 14 (1875), 486 ; Cke. i, 78.—

Xanthochymus ovalifol ins. Roxb. FI. Ind. ii (1832), 612.— Garcinia ovali folia,

Hook.f. in Hook.f, F.B.I., i, 269.— Xanthochymus spicatus, W. & A. Prodr.

102.

According to the above synonymy, the name ovalifolia has priority over

spicata, but as Dunn points out in Kew Bull. (1916), 64, it was first used under

Garcinia by Oliver in the FI. Trop. Africa (i, 166) to designate a different

species and is therefore not available for this one.

Locality: Add: Khandala (Blatter!); Bhimashunkar, Poona District

(Talbot).

Distribution: W. Peninsula: From the Konkati southwards in evergreen

monsoon and rain-forests, evergreen rain-forests from the Konkan and N.

Kanara Ghats to Travancore at low elevations, Ceylon.

6. Garcinia malabarica, Talb. in Jo-urn. Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc. ', xi, pi. i, For.

FI. Bombay, i (1909), 96 ; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 74. — G. ovalifolia , Hook.f.

var. macrantha , T. Anders, in Hook. f. F.B.I. , i, 269. — G. spicata , Kurz. MS.

in Herb. Calc, (ex Talbot).— G. spicata, Hook.f. var. macrantha , Cooke FI.

Bombay, i, 79.

Description : A small or medium-sized tree with sulcate, angular branchlets

dilated at the insertion of the leaves and inflorescence. Leaves opposite,

coriaceous, ovate or oblong, lanceolate, acute or obtuse,, glabrous, shining

above and beneath ; nerves numerous, anastomosing, distinct, midrib promi-

nent beneath ; blade 15-8 by 6-2*5 cm. ; petioles 12-18 mm. long, rugose, dilated

above the base, so that the two opposite ligular processes clasp the branch-

lets. Flowers dioecious. Male flowers white, 12-18 mm. across, numerous,

sessile or shortly pedicelled, fascicled on short, axillary, thick peduncles ;

pedicels bracteolate at the base. Sepals 4-5, orbicular, ^ the orbicular, white,

concave petals. Stamina! phalanges 5, thick, equalling the petals, surrounded

at the base by and springing from a lobed and plaited, thick fleshy disk ;

anthers 12 on each phalange, didymous, free part of filament short, stout.

Female flowers 1-6, axillary, fascicled. Sepals and petals of male. Stami-

nodes in 5 thin, flattened phalanges surrounding the ovary and springing from

the edge of a disk similar to that of the male flowers ; effete anthers 4-5 on

each phalange, flat, didymous and on longer free filaments than those of the

male flowers. Ovary 3-celled, crowned with the thick, 3-lobed spreading-

stigma (Talbot).

Locality : W. Ghats from N. Kanara southwards, common in evergreen

rain-forests of the Gersoppa Ghat (Talbot).

Distribution : W. Ghats in N. and S. Kanara, Mysore and Coimbatore.

Ochrocarpos, Thouars. (Cke. i, 79).

1. Ochrocarpos longifolius, Benth. & Hook.f. ex T. Anders, in Hook. f.

F.B.I., i (1874), 270 ( Ochrocarp:is ) ; Cke. i, 79.

Locality: Add: Konkan: Salsette (Blatter & McCann !).— W. Ghats:

Khandala (Blatter!). — N. Kanara: Kumpta (Talbot).

Revision of the floe a of the bombay presidency 625

Distribution: W. Ghats of the Konkan, N. Kanara, Malabar and Coimba-

toi'e ; cultivated in the N. Circars.

Calophyllum, Linn. (Cke. i, 80).

Species about 60. — Tropical Asia and America.

Cooke describes 3 species: C. inophytlum, Linn., C. tomentosum, Wight,

C. Wightianum , Wall. For C. tomentosum ,. we have to substitute C, elatum ,

Bedd. and for C. Wightianum C. apetalum, Willd.

2. Calophyllum datum, Bedd. FI. Sylv. t. 2; Gamble FI. Madras (1915),

76. — C. tomentosum, T. Anders, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i, 273 ( partim , non Wight);

Cke. i, 80.

Dunn (Kew Bull. (1916), 64) points out that the type of C. tomentosum ,

Wight 111. I (1840), 128 is a Ceylon tree which has not been reported from the

Madras Presidency, and he adds that the Travancore species is much less

tomentose and should bear Beddome’s name of C. elatum. Now the Bombay

plant is identical with the Nilgiri and Travancore specimens and for this reason,

the name C. elatum has been adopted.

Distribution : W. Peninsula : Evergreen forests from the Konkan south-

wards up to 5,000 ft. ; W. Ghats of N. Kanara, Nilkund and Gersoppa to the

Nilgiris, Travancore and Tinnevelly, 1,000 — 5,000 ft. (not in Ceylon).

3. Calophyllum apetalum, Willd. in Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berl. Mag. (1811), 79

[excl. stirp. zeylan.) ; T. A. S. and C. E. C. F. in Kew Bull. (1926), 254. —

C. spurium , Choisy in DC. Prodr. i (1824). 563 ; W. & A. Prodr. i (1834), 103. —

C. c iecipiens , Wight 111. (1840), 128 ; Ic. i. t. 106 ; Dunn in Gamble FI. Madras

1(1915), 76; Kew Bull. (1916), 64.— C. Wightianum , Wall. Cat. No. 4847

(1831), nomen; Planch, et Triana in Ann, Sc. Nat. ser. 4, xv (1861), 256;

T. Anders, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, (1874), 274 ; Vesque in DC. Monogr. viii (1893)

569 ; Cke. i, 81.

Sprague and Fischer give the following explanation of the above synonymy

(Kew Bull. 1926), 259: 4 Willdenow in 1811 gave the name Calophyllum

apetalum tof Tajerou-ponna Rheede, Hort. Mai. iv. 81, t. 39 (1683) and

- Inophytlum {lore quadriHdo Burm. Thes. Zeyl. 130, t. 60 (1737), which Linne

(Sp. PI. 514 : 1753) had erroneously included in C. Calaba L. In 1824, Choisy

substituted the name C . spurium for C. apetalum , apparently on the ground

that the latter was misleading. Wight and Arnott adopted C. spurium

in 1834, but in 1S40 Wight proposed the new name C. decipiens , because he

had come to the conclusion that spurium was also misleading. He excluded

Burmann’s Ceylon plant from the species, calling it C. Burmanni.

1 In 1861 Planchon and Triana took up the “momen nudum ” C. Wightianum

Wall. Cat. n. 4847 for Rheede ’s species, because apetalum and. spurium seemed

to them unsuitable, and C. decipiens had been misapplied by Th waites to a

Ceylon plant, C. Thwaitesii Planch, et Triana. C. Wightianum has been

accepted in the Flora of British India, in Vesque’s monograph of the Guttiferse,

and by most recent authors. C. decipiens , however, was received by Dunn in

1915. Under the International Rules of Nomenclature, the fact that a name is

considered to be misleading or inappropriate does not warrant its rejection,

and the correct name for the species in question is C. apetalum Willd.’

Mesua, Linn. (Cke. 81).

1. Mesua ferrea, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 515.

Locality : Add : W. Ghats : Panchgani (Blatter !)

Distribution: Mountains of E. Himalaya and E. Bengal, Assam, Tenas-

serim, Burma, Andamans, evergreen rain-forests of N. Kanara and S. Konkan,

forests of the W. Ghats from S. Kanara to Travancore, up to 5,000 ft.,

Ceylon.

TERNSTR0EM1ACEAE (Cke. i, 82).

Cooke mentions 2 genera ( Eurya and Gordonia), both of which should, in

my opinion, be excluded from the Bombay Flora. There is no authentic

specimen available to show that either Eurya japonica , Thunb. or Gordonia

obtusa , Wall, has ever been gathered in the Presidency.

I include however :

626 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , K?/. XXXIV

Camellia Thea, Link Enuin. Hort. Berol. ii, 73. — The Tea plant.

A shrub, 1-T8 m. high. Branchlets glabrous, buds silky. Leaves 10-20

cm. by 3-6 cm., elliptic-oblong, acute, or cuspidate-acuminate, more or less

serrate, membranous, puberulous on the nerves beneath ; petiole 4 mm. long.

Flowers 3 cm. diam., white. Sepals orbicular, glabrous, with membranous

ciliate edges. Petals broadly obovate, slightly coherent at the base. Stamens

numerous, the outermost in many rows, slightly or almost wholly monadel-

phous, adherent to the base of the petals ; the innermost 5-12, free. Styles

united for § their length. Capsule leathery, trigonous ; cells 1-, rarely

2-seeded. Seeds 18 mm. diam, nearly globose or obtusely angled, smooth,

pale brown.

Locality : Cultivated at Bilar near Panchgani and about 6 miles from

Panchgani towards Mahableshwar.

For discussion of distribution and nomenclature of Tea plant, see C.P.C.

Stuart in Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitz. I (1919) fasc. 4.

DIPTEROCARPACEAE (Cke. i, 83).

Genera 16, species about 325.— Limited to the Indo-Malayan region from the

Seychelles to New Guinea.— See E. D. Merrill Distribution of the Diptero-

carpacese. Phil. Journ. Sc. 23 (1923), 1.

Dipterocarpus, Gaertn. f. (Cke. i, 84).

Species about 70. —

Cooke describes 1 species : D . turbinatus , Gaertn. f. This species as conceived

by This.— Dyer in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 295, Cooke Bombay FI. i, 84 and Talbot

For. FI. Bomb, i, 108, fig. 65 combines 2 species : D. turbinatus , Gaertn.

f. proper and D. indicus, Bedd. Brandis (Enum. Dipterocarpaceae, Journ.

Linn. Soc. 31 (1895), 27) has separated the 2 species on somewhat slender

grounds,’ as Talbot says. Brandis (Ind. Trees, 1911, 65) has retained the

separation, and Gamble and Troup have followed him :

1. Dipterocarpus indicus, Bedd. For. Report (1864-65), 17, FI. t. 99; Brandis

Journ. Linn. Soc. 31 (1895), 27 ; Ind. Trees (1911), 65 ; Gamble FI. Madras

(1915), 81; Troup Ind. Silvic. i (1921), 37. — Dipterocarpus turbinatus , This.-

Dyer in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 295 ( partim ); Cke. i, 84 ( partim) ; Talbot For. FI.

Bomb, i (1909), 108 ( partim ).

Description : Differs from D. turbinatus in the following points : Leaves

subglabrous ; petioles longer, J to \ the length of the blades, secondary

nerves less numerous, 10-15 pairs ; flowers white ; tube of fruiting calyx

smooth.

Locality : Konkan (Stocks). — From N. Kanara southwards in the evergreen

rain- forests of the Ghats (Talbot) ; Gersoppa Ghat (Talbot !).

Distribution : The W. Ghats from N. Kanara southwards to Travancore

in evergreen forests up to 3,000 ft.

D. turbinatus is found in the Andamans, Cachar, Tipperah, Chittagong

hills and Burma, extending into Siam and Cochinchina.

Shorea, Roxb. (Cke. i, 85).

Species about 90. —Tropical Asia and Malaya. 1 species in the Pres.

Shorea, Talura, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 93 ; Cke. i, 85.

Locality : N. Kanara : In the Sirsi taluka scattered throughout the mixed

deciduous monsoon-forests near the Mysore frontier (Talbot).

Distribution : Forests of the E. Ghats and Deccan in Cuddappah, N. Arcot,

Anantapur, Mysore, and Salem, up to 3,000 ft. W. Ghats in N. Kanara,

Malabar, Coimbatore and Madura (ex Gamble).

Hopea, Roxb. (Cke. i, 85).

Species 46.— Tropical Asia and Malaya, one in New Guinea.

1. Hopea Wightiana, Wall. Cat. (1828), 6295 ; Cke. i, 86 ; Gamble FI. Madras

(1915), 82 [partim).

Gamble 1. c. united H. glabra W. & A. Prodr. 85 with H. Wightiana, but

soon afterwards, on receiving fresh material from India, came to the conclu-

sion that Wight and Arnott had, quite correctly, separated the 2 species.

(See Kew Bull. (1924) 235).

Revision of the flora of the bombay presidency 62?

Wight’s figure (III. t. 37) which was reproduced by Brandis and Gilg in

Engl. & Prantl Pflanzenf. iii, pt. 6, 261, fig. 121 should not be cited here

because it shows a different leaf-nervation.

Distribution : W. Peninsula : Evergreen forests from the Konkan south-

wards to Tinnevelly.

Vateria, Linn. (Cke. i, 86)

Species 3, one in Ceylon, one in the Seychelles.

1. Vateria indica, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 515 ; Cke. i, 86.

Distribution : Western India : From N. Kanara to Travancore up to 3,500

or 4,000 ft., chiefly in evergreen forests, but occasionally along rivers in

deciduous forests. In Coorg both in the Ghat forests and east of the Ghats

up to 3,500 ft., in the latter locality always in evergreen forest (Troup).

MALVACEAE (Cke. i, 88).

Species about 800. — Warm and temperate regions.

Althaea, Linn. (Cke. i, 89).

1. Althaea Ludwigii, Linn. Mantiss. (1767), 98 ; Cke. i, 89.

Locality: Add: Sind: Larkana (Sabnis B471 !) ; Sehwan, Kalar soil

(Sabnis B172 !).

Distribution : N. W. India, Punjab, Sind, W. Asia, Mediterranean region,

S. Africa.

Malvastrum, A. Gray (not in Cooke).

Herbs or shrubs. Leaves entire or lobed. Flowers axillary or in a leafy

terminal spike ; bracteoles 3, narrow. Calyx cup-shaped, 5-parted. Petals

longer than the sepals. Staminal tube bearing anthers on the outside up to

the top, with no sterile teeth. Ovary five or more-celled, styles as many as the

carpels ; stigmas capitate. Ripe carpels separating from a short torus,

indehiscent, 1-seeded, beaked or not. Seeds ascending.

Species about 60. — American and S. African, except two which are cosmo-

politan in the tropics.

1. Malvastrum coromandelianum, Garcke in Bonpland. v (1857), 297.—

M. tricuspidatum , A. Gray PL Wright (1852), 16. — Malva tricuspidata, Ait.

Hort. Kew. ed. ii, iv, 210. — M. coromandeliana, Linn. Sp. PI. 687.

An erect branching herb or undershrub, 2-3 feet high. Stem, petiole and

main nerves on the lower surface of the leaf stellately hairy, with the hairs

few-branched, ascending or descending ; hairs on the blade often simple.

Leaves up to 65 cm. long, ovate or ovate— lanceolate, irregularly toothed,

5-nerved at the base, nerves impressed above, prominent beneath ; petiole up

to 18 mm. long, not swollen near the base, flattened or slightly channelled

above, densely hairy ; stipules 5 mm. long, linear, hairy. Peduncles 0-12 mm.

long. Bracteoles 3, linear, about half the length of the calyx. Calyx cam-

panulate, cleft about half-way down ; lobes 5, triangular, acute. Corolla

12 mm. across, pale-yellow, exceeding the calyx. Stamina] tube antheriferous

to the top without sterile teeth. Styles as many as carpels ; stigmas capitate.

Carpels 8-12, reniform with 3 projecting spines, bristly between the spines.

Locality : Konkan : Bombay (Hallberg !). — Deccan : Poona (Ezekiel !).

A weed of roadsides and waste places.

Distribution : A native of America, introduced into India and now found

in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, the Punjab and the United Provinces,

Orissa, Bengal.

Sida, Linn. (Cke. i, 91).

Species about 120. — Mostly tropical weeds ; most numerous in America.

Cooke describes 7 species. I add 5. schimperiana , Hochst.

Note : Parker remarks rightly that the position of the joint to the peduncles

is not an absolutely reliable character.

1. Sida veronicaefolia, Lam. Encycl. (1785), 5 ; Cke. i, 92. — .S', humilis, Cav.

Diss. v, 277 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 322.

Locality. Add : Konkan : Bombay (Blatter !). A weed of waste places

628 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

2. Sida glutinosa, Cav. Diss. i (1785), 16, t. 3, fig. 8 ; Cke. i, 92 ; Haines Bot.

Bih. & Or. 59.-5. mysorensis , W. & A. Prodr. 59 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i,

322.-5. urticcefolia, W. & A. Prodr. 59.

3. Sida schimperiana, Hochst. in Rich. FI. Abyss, i, 66.-5. cuneifolia , Roxb.

FI. Ind. iii, 170. — Dictyocarpus trimeatus, Wight in Ann. Sc. Nat.'ser. 2, xi,

169. — Roedleia truncata , W. & A. Prodr. §§{non'DC.).—Melochiatruncata ,

Wall. Cat. no. 1196K.

Description: A woody undershrub ; rootstock thick. Branches repeatedly

forked, intricate, decumbent or erect. Leaves oblong, retuse, entire, base

cuneate, 12 mm, long, sparingly covered with stellate hairs ; petiole very

short. Flowers solitary, axillary, shortly petioled. Sepals 5, connate below

the middle in a cup-shaped tube. Petals pink. Carpels 5, subglobose, ulti-

mately dehiscing along the inner edge, beaks short, connivent.

According to Gamble the carpels number 6-10.

Locality : 5. M . Country : Yekovigi, Dharwar Distr. (Sedgwick !).

Distribution : Madras Pres. : East Coast Districts at Madras, S. Arcot ; Car-

natic, Deccan, Abyssinia, S. Africa,

4. Sida spinosa, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 683; Cke. i, 92.-5. alba , Linn. Sp.

PI. ed. ii, 960.— 5. alnifolia , Linn. Sp. PI. 684.

Cooke says that the carpels are 3 (rarely 6). I have always observed 5.

According to Muschler this plant derives its name spinosa from the fact that

the stipules when falliug off leave a prominent tubercular base, more distinct

in this than in any other species, although the character is even here not

constant.

Parker in his Flora of the Punjab (p. 34) distinguishes 2 forms which can

also be seen in the Bombay Presidency. One has the leaves cuneate at the

base (5. alba, Linn.), the other cordate (5. alnifolia , Linn.). It is not always

easy to distinguish the former from certain forms of 5. rhonibifolia , except by

its thin- walled carpels and peduncles jointed very high up. The latter looks

very much like 5. cordifolia, but can be made out by its 5 carpels.

Locality: Add: Sind: Mirpur Sakro, Bohara, Gholam (Blatter &

McCann !). — W. Khandesh (Blatter !). — Konkan : Salsette (Blatter!).

Distribution : Tropical and subtropical regions of both hemispheres.

5. Sida grewfoides, Guill. Perr. & A. Rich. FI. Senegamb. i (1830), 71.

The corolla is white or yellow. The carpels are hoar}7.

Locality: Add: Sind: Hyderabad, rocky plateau (Sabnis B243!);

Gharo, Kullan Kote Lake, Tatta Tombs (Blatter & McCann !). — Cutch

(Blatter !).

Distribution : Hassar, W. Rajputana, Sind, Cutch. —Arabia, tropical

Africa.

6. Sida acuta, Burm. FI. Ind. (1768), 147 ; Cke. i, 93.-5. carpinifolia,

Linn. f. Suppl. (1781), 307 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i, 323.

Leaves lanceolate to obovate-lanceolate; 3-5-nerved at the base, secondary

nerves 5-8, extending nearly to the margin. Carpels 5-10.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Bombay (Blatter !) ; Uran in Bombay

Harbour (Blatter !).— W. Ghats : Khandala (Blatter & McCann !) ; Panch-

gani (Blatter !) .

Distribution: Hotter parts of India.— Tropics generally.

7. Sida rhonibifolia, Linn. Sp. PL. (1753), 684 ; Parker FI. Punjab 35.

Description : A small erect undershrub. Branches rough with stellate

hairs. Leaves very variable in shape, up to 5 cm. by 18 mm., glabrous or

subglabrous above, grey pubescent or hoary beneath, coarsely dentate towards

the tip, entire towards the base, 3-5-nerved. Petiole up to 6 mm. long, pubes-

cent, swollen in the upper third. Pedicelsaxillary or crowded towards the

ends of the branches. Calyx 5-angular, hairy ; lobes triangular, acuminate.

Corolla yellow or white, 8-12 mm. across. Carpels 7-10 with 2 short awns.

Seeds smooth, black.

The leaves, the relative length of the pedicels, the position of the joint and

the length of the carpellary awns are most variable, and the many varieties

which have been made are better considered as so many forms to which many

others might be added.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 629

a. Forma refusa ; var. relusa , Mast, in Hook. f. F. B I. i, 324. — Sida return ,

Linn. — Leaves obovate, retuse, or tiuucate, dark green and glabrous above,

more or less tomentose beneath, pedicels equalling, longer or shorter than the

petiole, jointed above the middle. Carpellary awns short.

Locality : Gujarat : Petlad (Woodrow !). — Konkan : Very common

(Dalzell, Stocks) ; Collem (Goa) ; Bombay (Blatter !) ; Salsette (Blatter !) —

W. Ghats : Igatpuri (Blatter & McCann!) ; Khandala (Blatter!) ; Poona

(Woodrow !) ; Panchgani (Blatter ! ) . — ►S'. M. Country : Belgaum (Ritchie) ;

Dharwar (Cooke !).

b. Forma rhomboidea ; var. rhomboidea, Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. 1. i, 34.—

►S. rhomboidea, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 50.— Leaves rhomboid-lanceolate, serrate,

hoary beneath. Pedicels more than half the length of the leaves, jointed at the

Locality : W. Ghats : Khandala Ghat, Satara Dist. (McCann !).

Distribution : A weed of waste places, throughout the tropics of both

hemispheres.

8. Sida cordifolia, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 684 ; Cke. i, 94.

Base of leaf 5-7-nerved. Petioles swollen at the top. Calyx 10-angled.—

Resembles an Abutilon.

Kydia, Roxb. (Cke. i. 94).

1. Kydia calycina, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 51.

Distribution: Tropical Himalaya from the Indus eastwards, Burma,

Satpuras, W. Peninsula along the Ghats, Konkan and N. Kanara in deciduous

forests, Deccan hills of the Poxma District, in the Madras Presidency in most

districts of the N. Circars and Deccan in deciduous forests, scarce on the

W. Coast.

Abutilon, Tournef. (Cke. i, 95).

Cooke describes 11 species. Another species is here added { Abutilon , Theo-

phrasti) and the names of A. glaucum and A. hirtuni are being substituted for

A. muticum and A. graveolens.

1. Abutilon polyandrum, W. & A. Prodr. (1834), 55 [non G. Don) ; Cke. i, 95.

Locality : Add: Sind: Indus Delta (Blatter & McCann!). — W. Ghats :

Khandala (McCann !) ; Purandhar (Blatter !) ; Panchgani (Blatter !).

Distribution : N. W. India, tropical Himalaya, Burma, E. Ghats, Ganjam

to Godavari, W. Ghats of the Bombay Presidency and from Mysore to the

Pulneys. — Ceylon, Java, S. tropical Africa.

2. Abutilon Ranadei, Woodr. & Stapf in Kew Bull, (1894), 99 ; Cke. i, 96.

Distribution : So far endemic in the Konkan.

3. Abutilon indicum, Sweet Hort. Brit, i (1827), 54 ; Cke. i, 96,

Erect, up to 3 m. high and 2 5 cm. diam.j stem woody when old. Base

_qf leaves 7-9-nerved. Seeds minutely stellately hairy.

Locality : Add : Cutch (Blatter !) —Sind : Mirpur Sakro (Blatter & McCann

D455 ! ) .

Distributio?i : Throughout tropical India (also Mt. Abu and desert of

W. Rajputana).

4. Abutilon asiaticum, G. Don Gen. Syst. i (1831), 503 (not of W. & A. Prodr.):;

Cke. i, 96.

Description .: Herbaceous or somewhat wqody below, densely pubescent.

Leaves ovate, cordate, acute or acuminate, serrate, slightly hairy and rugose

above, velvety and with prominent veins beneath, 5-10 cm. long ; petioles

3-4 cm. long. Stipules linear, deflexed. Pedicels stout, longer than the petiole,

jointed near the flower. Flowers yellow, 5 cm. across, orange-yellow. Calyx

densely clothed with long woolly hairs, lobes oval, acuminate, 3rveined, Ulti-

mately deflexed. Ripe carpels about 20, hispid, scarcely longer than the calyx ;

awns short, erect. — (According to Trimen, the ripe carpels are never awned in

Ceylon).

Locality: Cutch (Blatter]). — Gujarat: Perim Island (Blatter !).— //4

Khandesh (Blatter !).

Distribution : E. Coast in Chingleput Dist., W. Peninsula. —Ceylon, tropics

of both hemispheres.

2

630 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

5. Abutilon bidentatum, Hochst. ex A. Rich. FI. Abyss, i (1847), 68 : Cke. i, 96.

Very much like A. indicum, but can be distinguished by the stem being

usually green right down to the base and by the smaller carpels having more

prominent and spreading tips. Parker has observed that in A. bidentatum

the carpels usually dehisce before breaking away from the central axis, whilst

in A. indicum , the carpels usually break away before dehiscence has taken place.

Locatity : Sind (Stocks). — Konkan : Salsette (Blatter !).

Distribution : Punjab, Sind, desert of W. Rajputana, Konkan. — Afghanistan,

Arabia, Egypt, tropical Africa.

6. Abutilon glaucum, Sweet Hort. Br. ed. i (1827), 54; Blatter FI. Arabica

(1919), 79. — A. muticum , Sweet l.c. ed. ii (1830), 65 : Cke. i, 97 ; Parker FI.

Punjab (1918), 38.— A. muticum, Webb. FI. Aethiop. (1835), 51. — S. glauca ,

Cav. Ic. v (1791), 8, t. 11. — Abutilon glaucum , Webb, in Hook. Nig. FI. 109. —

S. pannosa, R. Br. in Salt. Abyss. App. 65 ( non Forsk.). — A. pannosum ,

Webb. Fragm. FI. Aethiop. 51.— A. tomentosum, W. & A. Prodr. 56.

Base of leaf 7-9-nerved.

Locality : Add . Sind : Nawabshah, Pad Idan (Sabnis B495!) ; Hyderabad

Ganja hill (Sabnis B987 !) ; banks of Phuleli canal (Sabnis B155 !) ; Narsapur

(Sabnis B1135 !) ; Mirpurkhas (Sabnis B864 !) ; Jamesabad (Sabnis B929 !) ;

Sanghar (Sabnis B630 !) ; Umerkot, sandy plains (Sabnis B935 !) ; Mirpur Sakro

in Indus Delta (Blatter & McCann D451 !) ; Gharo (Blatter & McCann D453 !) ;

Bohara (Blatter & McCann D452 !) ; Gholam (Blatter & McCann 448 !) ; Kullan

Kote Lake (Blatter & McCann D454 !); Tatta Tombs (Blatter & McCann D450 !).

— W. Khandesh (Blatter !). — Konkan : Salsette (Blatter !).

Distribution : Mediterranean region, tropical Africa, Cape, Egypt, Arabia.

Afghanistan, India, Ceylon, Australia.

7. Abutilon hirtum, G. Don Gen. Syst. i (1785), 503; Gamble FI. Madras

(1915), 9L— A. graveolens, W. & A. Prodr. (1834), 56; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i,

327; Cke. i, 97. — A. graveolens var. hirtum , Mast. l.c. — Sida graveolens , Roxb.

Hort. Beng. 50.— Abutilon hirtum , W. & A. Prodr. (1834), 56. — Sida hirta ,

Lam. Diet, i, 17.

Description : A shrub, 1-2 m. high. Branches covered with minute glandu-

lar pubescence mixed with long white spreading hairs. Leaves 5-7.5 cm. long,

orbicular-cordate,- sometimes lobed, abruptly acuminate, velvety on both

sides ; petiole 2'5-5 cm. long. Stipules linear-falcate, reflexed, deciduous.

Pedicels as long as the petioles, jointed above the middle. Flowers large,

orange-coloured with a darker centre, becoming pink when old, ultimately

reflexed. Calyx-lobes ovate, acuminate, densely pubescent. Petals obcordate.

Carpels 15-20 or more, rounded (not acute as has Cooke) , hairy, not awned,

about as long as the enlarged calyx. Carpels 2-3 seeded. Seeds with minute,

shining, stellate hairs.

Distribution: Tropical Africa, Arabia, Baluchistan, India, Malaya, Australia.

8. Abutilon crispum, G. Don Gen. Syst. i (1785), 502.

Distribution : S. M. Country, Deccan from Hyderabad southwards, Coro-

mandel Coast.

9. Abutilon ramosum, Guill. Perr. & A. Rich. FI. Senegamb. i (1830), 68;

Cke. i, 98.

According to Parker, the carpels dehisce but remain attached to the axis,

the whole fruit breaking off at the joint on the pedicel.

Locality .* Add : Cutch (Blatter !) .—Konkan : Bombay (Blatter !).

Distribution : N. W. India, Mt. Abu, Sind, Cutch, Gujarat, Konkan.

—Arabia, tropical Africa.

10. Abutilon fruticosum, Guill. Perr. & A. Rich. FI. Senegamb. i (1830), 70;

Cke. i, 98.

Locality : Add ; Cutch (Blatter !).

Distribution : Punjab, Rajputana Desert, Sind, Baluchistan. — Arabia, Pales-

tine, tropical Africa, Canaries, Java.

11. Abutilon cornutum, T. Cooke in FI. Bombay i, 98.

Distribution : Sind, Desert of W. Rajputana (Blatter !).

12. Abutilon Theopbrasti, Medic. Malv. (1787) 28 ; Blatter FI. Arab. (1919) 80.

— Sida Abutilon , Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 963 ; DC. Prodr. i, 470 ; Roxb. FI. Ind.

REVISION OF tHE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 63l

iii, 178. — Abutilon Avicennae , Gaertn. Fruct. ii (1791) 251, t. 135; Boiss. FI.

Or. i, 856 ; Rchbch. Ic. v, fig. 4832 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 327.

The oldest specific name is Abutilon (1753), but according to Article 55 of the

Vienna Code of Nomenclature, ‘specific names must be rejected when they

merely repeat the generic name.’ The second oldest specific name is Theo-

phrasti.

Description : Annual, herbaceous, covered for the most part with fine down,

intermingled with a few villi. Leaves 7-10 cm. long, orbicular-cordate,

acuminate, dentate, on both surfaces villous or hispid along the nerves.

Petiole 7-S cm., hispid. Stipules large, oblique, broadly ovate-lanceolate.

Inflorescence a terminal, ultimately leafless panicle ; pedicels short, solitary,

axillary, jointed below the middle. Calyx hispid, deeply 5 parted nearly to the

base ; segments ovate-lanceolate. Petals yellow, hardly exceeding the sepals.

Staminal tube very short. Ripe fruit cylindrical, truncate, umbilicate, longer

than the persistent calyx. Carpels 15-20, oblong, truncate, hispidulous or

pubescent, dehiscing along the dorsal suture, each 3-seeded, with 2 long,

horizontal spreading ciliolate awns. Seeds covered with tufts of stellate hairs.

Locality : Sind (ex Masters).

Distribution : N. W. India, Sind, Kashmir, Bengal. — Arabia, Egypt, Medi-

terranean, S. Eastern Europe. Naturalized in many parts of Asia, Africa and

America.

Urena, Linn. (Cke. i, 99).

1. Urena iobata, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 692; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 329

ex cl. U. palmata ; Cke. i, 100 ; Britton in Addisonia 10 (1925), 19, pi. 330.

Locality : Add : Konkan ; Uran (Hallberg !) ; Salsette (Blatter!).

Distribution : All tropical countries. A weed of waste places, forest clear-

ings and roadsides.

2. Urena sinuata, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 692 ; Cke. i, 100.— U. Iobata , Linn, var,

sinuata , King in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. lx, 2 (1891), 43.

Locality: Add : Konkan : Bombay (Blatter !) ; Salsette (Blatter \).— Deccan:

Igatpuri (Blatter and McCann !) ; Khandala (Blatter !).

Pavonia, Cav. (Cke. i, 101).

See E. Ulbrich. Monographie der afrikanischen Pavonia Arten nebst

Ubersicht fiber die ganze Gattung. Bot. Jahrb. 57 (1920/21), 54-184.

Cooke describes 6 species. 1 retain them, except that the name of P,

glechomaePolia will be changed into P. procumbens.

1. Pavonia procumbens, Boiss. FI. Or. i (1867), 83 1 .—Lebretoni a procumbens ,

Wall. Cat. 2688 : Wight Ic. t. 4 ; W. &A. Prodr. i, 47. — Pavonia glechomifolia,

Garcke in Schweinf. Beitr. FI. Aethiop. (1867), 54 ; Cke. i, 101. — Lebretonia

glechomaefolia , A. Rich. FI. Abyss, i, (1847), 54.

Locality: Add: Cutch (Blatter!).

Distribution : N. W. India, Sind, Cutch, Circars, Deccan, Carnatic, Burma

—Ceylon, Arabia, tropical Africa.

2. Pavonia arabica, Steud. Nom. ed. 2 (1841), 279 {nomen) ; Boiss. FI. Or. !

(1867), 837.

Locality: Add: Cutch (Blatter !).

Distribution : Sind, Cutch, W. Rajputana.— Arabia, Abyssinia.

3. Pavonia zeylanica, Cav. Diss. 3 (1737), 134, t. 48, fig. 2 ; Cke. i, 102.

Distribution : N. W. India, W. Rajputana, Sind, W. Peninsula, Circars and

Carnatic from the Godavari southwards. — Ceylon, tropical Africa, Mauritius.

4. Pavonia odorata, Willd. Sp. PI. iii (1800), 837 ; Cke. i, 102.

Flowers sweet-scented. Sepals lanceolate. Corolla pale pink or white,

twice the length of the calyx. Carpels gibbous on their backs, wingless, unarm-

ed, dehiscent.

Locality : Add: Sind: (exMasters).

Distribution: N. W. India, Sind, W. Rajputana, Konkan, S. M. Country,

N. Circars, Deccan, Carnatic, Burma — Ceylon, East tropical Africa.

Senra, Cav. (Cke. i, 103).

1. Senra incana, Cav. Diss. 2. (1786), 83, t. 35, fig. 3 ( Serra ), 104 {Senra).

Locality— Add : Sind: Gizri sands (Sabnis B779 !) ; Manora Isl. (Sabnis

B822 !).— Cutch (Blatter !) .—Kathiawar : Dwarka (Borgesen).

632 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , XXXIV

Distribution .- Sind to Gujarat. — Arabia, Somaliland, Sennar. Abyssinia

Kordofan.

Hibiscus, Linn. (Cke. i, 105).

Cooke describes 23 indigenous and 3 cultivated species.

The following names given by Cooke have been changed : Hibiscus collirtus

into H. platanifolius, H. tetrajphyllus/mto H. Manihot. Thespesia macrophylla,

Blume has been put under Hibiscus.

1. Hibiscus Trionum, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 697 ; Cke. i, 105.

Distribution : W. Himalaya, from Kashmir to Simla, Bengal, Sind, Konkan,

Deccan, Anantapur, Mysore, Coimbatore and Nilgiris, common on black cotton

soil. — S. Europe and hotter parts of the Old World.

2. Hibiscus surattensis, Linn. Sp. PL (1753), 696 ; Cke. i, 105.

Locality: Add: Konkan: Karanja Isl. (Blatter!); Bombay (Blatter !).

Distribution : Delhi, Konkan, W. coast from N. Kanara to Tinnevelly,

Bengal to Penang and Ceylon. — Tropical Asia, Australia, Africa.

3. Hibiscus furcatus, W'lld. Enum. (1809), 736 ; Cke. i, 106.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Penn (Blatter !).

Distribution : Konkan, S. M. Country, W. Coast and W. Ghats from Mala-

bar and Nilgiris to Travancore, up to 3,000 ft.

4. Hibiscus radiatus, Cav. Diss. 3 (1787), 150, t. 54, fig. 2 ; Cke. i, 106.

Locality : Only one specimen has been observed on this side of India viz. on

the Phuuda Ghat. This is strange considering the geographical area of the

species. Was Ritchie’s plant correctly named ?

Distribution : Sikkim, Khasia Mts. Ava, Martaban, Malaya.

5. Hibiscus hirtus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 694; Cke. i, 106.

Masters (in Hook. f. F.B.I., i, 335) says that the leaves have a * large gland

on the under side of the midrib.’ Duthie (FI. Upp. Gang. PI. i, 89) speaks of

a ‘ linear gland.’ Gamble, too, mentions (FI. Madras 95) ‘ a large gland on

the midrib beneath.’ Haines (Bot. Bih. & Or. 67) says that the leaves have

often a gland on the midrib beneath, and Cooke (1. c.) * cannot find the large

gland on the underside of the midrib mentioned by Masters.’ Parker (For.

FI. Punjab 40) does not mention the gland at all.

Locality: Add: W . Khandesh (Blatter ^.—Konkan : Penn (McCann!).—

W. Ghats : Khandala (Blatter & McCann !) .

Distribution : Punjab, Khandesh, Konkan, Deccan, N. Circars in the Goda-

vari District. — Java.

6. Hibiscus micranthus, Linn. f. Suppl. (1781), 308; Cke. i, 107.

Locality : Add : Cutch (Blatter \).— W. Ghats : Khandala (Blatter !).

Distribution : Hotter parts of India from N. W. India eastwards and south-

wards to Ceylon (W. Rajputana, Mt. Abu).- Arabia, tropical Africa.

7. Hibiscus intermedius, A. Rich. FI. Abyss, i (1847), 58 ; Mast. in Hook. f.

F.B.I. i, 336 ; Cke. i, 107.

Var. aristaevalvis, Hochr. in Ann. Conserv. Jard. Bot. Geneva iv (1900),

94; Blatter FI. Arab. 82. — Hibiscus aristaevalvis , Garcke in Bot. Zeit. vii(1849),

849. — H. trionoides, Hochst. PI. Schimp. Abyss. (1853)., n. 497.

Distribution: Sind,, Kathiawar — Arabia, tropical Alrica,

8. Hibiscus lobatus, O. Ktze. Rev. Gen. iii (1898), 19 .—Solandra lobata, Murr.

in Comm. Gotting. vi, 1783-84 (1785), 20. — Laguna lobata, Wild. Sp. PI. iii

733. —Hibiscus Solandra, L’Her. Stirp. i, (1784), 103, t . 49 ; Mast, in Hook,

f. F.B.I. i, 336 ; Cke. i, 107.

Description : An erect annual, 30-75 cm. high. Stems slightly branched,

pubescent or somewhat hispid. Lower leaves long-petioled, ovate, upper more

or less deeply 3-lobed, uppermost sometimes 3-foliolate, all cordate, acute,

coarsely serrate, hairy on both sides. Stipules setaceous. Pedicels 2‘5-4 cm.

long, 1-flowered, jointed near the top, arranged in a loose leafless terminal

raceme. Bracteoles linear, minute or usually absent. Flowers 12-18 mm. across,

distant, white or yellow or pink. Calyx divided to about the middle, pubescent;

lobes lanceolate, prominently 2-nerved. Petals obliquely obcordate. Capsule

ovoid, pointed, hairy at the top, not exceeding the calyx. Seeds blackish,

tubercled. - -

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 633

Locality : Add : Konkan : Salsette (Blatter !).

Distribution: N. W. India to Sikkim, Burma, Mt. Abu, Konkan, S. MV

Country, W. Ghats and Coast from S. Kanara to Tinnevelly, N. Circars in

Vizagapatam and Godavari. — Ceylon, tropical Africa.

9. Hibiscus platanifolius, Sw. Hort, Brit. ed. i (1827), 51 ; Gamble FI.

Madras (1915), 98 .—Pavonia platanifolia , Willd. in Ges. Naturf. Fr. Berl. Mag.

iv, (1810), 220. — Hibiscus collinus, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 51 ; Cke. i, 108.

Description : A small tree up to 90 cm. girth. Shoots tomentose and twigs

hoary with stellate hairs. Leaves 10-16 cm. long and broad, deeply 3-lobed

with shallow cordate base, sometimes 5-lobed, hairy beneath and thinly so

above with simple and stellate hairs, lobes acuminate or caudate, sinuate-

dentate or su bio bed ; primary nerves 5-7 and secondary raised beneath.

Petioles 7*5— 11 cm. long. Flowers 5-7' 5 cm. diam., pink with dark centre.

Pedicels 5-11 cm. long, axillary, jointed 15—17 mm. from the top. Involucral

bracts 5 (Masters has 8-10), leaf-like, free, lanceolate, about equalling the

calyx. Calyx pubescent, divided to below the middle; segments ovate, acute,

1-nerved. Corolla pink with dark centre. Capsule 18 mm. diam., globose,

slightly pointed, 5-celled and — angled, covered with fulvous hairs, loculi with

long bristles within. Seeds grey-black, subglobose, glabrous.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Bombay (Blatter !).

.. Distribution : Konkan, Salem, Tinnevelly, N. Circars in Vizagapatam,

Cuddapah forests, often cultivated in gardens. — Ceylon.

10. Hibiscus lunariifolius, Willd. Sp. PI. iii (1800), 811 ; Cke. i, 108.

Distribution : Konkan, W. Ghats from Mysore southwards up to 3,000 ft., E.

Carnatic, Burma.— Ceylon, Arabia, Upper Guinea, Abyssinia, Sennar, Lake

Ngami, Mozambique.

11. Hibiscus pandursefortnis, Burm. FI. Ind. (1768), 151 , Cke. i, 108.

Locality: Add: Cutch (Blatter!). — IV. Khandesh (Blatter \).~ Konkan:

Bombay (Blatter !) ; Penn (McCann !).

Distribution : Hotter parts of India from N. W. India to Burma and Ceylon. —

Australia,- tropical Africa.

12. Hibiscus vitifolius,, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 696 ; Cke. i, 109.

The information regarding the number of bracteoles varies a good deal :

Cooke gives 7-12, Haines 6-12, Masters 8-12, Duthie 5-8.

Distribution: Hotter parts of India from the Punjab to Ceylon. Tropical

Africa, Australia.

13. Hibiscus cannabinus, Linn. Syst. Nat. (1759), 1149 ; Cke. i, 109. Apparently

a native of Africa.

14. Hibiscus caesius, Garcke in Oester. Bot. Zeit. (1849), 850 and in Peters

Reise Mossamb. 125 ; Cke. i, 109 .—H. Gibsoni, Stocks in Harv. et Sond. FI.

Cap. ii, 587 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i, 339.

Locality : Add : Sind (Stocks) .—Konkan (ex Duthie).— W. Khandesh

(Blatter!).

Distribution : Punjab, Sind, Khandesh, Deccan, Konkan. — Afghanistan,

S. tropical Africa, N. Australia.

15. Hibiscus punctatus, Dalz. in Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. FI. (1861), 20 ; Cke. i,

110.

Distribution : Sind, Gujarat, Multan.

16. Hibiscus, ficulneus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 695 ; Cke. i, 110.

Corolla white with a pink centre. The capsule is covered with viscid points

when green.

Locality : Add : E. Khandesh : Bhusawal (Blatter !).

Distribution : Punjab and Bengal to S. India (Khandesh, Circars, Deccan,

Carnatic). — Ceylon.

17. Hibiscus Manihot, Linn. Sp. PI. 696 ; Gamble FI. Madras 97.—//. tetra-

phyllus , Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 52 ; Cke. i, 111.

Locality: Add: Konkan: Bombay (Blatter !).— W. Ghats: Khandala

(Blatter !).

Distribution : Bengal, Mt. Abu, Gujarat, Konkan, W. Ghats, W. Coast from

S. Kanara to Travancore.

634 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY, Vol . XXXIV

18. Hibiscus angulosus, Steud. Nom. ed. 2, i (1841), 758 ; Mast, in Hook. f.

F. B. I. i, 341 ( Partim ) ; Cke. i, 111 ( partim ). — Abelmoschus angulosus, Wight

Ic. t. 951 ; Wight & Arn. Prodr. 53 {partim). [Dunn (Kew Bull. (1914), 324), lias

separated H. setinervis from H. angulosus , Mast. I have not seen this species.

Its occurrence in the Presidency is doubtful.]

Distribution : W. Ghats, in the higher ranges from S. Kanara to Travancore,

up to 8,000 ft., usually near streams (Gamble).

19. Hibiscus Abelmoschus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 696 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I.

i, 342 {excl. H. sagitlifolio , Kurz qui est species distincta) ; Cke. i, 112.— Abel-

moschus moschatus, Medik. Malv. 46.— Hibiscus rugosus, Mast. 1. c .—Abel-

moschus rugosus , W. & A. Prodr. 53.

20. Hibiscus esculentus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 696 ; Cke. i, 112.— Abelmoschus

esculentus, (Linn.) Moench Meth. 617.

See S. P. Agharkar. On the occurrence of Carpellody in the stamens of

H. esculentus , Linn, and some abnormalities of the fruit resulting from it. In

Journ. Ind. Bot. Soc. v (1926), 17.

21. Hibiscus tiliaceus, Linn. Sp. PL (1753), 6G4 ; Cke. i, 112.— H. torluosus ,

Roxb. FI. Ind. iii, 192 .—Baritium tiliaceum , A. St. Hil. FI. Bras. Mer.

i, 256.

Locality: Add: Bombay (Blatter !) .

Distribution : This is, according to Merrill, a species of natural pantropic

distribution, grows in all tropical countries along the seashore and has been

disseminated in ages past by ocean currents, the seeds being adapted for such

dissemination.— See E. D. Merrill. Comments on Cooke's theory as to the

American origin and prehistoric Polynesian distribution of certain economic

plants especially Hibiscus tiliaceus, C. Philipp. Journ. Sc. 17 (1920), 377-84.

22. Hibiscus lampas, Cav. Diss. iii (1787), 154, t. 56, fig. 2 . — Thespesia lampas,

Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. FI. (1861), 19 .—Azanaza lampas, Alef. in Bot. Zeit. xix

(1861), 299. — Thespesia macrophylla , Blume Bijdr. (1825), 73; Cke, i, 114.

Locality : Add : W. Khandesh : Satpuras (Blatter & McCann \).—Konkan :

Bombay (Blatter!); Salsette (Blatter & Hallberg !). — W, Ghats: Khandala

(Blatter !).

Distribution: Himalaya up to 4,000 ft., Bengal, Burma, W. Peninsula

(Konkan, Kanara, W. Ghats up to 3,000 ft.), N. Circars, Deccan.— Ceylon,

Java, E. tropical Africa.

23. Hibiscus Rosa sinensis, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 694 ; Cke. i, 113.

An extremely variable species. There are single and double forms, and as

to colour the flowers may be orange, yellow, crimson, bright red, magenta,

and parti-coloured.— No fruits produced in India.

Native country Asia, probably China.

24. Hibiscus mutabilis, Hook. f. Bot. Mag. t. 6524.

As to habit and foliage, it resembles the preceding species. A tall glabrous

shrub with slender drooping branches. Leaves ovate-elliptic, dentate. Bracte-

oles minute. Flowers pendulous, on long jointed pedicels, red or orange-red.

Calyx shortly toothed at the apex, splitting down one side. Corolla 5 cm. across,

the recurved petals beautifully and deeply cut. Stamens long exserted. Fruit

long, bearing smooth seeds, but apparently not produced in India.— Cultivated

in Indian gardens.

A native of E. tropical Africa.

25. Hibiscus syriacus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 695 ; Cke. i, 114.

The Rose of Sharon.

Corolla lilac-blue with dark purple eye, or rose or purple, usually darker at

the base. Pod short, splitting into 5 valves. Very variable, the colours

ranging from blue-purple to violet-red, flesh-colour and white. There are also

double forms.

The native country is uncertain, probably not Syria, as Linnaeus supposed.

Probably indigenous in China.

Thespesia, Soland. (Cke. i, 114).

Cooke* has 2 species : T . macrophylla , Blume and T. populnea , Soland. The

former has been put under Hibiscus .

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 635

I. Thespesia populnea, Soland. ex Correa in Ann. Mus. 9 (1807), 290 ; Cke, i,

114. — Hibiscus populneus, Linn. Sp. PL (1753), 694.— ZA populneoides, Roxb’.

Hort. Beng. 51.

A tree of the coast forests of India and Burma, largely grown as a roadside

tree in tropical regions.

Gossypium:, Linn. (Cke. i, 115).

See —

J. A. Todaro. Relazione sui Cotoni coltivati nel R. Orto Botanico di Palermo

nell’anno 1876. Palermo 1877.

G. A. Gammie. Indian Cottons. Memoirs of Agr. in India ii (1907).

G. Watt. Wild and Cultivated Cotton Plants of the World. 1907.

J. A. Todd. The World’s Cotton Crops. London 1915.

H. J. Denham. Gossypium in pre-Linnean literature. Bot. Mem. TOxfordl 2

(1919), 24 p.

S. H. Prayag. Variations in the Gossypium negletum types of Cotton. Proc.

9th Ind. Sc. Congr. (1923), 123.

G. Watt. Gossypium. Kew Bull. (1926), 193-210.

Cooke mentions 4 species and some varieties. In the meantime. Watt has

described a new species from Sind : G. Bakeri.

I. Gossypium Stocksii, Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i, 346 ; Watt Wild & Cult.

Cott. (1907), 73, pi. 6 ; Cke. i, 115 ; Watt in Kew Bull. (1926), 194.

This is a wild species which has never been cultivated. According to Watt

it has taken no part in the production of the cottons of India.

2. Gossypium herbaceum, Linn. Sp. PL (1753), 693 ( partim ) ; Watt Wild and

Cult. Cot. 79 and 155-63, pi. 24, 25 ; Watt in Kew Bull. (1926), 208 ; Cke. i, 116

( Pariim ) .

Description : Kew Bull. (1926), 208.

This species does not seem to occur in the Bombay Presidency. The var.

Wightianum of Cooke, 116 is put under the next species by Watt.

3. Gossypium obtusifolium, Roxb. Hort. Beng. 51 ; FI. Ind. iii, 183 ; Watt

Wild and Cult. Cott. (1907), 79, 139-43, pi. 19 and 20 ; Kew Bull. (1926), 202.

Watt gives the following description of the typical form of Roxburgh’s

supposed Ceylon plant : —

Leaves rotund-oblong, obtuse, base cordate but hardly auriculate, thin,

smooth, compact, minutely stellately pilose : lobes more or less ovate-rotund,

constricted below and emarginate. Bracteoles half the length of the corolla,

ovate, entire or coarsely toothed, not very deeply cordate but prominently

veined. Flowers large, convolvulate, yellow, usually with large dark-purple

blotches on the claws and a purple tinge on passing to maturity. Calyx

irregular with 5 large rounded teeth. Corolla having a short tube, with the

petals only slightly attached. Seeds very large, irregular, with a rusty-grey

fuzz and the floss poor, reddish-white, woolly. Fruit 3-celled, valves as a rule

completely reflexed. (Watt).

The forms which have to be placed under G. obtusii olium show , as cultivated

plants, ‘ departures in the inflorescence, which often becomes proliferous ; in

the bracteoles which remain ovate, never assuming the rotind-reniform shape

seen in G. herbaceum , though they frequently become deeply gashed ; in the

fruit often becoming 4-celled and sometimes opening imperfectly ; and the

seeds frequently becoming small and numerous with the floss often consider-

ably improved both in length and texture. They are plants that manifest

ready adaptation to soil and climate, and are the most valued of the Asiatic

Cottons.’ (Watt).

Var. Wightianum, Watt, Wild and Cult. Cott. (1907), 143-53, pi. 21, 22;

Kew Bull. (1926), 203. — Gossypium herbaceum \7 ar. Wightianum, Cke. i, 116

(partim).

This is Todaro’s G. Wightianum , originally described in the Osservazioni su

talune Sp. di Cot. (1863) 47. Here he dealt with one plant only but later on (in

Relaz. sui Cot. Coltiv. etc. (1877), 141-6, t. iv, f. 1-9) he had several specimens

before him and made a combined description, thus confusing the species.

1 The main point aimed at, however, was accomplished, namely the separation

of the Indian plant from G. herbaceum , Linn.’ (Watt).

636 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXRlV-

This' variety may bB recognized according to Watt by the following : Leaves

ovate-rotund, often coated with persistent^ long shaggy, hairs over a short

tomentum of stellate hairs, especially on the veins below ; lobes 5-7, rarely 3,

ovate^obloiig, acute to acuminate,, with the sinuses often thrown up in folds.

Bracteoles sometimes almost free, relatively small, ovate, obtuse, or acute,

deeply dentate on the upper margin and nerves prominent.

Cultivated in Cutch, Kathiawar, Gujarat; S. M Country.

4. Gossypium Nanking,. Meyen Reiseii (1836), 323 ; Watt Wild and Cult. Cott.

(1907), 78, 114-24, pi. 15 ; Kew Bull. (1926), 196.

Var. Bani, Watt 1. c. 131-4 ; Kew Bull. (1926), 197.

Description .• Twigs, petioles and peduncles pilose and usually purple.

Leaves large, thin, softly pilose ; lobes undulate. Bracteoles large, thin,

membranous, ovate, triangular to oblong-acute, with 3 teeth at the apex, the

middle one much the largest and each bracteole having 3 veins usually

prominent along the . centre. Flowers not much exceeding the bracteoles,

yellow, pink or white, usually with purple claws. _ (After Watt).

Cultivated in S. Kathiawar..

Var. rubicunda, Watt Wild and Cult. Cott. (1907), 126-8, pi. 17, 18; Commerc.

Prod. Ind. (1908), 580. .. .

Was cultivated in Gujarat.

Var. Roji, Watt Wild and Cult. Cott. (1907) 134-7 ; Commerc. Prod. Ind.

(1908), 581.

Cultivated in Gujarat.

5. Gossypium hirsutum, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2 (1763), 975 ; Watt. Commerc. Prod.

Ind. (1908). 585.— G. latifolium, Murray Comm. Soc. Reg. Gott. vii (1776),

22-5, t. 1 : Watt Wild and Cult. Cott. (1907), 183-200, pi. 29-31.— Watt thinks

this might possibly be a cultivated state of G. punclatum, Sch. and Thon.

( G . jamaicense , Macf.)

Cultivated in Dharwar and the neighbouring districts.

■ Var. religiosa, Watt Wild and Cult. Cott. (1907), 201-4, t. 32, 33 ; Commerc.

Prod. Ind. (1903), 586. — G. religiosum , Linn. Syst. Nat. ii (1767), 462 (partim) .

— G. religiosum, Roxb. FI. Ind. iii (1832), 185-6.

6. Gossypium barbadense, Linn. Hort. Upsal. i (1748), 204 ; Sp. PI. (1753), 693 :

Wight III. Ind. Bot. i. (1840), 57-64, t. 28B ; Cke. i, 117.

7. Gossypium brasiliense, Macf. FI. Jam. i (1837), 72 ; Watt Wild and Cults

Cott. (1907), 295-315, pi. 49, 50. — G. religiosum , Lam .et auclor. (non Linn.), —

G. barbadense var. brasiliense , Cooke FI. Bomb, i, 118. — G , acuminatum , Roxb.

FI. Ind, iii (1832), 186.

8. Gossypium arboreum. Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 693 ; Watt Wild and Cult. Cott.:

(1907), 77, 81-91, pi. 7, 8 ; Cke. i, 118.

Locality : In gardens and about temples.

Var. neglectum, Watt 1. c. 77, 95-108, pi. 10-12 ; Kew Bull. (1926) 195.

Description : Leaves very hairy, coarse, bullated, rough, furrowed or.

corrugated; lobes 3, 5 or 7 often with supplementary teeth, linear-lanceolate,

undulate, the bottom pair spreading. Bracteoles very large, greatly produced

laterally, more than half the length of the corolla. Flowers often 2 together,;

usually yellow with purple claws.

Cultivated in Gujarat and Kathiawar.

9. Gossypium Bakeri, Watt in Kew Bull. (1926), 210.

Description .* ‘ Twigs, petioles and peduncles densely coated with a cinereous

tomentum, the hairs of which are matted but not stellate. Leaves thick, ovate,

cordate, densely tomentose, less than half cut into 3-lobes ; lobes deltoid acute

(dentate on the leaves of the young foliage) with the sinuses between the lobes

gaping open and the veins entirely hidden within the tomentum. Bracteoles

ovate, oblong, acute, quite entire, more than half united below, thin, glabres-

cent, connivent (in bud closed like a bivalved shell with the margin of the

outermost one turned over the others), multinerved, only very minutely cordate.

No glands visible either internal or external. Calyx a compact short cup

ending in 5 long triangular teeth, hairy on the tips. Corolla, Fruit and Seed-

not seen.’

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 637

Locality : Sind : Near Gharo (C. N. Baker).

4 It is undoubtedly a wild species and was found in the Sind desert 5 miles

from the nearest field and 50 miles from cotton cultivation. Moreover it does

not look as if it could have been cultivated. At all, events there is no trace of

its influence on any known Indian hybrid/ ( Watt).

BOMBACACEAE

Trees, sometimes with bulging stems through excess of vvater storage.

Leaves, alternate, , simple or digitate, often lepidote, deciduous; stipules

deciduous. Flowers hermaphrodite, regular, medium or large, showy. Calyx

cup-shaped, closed and valvate in bud, truncate or irregularly 3-5-lobed, with

slightly imbricate lobesi often subtended by an epicalyx. Petals 5, imbricate,

often elongated, sometimes absent. Stamens free or united into a tube,

opposite the petals ; anthers reniform to linear ; pollen smooth. Ovary superior

2-5-pelled, free ; style simple, capitate or lobed ; ovules 2 or more on the inner

angle of each cell. Capsule loculicidally dehiscent or indehiscent, the valves

rarely falling away.- Seeds often embedded in hairs from the wall of the fruit,

with little or no endosperm and flat or contorted or plicate cotyledons.

Genera about 21, species about 150,— Widely distributed in the tropics.

See : Bakhuisen van der Brink. Bombacaceae. In Bull, du Jardin Bob de

Buitenzorg. Batavia. 1924.

Adansonia, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 1190 ;Cke. i, 119.

1. Adatiosnia digitata, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753). 1190 ; Cke. i. 119. — Baobabus digi-

tatd, O. Kjtze. Rev. Gen. I (1891), 67.

Description : Cke. 1 c.

Bombax, Linn. (Cke. i, 119).

Species about 50. Chiefly tropical American.

1. Bombax ceiba, Linn. Sp. PI. 511 ; Merrill FI. Manila (1912), 325 — B.

malabaricmn DC. Prodr. i (1824), 479; Cke. i, 120. — Salmalia malabaricat

Schott and Endl. Melet. (1832), 35.

Description : Cke. 1, 120.

Distribution: Throughout the hotter parts of India, Burma, and Ceylon. —

Malaya.

Cf . H. M. Chibber. Observations on structure of flower in Bombax tnala-

baricuni, Proced. 5th Ind. Sc. Congr, (1918) CLXXIII. — C.E.C. Cox.

Note on samal or cotton wood. Ind. For. Dept. For. Bull. 44 (1921), 31 p.

2. Bombax insigne, Wall. PI. As. Rar. i (1830), 71 ; Cke. I, 120.

Distribution: Ghats of the W. Peninsula from the Konkan southwards,

Anamalai Hills, Deccan, Burma, Pegu, Andamans.— Cambodia.

According to Troup (Silvic. Ind. Trees, i, 145) the.W. Ghat tree is subsp.

genuina, Prain var. Wightii Prain in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 62 (1893), 67.

A large tree with more or less prickly bark. Leaflets 5-6 or more. Petals

red, about 8*5 cm., long. Capsules about 12-18 cm. long by 5 cm. diam.

Ceiba, Medic. Malv. (1787), 15.

(Eriddendron, DC.- Prodr i (1824), 479 ; Cke. i, 121).

1. Ceiba pentandra, (Linn.) Gaertn. Fruct. ii, (1791), 244, t 133. — Bombax

Pentandrum , Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 511. — Eriodendron anfractuosum, DC.

Prodr. i (1824), 479; Cke. i, 121. -^-A. pentandrum, Kurz in Journ. As. Soc.

Beng. xliii, ii ( 1874) , 113 ; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 100.

Distribution .* Indigenous in the Andamans, the Malay Archipelago

tropical America, but doubtfully so in the W. Peninsula.

Waltheria, Linn. (Cke. i, 135, under Sterculiacece) .

Species 30. — Chiefly tropica! American, 1 species throughout the tropics.

Cooke mentions Waltheria indica, Linn, which should be changed into

1. Waltheria americana, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) 673. — W. indica ■■ Linn 1. c

(To be continued.)

THE LIONS OF ASIA

BY

R. I. POCOCK, F.R.S.,

Temporary Assistant in the British Museum {Nat. Hist.)

{With 5 plates and a Map.)

Introduction.

It is not my intention in this article to enter into particulars

regarding the former distribution of the lion in Europe or Asia or

to enumerate all the localities in Mesopotamia, Persia and India

whence it has been recorded, because an admirable summary of

this subject was published ten years ago by N. B. Kinnear {Journ.

Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1920, pp. 33-39), and I have very little to add

to what he said.

My object is to settle, as far as the tolerably copious literature

and deplorably scanty material at my disposal permit, the charac-

ters and status of the Hon, or lions, of these countries and to

discuss the scientific names that have been given to them. And for

the sake of convenience I divide the main portion of this article

into two sections, the first dealing with the lion of Persia and

Mesopotamia, and the second with the lion of India. But there

are one or two points of general interest that may be suitably dealt

with first.

Lions, Tigers and Panthers.

In two recently published papers on Tigers and Asiatic Panthers

{Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., vol. xxxiii, pp. 505-41, 1929; and

vol. xxxiv, pp. 67-82 and 307-36, 1930), I gave my reasons for

associating these two species with the lion in the genus Panthera

and for severing them from Felis, and also my reasons for re-

pudiating the view that the distinguishing characters of these great

Cats are sufficiently important to justify their ascription to three

distinct genera — Tigris for the tiger, Panthera for the panther, and

Leo for the lion — a view recently revived in accordance with the

superficial modern method of adopting generic titles without attempt

at definition.

In the paper on tigers it was also shown that several of the

characters usually accepted as infallibly distinguishing the skulls of

tigers and lions, notably the length of the nasal bones, break down

when large numbers of skulls are examined. Nevertheless, by the

combination of a number of characters, the skulls of these two

species can always, I believe, be distinguished at a glance by those

accustomed to handling them. The lion’s skull is typically lower

and flatter than the tiger’s, has shorter nasal bones, larger anterior

nares and a shorter ‘ waist’, i.e., the distance between the parieto-

frontal suture and the postorbital processes on the summit of the

cranium is less than in a tiger’s skull of the same absolute length.

LIONS OF ASIA

639

This last difference makes the facial portion of a lion’s skull look

longer and more massive as compared with the cranial portion.

Also in a lion’s skull the inner lobe of the upper carnassial tooth is

not so well developed. But this lobe is liable to wear down with

use and the character seems to fail in oldish tigers. The difficulty

of laying down absolute differences arises from the great individual

and racial variations in the size, shape, and other characters of

tiger’s skulls. Lions’ skulls, both individually and racially, are

less variable. Perhaps the one distinctive feature which holds good

is the shape of the lower edge of the mandible. In the lion’s skull

this is slightly convex in front of the posterior angle, whereas in

the tiger’s skull the corresponding area is slightly concave. Hence

the lion’s skull ‘ rocks ’ and the tiger’s skull rests steady on a flat

surface. True, the extent to which a lion’s skull ‘ rocks ’ is subject

to variation ; but I have never handled a tiger’s skull capable of

that movement.

It is well known that newly-born lion cubs are not uniformly

tawny in hue like the adults ; and it was stated by Lydekker ( Game

Animals ol India, p. 293, 1924) that their spotted pattern proves the

descent of the lion from a spotted progenitor, like the panther.

Unfortunately for this theory, lion cubs are by no means always

spotted. Many illustrations in the older natural histories show

very definite transverse stripes on the cubs ; and several years ago

{Ann. Mag . Nat. Hist. (7), XX, pp. 436-45, 1907), when discussing

this question. I described and figured a lion cub with a very dis-

tinct pattern of looped stripes and large rosettes tending to run into

lines, a pattern more tigrine than pantherine. If we take this cub

as a criterion, it appears to supply evidence that the ancestor of

the lion in the matter of pattern stood midway between the

panther and jaguar on the one hand and the tiger on the other ; and

this pattern is strong corroborative testimony of the close kinship

between lions, tigers and panthers.

There is one other little point about lion cubs which may here be

referred to. It is commonly said, and the statement was repeated

by Blanford in his volume on The Mammals of British India, that

they are born with the eyes open. Sometimes they are ; but by

no means always, as I know from my experience in the Zoological

Gardens, London.

The Manes of Lions.

Very naturally the manes of lions have attracted the notice of

sportsmen and naturalists more than any other feature. But

although a great deal has been written on the subject, it cannot be

claimed that we understand the factors which determine the growth

of the mane and the development of black pigment in it in

individual lions. Some facts of interest, however, refuting the

ideas formerly entertained, that ‘ black-maned ’ and 1 tawny-maned ’

lions, and maned and maneless lions are racially distinct types are

well-established.

It is well known that the mane is a secondary sexual character

typically, but not always acquired gradually by males as they

approach maturity. As is usual in such characters, its development

640 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol . XXXIV

is prevented by castration (Jardine, Nat. Library, Felines, p. 120

(note), 1834) and it may be present in females as was shown by

Brig.-Genl. R. Pigot who shot a lioness with a small mane in

Kenya Colony in 1922 and exhibited its skin before the Zoological

Society- {Proc. Zool. Soc 1923). This case is analogous to

the growth of small beards in old women and to the appearance

of male characters in female game birds and waterfowl in which

the ovary atrophies from age or injury.

Maneless and small-maned lions . — Lions which fail to develop any

mane may occur in districts where these animals are typically

maned. For instance, Patterson’s man-eaters of Tsavo were mane-

less, although the lions of British East Africa carry, as a rule,

tolerably good manes ; and, as stated later in this paper, maneless

lions have been recorded from Bussorah or Basra, although

Mesopotamian lions are typically maned.

The lion of Gujerat was originally but erroneously called mane-

less. After commenting on this misapplication of the epithet by

Smee and stating that these lions are smaller-maned than the

African, Col. L. L. Fenton {Jour. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., xix,_

p. 10, 1909), explained the circumstance by the home of the Gujerat

or Gir lion ‘ being in a thorny jungle where its mane is bound to

Suffer, whereas the African lion is more or less a dweller in the

plains.’ General Rice {Indian Game ) was, I believe, the founder

of this fiction. In the first place, thorns would not pull out

a lion’s mane. The most they could do would be to comb out

hairs on the point of being moulted or already moulted and

entangled with the tightly adherent hairs of the mane. Deprivation

of thorn-combing no doubt explains the frequently unkempt appear-

ance of the manes of lions in captivity, owing to clumps or mats

of shed hair clinging in places. I have never seen the manes of

Wild-killed lions with similar clogging of the hair. But the fallacy

of General Rice’s contention is further established by the existence

of wholly maneless lions and by the occurrence of well-maned and

maneless or almost maneless lions in the same district. Clearly

the ‘ combing ’ theory will not explain this variation.

Black-maned a7id tawny -maned lions.— The terms ‘ black-maned ’

and ‘tawny-maned’ have been applied in a very loose sense to

lions, but in such a way as to suggest that lions fall into one or the

other of these categories. That is not the case. In my experience

there is no such thing as a wholly ‘ black-maned ’ or a wholly

£ tawny -maned ’ lion. Lions with the blackest manes always have

the fare surrounded by a tawny fringe. It is on the crest and the

areas behind and below the head that the black pigment is developed

giving a sharp contrast in colour between the mane and the body

and fore legs. On the other hand lions with the tawniest manes

almost always show a certain amount of dark pigmentation along

the median crest and low down in front of the base of the foreleg.

There is every gradation between these types ; and 1 black ’ and

‘ tawny ’ appear to imply merely a preponderance of one colour or

the other in the mane. Furthermore, lions described as ‘ black-

maned ’ and ‘ tawny-maned ’ may be found in the same place as

has frequently been recorded.

LIONS OF ASIA ' 641

From the available evidence, therefore, it appears that neither

the luxuriance nor the colour of the mane can be regarded as of

much importance in the differentiation of races of lions. But it

may in the future be found when more extensive observations

have been made that on the average the lions from one district may

have heavier and blacker manes than those from another.

The elbow-tuft and belly -fringe . — T h e s e are also secondary sexual

characters associated with the mane. The fringe along the belly

is in reality composed of two crests of long hairs which, when well

developed, extend from the chest in front almost to the groin

behind where they may spread on to the lower part of the front

of the thigh. This fringe is present in almost all the old pictures

of lions taken from captive specimens ; but it is generally absent

or quite small in lions killed nowadays.

As a rule the size of the elbow-tuft corresponds to the size of the

mane. In African lions this seems to be the case ; but, as recorded

below, it is not the case in the skins of the Asiatic lions I have

seen.

The tail-tuft. — 'Unlike the mane, belly-fringe and elbow-tuff, the

tail-tuft is not a secondary sexual character since it is found in the

lioness as well as in the lion. It is independent of the factors which

foster the growth of the mane and appears to be equally well

developed in both sexes. Capt. Smee long ago pointed out that

it is unusually large in the Indian lion.

The Extermination of Asiatic Lions.

It is a matter of common knowledge that within historic times

the lion extended, so far as Europe and Asia are concerned, from

northern Greece and Macedonia to western Bengal. In Europe,

Asia Minor and Syria it has long been extinct. It may possibly

still survive in parts of south Persia and Mesopotamia. At all

events during, or just after, the Great War, Major Cheesman, writing

to me from Iraq, reported that he and Sir Percy Cox had news of a

lioness and cubs not far from their headquarters. They hoped to

secure the cubs for the Zoological Gardens, but the project was

never fulfilled.

Assuming that the lion is still a member of the Mesopotamian

fauna, it is safe to prophesy that it will soon cease to be so. It is

equally safe to' state that by now it would have disappeared from

India but for the enlightened views that led to its protection in the

Gir Forest in Kathiawar.

It is reasonable to suppose that the factors which exterminated it

in Europe, Asia Minor and Syria and have brought it to the verge

of extinction in Mesopotamia and Persia, even if they have not

already achieved that end, were the same as the factors which

exterminated it over almost the whole of the area it occupied in

India. In my opinion there is no reasonable doubt that the main,

if not the sole, factor in the case of Europe and south western Asia

was man. At all events it was most emphatically not the tiger.

My insistence on this fact arises from an article published a few

years ago in the Field, in which the author cited the practical

642 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vot. XXX/ F

extermination of the lion. in India by the tiger as an item of evidence

of the physical superiority of the tiger entitling it to be regarded

as the King of Beasts, instead of the lion.

Little, however, can now be achieved by debating what the exter-

minating agency was. The fact remains that Asiatic lions are now

almost things of the past and there is practically no material availa-

ble to tell us what they were like as wild animals. In fact most of

the information I can gather about Mesopotamian and Persian lions

is supplied by the observations of authors in the past upon captive

specimens. This is an important point to remember.

The Effects of Captivity on Lions.

In former years I had many a talk with F. C. Selous on the

differences between wild lions and lions exhibited in menageries.

He was firmly convinced that lions in captivity were darker in

colour and grew larger manes than lions in their native haunts ; and

he saw in the Zoological Gardens full grown lions, caught as cubs

near the Sebakwe River, Rhodesia, which he declared to be far

more imposing in appearance than any he had himself shot in the

same district.

This conviction of Selous’, which was published in more than

one of his writings, was subsequently confirmed by Hollister {Pro.:.

U. S. Nat . Mas. 53, pp. 177-93, 1917), who stated that some young

Masai lions after being transported to Washington got noticeably

darker the longer they lived and that all of them finally were deeper

in tint and more fully maned than the skins of Masai lions shot in

the wild. He also showed that owing to the comparative disuse of

certain muscles of the neck and jaws, the skulls of these captive

lions differed profoundly in many respects from the skulls of the

wild specimens. But he by no means exhausted the category of

modifications the conditions of captivity impose on lions’ skulls. I

have seen skulls of menagerie lions differing from typical skulls of

wild lions in many more particulars and even more markedly than

Hollister recorded ; but these skulls were for the most part taken

from lions which had been born and reared to maturity in captivity

and had thus been subjected all their lives to conditions adverse to

the formation of good bone and to the development of the muscles

of the head, the continued use of which by the wild animal affects

considerably the shape of the skull.1

What has been proved to be true of some lions is probably true

of all. Hence it follows that the colour of a lion that has been a

few years in captivity will be darker than that of a wild one from

the same locality and that if he is mature or old he will have a more

luxuriant, and, in some cases at least, a darker, mane, and also a

differently shaped head. These facts have an important bearing on

1 Hollister’s opinion, which obviously does not explain all the variations

even in the skulls he examined was later challenged by Mr. A. Brazier Howell

who thought that the deviations from the normal exhibited by the skulls of

menagerie-reared lions were ‘ hardly influenced by the partial suppression

of muscular stimuli, but were due to absence from the diet of some vitamin

prohibiting rickets’ {Jour. Mamm. 6, pp. 163-68, 1925). In my opinion both

factors are concerned in altering the shape of the skull.

lions of Asia

643

the classification of lions because several races of African lions

have been named on the evidence of captive specimens, and I

shall have to revert to the changes above pointed out in consider-

ing the characters and nomenclature of the lions dealt with in this

paper.

The Persian Lion.

The Persian lion was first nominally and racially distinguished

under the name Felis leo persicus in 1826 by J. N. von Meyer ( Dissert .

inaug. anat.-med. Vienna. De genere Felium , p. 6), who described

it very briefly as being without the mane on the belly found in the

Barbary lion and as paler than the Senegal lion. The discovery of

this rare paper we owe to Hollister {Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., xxiii,

p. 123, 1910), and further particulars regarding it to J. A. Allen

{Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 47, p. 222 (footnote), 1924). Von Meyer,

however, cited no previous record of the animal and there is nothing

to show the source of his information about it. He mentioned no

special locality in Persia where it occurs.

In the following year Temminck {Mon. Mamm ., p. 86, 1827),

published a very much fuller account, based upon a pair of specimens

from Teheran he saw living at the time in the Exeter, Change in

London. He called it ‘ Le Lion de Perse ’ and described it as

remarkable for its very pale isabelline colour, with the mane

composed of hairs of more varied tints than in lions from Barbary

and Senega], the great locks of black and dark brown hairs contrast-

ing strongly with the pallid hue of the body, and added that there

were no long hairs on the belly or legs. The male measured from

7 to 8 or more feet, including the tail which was 2 ft. 7 ins. or 2 ft.

9 ins. long. The vagueness of these dimensions is evidently due

to guess-work owing to the impossibility of running a tape-measure

over the living animal. The lion was evidently exceptionally

small, if adult; but there is clearly no evidence that it was full-

sized.

Temminck’s description, above quoted, was the basis of the name

Felis leo persicus proposed by Fischer {Syn. Mamm., p. 197, 1829).

Fischer, who was apparently ignorant of von Meyer’s paper,

described the animal as smaller than the Barbary and Senegal lions

and very pale tawny {pallidissime helvolus ), with a mane of moderate

size, consisting of a mixture of black and dark grey hairs. This

description appears to be nothing but a Latin version of Temminck’s

French description; and from Fischer’s introduction of the word

‘ minor ’, it appears that he assumed the specimens Temminck saw

were adult. There is no evidence that Fischer was personally

acquainted with the Persian lion.

The only other name applied, so far as I am aware, to a lion from

south-western Asia, was asiaticus given to one by Jardine (Jardine’s

Nat. Library, II, Felincz, p. 121, pi. Ill, 1834). Jardine was unaware

of, or ignored, the name persicus ; and in his Synopsis, p. 266 of the

same volume, he used the name asiaticus comprehensively for

Asiatic lions, both Persian and Indian, having heard of Capt. Smee’s

description of what was unfortunately called the Maneless Lion of

Gujerat. But the name asiaticus , on the available evidence, must

644 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

be affixed to the Mesopotamian lion, because, to illustrate the

characters of asialicus , Jardine published a drawing by Lear of a

full-grown male, then living in the Surrey Zoological Gardens

which had been brought as one of a pair of cubs from Bussorah

(Basra) and presented to King George IV and were exhibited at

first in Exeter, Change before being moved to the Surrey mena-

gerie. He also printed some notes on this animal supplied by

Mr. Warwick of the Surrey Zoological Gardens, and his statement

that Temminck 4 calls this the Lion of Persia’ shows that he

regarded his animal and the ones described by Temminck as

specifically or racially identical. My own opinion is that the animals

described by Temminck and Jardine were probably the same

individuals. Since Jardine’s specimen was presented as a cub to

King George IV, it must have been received before June 1830, the

date of that King’s death, and it may very well have been still

living in 1833 when Jardine was writing his book. The apparent

discrepancy between the alleged localities can be easily explained.

Temminck stated that the examples he saw came from Teheran;

When Warwick told Jardine that they came from Bussorah, he was

probably citing the port of shipment. Again, the size that Temminck

assigned to the lion he saw in 1827 forcibly Suggests that it was

immature. The animal figured by Lear in 1833 and named asialicus

by Jardine was fully adult and, judging from the figure, had a full

mane and a fringe of hair all along the belly, thus differing from

Temminck’s description. But the differences may be reasonably

attributed to age and a few more years of captivity fostering the

growth of the mane. This suggestion that Temminck and Jardine

described the same specimen under different names has an import-

ant bearing upon the views of Matschie regarding the lions of

Persia, as recorded below.

Lear’s coloured figure represents a lion with a full mane Covering

the shoulders and tawny in hue round the face but turning blackish

towards the shoulders and breast and blackish on the belly. The

tail has a large tuft and the general hue is decidedly a paler

yellower tawny than in a Barbary lion figured on PI. II of the same

volume.

Fitzinger, the next author to be mentioned in this connection,

thought there were two kinds of lions in Persia (Sitz. Akad . Wisf.

Wien , I, pp. 362-63, 1868). For the first he adopted the name

persicus Fischer and quoted Temminck’s description of the Teheran

specimens; but knowing also Jardine’s figure of the specimen

alleged to have come from Bussorah, the specimen which was named

asiaticus, and considering this animal to be specifically identical

with the one Temminck described, he cited asiaticus as a synonym

of persicus. and modified Temminck’s description by- stating that the

abdomen is maned and that the elbow carries a tuft. Although he

remarked that no measurements were available, he described this

Persian lion as the smallest known, thus apparently assuming that

the examples Temminck saw and described were full-grown.

According to Fitzinger this lion was found in Afghanistan,

Persia, Mesopotamia, Turcomania, Syria, Anatolia, Thrace Mace-

donia and northern Greece. But he can have known nothing of

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate I.

The Persian Lion in the Surrey Gardens described by Jardine as

Leo asiaticus. Adapted from Lear’s drawing.

' ' ' ’

Persian Lion. Drawn from a flat skin in the British Museum,

LIONS OF ASIA

645

European specimens; and I do not know on what authority the

statement that it occurred in Afghanistan rests. He characterized

it as ranging in colour from very pale tawny to ashy and as having

a moderate mane of mixed dark grey and black hairs which extended

along the belly.

To the second Persian species, or race, he admitted he gave the

name guzeratensis, an emendation of the name goojeratensis given by

Smee to the Gujerat lion. Its distribution he stated was from India

along the shores of the Persian Gulf to Mesopotamia and Arabia.

It seems singular that he should have known so little of zoology as

to suppose that two distinct species of lion occurred in South

Persia and Mesopotamia. Nevertheless he distinguished this lion

from the other Persian form by its darker tint ranging from tawny

to pale reddish, its small uniformly coloured mane passing as a

median crest over the withers but not along the belly. But this

diagnoses is clearly taken direct from Smee’s figure and description

of specimens from Gujerat.

Matschie (SB. Ges. Nat . Fr. Berlin , 1900, p. 94) also admitted

two races of Persian and Mesopotamian lions. For the first, named

persicus Fischer, from Teheran, he adopted the descriptions pre-

viously published by Temminck and Fischer. His account of the

animal as very small (sehr klein ) shows that, like Fitzinger, he

regarded the examples seen by Temminck as mature.

For the second race, inhabiting the Lower Euphrates, Babylon

and Bussorah, he took the name asiaticus Jardine, thus differing

from Fitzinger in thinking this lion was distinct from the Teheran

lion. He distinguished asiaticus from persicus by being larger,

darker coloured and carrying a heavier mane which extended along

the belly. But it seems evident that Matschie’s conception of this

southern Mesopotamian race was derived mainly from Jardine’s

description and illustration of the Bussorah specimens exhibited

in the Surrey Gardens in 1834 and from a statement (Zool. Gart., iii,

p. 97, 1862) that a Babylonian lion living at that date in the London

Zoological Gardens had in proportion to its age a finer mane than

one from Cape Colony in the same menagerie.

But Matschie’s conclusion regarding the racial distinctness of

these Persian lions, based on the data cited, clearly falls to the

ground, if my opinion that Temminck and Jardine described the

same individual lion is true, for that lion was the type specimen

alike of persicus Fischer and of asiaticus Jardine. Moreover, the

characters by which Matschie distinguished asiaticus , the greater

size, the larger mane and the darker colour are precisely the

characters one would expect to be acquired by an individual passing

from youth to comparative old age under conditions of captivity.

Assuming the lion to have been three or four years old when

Temminck described it in 1827, it must have been nine or ten years

old when Jardine named it in 1833. And since it is known to have

been reared from a cub in the Exeter, Change and exhibited later

in the Surrey Gardens, its luxuriant mane depicted by Lear as

entirely covering the shoulders and extending as a long fringe

down the breast and belly may confidently be assigned to its long

period of captivity.

3

646 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

The same may probably be said of the mane of the Babylonian

lion referred to by Matschie as mentioned in 1862. For this lion

was one of a pair presented as a cub to the London Zoological

Gardens in 1856. It was therefore fully adult in 1862.

Hence these two fine-maned specimens reared in captivity do not

justify the conclusion that Mesopotamian lions produce big manes

under natural conditions. They may do so at times, but I am not

aware of any evidence in favour of that view. On the other hand,

according to Olivier’s testimony they may be maneless. This

traveller stated ( Voyage dans V Empire Othoman , iv, p. 392, 1807)

that in the menagerie of the Pasha of Baghdad he saw three mane-

less lions and two lionesses which had been captured five years

previously at Bussorah. They were therefore mature. Apart from

being maneless and smaller in size, they did not differ, he said,

from African lions ; and by further inquiries he elicited the informa-

tion that the lions of that district were without manes. Sir Percy

Sykes also referred to maneless lions as occurring in his time

between Bushire and Shiraz. But possibly both Olivier and Sykes

used the word ‘ maneless ’ in a comparative, not actual, sense as

Smee did in 1833 when he described the Maneless Lion of Gujerat.

I am only acquainted with one record suggesting the possibility

of the former existence of two races of lions in the Perso-Mesopo-

tamian area. This was made by Layard ( Nineveh and Babylon ),

who stated that he saw one, killed in Ram Hormuz, which

was unusually large and of a very dark brown colour, in some

parts of its body almost approaching black. He also described

one killed in Khuzistan as ‘ unusually large with a short black

mane.’ But it is evident that both these specimens attracted his

attention by their departure from the normal type of lions, with

which he was well acquainted, inhabiting the areas he mentioned.

His description of the example from Ram Hormuz indicates a lion

much darker than any recorded before or since his time, so dark

indeed as to make one think it might be regarded almost as a

melanistic mutant, an interesting case, if so, because although tigers

are sometimes black and leopards and jaguars not uncommonly,

no black lion, so far as I am aware, has ever been seen.

Layard’s record, however, need not further concern us since the

lion is now no doubt extinct in that district and no zoologist would

conclude on the evidence that this dark lion was racially distinct

from the normally paler Persian type and name it accordingly.

The only Persian lion with which 1 am acquainted is a flat skin

in the Natural History Museum received in 1847 and ticketed

‘ Persia. Warwick ’. Since Warwick was associated with the Surrey

Zoological Gardens, it is possible that the animal was exhibited in

that institution. But there is no proof of this. At all events the

skin was certainly not taken from the specimen, described by

Jardine as asiaticus , if Lear’s figure of that animal is to be trusted,

unless it entirely changed the character of its mane in subsequent

years, an eventuality which need not be entertained. Nor does

the skin show either in its colour or in the luxuriance of its mane

the effects that captivity has been known to bring about in some

African lions.

LIONS OF ASIA

64 7

Judging from its size, the skin, measuring, as recorded below,

9 feet 2 inches in length, was that of an adult, or nearly adult,

animal, which, if a menagerie specimen, must presumably have

been in captivity at least three years, since imported living lions

are practically always taken as cubs when they can be handled

without difficulty. Nevertheless the general colour is a pale tawny

grey, paler or less richly tinted than most African lions owing to

the black ticking of the hairs being less conspicuous or their pallid

portion less ochreous or buff. The possibility of this paleness

being due to exposure to light if the skin was used as a rug before

reaching the Museum, where it has been kept in store, must be

borne in mind. But the tint of the skin, as it stands, might, in my

opinion, be truthfully described as ‘ very pale isabella ’, the words

Temminck applied to the Persian lion from Teheran.

The lower surface and the inside of the limbs are whitish but

the white is nowhere sharply contrasted with the pigmented

surfaces, the two blending imperceptibly. On the paws the hairs

between the digits, on the claw-sheaths and round the digital pads

below are brown.

The mane is not full and is nowhere black but all along the crest

from the forehead to the withers and low down on the lower throat,

in front of the base of the fore legs and on the chest between them

it is greyish brown pwing to the hairs being a mixture of black,

grey and tawny. All round the face and on the sides of the neck

back to the shoulders it is pale tawny, paler than the body owing

to the absence of black specking on the haiss. Behind and above

the ears the hairs are quite short and there is no mane on the sides

of the forehead between the front end of the crest and the tuft in

front of the ears. The shoulders are quite naked except along the

middle line between the shoulder blades where the hairs are from

3 to 4 inches long. On the cheeks and sides of the neck they are

about 3 inches, and reach about 4^ inches low down towards the

base of the fore leg. For the sake of comparison I may add that

the corresponding hairs in a full-maned Rhodesian lion, a picked

specimen, are much longer, in some cases nearly twice as long.

On the other hand there is a tolerably large, thick brown tuft on

the elbow the hairs being 2 inches long. This tuft is larger than

in the skins of most wild-killed African lions I have seen. There

is no mane along the belly, only a few long pale hairs, which

would be unnoticed in the living animal, far back towards the

groin, but there is a very conspicuous fringe on the breast. The

tail tuft is better developed than in the African skins above

referred to.

Although neither the colour nor the length of the mane in this

lion can be regarded as of systematic importance, the combination

of a small short mane with a thick conspiucous elbow tuft and a long

fringe on the breast does not occur in any African skins I have

seen. In these, so far as my experience goes, the development of

the elbow tuft corresponds with the development of the mane.

But the most noticeable difference between this skin and those

of African lions known to me lies in the hair on the body which is

quite perceptibly thicker and longer.

648 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXtV

The Indian Lion.

The earliest account of an Indian lion with which I am acquainted

was published by Griffith ( Vertebrated Aiiimals. Carnivora , p. 96,

1821) who wrote : — ‘ A lion was lately exhibited at Calcutta which

was brought from the interior, but which was not much larger than

a mastiff, of a mouse-colour with scarcely any mane.’ Mouse-colour

is a little vague, but it probably meant reddish or brownish. Na

doubt the animal was an immature male, darker in tint than the

adult.

The Indian lion was first nominally distinguished as a variety,

bengalensis by Bennett ( The Tower Menagerie, p. 1, 1829), who gave

the name to an adult pair exhibited in the Tower of London. But

since Bennett’s account and illustrations have been apparently over-

looked by all authors, except Blyth, it may be explained that these

lions were captured as cubs early in 1823 by General Watson who

succeeded in rearing them and getting them safely transported

to England as a present to the King, who commanded them to be

placed in the Tower.

Bennett described the illustration of the lion, drawn by William

Harvey when the animal was in its prime at six years old, as a

‘ striking likeness.’

A point to be noticed about the sketch is the exceptional size of

the mane which consisted of long, thick, hanging locks surrounding

the face, covering the neck and the entire shoulders and extending

all along the belly as a luxuriant fringe which in front invaded the

flanks behind the lower part of the shoulder. It must have been

the appearance of this lion that inspired Bennett to describe the

Asiatic lion as carrying a mane ‘ in general fuller and more com-

plete ’ than that of the African ; and he wrote of its belly-fringe as

a ‘ peculiar appendage.’ On the annexed plate I give a sketch,

adapted from Harvey’s woodcut, to show the size of the mane

in this lion.

Although this lion, which, according to Blyth {Cat. Mamm. As,

Soc ., p. 53, 1863), was found in Hurriana, not in Bengal as Bennett

thought, acquired its mane during its six years’ life in captivity, it

would be unwise to assume definitely that its growth was wholly

the result of those conditions. It may have been an inherited

character. Blanford, at all events, as recorded below, described

two lions with very fine manes, one shot between Allahabad and

Jubbulpoor and the other at Kota in Rajpootana ; and since in the

case of the lions of Africa there is evidence that the finest maned

specimens occurred at the Cape and in Algeria, the coldest districts

they inhabit on that continent, it may be that lions of Hurriana,

where the winter cold is tolerably severe, were naturally heavily

maned.

Bennett also stated that the Asiatic lion ‘ seldom attains a size

equal to that of the South African ’ and that ‘ its colour is a more

1 This name is inadmissible for the Indian lion, having been previously

applied by Kerr in 1792 to the well-known small leopard cat of India, Felts

bengalensis.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate II.

Hurriana Lion in the Tower Menagerie described by Bennett as

Felis leo bevgalensis. Adapted from the original woodcut.

Gujerat Lion. Drawn from Capt. Smee’s skin in the British Museum.

LIONS OF ASIA

649

uniform and paler yellow throughout.’ His use of the word

‘ throughout ’ suggests that the huge mane of the lion he described

was for the most part at all events the same hue as the body, that

the animal was in other words a ‘ tawny-maned V not a ‘black-

maned ’ lion. This agrees with the prevalent conception that

Indian lions are mostly of the ‘ tawny-maned ’ type, although there

is evidence of the existence in the country of partially ‘black-

maned ’ lions, as stated later on in this paper.

Four years after Bennett described and named the captive Bengal

lion, Capt. F. Smee, without knowing Bennett’s work, gave the

name goujratensis to the lion of Gujerat {Proc. Zool. Soc ., Dec. 1833,

p. 140), and followed this preliminary description with a fuller

account illustrated by a coloured plate {Trans. Zool. Soc. I, p. 165,

pi. 24, 1834). Unfortunately he adopted for his papers the trivial

title ‘ The Maneless Lion of Gujerat ’ But although he carefully

explained that ‘ maneless ’ was only employed in a comparative

sense to indicate, as he quite justifiably supposed on the evidence

available at the time, that this lion could be distinguished from

African lions by its smaller mane, the epithet was applied to the

Gujerat lion over and over again by subsequent writers.

Smee’s description of the animal was, nevertheless, quite good.

The colour, he said, was fulvous (tawny) varying in intensity, being

much paler in some specimens than others and palest in the

oldest, and in dark specimens exhibiting a tinge of red and more

black owing to the greater proportion of black hairs in the coat.

The under surface, he added, was much paler than the upper, almost

white. He also stated that the tail became gradually paler, passing

into greyish white towards its extremity which carried an enormous

black tuft, a very noticeable feature in Smee’s illustration which

was drawn by Lear.

The mane was tawny and poorly developed. It was short on the

crown and nape, extended backwards as a low crest over the withers

and was represented on the sides of the neck and throat by com-

paratively short hairs, the shoulders being entirely naked. Judging

from the figure, the elbow-tuft was well developed and formed

the upper end of a thick fringe of longish hair extending up the

back: of the fore leg. A very similar fringe extended along the

belly and spread up the front of the thigh, the back of which

was also fringed. The fringes on the belly and the front of the

thigh were not, however, sharply differentiated from the flanks as

in short-coated African lions that grow them, but blended imper-

ceptibly with the hairs of the flanks which, it may be inferred,

were tolerably long.

The largest lion, obtained by Smee measured 8 ft. 9J ins. in the

flesh and was perhaps not quite full sized ; but it gave the astonish-

ing weight of 4 \ cwts. (504 lbs.) without the viscera, which

suggests a weight not far short of 550 lbs. with them. Selous

once told me that .the largest African lion he shot was 512 lbs.

The value of Smee’s account of this lion lies in its being based

upon a series of eleven specimens shot in the wild.

It is needless to repeat what the authors above quoted under

the heading of the Persian lion wrote about the Indian- lion, since

650 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

they epitomized Smee’s description without apparently being

personally acquainted with the animal. Matschie, however, on

evidence which is not forthcoming, supplemented Smee’s account

by stating that the Gujerat lion is very large (sehr gross), thus

differentiating it from the Teheran lion (, persicus ) which he had

previously recorded as very small (sehr kleiri). But, as has been

explained, his conception of the Teheran lion was apparently

derived from Temminck’s description of a pair of young animals.

Certainly neither Smee’s account nor any record, so far as I am

aware, published before or since supports the view that the Gujerat

lion is, as Matschie also added, the largest of all the races of lion,

except the Cape race.

One other name for the Indian lion must be recorded, namely,

indicus, given to it by Blainville in 1843 when he inscribed under

the figure of the skull of an Indian lioness the title Felts leo indicus

( Osteogr . Mamm. Atlas . Felis. PI. VI).

Blanford in 1867 (Journ. As. Soc. Bengal , XXXVI, pp. 189-91) in

a paper dealing mainly with records of the occurrence of lions in

various parts of northern India, contributed some useful particulars

about a couple of lions.

A male shot near the railway between Allahabad and Jubbulpoor

had a luxuriant mane, with the longest hairs 11 inches in length

and the colour sandy yellow, except along the crest and across the

shoulders where it was blackish. The stretched skin measured :

head and body 6 ft. 10 ins., tail 2 ft. 10 ins., total 9 ft. 8 ins.

Blanford’s guess that the animal in the flesh was a little under 9 ft.

was probably approximately correct; but equally likely it was a

little more.

Of another shot near Kota in Rajpootana, of which he saw a

coloured drawing by a competent artist, he said, ‘ The mane was

very fine and well developed, although the beast was killed in the

hot weather ’, when the mane might be expected to be smaller than

in the cold weather.

Unfortunately Blanford supplied no information about the general

colour, or texture of the coat, or about the belly-fringe, elbow-tuft

or tail-tuft. But the record of the length of the mane in the speci-

men first mentioned is of great interest because the mane of this

animal was several inches longer than the mane of the finest wild-

killed African lion in the British Museum*

In The Mammals of British India , pp. 56-58, 1888, Blanford, who

was professedly not dealing with local races and took merely a

superficial interest in them, added nothing to our knowledge of the

characters of Indian as opposed to African lions. He does not even

state whether the measurements he cited of a lion and lioness and

the dimensions of the skull of a lion, were taken from Indian or

African specimens. I am, however, certain that he was mistaken

in saying that a lion measuring only 8 ft. 9J ins. in total length was

3 ft. 6 ins. high. The standing height of such a lion would have

been about 3 ft. at the most.

Of later writers who have added to our knowledge of the Gujerat,

or, as he called it, the Gir lion, the late Col. Fenton is the chief.

(Journ., Bomb . Hist. Soc. XIX, p. 10, 1909). Unfortunately he said

LIONS OF ASIA

651

nothing about the colour or consistency of the coat but wrote at

some length upon the development and tint of the mane and upon

the animal’s size. After repudiating the epithet ‘maneless he

proceeded to ascribe the smallness of its mane as compared with

African lions to its living in thorny scrub, accepting without demur

the hypothesis that the mane is small from combing. I have

already dealt with this suggestion and need not repeat what I said

to refute it. He then quotes evidence for the occurrence of what

he calls ‘ black-maned ’ lions in the Gir forest ; but admits they are

extremely rare. It does not seem that he actually saw or shot one

himself. Nor is it clear what he meant by ‘ black-maned ’ in the

matter of intensification and extension of the pigment. But to

illustrate a second paper he wrote on hunting the Gir lion (. Journ .,

Bomb . Nat. Hist. Soc. XX, 1910), the editor of that journal inserted

a photographic plate (facing p. 737) of a full-grown lion in captivity

at Junagadh. This animal, so far as it is possible to judge, had a

mane at least as full and black as the best-maned East African

lions ; and making all allowances for the probable effects of capti-

vity upon the length of the mane and for the possible effect upon

its pigmentation, this lion attests the potentiality for the develop-

ment of a large, partially black mane in the Gir lion. It is notice-

able, however, that the mane of this lion is not comparable in

luxuriance to that of the Bengal specimen, described by Bennett,

which was six years in captivity in London, and it has no fringe along

the belly.

With regard to the size of the Gir lion, Col. Fenton maintains

that it is probably as large, on the average, as African lions. The

largest he shot was 9 ft. 5 ins. Two others, a little younger, were

respectively 9 ft. 1 in. and 9 ft. Thus the smallest was a little

longer than the largest obtained by Smee ; but the largest was

smaller than one obtained by Lord Harris which was 9 ft. 7 ins. A

comparison of these dimensions with those of lions from East and

South Africa mentioned in Rowland Ward’s Records suggests consi-

derable superiority in the average size of the African specimens,

which range from 9 ft. 8 ins. to 10 ft. 7 ins., the average of 30

examples being 10 ft. But, as Col. Fenton remarked, these exam-

ples were probably specially selected for measurement on account

of their supposedly large size. At all events, out of a large number

of adult males shot in British East Africa and the Eastern Belgian

Congo for the American Museums and measured in the flesh by

trained collectors the average length is only a little over 9 ft.

Col. Fenton’s contention, therefore, that the Gir lion is on the

average as large as African lions seems well founded.

The only specimens of the Gujerat lion in the British Museum1

1 Seeing that there is not a single complete wild-killed example of this lion

in the national collection it is galling to know that an English sportsman,

Col. Fannthorpe, was permitted last year to shoot a couple of lions and a lioness

in the Gir Forest for the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

An account of this trip was written by Mr. A. S. Vernay, who accompanied

Col. Faunthorpe, and published with photographs in Journ., Amer. Mu$. Nat.

Hist. Jan., 1930, pp. 81-89, and in Country Life , March 8, 1930. Mr. Vernay

652 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL MIST. SOCIETY , XXXIV

are the tanned skin of a subadult male shot by Capt. Smee, the skin

and skull of an adult female that was reared and exhibited in the

Zoological Gardens, and the dried skin of a half-grown lioness.

But thanks to the kind offices of Mr. Wilfred Osgood the authorities

of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, have most

generously sent to me on loan the perfect skin and skull of a nearly

adult male which was shot by Col. Faunthorpe. I am also greatly

indebted to the Natural History Society of Bombay for sending to

me for examination the skins of two specimens from the Gir Forest.

The characters of these skins are as follows : —

(1) Capt. Smee’s specimen. The coat is thick and long, a little

longer than in the Persian skin above described, and lacks the

sleekness and smoothness of the coat of most African lions, being

long enough to be brushed in any direction.

Since this skin was for several years exhibited in the public gallery

as a mounted specimen it is probably a little faded. Nevertheless

it is a rich dark tint describable as rich ochraceous tawny, richer and

darker than the Persian lion, with the black ticking of the hairs more

in evidence. The colour of the flanks gradually blends with the

buffy or cream white hue of the under side, and the same may be

said of the outer and inner surfaces of the limbs; the toes are

whitish with black and white hairs between them and black hairs on

the claw-sheaths and round the pads ; up the back of the fore leg

the hair gradually increases in length to expand into the elbow-tuft

the hairs of which are about 2\ ins. long ; a slightly darkened mat

extends up to the hock on the hind leg. The tail becomes grey

towards the end and the hairs beneath towards the tip are long,

becoming longer where they pass into the black tuft, the greater

part of which is missing.

The mane is small and scanty, much smaller than in the Persian

specimen, being restricted to the nape, the fore part of the sides of

the neck, the cheeks and throat. It is mostly tawny but brownish

grey along the crest on the nape and low down in front of the base

of the fore leg. On the withers the crest gradually blends with the

adjacent hairs of the spine and on the head it is disconnected from

the tuft in front of the ears and the hairs round the ears are short.

The crest on the withers is about 2 inches long, on the nape nearly

3 inches, on the forehead in front inches, and low down on the

cheek and throat the hairs are from 3J to 4 inches.

On the posterior half of the belly on each side some longer hairs,

nearly 3 ins. long, constitute an incipient belly-fringe everywhere

blending with the longish hairs adjacent to it.

The measurements of the skin are : head and body 5 ft. 11 ins.,

tail (imperfect) 2 ft. 7 ins., total, allowing for the loss of 1 in. from

the tail, 8 ft. 7 ins. Since the skin was stuffed and subsequently

tanned it may be stretched. In any case it cannot be assumed to

have been taken from the largest of Smee’s specimens, presumably

mentions the shooting of only two specimens, an old lion and a lioness. But

Col. Faunthorpe secured a third, the subadult male described in this paper

^hich belongs to the Chicago Museum and was kindly lent to me.

LIONS OF ASIA

653

the one he figured, which measured in the flesh 8 ft. 9 ins. It is

nevertheless a co-type of Felis leo goojratensis.

When the specimen was unstuffed it was found to contain a tiger’s

skull. Smee had two skulls but their whereabouts is unknown.

(2) Col. Faunthorpe’s specimen in the Chicago Museum. This

skin differs considerably from Capt. Smee’s both in the texture of

its coat and in colour. The coat is a trifle shorter but is smoother

and obviously not so thick and loose. The body colour is much

lighter everywhere, the pelage instead of consisting of rich ochrace-

ous buff hairs with black tips is a mixture of clear whitish grey and

pale isabelline hairs with black ticking, the general result being

a buffish grey lion, silvery grey in certain lights, darker with a

brownish tinge in others ; the head, cheeks, outer sides of the limbs

and the tail are also everywhere paler and greyer, although

the hairs round the pads and on the toes are jet black. Also

the chin, throat, inside of the fore leg and of the hind leg below the

hock are cleaner white and the belly is whiter and less buff. When

the two skins are placed side by side, Col. Faunthorpe’s looks grey

and Capt. Smee’s brown.

There is very little to choose between them in mane-growth ; but

in Col. Faunthorpe’s skin the mane is on the whole paler, being

very much the tint of the body except on the cheeks where it is a

richer golden buff with silky white reflections. The small elbow-

tuft is a mixture of dusky grey and white hairs about 2£ ins. long.

The tail-tuft is black, thick, with hairs about 2£ ins. long.

The skin measures : head and body 6 ft. 2 ins., tail 2 ft. 9 ins.,

total 8 ft. 11 ins. It is thus a little larger than Capt. Smee’s.

It may be stretched to a slight extent but not much, I think, since

it was very skilfully stripped for mounting and was obviously never

pegged out. But the skull shows clearly that the animal was not

quite full-sized.

Although judging from their size, there is no great discrepancy

between these two lions in the matter of age, the differences between

them in the colour and texture of the pelage may be attributable to

that factor. Or it may be a question of season. Col. Faunthorpe,

as stated by Mr. Vernay, shot his lions in February 1929. But

no date can be assigned to Smee’s specimen.

(3) Of the two skins received from Bombay one is that of an adult

or nearly adult male presented to the Natural History Society by

the Maharajah Kumar Sahib of Kotah. It is unfortunately undated

because the coat differs from that ot the two skins already described

in being short, rather coarse and lustreless, apparently dead hair ready

for shedding. The general tint of the upper side is pale, a sandy

grey, much paler and greyer than Smee’s skin, but more sandy and

less silvery grey than Faunthorpe’s. It differs from both, especi-

ally from Faunthorpe’s, in the complete absence of white from the

under side and inside of the limbs. These areas, including even

the chin, are washed with pale buff blending everywhere with the

tint of the upper side.

The mane is tolerably thick but not so long or so shaggy as

in the other skins and differently coloured. Except on the median

crest and along the posterior border where there is a slight mixture

654 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fo/J XXXlV

of black imparting a brownish tinge, it is everywhere a rich rather

golden tawny, lacking the greyish tint of Smee’s skin, and is more

sharply defined by its richer colour from the paler tint of the body.

The elbow-tuft is distinct but small and mostly pale ; there is no

trace of the belly-fringe, and the tail-tuft in conformity with the

general shortness of the coat is small as in most African lions, not

large as in the longer coated skins collected by Smee and

Faunthorpe.

This skin has been merely cured, not dressed and stretched, and

is certainly dried and shrunken. It measures : head and body

approximately 5 ft. 5 ins., tail 2 ft, 6 ins., total 7 ft. II ins. It is

difficult to estimate the extent to which it is shrivelled but the

animal would probably have been at least another 12 ins. in total

length.

(4) The second specimen received from Bombay is the skin of a

young male. The coat is long and a dark greyish tawny in hue,

darker than the last, owing mainly to the conspicuousness of the

black tips to the hairs, but it is not so dark or richly coloured

as Smee’s skin, there being much less ochraceous tawny in the hair.

The chin and throat and most of the inner side of the fore leg are

tinged with buff ; but the belly and inside of the hind leg are white.

Spots are evident below, pale tan on the belly, brownish on the

hind legs, paler and smaller but traceable to the paws on the fore

leg. The mane is undeveloped but there is a conspicuous black

crest on the nape formed by the confluence of the black tips of the

convergent streams of hair. The elbow-tuft is small but traceable ;

but most of the middle of the tail-tuft is missing. This skin

measures : head and body 4 ft. 10 ins., tail 2 ft. 2 ins., total 7 ft.

I have described these four skins at some length because of the

lack of detailed information about the variation in colour of the

Indian lion.

The following points are interesting : —

(1) The immature skin, although darker than two of the others,

is not so dark or richly coloured as the third, namely, Capt. Smee’s

skin.

(2) The general shortness, scantiness and lifeless aspect of the

hair of the skin that belonged to the Maharajah of Kotah, especially

when compared with the thick, long, luxuriant ccat of Capt. Smee’s

specimen, forcibly suggest considerable seasonal change in the

colour and texture of the pelage.

(3) The Maharajah of Kotah’s sandy grey skin is also interest-

ing on account of the pale buff tint of the whole of the light parts.

(4) Precisely similar variations in the length of the coat and

the colour of the upper and under sides, exhibited by these three

skins, have been used by American zoologists as a pretext for

dividing the lions of Central East Africa into four named local races

or sub-species.

(5) The Persian skin, above described, is not exactly like any

one of the three Gujerat skins, but does not differ more from them

than they differ from each other. It is darker and more ochraceous

tawny than the Maharajah of Kotah’s skin, coming nearly midway

between it and Smee’s richly coloured skin.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Plate III.

Gujerat Lion presented to the Zoological Society, London, by H. H. the Maharajah Sahib of Nawanagar.

LIONS OF ASIA

655

The only other Gujerat lion I have seen is one presented to the

Zoological Society in 1921 by H. H. the Maharajah Jam Saheb of

Nawanagar. It was a full grown animal, rather pale tawny or sandy

in tint ; but it had been in captivity for many years and had develop-

ed a good shaggy mane, as shown in the photographof its head here

published (PI. III). A noticeable feature about this lion is the length

and thickness of the hair along the back of the fore leg up to the

elbow-tuft, and the fringe on the fore part of the chest below ; also

the extension of the mane as a very distinct fringe behind the

shoulder, this being a common feature in lions kept many years in

captivity. The coat is generally longish.

(6) The tanned skin, with skull, of the adult lioness from

Gujerat which died in the Zoological Gardens on February 21,

1857 1 and was presented by the Society in that year, is very hand-

some, with an exceptionally long and thick coat, longer everywhere,

allowing for the absence of mane, than in Capt. Smee’s lion, being

as much as 3 ins. on the breast, belly and elbows. The tail-tuft

also is large, the hairs measuring up to 3£ ins. in length and con-

siderably exceeding those of wild-killed African lions. The colour

is a rich almost ruddy tawny, a little richer and darker in tint and

more heavily speckled with black than Capt. Smee’s iion above

described. It agrees very well with Smee’s description of the

darker Gujerat specimens which were said to be reddish in hue.

The light parts also are rather better coloured than in Smee’s lion.

It may be that the dark hue and long coat of this lioness are due to

several years of captive life. But if Smee’s specimen is a little

faded from exposure as a mounted specimen, there was not much

difference between the two. The skin measures : head and body

5 ft. 4 ins., tajl 2 ft. 8 ins., total 8 ft.

(7) The skin of a young lion from Junagadh, Kathiawar,

which was exhibited at the Colonial Exhibition of 1886 and was

presented by H. H. the Nawab Sahib. The colour of this skin is

quite unusual. It is a dark rufous-brown tawny all over, even on

the under side and the inner surfaces of the limbs. There are

spots on the legs, stronger on the hind than on the front. The

animal was probably about a year old since the flat skin measures;

head and body 3 ft. 8 ins., tail 1 ft. 8£ ins., total 5 ft. 4| ins.

There can, I think, be no doubt that the dark reddish tint of

this skin, pervading as it does the usually whitish or buffy white

lower parts and also the inner hairless surface of the hide, is due

to staining from some preparation with which the skin was

dressed.

1 Although this skin is merely labelled ‘Asiatic lion’, there is, in my

opinion, no doubt that it belonged to the female of a pair from Gujerat pre-

sented to the Zoological Society by the Rajah of Jahnuggar through Sir

Erskine Perry and Capt. Jacob in January 1854. According to the Society’s

records there were in the later fifties of the last century two pairs of Asiatic

lions in Regent’s Park, namely, the pair above referred to and a pair from

Mesopotamia presented in 1856. This pair was entered in the books as

‘ young ’ ; and since the skin and skull under notice are those of an animal

fully mature early in 1857, she cannot have been the female of the Meso-

potamian pair. Since, moreover, the Museum of the Zoological Society was

disposed of in 1854, this lioness clearly did not form part of the old collection,

656 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

The following table shows the lengths of some Indian lions,

taken in the flesh or derived from skins

It may be added that Col. Fenton ascertained that the dimensions

of Lord Lamington’s specimen were taken from the stripped skin.

He therefore rejected them as exaggerated. According to Blanford

the skin from Allahabad was also stretched. Eliminating the

dressed or stripped skins and Capt. Smee’s largest specimen, which

was very doubtfully mature, and taking the specimens from the Gir

Forest which were measured in the flesh, we find that the average

total length of these six is slightly under 9 ft. 3 ins., which is about

the same as the average of East African lions*

The Skulls of Indian Lions.

In a note on the skulls of lions and tigers contributed to

Capt. Smee’s paper on the Gujerat lion, Prof. Owen described in

the skulls of two Indian lions, preserved in the Museum of the

Royal College of Surgeons, a peculiarity he failed to find in the

skulls of African lions. This was the duplication of the infra-orbital

foramen, at the anterior root of the zygomatic arch, by a bridge

of bone dividing it into an upper smaller and a lower larger portion.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate IV

1

2

Fig. A (1) Facial portion of skull of lioness from Amreli showing

duplication of the infraorbital orifice on the left side.

Fig. A (2) Lateral view of skull of adult male lion from Amreli.

LIONS OF ASIA

657

In one of the skulls from ‘ Assund in N.W. Hindustan presented

by Col. Finch in 1830, this peculiarity was present only on the left

side, the foramen on the right side being large, reniform and

normally entire. In the other specimen from North Gujerat, receiv-

ed in 1822, the orifice was more widely bridged on both sides but

not quite symmetrically, the bridge on the right side being wider

than on the left and showing a third small hole. Capt. Smee

recorded similar division of the foramen in the two skulls he

possessed. Great, therefore, was my interest to find this foramen

divided on both sides in Col. Faunthorpe’s lion skull belonging to

the Chicago Museum. In this skull the arrangement is very nearly

symmetrical, the bridges being narrower than; in the skull from

North Gujerat, so that the lower orifices are large!, thus resem-

bling the condition seen in the foramen of the left side in the skull

from Assund. (Plate IV, Figs. A 1 & 2)

Nevertheless in three skulls that haVe recently come into my

hands, the modification is present on one side only ip two of them;

on the right side in a young lion and on the left side in a young

lioness. It is absent in an adult lion. It is also absent in the skull

of the lioness received from the Zoological Society. It cannot,

therefore, be regarded as an absolute distinction between Indian

and African lions, although, on the available evidenqe, it occurs in

most of the former, but never occurs in the latter. [It presumably

originated as a fortuitous variation. No use can be claimed for

it, yet from the records given above we know that it has been

inherited for over a century and how much longer if is impossible

to say.

On inspecting the two skulls, referred to as lions bjy Owen, in the

Museum of the College of Surgeons where they were kindly sub-

mitted to me by Mr. R. H. Burne, F.R.S., I was disappointed to

find they are skulls of lionesses, although one of them is entered in

Flower’s Catalogue of the collection as a lion’s. Both, however,

are adult, although the one from Assund is considerably the older

of the two. (Plate V, Figs. B 1 & 2)

The three skulls above referred to as recently received were

kindly presented to the national collection by the Maharaja of Bhav-

nagar when he learnt from Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse, I. A., on infor-

mation received from me, that the British Museum possessed no

skull of a wild-killed Indian lion. The animals themselves, an old

male and sub-adult male and female, were shot some twenty years

ago, by the late Maharaja in the Amreli District of Kathiawar on

the eastern border of the Gir Forest. The skins were made into

rugs with the skulls mounted in them and preserved in the

Maharajah’s Palace ; but the skins proved to be worn and useless

and only the skulls were worth preserving. I am greatly indebted

to Col. Mosse for securing these valuable specimens for the Natural

History Museum and for the opportunity thus afforded of recording

their characters in this paper. The skull of the adult male is perfect

apart from the loss of a few teeth ; but the loss of the occipital bone

in the others prevents me recording their lengths and observing the

shape of the auditory bullae.

The following table gives the principal dimensions of the skulls

658 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXlV

I have been able to measure.1 To these have been added one or

two measurements of a few skulls elsewhere recorded. The

cranial dimensions are expressed in English inches, the teeth in

millimetres.

The first on the list is the skull of the largest recorded by

Col. Fenton. Although supposed to be adult it is rather narrow

for a mature specimen. The second is Lord Harris’s specimen

recorded by Rowland Ward. The third is Col. Faunthorpe’s

Chicago Museum skull which, as shown by its open sutures is not

quite full sized. The three specimens from the Amreli District are

those that belonged to the Maharajah of Bhavnagar. The complete

skull is that of a fully adult but not very old male. It is remarka-

ble for the great height of the sagittal crest which rises in front

from two strong curved upstanding ridges running backwards and

inwards from the post-orbital processes. This crest is higher than

that of any African lion skull I have seen. The immature and

imperfect male and female skulls from this district call for no special

1 The dimensions are taken as follows Total length from the edge of the

premaxilla above the incisors to the tip of the occipital crest. Condylo- basal

length from the same point in front to the posterior edge of the occipital con-

dyles. Zygomatic width across the cheek-bones. Mastoid width across the

occipital bone outside the auditory bullae. Waist across the post orbital cons-

triction. Interorbital width across the forehead between ihe eyes— Maxillary

width across the jaw just above the socket of the upper canines. Nasals from

the middle line behind to the extreme tip of the bone in front. Upper and

lower carnassial teeth their extreme length. Upper canine its length from

back to front close to the socket.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Plate V

Fig. B (1) Dorsal view of skull of adult male lion from Amreli. Fig. B (2) Ventral view of skull of adult male lion from Amreli.

LIONS OF ASIA

659

comment except regarding the size of the carnassial teeth in the

young mile which are noticeably larger than in Col. Faunthorpe’s

specimen.

Of the lionesses those from Assund and N. Gujerat are the two

in the College of Surgeons’ Museum. The one labelled Gujerat

is the skull of the specimen reared in the Zoological Gardens, a

circumstance which explains its greater width across the zygomata.

It also has the ascending process of the mandible considerably

lower than in the wild-shot specimens. The dimensions of the last

on the list marked ‘ India ’ are taken from Blainville’s illustration

of a specimen he regarded as a lion’s skull and figured half natural

size. From the shape of this skull I am tolerably confident it was

taken from an adult lioness reared in a menagerie.

Although the data supplied by this table of measurements sug-

gest that the skulls of Indian lions are on the average a little smaller

than those of any race of African lions, they are at present insuffici=

ent to justify a definite conclusion on that point. But apart from the

duplication of the infra-orbital orifice which is not an absolute

distinction, there is one character in which they differ from African

lion skulls. The auditory bullae are noticeably less inflated. These

bullae vary a good deal, it is true, in that respect in African lions,

but I have seen no skulls from that continent in which they are

so low as they are in the two lion and three lioness’ skulls, in

which these structures are preserved, recorded in this table.

Summary and Conclusion.

The foregoing account reveals considerable difference of opinion,

based in no case apparently upon reliable data, regarding the

number of races inhabiting Asia. Jardine, when he introduced

the name asiaticus , thought there was one occurring both in

Persia and India. Wagner and Fitzinger admitted two, a Persian

race, persicus , and an Indian race, goojratensis , although Fitzinger

claimed that the latter extended from India to Mesopotamia along

the shores of the Persian Gulf. Matschie, as recently as 1900,

considered that there were three, a northern Persian race, persicus ,

a southern Persian race, asiaticus , and an Indian race, goojratensis.

But his view with regard to the Persian lions was founded upon

Temminck’s description of a lion from Teheran exhibited in London

and upon Jardine’s description of one exported from Bussorah,

also exhibited in London. It is very likely, however, that the same

lion at different ages was the subject of both these independent

descriptions. However that may be, the lions, if there were two,

were captive specimens, and untrustworthy in the characters

Matschie relied on for distinguishing them from each other and

from goojratensis.

I think it may be confidently claimed that there is, or rather was,

only one kind of lion in Persia; and since the only skin I have seen

from that country shows, in my opinion, no characters justifying its

nominal distinction from Indian specimens, I am compelled on the

data available to regard the lions of these two districts of Asia

as racially identical and to cite them under the same name. It is a

660 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL H/ST. SOCIETY , Vot. XXXIV

pity that asiaticus is not available for this purpose and that persicus ,

proposed by Meyer, in 1826, has to be adopted1 2 as its title.

I have given below at some length my reasons for regarding the

Asiatic lion as racially or sub-specifically distinguishable from the

numbers of West and East African lions which have been establish-

ed and with which I am acquainted. But the races represented

by the extinct Cape lion and the nearly extinct Barbary lion, I only

know from published accounts. But, so far as I can judge, these

two lions fell into line with other African lions in the characters

employed for distinguishing the Asiatic form.

Taking first the references relating to Persian lions and second

those relating to Indian lions, the name and synonymy of this asia-

tic race are as follows : —

Panthera 2 leo persica, Meyer.

Felis leo persicus, Meyer, Diss. inaug. de genere Felium. Vienna,

p. 6, 1826 (source of name unstated).

Felis leo var. c. 1 Lion de Perse ’, Temminck, Mon. Mamm. p. 86,

1827.

Felis leo persicus , Fischer, Syn. Mamm. p. 197, 1829 (Based on

Temminck’s description of a pair from Teheran); Wagner in Schreb.

Saug. Suppl, ii, p. 463, 1841 ; Fitzinger, SB. Akad. Wiss. Wien, I,

p. 362, 1841 (quoted as Leo persicus').

Leo asiaticus , Jardine, Nat. Library : Felinse, pp. 121 and 266, 1834

(Based on specimen exported from Bussorah, probably the same

that Temminck described).

Felis leo asiaticus and persicus , Matschie, SB. Ges. nat. Fr. Berlin,

p. 94, 1900.

Felis leo bengalensis , Bennett, The Tower Menagerie, p. 1, with

woodcut, 1829 (preoccupied name).

Felis leo goojraiensis , Smee, Proc. Zool. Soc. p. 140, 1833 and Tr.

Zool. Soc., I, p. 165, pi. 24, 1834. This name altered to guzeratensis

by Wagner (op. cit. p. 461), by Fitzinger (op. cit. p. 365) and other

authors ; to gougeratensis by Ham. Smith in Jardine’s Nat. Library

XV, p. 178, pi. XI, 1842 ; to gozeratensis by Brehm, Ergeb. Reise

nach Habesch, p. 58, 1863 ; to goojrattensis by Matschie (loc. cit.).

Felis leo indicus , Blainville, Osteogr. Mamm. Atlas : Felis. PI. VI,

1843.

Type Locality of persicus Meyer unknown. Type not in existence.

,, ,, ,, goojratensis , Ahmedabad. Co-type in Brit. Mus.

Distribution : Formerly Central and Southern Persia and Meso-

1 This name persicus antedates all the names given to races of African

lions, except barbaricus assigned by the same author to the Barbary lion. Yet

several racial names have been given to African lions by authors who have

made no attempt to justify that course by mentioning any character by which

they can be separated from the lion named persicus. The difference in distri-

bution has been held to be a sufficient reason for introducing the new names,

many of which have merely a geographical significance.

2 I need not here repeat the reasons I gave in my paper on ‘Tigers’ ( Journ .

Bombay Nat. Soc., vol. xxxiii, p, 506) for referring the lion, tiger and panther

to the genus Panthera instead of Felis nor for rejecting the generic name Leo

for the lion.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

MAP SHOWING THE PAST AND PRESENT DISTRIBUTION

OF THE LION IN INDIA.

The dates indicate approximately the years when the lion became

extinct at the various localities which are underlined with red.

LIONS OF ASIA

661

potamia and the whole of Northern India as far north as Patiala,1

eastward to Western Bengal but not passing south of the Tapti

River. Now apparently restricted in S. W. Asia to the Gir Forest,

Kathiawar.2

For the opportunity to publish the accompanying map showing

the former range of the lion in India and the dates, so far as they

can be ascertained, when it is supposed to have been exterminated

in various districts, I am indebted to Mr. W. S. Millard and to

Sir Reginald Spence. It was prepared for the Museum of the

Bombay Natural History Society by Mr. N. B. Kinnear when he

wrote his paper, above quoted, on the distribution of the lion in

Asia.

Distinguishing characters of the Asiatic lion. — When the Persian

skin and the two Gujerat skins,3 collected by Smee and Faunthorpe

respectively, are compared with a number of lions’ skins in the

British Museum from West, East and South Africa, one or two

curious differences are revealed.

The Elbow-tuft . — In the Persian skin, which, judging from its

length and mane-growth, is that of a fully adult animal, the elbow-

tuft is not only actually very extensive but is especially large when

compared with the size of the mane. It forms a distinct mat about

9 ins. in vertical length, blending imperceptibly below with the

longish hair on the back of the foreleg.

In African lions with the mane of about the same size the tuft is

either absent or exceedingly small. Even in a lion, shot by Selous

on the Hartley Hills, Mashonaland, which carries a far more

luxuriant mane than the Persian skin, the elbow-tuft is much less

extensive both in width and length, although the hairs composing

it are longer. It is emphatically a ‘tuft’ and not a ‘ mat ’. This

remark applies to other fine-maned African lions.

In Smee’s and Faunthorpe’ s Gujerat specimens, which are not

quite mature and have more scanty manes, the elbow-tufts are well

developed and tuft-like, as well developed approximately as in

good-maned African lions. No African lions’ skins that I have

seen with manes as poorly developed, whether adult or immature,

have a trace of the elbow-tuft. The tuft, however, in Faunthorpe’s

specimen is more isolated. In Smee’s specimen, which is much

thicker-coated, it is more confluent below with the long hair on the

back of the leg as in the Persian skin and as shown in Smee’s

coloured figure of his typical example of goojratensis, in Jardine’s

figure of the Bussorah specimen in Exeter, Change and in the

photograph of the Gujerat specimen here reproduced (PL 3).

1 The killing of a lion by an elephant close to Patiala was recorded by

Capt. Mundy in Pen and Pencil Sketches .

2 After the extermination of the native lion everywhere in India, except in

Kathiawar, some East African lions were imported into the country and

released in Gwalior about 30 or 40 years ago ; but they became such a pest by

killing the cattle and their herdsmen that they were all exterminated a few years

afterwards. (A. S. Vernay.) They did not spread to Gujerat. Hence the

Gir Forest lions are a pure stock.

3 In this summary I have not taken into consideration the skin obtained by

the Maharajah Kumar of Kotah because the pelage is obviously old and dead

with the moult imminent, if not already begun.

4

662 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

The Belly-fringe . — In the Persian skin there is a very distinct

thickish median fringe or crest about 6 ins. long and composed of

hair 4 ins. long on the chest behind the armpits (axillae) and quite

separated from the mane on the front of the breast below the throat.

In the heavily-maned Hartley Hill lion, above referred to, and in

one from the Pungwe River, this crest is merely represented by a

few longish scattered hairs. In no other African lion skin that I

have seen is there a trace of it. It is not, however, developed in

the two Gujerat skins, possibly because they were younger animals

than the Persian.

Neither in the Persian skin nor in Smee’s Gujerat skin is the

rest of the belly-fringe sharply differentiated from the longish hairs

of the lower part of the flanks. In both, however, it is represented

by a fringe of longish hairs, the fringe being more noticeable and

more extensive from front to back in the Gujerat skin. In no

African lion’s skin does the same condition prevail. In only one

of them, namely the skin of a full-grown, fairly well maned lion,

shot by Selous between the Sungwe and Pungwe Rivers in Portu-

guese S. E. Africa, is there a trace of the belly-fringe ; and in this

it is a scanty isolated tuft of long hairs well developed only on one

side of the body. As evidence that this type of belly-fringe, so far

from being exceptional, is the rule, at all events in South African

lions,' I may quote the testimony of Selous who, when writing of

lions with ‘ very full black manes ’, said : — ‘ In such cases, in

addition to the tufts of hair always found on the elbows and in the

armpits of lions with fair-sized manes, there will probably be large

tufts of hair on each flank just where the thighs join the belly’.

(. Living Animals of the Worlds p. 38, about 1908).

The Tail-tufi. — Jardine, quoting Warwick’s observations on

captive specimens, stated nearly a century ago that the tuft at the

end of the tail is much longer in proportion in the Persian than in

the African lion; and this feature is shown in Lear’s figure of the

lion exported from Bussorah which Jardine reproduced. In the

Persian skin in the British Museum the tuft is noticeably more

bushy than in most of the African lions’ skins, though not much

more so than in a few ; but Smee’s figure of the Gujerat lion shows

a remarkably large tuft, quite as large as the tuft in the skin of the

lioness from Gujerat that was presented to the Museum by the

Zoological Society. In Faunthorpe’s Chicago skin the tuft is not

so large ; but it would be considered a good tuft in an adult African

lion, although the specimen in question is not quite mature.

The Coat. — The tail-tuft is not a secondary sexual character like

the mane, elbow-tuft and belly-fringe, and its superior development

in the Asiatic lion may be an accompaniment of the generally

longer coat observable in this lion than in African lions. But in

two African lionesses, collected by Sir Harry Johnston but other-

wise unlocalized in the British Museum, the coat is long and full

without corresponding enlargement of the tail-tuft. As regards

the coat itself in adult African lions it is usually short and sleek ;

but since longer coats are said to be found in lions at high altitudes

in some districts and in the lions of the areas immediately to the

south east of Victoria Nyanza, the most that can be said on this

LIONS OF ASIA

663

point is that the Asiatic lions appear to have on the average longer

and thicker coats than African.

The Skull. — No information, so far as I am aware, is available

regarding the skull of Persian lions ; and I have seen only three

skulls of wild-killed Indian lions. In addition to the bridging of

the infra-orbital foramen above described, these skulls differ at all

events from average skulls of African lions in the comparative

flatness of the auditory bullae. These bullae however, are liable to a

great deal of individual variation in African lions ; and they are

probably also equally variable in the Asiatic. But beyond question

they are in almost all cases considerably more inflated in African

skulls than in the Indian specimens I have seen.

In other characters upon which systematists have laid stress in

distinguishing the named local races of lions, the Asiatic form

exhibits or exhibited great variation. The general colour ranges

from ochraceous tawny, almost reddish, to sandy or isabelline grey

or even blackish (Layard), and the mane, although typically mode-

rate or small, was sometimes very fine, sometimes undeveloped ;

its general tint being usually ‘yellow’, sometimes relieved by

‘black’. Similar variation in the colour of the coat and in the

colour and growth of the mane occurs in the lions of Kenya Colony,

East Africa.

Briefly epitomizing what I have stated above in justification of

the view that the Asiatic lion may be regarded as a local race,

Panthera lea persica , I may say that it differs at all events on the

average from the African races in the following features : —

The coat is longer and usually thicker ; the tail-tuft is larger ;

the elbow-tuft and belly-fringe are comparatively1 well developed

in association with a poorly developed mane ; and, at all events in

the skull of Indian specimens, the auditory bullae are less inflated

and the infra-orbital foramen is usually divided by a bony bridge.

Supplementary Note on Two Lions Shot by H. H. The

Maharajah Jam Saheb of Nawanagar in Kathiawar

After this paper was set up in type, I had the good fortune,

through the courtesy of H. H. The Maharajah Jam Sahib of

Nawanagar and of Messrs. Rowland Ward, to examine the skins and

skulls of two additional Indian lions recently shot by His Highness

in Kathiawar. Both specimens are fully adult and of exceptional

interest, although unfortunately, owing to the return of the skins

kindly lent to me by the Field Museum, Chicago, and by the

Bombay Natural History Society, I am unable to place the Jam

Sahib’s skins alongside them for actual comparison.

The two skins are much alike, the coat being short and smooth

in both, approximately as in Faunthorpe’s Chicago skin so far as I

recollect and much shorter than in Smee’s skin. In one the general

colour of the body is decidedly grey, a pale olivaceous grey, the

hairs being pallid buffish grey with black and brown tips, without

any brightness ; but low down on the flanks, the tint is a bright

ochreous buff, sharply defined from the tint of the back, which

passes into creamy buff on the belly. The foreleg is richer tinted

664 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY, Vol . XXXIV

and less speckled than the back on the outer side, rich buff in front

turning to creamy white behind on the inner side ; the elbow-tuft is

well developed, consisting of black and grey hairs, 3£ inches long.

The hind leg is ochreous buff internally and in front, greyish up to

the hock behind and almost black above the hock. The long

interdigital hairs on the fore and hind paws are black. The tail

above is like the body in general hue but turns rapidly black towards

the end and is cream-buff below ; the tuft is moderately large, with

hairs up to 2| inches long. The mane is well developed, long and

thick, with a considerable amount of black in it, although pale

tawny on the cheeks, throat and behind the ears ; in front of the

shoulder, especially low down, the black is very much in evidence.;

and along the crest some of the hairs are black throughout, although

most of them are grey at the base with black tips, there being more

black on the fore part of the nape than behind. The hairs on the

crest and cheeks are about 4 inches long, and low down in front of

the leg about 6 inches. The fringe on the breast and belly is quite

inconspicuous, being represented by merely a few scattered long

hairs. This skin, dressed, measures : head and body 6 ft. 2 ins. ;

tail 2 ft. 9 ins. ; total 8 ft. 11 ins.

The other skin, measuring : head and body 6 ft. 4 ins. ; tail 3 ft. ;

total 9 ft. 4 ins., is like the first in every respect except that it is not

so grey and olivaceous in hue on the body, the hairs being more

buff and the area between the flanks and the belly brighter

ochreous.

These skins further attest the individual variation in the colour

of Kathiawar lions. Their manes are longer, fuller and much

blacker than those of any Indian lions* skins I have seen, and fully

support Col. Fenton’s claim of the existence of ‘ black-maned ’ lions

in Kathiawar.

The dimensions of the skulls in inches and of the teeth in milli-

metres are as follows : —

Inches Millimetres

These skulls are fully adult and agree very closely with the skull

from the Amreli District described above. They confirm the view

that the sagittal crest and the postorbital ridges in front of it are

better developed on the average in Indian than in African lions and

that the auditory bullae are flatter. In both of the Jam Sahib’s

skulls they are so low as to be practically concealed by the mastoids

LIONS OF ASIA

665

in profile view. Also in both skulls the infraorbital foramen,

although entire on the left side, is divided on the right side by a

bridge into a small upper and a large lower portion. The skulls,

however, are decidedly smaller than those previously recorded in

this paper. In total length and width they do not surpass the

largest skulls of African lionesses and in the dimensions referred

to they bring the average length and width of measured skulls of

Indian lions down to about 13 by 8J inches, noticeably smaller,

that is to say, than the average of lions’ skulls from any district of

Africa.

It is not unlikely, in my opinion, that the Kathiawar stock is

deteriorating in size from inbreeding.

[Mr. Pocock’s complaint in the footnote to page 651 is being

repaired this year. H. H. The Nawab of Junagadh is kindly arrang-

ing to shoot two Lions during the forthcoming cold weather for

the National Collection. It is a pity that death has prevented that

fine sportsman Col. Faunthorpe from shooting a Lion for us.

Mr. A. S. Vernay has within the last 12 months provided us with no

less than Rs. 14,300 wherewith to finance our collectors who are

making a Survey of the Mammalia and Avi-fauna of the Eastern

Ghats for the benefit of the National Collection at South Kensington.

In September this year we received for our own collection as a gift

from Col. A. H. E. Mosse, I. A. of Bhavnagar, who had just shot it,

the skin and skull of a mature male Kathiawar Lion. The dimen-

sions of the skin are : — Length 8' 6" ; Head and body 5' 9" ; tail

2' 11".— Eds.].

THE BIRDS OF THE PROME DISTRICT OF LOWER BURMA.

BY

J. K. Stanford, m.c., i.c.s.

WITH NOTES ON THE COLLECTION.

BY

Dr. Claud B. Ticehurst, m.d., m.a., m.b.o.u., f.r.g.s.

( With a map .)

The Prome District which is about 2,930 square miles in extent,

lies in the basin of the Irrawaddy between N. latitude 18° T8' and

19° Tl' and stretches across both sides of the river above the

head of the delta. It is bounded on the north by the Thayetmyo

district of Upper Burma (which in Oates’s day formed part,

as did the whole of the delta, of the then Pegu Division), and

marches with Henzada and Tharrawaddy on the south-west, south

and south-east. On the west, the crest of the Arakan Yoma, from

3,000 to 4,500 feet in height, divides Prome from the Sandoway

District of Arakan. From the watershed to the sea is nowhere

more than 30 to 40 miles as the crow flies. Along the eastern side

of the district, the Pegu Yoma divides Prome from Toungoo. In

the south-eastern half of the district these hills attain a height of

over 2,000 feet. About 20 miles east of Prome town the ground

begins to rise, and most of the Paukkaung township, and the

eastern half of the Paungde township, is a mass of tumbled foot-

hills, rising gradually to the main Yoma. In the northern part of

the district, and along the Irrawaddy valley on both sides of the

river, much of the soil is sandy and very dry. At Prome the rain-

fall varies from 36 to 50 inches, and though paddy is generally

grown over the whole of the district, this northern part, in crops

and climate, approximates closely to the ‘ dry zone ’ of Upper

Burma. In the south of the district the rainfall is from 60 to 65

inches and the great paddy plain of the delta commences south

of the Inma lake down to the Tharrawaddy border.

2. Situated as it is between two ranges of little-known hills, with

the wide Irrawaddy valley to split it up, and some 900 miles

of forest country of every variety, the Prome District is pro-

bably of considerable interest ornithologically. In the west the

Arakan Hills, which are a direct continuation of the Manipur,

Lushai, Chittagong and Chin-Pakkoku Hills chain are crossed

by the only road which at present runs from Arakan to Burma

proper, the Taungup-Padaung road 110 miles in length. These

hills are at the present day less known to naturalists than

in 1883, when a military road, then much used by troops and

officials (but now recovering from almost complete abandonment),

ran through them. At that time, according to Oates, the whole

Arakan division remained, from an ornithological standpoint,

unexplored. It is probable that the Irrawaddy Valley, in places

several miles wide, and down to which run small spurs of the

Arakan foot-hills, constitutes the dividing line of a good many

sub-species, and in this district it is certainly the main north to

south migration route ; while, owing to the lack of water, much of

Birds of the Prome District of Lower Burma

3b

94°30’ 95° Longitude East of Greenwich 95°30'

THE BIRDS OF THE PRO ME DISTRICT , BURMA

66 7

the bird life from December to May is concentrated along- the valley

or its subsidiary streams.

3. Very few ornithologists have ever worked the district. When

Oates published his Birds of British Burmah in 1883, he was

familiar with Prome, Thayetmyo, and the Taungup road up to

Nyaunggyo at the crest of the Yoma, but beyond occasional

references made by him to Prome District, and the records he

quoted of Captain Fielden, who had been formerly stationed at

Thayetmyo, he probably knew far more of the eastern side of

the Pegu Yoma much further to the south. He apparently also

sent collectors to work the hills with a Mr. Theobald, but it cannot

be said whether the birds collected by them were on the Sandoway

side of the water-shed or not. Blyth described birds from the

Arakan Hills, as did Hume from ‘ Upper Pegu ’ in the region of

Thayetmyo, but many of their observations are, even to-day,

unconfirmed. Since that day, the only naturalist who appears to

have worked the area is Mr. J. M. Mackenzie, i.f.s., who was

mainly on the eastern side of the Irrawaddy, and whose notes I have

not yet been able to obtain. We cannot find that anyone has so

far put on record an account of the birds of the Prome district. The

present account is based merely on references by Oates, some rough

notes made over a period of 23 months between 1927 and 1929, and

a collection of 411 skins comprising 209 species, which was made

with the aid of a skinner, Mr. Henricks, most kindly lent by the

authorities of the Bombay Natural History Society, from mid-

January to mid-April 1929.

4. During these three months it was not possible to do more

than attempt to make a representative collection of the birds of the

district for a few hours a day. Though most portions of it were

visited, no collections were made in the main eastern forest area of

Paukkaung and Paungde, and no chance occurred to visit the

hills which form the northern boundary of the district on the

Thayetmyo side. This area might well repay the ornithologist one

day, though Oates apparently collected on the same hills between

Thayetmyo and Toungoo, and Fielden at Thayetmyo. In April 1928,

three days were spent at Nyaunggyo (2,400 feet) at the summit

of the Arakan hills on the Taungup-Padaung road, and about a

fortnight in April 1929. Here with the help of Mr. A. K. Potter,

i.c.s., birds of 49 different species which had not yet been met with

previously in the plains, were collected. The bird-life was in fact

found to be concentrated mainly above the 2,000 feet line in the cool

of the evergreen jungle, between the two main watersheds. As 7

or 8 of these species do not appear to have been recorded from

‘ Pegu ’ during the 30 years in which Oates was collecting in it,

it is clear that the Arakan Yoma would amply repay a closer

investigation. It is completely uninhabited, extremely difficult to get

about in, and away from the road is infested with tigers, which

caused much trouble to Survey of India parties during the cold

weather of 1928-29. Further south to the Henzada border, and

northwards through Thayetmyo and Minbu, these hills on both

sides of the main water-shed are likely to remain a terra incognita

to the ornithologist for a good many years to come.

668 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

The average rainfall on the Arakan side and probably up to

Nyaunggyo on the Prome side is over 200 inches, but on the Prome

side below about 1,800 feet it would be hard to find, from December

until the rains more desolate, waterless jungle than covers these

hills, quite unculturable and with practically no vegetation of

any kind except bamboo. The Arakan Yoma seems to act as a

screen against the rain clouds from the Bay of Bengal, precipitating

all which are not very high on their western slopes and the hills up

to Nyaunggyo. The fall in the Padaung township proper, which

comprises one-third of the district, is said to be less than further

east.

Andaman Jungle Crow (Corvus coronoides andamanensis). 105.

Burmese — Taw-chegan.

Common, except in the Arakan Hills where I did not see it at all in April

1928 or 1929. In the Irrawaddy Valley and elsewhere, it frequents the better-

wooded villages. [Specimen not seen. — C.B.T.)

Burmese House Crow (Corvus splendens insolens). 161, 188, 256-259.

Burmese — Che g an.

Extremely common everywhere, except in the Arakan hills where in April

1929 I saw only two pairs, both at halting places along the road. Oates says

the breeding season commences ‘about the middle of March’. In 1928 and

1929 they started building or repairing nests in my garden about the first

week in February, though I did not see fledged young before April 30th. I

have seen them on more than one occasion hawking flying ants, and it was

remarkable at Prome how often in the early mornings the entire colony would

fly off suddenly across the Irrawaddy, returning a few minutes later. [Speci-

mens not seen.— C.B.T. ]

Retbbilled Blue Magpie (Urocissa melanocephala magnirostris).

Oates recorded the bird from Thayetmyo and I saw individuals on both sides

of the river but failed to collect any.

Green Magpie (Cissa c. chinensis). 411.

Oates describes it as ‘ abundant ’ on the Pegu hills and breeding in April. I

shot a female at Nyaunggyo (2,500 ft.) in the Arakan hills on April 14, 1929,

with a hard-shelled egg in the oviduct. This pair, the only ones I ever saw in

the district, were in bamboo jungle and extremely shy, though their note was

frequently heard. I have no reason to suppose they occur below the line of

evergreen forest, as suggested by Oates.

Burmese Tree Pie (Dentrocitta rufa). 7,25.

Common, especially in the drier forests in the north of the district. Not seen

in the Arakan hills in April 1929.

[The whole of Burma south of the Chin and Kachin hills is said to be

inhabited by kinneari, characterized as being a dark bird above and below,

the colour of the head and back blending, w. 137-151, t. 195-241. These two

Prome birds do not at all tally with this description. They are distinctly pale

birds and the grey of the neck is sharply separated from the rufous back.

C, w. 150-159, t. 255-270. I can match these birds with some Bengal ones

except that the tails in the former are considerably longer. I can also match

them in colour with some Punjab birds. Over the very extensive range of this

Dendrocitta specimens may be found which upset any grouping into races by

coloration as there is much variation. There are also apparently specimens

[Mr. Stanford is entirely responsible for the Introduction and the notes on

each species. Dr. Ticehurst is responsible for the remarks on the specimens

collected. The order followed is that of the Fauna edition ii. , and the nomen-

clature also follows that work in most cases. References to £ Oates ’ are to

his Birds of British Burrnah , edition 1883, and where * Pegu ’ is referred to,

it means Pegu Division as constituted in his day, viz., British Burma except

Arakan and Tenasserim. ‘ S. B.’ refers to the second edition of the Fauna .

The numbers after the scientific name are collection numbers.

THE BIRDS OF THE PRO ME DISTRICT , BURMA

which upset an arrangement founded on size, However this may be more

apparent than real, as the material available in the British Museum, though

extensive, often lacks any data as to sex and, what is more confusing still,

some, I am sure, are wrongly sexed.

In the Ibis (1922, p. 537) I ‘ lumped ’ all the birds from India (except N.W.)

and Burma under one race vagabunda and drew attention to the fact that

Southern Indian birds are smallest. In the Fauna ed. ii. Mr. Baker unites

the small dark South Indian bird (rufa) with the pale large N. W. Indian bird,

which arrangement I cannot follow, and divides my vagabunda into three races,

vagabunda, sclateri and kinneari , but it seems questionable whether the pro-

blem is any clearer by this treatment. — C.B.T.]

Black Racquet-tailed Magpie (Crypsirhina varians).

While Stuart Baker remarks that it has ‘ its headquarters in Pegu, extending

up the valley of the Irrawaddy, to some way north of Thayetmyo Oates says

‘ in Pegu it is rare at Prome and I have only once observed it in Thayetmyo,

but from Prome southwards it becomes common. . . . ' I have never

seen it there and should say its place was entirely taken by the next species. It

is not uncommon in Insein.

Hooded Racquet-tailed Magpie (Crypsirhina cucullata). 26, 83, 120, 165, 166.

As Stuart Baker remarks, it is a bird mainly of the dry zone, but is

found a considerable distance south of Prome where the rainfall is well over

60 inches. Not seen in the Arakan hills. Oates did not find it below Palo in

the Thayetmyo district. One obtained in January was feeding on seeds of

‘ Shabin ’ [Acacia catechu). (Stuart Baker’s references to it being obtained ‘ as

far north as Pyiomana on the Chindwin * appears to be a mistake. Pyinmana

on the Rangoon-Mandalay line is in the Yamethin district, not far north of

Toungoo.)

[Two males w. 106-109, t. 170-180, four females w. 105-112. t. 167-187. Birds

a year old differ from the adult in having the grey parts tinged with brown,

less gloss on the head, flight feathers and tail brown instead of black, edges of

the secondaries not white and the whitish collar absent.]

Burmese Jay (Garrulus 1. leucotis).

Oates says : ‘ West of the Sittang river it occurs on the hills near Prome

where Mr. Olive assures me he has seen it ’. This record was apparently modi-

fied in the Fauna. I have never seen it or heard of it and, if what Olive said is

true, it must occur at a considerably lower altitude than usual.

Indian Grey Tit (Parus major cinereus).

Stuart Baker (i. 44) records it from ‘Western Burma’ and as far east as

Maymyo. Oates records it from Thayetmyo and to the ‘ west of the Irra-

waddy towards the foot of the Arakan hills ’, probably on the Taungup road.

I shot a Tit which I unfortunately did not preserve, in April 1928, on this road

at about 1,200 ft. which appeared to be cinereus. Seen nowhere else.

Burmese Nuthatch (Sitta castaneiventris neglecta). 151, 156, 233.

Blanford and Oates describe it as occurring ‘ throughout Pegu up to the

Irrawaddy river on the west’. Stuart Baker says ‘through the eastern hill-

ranges of Burma ’, and ‘ never in the plains ’. Oates says : ‘ Common in the

plains, but I did not observe it on the hills ’. I shot a pair at about 100 ft. in

the Tonye reserve, north of Prome on the 11th February, 1929, and another bird

atNgaphaw (200 ft.) in the Pegu Yoma foot-hills in February 1928. This one

appeared to have been feeding on ants. 1 frequently saw others in the plains,

but this species appears to be replaced by frontalis in the Arakan Yoma.

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis corallina). 340.

Oates describes it as widely distributed in Pegu but common on the hills. I

saw a good many at Nyaunggyo (2,500 ft.) in April 1928 and 1929 including two

pairs, one of which appeared to have full-fledged young with them.

Burmese White-crested Laughing-Thrush (Garrulax leucolophus belangeri).

The common Laughing Thrush of the plains and found in small numbers up

to 2,500 ft. on the Arakan side. Very frequently seen in flocks on the main

roads near Prome, regardless of motor traffic.

[These birds from the plains are belangeri, but it is questionable whether the

Arakan Yoma birds will prove to be of the same race.]

4a

670 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

Black-gorgeted Laughing=Thrush (Garrulax pectoralls pectoralis). 382 (juv.) .

Oates describes this species as very common throughout the northern half of

Pegu ‘ or perhaps only down to the latitude of Prome \ I only collected one

juvenile at about 2,000 ft. near Nyaunggyo. Saw others close to Prome Town,

but it was distinctly scarce and local.

[This specimen is in full juvenile dress. A bird in similar dress from Assam

is more rusty below and less olivaceous above than this specimen. An old

skin of an adult labelled ‘ Arakan ’ however does not differ from Sikkim

biids.]

Necklaced Laughing=Thrush (G. moniliger fuscata).

Oates says it is found * over the whole of Pegu ’. I never saw it, though it

occurs in Insein further south.

Striated Babbler (Argya earlii). 51, 241.

Oates describes it as abundant in Pegu but not seen by him in many years

at Thayetmyo. I shot one of a party of three in Kaing grass at Shwedaung on

22nd January, 1929, and another out of a large party on 3rd March. Probably

fairly common along the Irrawaddy valley.

[Striated Babblers, whether in Sind or Prome, appear to be water birds, and

this may perhaps have something to do with the fact that in this species there

is no geographical variation.]

White4hroated Babbler (Argya gularis). 12, 80, 81, 308.

Oates describes it as confined to the northern portions of Pegu in the Irra-

waddy valley ; ‘ to the west . . . probably occurs up to the foot of the Arakan

hills, and south as far as Prome ’. It is not common as far as I can see, more

than 20 miles south of Prome (Kandin) and is confined to the drier northern

portions of the district.

[3 (Jd, w. 88-89. 2 89. Tail rf, 145-163. $ 150. The Fauna , ed. ii, gives the

wing as 78-83, tail about 140.]

Grant’s Slaty-headed Scimitar Babbler (Pomatorhinus schisticeps mearsi). 402.

‘ Manipur to Arakan ’ (B. & O. i. 116). Hume recorded it from Thayetmyo

and Blyth from Arakan. Oates never met it. I shot one at about 2,500 ft. near

Nyaunggyo on 12th April, 1929, hopping about on the edge of bamboo jungle

and saw others on the stream a few hundred feet lower down the same ridge.

This appears to be an extension of its known range.

Tweeddale’s Scimitar=Babbler (P. nuchalis). 235.

Oates found it common at Thayetmyo and Mackenzie found a good many at

Prome (S. B. I. 208). I got a female out of a pair in bamboo jungle at about

300 ft. on the road from Theme to Ngaphaw on 1st March, 1929. This was in

the Pegu Yoma foot-hills.

Blyth’s Scimitar Babbler (P. ferruginosus albigularis).

There must surely bean error in Stuart Baker’s description of this bird

‘ breeding on the Taok plateau, 60 miles east of Prome.’ I have never observed

it, nor did Oates, west of the Sittang.

Burmese Red=capped Babbler (Timalia pileata intermedia). 122, 277, 283, 310.

Oates described it as very common all over Pegu. Several were obtained at

Tarokmaw, in the south of the district, Sinde (west of the Irrawaddy) and

Prome. Probably common in Kaing jungle, but very rarely seen and exceeding-

ly difficult to obtain.

[This is T. pileata jerdoni of the Fauna. Mr. Kinnear has rightly pointed

out that jerdoni came from the Khasia Hills and is a synonym of bengalensis

(Bull. B.O.C. xlv, p. 9). He therefore named the Burmese bird intermedia .]

White=headed Shrike=BabbIer (Gampsorhynchus r. rufulus). 383, 409.

Oates received one from Nyaunggyo. I shot two here between 2,000 ft. and

2,500 ft. between 1st and 12th April, 1929, both in dense evergreen bamboo

jungle along streams. They were not at all shy and seemed very interested

in a party of human beings.

[These are precisely as Sikkim birds. One of them, on 13th April, is moulting

the head and body feathers. The old feathers of the crowm are red and the

THE BIRDS OF THE PRO ME DISTRICT , BURMA 671

new ones white. It is interesting to note that the birds from the east side of

the Irrawaddy (Toungoo Hills) have been identified as torquatus.]

Indian Yellow-eyed Babbler (Pyctorhis s. sinensis). 125, 326.

Probably fairly common except in the hills where we did not notice it at all.

Henricks shot one at Tarokmaw on 5th February, 1929, and another at Sinde

on 15th March, 1929. The former was on a bombax tree.

Malay Spotted Babbler (Pellorneum ruficeps sub-sp ?). 232.

A babbler of this species was not uncommon in the foothills of the Pegu

Yoma wherever coarse grass and bamboo abounded. I obtained a male near

Ngaphaw on 28th February, 1929, out of a pair. They are extremely shy skulkers

when disturbed. I saw one or two at 3,000 ft. in similar country in the Arakan

Yoma but did not obtain any.

[I cannot match this bird entirely with any known race of ruficeps ; further

specimens are desirable. Pellorneum minus described from Thayetmyo, one

might expect to inhabit the Pegu Yoma. The Arakan Yoma bird might be

different.]

Streaked Wren=Babbler (Turdinulus brevicaudatus striatus). 327, 349.

Oates never met with it in Pegu and this race has not been previously record-

ed south of Manipur.

I saw several along the Nyaunggyo stream in April 1928-29, where it was

apparently breeding, judging by the way single birds hopped about near me

uttering their low chiding note. This was in damp evergreen jungle at about

2,500 ft. On one occasion I also saw several together which appeared to be a

family party. They resembled dark immature Red-breasts and spent most of

their time feeding on the ground.

Assam Black=throated Babbler (Stachyris nigriceps sub-sp ?). 344, 384.

Oates found it only on the eastern side of the Pegu Yomas. I got one at

Nyaunggyo on 4th April, 1929, out of a travelling party in low undergrowth by

a stream which were moving about and feeding like Tits. I shot another out of

a pair in bamboo jungle at 2,000 ft. on 9th April, 1929.

[These .two birds are less rusty, more olive brown above and paler below

than the typical race (Nepal). They do not belong to the Assam race

coltarti in whose range Baker includes Western Burma. They match davisoni

(Pahang) best, though they are a trifle paler on the underparts than most. A

larger series in fresher plumage is required to determine the Arakan race.]

Qyldensfope’s Babbler (Mixornis rubricapilla sulphureus). 84, 236, 311.

Oates notes it as found ‘ commonly over the whole of Pegu except in the

drier portions between Thayetmyo and Prome.’

I shot 3, all very shy and skulking, in dense bamboo jungle, all from 20 to 40

miles south of Prome. The testes of a shot on 28th March, 1929, were much

enlarged. Those obtained were all east of the Irrawaddy.

[These have finer throat streaks than any rubricapilla I have examined, a

large series ; they have consequently nothing to do with pileata with coarse

streaks on this part. I can match them with some birds from the Shan

States and N. Siam except that the latter are mostly more rufescent on the

back. For the present I must leave them as sulphureus (Rippon Bull. B. O. C.

xi), which is probably the same as minor Gyldenstolpe (Lat Bu Ka.]

TickelPs Babbler (Peilorneum tickelli sub-sp.). ^ 48.

A male of this bird was shot on 13th April, 1929, out of a pair which I watched

hopping about on the edge of a water-fall in the Nyaunggyo stream at 2,500 ft.

Oates found P. tickelli common in evergreen forest on the east side of the

Pegu Hills.

[This single bird is, I have no doubt, a race of tickelli . It corresponds

to nothing in the British Museum where I compared it. It must be an un-

described form, but I wait further examples from Arakan.]

Nepal Babbler (Alcippe nepalensis sub-sp ?). 331, 396.

Oates did not meet with it and had _ only one record from the Pegu hills.

1 shot a $ on 2nd April, 1929, and another on 11th April, 1929, at Nyaunggyo

672 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

in evergreen forest. The active movements of the first made me think it was a

Flycatcher.

[These two birds certainly belong to an undescribed race differing con-

siderably from nipalensis on the one hand and fraterculus from the Shan

States on the other. I think it best to await further specimens before describ-

ing it however.]

Arakan Quaker»Babbler (Alcippe poioicephala phayrei). 363,406.

Oates found ‘ Alcippe phayrei ’ abundant in evergreen forest on the eastern

spurs of the Pegu hills, but not elsewhere in Pegu.

I obtained two near Nyaunggyo, the first at 2,300 ft. bamboo out of a pair

on 5th April and the second on 12th April, 1929, out of a pair at 2,000 ft.

These were creeping about in thick jungle, or creeper, and I had little chance

to observe their habits.

[These two birds from Nyaunggyo are of course phayrei which was descri-

bed from Arakan.]

Chestnut=headed Staphidia (Staphidia castaneiceps). 400.

According to Stuart Baker, not previously found south of Lushai.

I shot a J out of a pair at 2,000 ft. near Nyaunggyo. Both birds were very

tame and flitting along the bank at the edge of the Taungup road. I found

a nest of moss in a bank just opposite the place, and saw two other nests of

the same type along the road under overhanging ledges. I also saw a pair

here feeding apparently on seeds of Telugu-wa (Dendrocalamus longispathus) .

The bird I shot displayed a broad white-tipped tall and was very tame.

[I cannot separate this single bird from Assam examples, d", wing 59 mm.

The wing measurements in the Fauna , ed. ii., pp. 66-70 are not correct. I

measure a series as 58-62 mm. In the description in the Fauna, p. 310, the upper

parts are described as greenish brown instead of greyish.']

White=Bellied Herpornis (Erpornis x. xantholeuca). 346, 362.

Oates describes it as common and widely distributed in forests. Two males

were obtained on April 3rd and 5th between 2,000 ft. and 2,400 ft. near

Nyaunggyo along the Taungup road.

[These are too pale for interposita and area slightly paler shade than Sikkim

examples ]

Common fora (TEgithina t. tiphia). 74, 150, 155, 281.

Common all over the district except in the forests. Oates noted that it did

not ascend the hills * to any great height.’

Gold=fronted Chloropsis (Chloropsis aurifrons aurifrons). 317.

Oates describes it as spread throughout Pegu but confined to the plains and

lower hills.

Henricks obtained the only one seen or obtained on 14th March, 1929, at Sinde,

on the west bank of the Irrawaddy.

Orange’bellied Chloropsis (Chloropsis hardwickii malayana). 361.

Biyth recorded it from Arakan, but Oates did not meet with it in Pegu.

I shot a male out of a pair at Nyaunggyo feeding on the seeds of a flowering

tree. The note resembled a cat mewing.

One Chloropsis was common up here, but may have been the next species,

as I only collected two specimens.

[This single Chloropsis (rf, wing. 89’5 mm.) is too small for typical hard-

wickii and at present I must place it under the small race malayana. The

wing of hardwickii measures 93‘5-99‘5 (large series). There are other small

differences too in this specimen which may however be individual. More speci-

mens are required from Arakan.]

Burmese Chloropsis (Chloropsis cochinchinensis cochinchinensis). 354.

Oates says it is abundant in the higher hills of Pegu in evergreen forest. I

shot a male on 4th April, 1929, and saw a good many others nearly all in pairs.

These were only on the tops of the highest ridges at 3,000 ft. in open tree-

jungle at Nyaunggyo.

[This is icterocephala chlorocephala of the Fauna. Kloss (Malayan Branch

of R. As. Soc. iv. 1926) has shewn that cochinchinensis is the older name.]

(To be continued .)

THE PANTHER AS I HAVE KNOWN HIM.

BY

Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse, i. a., f.z.s.

PART III.

( With a plate.)

( Continued from page 366 of this Volume.)

III. Sitting up Experiences.

In giving some account of personal experiences I shall confine

myself to those which present definite points of interest or are

otherwise illustrative, either of habits of the panther which I have

already described, or of lessons to be drawn by the observant

shikari.

I shall begin with an incident which impressed on me, more

than any other, the superlative patience and watchfulness of the

panther. The month was May, the scene a spot on one of the low

rocky hill ranges of North Gujarat. A pair of panthers, male and

female, had been located in a cave near the highest point of the

range. There was no likelihood of a beat succeeding in driving the

beasts from their cave, so I decided to sit up and fixed my machan

in a good tree, with several bushes around, in a flat space, some

four hundred feet below the cave. My loophole was facing the cave

which had more than one exit concealed by high grass and thorn

bushes. The slope of the hill in front was comparatively open so that

the chances were against an animal descending the hill unobserved.

I had tied up, though I do not recommend this ordinarily, both

a goat to attract attention in the first instance, and a pada — young

male buffalo — which I hoped would induce the male to attack ; as

a rule, of a pair together, it is the female which kills unless the

quarry be beyond her powers.

I was in position at 5 p.m. At 6.15 a panther — female —

appeared from behind the screen of bushes covering the cave and

looked towards the goat. The pada was lying down and not visible

from her position. She then moved downwards a short distance

and lay down on a rock in full view, with paws outstretched before

her like a dog, some seventy yards or so from the machdn and

perhaps one hundred feet above me. There she remained, with an

occasional change of position, lying or sitting, for the next half hour.

Now and then she gave a casual and seemingly uninterested glance

towards the goat, and there was not a point in the foreground to

which her gaze was not from time to time directed. But her general

attitude was one of apparent boredom emphasized by the great

yawns to which she gave vent at least a dozen times. At the end

of half-an-hour she moved a little nearer and sat down again for a

5

674 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , TO. XXXIV

while, then another move to a spot not more than forty yards away

where she settled down for a longer spell. In this position she

was detected by a couple of peafowl on a ledge to my right front

above her and, for ten minutes before flying away, they patrolled

the ledge, every now and then craning their necks over the side of

the ledge to make sure she was still there, while their warning note

continually announced her presence to the jungle — of all which

she took not the smallest notice.

I could have shot her with ease in her second position, in her

first she did not offer a good target ; but I hoped for the appearance

of her lord and master and held my hand. It was 7.30 p.m. and

the sun had set when, after a vigil of a full hour and a quarter,

she moved down, presumably contemplating an attack on the goat,

who, in spite of the peafowl’s warnings, had shown no sign of

being aware of the enem}^. But at twenty yards she checked,

catching sight of the pada for the first time, and disappeared from

view. I thought that perhaps she had gone to call her mate but,

as we ascertained afterwards, he had gone off on his own on the

other side of the hill. I neither saw nor heard anything more until,

at 7.50 p.m., nearly dark, she went for the pada, but he shook her

off with ease and she retired. A pada over six months old is too

much for the average female leopard in these parts. At about

8.10 p.m. she killed the goat but the rope was too long and

she managed, before I could shoot, to drag it into the shade where

I could not make her out at all. I had no spotlight and so I gave

up and let her finish her meal in peace.

This was an instructive evening. Although my machdn was well

concealed, the goat was in the direct line of sight between my

loophole and the panther as she lay on the hillside and had the

cover been thicker and had I failed to observe her from the

beginning, it is long odds that, during her patient watch of over

an hour, some incautious movements would have given me away to

her keen eyes. Again, during that last half hour before she killed,

had I not known that she was somewhere very near, it is equally

probable that I might have betrayed myself to her equally keen ears,

by some slight sound. Finally the error of too great a length of

rope between goat and peg, unless absolutely in the open where

it could not matter, was driven home once for all.

Though the above was perhaps the most noteworthy incident

of the kind, I have on several other occasions seen a panther

stretched out on a rock above his kill or a bait for more than half-

an-hour at a time and, as often as not, that has been all I have seen

of him ; the erection of the machdn had perhaps been observed or

something had aroused suspicion. Two old and cunning panthers

I remember in particular, one at Idar and one in the Danta hills,

who defied me time and again and were never brought to book.

The second of these did once return to a kill at about 10 p.m., and

I waited for him to settle down, but he just strolled around and then

leisurely decamped, not to appear again. I meant to have tried an

all-night sitting for him after that, but was not able to manage it.

On another occasion, sitting in a low and unavoidably conspicuous

machdn at the foot of a hill near a village called Chelana, in the

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

675

little State of Sudasna in the Mahi Kantha Agency, I suddenly

observed a panther sitting on his haunches, looking at the machan,

about eighty yards away. He sat for five minutes, then disappeared

for good. In this case he may have spotted a movement of mine

before I saw him or merely did not like the look of the machan.

The mistake here had lain in ‘chancing’ a bad machan owing to

unwillingness to move the kill — a natural one. It is undoubtedly

wiser not to move a kill if this can be avoided, but, as I have said

before, some panthers will follow the drag of a kill moved for a little

distance and it is better to risk their not doing so rather than to

occupy a position foredoomed to failure. In the case of an old

hand your only chance, as a rule, is a natural ‘kill’ within shot of a

site for an inconspicuous machan and out of sight and hearing ot

his daytime retreat.

With the average panther, perhaps the best method of dealing

with a natural ‘kill’ in a position unsuitable for sitting over is to

remove the ‘kill’ quietly and tie up a goat within easy hearing of the

spot where the kill has lain. It may be worth while to give an

account of an instance in which this plan was adopted with success.

The scene lay in the Bhavnagar State in Kathiawar, adjacent to

the eastern borders of the famous jungles of the Gir. The panther

had left his ‘kill’, a donkey, half concealed under a bush on the

lower slopes of a hill and retired to a cave higher up the hill. The

hillside was bare except for a few small bushes of the bher thorn and

some clumps of candelabra cactus. There were no trees, no bushes

of any use near the ‘kill’ and the ground was too hard to dig a

shelter-pit. The local shikaris wanted to put up a machan on four

poles in the open— an entirely futile idea. Alternatively they pro-

posed to drag the ‘kill’ to the nearest practicable tree, 500 yards

away, inviting me to sit over it there and the panther would surely

come ! I declined to share their optimism.

To my mind there was nothing to be done with the ‘kill’, ‘natural’

though it was. The only hope lay in a live goat. I could find no

suitable spot within hearing of the panther’s cave, but I saw

distinct possibilities in the clumps of candelabra cactus— which the

local pagis overlooked — near enough to the spot where the ‘kill’

was lying, and I soon selected a couple of clumps of cactus, growing

together on the bank of a tiny nala 200 yards away, with a thorn

bush filling the space between them. On the ground amidst the

cactus and thorn I was able, with little labour, to make a most

satisfactory shelter, with nothing about it to arouse suspicion and

impregnable to a charge. It only remained to have the ‘kill’

entirely removed, that the panther might have no choice between

fresh and somewhat high meat.

The scheme worked strictly according to plan, the panther came

down at sunset to visit his ‘kill’, found it gone but heard the goat

calling at a little distance. In due course he came to investigate

and gave me an easy shot before dark, without scathe to the goat.

I have referred to the small hill of Chelana. There were, in fact,

two adjacent hills covered with boulders of varying sizes, beneath

which cave-like ramifications provided ample daytime shelter for

the beasts of night. They lay in the path of panthers or an

676 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

occasional tiger travelling between the hilly systems of Palanpur

on the west and Danta to the north and east, and it was rarely that

a week passed without a panther or two in occupation, and these

might often be seen basking on the rocks in the early morning

sunshine or, during the hour before dusk, surveying the landscape

before starting on the nightly prowl. These hills provided me with

several interesting experiences at different times.

On one occasion at Chelana I sat up for a pair of panthers,

supposed to be a small male and a female. One appeared on the

rocks above me an hour before sunset, the other ten minutes later.

Through the glasses I came to the conclusion that they were a

mother and big male cub, very nearly as big as herself. In such

circumstances the average panther affects, for most of the time

until he decides on action, an air of complete indifference to the

tied-up bait below. In this case, however, it was noteworthy how

the attention of the cub was concentrated on my goat, off which

he could hardly take his eyes. At length he went up to his parent

and put his nose against her cheek. She licked his head and then

he left her and moved down to a lower rock. It was exactly as

if he had asked permission to try and tackle this business by him-

self and she had bid him go, with her blessing — and a warning to

go slow and not rush things. From the lower rock he watched

the goat intently for five minutes, then slipped down into the bushes

below. Immediately afterwards the mother climbed a small tree

that grew alongside the rock on which she had been sitting,

apparently in order to obtain a better view.

Some ten minutes later the cub came into my sight again through

a peephole, creeping very slowly and with the utmost circum-

spection. About ten yards distant from the goat, who did not see

him — he was partially concealed by a small bush and some grass —

he lay on his stomach, motionless, for five minutes, then he moved

forward at a crawl, inches at a time and with frequent pauses. He

took not less than fifteen minutes to cover ten feet of ground : all

the while his tail never ceased twitching, while his eyes remained

fixed with the utmost intentness on his quarry. One could sense

the Conflict between the impatience of his youth and his determina-

tion to obey parental instructions and go slow, his whole body tense

yet quivering with excitement. It was fascinating to watch him.

At length he was only fifteen feet away, now fully visible through

my loophole, while his tail whipped from side to side. One part of

me would have liked to wait and see what sort of a job he made

of the attack, but that would not have been fair to the poor little

goat, still all unsuspecting, and I made an end. It had been most

interesting.

The following evening I tried to tempt the mother out but without

success. I heard her, however, quite near, calling for her lost son,

a peculiar murmuring sort of note which gradually changed into

the well-known ‘sawing’. This ‘sawing’ is, I think, usually

uttered as a call to a mate, or, as in this case, a cub. I saw more

of this lady not long after when she had taken to herself a husband.

I had had a pada tied up for a possible tiger near a good tree well

out in the open, some 150 yards from the bushes at the base of the

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

67 7

Chelana hill, and it was killed by this pair of panthers. I sat up

an hour before sunset but, in view of the position of the ‘kill’,

did not expect to see anything of the panthers before dusk.

However, after half-an-hour I heard them — there is no reticence

about a panther’s courting — and they shortly appeared out in the

open. For the next three-quarters of an hour I was treated to

an exhibition of the panther’s married life. The lady was not

exactly backward in coming forward — in fact, I never saw a more

brazen hussy !

The daylight was beginning to fail when they approached my tree

and the female came and stood over the ‘kill’. Just then the male,

who was under my tree, gave a sort of whinnying call; she at once

turned tail and joined him and they retired to the shelter of the

bushes at the foot of the hill. I wondered if my presence had been

detected, but next moment the explanation came with the loud

moaning cry to which a hyaena sometimes gives vent when in the

neighbourhood of a panther’s ‘kill’ and he knows the owner is near

by. Presently I saw him fifty yards away. Twice he made a circle

round the ‘kill’, keeping up his peculiar moaning. At length he

came up to the ‘kill’ and started his meal, but did not really settle

down to it, being obviously uneasy.

By this time the daylight had gone, but the moon was near the

full and its light was bright. The hyaena had been at the ‘kill’ for

about five minutes when the panthers made their appearance again,

strolling leisurely up, and both lay down some thirty paces away,

watching the hyaena but, apparently, making no hostile demonstra-

tion. The hyaena was clearly worried : he moved a few feet away

from the ‘kill’, began his moaning again, and then, after a couple

of minutes’ hesitation, retired from the field. After he had been

gone a few minutes the male panther walked up to the ‘kill’. I took

my opportunity and shot him. It had been an evening that afforded

an exceedingly interesting example of the manner in which sitting

up may provide one with fascinating peeps into the intimacies of

Jungle life.

A friend of mine once witnessed a fight between a small panther

and a hyaena, over a ‘kill’, in which the latter had the best of it,

and there seems some reason to believe that the panther holds the

hyaena, with his powerful jaws, in considerable respect. But the

respect is mutual. The hyaena ordinarily is a coward and I have

seen one decamp with the utmost celerity at the sound of a growl

from a panther returning to his ‘kill’. In Somaliland I have seen

a male panther give way on the approach of a couple of hyaenas

but the odds were heavily against him, as in a few minutes there

were half-a-dozen hyaenas on the ‘kill’ — and this was the big

spotted hyaena of Africa. In my experience the striped hyaena

of India is very chary of settling down to a ‘kill’ if he knows the

panther to be anywhere about.

Once mated, a pair of panthers will keep together for some time,

but if she lose her mate in the early days the female is not long

in consoling herself. The lady of whom I have been telling

provided herself with another husband within twenty-four hours !

I have known precisely the same thing occur in a second case.

678 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Tb/. XXXI V

When a pair of adult panthers is working- together it is almost

invariably — I have seen but one exception to the rule — the female

who makes the ‘kill’, unless the quarry be beyond her powers.

I have never known a female kill the half-grown buffalo of which

a male will make short work. As says Kipling, ‘the female of the

species is deadlier than the male’, or it may be that the male is

a believer in the maxim ‘let the women do the work’ !

Another case of a mated pair which the attendant incidents make

worth recording occurred in a jungle in the Idar State. I had been

sitting over a goat for an hour listening to the row the panthers

were making close by when the female, who had not previously

showed herself, rushed the goat, seizing it as usual by the throat.

The goat was a fairly big one and for a few seconds there was a

struggle, during which I could not make sure of my shot. Then,

when things had quieted down, the goat was apparently done for

and there was no hope of saving it, so I withheld my fire, hoping

the male panther would appear. The spectacle was unusual, the

panther, not a large female, was sitting on her haunches holding the

seemingly dead goat on its feet in a standing position, maintaining

a tight grip on the throat. As the body of the goat swayed against

her she pushed it gently away with a fore-paw. This happened

two or three times. For, I should think, two minutes, she remained

like this, then relaxed her grip and the goat collapsed. She

surveyed the body for a few moments, then seized it by the head

and attempted to drag it away into cover. In this she failed ; the

goat was firmly tied by a rope to a stump. Then she pulled at a

hind leg, without success. Again she tried another leg. This time

it seemed to me that the rope showed signs of slipping off the

stump. I decided to take no risk and fired. She dropped dead and

I called up my men. Just as they arrived the ‘dead’ goat gave a

kick and stood up ! On examining I found that, although it had

recovered from the temporary strangulation, it was undoubtedly

badly wounded; so I put the poor thing out of its pain.

This incident illustrates how the panther ordinarily kills a goat

or similar animal by strangulation, rather than by the wounds it

inflicts, though these would no doubt as a rule eventually prove fatal.

It is perhaps this habit of holding its victim’s throat in a strangle

grip for a minut.e or two, or even longer, which has given rise to the

common belief that the first thing a panther does, after killing,

is to drink the blood of its victim from the throat. I believe this

idea to be entirely erroneous. My reasons are, in the first place,

that if you examine a goat killed by a panther you will ordinarily

find only the two punctures on each side of the throat. During

the continuance of the grip these puncture holes are occupied by the

panther’s fangs and no blood could flow through them. In order

to draw out the blood the grip would have to be shifted, in which

case there should be other fang marks, but of such you will, as a

rule, find no sign. Again, if the panther were to suck the blood

while gripping the throat, one would, while watching the per-

formance, as I have done, observe the motions of his own throat.

But one sees nothing of the kind — there is no sign of any motion of

sucking or swallowing while the panther maintains the grip. A

THE PAN THEE AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

679

final conclusive argument, to my mind, lies in the absence of blood

on the throat of a panther’s kill, or on the ground below. If a

panther sucked blood from the throat, the action would necessarily

induce a flow of blood from the wounds which would continue for

a time after he had released his hold. But, in actual fact, it is

remarkable how rarely one sees any blood at all. It is likely enough

that a beast may lap up some of the blood which he finds pouring

out when he tears open the stomach — I have known a lion do so —

but that is another matter. The story one hears now and then

of a panther — or tiger for that matter — who has left a kill uneaten,

having contented himself with drinking the blood is, I am convinced,

based on a delusion.

To return to the Idar jungle. I was sure that the male would

come to look for his mate, so tied up a pada at the same spot.

This he killed and I sat up again next evening. It was about

sunset when I suddenly observed him quite close, sitting under

some bushes. He may have been there some time, invisible, until

my eye ‘realized’ him. An inexperienced eye would never have

seen him at all. He did not offer a fair shot and I waited for him

to approach his kill which in due course he did. At such a time

it is important to be careful not to make any motion to bring one’s

rifle into position unless the panther’s eyes are turned away. On

this occasion, I did unwisely move my rifle while he was standing

facing me, though looking down at the kill, and the suddenness

with which he raised his head and stared at my loophole indicated

that my movement must have caught his eye. Then I did a stupid

thing.

Rapidity of decision is essential to the making of a successful

shikari, but it must be a decision based upon experience, not a mere

acting upon one’s first impulse which may be to do the wrong

thing*. My first and natural feeling on this occasion was that the

beast had seen me and would bolt the next moment, and certainly,

if he did so, his movements would be so rapid as probably to make

a successful shot impossible. The natural impulse then was to

shoot at once before he moved. This might have been quite all

right, had his position been different. But the chance he offered was

definitely not a satisfactory one — head on, facing me and looking

up. There were two possible shots, one over his head into the spine

rather far back, calling for absolute accuracy : the other at the

upraised head, a shot which I knew perfectly well to be decidedly

risky. On the other hand I had proved time and again that,

provided you remain absolutely motionless, the chances are all

in favour of a panther not detecting you behind a loophole, though

he stare straight at it from a few yards’ distance; that is, provided

further, that the back of your machan is screened so that there is

no open sky behind to give away the shape of your h£ad, and that

you do not risk causing the beast uneasiness by directly returning

his gaze.

Well, on this occasion, I did not give the teachings of experience

time to outweigh the force of the first momentary impulse. I knew

it was risky, but I took the head shot and took it rather hurriedly.

In the circumstances the tip of the nose was my point of aim but

680 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

I raised my foresight a trifle too much, as in a hurried shot one is

apt to do, and my bullet probably hit him too high and glanced off

the sloping skull. I have dwelt at some length on a quite ordinary

episode on account of the lessons it teaches — not to assume one is

detected and act in haste because a beast stares straight at one, and

to avoid, if possible, a frontal head shot.

One of the dangers of a head shot from the front lies in the risk

of the bullet glancing oft' the sloping skull. Another rises out of

the uncertainty of the subsequent course of a bullet which strikes

the teeth or a jawbone. I may cite a case in point. A panther

was sitting on a rock at dusk facing me at a distance of sixty yards

or so, head and chest silhouetted against the sky. The light was

failing and I found that I could not see my foresight against the

panther’s body but I could see it distinctly against the sky above.

I, therefore, aimed just above him, then dropped my foresight with

the intention of getting him in the chest. As it turned out I did not

lower the foresight quite enough. At the shot the panther was

knocked clean over and lay on his back with feet in the air. I

thought I had him. After half a minute, however, he made two

or three convulsive movements which took him to the edge of the

rock over which he rolled to fall some twenty feet into some bushes

below. It took perhaps ten minutes to descend and reach the spot

where I expected to find him dead, but he was not there and blood

marks showed that he had managed to reach the entrance of a cave

a few yards away. That night we could do no more. Early next

morning we were out exploring the rocks but failed to find him.

.Examining the original rock I found two whiskers on The spot where

he had first fallen, indicating that he had been hit somewhere about

the mouth. And that was that !

One of the best shots is that which aims to smash the shoulder.

It may be broadside on through both shoulders, or obliquely from

the rear behind the near one to smash the off shoulder. But the

exact angle at which the beast is standing is important, for you

want if possible to hit heart or lungs as well.

I lost a good panther once by shooting , from his left rear too

close to the near shoulder with the result that the bullet must have

passed out in front of the far shoulder, without touching any vital

part.

Another panther, in Kathiawar, which escaped after being hit

in the shoulder, was an interesting beast. I was sitting on a

sheltered rock overlooking the ‘kill,’ a goat, in the nullah below.

The ‘kill’ was securely tied, by the neck, to a peg. It was a dark

and windy night and, after dark, I had to rely entirely on my ears.

After a time I imagined once or twice that I heard something

resembling the sound of eating, but was not sure. At length I

turned on my light and there was the panther on the ‘kill’. The

battery of my torch had run down a little and I think I rather

misjudged his position and hit him somewhat farther forward than

I had intended. At the shot he disappeared. On investigation I

found quite a lot of blood on the spot, with a piece of bone an inch

long, presumably from the shoulder. There was again nothing

to do but leave him till the morning. But a very interesting feature

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

PLATE III.

A Kathiawar Panther.

Vultures after a Meal.

681

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

was the condition of the goat. Now a large panther, when his

‘kill’ is a fairly big animal such as a young buffalo, will often start

his meal at the root of the tail, otherwise he invariably commences

at the stomach, continuing with the flesh off the ribs, and eating

the whole of the body before touching the neck which he often

leaves. In the present case the panther had eaten very little the

previous day and that from the stomach. Now, to my surprise,

I found that the stomach had not been touched, but that he had been

working all round the neck, which was nearly cut through. He

must have been at it for five or ten minutes before I turned on

my light, none too soon. I see no reason to doubt the correctness

of the obvious explanation that, when he found his kill fastened

down by the neck, so that he could not drag it away, he deliberately

set to work to cut off the head. The incident sheds an interesting

light on the panther’s intelligence. I have never heard of a similar

case and one has always been inclined to look upon it as a sign

of their lack of intelligence in some respects that neither tiger nor

panther has ever been known, so far as I am aware, to cut with his

teeth, as he could so easily do, the rope which often prevents him

from dragging his kill away. The present case, however, certainly

appears to indicate the exercise of something akin to definite

reasoning. Later on I shall have a story to tell of a different kind

of display of intelligence by a panther during a beat.

The morning’s search resulted in putting up this panther, still

full of life, three hundred yards away, and unfortunately he then

managed on three legs to reach a cave near by. From this I found

it quite impossible to evict him. Both this and the panther last

named recovered from their wounds, both, however, permanently

lame, which does not seem to have prevented them from continuing

to obtain a livelihood.

While neither tiger nor panther will cut the rope which fastens

his ‘kill’, he will pull until he breaks it by sheer strength if he can.

And I have known a panther to carry a goat away, and on another

occasion to remove a ‘kill’, in each case breaking the rope with

which it was tied by the sheer force of his initial rush. If,

therefore, one wishes to sit up over a ‘kill’, the strength of the rope

is a factor not to be neglected. On the other hand, in the case more

especially of a tiger, if you wish him to lie up in the neighbourhood

with a view to a beat, you must allow him to drag his ‘kill’ away

and, therefore, use a rope which he can easily break.

This matter of securely fastening a ‘kill’ is important. My

subject is the panther, but I do not think I need apologise for

introducing a tiger or two where the incident illustrates practice or

principle applicable to the shikar of either animal. I once received

khabar of a natural kill by a tigress among hills where a beat was

out of the question, only in time to reach the spot shortly before

sunset. There was no time to be lost and it only occurred to me

after I had settled myself in the rnachan and my men were gone

that the ‘kill’, a cow, had not been tied or pegged down. However,

it was too late to mend matters : it was a secluded spot and the

tigress might already be near by. To my left front was a ridge

above which the full moon would appear at about 8.30 p.m. ; if the

682 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fh/. XXXIV

tigress did not come before then I hoped that all would be well.

At 7.45 I heard her voice, that short but distinctly impressive half

yawning roar which is usually considered to be a call to a mate

ljut which, in my experience, a tiger occasionally utters when

contemplating a return to its ‘kill’, even though there be no other

of its kind in the immediate neighbourhood. Half-an-hour later,

the moon was up but had not risen above that intervening ridge

when I heard her, two or three faint footfalls, and presently I

realized that she was at the ‘kill’ and, what was more, was

commencing to drag it away. I could vaguely make her out, a faint

shadow : no sort of a shot, but in another minute or two she would

be into the adjacent cover with her ‘kill’. I had no torch at this

time. There seemed nothing else for it, and I fired. A moment’s

silence and I heard her moving away, apparently quite leisurely,

as if not seriously alarmed. And, to my surprise, this proved to be

the case, for within ten minutes she was back again and once more

pulling at the ‘kilP. By now the moon was over the ridge and

I could see her fairly well. Again I pulled trigger — a misfire ! The

loud report of my magnum Paradox charge had not scared her,

but the click of the hammer, the sound of metal on metal, was

too much for her and she fled, not to return. Bad luck, wasn’t

it? A misfire with my Paradox is the rarest of events.

The luck was all on the side of this tigress. Another time it so

happened that once again circumstances prevented my arriving at

my machan until nearly sunset only to find that the machan

prepared, not by own men but by the local State shikaris, was

absolutely open at back and sides ; they had only thought it

necessary to put up a screen in front facing the ‘kill’ ! My

tree and those round about were bare, there were no foliage trees

or useful bushes near and there was no time to do anything. I did

what I could with such branches as were available, but the retreat

of the tigress was quite near and I had to chance it, though I knew

I was probably wasting my time. It was at about 9 p.m. that I

heard a blue bull give the alarm, to my left, and that was all.

I spent the night out, having arranged to do so, and in the morning

found the tracks of the tigress passing by thirty yards on the far

side of the ‘kill’. Following her backward tracks we came to a spot

where she had sat down immediately after coming round a corner

of the hill into sight of my machan. I sat down as she had done,

sent a man up into the machan , and sure enough there was his

head, not merely visible from where the tigress had sat, but

conspicuous against the sky. There is nothing in the making of a

machan that is more important to remember ; from every possible

point of view there must be an opaque background between your

head and the sky.

I have said that I was surprised at this tigress, at our first

meeting*, returning to her kill after being fired at : this is a rare

occurrence with a tiger; indeed, though I do not suppose my

experience was unique, I do not remember hearing of a similar

case. With the panther, a bolder animal, such a return is not

uncommon. The sound of a shot in some jungles or their neighbour-

hood is not infrequent while, except in the case of an individual

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

683

animal which has been wounded, it has not necessarily, it would

appear, any definite association with human beings or with any

particular danger. It is, therefore, a mistake to suppose that when

a panther is fired at and missed, one must in consequence give up all

hope of his return. The sudden loud report is alarming and puts

a beast to flight, but the effect of the alarm is not lasting and

whether lie returns or not will probably depend upon his experience,

his individual temperament and his hunger. I have known several

instances, in the experience both of myself and of others, of a

panther’s return to a kill after being shot at. One or two of

these may be worth recording.

My first experience of the kind, many years ago, was a surprising

one. The panther in question was a female which the local pagis

stated was always in the habit of returning late to its kill. When

she killed a goat at a time when the moon was waning and not

due to rise until 11p.m. — before the days of electric flashlights —

I thought I would test the accuracy of this belief, so proceeded

to take up my position just after moonrise. It was perhaps not

surprising to find that the panther had, in fact, already returned

and polished off the remains of her ‘kill’, but I thought it might

be worth while tying up another goat and did so. I had not long

to wait, for the receding flaming torches of the two men who had

accompanied me were still in view, not more than two hundred

yards away, 'when the panther killed. The moon had risen but was

behind a cloud and I could see her but dimly. As, however, she

began to try and drag her ‘kill’ away and I was doubtful about the

rope, I risked a shot. Absolute silence; I thought I had killed her.

But to my amazement, after a couple of minutes, I realized that she

was again tugging at the goat. My shot, which had been a miss,

at fifteen paces distance, had not caused her to move a foot from

the spot ! The cloud before the moon was moving aside, in another

half minute I could see her clearly and my second shot was

successful.

A more recent incident was interesting though this time it was

the panther who scored. I was sitting over a goat at a spot where

there was a chance of the panther offering a shot on the rocks above

by daylight. In this neighbourhood hyaenas were numerous and

would kill a tied-up goat. It was, therefore, the practice to tie a

goat as bait on a platform, raised on poles five feet above the

ground, inaccessible to a hyaena who is no leaper. This had been

done in the present instance, necessary if it was desired to obtain

a ‘kill’ beforehand, but probably a mistake when sitting over a

live goat. However, I had never witnessed a panther’s attack

under these conditions, so I kept the goat on the platform.

Well, the panther did appear on the rocks before sunset and sat

down on a boulder a hundred yards away, appearing at first sight

to offer a fair shot. But when I put my glasses on him I found

that a branch, projecting from a leafless tree in front of his chest

and shoulder, was liable to intercept a bullet, so I decided not to

risk the shot. This was item one in a series of lucky accidents

destined to preserve this panther from harm at my hands. It was

dusk, 7.30 p.m., when he slipped down from his rock out of my

634 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Tb/. XXX JV

view and within ten or fifteen minutes I expected something to

happen. But nothing occurred, though I waited for a full hour.

Then I decided to turn oh my light which showed him sitting on his

haunches, facing me, some twenty-five yards away, just behind the

goat’s platform. How long he had been there, licking his lips and

indulging in the pleasures of anticipation, I have no idea, but it is

probable that, had the bait been on the ground, he would have

attacked earlier. Well, the sudden glare of my flashlight caught him

fair in the eyes. He stared and blinked, moved his head a trifle,

clearly dazzled, and blinked again but gave no sign of being in the

least perturbed. He could not have been in a better position from

my point of view but for the fact that his chest was covered by one

pole of the platform in front of him — again his luck was in ! I

hesitated, decided to go for the less satisfactory mark of his neck

and fired. Bang ! and he was gone. At the moment of aiming it

struck me that there was something not quite right about my sights

but stupidly did not pause to ascertain what it was. Too late I

realized that the folding backsight of my Paradox had somehow

fallen down, with the almost inevitable result that, aiming without

a backsight, my bullet had gone too high — my enemy’s third stroke

of luck !

I knew I had made a clean miss, so it was possible the panther

would return. But this might be a beast who knew what was

meant by the report of a gun, wherefore it seemed advisable to try

and bluff him into thinking I had departed. I whistled up my men,

made them chatter around me for a minute or two and then go away

talking — a stratagem that I have more than once adopted with

success. The bluff came off ; in about twenty minutes’ time there

was a rush and a momentary scuffle. I switched on my light and

there was the panther sitting up on the platform facing me. Now

the tree on which I sat grew out of a nullah from a lower level than

the platform which, moreover, was placed on ground that sloped

slightly upwards towards the rocks above. The result was that my

loophole was little, if anything, higher than the surface of the goat’s

platform. It will be apparent that, in consequence, my eye being

almost on a level with the edge of the platform, could see that edge

and anything above it against the background beyond, but could not

look down on the platform or, in fact, see anything of its surface.

It was only after the event that I recognized the importance of

this seemingly trivial detail which was to contribute to my final

undoing.

When I turned on the light the panther was, as I have said,

sitting up facing me, head and chest in silhouette against the

background. Apparently all plain sailing this time. Since, how-

ever, the panther had had one shot fired at him from behind my

light, I instinctively expected him to distrust a second turning on

of light from the same spot and was therefore more in haste to shoot

than I might otherwise have been. It was only afterwards that I

realized that the panther’s chest had not shown up white under the

light as it should have done, for the simple reason that he was

holding the goat as a shield in front of his chest, a fact which would

probably not have escaped my notice had the surface of the platform

THE PANTHER AS / HAVE KNOWN HIM

685

immediately in front been within my sphere of vision. Result, my

bullet cut the goat in two and the panther escaped once more !

The whole affair provided a striking illustration of how many a

slip ’twixt cup and lip may occur in shikar. It further taught me

the lesson that it is a mistake, when actually sitting up, to have a

goat tied on a platform, both because it probably delays the attack

and because it may, as in this case, cause one to form an incorrect

idea of the position. It also confirmed me in the opinion, based

on previous experience, that the majority of panthers are not

alarmed by an electric flash-light ; this agrees with the opinion of

Colonel A. R. Burton, expressed in a recent number of this Journal.

The practical conclusion is that there is no need to hurry over a

shot at a panther in such circumstances : a tiger, like a hyaena, is

more timid.

Of course, the average panther will always be put to flight, at

any rate for the time being, by the sound of a shot at close

quarters. At a little distance, however, he will, on occasion, take

no notice, as the following account of a more successful evening will

show. Three days after the last incident a pair of panthers were

reported to be in a small, rocky hill which, with luck, might offer

a chance on the rocks by daylight. I had a bush shelter constructed

on a bank at the foot of the hill. Two loopholes in front commanded

the whole side of the hill, of which the farthest point was not more

than 150 yards distant. A third loophole on the right overlooked

a tied-up goat. At the top of the hill to my left front was a kind

of peephole in the rocks, caused by a big boulder stretched across

the tops of two others making a sort of archway through which one

could see the sky beyond.

I was in position over an hour before sunset. After twenty

minutes or so I observed through the archway against the sky

a dark projection which had not been there before. It moved and

I identified the side of the head and ear of a panther, doubtless

attracted by the calling of the goat. After five minutes he

disappeared from view, possibly to approach the goat from the

other side of the hill. To my right front, sixty or seventy yards

away, was a small banyan tree, growing from the side of and above

a flat rock. Part of this rock only was visible through a gap in the

foliage at the top of a nearer tree. Suddenly through this gap,

some fifteen or twenty minutes later, I caught sight of a panther

standing on the rock I have mentioned and peering over its edge

towards the goat below. Almost immediately it subsided on to the

rock and lay down, head alone visible. I decided that if and when it

sat up or stood again the shot would be worth taking, with my -318

in preference to the Paradox. At first I supposed that this was the

same beast that I had first seen through the archway above, but

presently I realized it was not, as No. 1 appeared again and sat

down on the near side of the archway — a long shot, so I waited in

hope that No. 2 would give me a chance. For the best part of

half-an-hour there was nothing but an occasional movement of the

head as she studied the landscape, varied by a yawn or two. But

at length she sat up, as if about to move, bringing chest and

shoulder into view. This was good enough and I fired. At the shot

686 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY. Vol. XXXIV

she leaped about ten feet vertically into the air then rushed twenty

yards downhill and collapsed.

I knew she was dead and turned to look for No. 1. Apart from

the shot, his mate had spoken twice during her dying rush, not

very loudly it is true, but I should have thought he must have heard

her. However, a pile 6f rocks intervened ; so he may not have done

so. There could be no doubt as to his hearing the shot as there

was nothing between him and me. But he had not turned a hair and

was sitting, wearing a bored expression, in precisely the same

postition as before. Head, neck and shoulder were visible, the

distance 120 or 130 yards, but I could trust the rifle if I held

straight, so aimed at his throat. At the shot he pitched forward;

one or two convulsive movements and he lay still. Practically a

right and left, except that I was using a magazine rifle, which fully

made up for the mismanaged affair of three days before. The

female was a big one, 6 ft. 4 in. between pegs, the male of moderate

size, 6 ft. 7 in.

A panther returning to his kill is usually the personification of

caution. I have seen one circle all round three or four times

listening and peering intently in every direction. The instances I

have already cited show how patient he can be before attacking

a goat, and his approach is usually silence itself. But if he is

hungry and unsuspicious he will at times be amazingly impetuous.

I once sat up over a goat in a jungle at the foot of the Girnar Hill

in Kathiawar. The goat was calling loudly and I had not been in

position more than a few minutes when I heard the noise of some

heavy animal plunging through the jungle. It might be an alarmed

sambur but sounded more like a buffalo. Straight towards me

Came the creature, whatever it was, and, to my amazement, a large

panther broke cover and pounced upon the goat.

On another occasion a panther was seen in the morning on some

rocks close in front of which was an excellent tree in which I had

a machdn constructed. At 4 p.m. the panther was out on the rocks

again and I succeeded in approaching behind the tree and climbing

up unnoticed. Then I had a flock of goats driven past me and one

of their number tied up as they halted beneath me. The panther

immediately sat up and took notice. The flock passed on. Within

five minutes the panther had slipped down and in five more was

on the goat, at 4.30 on a hot May afternoon. I shall never forget

the expression of the gleam in that beast’s green eyes, as it sat up

facing me, its fangs in its victim’s throat — -it was the acme of;

gloating ferocity, giving a remarkable impression of cruel joy in the

act of killing.

The great carnivora kill for food and it is no doubt perfectly

true that they do not ordinarily kill at one time more than will

satisfy their needs. But there is equally no doubt in my mind that,

given the opportunity, they will now and then slay for sheer lust

of killing. I have known several cases of both tiger and panther

making two and even three kills at a time and not attempting

to dispose of more than one.

Another case of a panther turning out unusually early occurred

in the Nilgiris. I had shot a sambur one evening and was only

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

687

able to remove the head that night. The men sent out in the

morning, to bring in the skin and meat, came back with the news

that a large panther had been at the body, so I determined to try

for him in the afternoon. The sambur lay on the open hillside,

about thirty yards from the edge of a thick and extensive cover.

The panther might be anywhere near, so it did not seem advisable

to try and put up a machan , and I decided just to go out and try

and arrive unobserved at a small ridge behind which I might lie

within easy range. As the sambur was in the open the chances

seemed against the panther coming out early and I thought we

should be in good time reaching the spot at 4.30 p.m. But it was not

to be. As we reached the top of a rise in sight of the kill 200 yards

away we saw the panther on the ‘kill’ — a real big beast. But he

saw us at the same moment and at once retired to cover. He might

be watching near by and I saw no likelihood of reaching the ridge

I have mentioned unobserved. I had to be content with getting

safely to a hillock, perhaps 120 yards from the ‘kill’, which should

be near enough if he returned in daylight. To cut the story short,

he emerged from the cover as the light was failing and strolled

leisurely up to the ‘kill’. He was a magnificent beast, beyond

question the biggest I have ever seen ; he looked like a tigress —

the eight foot panther of one’s dreams ! But alas, as he halted in

the shadow of the hill side, I could hardly see my foresight : it was

not good enough. But such a panther ! I could not resist temptation

and fired. My bullet was obviously just too high and he was gone.

There was nothing unusual in that Nilgiri panther dining off a

sambur which he had not killed himself. The panther is an

extremely efficient hunter, but, like the lion in Africa, he has no

hesitation in partaking of a ready-made meal. I met with an

interesting instance of this in the little State of Vijayanagar. I was

sitting one evening over the kill of a tigress. My machan was

in a tree in a nullah, the banks of the nullah to my right and left

front were almost as high as the level of my eye, so the position

was not a good one, but the best available. A little before sunset

I suddenly observed a large panther sitting on his haunches on the

left bank, looking down at the ‘kill’. I was not prepared for sitting

up after dark and thought my chances of getting the tigress in the*

circumstances were small, while the panther was a fine specimen ;

so I took the shot, an easy one, only to make one of those

inexplicable misses that will occur now and again to every shikari.

One likes to assume they are due to faulty cartridges, and no doubt

they sometimes are, but not always ! I had not much hope of

anything after that, but decided to sit on until dark. Presently

a mongoose appeared, one of the dark grey species with black tip

to his tail which is not uncommon in these hills, and after some

hesitation settled down to a meal. The sun set and the light was

beginning to fail when, from beneath my machan, came the sound

of a stone turned over by some passing foot. I looked down and

there was another panther, a good male but, I thought, definitely

smaller than the first, creeping stealthily forwards towards the kill.

The mongoose saw him too and gave his peculiar little alarm cry.

I expected him at once to turn tail, as I have seen them do on other

688 JOURNAL , BOMBA Y NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, _ Vol. XXXIV

similar occasions. But, to my amazement, he sat up on a stone

and proceeded to hurl abuse at the panther who took not the

smallest notice but continued a slow stealthy approach.

No doubt the mongoose considered himself entitled to his

perquisites from any ‘kill’ pending the arrival of the rightful owner

to whom he could not object to give way. But he did strongly

object to trespassing by a beast who was well able to kill big game

for himself. And so the little thief sat there, pouring out upon the

head of the big thief the vials of his wrath in purest Billingsgate.

It was fascinating to watch the little beggar’s audacity; the panther

was now within six feet of him. I wished afterwards that I had

waited to see the end of the little drama. But the light was going

and the shot offered was just what I wanted; so the bigger thief

paid the penalty for his meditated crime. Subsequent investigation

of tracks showed that this was, as I had thought, a different panther

and that the first had got away unscathed.

The mongoose, of two species — the common kind and the larger

darker one with a black tip to his tail — is a frequent visitor to

a ‘kill’. Sometimes there may be a party of two or three, when

their bickerings over a carcase are amusing to watch. They are

usually very nervous and on the alert and their peculiar alarm call

and hurried departure will often give the first warning of the

approach of tiger or panther. Once a big mongoose was busy on a

tiger’s ‘kill’ when a grey jungle fowl came up pecking about on the

ground. At one time she was within two feet of the mongoose but

took no notice of him whatever, nor he of her, although the

mongoose is a deadly foe of poultry. It was an interesting illustra-

tion of the fact, which has often been noted, that the denizens of

the wild, whether by means of telepathy or some form of instinct,

appear to possess a faculty of divining an absence of hostile intent

on the part of a hereditary enemy, and in such cases will show

no fear of him.

Other visitors to a ‘kill’ are hyaenas and jackals, the latter always

very nervous. I once heard of a case of a porcupine making a

hearty meal inside a dead buffalo. Of birds, the tree pie sometimes

joins in the feast and I have known a myna to do so. Then of

course there are the vultures and crows and occasionally an eagle of

plebeian tastes. I have seen a jackal watch a concourse of

vultures in the air, collecting over a kill, and take them as guides

to the spot. The celerity with which vultures will dispose of a dead

animal must be seen to be realized ; it is a gruesome sight. After

the pair of panthers mentioned above had been skinned and thrown

out the two skeletons were picked clean in fifteen minutes.

I have never seen the chaas — the common jungle cat — on carrion.

But I have seen one, and another time the grey spotted desert cat,

take great interest in a tied-up goat. I do not think I know of any

expression more coldly cruel than that of the pale green eyes of

the jungle cat. It was when sitting over a goat in the Danta State

that I once, at dusk, observed a specimen of that rarely seen animal,

the ratel or honey-badger, stroll past within a few yards.

Sitting up, like any other form of shikar, is greatly affected by

the element of luck. But, as I have tried to show, many a failure

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM 689

which is ascribed to bad luck is in reality due to neglect of proper

precautions, bad bandobast or lack of jungle craft. And good luck

may at times bring success that is undeserved. Like others I have

had my share of both. The following tiger story is as good an

instance as I know of real undiluted bad luck.

The ‘kill* was a three year old buffalo of which little had been

eaten. The machan was a good one in a tree at the foot of a hill

to which the tiger had retired. The month was May and the ground

in places was thinly carpeted with dry leaves, which have their

uses when a lightly treading feline is about. I was in position

shortly after 5 p.m. with more than two hours to go before sunset.

Nothing happened for an hour or so, then suddenly, from quite

close by, sounded the Baa , Baa ! of an unfortunate goat, presumably

strayed from some flock that had been grazing in the neighbourhood

earlier in the day but long since departed. This was disconcerting ;

I fully realized that the creature’s presence might mean the

upsetting of my apple cart ! But I had climbed into my machan

by means of a ladder, which I had thought advisable to have

removed. I might scramble down but to climb up again was

impossible. Of course, I could call up my men, and this I should

not have hesitated to do had a panther been in question. But a tiger

was another matter. It was but an hour to sunset and he might

already be close by. There was nothing to be done but sit tight and

trust that the unwelcome goat would wander away.

Time passed on, the shadows lengthened on the hillside, the sun

went down. It was, however, still* daylight when from, I judged,

some two hundred yards up the hillside, there sounded the sudden

sharp alarm call of a keen-eyed peafowl. The tiger was afoot*

Daylight faded into dusk. Dusk gave place to the dark of an Indian

starlit night, not so dark but what the ‘kill’ was still vaguely visible

to straining eyes as a black blotch on the ground, but too dark

for it to be possible to distinguish a tiger’s coat. That mattered

little, for my faithful flashlight was to, hand. It was about eight

o’clock when I heard the first faint footfall on those dry leaves to

my right. Presently again to my left. Once more, this time behind,

then nearer — undoubtedly the tiger, and he was clearly, having

finished his reconnaissance, moving forward to his kill. Shikar

in the light of day can furnish thrills many and varied, but none of

quite the same quality as that with which one first realizes the

immediate silent presence of a great beast of prey in the darkness

of night. I think I have said something like that before !

Baa ! Out of the darkness came the cry, timed by some impish

spirit of the jungle with the most amazing exactitude; plaintive,

incongruous, exasperating to the last degree. . . . What would

you have said? But no mere words could be adequate ! For about

two minutes, dead silence; I did not hear the tiger move; then

a slight momentary scuffle and a strangled cry, perhaps thirty yards

to my right : the unfortunate instrument of fate had fulfilled the

final purpose of its existence. Within a minute or so I heard the

tiger drag the prey for a short distance past the back of my machan

and then, within hearing, he proceeded to dine, to the accompani-

ment, for a while, of a volley of abuse from a langur who had been

6

690 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Ko/. XXXIV

aroused from his sleep in a tree near by. I still hoped against hope

that goat mutton would but serve the purpose of a hors d’oeuvre

before the main course of buffalo beef. But it was not to be. By

the time he had polished off the whole goat that tiger considered he

had dined and departed elsewhere.

It was distinctly bad luck, for me, on another occasion when the

occurrence of a tiger’s kill, in favourable conditions for sitting up

but not for a beat, found me possessed by an appalling cold in the

head with a cough accompaniment ! It was obviously futile to

attempt to sit up for a tiger with a certainty of meeting his approach

with a chorus of alternate sneezing and coughing. Fortunately

for himself a friend was within reach to whom I supplied my

Paradox and electric torch and sent him out, to return by 9.30 p.m.

in triumph with his first tiger.

In connection with the precautions to be taken when sitting up

I have not mentioned, because I do not think it necessary, one which

is sometimes advocated — the avoidance of smoking. It is not

impossible that wild beasts, when they detect it, may associate the

odour of tobacco with the presence of human beings. But all Indian

big game hunters are agreed that the power of scent in the great

cats is but feeble. I habitually smoke a cheroot in a machdn in a

tree above the level of the nose of a beast on the ground, merely

taking care that there is no possibility of its glowing end being

visible in the darkness. In a hide on the ground it may be wiser

to abstain though when, as experience has proved, a panther

prowling all round one within .a few yards will fail to detect the

human scent, it is doubtful whether he would detect the odour of

tobacco.

The scent of tobacco is, however, perhaps stronger and more

penetrating and may have been the cause of failure on one occasion

when I found the remains of at least a dozen bidis (native cigarettes)

around my machdn on arrival. The men who had put up the

machdn had apparently, after finishing their work, sat for an hour

or two under the machdn talking and smoking — a good example

of how not to do it.

The kill on this occasion was the work of two tigers whom I heard

calling to each other about dusk. The spot was close to water and

it may have been a sambur coming to drink that I heard bell close

by a couple of hours later. But I have since wondered whether

this may not have been a case of the much discussed ‘sambur’ call

of the tiger. The morning’s tracks showed that one tiger had been

within twenty yards of me.

To return to the panther. His sawing note is usually, I think,

though perhaps not invariably, a call to a companion. His growl

of menace is familiar but a pair together sometimes give vent to

weird sounds that are not easy to describe. Once, on the borders

of the Gir, I heard a dying panther give vent to a roar of surprising

volume. There was no mistake as to whence the sound came,

otherwise I should have put the roar down to one of a party of

lions which I had heard, not far away, half-an-hour before, and

which actually killed a buffalo only a quarter of a mile away from

me while I was waiting for the panther. I heard the hubbub as

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

691

they were driven off by a crowd of villagers but did not at the time

know what had happened, or I should have tried to be in wait to see

something of them, not to shoot — the lions 'of the Gir are strictly

protected, a fact which has led to a considerable increase in their

numbers of recent years.

I have referred to instances of a panther breaking a rope and

carrying off a goat with his initial rush and I have known of one

dragging a good sized donkey fully three hundred yards over

rough and hilly ground. But the most remarkable display of sheer

strength by a panther which I have come across was that of one —

from his pugs a not particularly large male — which killed a big

cow, a fine specimen in good condition, of the large Kankrej breed.

The point of interest lay, not in the mere killing of the cow, but in

the fact that, seized by the throat as she lay, she was so firmly

pinned down that she was absolutely unable to move, as evidenced

by the fact that she was found dead in the ordinary recumbent

position of a cow at rest chewing the cud ; there were no signs

of a struggle and no wounds beyond the usual fang punctures in

the throat ; the panther had been disturbed before he had commenced

his meal.

I do not think I have anything more to say about sitting up in

India. But I had two remarkable experiences in Somaliland which

were recorded in My Somali Book, published in 1913. As that work

is now out of print I may perhaps be permitted to conclude this

chapter by giving the substance of a couple of extracts therefrom.

The first instance afforded perhaps the most striking example in

my experience of the combination of audacity with wariness which

is so characteristic of the panther. Not very far from my own camp

on one occasion was a karia or temporary village of nomad Somalis,

who, according to their custom, used at night to pen their flocks

of goats and sheep inside a thorn zariba for protection against wild

beasts. A hungry panther, however, makes light of a five foot

thorn fence, and one had quartered himself on this karia and levied

toll of mutton therefrom three or four nights a week. My assistance

was asked against the enemy ; so I visited the zariba one evening

and took up my position sitting behind a loophole in the thorn fence

with a goat tied up outside a few feet away. This was rather a

different game from sitting up in India, in that the panther was

fully aware of the presence of human beings behind the fencing

and was in the habit of trying to steal a meal from under their

very noses. It was a clear starlight night, but no moon. Not long

after dark I became aware, from the uneasiness of the animals in

the zariba, that the panther was about, and eventually discovered

that he was standing outside the fence within six feet of me

watching my goat, but not within sight of my loophole. Whatever

his reasons, he decided to let that goat severely alone, and presently

moved round to the far side of the zariba, as appeared from a

stampede of frightened sheep who scented him there. Nothing

happened and I fell asleep beside my loophole to awake after a while

to find a quarter moon shining. Suddenly I heard a commotion

on the other side and, -the next moment, saw a shadowy form race

across the zariba and clear the fence a spear’s length from where I

692 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

lay : it was the panther, and he had taken a sheep with him ! I could

almost believe I heard a mocking laugh as he disappeared in the

darkness ; the whole proceeding seemed to involve, in its preli-

minary caution and its ultimate audacity and brilliant execution,

a deliberate accurate calculation of risks which was beyond all

praise.

It was night-watching from a Somali zariba that led to another

exciting moment. I pitched camp one evening in a small open

space amid jungle, and, as fresh tracks of panthers had been seen

near by, had a goat tied up at dusk outside the usual loophole

in my zariba fence, and sat down to dinner at my tent door. As

there was always a risk of the goat being attacked by a hyaena

I put one of my shikaris on guard at the loophole until I was ready.

I had but got through my soup when there was a sudden loud

growl and then a succession of angry roars. I ran out, to learn

from the shikari that some beast had unexpectedly rushed and killed

the goat, that in the dark he had mistaken it for a hyaena and

jabbed it with a spear, with the result that I had heard. The

manifestations of wrath had been so loud that he thought it must

have been a lion, and that there were two or more. Dinner was

forgotten, as I squatted down by the loophole to watch over the

kill lying about four feet in front of me. Nor had I long to wait,

for within three minutes the enemy was back on the ‘kill’ and,

the next moment, a round face with blazing eyes and wicked snarl

appeared in the loophole itself, the while, to the accompaniment of

a thunderous growling roar, my gun-barrel — doubtless taken for

the spear he had felt before — was seized by an aggressive paw and

dashed to one side ! My finger was on the trigger and, naturally,

the gun went off, the bullet passing somewhere by the beast’s ear.

This was a little too much for him and he retired. But it was

not five minutes before he was stealthily creeping up to the kill

once more, straight in front. At my shot he sprang with a growl

to one side where I could no longer see him, but could hear that he

seemed disabled and unable to get right away. Presently, mingled

with his moans, came other sounds, from which it appeared that he

had been joined bv, presumably, his mate who, with friendly

scratchings, was trying to cheer him up and persuade him to come

away out of danger ! Then, as I was listening with all my ears

and peering into the darkness, my eye suddenly caught a movement

on the other side and, glancing round, I beheld another shadowy

form near the kill. I fired, and the newcomer leapt into the air and

fell beside the kill, motionless. I turned on my little electric torch,

and there lay a beautiful panther, the most cleanly spotted that I

have ever seen.

Assured that this one was dead, I decided to risk going out with

a lantern, and we found that the sound of the last shot had

evidently inspired the first wounded animal to renewed efforts and

he had managed to drag himself into the bush a few yards away.

To go after him in the dark would have been sheer folly and I had

to content myself with moving the dead panther inside the zariba

and then lying down to wait for the light of day. Before long,

however, there rose an ominous sound, reminding one somewhat

THE PANTHER AS I HAVE KNOWN HIM

693

of a steam syren, the weird gathering call of the waraba — the big

spotted hyaena — who had scented blood. And we soon realized

that there were several of the foul brood assembled around the

dying panther whose menacing growls, though growing fainter,

still kept them at bay. I feared for my trophy, and with cause, for

when dawn came our investigations could discover but the tufted

tip of a tail and a partly gnawed head — sole remains of what, from

the size of the skull, must have been a magnificent panther. The

empty stomach of the other, a male of average size, showed that

game must have been scarce and that hunger was the explanation

of the audacious determination of these panthers not to be deprived

of their kill.

In a concluding chapter I hope to give an account of a few day-

time experiences with the panther.

(To be continued)

ABNORMAL TUSKS OF ELEPHANTS

BY

Sir Feank Colyer, k.b.e., f.r.c.s.

(With 6 plates)

The six small tusks shown in fig. 1, were removed from the

‘ tuskless * side of a rogue elephant. There was a seventh tusk

which it was impossible to extract owing to it being firmly embedded

in the bone. They were obtained and presented to the Society by

Mr. C. R. Pawsey, I. C. S., Deputy Commissioner, Mokokchung,

Naga Hills, Assam. The specimens have been presented to the

Royal College of Surgeons’ Museum by the Bombay Natural

History Society. In the letter accompanying the gift it was stated

that 1 the tusks were jammed together and between them a sub-

stance described as being like marrow was found. The tusks

protruded a distance of 2 or 3 inches from the opening of the

socket.’ The length and girth of the tusks are as follows

Sections made through four of the tusks show that they are com-

posed of well formed ivory surrounded by a layer of cement.

The probable positions of the tusks to one another are shown in

fig. 2.

Cases of multiple tusks are rare and there are but few records in the

literature of pathological ivory. There is a reference in Chapman’s

‘ Travels in Interior of South Africa * to a male elephant with nine

perfect tusks ; the tusks were ranged five on one side and four on the

other. There is also a specimen in the Royal College of Surgeons’

Museum where the tusk is represented by eight ‘ tusklets ’ (fig. 3).

The tusks vary in length from 37 cm. to 23 cm. and were to some

degree functional as shown by the wear of the tissues.

I propose in this paper to discuss briefly the possible causes of

multiple tusks by describing a few specimens which shed light on

their etiology.

The specimen, fig. 4, seems to show that the double tusk is at

times due to dichotomy (division in two parts) of the tooth germ ;

in this tusk there are definite grooves on opposite sides of the

tusk. Amongst the Hunterian specimens there is a mutilated

cranium of a young elephant in which the left tooth is just protru-

ding from the socket, it is indented longitudinally at the base above

and below, so that if it had continued to grow, it would have

resembled the tusk shown in fig. 4. The right tusk has been lost

but there is evidence that it was similar in type to the left tooth.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate I.

Fig. 1. Six tusks from the same side of a

“ rogue J’ elephant.

Fig. 2. The relations of the tusks

(fig. 1) to one another.

Fig. 3. A specimen made up of eight

small tusks.

(Royal College of Surgeons, Odontological

Series G182.2.)

From the Dental Record.

Fig. 4. A specimen showing a stage in the

production of a double tusk.

(Royal College of Surgeons, Teratological

Series 540.)

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate II.

Fig. 5. An example of a double tusk.

(Royal College of Surgeons, Odontological Series G 120. 01.)

Fig. 6. A tusk which has been injured at an early stage of growth.

(Royal College of Surgeons, Odontological Series G120.2. )

Fig. 7. Portion of a tusk which

has been injured.

(Royal College of Surgeons,

Odontological Series G122.4.)

ABNORMAL TUSKS OF ELEPHANTS

695

The tusk, fig. 5, is another example of a double tusk. The two

portions are unequal in size, and where the surfaces are in contact,

each portion is somewhat S-shaped. The foregoing specimens

would seem to be examples of dichotomy. There are however

cases of double tusks which seem to arise from the development of

an accessory tooth germ such as we see in the extra incisor at times

met with in man and other animals. An example of a double tusk,

which probably originated in this way, was brought to my notice by

a big game hunter in East Africa. One tusk weighed 27 lbs. and

was twisted so that it curved downwards and backwards bringing

the point between the elephant’s knees. At the base of this tusk

was another small tusk, the end of which had been broken. Apiece

of the surrounding bone was present and one was thus able to

obtain an accurate idea of the relation of the one tusk to the other.

There is fairly good evidence that cases of four-tusked elephants

occur — that is to say there are two tusks on either side. During the

month of January 1926 there were several letters published in the

Times on the question of four-tusked elephants from the region of

the Congo-Divide. One writer, Capt. Tracy Phillipps, stated that

he stayed a night at the residence of the Vongara-Zande Sultan

Ngilima, who described how he had killed a ‘ four-tusker ’ during

the war. In one letter reference was made to an elephant with four

tusks seen by an army officer in the region of the Congo-Divide.

The' account published in Sudan Notes a?id Records (Vol. II, 1919,

p. 231) is as follows : —

‘ On May 18, 1917, I was out shooting in the district of Sheik Ako

Mangara, in the Markaz of Yambio, in the village of Wakila Marbo,

on the borders between Tembura and Yambio districts. I met a

herd of elephants, which I followed, searching for a good one to

shoot. I kept following them until they stopped near a pool of

water, where they began to drink and throw mud on themselves.

I was hiding behind a tree about 15 yards from them, looking at

them, when I saw an elephant with four tusks. The left tusk was

the bigger and had the usual direction, but the direction of the small

tusk was downwards and came out from under the big one. It was

round, and its thickness was about 2-J- in. The direction of the right

tusk was downwards, and the small tusk came from under it in the

usual direction, but it was small, like the other one.’

It is of interest to note that the natives of the district do not

question the existence of four-tusked elephants. Capt. Tracy

Phillipps makes the suggestion ‘ that the four-tuskers ’ of the Uele-

Shari may be rarely recurrent types, and something more than mere

accidental freaks of Nature. The fact that the condition described

was symmetrical is in favour of a developmental origin and it is more

probable that the extra teeth arose from accessory tooth germs

than by dichotomy of one tooth germ, as in the latter case one

would expect to find the teeth on each side simulating one

another.

Many cases of multiple tusks are, I feel sure, due to trauma, i.e.

produced by injury, and the following specimens show the manner

in which the tusks may be formed. In fig. 6, is shown a tusk which

was injured at an early period of growth. The tusk is normal in

696 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , TO. XXXIV

shape for the first 3 cm. ; then it gradually increases in thickness for

a distance of about 40 cm. It next takes a course at a right angle for

about 12 cm., still increasing in width, and is then bent abruptly

downwards. A longitudinal section shows that the formed part of

the tusk was dislocated at almost right angles on the soft dental

papilla. A feature of the specimen is the splitting off from the

main portion of the tusk of ‘ branch-roots. *

The specimen, fig. 7, shows a stage in the formation of subsidiary

tusks. The free end of the tusk has been broken in a transverse

direction subsequent to the initial injury. For convenience of de-

scription the tusk may be divided into five portions, I, II, III, IV

and K, fused together at the upper end, but separated at the lower

or growing end, the portion K for the greater part of its length

forming a distinct tusk. The relations of these portions, the one

to the other, are shown in the diagrammatic views of sections

made 12*5 cm. (A) and 30 cm. (B) from the broken end. The

arrangement of the tissues at the position (A) is seen in the draw-

ing fig. 8. Starting from the top left-hand corner and moving to

the right there is a regular layer of cement until (B) is reached ;

here for 2 cm. the tissue is of an indifferent type ; then follows, at

(C), a layer of regular cement, which continues until the upturn of

the indent at (C'), where there is a short break. A regular layer

of cement forms the roof of the indentation and from here the outer

layer as far as (E) is tissue of an indifferent type ; from (F) to (F7 )

there is a layer of cement, and from (F') to (A) indifferent tissue,

on the inner aspect of the cement layers there are areas of well-

formed ivory, which for convenience of description are numbered

I, II, III and IV. These areas are separated the one from the

other. Between the areas I and II there is a layer of tissue dark

in colour (G); the area I is separated from the area III, and area

III is divided off from II and IV by a wide layer of secondary

dentine, (H). K is a section through the detached tusk. The

arrangement of the tissues at the position (B, fig. 7) are shown in

the diagram, fig. 9. It will be noticed that the tusk is, in this part,

composed of well-formed ivory, and there is very little secondary

dentine. The areas I, II, III and IV, somewhat ill-defined in

section (A), are now well-defined. Area IV is separated completely

from the main part of the tusk ; there is a slight fissure between

the areas I and II, and area III is almost separated from the rest

of the tusk. As the terminal part of the tusk is approached, these

four areas become completely isolated the one from the other as

shown in fig. 7. If the animal had lived, these four areas with the

small tusk would have continued to grow as separate units and in

time would have passed out of the socket. An injury at this stage

breaking the tusk in a transverse direction near the neck of the

tooth would leave five tusks.

The specimen, fig. 10-(I), is another example of the formation of

subsidiary tusks as the result of injury. There is a main tusk (A)

about 58 cm. long and attached to this are two smaller tusks (B and

C), which are placed in an oblique across the main tusk. The elephant

had received a severe injury which broke the tusk, splintering it in

a longitudinal direction. Recovery followed and then, at a later

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate III.

Fig. 10. A tusk which has been injured.

I. General view of the tusk.

II. View of the free end.

III. View of the growing end.

(Royal College of Surgeons, Odontological

Series G132.2.)

Jours. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate IV.

Fig. 12. A tusk removed from the tuskless Fig. 13. Section through the tusk shown in fig. 12.

side of an elephant.

ABNORMAL TUSKS OF ELEPHANTS

697

date, the animal was hit by a bullet which entered the tusk at the

position (D) and in its passage broke off a portion of the tusk(C).

The end of the main tusk is split into three segments as shown in

fig. 10— (II). To ascertain the structure of the tusk six sections

were made at the positions indicated by the arrows. A diagram-

matic view of the relations of the tissues in the first section is

shown in fig. l'l-(A). Each segment, on the outer side, is covered

with a layer of cement (c). The main part of each segment is

formed of ivory, the dentinal tubes radiating towards the centre of

the sections (I) and (III) and in the case of section (II) towards two

centres. This arrangement suggests that the pulp was split into

three main parts the ivory forming on the surface of each part.

The portion of the segment (I) facing the fissure is composed of a

tissue (e) which has the appearance of a poorly calcified cement.

The portion of the segment (II) facing segment (I) is formed in

the outer two-thirds of a layer of cement and the inner third of an

irregular layer of secondary dentine (b) which is also the type of

tissue forming the border separating this segment from segment

(III). A layer of secondary dentine forms the border of segment

(III) facing segment (I).

The second cut through the tusk was made about 10 cm. from

the end and has the appearance shown in the diagram fig. 11-B.

This section which passes through the portion of the tusk injured

by the bullet (m) shows that the missile in its passage shattered

the ivory. The ivory in the segments is better formed than in the

first section and the arrangement of the dentinal tubes around the

segments of the pulp is clearly shown in the segment (II). The

sections 3, 4 and 5 show progressive stages towards the formation

of ivory normal in type and the replacement of the outer layer of

the secondary dentine by cement. The segments (I and III)

become united, the segment (II) remaining detached as shown in

fig. Jl-C which is a diagrammatic view of section 6.

The formation of subsidiary tusks as the result of injury is prob-

ably brought about as follows : — The injury disorganizes the pulp

or formative part of the tooth and the pericementum dips into the

pulp and in this way separates a portion or portions from the

main body. The fold gradually extends around the portion thus

separated, so as to envelop it completely. In the opinion of

W. D. Miller (Dental Cosmos, Vol. xxxii, p. 507) it is a question

whether ‘ this fold of pericementum in dipping into the pulp carries

a layer of odontoblasts along with it, or whether the odontoblasts

are subsequently formed ’.

A suggestion has been made that elephants with only one tusk

carry on the tuskless side rudiments of a tusk, that is to say, the

tooth fails to develop in a normal way. In the Field May 10,

1928, R. C. Morris gave an account of a ‘ rogue ’ elephant in which

there was on one side a well-formed tusk, and on the other side

buried in the bone of block of ivory. He also records a similar case

in an animal shot by Major Brook Purdon. The deformed tusk

removed from the animal shot by R. C. Morris is shown in fig. 12.

The tusk measures 34 cm. in its greatest circumference. The upper

surface (A) is irregular in formation, two-thirds of the lower surface

698 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

is smooth and globular in outline (B), the remaining third forms a

projection (C) which appears as bent towards the part (B).

A section made in a longitudinal direction shows the tissues

arranged as shown in the diagram, fig. 13. The lower half of the

tusk is of a fairly regular formation ; the portion (B) is formed of

normal dentine with a small area of secondary dentine (a) near the

centre; running down from this secondary dentine are two white

streaks of tissue (b) ; on the outer side of the dentine there is a layer

of cement (c) ; the portion (C) is formed dentine somewhat

laminated in character which curves round two islands of secondary

dentine (a) : on the outer aspect there is a layer of cement (c). The

upper boundary of the normal dentine, indented by small masses

of secondary dentine which increase towards the upper border.

Intermingled with this secondary dentine are fragments of normal

dentine (d) which are obviously the result of injury. Beyond this

area there is a layer of dense tissue (e) through which are scattered

islands of secondary dentine. The two layers, viz., the layer of

secondary dentine and the hard tissue form on section a quadri-

lateral area, which is bounded on the lateral surfaces by tissue

laminated in character, this tissue being a prolongation upwards of

the dentine forming the lower portion of the tusk.

On one side (the left in the illustration) this laminated tissue

bends over and is continued as a layer to form the upper boundary

of the tusk, and is separated from the prolongation on the right side

by an oval-shaped mass of secondary dentine also surrounded by

laminated tissue. The arrangement of the tissues as they appear

in the section is strongly suggestive of injury to the growing

tooth. An examination of similar masses removed from the tusk-

less side of this type of elephant would help to clear up the cause

of the condition.

The formation of subsidiary tusks when due to injury would seem

to follow a blow which causes the tusk to split in a longitudinal direc-

tion. In some of the cases in which the tusk is split in a longitu-

dinal manner necrosis of some of the fragments follows, and a

single portion of the tusk retains sufficient vitality to recover.

The two specimens, figs. 14 and 15, illustrate these phases in the

life of injured tusks. The one shown in fig. 14 was removed from

an elephant shot by the Game Ranger ‘ in defence of crops.’ It is

60 cm. in length. For purposes of description the tusk may be di-

vided into two portions. The portion (A) is circular in shape, and is

traversed by a deep furrow which is continuous with the concavity

in the portion (B), the latter is scoop-shaped and gradually dimi-

nishes in thickness towards the growing end. To ascertain the

nature of the tusk, sections were made at the positions I and II. A

diagram of the section of the tusk at the position (I) is shown in

fig. 16. The part (A) is composed of ivory with the typical criss-

cross pattern, the outer surface of the ivory being covered with a

layer of cement (c). The part (B) shows an interesting state of affairs.

There is an irregular shaped area of ivory (i) which is surrounded

by tissues of varying character and density. To the right hand of

the ivory there is an area (d) which appears to be homogeneous in

structure, the lower surface is bordered by a narrow layer of tissue

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate V.

Fig. 14. A deformed tusk.

Fig. 15. A deformed

tusk.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate VI.

Fig. 17. Section through the tusk shown in fig. 14 at the

position marked II.

Fig. 18. Section through the tusk shown in fig. 15 at the position

marked in the illustration.

ABNORMAL TUSKS OF ELEPHANTS

699

laminated in type (f), this extends upwards on the left of the ivory

to blend with an area of secondary dentine (e). To the right of the

area (d), there is a triangular shaped mass of tissue (g) which has the

appearance of ivory while beyond this there is a secondary dentine

(e).

A section through the portion (B) has the tissues arranged as

shown in fig. 17. The main part is made up of ivory (a) which

towards the ends of the curve blends with a secondary dentine (b).

The ivory is covered with cement (c) while on the inner aspect there

is a layer of tissue (d) which has a stalactitic formation and under

the microscope has the appearance of dentine.

Before making the sections of this specimen, I was inclined to

regard the portion (A) Fig. 14, as formed entirely of the original

tusk. The section shows that it is made up of a part of the original

tusk together with a mass of tissue of fresh formation which has

been formed to enclose a piece of ivory detached at the time of

injury. The pulp has reacted towards the flake of ivory in exactly

the same way as it does to bullets which occasionally find the

resting place in the pulp of an elephant’s tusk. In such cases,

secondary dentine is formed around the foreign body until it is cut

off completely from the rest of the pulp. This specimen is an

excellent example of the results that may follow in a tusk fractured

in a longitudinal direction. The splinters of the tusk that remain

in the bone may still retain their attachment to the periosteum and

recovery of growth may follow.

The specimen, fig. 15, is a fragment 43 cm. long of a tusk injured

at an early period of growth. In this case the animal was found

dead. A section was made through the tusk at the position mark-

ed by the arrow. The lower part of the section, fig. 18 shows a

crescent shaped area of ivory (a) covered on the outer aspect with

cement (c). Beyond the ivory there is a layer of secondary dentine

(b) and above this and to the left an area (d) which appears struc-

tureless and is probably of the nature of ivory; to the right of this

there is secondary dentine (e) made up largely of branches of hard

tissue arranged in a fan-like manner with their bases towards the

top of the section. The general impression one forms of the sec-

tion is that the disorganized pulp had made headway towards the

formation of normal ivory.

The Odontological section of the Museum of the Royal College of

Surgeons contains an excellent collection of pathological ivory, the

typical specimens have been brought together, and are exhibited in

a case in the central gallery ; these specimens have been described

in the Dental Record, Vol. xlvi, January 1926.

Additions to the collection are always welcome for they may, and

often do, fill gaps in a series illustrating a certain type of abnorma-

lity ; in this respect the specimens presented recently by Mr. Morris

and Mr. Pawsey have proved most valuable.

FISHING IN THE RIVERS OF THE C. P.

BY

Major W. B. Trevenen

( Honorary Secretary , Central Provinces Angling Association )

( With 3 text figures )

One so often hears the enquiry from new arrivals in some dis-

trict or station of the C. P. ‘ Is there any fishing near here ? ’,

‘ What does one get ? ’ or ‘ What sort of rod is the best and what

tackle do I want ? ’ that possibly a general descriptive article on

the type and style of fishing in the Province may prove useful to

future residents in or visitors to this Province.

Of course there is one obvious answer to the above queries, i.e.

‘ Join the C. P. A. A. and buy the latest copy of the Journal (future

numbers you will get free, and then you will quickly know all there

is to be known about it ! ’) True as this is, there must, however,

be a starting ground from which the novice must take off, and I

propose, therefore, at the risk of being considered, perhaps, rather

edious to the more advanced and skilled fishermen among my

readers, to assume that the majority of them know nothing or, at

any rate, very little about fishing in the rivers of the C. P., and that

they have had but a slight experience in dealing with the wily

Barbus tor or any of his numerous relations.

The Central Provinces are well served in the way of rivers, these

being far too numerous to mention individually, but all of them

hold good fish and are probably worth fishing at some time or

other during the year.

Speaking roughly, the north of the Provinces is watered by a

network of rivers and streams which empty themselves either into

the Jumna or the Son, both of which two rivers are, of course, tri-

butaries of ‘ Mother Ganga ’.

To the east the majority of streams are tributaries of the Maha-

nadi, which river actually rises in the C. P. and flows into the Bay

of Bengal a little north of Puri, the recognized watering place of

Calcutta.

In the south the country is drained by the rivers Penganga,

Pranhita and Indravati, all three of these being tributaries of the

Godavari, flowing into the Bay of Bengal towards the north of

the Madras Presidency.

Ths west of the Province is watered by the tributaries of the

Rivers Tapti and Nerbudda, both of which flow into the Gulf of

Cambay, the Tapti at Surat, and the Nerbudda at Broach, a little

further towards the north.

I imagine the latter river, the Nerbudda, is the best known river

in the C. P. This is accounted for by several reasons, one being

the veneration in which this river is held by Hindus ; another

FISHING IN THE FIVERS OF THE C. P.

701

reason is the fact that this river flows through or near more

important civil or military stations such as Mandla, Jubbulpore,

Narsinghpur, Hoshangabad, than does any of the other large

rivers in the Provinces, and it is therefore considerably more

accessible than most of them to the majority of residents. Another

reason for its fame, and this is one with which we are more inti-

mately concerned, is the well-known and established fact that the

finny inhabitants of this river, and also of its tributaries have a

decided preference for gram as a bait with which to be enticed

from their deep or rocky fastnesses, to the exclusion of almost all

other kinds of bait, with the exception of ‘ atta ’ in the case of the

large mahseer. One hears occasionally of a fish being taken on a

spoon or minnow, but these occasions are, unfortunately, com-

paratively rare. This preference for gram and ‘ atta * undoubtedly

extends to other rivers in the C. P., but it appears to be a general

rule that the farther one gets away from the Nerbudda, the more

chance there is of using a spinning bait with success.

It is a thousand pities that this habit prevails, as there is some

magnificent ‘ spinning ’ water in many of the C. P. rivers and if the

fish would only take a spoon or natural bait as readily as they do

in other parts of the country, the district would be a regular

angler’s paradise. Nevertheless, we have to be thankful that they

will take some bait and although the use of ‘ atta ’ can never be

regarded as a really sportsmanlike method of fishing, it is very

often the only bait with which the larger fish can be hooked.

As regards gram-fishing, however, there is a good deal to be

said in its favour, in spite of the fact that the angler who has been

accustomed to fly fishing at home or to casting and spinning for

mahseer in the rivers of Northern India is at first rather apt to de*

spise this method of angling.

The greatest drawback to this kind of fishing is, in my opinion,

the necessity of previous baiting in order to be really successful,

and this is a disadvantage that cannot be circumvented. The same

remarks apply, of course, equally to ‘ atta ’ fishing. On the other

hand, there are a number of points which may be brought forward

in support of gram-fishing. It is a branch of angling in which a

considerable amount of skill is required, being not unlike dry fly

fishing in many ways. Indeed, in many places, it is possible to

stalk and cast over a good rising fish, and unless the gram is pre-

sented in a natural manner and without any ‘ drag ’, the chances are

that the fish will not take it. Again, only a light rod is required,

one of the well-known dry fly type being ideal for this kind of

work and the finer the tackle is, the better the sport will be, for

though more breakages may occur by the use of fine casts, etc.,

there will certainly be many more fish hooked and caught than

there will be when coarser tackle is employed. Also, compared

with ‘ atta ’ fishing, it is so very much cleaner, and once one gets

‘ the hang ’ of it, there is very little trouble or time wasted in

adjusting the bait.

As I have already remarked above, the larger mahseer unfortu-

nately much prefer ‘ atta ’ to gram, and unless the sportsman is

content with fish running up to 5 lbs., or so, he will have to descend

702 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXX IV

to the use of ‘ atta ’ at times, especially if he entertains any hopes

of establishing a new record ! The largest recorded fish caught

here on gram since 1927 is 8J lbs., and I myself have caught them

over 7 lbs. in weight, but these ‘ catches ’ are rather exceptional

for gram.

In places, therefore, where the really big fish are known to lie, it

is better to start with ‘ atta ’, as the first few casts are nearly always

the most productive, and one can then switch over to gram a little

later, though this course is rather inclined to spoil the chances of

getting a really good fish of 5 lbs. or more on gram , which might

otherwise have taken the bait during the early casts had the ‘ atta ’

not been used. However, one cannot have it both ways at the

same time ! In places where three or four ‘ runs ’ have been baited,

I usually first try for the real big fish in the most likely ‘ run ’ of

the lot with ‘ atta ’, changing over later to gram according to fancy,

but confine myself entirely to gram in the remaining ‘ runs ’ thereby

standing a very fair chance of hooking a good fish on this bait

during the first few casts in each of the latter places.

There is no doubt that casting with gram is a far more enjoyable

and sportsmanlike method of fishing than is the use of ‘ atta ’, and

the true sportsman will probably derive far more pleasure from the

landing of a handsome five-pounder which in the first case he has

‘ spotted ’ feeding regularly on the grains of gram floating down,

and subsequently carefully stalked and then successfully cast over

and hooked, than he will from the capture of a considerably larger

fish which he has not previously seen but which has taken his ‘ atta ’

somewhere deep down below and out of sight.

I will now proceed with a description of the tackle and gear most

suitable for gram-fishing.

Rod. The best rod for gram fishing is a split cane trout rod about

10' or 10r 6" long and slightly on the stiff side. If the rod is too

whippy, it is difficult to pick the line up quickly enough when strik-

ing or casting. One of Hardy’s ‘ Gold medal ’ fly rods, of the

above length is ideal for this kind of work. Just the requisite

amount of stiffness, very light, and yet powerful enough to kill a

really big fish.

Reel. The qualifications of a reel are lightness, a good line-carry-

ing capacity, and a drum large enough to ensure a quick recovery

of the line when necessary. A reel which I can thoroughly recom-

mend is one of Hardy’s 3|" s Perfect dry fly reels ’ with a large

barrel for quick winding, weighing only 8 ozs. This reel will hold

about 100 yds. of the right-sized line and backing and is yet not too

heavy for the rod.

Whilst on the subject of reels I would most strongly recommend

every mahseer fisherman to insist on having a ‘ screw grip ’ winch

fitting, or some fitting of a similar type, fixed to his rod. Nothing

is more annoying than to find your reel suddenly detached and

dancing at your feet in the middle of the first rush of a good fish.

It is sometimes possible to recover and replace it in time if one is

skilful, but more generally disaster follows. With a ‘ Screw Grip’

fitting, such an occurrence becomes impossible.

Lines. There are several points to be considered in the choice of a

FISHING IN THE RlVEkS OF THE C\ P.

703

line such as colour, quality, size, length, etc. I mention colour first

advisedly as although this is one, if not the most important detail

to be considered, very few anglers sufficiently appreciate that fact.

I have already drawn attention to the importance of colour in

previous articles (Misc. Art. No. IV, C.P.A.A. Journal, May 1928,

and Bombay Natural History Society Journal , May 1926) on both

of which occasions I described the circumstances under which

I became so convinced on this point. I will not again go into

details, but will merely remark that the proof was sufficiently

conclusive.

Now comes the question, * Which is the best colour ? ’

This is not quite so easily determined as the best colour appears

to vary with the locality or water. One colour which I do not advise

is a fairly light orange or yellowish waterproof line with a black

thread such as is so often used for trout lines at home. This line,

apparently, scared the fish more than any other line I ever used,

especially in still water. When I was in Poona some years ago,

fishing chiefly in lakes, I always used Manton’s ‘ Saline ’ lines and

was very successful with them. They are beautiful lines when new

and their colour, green and black, seemed to be just what was

wanted, but the enamelling did not, to my mind, last too well,

particularly if much used for trolling. I imagine that the constant

twist in one direction caused the enamel to crack. This did not,

however, appear to impair their strength to any great extent but at

this stage the line quickly became waterlogged and was not, there-

fore, good for casting. I was not too successful with this line in

the rivers of the C. P., and the next which I tried was an American

undressed white ‘ waxed ’ silk line. This i found excellent,

particularly after the rather new whiteness of the line had been

toned down by use. Unfortunately I was unable to obtain any more

of it the following season. These waxed lines do not last anything

like as long as a well dressed line, and must be renewed at least

every season. ' I then tried several varieties and eventually decided

on one of Manton’s ‘Forindia ’ lines. This line is still in use and

is now well on in its second season, yet, except just for the end

where all the wear and tear occurs, it appears to be quite as good

as it was when I bought it. Mantons stock this line in three sizes,

‘ fine ’, ‘medium ’, and ‘ stout and for gram fishing I do not think

one can do better than use 50 yds. of their ‘ fine ’ quality with a

breaking strain of 18 lbs. spliced on to 50 yds. or more of ‘ backing ’

such as ‘ Saxon line No. 15,’ also stocked by Mantons, Calcutta, in

50 yds. reels. The ‘ Forindia ’ line is brown with a very fine black

thread, and though inclined to be slightly ‘ tacky ’ when first used,

this tackiness very quickly wears off. The reel mentioned above

will hold 100 yds. of this line and ‘ backing ’ comfortably and I do

not recommend the use of a line of less length than this, as,

although my largest fish in these rivers so far is under 15 lbs., I have

on two or three occasions only had a few turns left on the drum of

the reel !

Lock=Unk=Spriug. We now come to one of the most important

items concerned with gram-fishing, which is the link connecting the

line with the trace.

704 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , VoL XXXlV

The peculiar suitability of this link for this type of fishing was

first discovered by Major B. J. P. T. Walker and described by him

in his article on Gram-fishing which appeared in the first Journal of

the C. P. A. A. in 1927. It is known as ‘ Hardy’s Lock-Link-

Spring size No. 7, and by its use, the cast can be detached, the

gram threaded on to the gut, and the cast reattached, all in a few

seconds.

To attach the cast to the link, hold the latter in the left hand at

‘ A ’ in a hornizontal position with ‘ B ’ and

* C ’ pointing towards the right hand. Hold

the loop of the cast between the finger and

thumb of the right hand just at the knot and

pass the loop over the arm of the link ‘ C ’

pressing the gut well home towards ‘ A ’ and

then draw back again to the right when the

cast will be found to be lying firmly inside

both ‘ B ’ and ‘ C ’.

To detach the cast, hold the link in the left hand as before ; then,

with the right hand take the loop of the cast which is then lying inside

‘ B * and ‘ C ’, holding it at the knot, and push it back towards ‘ A ’

until it touches the left hand ; then lower the right hand until the

loop is hanging nearly perpendicular just in front of ‘ A ’, then

slowly raise the right hand again bringing the further side of the

gut loop up between ‘ B ’ and ‘ C ’ and the nearer side between ‘ C ’

and yourself. Continue the upward motion, at the same time

pulling the loop towards the left hand, when it will at once become

detached.

The above directions sound somewhat complicated, but after it

has been done once or twice, the whole process becomes automatic

and can be completed in a couple of seconds.

These links can be obtained direct from Hardy’s or else from

Mantons, Calcutta. They are now generally supplied ‘bronzed’,

but I prefer them ‘ bright ’.

Casts. Hardy’s 1. X., 2 yds. long, with a loop at the top, and the

bottom end left loose to tie direct on to the hook is the most useful

size. If the water is very still and clear a still fine cast, 2. X.

can be employed, or if the water is rough and heavy, a slightly

stouter cast, i e.5 Hardy’s ‘ Strong Trout ’, can be put on, but per-

sonally, I rarely use anything else except 1. X. For ‘ atta ’ fishing

the stouter cast is preferable.

The knot with which I tie the

hook on to the cast is

Fennel’s ‘ Half-Hitch Jamb

Knot ’. The illustration of

the knot makes a further de-

scription unnecessary. If the

gut is well-soaked before

tying, this knot will practically never slip.

Hooks. The hooks most suitable for gram fishing are Hardy’s

‘ Capt. Hamilton Eyed Hooks ’ sizes No. 5 A, 7 or 8. These

Hooks are made of wire sufficiently fine that they do not sink the

gram too quickly, and the eye is small enough to pass through the

Pishing in the Ihvers of the c. p. 705

bored gram without breaking the latter. I almost invariably use

the smallest size (5 A) with two grains of gram, but some anglers

prefer one of the larger sizes with three grains. These hooks

are stocked by Mantons, Calcutta.

Drills for Boring Gram. This is another most important item. If

the hole is too large, the gram will fly off at almost every cast and

certainly at every touch, whilst, again, if too small, a large number

of grains will be broken whilst actually threading the bait on to the

hook with a consequent loss of time, very often just at the moment

when the fish are biting well.

The best drill, I find, is a small ‘ twist ’ drill, with the end ground

down to a point and measuring a bare sixteenth of an inch in

diameter. This is exactly the right size for the above hooks. I

have also another drill measuring a lull sixteenth, but even this

variation in size though apparently trifling, makes a great differ-

ence in the length of time for which the grains remain on the hook.

Spear-headed drills of the right size can sometimes be obtained, but

many more grains are split during the process of boring owing to

there being no backward outlet for the powdered gram.

Landing Net. It is well worth while getting a good large net with

a ring not less than 26" diameter and the net at least 24" deep.

This will land a fish well over 20 lbs. If a collapsible net is

purchased, make certain that the ring is strong enough. The

majority of those offered for sale always strike me as being too

flimsy.

Before going on to describe the actual procedure followed on a

day’s fishing, there are a few other points apart from the actual

tackle which the angler who is a novice to this style of fishing will

do well to remember : —

Baiting. For this type of fishing it is necessary to bait beforehand

the ‘ runs ’ or pools in which it is intended to fish. This is neces-

sary for two reasons, i. e., firstly, to attract the fish to those

particular spots, and secondly, to accustom them to the sight and

taste of the bait with which it is hoped to capture them. Baiting

should be commenced at least five days before the actual day of

fishing, and results will probably be better if it is carried out for a

week or ten days, particularly if it is a place that has not been

previously baited. For the first few days of baiting, it is as well to

allow one seer of gram for each ‘ run ’ daily, i. e., one pound in the

morning soon after sunrise, and another pound in the evening about

an hour before sunset. This allowance can be reduced by haff after

a week, if the baiting is continued beyond that period. Should it

be intended to fish with { atta ’ for large fish, a pound or so of this

should be allowed for a few days previous to fishing. The ‘ atta *

should be made up into small balls and thrown in a little time after

the gram when the fish have already been attracted by and started

to feed on that bait. It is a mistake to cut the baiting allowance

too fine and it is far better to err on the side of generosity in this

respect, as, however honest your shikari or the local dhimar may

be, a certain amount of the gram is certain to find its way down

their throats rather than those of the fishes ! It is preferable, I

think, to employ a local man for the baiting, thereby also obtaining

7

706 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HlST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI V

a certain amount of local interest in the proposed expedition, whereas

if a shikari or orderly is sent out for the purpose, the local Dhimars

are not above casting a net into the water as soon as the shikari’s

back is turned after baiting.

Taking Cover. If the angler hopes to catch any really good fish,

he must first learn the importance of taking cover and keeping

himself out of sight as much as possible. These remarks apply

particularly when approaching the water for the first cast after the

preliminary handful of gram has been thrown in, for that is the

moment when the best fish may be expected, when they have not

yet been scared away by the landing of other fish. Also, do not

walk right up to the water on your first arrival at the pool or ‘ run ’.

Keep your admiration at a distance ! Another point — Do not let

your shikari, who is to throw in the occasional gram, take up

his position too near either to you or the water, but keep him a

little upstream and out of sight, if possible. Make use of any long

grass or bushes when casting, or, if there are none of these about,

try to select a position where there is a neutral-coloured background

to yourself from the fishes point of view, and do not present

yourself against the skyline. Although even the large fish will

come and feed close to the spot where the shikari, in full view, is

throwing in the gram, the sight of a Sahib with a shining rod in his

hand is immediately associated with danger and ‘ Hey ! Presto ! ! ’.

I have, before now, seen good fish feeding within a few yards of

the villagers bathing or washing, and on one occasion last year

(1929) after wading out and taking cover in a clump of fairly high

reeds, I rose and hooked a fish of between two and three pounds

which was rising in the middle of a small herd of buffaloes who

were wallowing in the stream. I had quite an exciting time steer-

ing the fish clear of these animals and at one moment actually

had my line hung up for a few seconds in the horns of one of them,

but luckily managed to clear it again before the animal got alarmed,

eventually landing the fish, apparently to the great astonishment of

the buffaloes !

Another thing that undoubtedly does frighten the fish is the sight

of one of their number struggling at the end of the line. Conse-

quently, as soon as a fish is hooked, every effort should be made

to get him away upstream or downstream of the actual spot where

you are fishing. If it is a large fish, he will probably do this without

your help ! At the same time, do your best to keep him from

returning and try and land him some little distance away. It is

quite a good plan to throw in a small handful of gram directly a fish

is hooked. This appears to distract the attention of the remainder

to a certain extent from the sight of their struggling comrade ! If,

however, one has no choice but to land the fish at the same spot,

give the place a rest for five or ten minutes, throwing in a few

grains of gram occasionally with the idea of getting them on the

feed again.

Casting. In gram-fishing the angler who can achieve a reasonably

long cast has a great advantage over the man who is not so skilful.

As a rule the best fish generally appear to lie the furthest off and,

certainly in still or slowly moving water, the largest fish will

FISHING IN THE RIVERS OF THE C. P.

70 7

usually be hooked when fishing with a fairly long line. When

fishing water where the current is slack or only flowing fairly slowly,

it is far better to fish upstream , as a good fish will rarely take a grain

of gram drawn against the current. This is, indeed, only natural,

as a fish, if he reasons at all, must be suspicious of an inanimate

morsel of food moving against the stream. Even when fishing

running water where the current is too rapid to fish upstream,

one should cast across and let the line swing gently down with the

stream until the full length of line is reached after which a fresh cast

should be made.

Occasionally when fishing a long ‘ run ’ that finishes in the head

of a pool, one notices good fish rising right at the end of the ‘ run \

well out of reach of a cast either from the spot from which one is

fishing or from either bank lower down. It is sometimes possible

to get on terms with these fish by letting out a long length of line

and letting the current take it down, provided the stream is strong

enough to keep the line more or less straight. If the reel has no

‘ free ’ action the line should be pulled off by hand, and then five or

six feet let off at a time, and it is generally directly after letting off

these few feet of line that one hooks a fish. Once the line is tight

again the bait starts to drag, and the fish are therefore shy of it until

the next lot of line is let go and the bait starts to move downstream

again. I have occasionally hooked good fish by this method with

nearly fifty yards of line out. When one starts to reel up again

it is not a bad plan to swing the end of the rod round to the side of

the ‘ run ’ thereby causing the bait at the far-end to swing off into

some of the eddies at the side where one may occasionally get

a good fish.

In the actual casting with gram it is better to make just a slightly

longer pause than is done with a fly before coming forward again,

otherwise one is apt to whip off the gram. The man who can throw

a long straight line and drop his gram in the water exactly where

he wishes and without a splash will be far more successful than one

who is less skilful.

Use of ground bait whilst actually fishing. The local Dhimar or shikari

who accompanies the angler requires careful watching on this point.

As a rule, they are far too lavish with gram. I often wonder if they

are half so generous with it when baiting beforehand ; when there

is no sahib to watch them ! By all means throw in a good handful

or so when you first commence so that you may get the fish well on

the move, but after that you want to use it much more sparingly.

Your local man who carries the gram will probably, if left to

himself, continue a steady flow of gram for the whole period for

which you are fishing (unless the gram first comes to an end when

he will probably suggest that you should send him to the nearest

village to procure some more); with the result that the fish become

gorged long before you are ready to stop fishing, and if it is in

still or sluggish water, the whole place is full of floating or sunken

gram which the fish are not hungry enough to eat. Even in running

water, although here you certainly require more than in still pools,

it is easily possible to overdo it, as all the eddies at the sides scon

get covered with floating gram with the same results as above.

708 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

The shikari appears to think that because he can get more rises by

throwing in large quantities of gram (which is true enough) he has

then carried out his part of the show and it is then up to you to

catch the fish. It stands to reason, however, that if there are large

quantities of gram floating down, the larger and shyer fish are not

going to touch any grain that appears at all suspicious but will

confine their attention to those about which they have no doubt.

On the other hand, once you have got the fish moving, if you only

throw in a few grains at the time the competition to secure them

will be much more keen. I sometimes do all the gram-throwing

myself, having a small bag with a wide mouth hung on my belt,

which I fill up occasionally as needs be. (A canvas camera case

makes a very useful substitute !) This is a much better plan than

carrying it loose in the pocket as you do not then find that you are

smoking gram when you next light a pipe, or that the key of the

wine cupboard is choked with particles of broken gram when

eventually you arrive home on the verge of collapse from want of

a liquid stimulant !

I leave the main supply of gram in the charge of one of my own

attendants (not the shikari) with strict instructions to allow the

latter on no account to touch it. These precautions are necessary

as the shikari, if he gets half a chance, will surreptitiously try to

get hold of it and start throwing some in when your back is turned,

honestly thinking, I believe, that he is thereby doing you a good

turn in spite of your orders to the contrary.

If the reader has had sufficient patience to persevere in the

perusal of this article up to the present point, and is not too weary

as the result of his efforts, I will now ask him to accompany me,

in imagination, on a day’s gram fishing on one of the rivers in the

Central Provinces.

Having made all our preparations overnight, we leave our

bungalow one April morning whilst it is still dark, early enough to

arrive at the spot where we forsake the ‘ pukkha ’ road for the

cross-country track just as the day begins to break. There is now

sufficient light to pick our way carefully round or over any obstruc-

tion en route , and we reach the river just at sunrise to find our

shikari and a few other interested observers waiting to welcome

our arrival. Hastily putting our rod together, and securely

attaching the reel, we thread the line through the rod rings and tie

on one of the ‘ Lock Link-Springs ’ with a double sheet bend, or

some similar knot, ready for the cast. Then strolling towards the

river bank, but taking great care not to approach so near as to

frighten any fish that may be on the alert, and seeing that oiir atten-

dants do likewise , we take a cautious peep at the water and settle in

our mind the exact position from which we intend to launch our

attack.

As this is a fast-running piece of water, we send our shikari

a few yards upstream near the head of the ‘ run ’ and carefully

station ourselves behind a convenient bush from which we can

reach the tail end of the ‘ run ’ where it joins the pool below. We

next take out the gut cast from between the pieces of damp flannel

in which it has been soaking with the hook already attached, and,

FISHING IN THE RIVERS OF THE C. P.

709

pinching the gut loop, which is now soft and pliable, between

finger and thumb, thread on a couple of grains of grain and slip

them down the cast carefully over the eye of the hook until they

both lie evenly on the shank. We then attach the cast to the link

and are ready to commence operations.

The shikari has by this time thrown in a handful or so of gram

and the water in front of us is alive with ‘ rises ’, but we see nothing

very big. Never mind ! Give them half a minute or so longer and

another small handful. The larger fish have hardly had time yet to

realize that it is breakfast-time.

‘ By Jove ! That’s a whopper ! ! ’ we ejaculate, as our heart

jumps almost into our mouth at a magnificent rush and swirl just

at the tail of the run. Now we’ll have a try to persuade him that

our particular bit of gram is just the relish that he requires for

breakfast !

vStill crouching behind our bush we make a preliminary cast or

two in the air to get out the line and judge the distance, then make

our cast across the stream so as to let the gram alight quietly on

the water a yard or so upstream on the fish. We now let the stream

do the work of floating the gram down over him, lowering the point

of our rod slightly so as to avoid any upstream ‘ drag 5 on the bait

until it has passed the critical spot.

Nothing happens, however, and the line has now stretched out

to its full extent, and the bait is stationary, dragging against the

stream, so we make another cast as before.

‘ Ah ! that’s better ! ’ as, just after our gram alights for the

second time, there’s rush and a swirl, the line tightens, and off our

fish goes downstream into the pool, with the reel screaming, long

before we have any time to worry about the vexed question as to

whether we should or should not ‘ strike ’ him !

This appears to be a real good fish, so, beyond keeping a steady

strain on the line and the rod well up, we cannot do much more

than follow him downstream a bit and get him away from the

actual spot where we are fishing, telling the shikari to throw in

another handful of gram to distract the attention of the other fish

before he follows us with the landing net. So far we have made

no impression on our fish who is now some sixty or seventy yards

downstream in the still water of the pool below the ‘ run ’, and he

appears to have made up his mind to go down the next ‘ run ’

fifty yards or so further below.

We gaze anxiously at the line left on the reel as this rapidly

decreases and decide to slightly increase the pressure. This,

together with the weight of the line, has the desired effect, though

only just in time, as from a hasty glance at the reel we note that

but a very few yards remain. However he has stopped, and now

we must be ready to recover line at the very first opportunity.

For a few moments we can only reel in slowly as he is still

apparently anxious to continue his flight downstream, but at last he

allows himself to be persuaded to come upstream again. Now is

the time we appreciate the special large drum on the reel, as with-

out this, it would scarcely be possible to wind in rapidly enough to

keep a constant strain on the line, which we must do unless we

710 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

want to run a great risk of losing our fish. Even as it is, we find

it necessary to move upstream ourselves in order to prevent the

fish from approaching us too rapidly. Luckily now he makes for

the other bank which makes it easier for us to get on terms with

him, and we steadily recover line until we have only twenty yards

or so out. We guess, however, by the feel of him that we are not

going to land him just yet and, sure enough ! as soon as we reel

in a few more yards he catches sight of us and is off again down

the pool. This second rush, however, is neither so long nor deter-

mined as the previous effort, and we stop him again after about

fifty yards and recover the line as before. This happens two or

three more times, but each rush is distinctly taking it out of him

and we now feel he is very nearly ready for the net.

Selecting a spot, free, if possible, from snags, sharp-edged rocks,

or weeds, we send the shikari to the water’s edge, cautioning him,

if necessary, not to move about but to make himself as inconspi-

cuous as possible, and to hold the net ready and still , a few inches

under water so that we can tow the fish over it, and all he then has

to do is to raise it quietly when the fish is in position. We then

bring our victim up for the final act but as he views the net for the

first time, he makes a last despairing effort to break away. We

turn him, however, in a yard or so and this time he really is done

so, towing him gently over the net, the shikari gently raises this

and lifts him out on to the bank. As soon as we have extracted

the hook, we call for the spring balance and find we have caught

a fine fish weighing over 6 lbs., with which we are well content

as the result of our first effort for the day, so we light our pipe and

give the water a rest for five or ten minutes before a further

attempt.

Subsequently we resume operations with varying success, but

our first fish easily remains the best for the day as, indeed, we had

anticipated.

As it is now well after ten o’clock and the fish appear to have

finished feeding, we decide to adjourn for breakfast and then ‘ lie

up ’ through the heat of the day. After tea we propose to move

on to another baited spot on the same river a few miles distant.

Arriving at this latter place about 3.30 p.m., we find it to be water

of a type rather different to that in which we were fishing in the

morning. Here the water which has been baited is the tail of a

pool separated from another large pool below by a short narrow

‘ run ’ of only a few yards.

As the shikari tells us that we shall probably be more successful

in the tail of the upper pool rather than in the ‘ run ’ itself, we

decide to follow his advice and begin to consider how we shall

commence operations.

Instructing him to throw in a small handful of gram in the spot

which he considers the best, we watch the result. Almost as soon

as the gram has reached the water there is a regular ‘ boil ’, the

majority of the ‘rises’ being small, though there are some good

fish among them. A second small handful produces a similar

result but there are now considerably more large fish. We note,

however, that the latter are chiefly feeding on the gram that has

FISHING IN THE FIVERS OF THE G P.

711

fallen furthest away from the bank. As the water is unrippled and

the current is slow, we decide to fish slightly upstream especially

as there is a convenient patch of reeds about three feet high at the

edge of the bank, behind which we can comfortably kneel.

As soon as we are ready to cast we tell the shikari to throw in

another small handful in the same spot, and, carefully watching

him, we cast at the same time, dropping our baited hook among

his gram just on the spot where the bigger fish were rising a few

minutes ago. Another ‘ boil ’ follows and almost simultaneously

our rod bends nearly double and off goes our fish downstream

making for the ‘ run ’ below.

We put on all the pressure we dare as there is a small rock in

the middle of the ‘ run ’ and if our fish once passes down on the

further side of this, we may expect trouble. In spite of our efforts,

his rush is too strong and determined for us to check and down

through the ‘ run ’ he goes (of course on the wrong side of the

rock !), and we feel our line beginning to chafe against the sharp

edge of the obstruction.

If the fish had only decided to fight it out then and there in the

‘run’, the line would certainly have very quickly parted, but,

luckily for us, he continues his rush down into the pool below and

consequently, by running upstream a few yards, we are able to lift

the line clear over the rock which is, fortunately, only a foot or so

above the level of the water. It is now a very much simpler

matter to deal with him, and the tide of battle has quickly turned in

our favour for here it is all open water and no ‘ snags ’ so we can

afford to take our time without hurrying him. After a few minutes,

we tow him up to the net and find we have landed a nice little fish of

between three and four pounds.

We now light our pipes so as to give the fish a short rest, but

before many minutes the shikari, who had previously thrown in a

little gram as soon as the fish was hooked, is urging us on to

further efforts. At the next ‘ boil ’ we are unsuccessful, so as

there is still a certain amount of gram floating about; we sign to the

shikari not to give them any more for a time and we continue cast-

ing over any isolated rising fish, those furthest away in preference,

as they are probably the larger.

This is the time to keep one eye on our friend with the gram as

he is dying to throw in a handful with every alternate one of our

casts, which would certainly produce a number of ‘ boils ’ to start

with but would quickly put the fish off their feed.

However, by means of this independent casting, and also a few

judicious handfuls now and again, we manage to keep the fish on the

feed until it is time to go, when we find ourselves with quite a nice

little basket of fish ranging from 4 lbs. downwards. With this and our

morning catch we are well content, so taking down our rods we make

our way back to the motor shortly after sunset with a really healthy

thirst, looking forward in anticipation to the celebration of our

success with a ? drap of the cratur \ duly diluted with some of

those nice cool sodas hanging in the canvas bucket at the back of

the car which we know we shall find ready and awaiting our

arrival, thus bringing a fitting close to another perfect day !

712 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Whilst we are on the way home, if my reader is not too tired

out with the days’ excursion, I will pass the time in recounting a few

tips which are well worth remembering.

Care of Rods. Keep them hanging up in their cases, and always

see that the latter is thoroughly dry before putting them away for

the night.

When putting up a rod, start with the top joints first, but last ;

reverse the process when taking it down. Hold the joints by the

ferrules when fitting them together or taking them apart and ?iot

by the wood just above and below, otherwise you will strain them

badly after a time.

Do not grease the joints, but just wipe them over with a slightly

oily rag. This will keep them from sticking.

Care of Reels. If you have not a case for the reel, keep and carry

it in a small baize or ‘ drill ’ bag, which will exclude the dust and

dirt. When in use avoid resting the reel on any fine sand which

may get into the working parts. Take it to pieces occasionally

and clean it, giving the working parts a drop of fine machine oil.

Care of Line. Thoroughly dry the line before putting it away after

fishing. Many a line has been ruined by neglecting to do this.

Test the extreme end occasionally, and, if weak, cut off a few feet.

Cut Casts. Keep them in the dark and well wrapped up. They

will remain good for a long time if both air and light are excluded.

Soak them well before use. When fishing, it is a good plan to

carry a spare cast in a round tin between some wet pieces of flannel,

but take it out again on your return, otherwise the tin will rust and

the cast deteriorate. Whenever fixing on a cast, take a glance at

the loop at the head where you thread on the gram, and, if it is at

all cracked or frayed, cut it off and make a new loop.

Hooks. Keep a few spare hooks ready in one of those paper

‘ hook pocket cases ’ supplied by some firms. It is very easy to

make one up if you cannot get one as they are merely an open

envelope with three square flaps and one pointed, which latter fits

into a slot on the opposite side. The hooks are stuck into a small

strip of a cork glued on to the inside of the envelope.

If you keep on ‘ missing ’ fish, look at the point of your hook as

they occasionally get blunted on rocks. If necessary, touch it up

with a file, or replace it.

Weighing and Measuring fish. Carry a spring balance and a measur-

ing tape in your tackle box so that you may have an accurate

record of any good fish you may catch. Test them both occasion-

ally with standard weights and measures. If you have left your

spring balance behind, the following formula will usually give you

very nearly the true weight, in pounds, of a fish, if a mahseer : —

(no^eto/^'oftail} + * le^th) * <Girth>2

= Weight.

1000.

One final tip before we reach home, and this ought really to be

printed in red ink, but I fancy I hear the publisher talking about

extra expense and labour so will confine myself to heavily under-

lining the heading !

FISHING IN THE RIVERS OF THE C. P.

713

Doubtful Tackle. If you have the least doubt as to any part what-

soever of your tackle, condemn it, no matter whether it is rod,

reel, line, cast, hooks, or anything else ! If it is either of the first

two, leave it at home until you have sent it away for repair, if it is

worth it, but don't take it out with you on shikar. If any of the

remainder, break them up into little tiny pieces so that neither you

nor any of your borrowing pals may be tempted to try them just

once more and so lose, very possibly, the fish of the season ! This

is a well-known maxim, but is there a single one of us, brother

anglers, who has not at least one memorable occasion to regret

which would not have occurred had we followed the above rule ?

The above hints conclude my remarks on actual gram fishing

and all I will ask my reader to do now is to glance through these

few final paragraphs which he may find of help whilst he is

smoking his post-prandial cigar and pondering in his mind as to

when, where, and how he shall make his initial experiment in this

fascinating branch of sport, before he retires to dream of the cap-

ture of some of those monsters which we saw to-day turning over

in the pool below us, but who were far too wily even to look at the

most attractive baits which we could present.

Fishing with ‘ Atta \ I personally as a general rule use a ‘ medium’

gut cast and a moderate sized hook with a small hook lashed on

the shank of the larger with the barb pointing out the reverse way.

Mr. T. Latham, late I. P., who was a well-known fisherman in the

C. P., in an article in Journal No. 2 of the C. P. A. A. also recom-

mends two hooks, but these are both eyed hooks, and the smaller

of the two is threaded on loose above the larger, the

two eyes lying one over the other, the smaller hook

being just inside the top of the paste. He also re-

commends 4 killin ’ wire instead of gut, and I can

quite imagine that this is preferable where the fish

run big and the water is really heavy as in some

places of the Wainganga and Indravati rivers.

Before fishing with 4 atta’, bait with both 4 atta ’ and

gram previously. On arrival, get the fish on the

move with gram, then throw in some 4 atta ’ made

up into balls as large as marbles, until you see the

big fish moving, then cast your baited hook so that it drops

quietly down just where the fish are feeding.

Chilwa fishing. If the mahseer are not taking well, it is often

possible to spend quite an amusing hour or so in the evening by

putting on a small dark fly and fishing for chilwa which abound in

most of the C. P. rivers. Moreover, they are very good eating, and,

fried as whitebait, are far sweeter to the palate than is the mahseer.

Fresh=water Shark. [Wallago attu). Just at the beginning of the

rains when the water first begins to rise, and when all the small fry

are waiting below each little fall, is the time to try for these fish.

Use a moderate or small size spoon or natural bait (chilwa). These

fish are excellent eating.

Time of year for fishing. This varies considerably according to the

river. For those streams which drop quickly after the monsoon

probably October up to the middle of November is best.

714 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

During December and January it is apt to be too cold, and in

many places they will not take at this time. This, however, is not

a hard and fast rule, by any means, and I have heard of many good

fish being caught at Xmas camps, and it was at this season when the

largest fish recorded since the formation of the C. P. Angling

Association was caught. In many rivers which have a steady flow

of water all the year round, the cream of the fishing, particularly

gram fishing, is undoubtedly during the hot months, i.e., March up

to the end of May or early June, when the rains break. One

advantage of this fact is that it fills up a portion of the year when

there is not much other sport to be obtained. As regards the best

period of the day for fishing, the first two or three hours after day-

break and an hour or so before sunset are undoubtedly the best

times during the hot weather. In the cold weather the fish will not

move much until the sun has warmed things up a bit, and they will

stop feeding as soon as it gets chilly in the evening.

Now just a few words as to the fishing obtainable at the better

known stations in the C. P.

Jubbulpore. A good centre, and within easy reach of the Nerbudda

and several of its tributaries, including the Gaur, Temar and Hiran.

The latter, without a doubt, provides the best sport in this

district.

Nagpur and Kamptee. Within reach of both the Pench and Wain-

ganga. The latter is probably the best fishing river in the Provinces.

In the old days a fish of 60 lbs. is reputed to have been caught in

the R. Pench.

Saugor. There is some really good fishing to be had in this

district. The rivers Bewas, Bina, Betwa and Dhasan are all

within reach.

Pachmarhi. The fishing here is not of the best, but any number

of small mahseer and carp can be caught with a light rod and fine

tackle.

In addition to the above places there are a number of civil

stations such as Hoshangabad, Narsinghpur, Mandla, etc., where

excellent fishing may be obtained. Most of these are out of the

reach of military men unless on leave. I suppose the best district

of all is Chanda, in the south of the C. P., where all those fine

rivers, the Wainganga, Wardha, Pranhita, and Indravati eventually

meet in the R. Godaveri. This centre is, unfortunately, not easy

of access, but if leave can be obtained and an expedition arranged,

it should be well worth a visit.

In a general article such as this, and which is already, I fear,

rather protracted, it is impossible to describe in detail the various

localities situated on each river, but as a final word of advice I

would recommend all my brother anglers who may be residents in

the C.P., or who may be contemplating a visit to that part of the

country, to become members of the Central Provinces Angling

Association. (Headquarters, Jubbulpore.) The total cost of

joining the Association for out-station members (i.e. not resident

in Jubbulpore) is only the small sum of Rs. 9, and thereafter an

annual subscription of Rs. 2-8, in return for which they receive a

copy of the Journal which is published each year in September,

FISHING IN THE FIVERS OF THE C. P.

715

Members joining between January and September can always

obtain a copy of the previous year’s Journal on payment of Rs. 2,

if they are anxious to obtain information before the issue of the

Journal for that year. A full report of the work of the Association

is contained in this publication, and all the detailed information as

to the numerous fishing localities is brought up to date and published

each year. In addition to this, a series of articles of interest in

connection with angling and shikar appears in its pages. The

Association has now only been in existence for three years, but a

number of interesting reports and much valuable information,

which would otherwise have been lost to posterity, have already

been collected and placed on record.

I will now bid my reader an affectionate farewell, with the hope

that his perseverance in following me through so lengthy a

discourse may be rewarded by the capture of many a fine mahseer,

and that the results of his initial experiments of gram fishing may

be so satisfactory as to convert him into an enthusiastic follower

of this fascinating branch of angling.

My efforts will not then have been in vain !

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN TREES.

BY

E. Blatter, s.j., ph.d., f.l.s. and W. S. Millard, f.z.s.

Part V.

( With two coloiired plates , two black and white plates a?id 5 diagrams.')

( Continued from page 275 of this volume.)

The Scarlet Bell Tree.

Popular names : — Scarlet Bell Tree, Fountain Tree, Squirt Tree.

The terms ‘ Squirt ’ and 4 Fountain Tree * refer to the buds which

on pressure squirt their liquid contents in a watery jett.

Spathodea campanulata, Beauv. FI. D’Owar. I (1805) 47, tt. 27-28.

Bignonia family ( Bignoniaceae ).

The generic name Spathodea is derived from the Greek meaning

spathe in allusion to the spathe or ladel-like shape of the calyx.

The specific name campanulata describes the bell-shaped flowers.

The Spathodeas, of which there are two or three species, are hand-

some evergreen trees with large pinnate leaves, and very showy

orange-red or scarlet flowers.

Description : — This is one of the most glorious trees in Bombay

gardens. Tall and erect, it grows to a height of 70 feet. Although

a large tree in Bombay, it attains finer proportions in Bangalore

where it has not to contend against the high winds which prevail in

Bombay during the monsoon. In the drier areas the tree is

deciduous for a few weeks during

the hot weather but in the humid

climate of the west coast it remains

evergreen.

The tree has a large compound

leaf. It is odd-pinnate. The

leaflets or pinnae grow opposite

each other along the main axis

which ends in a terminal pinna.

There are from 9-19, smooth,

oval, abruptly pointed leaflets.

They have very short stalks and

bear from 2-3 fleshy glands at

the base. The shoots are velvety,

the young leaves somewhat hairy

beneath. During the cold weather

the velvety olive green buds appear

in huge clusters at the tips of

branches. They are close-packed,

curved over one another and form

a compact globular mass which

expands into a great panicle of

lovely erect blooms, crowning the

Tourn. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate 9

JohnBale.Sons &.Damelsson,L*.^ London

The Scarlet-Bell Tree.

Spathodea campanulata , Beauv.

(2/5 nat. size.)

Jouen. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Plate IX.

1. The Scarlet-Bell Tree

(Spathodea campanulata). 2. Flowers of the Scarlet Bell Tree

Victoria Gardens, Bombay. ( Spathodea campanulata).

Some beautiful Indian trees

m

tree with a blaze of orange and crimson. Its vivid beauty compels

attention. From its curving, boat-shaped calyx the flower emerges

as a short tube which abruptly expands into a wide bell some

4" long. The lobes of

its petals are oval in

shape and somewhat

wavy. Externally the

flower is orange at the

base, deepening rapidly

into brilliant crimson.

It is edged with a fine

yellow margin. Within,

it is a rich yellow cup

heavily streaked with

red. The 4 yellow,

protruding stamens are

capped with pendant

brown anthers. At the

base of the style is the

oblong papillose ovary

containing ovules packed

in several rows.

The fruit is a smooth,

woody, oblong, lance-

shaped capsule, pointed at both ends. The seeds are elliptic,

broadly winged. The trees do not produce seed in Bombay and

very rarely do so in Ceylon.

Flowering Season : — In Ceylon the trees flower throughout the wet

season. In Bombay chiefly during the cold weather, particularly in

February and March. Some individuals during the rains.

Distribution : — -The Scarlet Bell Tree is a native of tropical

Africa. It was introduced into Ceylon in 1873. There seems to be

no record of when it was introduced into India.

Gardening : — For scenic planting in extensive grounds this is

one of the finest trees in the country. Clusters of these trees make

the expansive lawns of the Willingdon Club radiant during the cold

weather. The tree thrives well up to an altitude of 4,000 feet and

is suited to districts where the rainfall is not too great. It can

easily be propagated from root suckers which appear freely round

the base of the tree.

The Rusty Shield-Bearer.

Popular names : — Rusty Shield-Bearer. Iya-Vakai (Tamil).

Peltophorum ferrugineum, Benth. FI. Austral. II, 279. Family.

Ccesalpiniacece.

Peltophorum , derived from the Greek, means shield-bearing in

allusion to the shape of the pods which cover the tree after the

flowering season. Ferrugineum , meaning rusty, describes the

colour of the pods and tender shoots.

Description : — A large, handsome tree growing from 40-80 feet in

7 is JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXI Y

height. It has a smooth grey bark and a spreading crown of many

branches. The feathery mimosa-like leaves add to its handsome

appearance- The leaves are twice abruptly pinnate. They consist

of a main axis or rhachis from 6"

to a foot in length along which are

arranged some 6-20 pairs of pinnae,

each bearing about 20-30 close-set,

stalkless leaflets. Deep green in

colour the leaflets are oblong in

shape, notched at the apex and

unequal-sided. They are smooth

above, almost leathery in texture

and covered with slight down on

the under surface. In December

there is a sprinkling of yellow

leaves among the foliage of many

of the trees in Bombay. Leaf fall

then commences and continues

through January and, though never

completely denuded, by the end of

the month the trees look ragged

and untidy. The young leaves

come out in early February. The

trees are mantled in the tenderest

green. In a week or two the

colour changes to deep green.

About mid-February rust-red,

upright shoots covered with

downy hair spring up at the tips

of the branches. They grow rapidly

and some become quite conspicuous.

They develop into many branched

sprays bearing a profusion of bright

yellow flowers. Crowned in their

abundance of blooms the trees are

a wonderful sight. The ground

below them is carpeted with fallen

blossoms. The flower is cupped in a

coppery -red, downy calyx. Its wavy,

yellow petals are inversely oval in

shape, hairy at the base and much

crinkled about the margins. Its ten

free stamens are clothed with dense

tufts of hairs at the base and crowned

with golden yellow anthers. The

style is long and thread-like. The

copper-red pods cover the tree in pro-

fusion. They are particularly conspi-

cuous during leaf fall. The pods are

oblong, flat, very thin and hard,

narrowed at both ends and closely

veined. They grow from 2-4"

Joukn. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate 10.

JohnBale,Sons &. Danielsson.L1^ London

The Rusty Shield- Bearer.

Peltophorum ferrugineum . Benth.

f'/2 nat. size.)

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Plate

The Busty Shield-Bearer ( Peltopliorum ferrugineum) .

Trees growing in the vicinity of the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay.

SOME BEAUTIFUL INDIAN TREES

719

in length by about an inch in breadth. The seeds are

brown.

Flowering Season : — In Bombay the flowering season commences

in March, reaches its height in April and continues through May.

Some trees come into flower later

and are in full bloom during June.

Alongside trees in full flower there

are others in ripe fruit. There is a

second blooming in September which

is carried through October and

November. Individual trees will be

found in flower late in December.

Distribution : — The tree is a native

of Ceylon, the Andamans, the Malay

Peninsula and Archipelago and N.

Australia.

Gardening : — 'Much cultivated for

ornament. A large number of these

trees have been planted alternately

with Gul Mohur ( Poinciana regia) trees

on Hughes Road in Bombay. In

April and May they make a wonderful

blaze of colour, their bright yellow

crowns contrasting with the scarlet

heads of the Gul Mohurs. The tree is

easily propagated from seed, the seed

pods being freely produced.

Uses : — The timber is much in request for cabinet work (Hill).

It is blackish, the sapwood white, coarse, fibrous, light. (Kurz

Forest Florae of Burma.)

(To be continued)

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS.

BY

Hugh Whistler, f.z.s., m.b.o.u.

Part VI.

( With a plate and two text fig tires.)

{Continued from page 290 of this volume.)

Some external characteristics of a Bird.

Colour aiion.

In the preceding articles of this series we have examined some

of the physical characteristics of a bird and their correlation with

the needs of a bird’s life. Now I propose to point out some of the

interesting aspects of the colouration and details of their plumage

and give some idea of the lines on which these can be studied and

what there is to learn from them. The aspects of the question are

two-fold, namely the plumage and colouration themselves and their

connection with habitat.

As a starting point I think we have to take it as certain that there

is some reason behind every detail of the pattern of a bird’s

plumage. In looking through the galleries of a museum and seeing

the fascinating diversity of the birds in the cases, one unconsciously

asks the question ‘ Why (and “ why ” is perhaps the most valuable

word of all in a naturalist’s vocabulary) should birds be so varied

and so beautiful — why is one bird green, another blue, a third with

a varied pattern in browns and blacks ? ’ The unimaginative mind

is sometimes apt to reply that it is all a matter of chance, that the

bird has to be some colour and so the colours are varied just for

variety and nothing more. This of course is a fallacy. A bird

is not bound to be some colour. It might just as well, from that

point of view, be without colour. Everything is colourless unless

something or someone provides it with colour. So as the birds

have been provided with colours, like every other class in nature,

the complete biologist must take notice of the fact and see what

explanations lie behind it.

The way in which the actual colour of a feather is produced,

either by pigment or structure or a combination of the two is fairly

well known and a brief account of this has already been given

(vol. xxxiii, p. 322). Similarly the colouring of bare skin and the

horny coverings of beak and legs and the colour of a bird’s iris are

known to be due to the presence of actual pigments.

Several points require to be mentioned in this connection. There

has been for many years a controversy as to whether an individual

feather once grown can change in colour. By this, of course I do

not mean a mere question of fading and bleaching which is practi-

cally universal in old and worn feathers ; but whether a definite

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS

721

change of pigment can take place. At one time it was very widely

believed that such a change was possible. Book after book will be

found to contain statements to the effect that such and such a species

changes into summer dress without a moult but by a change of

colour in the feathers.

At the present day most of the supposed cases have been defi-

nitely disproved, and it is very doubtful indeed whether such a

change of pigment is possible once the feather is fully grown.

Those who still believe that it is possible, use our Indian minivets

( Pericrocotus ) as an example, referring to the change of the young

males from yellow to red. It is an interesting point and one to

which observers in India might well direct their attention.

It must be clearly understood that, on the other hand, there is no

doubt that the pigment and colour of a growing feather can

be affected, usually by abnormal conditions of food. The stock

instance of this is what is known as ‘ colour feeding ’ for captive

birds. All bird fanciers know that the richness of a canary’s colour

can be affected by the addition of saffron to its food, whilst over-

feeding with hemp will make a Bullfinch dusky. It is possible that

other factors besides food, enter into the changes of colour in captive

birds, such as lack of exercise or possibly change of climate. Red

is a colour particularly liable to suffer in captivity, when it is often

replaced by yellow.

A very interesting example of this came under my own notice

and the skin of the bird in question is now in my own collection.

The Scarlet or Sepoy Finch {Hcematospiza sipahi ) of the Eastern

Himalayas is well known as one of our brightest Indian birds,

the adult male being entirely red except for the concealed parts

of the wings and tail.

A male in full plumage was brought to England in 1907. At its

first moult in England the plumage became mottled, some of the

red being replaced by yellow. At the next moult the red was

entirely replaced by yellow, and yellow was regularly assumed

at each moult until the autumn of 1922. In that year it es-

caped in the first days of August and was recaptured in November.

In the interval of liberty it had undergone, the moult and the

original red colour had been restored. At the following moult

the yellow colour of captivity returned and was retained until

the bird died in the spring of 1927.

Care must be taken not to confuse the question of change of

pigment in a feather with the change of the apparent colour of a

feather due to wear. The Buntings (Emleriza) for instance, have a

definitely different winter and summer plumage, and the change

between them is effected without a moult. There is no change of

pigment. It is simply a question of wear. If we examine a fresh,

autumn specimen of the White-capped Bunting ( Emberiza stewarti ),

for instance, we shall find that the whole of the colours and pattern

of the summer plumage are present, but all the feathers are fringed

with another colour. These fringes catch the eye and conceal the

pattern beneath, greatly changing the appearance of the bird. As

winter progresses normal wear removes the fringes of the feathers

revealing the underlying pattern. In fact it would be possible with-1

8

722 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

care and skill and a pair of scissors for anyone to turn an autumn

specimen into full summer plumage. The extent of the change

thus possible is often very startling. Compare specimens of the

Common Rose-finch (Carpodacus erythrinus roseatns ) shot down in

Southern India in winter with others from the Himalayas in summer

and it is difficult to believe that the plumage has not been moulted.

How far objective structural colours, i.e., those due to a combi-

nation of pigment with a special structure of the super-imposed

colourless parts, can be changed by wear is not very clear. But

the way in which the green feathers of a Bee-eater ( Merops ) tend

to turn blue when worn, is presumably an example of such a

change.

The question of the development of pattern is far more difficult ;

and pattern naturally falls under two headings, the pattern of the

single feather and the pattern of the bird as a whole. But it must

be remembered that the general impression of the colouration of a

bird is the sum total of the colouration of all the uncovered parts of

the feathers. Cross-barred feathers, for instance, cannot give the

general impression of a striated bird.

Now it does not require a great deal of acquaintance with birds’

feathers to realize that individual feather patterns tend to fall into

three main types

(a) the whole coloured or self-coloured feather.

(b) the shaft-streaked.

(c) the cross-barred.

There are other types, such as the spotted and the particoloured,

but they are far less common and many of them are easily seen to

be nothing more than modifications and combinations of the three

main types.

The self-coloured feather does not require elaboration, beyond the

self-evident statement than an equal dispersal of pigment or equal

modification of structure throughout the growth of the feather must

produce this type of colouration. The streak and the bar are harder

to explain, but the key to an explanation appears to lies in a common

defect in feathers well-known to falconers under the name of

‘ hunger-mark ’. Most of us are familiar with this defect which

appears as if a knife had been drawn across the vane of a feather

from edge to edge, bruising but not cutting through the substance

in a straight line. This ‘hunger-mark’ or ‘fault-bar’ is simply

due to malnutrition of the feather at the particular moment in its

growth. It is explained much in this way. The feather during its

growth is supplied with pigments from proteins in the blood or in

the formative cells of the feather. The quantity available will

naturally vary with the food supply. Reduced food means reduced

blood pressure ; while the rapid rate at which a feather grows and

the disadvantageous position of the barbules with reference to the

blood means that they are perhaps the first part of the bird to feel

the effect of the malnutrition, however temporary it may be. Fresh

food immediately corrects the temporary malnutrition and the blood

pressure, but the feather has continued its rapid growth with the

minute flow in every barbule which can never be rectified. This

shows as the ‘ hunger-mark ’.

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS

723

Now it is suggested that barred feathers are to be explained in

much the same way, that the dark bars represent growth at full

blood pressure when the maximum amount of pigment is produced in

the growing feather, and that the light bars represent periods of

reduced blood pressure. It is known that blood pressure is

normally low at night and it is thought therefore that the dark and

light bars' in a barred feather represent the rhythm of growth in

alternate day and night. An interesting point regarding barred

feathers may well be mentioned here. The pigment in a feather

has evidently a strengthening effect, for in barred feathers,

particularly for instance those of the waders— birds exposed to the

greatest effects of weather, the pale bar wears more quickly than

the dark bar, giving as a result a serrated edge to the worn

feather.

The longitudinal shaft-streak, whether in its simplest form of a

dark shaft to the feather or its most complete form of a dark feather

with a pale edge (and of course vice-versa in both cases) is doubt-

less capable of some equivalent explanation.

The extent of elaboration of which such a fundamental type of

colouring is capable, is seen in the ‘ eye ’ of the magnificent train

of the familiar, yet gorgeous Peacock ( Pavo cristatus). With all its

effects of shading and irridescence, it is certainly one of the most

elaborate feather patterns known, yet every stage in its evolution

from a simple short shaft-streak may be traced in the plumage of a

single bird.

There has been some controversy as to whether the streaked or

cross-barred plumage is the older style of plumage in a bird.

Those who urge the latter rely on the inteimittent deposition of

pigment in a feather as probably the oldest and simplest form of

producing pattern. The advocates of the streaked or striped

plumage, on the other hand, point to the prevalence of this type of

colouration in the downy young of several very widely-separated

orders as evidence that it is a very ancient stage.

There is no reason to believe that the Grebes are even remotely

related to the Ostriches, yet the nestlings of these two groups

display a precisely similar style of colouration — light longitudinal

stripes on a dark ground — totally unlike the adult plumages.

Striping in the downy plumage of the young also runs through

other families, the plovers and waders, the gulls, the game birds,

etc. It is undoubtedly a very ancient type of colouration, probably

tending to be preserved as it is of protective value to the young.

Spots are undoubtedly akin to stripes, spots sometimes tending to

coalesce and form stripes, or to stripes being broken up and pro-

ducing spots.

A comparatively slight knowledge of birds is sufficient to show

the student that the plumage of birds as a whole tends to fall into

definite types of pattern ; by this I mean that one is familiar with a

dark cap, a superciliary streak, a white throat, a wing bar, a rump

patch, various tail patterns as details that run through all the

orders of birds, often in familiar combinations. There must be

some explanation as to the origin of these recurring paterns, and

one has been suggested by Glover M. Allen in a very interesting

nC JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

article in the American Naturalist Vol. xlviii (1914), p. 385 et'seq .

His ideas may be briefly summarized as follows. His investiga-

tions applied equally to mammals and birds.

The simplest form of colouration is probably that in which the

whole external surface of a bird or mammal is practically self-

coloured. In its primitive or at any rate unspecialized form, this

colouration is usually greyish or brownish, and it is usually pro-

duced by the association of two or three pigments.

A pattern can be developed from this unspecialized colouration

in two ways. There may be local changes in the relationships of

the associated pigments, so that different groupings of the pig-

ments produce different colours, or there may be a failure to

produce any pigment at all in certain areas so that patches of white

appear.

A practical illustration of the first method of differentiation may

be looked for in two directions : (1) in dimorphic birds such as the

owls where the red phase that runs through nearly all species (and

is so familiar to us in India in the Scops Owl ( Otus sunia) is pro-

bably due to the absence or reduction of a pigment found in the

grey forms ; (2) in large groups of closely-related birds with recur-

rent types of colouration such as some of the parrots and fruit

pigeons. Here the colouration of one species will be found to

include patches which contain the complementary colours of similar

patches in other species.

Now both methods of pattern producing, viz., regroupings of

pigments and loss of pigment, may be found at the same time in

one individual, giving rise, of course, to a variety of colours in the

plumage. The method of dispersal of these colours has been

suggested by Allen.

His idea is, and it is based originally on Professor Castle’s study

of variegated guinea-pigs, whose monotone ancestors are still

abundant in a wild state in South America, that there are definite

areas of the body which though contiguous, are independent of

each other in their pigment-producing activity ; that is, in short,

that the pattern is produced from a number of independent centres,

which are fixed.

There is no need to recapitulate the arguments by which he

arrives at his results, but he defines five, paired pigment areas on the

body of a bird or mammal and a single unpaired area on the

forehead. Each area has a definite centre from which pigment

disperses ; when the centres are fully developed the animal is

completely pigmented ; when none is developed, the animal is an

albino. When the centre is only partly developed, the unpigment-

ed portion remains white. Now it must be remembered that the

argument is based on a study of domesticated animals — dogs, cows,

horses, mice, ducks, etc., — in which colour is not stable. In translat-

ing the theory to terms of stable colouration in wild species, we

have got to understand that the dispersal of pigment in the pigment

areas (then known as ‘pattern’) has been fixed like any other

heritable characteristic by natural selection. That it has not been

immutably fixed is shown by the constant individual variation that

we find in a species, and the great individual variation that we find

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS

725

in patches of white, such as the speculum of a shrike, is greatly in

favour of the theory.

The arrangement of the

pigment areas in a bird is

best seen in the accompany-

ing figure. It will be re-

membered of course that

long feathers must be consi-

dered in terms of origin of

their bases and the modifying

influence of pterylosis

(arrangement of feather

tracts) must also be borne in

mind.

According to Allen’s theo-

ries, pigmented colouration

and the resulting pattern

starts independently in each

of these centres. Where

strong, it covers the whole

centre ; where weak, the paler

portions are on the periphery,

in extreme cases being albi-

nistic. Such a white patch is

termed a ‘ primary break.’

It is well known that contrasting patches of colour in a bird’s

plumage tend to follow very similar lines, even in quite unrelated

families. The presence of a pale supercilium, a dark stripe through

the eye, a moustachial streak, a pale rump patch, pale outer tail

feathers are recurring details that immediately occur to the mind.

Study the diagram of Allen’s pigment centres and you will observe

how these recurrent types of pattern agree with his theory that

pale patches occur at the limits of the pigment centres, remember-

ing of course that the boundaries extend to a central ventral line on

the bird.

In Fig. 2 we have a side view of a bird’s head with the divisions

marked in by dotted lines. It will be at once seen that the super-

ciliary stripe occurs along the junction of two areas, ending where

they end. A moustachial streak coincides with the junction of the ear

patch and the neck patch. A pale forehead patch and a pale chin

(two equally common features) represent the extremities of their

respective pigment areas. The pale circle of feathers round the

eye in some species would represent an extremity area within the

ear-patch. A white rump patch is considered as representing a

junction of the pale extremeties of the two dorsal patches, which

at their other extremeties produce a pale abdominal patch.

As examples of how pattern is produced by primary breaks,

Allen quotes two familiar birds, the Mallard ( Anas plaiyrhyncha)

and the Cotton-Teal (Nettopus coromandelianus). The white ring round

the neck of a mallard drake is a primary break between the neck

and the shoulder patch, a crystalized patch of incipient albinism in

other words. In the Cotton-Teal this albinism has advanced to such

coronal

Fig. 1. Distribution of pigment

centres in a bird.

726 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI V

an extent that merely a little pigment is left, giving the effect of a

white neck with a black ring. In this bird the black crown patch is

fully pigmented and defined, the albinism having covered the

whole of the ear-patches. The instability of white in the neck

patches of the A?iatid<z is evident from several species of geese.

Attractive as such theories are, too much reliance must not be

placed on any one of them alone. The whole of Nature is domi-

nated by a net work of interlacing causes and results, and a theory

Fig. 2. Head of a bird to show how pigment centres affect pattern.

of pigment dispersal to form patterns, however true, must be also

subordinate to the needs of other dominant factors. For instance, a

pattern produced by primary breaks of white patches must have or

have had a definite survival value. It must not be inimical to the

species by making it too conspicuous and prejudicing its chances of

safety unless some other factor like intelligence allows it to be

conspicuous with impunity as in the case of ravens and swans.

The aesthetic values of sexual display, the influence of climate and

terrain and a host of other considerations war together for their

influence on this and every other aspect of a bird’s life.

That the colour patterns of a bird’s plumage have been deve-

loped gradually, does not admit of doubt. Once we admit the

development of the bird from the reptile, the development of

plumage and of the multifarious patterns that we see around us

follows automatically. Whilst many species let us see the lines

which it has followed.

Such examples fall under three main headings —

(1) In some species, such as the Gulls ( Larus ), although in the

adult the sexes are alike, each individual passes through a number

of definite stages from the immature to the fully adult plumage.

(2) In some species, such as many of the Redstarts ( Phceni -

curus) and the Rose-Finches ( Carpodacus ), the adult male and female

are unlike, but the male reaches his adult plumage through the

female plumage. That is to say in his own person he recapitulates

the stages of plumage development of the species. In such cases

both sexes pass through a similar juvenile plumage and then

assume a second plumage in which both are absolutely alike. The

THE STUDY OF 1 ND1 AN BIRDS

727

female remains at this stage, the male finally assumes a special

breeding plumage ; this may be retained permanently or in some

cases, such as the Weavers (Ploceus), merely for the duration of each

breeding season.1

(3) In some families and genera such as the Orioles ( Oriolida )

and Paradise Flycatchers ( Terpsephone ) different species may

recapitulate in their peculiar plumages the stages of development

reached by the group as a whole. In other words the immature

plumage of one species is the mature plumage of another. A very

striking example of this is also found amongst our Indian Cuckoos

where the Banded Bay Cuckoo (. Penthoceryx sonneratti) remains,

when adult, in a plumage virtually the same as the immature

plumages of the other Cuckoos ( Cuculus and Cacomantis).

Now insects and birds share this in common, that they are the

creatures of intensest life and of most intense colouration and there

is possibly some connection between the two facts. For bright

colours may have something to do with rapidity of metabolism,

that is, they may be the waste — or rather by-products of intense

living. We are accustomed to think only of colour and pattern in

external terms, their effects on the visual perception of others.

But the possibility of other meanings of colour, such as metabolism,

is evident from cases amongst the mollusca where the brightest

irridescent colours are often found on inner surfaces that never see

the light at all during the possessor’s life-time. It is a platitude

that the most gorgeous birds are the product of tropical countries,

and this is ultimately due to temperature. Just as the steaming

jungles of the prehistoric world produced a grossness of size and

form amongst the prehistoric monsters, so do the tropical countries

of to-day produce a luxuriance of food and heat and light which

express their super-abundance in the plumage of the birds under

their influence ; there are waste-products to spare and use in direc-

tions that to the human, and probably also the avian eye mean

beauty rather than utility.

It is of course well-known that there is a direct connection

between all living creatures and their environment. The general

lines of the agreement are well known, and in numberless species,

it is expressed by their division into geographical races or sub-spe-

cies. It is for this reason that the sub-species of Indian birds follow

fairly-defined lines. Himalayan species, as a rule, have an eastern

and western race, meeting about Nepal, the eastern race being

generally darker and smaller. In the Indo-Gangetic plain there

may be eastern and western races, the eastern race again being

smaller and darker. The Peninsula is generally responsible for a

richly-coloured race, grading into the eastern Indo-Gangetic race on

the one hand, and the Cingalese race on the other. Humid areas

produce dark birds, desert areas pale birds. North and west enlarge,

south and east dwarf their birds.

The reason why this should be so, is fairly self-evident, as we see

the same connection all over the world in all classes of Nature.

1 The theories regarding the development of special male plumages will be

noticed in a later chapter.

728 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

The ultimale causes are temperature and humidity affecting and

working through numerous factors that directly and indirectly

affect the living creature, be it man, animal, bird or insect.

Now this point cannot be considered apart from the great and

oft-debated subject of * Protective colouration a most engrossing

theory which has probably been far too strongly insisted upon and

which has undoubtedly in consequence obscured an appreciation of

the true explanation of many aspects of colouration and pattern.

This theory must be considered here at some length.

The basic point of the theory of Protective Colouration is very

easy to understand— that a living creature, be it bird or animal or

insect, is coloured (and sometimes colouration is aided by form and

behaviour as well) in such a way as to blend with its surround-

ings and so escape the notice of its enemies. It is accounted

for by that evolutionary progress known as natural selection. A

simple example to make this clear, is afforded by a moth.

Many species of moths are accustomed to spend the hours of day-

light resting with wings outspread on the trunk of a tree. Their

wings are so coloured that they blend absolutely with the surface on

which they rest, and an untrained human eye is unable to see

them until a chance movement makes them take to flight. The

resemblance of the moth to the tree trunk is often very striking,

reproducing apparently the lichens or fungi on the trunk or the fur-

rows of the bark. The moth at rest on the correct surface is invis-

ible, or more correctly speaking its identity is temporarily merged

with that of the trunk. About the fact there is no doubt. Two

questions however emerge : is the moth conscious of the resem-

blance and does it deliberately profit by it ? and how was the re-

semblance originated ?

Now this example, albeit a very perfect one, is a very simple

one. The forms of Protective Colouration recorded are very abun-

dant and often very complicated and often depend for their success

on curious and complicated behaviour on the part of the wearer. In

our example however a very simple theory appears to explain the

facts. The theorist says that the species in question adopted the

habit of resting on tree trunks ; every individual of the species

varies very slightly. In generation after generation these varia-

tions were worked on by Natural Selection ; that is to say that the

individual whose wings resembled the trunk, was less likely to be

eaten by the wandering tit or spider than the one whose colour was

a trifle more conspicuous. The .survivor transmitted his charac-

teristics ; the moth whose colour was conspicuous, did not survive

to hand his characters on to another generation. A similar prun-

ing process eliminated the individuals who perched elsewhere than

on tree trunks. The final result is seen in the perfect resemblance,

variations fronTwhich are still being ruthlessly cut away by NatUre.1

Here there is no need to suppose that the moth is conscious of its

disguise. The habit and mode of life of the species has unconscious-

ly developed the disguise which as unconsciously profits it.

1 It is only fair to remark here that many students deny the possibility of the

inheritance of variation.

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS

729

Stated in simple terms like this, the theory of Protective Coloura-

tion as produced by Natural Selection is very satisfactory and

very fascinating. The enthusiastic believer immediately starts on

the quest for more examples and finds them on every side in every

degree of development and perfection. That there is a great deal

of truth in the theory can, I think, hardly be doubted. But an exa-

mination of the facts shows that too much weight must not be placed

upon it.

Protective Colouration, according to the believers in the theory

must be considered under three forms ; —

(1) Obliterative Colouration.

(2) Protective Colouration proper.

(3) Mimicry of other species.

Obliterative Colouration is certainly the most universal of the

three and yet it is the least often recognized and stressed ; but it

will be more readily appreciated by the student in the post-war

world than by those who worked at the beginning of this century.

Its aim is not to imitate surroundings but to destroy shape and sub-

stance ; to cut up the figure of the bird or insect so that the ob-

server sees not a bird, but a series of disconnected colours which

convey no message to the brain in the general blend of colours and

lights that make up any foreground. An easy example is the Red-

wattled Lapwing (. Lobivanellus indicus ), the well-known ‘ Did-he-do-it *

of Anglo-India. Stand a specimen on a museum shelf and you will

think what a conspicuously coloured bird it is ; stand it in the varied

lights and shades and objects of its habitat and so long as the bird

is motionless your eye will pass over it a dozen times before

your brain realizes its presence. It is the principle of dazzle-

painting.

:: Protective Colouration proper is the best-known form of all in

which the bird, the egg or the chick resembles the surroundings of

its habitat or some object in them. It too is very common.

All our Indian Nightjars ( Caprimulgus ) afford most perfect exam-

ples of this type of colouration. In each species the same type

of pattern runs with slight individual modifications. The colour

is a mixture of greys and browns, diversified with black and buff

markings, so that the plumage of the bird exactly harmonizes with the

surface of bare dry ground and the vegetable rubbish that lies upon

it. The Nightjar spends the hours of daylight— for it is in habits a

nocturnal bird — dozing on the ground and it blends so perfectly with

its surroundings that it is almost invisible. As if conscious of the

perfection of its disguise it is very loath to move, only spring-

ing up into the air when the observer is almost upon it. On the

ground it sits motionless, never travelling on its feet. Some

species live in the open, others in forests and the majority in scrub

jungle, but the colouration suits all types of ground and is modified

in connection with them.

So far as I am aware, none of our Indian Nightjars nor the allied

Frogmouths ( Podargi ) support the implications of their plumage by

any specialized behaviour. But in Trinidad there is a curious

Nightjar ( Nyctibius griseus) whose nesting habits were described

with photographs in the Ibis 1925, p. 654, et seq . This bird places

730 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , XXXIV

its solitary egg in the decayed stump of a tree, where a small hollow

just holds the egg. The bird broods the egg sitting in a perpendi-

cular position, the head held stiffly upwards, the tail straight

downwards pressed against the outer surface of the trunk. In this

position the markings blend with the stump so that the perpendi-

cularly sitting bird (and it will be remembered that most Nightjars

brood in a normal horizontal attitude) becomes a continuation of

the stump. To heighten the delusion, the bird draws in the skin of

the gullet and keeps the large dark eyes all but shut, peering out

through a mere slit between the lids. Here colouration is reinforced

by behaviour.

Such a reinforcement is not uncommon. Well-known examples

are found in the case of the Wryneck ( lynx torquilla) which writhes

its head and neck in a snake-like manner agreeing well with the

snake-like markings on their upper surface, and in the Little Bitterns

( Ixobrynchus ) which are said to stand motionless in a reed bed with

head, neck and beak pointing stiffly upwards so that the long-pointed

shape and the streaked markings of those parts blend with the

surrounding reeds.

The third form of mimicry is most familiar amongst insects but a

few cases are believed to occur amongst birds. In this form of

colouration one species resembles another species very closely and

the explanation given is that it derives some advantage from being

mistaken for that species. For instance an edible butterfly of one

family may be practically indistinguishable in appearance from an

inedible butterfly of another family, inedible that is from its bitter

taste.1

The standard examples of this mimicry in birds are found in the

family of the Cuckoos ( Cuculidcz ). In India we have two perfect

examples in the Drongo-Cuckoo ( Surniculus lugubris) which can

easily be mistaken for a King-Crow or Black Drongo ( Dicrurus

macrocercus) and in the Hawk-Cuckoos ( Hierococcyx ). In the latter,

not only do the adults resemble, in build and plumage, hawks, but

their juvenile plumage also resembles the juvenile plumage of

hawks.

These three types of colouration might easily be illustrated with

a wealth of examples which would make most fascinating reading.

Imaginative writers, amongst them numbered several well-known

names, have dilated on the benefit to the cuckoos of the mimicry

when laying their eggs in other birds’ nests, but unfortunately such

accounts cannot be accepted by any one who knows in life the

species concerned.

The primary consideration in examining the theory of Protective

Colouration is to ask oneself the nature of the dangers against

which colouration has been evolved to protect the wearer. The

danger in such cases must have been from some living enemy, not

an inanimate one, and it must have been fairly constant or it could

scarcely have had any evolutionary value. In many instances, of

1 There are however grave difficulties in the way of the acceptance of this

explanation of mimicry in butterflies as Professor Punnet has shown in hi§

interesting book on the subject,

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS

731

course, the enemy may have been of a type no longer of importance

in the life-economy of a species. The first point to insist on, is the

elimination of the human element. It is impossible to believe that

man has had much influence on the evolution of Protective Coloura-

tion. These changes took place at a period in the world’s history

when man was far from dominant in the world as he is now. Man

himself was in a very primitive stage, hunted as much as a hunter,

and with a brain very deficient in reasoning power. His numerical

abundance was far less than it is to-day. In the dense tropical

forests and the deserts where so many of the finest examples of

Protective Colouration occur, man is still fairly negligible.

The birds of the desert are commonly cited, as a class, as one

of the outstanding examples of Protective Colouration. What are

their enemies against which their colour is presumed to be a

protection ? Man there as an enemy is negligible, until he provides

himself with a gun or a trap. The gun or even the bow and arrow

is too modern to count. Colour never saved anything from an in-

animate trap. Mammals, other birds, snakes and possibly lizards

appear the only potential enemies in the desert. Yet I do not feel

that colour was evolved as a defence against any of them, and they

in their turns also wear the desert livery. The mammal hunts as

much by smell as sight. The bird of prey has far too keen an eye-

sight to be deceived by sandy colouration if the bird is moving. And

if the bird is still, its colour is negligible. Any field naturalist and

sportsman knows how little notice a wild thing pays to a stationary

object, however little it assimilates with its surroundings. Snakes

and Lizards may be serious enemies to eggs and young, but can

scarcely be of dominant importance to the volant bird.

Now it is extremely probable that the term Protective Colouration

is an entire misnomer as applied to the sandy-coloured forms of

Desert life. Dr. P. A. Buxton has examined the whole question in

his interesting book on ‘ Animal Life in Deserts ,’ pointing out,

amongst other difficulties, that the alleged Protective Colouration is

common amongst many insects and mammals that either live

underground or are entirely nocturnal, circumstances that would

certainly rob their colour of any value ; that numerous desert

creatures are not protectively coloured at all, as for instance, several

beetles that are deep black and various wheatears which are conspi-

cuously pied black and white.

The most conclusive argument is, however, supplied by the small

mammals. It is a fact that desert species and sub-species differ

from their near relatives from other environments just as much in

their pale ventral surface as at their buff or sandy backs. The pale

ventral surface is often more enlarged up the flanks of a desert

mammal than it is in its relatives from other environments. This

paleness of parts of the animal which cannot normally be seen even

extends to the soles of the feet. The soles of the feet of desert

door-mice, to quote from Sumner, are nearly or quite lacking in

pigment, while those of mice from the more humid coastal regions

vary from purplish to nearly black.

It is much more probable that the explanation of the sandy

colouration of desert creatures must be sought elsewhere, either

732 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

due in some way to dessication or the reverse of the well-known

fact that humidity produces an excess of pigment and therefore

darker colouration, or to some quality of what for want of a better

name may be called natural photography. By this, I mean a certain

sensitiveness of the pigments to their surroundings, the key to

which may be sought in the reflex actions of the chameleon whose

colours change according to its immediate environment. Such a

change would not be inimical to the species, in fact in numberless

independent cases, it would prove of definite value and so would be

encouraged by those factors of evolution which alone would not

have been potent to produce it.

Just as Desert-forms are quoted by the keen evolutionist as

outstanding examples of Protective Colouration, so are Alpine and

Polar species regarded by him as another manifestation of the same

cause and effect. And very fascinating it is to connect a white

plumage with Protective Colouration in the snow, the more especial-

ly when it is assumed by a seasonal change. But here too, it is

probable that protection is merely a subsidiary result of the assump-

tion of white plumage, and it is noticeable that in the Himalayas

with its vast areas of snow we do not find any examples of white-

plumaged birds. Such forms should be regarded as purely Polar in

origin.

It may here be mentioned that desert and Alpine forms are some-

times regarded as unsuccessful species in the struggle for existence ,

the theory being that they retreat to these inhospitable conditions

to avoid competition with more dominant forms. Competition

amongst closely-related forms is hard to realize as we usually see it

only in its after-effects, namely, distribution. Amongst common

birds in India, I would cite the Jungle-Crow and the House-Crow,

the Jungle Babbler and the White-headed Babbler as two conspicuous

pairs of rivals. Similar pairs of rivals may be found amongst

mammals, such as the two palm squirrels and various rats. Now

in both cases the rivals have a wide distribution together, looked at

in terms of distribution as broadly defined in the manuals ; but

I believe that an accurate knowledge of these birds will show that

their ranges are not as coincident as at first sight appears. All

down south-eastern India, for instance, although the Jungle-Babbler

and the "White-headed Babbler appear to inhabit the same area, it

will be found that the country is broadly speaking divided between

them. The Jungle-Babbler acts up to its name. The White-headed

Babbler is the dominant form in the immediate vicinity of man. The

unconscious support of man, in other words, enables the White-

headed Babbler to exist within the territory of what would be

otherwise a dominant, all-conquering form.

This is very clearly the case as between the two Crows and

it helps to explain the complete domination of the Jungle-Crow

throughout the sparsely-inhabited Himalayas where we find isolated

and small colonies of House-Crows living in places like Srinagar

and Simla where they clearly live under the aegis of man. If man

deserted the Vale of Kashmir, I am certain that the House-Crow

would vanish too. For it is remarkable that the House-Crows there

belong to the pale desert form of the Punjab and Sindh Corvus

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS

733

splendens zugmayeri which has obviously travelled up along: the

trade routes in comparatively modern times. Were the House-Crow

an indigenous form, it could not, by every law and effect of climatic

variation, have been the same in plumage as the bird of lower Sindh.

Now in England the competition between related forms is seen

very clearly in the case of the Crows, for the Jackdaw is almost

certainly the influence which is gradually driving westward and

finally exterminating the Red-billed Chough. The latter was known

to have been common in the coastal cliffs of England as far east-

ward as Kent and Sussex as late as the eighteenth century. Now

it has almost vanished from even Cornwall.

This explains why the Chough throughout its vast range is

largely a mountain species. The stronger Crows have driven it

slowly from the most favoured areas, as the Jackdaw is driving it

from England. Altitude cannot be the deciding factor for a bird that

is equally at home in the sea-cliffs of England and Spain and the

mountains above 10,000 feet. Whilst we see also that in Europe

the Red-billed Chough has driven the weaker Yellow-billed Chough

into the more barren heights above it. The same relationship

between the Jackdaw, Red-billed and Yellow-billed Chough can be

perceived in Kashmir, though not so clearly in a luxuriant country

where competition is not so severe between the three species.

One aspect of the subject of Protective Colouration remains to

be considered in detail, that is, the cases in which colour and pattern

are apparently reinforced by behaviour. Such cases are very hard

to understand whatever one’s own attitude towards the subject.

They are most common amongst insects but there are some cases

amongst birds, though not, I think, as many as enthusiasts for

Protective Colouration would have us believe. The most striking

example I ever met with personally was at Ludhiana. Passing a

tamarisk tree I noticed a mass of the peculiar curly droppings which

give away the site of a dove’s nest or roosting place, a sight which

is familiar in India. I naturally investigated but found nothing to

account for the droppings and then I suddenly realized that they

were all caterpillars. Each caterpillar in itself was a perfect

imitation of a dropping ; each caterpillar was lying curled in the

manner necessary to complete the resemblance. While the social

habit of the caterpillars and the manner of their dispersal on the

tamarisk provided the finishing touch.

Now amongst birds, the standard example of complementary

behaviour is that of the Bitterns, who stand rigid amongst the

reeds, with neck and head and beak pointing stiffly upwards, shape

and markings obliterating the bird in its surroundings. Hudson’s

classic description of this behaviour in a bittern that he wounded in

La Plata, would seem to set the matter beyond all doubt. When we

read how the bittern continuously turned so as to keep the most

suitable aspect of its form towards Hudson we can hardly escape the

conviction that the bird knew exactly what it was doing. Yet even

here, as undoubtedly in many of the stock examples, there has been

a misinterpretation of the facts.

Readers of the Jouriial will remember in voh xxxiii, p. 657

an extraordinarily interesting article by Capt. R. S. P. Bates on ‘ A

734 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

Reed-bed in the Dal Lake, Kashmir ’ with its studies of the Little

Bittern ( Ixobrynchus minutus ) at the nest. One of the photographs

show the Little Bittern on its nest in a position in which it resembles

a reed. The photograph is reproduced on the opposite page.

Hold the plate a little distance away and the bird blends very

well with its surroundings. Surely the true explanation lies in

the accompanying passage : — ‘ During the time he was incubating,

he was never still but forever looking this way and that for possible

enemies. At every sound he assumed what I came to call the

“ on guard ” 1 ; neck outstretched and bill forming one line with it,

obviously ready to impale upon its sword-point any intruder with

which he could contend. Should a kite or crow pass overhead,

with amazing speed his bill was pointing skywards with his neck

stretched to impossible limits.’ Combine the ‘on guard’ move-

ment with the instinctive habit to ‘freeze’ at the first sign of

danger, and remembering that a bird on guard ready to strike at an

intruder would naturally always face in the direction of danger, you

will surely have a sufficient explanation of the Bittern’s behaviour

without assuming that it is intended to support its colouration.

The fact that the Bittern is striped, is not as important as it looks.

Only the female Little Bittern has the striped neck ; had it been

spotted or indeed any pattern at all we could still have explained

that it was meant to agree with the medley of light and shade in a

reed bed, an explanation which in any case has to be applied to the

male, who incubates in turn with the female and has no appreciable

difference in habits.

Similarly with the Wryneck ( Jynx torquilla). The agreement

between its snakelike colouring and the snake-like contortions of

its head and neck are another oft-quoted example of Protective

Colouration backed by behaviour. ‘ The undulating motions of

the bird, dimly seen in the gloom of its retreat [in the nest-hole],

with the loud hissing noise that it makes, are almost always enough

to scare even a marauder of experience ; for they never fail to

suggest, as is doubtless their intention, that the hole into which he

is about to thrust his hand has a snake for its tenant’ (Yarrell).

There is no question about the curious behaviour of the bird, to

which its name of snake-bird in many countries of the world

is due. A wounded bird that I picked up in the Jhang district

treated me to a similar exhibition of curious writhing of the

head and neck as I held it in my hand. But surely it is only

the human brain that connects the hissing and writhing and

colouration together as the imitation of a snake. Hissing in a

nest-hole is a common manifestation of a mixture of fear and defiance

found in many other species. The Tits for instance are well-known

to behave in this manner but neither their colour nor their

movements suggest the idea of a snake. As for the Wryneck’s

writhing movements they fulfil rather the popular, than the natural

idea of a snake’s behaviour. I personally have seen thousands of

living snakes and do not once recall movements similar to those of

1 I do not think Capt. Bates intends all the implications of his military

metaphor.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

PLATE I.

Photo by Capt. R. S. P. Bates.

The Little Bittern ( Ixobrychus mmuta) on its nest.

THE STUDY OF INDIAN BIRDS

735

the Wryneck. While as for the Wryneck’s colouration, it might with

far more justice be considered protective colouration in several

other ways than resemblance to a snake.

In estimating the truth of theories such as this, one needs to be

very certain that the facts are correctly stated. An attractive instance

is copied from book to book without any attempt to corroborate or

test its correctness. The Hoopoe ( Upupa epops ) for instance is

credited with this extraordinary behaviour. To quote Pycraft,

‘ Even birds of striking coloration, such as the Hoopoe contrive to

mask their presence when threatened. The Hoopoe at such times,

throws itself flat upon the ground, and simultaneously spreads

out the wings. As a consequence it looks so little like a living

animal that it secures escape where escape seems impossible/

Elsewhere I have seen it credited with the desire to look like a

bundle of old rags lying on the ground. This may be so ; but

my only comment is that I have seen innumerable Hoopoes, most-

ly in India but also in Southern Europe. I have never seen this

wonderful behaviour. I have seen Hoopoes hawked and then they

always placed more reliance on their marvellous ability to dodge

in the air than on any resemblance to a bundle of rags. Once indeed

I did see a Hoopoe in a semi-recumbent position on a roof, his fea-

thers negligently spread so that to a human eye he did look a curious

object. But he was obviously only sunning, like any lazy hen.

This chapter grows over long, so I will close it with a confession.

I had looked forward to writing it as the most likely to be interest-

ing to readers of the Journal. My mind’s eye glanced at the fas-

cination of innumerable recorded examples of Protective Colouration

and I thought how interesting they would be to record and illustrate.

The traditional explanations of the Cuckoos’ hawk-like plumage,

the green Pigeons in the Peepul tree, the flowers on the head of the

leaf-green barbets, the bare eye patch of Thereiceryx resembling the

fruits on which it feeds, the. double-face of the Pygmy Owlet

( Glaucidium brodei) would all weave into a tale of wonder on the most

popular lines. I started the chapter and wrote a dozen pages : but

old of-recurring doubts returned and strengthened. The pages

were torn up and what I have written is merely intended to sti-

mulate the readers of the Journal to study the question anew with the

wonderful Indian Fauna before them, examining each case in its

merits with observation and thought combined. Protective coloura-

tion certainly exists but it has been as certainly overstressed.

(To be continued. )

THE MALARIA PROBLEM IN BOMBAY.

BY

Major G. Covell, m.d., d.ph., d.t.m. & h., i.m.s.

( With a map.)

The History of Malaria in Bombay.

Malaria has been prevalent in Bombay from very early times,

but until the year 1308, no systematic investigation as to its

causation was carried out. In that year the incidence of the

disease was very severe in the City, especially in the neighbour-

hood of the Alexandra Dock, which was then in course of con-

struction.

In September 1908, a most important paper was read before the

Bombay Natural History Society by Captain W.G. Liston, I.M.S. (4),

in which he recorded the fact that 25 per cent of the specimens of

Anopheles stephcnsi caught in the vicinity of the Dock and dissected

by him were found to harbour malaria parasites. This was the

first occasion on which this species (now known to be the principal

carrier of urban malaria in India) had been found infected in nature.

From 1909 to 1911 a systematic malaria survey of the whole

Island was carried out by Dr. C. A. Bentley, in the course of which

Liston’s incrimination of A. stephensi as the mosquito vector of

malaria in Bombay was abundantly confirmed. Bentley showed that

the outbreak of 1908 was due to the existence of numerous perma-

nent breeding-places of this species in the City (chiefly house-wells),

coupled with the presence of a large labour force engaged in the

building of the Alexandra Dock and the production of innumerable

temporary breeding-places during its construction. A very interest-

ing article by Bentley, entitled ‘ The Natural History of Bombay

Malaria ’ appeared in this Joiirnal in October, 1910 (1).

In the report which he submitted at the close of his investigation

(2), Bentley put forward detailed proposals for dealing with the

breeding-places of A. stephensi and thereby eradicating endemic

malaria from Bombay. A Special Malaria Department was created,

and a certain number of Bentley’s proposals were carried out, in spite

of considerable amount of apathy and even active opposition. The

Department was however abolished in 1918. During the time when

it was in existence, the incidence of malaria in Bombay was greatly

diminished, but soon after its abolition the disease again began

to increase. As had been the case in the previous outbreak, there

were a number o£ severe attacks of malaria among the crews of ships

which had been berthed in the harbour, whilst the amount of

malaria in the city resulted in the disorganization of business to a

serious extent. In June 1922, the heads of about 40 commercial

houses in the Fort area sent in a petition to the Corporation, draw-

ing their attention to the grave increase of the disease in their

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc,

The Malaria Problem in Bombay

THE MALARIA PROBLEM IN BOMBAY

737

neighbourhood, and complaints of malaria among the staff of

St. George’s Hospital, who had suffered very severely from the

disease in the 1908 outbreak, were again received.

In 1923 the Malaria Department was reconstituted, but malaria

continued to be severe until 1925. In the two following years there

was an appreciable diminution in the incidence of the disease, but the

reports of the Executive Health Officer showed that it was still wide-

ly prevalent in the city.

In 1928 the present writer was deputed to investigate the position,

and a six months’ survey was conducted from March to September

of that year.

Results of the 1928 Survey.

The writer’s investigations (3) confirmed the findings of Liston

and Bentley with regard to the insect vector of malaria in Bombay,

but the distribution of the disease was found to have changed very

considerably during the 17 years which had elapsed since the latter

presented his report.

In 1911, apart from minor foci in the vicinity of Malabar Hill

and Bhandarwada reservoirs, the main distribution of the disease

was practically limited to A, B and part of C Wards, the area of

greatest intensity being in Esplanade, Fort North and Mandvi

Sections, in the vicinity of the Alexandra Dock. Malaria was

almost non-existent in the northern half of the Island, i.e., in

Mahim, Sion, Worli, Parel and Sewri Sections.

In 1928 it was found that although the disease was less prevalent

than formerly in the southern part of the City, it had now become

very much more widely diffused, the most severely affected parts

of the Island being the areas in which most of the mills were

situated, i.e., Worli, Parel and Byculla Sections. The extreme

north of the Island, which is subject to extensive flooding during

the monsoon, remained, as in Bentley’s time, practically free from

malaria.

In order to understand how this change in the distribution of the

disease has come about, it is necessary to give a brief account of

the Anopheline mosquitoes of Bombay, and in particular, of the

habits of Anopheles stephensi .

The Anopheline Mosquitoes of Bombay

Eleven species of Anopheles have been recorded in Bombay, name-

ly, A. subpictus (‘ rossii’), A. stephensi, A. vagus, A. culici facies, A.

listonii , A. barbirostris, A. jamesii, A. fuliginosus, A . pallidus,

A. ?noghulensis and A. tessellatus. Of these, only A. subpictus and

A. stephensi exist in sufficiently large numbers to exert any influence

in the transmission of malaria, the remaining species being so rare

as to be of interest only to the entomologist.

A. subpictus, which is by far the most common Anopheline in the

Island, has never yet been found naturally infected in India except

on one doubtful occasion, although many thousands of specimens

have been dissected in various parts of the country. It occurs all

over the Island, the larvae being found in collections of water of

every description, and it is present in large numbers in localities

9

738 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , Fo/. XXX/ F

where malaria is practically non-existent. This species may be

dismissed as a possible vector of malaria in Bombay.

A. stephensi is the one malaria-carrying Anopheline in India

which is able to adapt itself to the conditions obtaining in cities.

It is generally regarded as being one of the most important malaria-

carriers in this country, and is notorious as being pre-eminently

the well-breeding Anopheline of India, the larvae having been

found in the wells in Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and numerous other

localities throughout India.

This species prefers fresh water, constantly renewed, for its

breeding-places. It does not normally breed in foul or stagnant

water, thus differing conspicuously in its habits from the harmless

Anopheles sub pic l us, and from the Culicine mosquitoes whose

attacks cause such bitter complaints from many of the residents of

Bombay. Hence the foul-smelling open sewers of the Island,

however unpleasant and harmful they may be in other respects,

have no bearing on the malaria problem. Similarly, stagnant

swamps and natural ponds are of practically no importance in this

respect. For instance, Dharavi village, which is surrounded by

ponds and swamps, is almost entirely free from malaria.

A. stephensi will breed with equal facility in dark places and in

those exposed to direct sunlight, and the larvae will flourish in any

depth of water from a fraction of an inch to 20 feet, or indeed

probably to any depth. The breeding-place may be situated below

the level of the ground, or on the roof of a building 80 or 100 feet

high, and the water in which the larvae are found may be cold,

as in wells, or warm as in the case of roof cisterns exposed to the

blazing sun. Frequent disturbance of the water, such as is pro-

duced, for instance, by drawing water from a well by means of a

bucket, will not prevent breeding. In order to reach its breeding-

place, A. stephensi requires only the narrowest of openings through

which to pass.

In the case of Bombay, thousands of breeding-places exist which

fulfil the above conditions, all, be it noted, provided by man. The

most important of these are : —

(i) Permanent Breeding-places , i.e., those which are in existence

at all times of the year, such as wells, cisterns, fountains, garden

tanks and tubs, water used in building construction, cellars into

which subsoil water percolates, leakages from reservoirs, etc.

(ii) Temporary Breeding -places, formed only during the rainy

season, such as collections of water in improperly graded roof-

gutters and terraces, disused tins and other receptacles, ill-drained

yards and vacant building plots, hollows in machinery and scrap-

iron, unfinished and abandoned buildings, cellars which become

flooded during the monsoon, etc.

An important point brought out by Bentley, and confirmed by

the present writer, is that the larvae of A. stephensi usually only

occur in temporary pools and collections of water when permanent

breeding-places of this mosquito exist in the immediate neighbour-

hood. It is for this reason that the control of malaria in Bombay

depends on the eradication of the permanent breeding-places of

this species.

THE MALARIA PROBLEM IN BOMBA Y 739

The malaria caused by the presence of A. stephensi in cities is

extremely localized, the reason being that its breeding-place - is

usually situated within the house, i.e., in the same building as its

food-supply. When conditions become especially favourable for

transmission of malaria, e.g., a combination of suitable meteoro-

logical conditions, the introduction of a body of labourers with

their families and the production of numerous breeding-places

during building construction, a more generalized outbreak originat-

ing from these localized foci is likely to result.

Reaso?is for the Persistence of Malaria in Bombay ,

and for its Changed Distribution .

We are now in a position to discuss the reasons why malaria con-

tinues to exist in Bombay, and why the distribution of the disease

changed so markedly during the 17 years which elapsed between the

surveys of 1911 and 1928.

In 1911 there were 4,380 wells in the Island, of which 3,280 were

located in the southern half. A very large proportion of these were

situated within the houses, and out of 4,000 wells which Bentley

examined, 1,200 were found to contain larvae of A . stephensi. These

formed a permanent source of breeding, and the numerous tempor-

ary collections of water formed during the construction of the

Alexandra Dock provided additional breeding places, which, to-

gether with the presence of a large labour force, no doubt played a

very large part in the incidence of the 1908 outbreak.

By 1928 the number of wells in the southern half of the Island

which were not either filled in or hermetically covered, had been

reduced by some 50 per cent, but there still remained a sufficient

number to provide a nucleus for the spread of malaria whenever

conditions should become especially favourable. The presence of a

considerable labour force engaged in building construction on the

Ballard Estate undoubtedly played a part in the increase of malaria

incidence which occurred in the period 1918-1925.

As regards cisterns, in 1911 the total number in the Island was

4,887. In 1928 there were no less than 25,846, and the number was

increasing year by year with the expansion of the water-carriage

system of conservancy. Most of the large overhead cisterns in

connection with mills and railways were without covering of any

sort, or were provided with corrugated iron covers with numerous

openings in them through which mosquitoes could pass. A consi-

derable proportion of the remaining cisterns, which were for the

most part situated on the roofs of houses were found to be non-

mosquito proof. In addition to these there were a very large

number of .small cisterns in connection with the automatic flush

system which had been installed in the various public conveniences

situated in different streets in the City, and in mill compounds, etc.

These are seldom, if ever, mosquito-proof and frequently contain the

larvae of A. stephensi.

Another additional source of breeding oi A. stephensi in Bombay

was provided during the construction of cement-concrete buildings.

This species was found to breed freely in the water with which the

surface of the cement-concrete was covered whilst it was setting.

740 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXX IV

A large number of these buildings have been constructed in Bombay

in recent years, and must have resulted in the production of an

enormous number of A. stephensi.

The increased facilities of communication, the northward shift of

the population, and the presence of a large encampment of

labourers at Worli during the construction of various development

works in that neighbourhood have also acted as contributory

factors in the spread of malaria towards the northern part of the

Island.

The Control of Malaria in Bombay

The propagation of malaria depends on the following factors

(i) The presence of a human reservoir of infection, i. e.,

persons with a sufficient number of sexual forms of

the malaria parasite in their blood to infect the

mosquito.

(ii) The presence in sufficient numbers of a suitable Anophe-

line vector, and of the breeding-places which it requir-

es.

(iii) The presence of a susceptible human population.

(iv) Meteorological conditions favourable to the life of the

mosquito, and to the development of the malaria para-

site within it.

The last-mentioned factor is present in Bombay for several

months in the year, and cannot be modified.

Factor (i) will always be provided by the influx of infected

persons from without. Theoretically it would be possible to stamp

out malaria by the wholesale administration of some drug which

would destroy all the parasites by a single dose. No such drug at

present exists, and even if it were available, it is very improbable

that the persons concerned could be induced to take it.

Factor (iii) will likewise always be present. It is not possible to

hope that complete protection from the bites of mosquitoes can be

achieved by the universal use of mosquito nets among the uneducat-

ed population. An improvement in the general economic condition

of the people, better medical treatment and better education would

however aid in the campaign against malaria.

There remains factor (ii), i.e. that of the Anopheline vector, which

is open to attack. This is a problem beset with difficulties in rural

areas, where natural breeding-places abound, and where there are

often several species concerned in malaria transmission. In the

case of Bombay, however, where there is only one vector, the

breeding-places of which are exclusively created by man, it is pos-

sible to reduce the numbers of the species to such an extent as to

bring malaria under complete control.

The measures recommended have been set out in detail in the

report submitted to the Government of Bombay at the close of the

1928 survey (3), and will not be recapitulated here. There is no

doubt that they could be carried out at a cost much less than

the amount lost annually by the City on account of malaria from

interference with labour, loss in wages and the provision of medical

aid for the sick.

THE MALARIA PROBLEM IN BOMBAY

741

There are however certain grave obstacles to the carrying out

of preventive measures in Bombay, among which may be mentioned

the fact that various parts of the Island are controlled by different

authorities, the lack of co-operation amongst these authorities,

the religious and sentimental objections on the part of certain

sections of the people to the closure of wells, and a deplorable ten-

dency to drag matters affecting public health into the realm of party

politics.

The only hope of complete success lies in the loyal co-operation

of all the authorities concerned, and the better education of the

people in matters relating to public health.

Summary.

(i) Malaria in Bombay is transmitted solely by Anopheles

stephensi , a mosquito which breeds in wells, cisterns, fountains,

garden tanks and tubs, and similar collections of water, all of which

are exclusively man-made.

(ii) These breeding places in 1928 were probably at least

as numerous as they were at the time of Bentley’s investigation

in 1911,. because (a) only a comparatively small proportion of those

then existing had been eliminated, and (£) a large number of others,

notably imperfectly protected cisterns, garden tanks, fountains, and

breeding-places formed in connection with modern methods of

building construction, had been created.

(iii) Whilst malaria in 1928 was less prevalent in the southern

portion of the City than in 1911, the disease was found to have

become much more widely diffused, the most severely affected

part of the Island being now the areas in which most of the mills

are situated. The reasons for this change in distribution are : —

(a) Increased facilities of communication between the south

and north of the Island.

(h) The northward shift of the population. The population

of Worli Section practically doubled itself during the

period under review.

(i c ) The enormous increase in the number of cisterns in F and

G Wards, from 92 in 1911 to 5257 in 1928.

(d) The presence of a large encampment of labourers at

Worli during the construction of various development

works in that locality, who suffered severely from

malaria.

(e) The vast number of breeding-places which must have

been created during the construction of reinforced

concrete buildings.

(iv) Since there is only one species of mosquito concerned

in the transmission of malaria in Bombay, and since the permanent

breeding-places of this mosquito are exclusively man-made, it is

believed that it would be possible to bring malaria in the Island

under complete control by the adoption of a systematic campaign

to eliminate all such breeding places or render them mosquito-

proof. Success in this campaign can only be attained, however,

by the active and loyal co-operation of all the authorities concerned.

(v) As long as permanent breeding-places of A. stephensi are

allowed to exist, malaria will continue to persist in Bombay, because

742 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , XXXIV

there will always be an influx of infected human beings from

outside, and periodical outbreaks of a serious nature will continue

to occur whenever local conditions become especially favourable for

the spread of the disease.

References.

1. Bentley, C. A. (1910) ...

2. Bentley, C. A. (1911) ...

3. Covell, G. (1928)...

4. Liston, W.G. (1908)...

The Natural History of Bombay

Malaria. Jour. Boi?ib. Nat. Hist.

Soc., xx, 2, pp. 392-422.

Report of an Investigation into

the Causes of Malaria in

Bombay, G. C. Press, Bombay.

Malaria in Bombay, 1928. G. C.

Press, Bombay.

The Present Epidemic of Malaria

in the Port of Bombay. Jour .

Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., xviii, 4,

pp. 872-881.

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL STATION AT HELIGOLAND.

A Short Account and Some Reflections,

by

Salim A. Ali, m.b.o.u.

( With four plates and a diagram )

The rock-island of Heligoland lies in the North Sea off the

mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, about 28 miles from the nearest

point on the mainland. About half a mile to the south-east is

the Diinen-Insel, or ‘ Dune Island ’, whose gently sloping beaches

have made it such a popular sea-bathing resort that during the

months from June to September, the population of Heligoland,

normally about 2,000, swells up to 20,000 or more.

Diinen-Insel was connected with the main island till about the

year 1720 when a violent irruption of the sea submerged the inter-

vening neck.

In Summer, when the tide of visitors is at its flood, there is

regular daily communication with the island by means of fast and

luxurious passenger ships run by the Hamburg- Amerika Line,

which take the pleasure-seeker across from Hamburg in six hours.

The main island is a barren rock, roughly triangular in shape,

standing out of the sea with sheer rocky sides, about 200 feet in

height, of a striking red colour. The top, or Oberland as it is

called, is a beautiful grass-covered, green and undulating plain,

broken up here and there by potato cultivation — one of the scanty

natural products of the island. The red crags, the verdant Oberland

and the shimmering white foam as the breakers dash against

the foot of the rock, are said to have inspired the colours of the

Heligoland flag which continue to-day as red, white and green.

Philatelists will recall that these same colours also appeared on the

much-prized old Heligoland stamps.

As recently as 1890, Heligoland was a British possession,

having been acquired from Denmark in 1814. It was handed

over to Germany in exchange for Zanzibar, which thenceforward

became a British Protectorate. Before the Armistice, the rock was

heavily fortified and bristling on all sides with guns of large calibre.

It boasted of a magnificent harbour capable of affording refuge and

fuelling to the largest battleships, and during the Great War the

island played a most effective role in guarding the mouths of the

Elbe and the Weser — the keys to Germany — against the British

navy.

The natives of Heligoland speak Frisean and a form of

German known as Platt-Deutsch, both thoroughly unintelligible

to most foreigners and Germans alike. Many of the older

inhabitants, however, have not forgotten their English yet and

never miss an opportunity of showing off their linguistic attain-

ments.

The total length of the island is about a mile, and at its widest it

744 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

is about 500 yards. Its situation relative to the routes of birds

migrating southwards in Autumn from Norway, Denmark and the

regions of the bleak North to escape the rigours of winter, and back

to their homes in Spring, make Heligoland particularly suitable for

the study of bird migration. In spite of the vast amount of data that

has been accumulated in recent years, and is still accumulating, it

has to be admitted that a great many of the essential psychological

aspects involved in the phenomenon, continue to remain a mystery.

Besides its natural situation, one of the many special advantages

the island possesses for a study of this phase of bird life, is the

scarcity on the rock of natural tree and shrub growth. Moreover,

the fact that the resident bird-life is scanty, both as regards species

and individuals, obviates the possibility of confusion and error in

regard to the status of birds which arrive on the island from time to

time and stop over for a day or two before resuming their journey.

The alarming amount of erosion from the sea, that has taken

place in recent years, and still continues to be a menace to the

existence of the island, has necessitated the building of a heavy

protecting wall of stone, brought in from abroad, along practically

the entire length of the western side.

This wall incidentally has become a great convenience to local

sportsmen, who take their stanch along it, at short distances from

one another, throughout the livelong day. Ever on the alert, these

local Tartarins let off a regular fusillade whenever some poor unfor-

tunate bird happens to show itself over the western cliff. The

species does not matter in the least ; fresh meat is a rare luxury on

Heligoland, and thrushes, blackbirds or sparrow-hawks contribute

equally towards the deficiency. Many a ringed bird finds its death

at the hands of these merciless gunners, and not infrequently within

a few minutes after its release from the Volgehvarte , as the ornitho-

logical station is called.

One particular cliff on the western side between the northern

end of the sea-wall and that curious detached needle of rock

known as ‘ Lange Anna,’ is the nesting site of a colony of

Lummen (Guillemots) which are now recognized as a distinct race

of Uria aalge , namely hetgolandica Lonnberg. It is remarkable that

out of the great stretch of seemingly identical cliffs and ledges

forming the precipitous sides of the island, the birds should select

just this one portion which is persistently occupied for nesting

purposes, year after year. It forms an isolated colony, the only

one within a radius of 500 miles, and incidentally also the only

one of its kind in the whole of Germany. The birds occupy the

cliffs only a few months during the year, chiefly from mid- April

to the second half of July. Through the ringing method it has

been ascertained that during the rest of the year they wander

about mostly on the Norwegian and Scandinavian coasts, and

have also been met with in the south-east portion of the North Sea.

Some numbers suddenly appear at Heligoland in the winter

months from time to time, and vanish again in a few days.

The members of the colony do not hold together after breeding

is over and roam about in smaller or larger flocks, sometimes

even in pairs, the individuals often straying much apart.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

PLATE I

by Author

ON THE BEACH, DUNEN ISLAND (Heligoland in the background).

In the foreground are waders of various species, Black-tailed Godwit ( Limosci limosa),

Sanderling ( Crocethia alba), Dunlin ( Erolia alpina), Ringed Plover ( Charadrins kiaticulus),

etc. (The black mass between the birds and the sea is a brown Alga, producing

Iodine, vast quantities of which are cast ashore.)

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

PLATE II

Ph oto. by A u thor.

“ Lange Anna ” — a feature of Heligoland.

Photo. by Author.

A general view of the Sapskuhle or Trapping Garden, showing

dense vegetation.

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL STATION AT HELIGOLAND 745

In addition to the abrupt height of the rock, which stands out

at once as a landmark and a haven of rest to the weary wayfarers

of the air, Heligoland possesses a powerful lighthouse whose

beams (forty-two million candle power) seem to exercise an

irresistible attraction on the journeying multitudes on moonless

overcast nights.

By virtue of all these favourable conditions, Heligoland has

long been recognized as an ideal place for the study of bird move-

ments. Heinrich Gatke, primarily a landscape painter, lived on the

island in the last century for a number of years and carried out the

pioneer observations and investigations that have made him so

famous. It was his monumental work Heligoland as an Ornitholo-

gical Station which, in spite of its somewhat fanciful theories and

conclusions, paved the way to a realization of the importance of this

type of research. When Heligoland became a German possession

the Prussian Government established a Biological Station on the

island. Though principally an institution for the purpose of marine

research, one or the other of its Zoological staff, in addition to his

own duties, continued the investigations started by Gatke after the

latter’s death in 1897. Dr. Hugo Weigold needs special mention;

he took up the thread of Gatke’s experiments, and the work under

him was carried on with greater exactitude and scientific precision.

Dr. Weigold experimented with various devices in the Sapskuhle

which was a sort of Botanical Experimental Garden (at the northern

end of the Oberland) for catching birds for marking purposes, and

the existing elaborate trapping arrangements are in a great measure

due to his ingenuity and initiative.

In connection with the Biological Station at Heligoland, was

started the wonderful little aquarium which now contains such a

comprehensive collection of the marine fauna of the North Sea.

The station is also responsible for the North Sea Museum, which,

besides Marine Zoology, contains the valuable ornithological

collections made by Gatke during his residence on the island, and

also those brought together later by Dr. Weigold and by the

present Director of the Vogelwarte.

In September 1929, I was fortunate enough to spend a fortnight

on Heligoland, and was there as much impressed by the methods and

thoroughness with which investigations are carried on, as by the

facilities always afforded so willingly to students of ornithology. I

myself am greatly indebted to the hospitality and kindness extended

to me by the keeper of the station, Dr. Rudolf Drost, which made

my visit so interesting and instructive.

Observations at the Vogelwarte are carried on throughout the

year by day, and also occasionally by night when conditions are

suitable. Careful data are recorded from day to day as regards tem-

perature, prevailing winds, and other climatic and physical changes

or disturbances, which are all subsequently co-ordinated by means of

graphs and charts, and their reaction on bird movements set out in

an efficient and comprehensible manner. A number of live birds are

kept in an aviary for various psychological and physiological experi-

ments and also for use as decoys. There is a good ornithological

library for the use of workers and students, and a complete reference

746 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

collection of the birds met with on the island as residents, regular

passage migrants or rare stragglers. During the time I was there,

the rooms were frequented by a number of enthusiastic students from

Germany and other European countries, and this, I understand, is the

usual state of affairs in Spring and Autumn when bird migration

takes place over the island.

Of recent years the Vogelwarte has been chiefly concerned with

the marking of birds with aluminium rings. Apart from the banding

work that is actually done at the station, the Vogelwarte has a

number of collaborators on the mainland, including four well-

organized affiliated marking stations, and the magnitude of its

activities as a whole can be ganged from the fact that in the year

1927 alone, no less than 28,478 birds, comprising some 200 species,

were marked with the rings of the station. Over 5,000 of these

were put on by the Vogelwarte itself, while the balance was used by

collaborators in various parts of Germany, mostly on nestlings. The

figures for 1928 and 1929 are considerably higher, and it is expected

that 1930 would show a further improvement.

A large percentage of the birds ringed on the island is captured

at the lighthouse. When the nights in Spring and Autumn suddenly

become overcast, as frequently happens by wind-blown clouds, the

sky over Heligoland resounds with the cries of countless wanderers,

who, apparently bewildered in their direction, fly low and are drawn

to the beams of the lighthouse as irresistibly as filings to a magnet.

It is a remarkable fact that the beams fail completely to attract the

birds so long as there are any gaps at all in the clouds through

which stars are visible, a fact which makes one wonder if the correct

orientation is determined by the stars as by mariners of old ! On a

really favourable night, as many as 1,200 or more birds may be

secured at the light. This, at Heligoland, furnishes practically the

only opportunity of obtaining shore birds such as Golden Plovers,

Lapwings, Sandpipers, etc., for ringing purposes. In the ordinary

course of events, though some numbers do stop over on the Dune,

where they are caught with nets and decoys, the majority pass over

to the coasts of the mainland which lie only a few miles further.

The difficulty otherwise invariably experienced in catching adult

Charadridae for marking in sufficiently large numbers, is thus easily

compensated for by occurrence of the requisite type of weather,

and the Vogelwarte looks forward to it eagerly.

A successful night (unfortunately I missed this during my visit) is

graphically described by Gatke, and his description gives some idea

of the joy it must occasion in the heart of an ornithologist. * The

whole sky ’ he writes, ‘ is now filled with a babel of hundreds of

thousands of voices, and, as we approach the lighthouse, there pre-

sents itself to the eye a scene which more than confirms the

experience of the ear. Under the intense glare of the light, swarms

of Larks, Starlings and Thrushes career around in ever-varying

density ; like showers of brilliant sparks or huge snow-flakes driven

onward by a gale, and continuously replaced as they disappear

by freshly arrived multitudes. Mingled with these birds are large

numbers of Golden Plovers, Lapwings, Curlews and Sandpipers.

Now and again too a Woodcock is seen ; or an Owl, with slow-

foURN. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

PLATE III

Photo. by Author.

Dr. Drost removing trapped birds from Trap No. i.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. PLATE IV

Photo. by Author. Photo. by Author.

Ringing in progress at the Sapskuhle. (On the A ringed Sparrow-hawk (. Accipiter nisus nisus )

curved wires near the window are threaded rings ready to be released,

of various sizes handv for use.)

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL STATION AT -HELIGOLAND 747

beating wings, emerges from the darkness into the circle of light,

but again speedily vanishes, accompanied by the plaintive cry of an

unhappy Thrush that has become its prey ’.

Under the necessary meteorological conditions, the birds arrive

at the lighthouse at practically all hours after dark, the stream

frequently continuing unbroken throughout the night. They dash

against the panes of glass around the lantern and fall dazed on the

balcony surrounding the turret, while some may even be killed

outright by the impact. A great many flutter to the ground below,

and such are their numbers that for yards around the base of the

tower the meadows are just pulsating with life. At the Vogelwarte

night is transformed into day, the whole establishment turns out in

force with lanterns and gunny sacks which soon bulge with quivering

masses of migratory fowl. The inhabitants of Heligoland also

sally forth to replenish their larders, while the cats, which like the

pariah dogs of pre-war Constantinople, are a feature of the island,

likewise appear on the scene in their numbers, taking heavy toll of

the weaklings and wearied*out travellers resting in the fields. For

superstitious reasons, the inhabitants of Heligoland assiduously

protect the feline population, and though the hand of the Vogelwarte

is incessantly up against this veritable plague, diplomacy forbids

their causing the creatures any harm in broad daylight. Migration

nights, while Heligoland is mostly asleep, therefore, are the

only occasions when ornithologists and cats may meet each other on

an equal footing, and on such do the former seize the long-awaited

opportunity of avenging the murder of so many innocents. Though

I hesitate to make a general statement such as may involve me in

libel proceedings, I am acquainted with at least one youthful bird

enthusiast at whose hands many a sneaking bird-snatcher has met

his sudden and violent end. His procedure was simple enough ; he

grabbed the cats by the scruff of their necks and just let them down

over the precipice into the dashing waves in a most matter-of-

fact sort of way. The sun rose next morning on so many cats the

fewer ; none-the-wiser Heligolanders continued in blissful ignorance !

The sacks are conveyed to the Vogelwarte office ; each bird is

properly identified and marked with a ring of appropriate size. When

the number of birds is not too great to permit such detailed attention,

each individual is also carefully weighed and its age, as far as

possible, determined. The relative particulars are then carefully

noted on the necessary forms and registers and the birds are

released.

So much for work at the lighthouse which, clearly, can provide

birds only once in a way. In addition, the Vogelwarte has a special

trapping garden — the Sapskuhle , reference to which has already

been made — where smaller birds, mostly passerine (but also often

Sparrow-hawks, Woodpeckers, and even Woodcock) are caught in

cleverly constructed wire-netting traps which insure the minimum of

accidents to the birds. Owing to the heavy gales which continually

sweep over the island, there is practically no natural tree-growth on

the Oberland. Trees and shrubs being a desideratum for attracting

birds, the Vogelwarte decided to utilize the old experimental

Botanical garden for the purpose. The site of this garden is a

748 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

piece of low-lying ground in a natural basin-like depression at the

northern end of the Oberland. This was further deepened and

enlarged, and at the present time has a rectangular shape about 150

yards long by 30 wide (the figures are approximate and from

memory). For further protection of the vegetation, the basin has

been enclosed by a wall about 8 feet in height, and the whole area

planted over with trees and shrubs in more or less parallel rows

throughout its length. Thus sheltered, the vegetation within the

Sapskuhle has thriven remarkably, and it now presents a patch of

dense green cover comprised of bushes, thickets and trees of

moderate size. This being practically the only greenery on the

rock, no weary bird passing over the island can resist alighting

there for food and rest.

After a great deal of experimenting with movable twine nets, the

present three permanent traps of wire-netting have been evolved,

and very successful is the working of these. The netting is painted

green to harmonize with the surrounding foliage, In width, the traps

extend from one side of the Sapskuhle to the other, and taper length-

wise towards the northern end where each terminates in a narrow,

wooden box fixed at an angle. (See diagram.) The modus operand i

is for three or four persons to enter the shrubbery at the south end

and walk abreast, at short intervals from one another, towards the

opposite end of the garden, beating the bushes with sticks and

driving the birds forward. The birds hop from bush to bush or

skulk along the undergrowth in front of the line of beaters till

unconsciously driven into the tapering neck of trap No. 1. At the

distal end of this neck there is the box at an angle with a trans-

parent pane of glass just opposite where the bird would try to

get out. The bird naturally makes straight for this seeming

exit, and as it dashes against the obstructing pane, the drop-door

A is lowered by one of the beaters by means of a cable worked

by a weighted handle (B) further up the neck. Having concentrated

all the birds of trap No. 1 into this box, the drivers open the exit

(C) and work towards trap No. 2 which in principle operates in the

same way, passing thence to No. 3. When all three traps have

been worked, the birds are removed from the end boxes and

carried in little bags or cages to a room situated in the south-west

corner of the Sapskuhle where they are ringed, and the necessary

particulars being recorded, released. Some of these marked birds

may be caught two or three times in quick succession on the

same day.

In addition to marking with aluminium rings, some individuals

of the more uncommon migrants are also painted in parts with

various fast-coloured dyes. This method enables one to judge

how long a particular individual stops over at a particular spot,

and also to learn something about its local wanderings without

having to catch it again to examine its ring.

The great charm about Heligoland as a trapping centre lies in

the vast variety of species that are taken at the Sapskuhle , which

one can handle and examine at close quarters. Some of the species

secured during the time I was there were : Prunella modularise

Phoenicurus ochrurus, Fringilla coelebsy Phylloscopus sybila-trix^

J oum.» Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

NORTH

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL STATION AT HELIGOLAND 749

Troglodytes troglodytes , Regulus regulus , Ayithus pratensis, Sylvia

curnica , Dryobates major major and Accipiter nisus , while we also

took in one day two specimens of what I understand is a very rare

passenger, Siphia parva. Our most successful day at the Sapskuhle

was with about .150 birds, but I can well imagine that on occasions

it is possible to do considerably better.

. Just during the month I was on the island, there was an abnor-

mally strong migration of Dryobates major major in progress-. For

want of suitable trees the birds (principally young of the year) were

driven to behaving in the most silly and unconventional manner,

clinging to fence-posts, hopping along the ground, perching on

house-tops and chimneys, and so forth. They had the greatest

difficulty in obtaining food, and many of them were picked up dead,

hunger doubtless being one of the main causes. This was shown

in the case of one young bird which was captured on September

27th, dyed, ringed and released. Its weight then was 96-8

grammes. This same individual, after having been observed

several times in the interval, trying to obtain food in various

impossible situations, was again caught in the Sapskuhle on 30th

September. It then weighed only 77-25 grammes, showing that in

three days it had lost nearly one-fifth of its original weight.*

Another point so striking about the migrants over Heligoland — and

this is the factor that contributes towards the uniqueness of the

rock for observation purposes — is, that practically every day during

the migration seasons there is a change in the predominating

species. They come, as it were, in waves of varying density, and

one can say about the place that literally not a single bird escapes

observation. For example, one day one finds a swarm almost

entirely consisting of Fringilla cezlebs ; next day these birds are all

gone except perhaps a few stray individuals, and Accentor modularis

has taken its place. On the third day it may be Anthus trivialis that

has invaded the meadows, or Phoenicurus ochrurus or something

else, while at other times it may be a day for sparrow-hawks !

Numerically, the Hooded Crow ( Corvns cornix ), the Starling

{Sturnus vulgaris ), and the Skylark ( Alauda arvensis) are perhaps

the most important migrants over Heligoland. Of the first, Dr.

Drost has estimated about 20,000 flying over or past the Island in

one day alone (in October 1926). The total number of species and

races so far taken amount to 415.

At the present time nine different sizes of rings are being em-

ployed by the Vogelwarte , numbered from 1 to 9. Numbers run

serially commencing with 1 for each size of ring, but each series

carries the figure denoting size as the first cipher ; for instance ring,

No. 43 of sizes would be seen on the ring as 843, and so on. The

different sizes are used as follows :

No. 1 for eagles.

,, 2 ,, storks.

,, 3 ,, ducks, buzzards, goshawks, etc.

,, 4 ,, crows, pigeons, etc.

,, 5 ,, sparrow-hawks, etc.

* (H. Desselberger, Ornith. Mon., xxxvii, 6, 1929).

750 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

No. 6 for thrushes, starlings, etc.

,, 7 ,, larks, finches, etc.

,, 8 ,, small passerine birds.

,, 9 ,, very small birds such as Regulus, etc.

Results. — The total number of birds ringed by the Vogelwarte

and its several collaborators from the time ringing was first started

on the rock by Dr. Weigold, in 1905, up to the end of 1928 was

102,095, comprising some 228 species. Of this number 68,176 birds

were ringed between 1926 and 1928. The recoveries reported during

this period amount to 2,119, or a little over 3 per cent. It has been

found that, while the average of recoveries as a whole comes to

about 2-3 per cent, in the case of the smaller passerine birds, the

percentage is often as low as 1. The best results are obtained with

the Hawks and the Charadridae which is but natural considering that

wading birds are hunted all over Europe, especially in the southern

countries, while birds of prey are so generally and indiscriminately

slaughtered as vermin.

A very interesting fact which has resulted from the recovery of

ringed Heligoland birds is that, contrary to the formerly accepted

belief that the migratory movements of birds lay in the direction

of north to south and vice versa , most Central European birds,

at any rate, travel in a pronounced south-westerly/north-easterly

direction, whilst others (the Cuckoo for example) travel south-east

and north-west.

The Need in India.— If one wades through all that has been

hitherto written concerning the birds of India, one cannot fail to

be impressed by the paucity of reliable data in regard to the pro-

blem of bird migration in this country. It must be obvious to

everybody that migration does take place, and that on a gigantic

scale ; winter visitors commence to arrive in numbers as early as

the end of September, and to depart again by the middle or end of

March. But beyond these merest rudiments, the present state of our

knowledge will not carry us. It may not be difficult to guess with

some measure of probability as to where, for instance, some of our

wild ducks go when they forsake us at the commencement of the

hot weather, considering that large numbers of these birds are known

to breed in Siberia which have been absent from those regions in

winter. Similaily we may be able to put two and two together in

the case of other species with a tolerable degree of accuracy, but

precision of any sort is lacking, and we cannot step beyond the

bounds of conjecture. In spite of the fact, therefore, that the annual

movements to and from India involve individuals whose numbers

are beyond computation, all squeezed within the limits of about

three months each way, who can tell what routes the birds follow

on their travels ? Do they cross directly over the Himalayan

barrier at heights hitherto unsuspected by us, or do they habitually

seek some favourite gap in the chain of mountains that separate

the plains of India from the Central Asian Steppes ? From the

meagre records of observers, it is evident that, a certain amount of

passage occurs through the Indus gorge at Attock, as also at great

heights over the mountains ; to what extent in relation to the entire

movement this may be, we have of course no means of estimating.

THE ORNITHOLOGICAL STATION AT HELIGOLAND 751

Individual observation at suitable stations, especially if extending

over a number of years for the same area, is undoubtedly of very

great value, but in a vast country like India, where unfortunately

the majority of the people who take an interest in sport and natural

history are also chiefly those who are not stationed in any one place

for sufficiently long periods, it is obvious that little can be expected

from the purely observational method. Besides, even of those who

are favourably placed as regards locality, and willing to take

advantage of their opportunities, how many are qualified to supply

data of any real value ? This pre-supposes a sound working know-

ledge of field ornithology, involving often the ability to distinguish

species on the wing by their cries where the height is too great to

render identification by sight possible.

Having regard to all these difficulties and handicaps, one can

easily understand that the only method of investigation likely to yield

results of real importance in India is the ringing method. For the

present, as is the case with the Society’s Ringing Scheme, our

activities should be restricted to ducks and other sporting birds,

which, in the absence of trapping centres throughout the country— an

organization like that of the Department of Biological Survey in the

U. S. A. — are likely to yield more recoveries than the smaller

passerine species. Besides rings, a certain number of birds might

also be painted in parts with fast-coloured dyes to make them more

conspicuous on the wing. The advantages of this method have

already been pointed out. The colours would of course be lost at

the next moult, but many important facts may be brought to light

in the interval without rendering the bird permanently liable to

destruction by human agency.

The results obtained during the short period the Society’s Ringing

Scheme has been in operation in India — published from time

to time in the Journal — are sufficiently interesting and encouraging

to justify the work being taken up on a much larger scale. Results

are bound to follow in proportion. It is particularly fortunate for

us in this country that so much attention is being paid at the

present time to bird-ringing in Russia, where principally nestlings

are banded at the breeding season. With co-operation of the kind

we have so far received from the Russian authorities in regard to

our scheme, the best possible success may be anticipated.

What we in India want badly is a central organization for ornitho-

logical research — an institution which would have observation

centres in charge of competent ornithologists in suitable places all

over the country. Perhaps it might seem hardly rational to expect

such ‘extravagance’ upon such an apparently unremunerative

and revenue-eating department with the deficit budgets which

have of late unhappily become the rule in our country. Strange as

it may sound, however, the fact remains that post-war Germany,

with all her poverty and all her liabilities, does maintain such an

institution, and a most efficient one at that !

Let us hope that the importance of ornithological research will

be recognized before it is too late ; in an agricultural country like

India, the value of such work cannot be over-estimated.

A NEW INDIAN DRAGONFLY. (ORDER — ODONA TA)

BY

Lt.-Col. F. C. Fraser, I.M.S., F.E.S.

( With 2 Text-figures )

Fig. 1. Head of female LeptGgomphus bidentatus sp. nov.

Leptogomphus bidentatus sp. nov.

Male. Abdomen 38 mm. Hindwing 33 mm.

Head black marked with yellow ; labium with lateral lobes yellow ; labrum

black with a small yellow spot on each side ; anteclypeus with a small median

yellow spot ; postclypeus and frons broadly yellow ; vertex black but with a

small rounded spot behind the ocelli and the whole of occiput yellow.

Prothorax black with a large yellow spot on the median and posterior lobes

and a small spot on each side of the former.

Thorax black marked with yellow as follows, a mesothoracic collar inter-

rupted in the middle, an oblique antehumeral stripe, the upper ends of which

are squared and closely opposed to the antealar sinus, the lower ends pointed

and divergent not meeting the mesothoracic collar ; laterally marked with two

broad yellow stripes, the posterior of which covers about four-fifths of the

metepimeron ; between these two stripes a small upper spot.

Legs black, spines of hind femora gradually lengthening towards the distal

end, very robust and rather short ; hind femora extending to distal end of

segment 1,

Abdomen black marked with yellow as follows, segment 1 with a quadrate

middorsal and a large lateral spot, its apical border narrowly yellow ; segment

2 with a trilobate middorsal stripe and two large spots on each side, one of

which includes the oreillet and extends to base of segment ; segments 3 to 9

with paired subdorsal basal spots, which on segments 7 and 8 extend distad of

the jugal suture : segment 10 with a small lateral spot.

Anal appendages black ; superiors moderately broad at extreme base, then

constricted and again dilating and tapering to apex somewhat like a carrot,

the apex turning out and acute ; seen in profile the basal two-thirds broad, the

apical truncate and retrousse, furnished below with two ventral teeth, a basal

small, and a submedian robust, the basal tooth lying in a plane internal to the

median ; inferior appendage barely one-third the length of superiors,

broad, its apex with a small upturned spine on each side of a rather deep

notch.

A NEW INDIAN DRAGONFLY

753

Wings hyaline tinted with yellow at the base ; pterostigma black or dark

yellow framed in black, braced, covering 3 to 4 cells ; nodal index ^

triangles traversed once in the hind wings (twice in the hind wing of one

female ; 5 rows of ceils in the anal field ; anal loop absent) .

Fig. 2. Leptogornphus bidentatus sp. now

a. Lateral view of anal appendages, b. Dorsal view of same.

Female. Abdomen 38 mm. Hindwing 35 mm.

Markings very similar to those of male, abdominal markings differing as

follows,-segment 2 with the lateral spots confluent with one another to form a

broad stripe ; segments 3 to 6 with additional lateral spots in line with the

basal, elongate on segments 3 and 4, very small and short on segments 5 and

6 ; segment 10 unmarked.

Anal appendages short, black, simple; vulvar scale one-fourth the length

of segment 9, triangular, narrowly bifid so as to form two closely apposed

scales.

Head of female with the vertex raised and sloping back as a thick quadrate

plate, the hind corners of which are prolonged as robust spines.

Habitat. Shillong, Assam. Two females and one male taken by Mr.

T. Bainbrigge Fletcher, 19, vii. 28. One female was found emerging on

the side of a small cement tank. Type to be deposited in the British

Museum.-

This species is interesting from its extraordinary type of breeding place and

also from the triangles of the hindwings being traversed, a characteristic

shared by A, relroilexus Ris. and L. scorpio Ris. from both of which it however

differs by the entirely different shape of the anal appendages and other

characters. The shape of the superior anal appendages will also serve to

differentiate it from other species, L. semperi Selys, L. assimilis Krug.,

L. gracilis Krug., L. gestroi Selys, L. lansbergei Selys. From L. inclitus

Selys, female only known, it is to be distinguished by the frons yellow and by

the absence of a humeral stripe. The genitalia appear to ally it closely to

L'Sauteri Ris., A. perforatus Ris. and A. scorpio Ris., the tapering ends of the

superior appendages distinguishing it from the two former species.

10

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

ACCORDING TO THE

DISPLACEMENT THEORY

BY

W. E. Wait, m.a. , f.z.s.

( With 1 plate and 5 text-figures1)

For some time past there have been differences of opinion

between palaeontologists and physical geologists regarding the

extent and relative position of the continental land masses during

former geological periods. The palaeontologists, from their study

of the fossil fauna and flora and from the affinities of the present

fauna and flora in the various regions of the earth, insist that

the evidence undoubtedly demands the former existence of wide

land connections between continents which are now separated by

the great oceans. F or instance, they are largely agreed that in the

Jurassic period there was such a land connection between Africa,

India, Malaya and Australia on the one hand, and between Africa,

South America, Antarctica and Australia on the other. They

assume the existence of a wide continent which then filled the

present Indian and South Atlantic oceans, and this ‘lost continent’

is known to geologists as Gondwana-land. The link between

Australia and Indo-Africa parted in the Jurassic period; the

connection between Africa and South America broke down in the

Cretaceous; that between India and Africa, some time between the

closing period of the Cretaceous and the early days of the Eocene.

The connection between South America and Australia via Antarctica

persisted until the Eocene, when the Australian continent became

separated ; the land-bridge between Antarctica and South America

probably persisted somewhat longer. Similarly, there was a more

or less continuous land-bridge, they say, between Europe and North

America, which only broke down finally in the Glacial period.

Those geologists, however, who are more intimately concerned

with the structure of the earth’s crust maintain that from their

point of view there are almost insuperable difficulties in the

assumption of former wide land connections across the present

ocean floors. In the early days of scientific geology, it was assumed

that the continents, mountain chains and ocean depressions came

into existence owing to the contraction of the earth through cooling.

The skin of the earth became wrinkled, much as the skin of a

drying apple becomes wrinkled as the fruit loses substance

through evaporation. According to the conception of Sir Charles

Lyell, a noted English geologist in the middle of the 19th century,

this gradual shrinkage, through cooling, led to an unending

1 The plate and text-figures are reproduced from Wegener’s Origin of

Continents and Oceans by courtesy of Messrs. Methuen & Co., Ltd.

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

75S

alternation in the folds of the earth’s surface. The deep sea-floors

emerged in places on the surface of the earth, and the continents in

places sank to the deep sea-floors.

Fuller and more detailed knowledge, however, of the sedimentary

rocks and of the structure of mountain chains has led to the

abandonment of this theory. Modern geologists agree that though

the vast majority of the sedimentary rocks which now cover so

large a portion of the earth’s surface were laid down on the floor

of the sea, they were all deposited in comparatively shallow water,

such as one might find in the North Sea or Mediterranean. The

abyssal red oozes which have been dredged from the floor of the

ocean at the deepest levels have a very distinct character, markedly

different from the sandy or calcareous deposits laid down in

shallower seas. With the exception of certain small patches, about

which there is divergence of opinion, nowhere do we find among

these vast sedimentary strata any which bear evidence of deposition

at abyssal depths such as stretch uniformly over the main areas

of the present oceans. There is no clear evidence, therefore, that

former wide oceans have ever been elevated into land surfaces.

Further, though it is beyond dispute that great mountain chains

such as the Alps, or Himalayas, have been formed by the elevation

of sedimentary rocks which once lay at the bottom of moderately

shallow seas, the forces which heaved them up cannot be explained

by a mere wrinkling of the earth’s crust on contraction. The

present breadth of the Alpine mountain system is about 100 miles.

If, however, one could flatten out all the contorted sedimentary

strata of which this system is largely composed, these strata, when

laid down horizontally, would cover a far larger expanse.

Modern experts who have carefully studied the structure of the

Alps calculate that this horizontal expanse would probably measure

at least 400 miles, possibly twice as much. The strata have been

compressed and heaved up by forces which exerted enormous lateral

thrusts : no mere wrinkling, or contraction on cooling would account

for their present position. In the face of such evidence, geologists

have had to abandon Lyell’s conception and to admit that the oceans

have never changed places with the continental masses.

Supporters of the land-bridge theory have therefore fallen back

on the assumption that ‘lost continents’ such as Gondwana-land

have foundered en masse, as the result of huge faults and fissures

in the upper crust of the earth, and now lie on the floor of the ocean.

The present continental blocks still remain uplifted under the action

of arching pressure. The geo-physicists, however, point out that

this theory is open to two serious objections. If areas of the size

of a continent are to sink more or less uniformly to a depth of over

15,000 feet, and to become deep ocean basins, as each new basin

filled itself the surface of the ocean would thereby be lowered a

thousand feet or more over the rest of the world. You would have

to assume, therefore, that the ocean level was many hundred feet

higher before each catastrophe took place than afterwards. The

re-elevation of the various lost continents would raise the surface of

the waters so much that practically all the continents former or

present, with the exception of the mountains, would be completely

756 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , fo/. XXXlV

flooded. In other words, the continuous land-bridges, which are

postulated, could not have existed.

Secondly, the theory of effective arching pressures holding up the

crust of the existing continents does not harmonize with the results

obtained by the gravity measurements which have been taken all

over the surface of the globe. The results given by these gravity

measurements can only be explained in a satisfactory manner by the

theory of isostacy, or the equilibrium of the earth’s crust. According

to this theory, the relatively light upper crust of the earth floats in

equilibrium in a somewhat heavier layer of magma, or more or less

fluid lava. Where this upper crust is more heavily weighted, as

where a mountain chain occurs, it will sink more deeply into the

magma, just as a block of floating wood, when weighted, sinks

more deeply into the water.

A heavy cap of ice in the polar regions has the same effect as a

mountain chain in depressing the crust. The presence of raised

beaches in Central Scandinavia shows that during the Great Ice Age

that country, which, we know, was covered by an enormously thick

ice-cap, was depressed at least 750 feet. As the Ice Age passed

away and the cap melted, the land slowly rose to restore the

equilibrium. Records of levels taken over a number of years show

that Scandinavia is still slowly rising at the rate of one metre in

a hundred years. As the Ice Age passed away at least 10,000 years

ago, these measurements give some idea of the extreme slowness

of the earth movements which have to be taken into account by

geologists.

Diagram A. showing section across the Litho-sphere or upper crust of the

earth.

Diagram A gives a section across the litho-sphere, or upper crust

of the earth, according to this theory, which is now generally

regarded as satisfactorily proved. Under the ocean the crust would

be relatively thin ; under the mountains it increases in thickness ;

under a ‘shelf’, or shallow inland sea, it again becomes thin, while

under the weight of an ice-cap it becomes depressed.

It will be seen that the acceptance of this theory precludes the

assumption that whole continents floating in equilibrium can be

torpedoed and sunk without leaving a trace.

Within the last few years, however, an Austrian Professor named

Alfred Wegener has propounded an extremely interesting theory

which, if accepted, meets the requirements of both the opposing

schools. It is generally called ‘The Displacement Theory’. Stated

very briefly, it assumes that the continents as we know them were,

in former geological periods, grouped together in one great land

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

7 57.

mass, and have since drifted apart from each other to take up the

positions which they occupy at the present day.

In this paper it is not possible for me to do more than touch upon

a few of the main points of the theory and of the evidence in its

support. Those who wish to obtain further information must

consult Professor Wegener’s own book The Origin of Continents

and Oceans A an English edition of which was published in 1924.

Wegener tells us that the idea first came to him in 1910, when

he was struck by the similarity in shape of the coast-lines of West

Africa and Brazil. If you cut out the outline of the Brazilian

coast-line from a map, and place it against that of West Africa,

you will find that the two fit into each other almost with the accuracy

of a jig-saw puzzle. At the time he disregarded the notion, as it

seemed too improbable, but a year or so later he became acquainted

with the palaeontological evidence for a former land connection

between the two continents. Delving further into the subject, he

came upon such important confirmations of his first surmise that

he was convinced of the fundamental correctness of his idea. For

instance, he found that in the extreme south of Africa there is a

mountain fold of the Permian age, running from east to west — the

Swarte Berg of Cape Colony. If you fit the coast-lines of the two

continents together this range would lie opposite the American coast

south of Buenos Aires. Now, in the Sierras of this area we find a

series of strata, which, in their structure, the succession of the rocks

and their fossil contents are absolutely similar to the mountains in

Cape Colony. Further North the enormous gneiss plateau of Africa

shows great similarity to that of Brazil. Not only the igneous

rocks, but the sedimentary beds associated with them, and the

direction of the strata folds are in close agreement. The diamond-

bearing regions of Brazil are of the same formation and contain the

same peculiar features as those of the Kimberley diamond mines.

Between Europe and North America we have similar cor-

respondences in the geological structure. The folded carboniferous

strata which extend across Central Europe from east to west

reappear on the American side and make the coal deposits of North

America seem the direct continuation of those in Europe.

Immediately to the north of these strata lies a belt of older rocks,

dating from the Silurian and Devonian. This belt traverses Norway

and Scotland and reappears in East Canada. North of this again

the gneissic mountain system of North-West Scotland and the

Hebrides lies opposite a similar system running from Labrador far

into the heart of Canada.

The assumption — underlying the theory — which accounts for the

possibility of such vast horizontal movements in the continental

masses, is in reality just one step forward in the theory of isostasy,

which I explained a little earlier. According to the displacement

theory the upper crust of the earth is composed solely of the

continental masses. The underlying layer lies exposed on the ocean

The Origin of Continents and Oceans by Alfred Wegener. Translated

from the third German Edition by J. G. A. Skerl. 44 Illustrations. Methuen

Co., Ltd., 36, Essex Street, W.C., London.

758 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

floor, where the upper crust is altogether absent, and not merely

thinner.

In this introduction to Professor Wegener’s book, J. W. Evans,

a former President of the Geological Society, points out that the

oldest rocks on the earth’s surface, which everywhere underlie any

sedimentary rocks and which form by far the greater part of the

continental masses, mainly consist of the more acid varieties, granite

and gneiss. These are comparatively lighter than the basic rocks

and are composed predominantly of silica, alumina and the alkalis.

Professor Wegener refers collectively to these acid rocks as

‘sial’ — a portmanteau term made up of the first syllables of silica

and alumina, their two main constituent minerals. Dr. Evans

continues : ‘There is good reason for believing that the rocks forming

the sub-stratum of the ocean bed are more basic in composition and

contain a large proportion of magnesia, iron-oxide and lime, and

that similar rocks, or magmas of the same composition, underlie

the sial of the continents and probably form a zone of the earth’s

substance some 1,500 kilometres in depth’. These basic rocks do

occur in places on the earth’s surface, but are generally believed

to have been erupted from great depths in the form of lava flows.

Professor Wegener terms these rocks ‘sima’ — from silica plus

magnesia— as distinguished from ‘sial’. The sima is heavier

than the sial, and, though somewhat harder, melts at a lower

temperature. Professor Wegener, then, assumes that the sial

and the sima form two separate layers and that the continental

sial masses float in the heavier sima somewhat in the same manner

as icebergs float in the sea. To support his supposition that they

are two separate lavers, he bring-s forward as evidence the statistics

regarding the contours of the earth’s crust. If the continents and

the ocean floors were but one continuous layer, you would expect

to find that the highest moun-

tains and the greatest ocean

depths would constitute the

greatest deviations from a

single mean. In other words,

if you divided the whole

surface of the globe into

square miles and then plotted

the series of measurements,

given by each square mile, of

its altitude above, or its depth

beneath sea level, you would

expect to find that the

greatest number of measure-

ments would gather round a

single mean about half way

between the two extremes,

somewhat as shown in the

dotted line in Diagram B.

Diaoram P. This, however, is not the

actual case. We find two

levels round which the measurements cluster : one for land surfaces

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

759

at an elevation of about 100 metres, and the other for ocean

sounding's at a depth of about 4,700 metres— vide the continuous

lines on the diagram. The series of measurements may be shown

in another way as in Diagram C.

Diagram C. Hypsometric curve of the earth’s surface, after Krummel.

If you take a section across a continent, the bulk of it lies at

no great height above the sea level, and mountain heights occupy

a very small portion of its surface. If, however, you take a section

across the ocean, you will find that, as soon as you leave the shelf

of shallow water adjoining any continent, the sea-floor dips rapidly

to ocean depths, which stretch almost horizontally for enormous

distances. Compared with land surfaces, the ocean floor is

surprisingly level and the mean depth, as mentioned above, is 4,700

metres, or nearly 15,500 feet below the level of the land. It is not

very difficult to assume that we have here two original levels : that

is, two separate lavers.

Diagram D gives in diagram-

matic form a hypothetical section

through the margin of a conti-

nent. On the left you have the

sial block floating in the sima,

on the right is the floor of the

ocean where the sima lies

exposed.

We now come to the crux of

the whole theory. How can the

sial crust be rifted asunder and

how can the continental blocks

drift apart through the solid

basalt medium which composes

the ocean floor?

760 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Ft;/. XXXIV

Professor Wegener freely admits that the sima is more rigid than

steel. He points out, however, that a substance may he hard and

vet viscous, and he quotes J. G. Maxwell’s definition of viscosity.

‘When the very smallest stress, if continued long enough, will cause

a constantly increasing change of form, the body must be regarded

as a viscous fluid, however hard it may be. Thus a tallow candle

is much softer than a stick of sealing-wax, but if the candle and

the stick of sealing-wax are laid horizontally between two supports,

the sealing-wax will in a few weeks, in summer, bend with its own

weight while the candle remains straight. The candle is therefore

a soft solid and the sealing-wax a very viscous fluid’.

Fastening on this illustration given by Maxwell, Wegener

compares the sial crust with the tallow candle and the sima with

the stick of sealing-wax, Sealing-wax dropped on to a hard floor

will splinter into fragments, but, given time, under the force of

attraction it will flow of itself. He goes on to point out that even

steel loses its rigidity under such pressures as we can mechanically

produce, and becomes plastic. A steel sphere, of the same size as

the earth, would, like sealing-wax, flow under the influence of its

own attraction, provided the necessary time were given for it to

develop a change of form. In fact, for such dimensions as the

earth, he maintains that no solid body exists and that all bodies

have the property of viscid fluidity ; but the time needed for their

change will differ according to their degree of viscosity.

The movement of the sial may be illustrated by yet another

laboratory experiment. You cannot force a piece of cork through

a sheet of pitch, but if you place the cork at the bottom of a vessel

and cover it with the pitch, it will in the course of time rise to the

surface. The ice in glaciers is seemingly solid, yet under the force

of gravity the glacier develops a steady flow.

As geological time is measured in thousands and millions of years,

we can allow the sima sufficiently long periods in which to develop

its viscous properties. At a moderate computation we can give

India more than ten million years to drift from the side of Africa

to its present position. The average rate of movement would be less

than a yard in a year. Again, Wegener points out that in the lower

depths of the sima layer the mobility will be increased by high

temperatures. The melting point, too, of the sima is lower than

that of the sial, so that molten sima and solid sial could exist side

by side.

Further he sees ‘no reason why such slightly different materials

as sima and sial should completely separate, or have separated, in

the body of the earth. Much more probably, there has been, from

the beginning, a gradual transition from one to the other’. His

own picture of the structure of the sial crust and its relative

position to the sima is given in Diagram E, which is nothing

more than an elaboration of Diagram A, illustrating the theory of

isostasy.

‘Uppermost, we have a zone of continuous sial with isolated

inclusions of sima ; below this a dove-tailed zone in which each of

the two portions is continuous; and beneath all a zone of continuous

sima in which lie a few isolated masses of sial.’

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

761

Diagram E, Section through sial crust.

With the development of the rifts which split the sial crust

asunder there would be great compression on either side of the

rifts. Some sima from the inclusive masses would be forced down-

wards, some would rise as in volcanoes, or would well up through

the rifts and spread out in great horizontal lava flows, such as are

found in the Deccan, Brazil and elsewhere. During the great

driftings of the continents a kind of gliding plane would be formed

on the under surface of the sial, and masses of comparatively plastic

sial, at the lower depths, would become detached and slowly rise,

like cork through pitch, through the ocean floor in the wake of the

drifting continents. This would explain the existence of such isolated

oceanic islands as the Seychelles and many of the South-Sea-Island

clusters.

In the diagram the comparatively thin crust of sial laden with

sima inclusion?, shown under a ‘fore-deep’, or continental shelf,

marks the site of an inland sea, such as formerly existed where the

Alps and Himalayas now stand. A fore-deep would ride so low in

the sima layer that its surface would fall somewhat below sea-level.

It would also form a weak zone in the sial crust, which would be

predestined for mountain folding when compression came into play.

Such a structure of the crust would afford an explanation of the

geological fact that large mountain chains are generally formed

on the site of former inland seas, while the process of mountain

building is accompanied by great lava flows and outbursts of

volcanic activity.

In assuming the occurrence of rifts large enough to split off

continental masses, Professor Wegener has full geological justifica-

tion. A huge, almost continuous system of rifts on a comparable

scale is well-known to geologists : I allude to the great African

Rift- Valleys. This system of rifts begins in the north of Palestine,

where as many of you, no doubt, are aware, the valley of the

Jordan and the Dead Sea lie in a trough many hundred feet below

sea-level. This trough-like fault continues southwards through the

Gulf of Akaba to the Red Sea, where the ocean has already invaded

the depression. It is probable that here the rift has widened and

that the sima-floor already lies uncovered. The fault system then

branches south-west and is continued in the great Rift-Valleys of

762 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

East Africa, where the long- narrow lakes, such as Lake Rudolf,

Tanganyika and Nyassa lie in huge canyons with wall-like slopes.

These valleys are obviously huge rifts in the Continental plateau,

and not mere valleys of erosion. Lake Tanganyika in places reaches

a depth of 8,000 feet or more, while the plateaux which border it on

either side attain an elevation of 6,000 to 9,000 feet above sea-level.

This particular lake is of considerable geological age, but in other

parts of the system the rifts cut through sedimentary rocks which

are no older than the Pliocene.

It is clear, therefore, that the rifting process may take a

considerable period to develop. The great African system may be

looked upon as a continental rift which has either stuck half way, or

which has not yet had time to attain completion. In either case

this illustration gives some idea of the extremely leisurely manner

in which great geological earth-movements are evolved. At the

present day the Red Sea may be widening and East Africa may be

slowly detaching itself from the rest of the continent, but to human

eyes the process is not apparent. It is only now and then, at

critical junctures, that we find record of a catastrophic change —

such as a great volcanic eruption, or a tremendous lava flow —

sufficient to effect any suddenly perceptible difference in the earth’s

surface.

We are now in a position to follow Professor Wegener’s

interpretation of the evolution of continents and oceans since

geological time began. He draws for us a picture of the dim dawn

of the geological ages, when the whole surface of the globe was

covered by a film of sial one-third of the depth of the present

continental crusts. This, again, would have been covered by a

world-wide ocean, rather under two miles in depth, which would

have left few, if any, portions of the sial-sphere un-submerged.

Underneath the upper crust of sial lay the heavier, but more viscous

sima.

Later, great rifts occurred in the sial crust and, as the rifts

widened, the sima floor of the ocean for the first time lay exposed,

while the sial mantle was contorted and contracted so as to occupy

only a portion of the earth’s surface, with the result that it became

considerably thicker. Being lighter than the sima, the thickened

sial block rode higher in the viscous sima layer, and, for the first

time in the geological history of the earth, extensive land surfaces

began to emerge, while the ocean began its retreat towards the

lower levels, where the sima floor now lay without any covering

mantle. This view rests on two grounds of support. Biologists and

palaeontologists agree that, in all probability, the earliest forms of

life on the earth — whether animal or vegetable — lived in the water.

Before the Silurian ages there were no air-breathing animals, and

it is not till we come to Devonian times that there is any marked

progress in the adaptation of the flora and fauna to terrestrial

conditions. The second ground is purely geological : the oldest

rocks, wherever found on the earth’s surface, are always strongly

folded and contorted. No Archaean rocks can be found in which

the original stratification is undisturbed, and it is evident that, if

we could smooth out all the folds and contortions, these rocks —

journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Fig. 1

Upper

Carboniferous

Older

Quaternary

Fig. 3

The Origin of Continents and Oceans according to the Displacement Theory.

Reproduced from Wegener's “ Origin of Continents and Oceans i By courtesy of Messrs. Methuen & Co. Ltd.

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

763

which everywhere form the basis of the continental blocks — would

cover a much larger portion, if not the whole, of the earth’s surface.

It is quite conceivable that the foldings and rumplings of the

Archaean gneisses were caused by the driftings, which cleared away

the sial crust from the area now covered by the floor of the Pacific,

probably the oldest ocean, and compressed the sial mantle into the

continental blocks which formed the Devonian and Carboniferous

continents.

Towards the close of the Palaeozoic ages, during the later

Carboniferous period, the continental crust had shrunk so as to

cover about one-half of the earth’s surface, but it still lay in one

more or less compact mass somewhat as shown in Fig. 1, vide

plate. In this figure the present continental outlines are inserted

merely for the purpose of identification. The dotted portions

of this universal continental block denote the shallow seas, in

which were laid down the vast areas of Carboniferous sedimentary

strata found over so many parts of the world. The clear areas show

roughly the probable land surfaces of this period. You will see that

a vast shallow sea stretched from west to east right across the

upper part of this continental block, while the main land-surface

centres round the counterpart of Africa, which was contiguous on

one side with South America. Central Asia then lay at the

bottom of the shallow Carboniferous sea. On the east of Africa

you will find a greatly elongated tongue-shaped area. The southern

portion of this tongue represents the present Indian Peninsula,

which even then was a land-surface. The northern portion of the

tongue represents horizontal strata about 2,000 miles or so In

breadth, which lay along with Central Asia at the bottom of the

Carboniferous sea, and which were crumpled up later to form the

mighty folds of the Himalayan mountain system. Lapping round

Afro-India on the south and south-east lies that part of this great

land-mass which represents Antarctica and Australia of the present

day.

I may here mention that Professor Wegener closely connects with

his displacement theory the assumption that during successive

geological ages the positions of the Poles have undergone consider-

able variation.

Palaeontologists are all agreed that the fossil fauna and flora

found in the various sedimentary strata frequently show that these

strata must have been laid down under climatic conditions differing

widely from those which now obtain in the regions where the strata

occur. When, however, they try to work out, from this internal

evidence, the climate over the world at any one geological period,

they are confronted by the most baffling complications.

Let us take, for instance, the same Carboniferous period of which

we have just been speaking. The palaeontological evidence from

this period happens to be fairly abundant and widely diffused.

In Spitzbergen, inside the present Arctic circle, we find coal-beds

containing fossils which were almost certainly deposited under

tropical conditions. In the middle of South Africa, some. 90°

south of Spitzbergen, at almost the same geological horizon, we

find deposits showing unmistakeable signs of glacial conditions.

764 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

One would at once be tempted to argue for a North Pole somewhere

in the middle of the Pacific and a South Pole near the middle of

South Africa. It somewhat confuses the problem, however, to find

strata of approximately the same age in Brazil, India and Australia

which also bear clear signs of glacial conditions. To use the term

quite literally for once : where on earth can you fix a South Pole

which could account for glacial conditions at approximately the

same period in such widely scattered localities?

If you accept the displacement theory and the grouping of the

continental masses as shown in Fig. 1 of Diagram F, the puzzle can

be solved. The glaciated regions in Brazil, India and Australia

group themselves in a fairly close circle round a South Pole placed

near the middle of South Africa.

As Wegener points out, physicists are not altogether in favour

of any very pronounced variations in the actual axis of the earth,

but the apparent wandering of the Poles may be accounted for by

relative movements of the continental crust, as a whole, over the

more static central core. So far as the continents are concerned,

this would give the same result as a shift of the real axis.

There is, thus, considerable force in Professor Wegener’s assertion

that, so far as concerns the investigation of the climates in former

geological ages, the displacement theory does not merely simplify

the problem ; it rather affords the first possibility of any explanation

whatever. Assuming* the displacement theory, you can piece out

your evidence in any period and find a position of the Poles which

will give a rational interpretation. Wegener has in fact worked

out tentatively a schedule showing the position of the Poles in

the successive periods and is still engaged in further research on

this side of the question.

For the succeeding geological periods I must confine myself to

a very brief outline of The changes which have resulted in the

present position of the continents, before I turn to a slightly fuller

examination of the movements affecting the land masses of India

and Australia. The first big separation is presumed to have

occurred fairly early in the Jurassic period, when the combined

block of Australia and Antarctica was sundered from Afro-India by

a rift which opened between India and Australia. This rift

gradually spread southwards, until in Cretaceous times it cut the

southern extremity of South Africa and united with another

meridional rift which opened from the south and began to wedge

Africa apart from South America. This latter rift, as it spread

northwards, was associated with a certain amount of rotation by

South America on the hinge which connects it with North America.

At the same time an isolated rift, which had expanded earlier

between North Africa and Europe on the east, and North America

on the west, enlarged itself until it joined the South Atlantic split.

At the close of the Cretaceous period the Indian Peninsula began

to part company with East Africa; while Australia, Antarctica and

South America, still in one land-mass, were drifting further away

from both India and Africa.

In the early Eoce-ne, at the opening of the Tertiary Age, the

position was approximately as shown in Fig. 2 of the plate. You

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

765

will see that the Continents are well on the way towards the assump-

tion of their present shapes.

The movements in the Secondary Age had been associated with

considerable wanderings of the Poles. In the Permian and Triassic

periods the mean position of the Poles was : North Pole, 50° N.,

130° W. ; South Pole, 50° S., 50° E. During the Jurassic, the

Poles moved considerably nearer to their present positions, reverting

in the Cretaceous to almost the same positions as in the Permian.

During Tertiary times the distances between the Continents

continued to widen and the movements included the disappearance

of the vast shallow sea, which until then had covered the surface of

the continental block in a wide zone from Western Europe to

Eastern Asia. This former sea is known to geologists as the

Tethys.

Now, during Tertiary times the mean position of the North Pole

lay south of the Bering Straits, and that of the South Pole on the

meridian of Greenwich, south-west of the Cape of Good Hope; so

that the Tethys lay along the Tertiary Equatorial belt. As I

explained earlier, in Diagram E, it would occupy a zone of weakness

in the sial crust.

The general trend of the forces which caused the great drifts was

in the nature of a double thrust westwards and towards the Equator.

The weak crustal zone of the Tethys, lying along the Equator, was

thus subjected to converging pressures from both hemispheres, as

a result of which it was slowly, but irresistibly, squeezed like a

concertina into the vast girdle of mountain chains which runs from

the Pyrenees, through the Alps and the Caucasus to the Himalayas

and the mountains of China and Mongolia. The bulging shape of

the East Asian coast bears witness to the same compression.

At the opening of the most recent geological age— 1 he

Quaternary — the general situation is shown in Fig. 3 of the plate.

The present grouping of the land-masses has almost been reached;

but the forked rift in the North Atlantic, which leaves Greenland as

an isolated triangle in the Arctic seas, was still incomplete. Antarc-

tica had just separated from South America, while Australia had

still to finish its voyage across the Southern Ocean. The later

movements of the Australian land-mass, which includes New Guinea,

furnish one of the most fascinating and ingenious examples brought

forward by Professor Wegener in the exposition of his theory.

As I stated above, the general trend of the displacements is

westwards and towards the Equator, but we cannot thus interpret

all the driftings. India, and the earlier movements of Australia

seem to have pursued a somewhat different course, carried onwards

perhaps by some wide eddying movement set up in the sima.

In order that we may follow more closely these Australian

movements, I must first mention yet another of Professor Wegener’s

arguments. Though the sima is viscous as compared with the sial

and allows the continental blocks to pass slowly through it, and

though, like water, it is subject in general only to displacement and

not to compression and distortion, yet it is in fact so solid as to

offer enormous resistance. Consequently, the frontal margin of a

drifting continent is contorted by the pressure, and we find long

766 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL til ST. SOCIETY , G?/. XX XIV

mountain ridges piled up, close to and parallel with the coast-line,

in the van of the moving land-mass. Again, in the rear of the mass,

comparatively small blocks become detached, and, owing to their

decreased momentum, stick fast in the sima to tail out in a lagging

festoon of islands. Thus we .account for the long ridges of the

Rocky Mountains and the Andes, and for the island festoons of the

West Indies, Tierra del Fuego, Japan and the Malay Archipelago.

In the earlier stages of its drift, the East Coast of Australia, and

New Zealand — which then formed an integral part of the mass — lay

in the van. Accordingly we find that at a comparatively early period

the mountains of East Australia and the New Zealand Alps were

formed parallel to the coast. In later Tertiary times Australia came

under the influence of the more normal drift movements and

so changed the direction of its advance to the north-west. New

Zealand became detached and was left behind as a lagging festoon,

while New Guinea, connected with the main block by a continental

shelf, probably much broader then than it is now, became the ram-

head of the advancing mass, which in quite recent times has thrust

itself into the long trailing festoon of the Malay Archipelago.

Prior to this Australian thrust the eastern islands of the

Archipelago would have stretched in a symmetrical sequence to the

Solomon Islands; but now the islands in the Banda Sea from Timor

to the West Coast of New Guinea have been forced northwards

and outwards in a backward curve. The same fate has overtaken

New Britain on the east of New Guinea. It has been caught by

its former south-east end and dragged clean round. The recoil of

the thrust has piled up the lofty mountain chains of New Guinea,

which are admittedly of very recent formation.

This movement, if accepted, gives by far the most satisfactory

explanation of the mystery of ‘Wallace’s Line’, where a series of

insignificant straits separates the widely differing faunal regions of

Australia and South-East Asia. The two distinctive lines of

evolution were developed during the period when the two regions

lay parted by a wide expanse of ocean. It is only in recent times

that they have been brought into juxtaposition by the north-westerly

advance of the Australian Continent.

Let us now turn to India as a final illustration of continental dis-

placement and as one which interests us the more closely. Wegener

is very general in his treatment of this movement and, in order to

present the evidence and conditions a little more fully, I have had

recourse to Professor Wadia’s Geology of India. This is a fairly

recent publication, which ably summarizes in text-book form the

general results of the very large amount of valuable work carried on

for three quarters of a century by the Geological Survey of India.

Published in 1921, this book contains no reference to the displace-

ment theory, and the author clearly upholds the older theory which

assumes the foundering of Gondwana-land en bloc. Evidence,

therefore, taken from this source, of the internal geological history

of India is certainly not biassed in favour of Professor Wegener.

I am also indebted to Mr. Hunter, Inspector of Mines in Ceylon,

who recently visited Madagascar, for placing evidence at my

disposal concerning the geology of that island.

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS 76 7

If we glance backward to Fig. 1 of Diagram F, we see that it

represents the Indian Peninsula — with Ceylon like a little knob

at the end of it — as lying alongside of Madagascar and East Africa

in one solid mass. On the east of this mass Australia formed the

outside portion of the huge universal continent. This represents

the state of affairs at the close of the Carboniferous period, when

the South Pole lay somewhere in the region of Mafeking. The

Indian Peninsula then formed part of a great inland plateau, the

southern portion of which fell within the Antarctic circle and was

presumably covered by a great cap of ice.

I have mentioned earlier in this paper that Professor Wegener

remarks on the similarities in the diamond-bearing rocks of Brazil

and the Kimberly region, and uses this fact in support of his theory.

There is an analogous parallel in the composition of the Archaean

gneisses of Ceylon, South India and Madagascar. In all three

countries graphite and gems are found occurring under very similar

conditions in these Archaean strata.

We find, too, in the Indian Peninsula an extremely interesting

sequence of sedimentary rocks, laid down at intervals between the

later stages of the Palaeozoic and the close of the Secondary Ages,

and known as the Gondwana system. It is this system which has

given its name to the ‘lost continent’ of ‘Gondwana-land’, inasmuch

as these deposits find parallels in Madagascar, East Africa,

Australia and South America — the regions which adjoined the shores

of this supposed, far-spread, lost continent. The fossil evidence of

the Gondwana strata in these widely separated regions gives

extremely clear proof of similar conditions in all of them over a

long period of geological time. The outstanding fact in the whole

of this great series is that they are not marine strata, but were laid

down in river valleys and lakes.

Professor Wadia speaks of the Indian Gondwana rocks as

having been deposited ‘in slowly sinking faulted troughs into which

the rivers of the Gondwana country poured their detritus’. In other

words, these Gondwana strata originated under precisely the same

conditions as the alluvial and lake deposits which are being formed

at the present day in the African Rift-Valleys. The earlier beds

contain boulders striated in the unmistakeable manner which tells

of glacial action ; in the succeeding strata we have evidence of a

climate which gradually became warmer.

We have therefore very strong grounds for assuming that these

strata point to a close parallel, in a colder climate, with the

conditions which now obtain in East Africa ; and it is more

intelligible to assume that these similar conditions were confined

to a land-mass of reasonable size, grouped round a South African

Pole, than that they were spread over an area almost equal to a

complete hemisphere.

We can picture the Rift-Valleys beginning to form in late Carboni-

ferous and Permian times, and developing through the Secondary

Ages, until we come, in the early Jurassic, to the first rift which

completely sundered the sial crust and resulted in the severance of

Australia from Afro-India. The critical stage of a rift is generally

accompanied by great lava flows in its vicinity, and we do find

76 8 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXlV

evidence of a Jurassic lava flow associated with the uppermost

Gondwana beds in the Rajmahal hills of Bengal. The Palaeonto-

logical evidence argues for a separation of Australia from Afro-India

towards the middle of the Jurassic, and it is not until we come to

the upper Jurassic that we find any marine strata on the east

Coast of India. We have, therefore, three important lines of

evidence, which agree in dating the severance of Australia and the

formation of the coast-line on the east coast of India at about the

middle of the Jurassic period.

After this severance, the rift-movements in the interior of the

Afro-Indian land-mass appear to have died down for a while, and

a period of comparative quiescence seems to have set in, which

lasted until the end of the Cretaceous. We get a certain amount

of subsidence along the east coast of India reflected by marine

deposits of late Jurassic and Cretaceous times at various places

on the eastern side of the Peninsula. The present west coast of

India was not then in existence as a coast line.

By looking at present-day East Africa we may form a very clear

idea of the conditions which obtained in the Indian Peninsula, just

before the great split, at the close of the Cretaceous, severed it

from the African continent. The present west coast-line of India

might quite possibly have been represented by an incomplete rift,

corresponding to the African rift system. On the eastern side we

would have a fairly old coast-line with marine deposits, of upper

Jurassic and earlier Cretaceous times, which would correspond

to the marine, Tertiary, deposits at present found on the East

African Coast. The main river drainage would face the east,

so that the rivers would gradually cut back the line of their water-

shed further and further to the west. These conditions would

explain why the water-shed in the Indian Peninsula lies so far to

the westward. You would have exactly the same phenomenon

in the Continental block which would be formed if Africa, east of

the Rift-Valleys, were to be separated from the rest of the continent.

Somewhere about the close of the Cretaceous period we come to

the tremendous earth movements which split the Indian Peninsula

from Africa and sent it voyaging across the ocean to its present

position. Indian geologists are fully agreed as to the approximate

date, and the tremendous effect upon the internal geology of India,

of this great movement. It began with the vast series of lava flows

which poured over an enormous area of the Peninsula. The rocks

which form the denuded remains of these flows are known as the

Deccan Traps. They still cover over 200,000 square miles in

Bombay and the Deccan. Their total thickness reaches 10,000 feet

on the Bombay Coast, but thins down as the strata stretch outwards

from this centre. These trap-rocks date from the close of the

Cretaceous to early Eocene times. We have similar huge flows

of the same date forming great plateaux in East Africa and

Madagascar.

Indian geologists further agree that the west coast-line of the

Peninsula assumed its present form in connection with this great

movement. As evidence we have the fact that not until we reach

Pliocene times do we find any marine deposits on the west coast

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

769

of the Peninsula proper. Wadia would attribute the present outline

of the Indian west coast to the foundering of that part of Gondwana-

land which lay between India and Africa.

Lastly, Indian geologists agree that up to the close of the

Secondary period the Peninsula proper was washed on the north

by the waters of the Tethys; and that in Eocene times the

sedimentary strata, laid down at the bottom of this wide, but

shallow sea, began to be compressed and elevated into the great

mountain system of the Himalayas.

The whole process falls into three main phases. The first began,

as I said, in tfye Eocene, not long after the occurrence of the Deccan

lava flows. This phase ridged up the central axis of the system ;

the second phase at the end of the Miocene accounts for the inner

lesser ranges ; the third and last phase completed the process by a

further elevation of the earlier zones, and also by the creation of

the outermost southern range of the Siwaliks. This last phase did

not come to an end until almost the very close of Tertiary times.

As in the Alps, so in the Himalayas, the sedimentary rocks which

now form the mountain slopes have been compressed and contorted

in the most extraordinary manner. If we compare the size of the

Himalayan system with that of the Alps, and consider that the

Alpine strata, when folded out smooth and flat, would occupy a

zone 400 miles, or even more in breadth, we can easily understand

that the Himalayan strata, if flattened out, would require a zone of

2,000 miles or more, a breadth which would be sufficient to make

the extremity of South India reach Madagascar. We must

remember too that, on the principle of isostasy, the sial crust floats

in the sima with only about one-eighth of its bulk un-submerged. In

consequence seven-eighths of the total effects of any compression are

expended downwards, so that what we see in the Himalayas of the

present day is only the denuded remains of one-eighth of the total

results of the stupendous movement which resulted in their

formation.

It seems to me that the displacement theory gives a more

intelligible account of the movement than a theory which assumes

the vertical foundering of Gondwana-land, and so fails to make any

adequate allowance for the enormous horizontal compression which

must surely have accompanied the elevation of a mountain system

so vast as the Himalayas.

According to the displacement theory India and Africa were

united until the critical rift occurred at the close of the Secondary

Age. The lava flows of the Deccan and East Africa would form

parts of the same great series of outbursts which occurred in the

vicinity of the rift, and would thus be brought into close relationship

with each other in space as well as in time. When the rift had

completely opened and the drift of India began, the upheaval of

the Himalayas may be described as a concertina-like compression

of the floor of the Tethys, which fore-shortened India and allowed

for the ever widening gap between that country and Africa, until

the movement was completed.

I have noted above that this Indian drift does not partake of the

normal double movement westwards and towards the equator. We

11

770 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL Hi ST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXtV

must remember, however, that in Tertiary times the equatorial line

lay more or less along the central axis of the Himalayas, and

Wegener considers that, on the whole, the movement may be

interpreted as a drift towards the Equator. The eastern element

in the directing force may perhaps be due to some great eddy in the

sima. Whatever the force may be, it seems to have acted fairly

constantly in this region of the globe; as Madagascar which, from

the geological and zoological evidence, appears to have separated

from Africa at a much later date, is following in precisely the same

direction. If we liken the map, once more, to a jig-saw puzzle we

can, without any hesitation, fit Madagascar on to the East African

Coast some degrees south-west of the position which it now

occupies.

In conclusion : If we admit the theory we must also assume that

the forces which cause the continental movements are continuous

and are even now in operation. Wegener is confident that, in the

case of Greenland, this can be proved by a series of longitudinal

determinations taken in 1823, 1870 and 1907. These, he maintains,

show that Greenland has moved about one mile westwards between

1823 and 1907. Dr. Evans, however, in his introduction to

Wegener’s book, points out that everything depends on the

accuracy of the determinations, which were taken by observations

on the moon. The general opinion is that in lunar observations

we cannot depend on an accuracy sufficiently meticulous as to prove

such slight variations. By means of wireless telegraphy, however,

extraordinary accuracy can now be attained, and a similar series

of wireless observations, over a period of fifteen or twenty years

should enable us to obtain a definite verdict.

Further, as regards the nature of the forces which have caused

and are now causing the continental displacements, we must confess

with Wegener that the question is still too much in a state of flux

to admit of a complete answer satisfactory in every detail.

It is a matter largely for the mathematician and the physicist, and

I regret that I am not sufficiently versed in the learning of either to

attempt a summary which would present in a condensed and simple

form the substance of Professor Wegener’s arguments in his

chapter on these displacing forces. However, as I said before, he

makes out that there are two main forces at work : one impelling

the masses westwards, and the other directed towards the equator.

The westward drift may be explained, as are the tides, by the

attraction of the sun and moon. A certain degree of the equatorial

movement may be accounted for by the force of gravity acting on

the Continental masses as they float in the sima with their centre

of gravity lying above their centre of buoyancy. He admits,

however, that this latter force would not be sufficient of itself to

explain the elevation of the equatorial mountain chains. He

surmises that an additional force may be found in the wandering of

the poles, coupled with the flattening of the earth at the polar axes.

The radius of the earth at the poles is about sixteen miles less

than at the equator. If, therefore, the poles wander to any great

extent, say, to the latitude of 60°, the -surface of the earth in the

new polar positions would, for the time being, be several miles

THE ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS AND OCEANS

111

too high. But, since the globe behaves as a slightly viscous body,

in course of time the surface of the earth would flatten out round

the new polar positions and regain its proper bulge over the areas

where the poles formerly lay. Wegener considers that in this

deformation of the earth’s figure, caused by the wanderings of the

poles, we have a source of power sufficient to do the work of

folding.

Finally, in appraising the theory, we must remember that in so

many cases it is much easier to demonstrate the manner in which

things happened than to explain the cause.

Darwin had a firm conviction in the theory of evolution, and in

order to explain it, hit upon the solution of ‘natural selection’. He

was unaware of Mendel’s Law, which was worked out only six years

after the publication of the Origin of Species, and he probably did

not attach sufficient importance to the influence of environment and

isolation in directing evolution along a more or less definite line.

Within a few years the scientific world had accepted the grand

fact of evolution with all its manifold implications ; but biologists

are still in dispute over the parts played by selection, mutation, or

environment, in the actual processes of evolution.

To use an illustration on a different plane : We may compare

Wegener’s exposition of his theory with the reconstruction of a

criminal affair by a detective. He has, as it were, pieced together

in a brilliant and convincing fashion fact after fact of circumstantial

evidence, until all the details in the commission of the crime stand

out vividly before us, but he has not as yet proved conclusively the

identity of the criminals.

The position may be summed up fitly by a quotation from

Dr. Evans’ Introduction to Professor Wegener’s book : ‘Whatever

may be the outcome of these observations and whatever modifica-

tions may prove to be required in the author’s views on the evolution

of the present configuration of land and sea, he has done most

valuable service in directing attention to a new and important

element in the transformations that the world has suffered, an

element which no one, henceforth, will be able safely to ignore’.

Table of Geological Periods

Quaternary

Tertiary or Cainozoic

Secondary or Mesozoic

Primary or Palaeozoic

Archaean

f Recent

( Pleistocene

f Pliocene

J Miocene

Oligocene

(Eocene

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

f Permian

| Carboniferous

Devonian, and Old Red Sandstone

| Silurian

{ Cambrian

Fundamental Gneiss.

ON THE NESTING OF THE CRESTED SWIFTS

BY

H. Whistler, m.b.q.u., f.z.s.

(With two plates)

We have to thank Mr. H. Van Meurs for a copy of an article

which he has recently published in the Orgaan der Club van Neder

landsche Vogelkundigen on the nesting- of the Malayan Crested

Swift (Hemiprocne longipennis). Unfortunately we are unable to

read the whole of what is evidently a careful and detailed account

owing to our ignorance of the Dutch language but the author has

appended a brief summary in English which allows us to gather the

purport of his article. As an English footnote shows us his article

is entitled ‘A nidological problem requiring solution. The

enigmatical system of procreation of Hemiprocne longipennis \

It is illustrated by some excellent photographs of the remarkable

nest of the Crested Swift and of the young bird in vari'ous stages

sitting on or near the nest. But before we examine his conclusions

we should perhaps give some account of the Crested Swifts and

their remarkable breeding habits.

The Crested Swifts have been separated from the other and better

known members of the Swift family ( Micropidce ) as a sub-family

Hemiprocnince on account of the characters of the tarsi and feet

which show strong affinities with those of the Swallows. In

appearance also the Crested Swifts resemble the Swallows far more

than the Swifts. They are very beautiful birds of a Swallow-like

build with their long pointed wings and long deeply forked tails.

The plumage is soft and silky like that of the Swallows as

contrasted with the hard oily plumage of the Swifts. The feathers

of the forehead are long and erectile, forming the crest to which

the group owes its name. The feet have the hind toe non-

reversible, that is to say, they share the normal arrangement of

three toes in front and one behind found in the Swallows and

other passerine birds as contrasted with the .Swifts whose reversible

first or hinder toe enables all four toes to be used for climbing rather

than perching.

The new edition of the Fauna admits three forms of Crested

Swift in the territories of the Indian Empire. These are the Indian

Crested Swift ( Hemiprocne coronata ), the Malayan Crested Swift

(H. longipennis harterti) and the Tufted Tree-Swift (H. comaia

comata). All appear to have much the same habits. They are

birds of well-wooded country where they are found in small parties

which hawk about for insects with a wheeling flight which far

more resembles the flight of a Swallow than of a .Swift. But the

characteristic which separates them far more than any other from

the true Swifts is the fact that they perch on trees. A bird-

observer who met a party of these birds for the first time in the

NESTING OF THE CRESTED SWIFT ( Hemiprocne coronata).

Fig. 3. A young Crested Swift in its nest (nat. size). jpjg. 2. Nest and egg.

Adult birds are shown in the background.

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate II.

NESTING OF THE CRESTED SWIFT (Hemiprocne coronata).

The nestling in a defensive pose.

A study in a mimicry.

A young Crested Swift.

ON THE NESTING OF THE CRESTED SWIFTS

773

forest could hardly be blamed, in short, for thinking- them Swallows

as he watched them settling- on a dead bough at the top of a tree,

and launching off at intervals to hawk for midges with a graceful

wheeling flight. On a bough the Crested Swift sits very

upright with its crest erect; and it utters freely a loud screaming

cry which is certainly not characteristic of a Swallow . The most

curious part of the Crested Swifts is their nest. It is worth while

quoting Hume’s graphic account of the nest of the Indian Crested

Swift which serves well enough for a description of the nests of the

other two species. He says : ‘The nest is a most wonderful little

structure. It is a very shallow half-saucer, composed of thin flakes

of bark, gummed, probably by the birds’ own saliva, against the

side of a tiny horizontal branch. The nest is nowhere more than

| inch in thickness, is at most f inch deep in the deepest part, and

can be exactly covered by a half-crown. The parent bird, though

slender, is fully 10 inches in length, and consequently the bird, when

sitting across the nest and the tiny branch to which it is attached,

completely hides the nest and no one would suspect that there was

any nest there at all.’

This nest is entirely filled up by the solitary rather large greyish

white egg which is a very elongated oval in shape, obtuse at both

ends. Seen from below the nest appears to be merely a knot on

the bough and its colour — black as a whole with small grey or dirty

white blotches — exactly matches the bough. Such a nest is

of course impossible to find except by watching the bird to it, and

even when found it is difficult to be sure of the fact as the bird

appears to be merely perching on the bough although in fact

brooding the single egg in its tiny case. Although sometimes built

at greater heights from the ground the nest is usually from twelve

to twenty-five feet up and as the bough selected is thin and often

dead the nest and egg is very difficult to secure.

Mr. Van Meurs’ paper appears to be devoted to a very elaborate

analysis of this method of nesting in the Malayan Crested Swift.

We must quote his English summary and conclusions : — “In this

essay the author shows that, — where Hemiprocne longipennis, like

so many other Indian Swifts, builds a nest of the Swallow-nest

type (viz., stuck to something sideways) but builds it in trees, not

under a covering, which has to protect the nest from getting wet

and falling off, — the nest of this bird must necessarily be so small

that it {i.e., the bird) can entirely cover it, and, by doing so, can

itself form the required covering

From this it follows that this very elaborate nidological system

has probably not arisen in an evolutionary sense, but must have

come into existence suddenly and quite complete. This is i. a.

suggested, as the author proves, by the very definite construction

required for the building of this miniature nest, which construction

cannot have developed gradually from another construction.

We quite agree with Mr. Van Meurs that there must needs be

some special explanation of the curious nests of the Crested Swifts,

and we would agree that their most outstanding characteristic is

the fact that they are so far as we know the smallest nests built

by any group of birds, smallest, that is, in relation to the size of the

774 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

builders; but we are not certain that the writer has hit on the

true explanation of the size. Whilst we certainly do not feel

satisfied that these nests have been suddenly created as a new

invention rather than evolved from other types of nests.

To take the deduction first, it seems to us that the nest of the

Crested Swift is merely a logical and not unobvious development of

the type of nest that runs throughout the family of the Swifts. Now

there is one characteristic that runs through practically all the nests

of the various members of the Swift family, namely the use of the

bird’s own saliva. The extent to which saliva is used varies consider-

ably, In the genus Micropus it is merely used to cement together

the feathers and fragments of straw and grass which form the nest

material proper. In the smaller genera such as Callocalia practically

the entire nest is composed of saliva to such an extent that, as is

well-known, in various Indo-Malayan countries the nests are used

by the native races for ‘bird-nest soup’ and form a regular article

of commerce. Another character that runs through the nests of the

family is adaptability of shape and site. One has only to examme

a colony of nests of that common Indian Swift, Micropus affinis to

find that although the birds perhaps, normally prefer to make a huge

semi-globular nest plastered under a ceiling or rock, they are ready

enough to lighten their labours by profiting from the presence of an

old Swallow’s nest or a hole in the sheltering surface : in such cases

the amount of saliva and construction is reduced considerably by the

circumstances of the site ; it is sometimes reduced almost to

vanishing point. The Swift is clearly in its nesting arrangements

an adaptable bird and good material for evolution to work upon.

In the genus Callocalia we see the result of such evolution. The

use of saliva has attained to practically its maximum. The nests of

this group are remarkably true to type, small shallow saucers

attached by one side to the roofs and sides of caves and sometimes

inside buildings. The nests vary in the proportions of saliva and

extraneous materials. In some forms and individual nests the nest

is largely composed of moss, lichen, sea weed and similar

substances. In others the nest is practically composed of saliva

with the addition of but a little material. With this genus the

evolution of the Swift’s nest has reached one limit of its evolution ;

the shape is fixed ; the saliva is almost the dominant material and

the birds have highly developed glands beneath the chin for its.

production.

In the Palm-Swift ( Tachornis batassiensis) another line of evolu-

tion has been fully exploited. As its name suggests this quaint little

Swift has become practically a parasite on palm-trees, and in

response to this parasitism its nest is very highly specialized, never

built anywhere except on the leaves of certain species of palm. This

peculiarity reaches its maximum in the Eastern race, T. b. infumatus

which builds also in the roofs of the Naga villages where the houses

are thatched with double layers of palm-leaves. Incidentally where

palm-leaf thatching has given place to thatching with double-layers

of grass or bamboo leaves the Swifts still nest in the roofs. The

nest in its typical form, placed in a palm-tree, is thus described: —

‘The nest is a tiny purse of light down, very often of the Bombax,

ON THE NESTING OF THE CRESTED SWIFTS

775

matted and twisted together but very soft except at the rim and

back. The rim is stiffened with saliva into a sort of cord, strong

enough to bear the weight of young and old, whilst the back is

saturated with saliva and thus firmly glued to the palm-leaf. ’

Now it will be remembered that all these Swifts, however they

nest, have one common characteristic in their curious feet — -feet

which do not allow them to perch in the manner usual amongst

birds — and in the proportions of their wings and bodies highly

specialized for strong and rapid flight. All these Swifts are fliers

and nothing else. They have the shortest humerus and longest

manus of all known birds. They cannot perch like other birds; they

can only cling to an upright surface or shuffle into a hole. The

normal position of a Swift in its nest is probably semi-upright.

They must nest so that they can fling themselves straight into

midair and open the long wings with no fear of striking them

against anything. The Palm-Swift has only taken to the palm

not as a tree but as affording a series of miniature caves amongst

its curling fans. This is well illustrated by Thompson’s account

of a breeding colony in the Mirzapoor district. ‘On a Toddy-palm’

he says, ‘I observed several nests. With some difficulty I got

one down with two eggs. . . The nest was stuck between two ribs

of the leaf of the palm, and the female bird looked as if she was

sitting up against it — so small did the nest look, and such the

apparent uncomfortable attitude of the occupant. Near the nest

was a colony of Bats ( Nyctecejus castaneus). I killed out of the

lot in one shot 21 bats. The palm was alive with them and with

the Swifts. I noticed these birds clustering on the leaf of the palm

between the ribs of the fronds. When moving up and down they

crawled with a shuffling kind of motion, as if their legs were too

short for progression.’

In this case it is interesting to notice the analogy between the

bats and the Swifts. Both were in the palm tree in the manner

of their relatives in buildings. It happened to be a tree they were

living in but only because it was the sort of abnormal tree which

afforded an approach to the normal requirements of the two

families. They could not have lived in the leaves of a normal tree

with only twigs to perch upon.

The Crested Swifts, however, have ordinary perching feet, with

three toes in front and one behind. They live on trees and hawk

from their branches, just like innumerable species of a host of

other families. It is not strange therefore that they follow the

example of most other birds that nest in the trees in and around

which their lives are led. They retain however the family

characteristics of adaptability in the place and shape of the nests

and in the use of saliva; the nests are of the shallow adaptable

saucer type which we have seen that other members of the family

cling to under varied conditions. The only real change in the nest

is that it is very small and that it is placed in the open on the side

of a bough. It seems to us far easier to consider the nest as an

adaptation of the family nest than as a new creation. After all

if the Swift is to nest in a tree at all, it has not much choice of sites.

The nest must be within a hollow trunk or bough like those, of some

776 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

of the Spine-tail Swifts, it must be plastered against the trunk or

the side of a branch, or it must be built like an ordinary nest

amongst the branches or leaves. We think the build of the Crested

Swift probably negatives the first two possibilities ; the soft long

forked tail and the shape of the feet prevent the bird climbing in

and out of holes like the other Swifts ; and the same factors would

militate against a saucer nest against the trunk. To sit in the

uncomfortable attitude of the smaller Swifts all pressed up against

the trunk, with the throat and breast against it, surely requires

their reversible hind toe. To sit in the nest after the normal fashion

of passerine birds— as for instance the Grey-headed Flycatcher

( Culicicapa ceylonensis) in its mossy nest against a tree trunk is

rendered awkward by the long wings and tail, awkward that is at

the moment of entering or leaving. To build on a bough or

amongst the branches would no doubt be the easiest way for the

Crested Swift. But we suggest that it builds its little saucer against

the branch and not on it simply and solely because of the strong

inherent tendency that runs through the nesting habits of the family.

It builds the little saucer against the bough not ‘suddenly’ in Mr. H.

Van Meurs’ words on a sudden inventive impulse of its own, but

because it is a Swift with an inherited ‘evolutionary sense’ which

makes it build such a nest as part of its heritage. That the nest

should be small appears to us to be due to no special need of

protection from rain. For after all innumerable nests of innumer-

able species are built on boughs in open situations and many of

them are just as vulnerable to rain as the nests of the Crested Swifts

and yet remain of normal size. It seems to us that the nest of the

Crested .Swift is very truly an evolution. It has shrunk because

there is no particular point in its remaining large and many points

in favour of its becoming small.

To put the point succinctly : The Crested Swift has the inherited

tendency to build the family nest, a shallow saucer stuck to

something sideways, with saliva one of its important constituents.

The circumstances of its life and form decide that the nest should

be stuck to the side of a tree bough. Such a nest in such a site has

to withstand a tremendous strain of pressure and will obviously be

safer in proportion to the degree of diminution of its size. For the

bird to settle on it in a position crossways with the branch is the

obvious method of convenience in alighting, and to let the branch

take some of the bird’s weight is no out of the way arrangement.

Once these two points are gained there is no point in the nest

remaining large. For it to shrink is an economy of strain, of work

and of material. And so to us it is far easier to believe the nest

of the Crested Swift an interesting example of evolution than to

find it a sudden invention created independently as a means of

avoiding the rain. We may not find it possible to agree with

Mr. H. Van Meurs in his conclusions, but at any rate we are

grateful to him for calling attention to and, as it were, underlining

an interesting problem. Any of our members who are in a position

to observe the Crested Swifts in life might well pay attention to the

problem and see if there is any other explanation than the ones that

have been thus suggested. While a further point of interest, and

ON THE NESTING OF THE CRESTED SWIFTS

777

possibly one that holds a key to the explanation, is to remember

that in the Nightjars ( Caprimulgi ) and Frogmouths ( Podargi ) we

have a somewhat similar situation. The Frogmouths leave the

normal nesting habits of the Nightjars to which they are closely

allied and build a disproportionately small nest on a bough or

branch — a nest that at first sight seems very strange for a bird of

its Caprimulgine affinities. Nightjars and the Swifts are closely

related.

THE STINGING CATERPILLAR.

(EUPROCTIS ICILIA)

BY

Major R. W. G. Hingston.

(With 5 text figures.)

Fabre, in his narrative of the Arbutus Caterpillar, tells of the

dread which the villagers have of it. The wood-cutters, the faggot-

binders, the brushwood-gatherers all join in the same tale that the

caterpillar attacks with great severity, so much so that they spend

a night in torment, tossing as if on live coals. The great observer

seems a little doubtful of their talk. ‘ Do they exaggerate,’ he asks.

He frequently handles the caterpillars himself. He puts them on

the tenderest parts of his body, but he never suffers the slightest

inconvenience. He applies them to the delicate skin of his child.

The result is the merest superficial irritation, nothing of the torment

which the wood-cutters describe.

Here, then we have a little problem. Are these caterpillars

really terrible tormentors, or have they been falsely accused ? Let

us turn to one of our Indian species and examine the actual facts.

One evening in July, while walking in my garden, I happen to

come across a cluster of caterpillars belonging to this so-

called urticating or stinging group. Science tells us that their

technical name is Euproctis icilia , Stoll. I find them on the bark

of a Phalsa tree. They are quite inconspicuous, though clothed

in long hairs, a mottled grey and brown covering which blends

well with the underlying bark. They are worth investigation for

two reasons ; one, to observe their manner of development, and

the other to test the problem before us. Are they venomously

armed or not ?

Development

First, we consider their mode of development. I imprison the

cluster in a glass-covered box. The caterpillars, being large, soon

pupate, and in two weeks I have the adult moths. They are quiet

creatures, seem as content as did the caterpillars with their prison,

and make no attempt to fight through the glass. They seek no food

for they have no feeding mouth-parts. All they want to do is to sit

still and wait for the one event of life. This takes place a day or

two after their emergence. I find them then in the act of mating,

a prolonged affair, lasting many hours, with no show of enthusiasm

about it, and followed, soon after separation, by a profuse dis-

charge of eggs.

These are laid in a cluster on some suitable support. When the

business is over, they make a yellow heap wrapped in a quantity of

minute hairs. The source of these hairs is very interesting. They

THE STINGING CATERPILLAR

779

are stripped by the mother from the tip of her abdomen. There she

possesses a specialized tuft from which she manages to pluck the

wrap. The hairs are yellow, thin and delicate. Round the eggs

they form a downy vestment, and so carefully is this covering made

that not only do the hairs enclose the cluster but they also spread

into its interstices and form a separate capsule for each egg. There

is no viscid material in the cluster. All the eggs are kept together

by the interweaving of individual hairs. Each egg in the composite

mass possesses its individual nest. The eggs are not arranged in

any special manner. In one place the cluster is a flat layer, in

another an irregular heap. When divested of the wrappings, the

eggs are almost colourless. Small hard spheres with a smooth,

delicately pitted surface, they glisten with a faint lustre like a heap

of tiny beads.

The eggs hatch on the sixth day. The new-born caterpillar is, of

course, minute. Four hours after birth it measures one-seventh of

an inch. It is pale in colour, with a brown head and a number of

dark spots on its back. Its whole body bristles with hairs, not just

a sprinkling as in many young caterpillars, but well developed

radiating tufts springing from its back and sides. Its body shows

a few faint markings. Behind the head is a brown patch with a

yellow spot on each side of it. There is also a yellow blotch on the

tail, and two raised brown spots on the back which later will support

specialized hairs.

When first born, the caterpillars are very active. They begin,

life by making explorations, climbing over the heap from which

they have escaped, thrusting their heads into the fluffy mass,

scattering the hairs in all directions, rooting into the interstices of

the hairy capsule in order to get at the egg-shells inside. This

is their first attempt at feeding, a combined effort of the whole

family to engulf the egg-shells from which they emerged. Succeed-

ing in this, their instincts change and they commence to nibble at a

leaf. Of course their first efforts are very feeble. All they do

is to tear off the finest layer of epidermis, leaving behind some

yellow specks showing where this cuticle has been eaten away.

The next morning I find the family more scattered. The hairy

heap has been dug out, the egg-shells have gone, nothing but

a scattering of fluff remains. The caterpillars are all over the leaf.

Their colour has grown a little darker and their body markings are

more distinct. The problem arises, how are we to feed them ? The

cluster I had found was on the trunk of a Phalsa tree, so first I try

them with Phalsa leaves. But these will not suit their particular

taste, nor will leaves of the Imli, the Ber, the Rose, all of which

grow in the vicinity of where the original cluster was found. I

feel sure that the family will die of starvation, when by mere chance,

in these gastronomic testings, I happen to give them a sprig

of Babul, Acacia arabica. This evidently suits their taste. They

soon climb on it, get in between the leaves, attack their edges,

excavate them semicircularly, and end by stripping them completely

from the stalk. Thus is the family saved from starvation ; and,

no doubt under the natural conditions, this acacia is their accustom-,

ed food.

780 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , tf?/. XXXIV

By the third day they are quarter of an inch long. Their bristles are

already showing signs of specialization. Each is no longer a plain

straight hair. It has changed into a central acute pointed shaft

with an encircling armoury of spines. This is the foundation of

that delicate machinery which becomes of such importance at a later

date. On this day or the next the skin is shed. A rent occurs

behind the head, and the caterpillar, little changed in appearance,

comes out in a fresh coat. Every fragment of the integument

is changed, even the delicate microscopic barbules have their thin

coverings renewed. Later we shall see how complex are these hairs,

and will realize how perfect is the act of desquamation which permits

these hairs, without the breaking of a barbule, being drawn from

their intricate sheaths.

The sixth day shows the caterpillar a little larger. It now begins

the dropping dodge, falling, when disturbed, on an invisible thread

and swinging suspended from its leaf. Also it is getting more

attractive in appearance; its pigment is collecting into longitudinal

streaks and its early coat of tufted bristles is changing into silky

hairs. With undulating movements it crawls about the foliage,

having only two objects of any importance, feeding and casting

its skin. A dangerous feature is the development of cannibalism.

One by one the members of the family disappear. Some happen

to be smaller, more undeveloped than others, and these less for-

tunate individuals are devoured by the monsters that grow at their

expense. The loss of life in this way becomes really serious. On

the forty-fifth day only four survive out of the family of twenty-six.

The seventh week finds them fully developed. They are brown

in colour, mottled with grey, about one and a half inches long.

A fringe of long hairs decorates each side. From the back pro-

jects a similar armoury, but the hairs are there shorter and thicker

and are ornamented with snow-white spots. As is usual in this

family, Lymantriida , the caterpillar possesses some specialized

hair-tufts. In this species there is a double pair on the back at the

junction of the front and middle thirds of its body ; also another

similar pair just a little in front of its tail.

Now we come to the pupal change. The caterpillar gets into the

nearest debris, spins about its body an open network, nothing very

Fig. 1. Catterpillar clothed in Urticating Hairs.

Use.— Urticating.

skilful about it, just a mere reticulation of threads. Safely inside,

it undergoes a shrinkage. Its hairs drop off and leave a bare skin

which soon hardens into a kind of case. It this way it lies dormant

for about two weeks. Then the case bursts, and out comes a small

THE STINGING CATERPILLAR

781

and fluffy moth. The apparition is a little surprising, the moth is

such an insignificant production compared with the caterpillar that

gave it birth.

Urtication

If the reader has persisted through these tedious details, it may,

perhaps, be worth his while to examine the caterpillar’s poison-

discharge. I recall a day when, ignorant of this insect, I happen

to take one in my hand. Being interested in the defences put up

by these creatures, I drop it in the midst of a swarm of ants in

order to see how it wards them off. Nothing worth mention

happens in the swarm, but soon I begin to feel an itching. It

commences on the neck, just a slight irritation, nothing more than

a mosquito-bite. I scratch it. The discomfort increases. The

tingling spreads round the neck and down along the ; front of the

chest. Then the forearms begin to smart. Clearly thisls no local

irritation, but something with a wider effect.

I examine the tingling patch. An intense erythema is rapidly

developing. The skin is bright red and beginning to swell. There

is a central inflamed spot and round it a crop of angry points.

Fresh crops appear in different places. Soon the whole chest and

abdomen are involved. New eruptions develop on the legs and

back, and soon the whole body burns madly with one incessant

itch. It becomes impossible to refrain from tearing at it, though

this, of course, intensifies the torture and drives the poison still

deeper into the flesh. I am almost beside myself with rage and

irritation. Fortunately there is a river handy. Throwing off my

clothes, I rush into the water. Some relief is given, only a little,

for the painful burning still continues and at times the itching

grows intense. Almost every part of the body is involved. The

hands and face have escaped from the thickness of their skin, and

for some reason the middle of the back is immune. The original

red patches have grown into lumps, painful whitish wheals.

In half an hour the main intensity of the inflammation lessens. I

dread to put on my clothes again. They must certainly be infected

with the poison hairs, and the torment will commence anew.

However, there is no alternative. On they go, and I rush for

home. The distance is no more than half a mile, but I have not

gone a hundred yards when the mad irritation breaks out afresh.

Scratching and tearing at it, I again throw off my clothes and

plunge into a cold bath. This again provides some temporary

alleviation. Methylated spirit gives the final remedy. I rub it

thoroughly all over my body, and in fifteen minutes the irritation

subsides.

One could scarcely believe that a single caterpillar would be

capable of causing such unendurable discomfort. How subtle must

be the venom, and how marvellous is the creature’s capacity of

spreading its poison far and wide ! An attempt to relieve it only

scatters it farther until the whole body gets involved. J keep up

the application of spirit to the patches. Yet, in spite of it, the urti-

caria persists for days. Patches of redness remain in the skin.

Fresh outbursts of irritation develop and require more spirit to

782 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

keep them down. Even after four days of treatment, it is neces-

sary to apply the spirit at night. How does this simple remedy

act? I suppose by neutralizing or destroying some poison. How,

otherwise, could it give such immediate relief ? The torment, in

the absence of this remedy, would be terrible. Then c^uld the

wood-cutters truly state that they passed their nights ‘tossing and

turning as though on a bed of live coals \

Surely we have here a magnificent defence. A poison which

will drive a man to madness must be of value against many foes.

But I foresee what might be thought to be a serious objection.

The poison is distinctly delayed in its action, therefore the

caterpillar will have been destroyed by its enemy long before

the enemy will feel painful effects. How then can the painful

effects of the poison in any way protect the caterpillar ? Only, I take

it, through its educating influence. Only by birds and other enemies

learning through experience, in the same way as do the wood-

cutters, that these creatures are dangerous to touch. Birds, with-

out doubt, do learn in this way, and the highest authorities could be

quoted to show that the whole principle of warning devices depends

on the enemy’s capacity to learn. A bird is not afraid of a warning

colour through any instinctive fear of the warning, but just because

it has learnt its lesson as a child learns to dread the fire, I think it

is exactly the same in the case of these urticating caterpillars.

They escape because their enemies have learnt what they are.

Thus we see a succession of processes. First comes the extrac-

tion of the hair, then the breaking of the hair into spines, then the

entering of the spines into the skin, then the liberation of some

subtle poison followed by an inflamed patch. The fingers are then

brought to the infected spot. Some spines stick to them. The

spines are carried by the fingers to other parts of the body. New

foci of inflammation are started. These again are scratched. More

and more foci are formed in the same way until in the end the

whole body is involved. Thus we see in what a simple mechanical

manner can the poison of a small caterpillar produce such a wide-

spread effect.

The possession of poison-hairs is fairly widespread amongst

caterpillars. For some strange reason, it seems to be confined to

the caterpillars of moths. At least, I know of no butterfly larva

armed in this elaborate way. The Lymanteiim:, Lasiocampim:,

Eupterotim:, Limaco Dinas, Arctiilue, are the chief families of

Indian moths whose caterpillars have evolved the poison hair.

Purpose of the Simple Hair

We have seen the purpose of the poison hair. But this is a

highly specialized contrivance. What about that far more common

structure, the plain, simple, ordinary hair in which such myriads of

caterpillars are clothed ? What is its function ? Why should such

a crowd of caterpillars go in for the silky dress ?

Different suggestions have been put forward. 1 shall mention

them only briefly, and leave to the end the personal views which I

have come to from observation in the field.

THE STINGING CATERPILLAR

782

1. Use as a breakfall. — This suggestion I believe to be quite

fantastic. It is that the caterpillar’s hairy coat saves it from injury

should it happen to fall. The coat of hairs projecting from it makes

a kind of springy garment which lessens the shock when it strikes

the earth. Certainly hairy caterpillars do fall to ground. Many

kinds, when alarmed, roll themselves into a coil and allow them-

selves to drop from a twig or leaf. But they cannot need this

specialized buffer, for think of the numbers of naked caterpillars

which habitually drop to earth and never come to any harm. It is

not a bump that a caterpillar fears, but a stab from the ovipositor

of a parasite or a pinch in the beak of a bird.

2. Useas aslip-away device. — A number of hairy caterpillars,

when alarmed, roll themselves up into close-wound coils. This

attitude is said to protect them by preventing birds from getting a

grip. A caterpillar, for instance, of the Great Tiger Moth, when

rolled up, is not easy to take hold of. The covering of hairs makes

it slip through the fingers, and it may be that for the same rea-

son it will slip from the beak of a bird. In that fine old work

of Kirby and Spence we are told that the larva of Anihremis

musorum, a destructive beetle that gets into cabinets, is covered

with numbers of diverging hairs which cause it to glide from

between the fingers as if it were lubricated with oil.

Thus it may be in some special instances, though I have little

faith in the idea, that the hairs may function as a slip-away

device.

Fig. 2. Caterpillar clothed all over in simple hairs.

Use.— a. Distastefulness to lizards and birds.

b. Defence against ants.

c. Defence against pafasites. ,

3. Use by being distasteful to birds (Fig. 2). — This view brings us

to surer ground. It is a fairly well-established fact that birds and

lizards do not like hairy caterpillars. The hairs, no doubt, are

mechanically unpleasant to them. Also it is obvious to common

observation that many kinds of hairy caterpillars travel quite fear-

lessly in the open, careless of any attack from birds. Nevertheless

it is well known that cuckoos will eat quantities of hairy cater-

pillars. They seem to have some capacity for dealing with the

problem which is not possessed by other kinds of birds. The little

point would be worth investigation. Does the cuckoo digest the

hairs, or does it vomit them forth again as birds of prey do feathers

and bones ?

784 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

4. (/^g-. 3). — Certain caterpillars have their hairs

collected into tufts, conspicuous projecting brushes which imme-

Fig. 3. Caterpillar with conspicuous loose'tufts.

Use. — To decoy birds and lizards from caterpillar’s body.

diately attract the eye. In these instances it is suggested by

Professor Poulton that the tuft is a kind of decoy. A bird or lizard,

making a grab at the caterpillar, will seize hold of the conspicuous

tuft. The hairs, which, in such cases, are loosely attached, will

come out as soon as they are grabbed. And the bird will get not

a luscious caterpillar, but a mouthful of irritating hairs. The chief

thing about this explanation is that it has been proved by means

of experiment. Professor Poulton gave these caterpillars to a

lizard in a cage. They did grab the tufts and the hairs came

out. Also the lizards were discomfited and refused to repeat the

attack.

Fig. 4. Caterpillar suddenly protruding brushes.

Use. — To intimidate bird or lizard.

5. Use as a frightenmg device (Fig. 4). — Caterpillars belonging

to the Lasiocampid family best illustrate this peculiar use. On their

backs, a short distance behind the head, are two transverse slits.

When the caterpillar is touched these slits open and there is

suddenly thrust out from them a black brush of velvet hairs. It is

an abrupt and astonishing performance. One would think that the

skin had burst asunder to let out these conspicuous brushes. Their

extrusion is so unexpected that one is just a little frightened at the

apparition and feels that with this creature one had better not inter-

fere. For a little while the tufts remain protruding ; then they

are slowly drawn back and hidden once more within the slit.

The sudden protrusion of these dorsal brushes is clearly for the

purpose of causing alarm. It is a device having the same object

as the assumption of a face apparition by the puss caterpillar, or the

THE STINGING CATERPILLAR

785

snake-like appearance by the caterpillars of some Sphingidae ; a

sudden unexpected frightening manoeuvre to intimidate a lizard or

an insectivorous bird.

Fig. 5. Caterpillar fenced round with fringe of hairs.

Use.— To keep off ants or prowling parasites.

6. Use as a protection against ants (Fig. 5.) — Ants are amongst the

most serious enemies of caterpillars, at least on the plains of India.

Naked caterpillars are completely at their mercy, but the hairy ones

are practially immune. Indeed we may advance the general rule

that if a caterpillar happens to be naked, then it has some special

protective device. It goes in for colour assimilation or alarming

attitudes, or snake-like resemblance, or offensive discharges, or

horn-like protuberances which it lashes about. But when the cater-

pillar is covered with hairs, it discards the use of these extravagances.

Its hairs are protection enough.

Now see how this works with the ants. The caterpillar of

T/iiacidas postica is very suitable for investigation. It is common,

clothed in long hairs, and feeds on the Ber which is frequented by

black ants. These ants, Campo?iotus compressns, are particularly

fond of caterpillars. They destroy hairless ones wherever they find

them, but they never touch the hairy Thiacidas. The caterpillar has

no special capacity for resistance. When disturbed, all it does is to

roll into a coil and allow itself to drop to ground. Its immunity

from the ants depends on its hair. I place one at the entrance to

an ants’ nest. But the ants will not touch it. They approach it,

threaten it with wide-open jaws ; obviously they would like to pitch

it aside, but they fear the shield of hairs. Occasionally a worker

may take hold of a hair, but the hairs happen to be only loosely

attached, and all that happens is that the hair comes out. As a rule,

the slightest touch of a hair is sufficient to repel an ant. One thing

is perfectly clear. The garment of hairs gives complete immunity.

The ants will not dare to penetrate the defence in order to get at

the caterpillar’s skin. In the end the caterpillar crawls away un-

harmed leaving behind it a tumult of ants.

An experiment will convince anyone who doubts. I pluck one

of these caterpillars bare, a quite simple operation, since the hairs

are loosely fixed and come out with a gentle tug. To the ants

I give this stripped larva. It is as active as ever and runs about,

apparently none the worse for the loss of its coat. But now it is

completely at the mercy of the ants. They fall on it, grip it, seize

it on all sides and drag it into the nest. Thus I feel sure that,

12

786 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXlV

at any rate in India, one of the chief uses of the caterpillar’s hair

is to guard it from the swarms of ants.

7. Use as a deience against parasites. — The most dangerous of all

caterpillar-enemies are parasitic hymenoptera and diptera. These

foes possess long spear-like ovipositors which they thrust into the

body of the caterpillar. Now, in order to reach the caterpillar’s

body, the parasite must either enter the hairy investment or else

have an ovipositor of greater length than that of the caterpillar’s

hair. Here is an incident one may sometimes witness. A hairy

caterpillar is on a leaf. A parasite approaches and comes close up

to the hairy barrier which extends all round the caterpillar’s body.

It then tiies to get at the caterpillar. It puts its ovipositor between

the hairs, then feels and pushes in different directions, trying to

reach the caterpillar’s skin. It will not itself enter the barrier.

Like the ants, it dreads the touch of a hair. Its success depends

on whether its ovipositor is long enough to reach the caterpillar’s

skin. If not, the parasite goes off.

This little observation from India is confirmed by something

similar from Africa. Dr. Carpenter was watching some hairy

caterpillars belonging to the family Eupterotidae. He saw a

Tachinid fly approach them. It sidled about them in an amusing

manner, but all the time kept facing the caterpillars. Now there

was only one opening in the fence of hairs. The head end of the

caterpillar was comparatively bare, and the fly seemed to know this

point of weakness, for it made its attack at this open spot. It

elevated itself on its hind legs, pushed underneath itself an

enormous ovipositor the tip of which stuck out in front of its head.

By this means it managed to place an egg in the open space near

the head of the caterpillar. If it could not get at the head, then

it tried to push its ovipositor between the hairs. But it clearly

chose the open spot because it disliked the caterpillar’s coat.

These little observations, I believe, give us the main clue to the

use of the caterpillar’s hairy covering. It is not an uncommon

arrangement for the hair to be distributed in the form of a fringe

along either side of the caterpillar. Take for example the

Lasiocampids (Fig. 5). In these the fringes are so thick that the

caterpillar is surrounded as if by a fence. For what purpose ?

Because the flank attack is the most dangerous. Hymenopterous

parasites dislike hairs, and, so far as I have seen, do not alight

direct on the caterpillar’s body. They first settle on the leaf, then

creep towards the caterpillar. Hence the danger to the caterpillar

is from the sides. What it particularly wants is a fringe that

surrounds it like a ringed fence.

We know so little, indeed scarcely anything, of the way in which

these parasites perforate their victims. For example, what parts

of the caterpillar are vulnerable ? What parts do the parasites

habitually make for ? What is the length of the parasite’s oviposi-

tor, and its relation to the length of the caterpillar’s hair ? These

and a hundred other questions will have first to be answered before

we can know the whole reason for the arrangements of caterpillar’s

hairs.

Certainly we have a fragment of knowledge. Here and there

THE STINGING CATERPILLAR

787

we have a record of a particular parasite being the enemy of a

particular caterpillar. But what do we know beyond the names

of the species ? Where are the necessary field observations that

will help us to elucidate the point in question ? They are almost

altogether absent. Too much care and patience is necessary for

Naturalists even to dream of such a task. I believe if we had

carefully detailed records of the manner in which say fifty parasites

tried to penetrate fifty kinds of hairy caterpillars, the result would

throw a flood of light on the multifarious designs of caterpillar

structure. We should learn much that we never suspect of the

uses of many of those peculiar appendages of spines, tufts, hairs,

nodules, horns, tails, brushes, tussocks, and other strange superficial

structures for which at present we see no use.

THE TOXICITY OF THE VENOM OF INDIAN

SCORPIONS.

BY

Rev. J. F, Caius, s.j., f.l.s.

No. 2 . — But/nis alticola, Pocock.

I received on June 30, 1930, a specimen of Buthus alticola Pocock,

forwarded by Captain J. W. Thomson-Glover from Malakand,

North-West Frontier Province. The animal was covered with such

a thick layer of mud that immediate bathing was indicated. It is

during this delicate operation of washing that the scorpion stung

me in the soft tissue at the base of the nail of the thumb of my

right hand. I record here the action of the venom: —

12. 5. sting ; no immediate effect.

12. 10. dull pain in the first joint.

12. 14. dull pain in the second joint.

12. 52. second joint free from pain ; thumb benumbed and

slightly swollen.

13. 20. ‘ pins and needles ’ in the thumb ; feeling queer.

13. 25. cold perspiration — pulse strong and normal; swel-

ling diminishing.

13. 40, queer feeling over ; ‘ pins and needles’ still present

in the thumb.

14. 45. first joint free from pain ; area round the sting

painful to the touch — the movement of the

thumb free throughout.

22. 00. pain at the site of the sting ; pain disappears in the

course of the night during sleep.

The animal was a male. The only other known specimen of this

species, also a male, is the type described by Pocock. It is,

therefore, of interest to note the characters of this second specimen

which differs in some points from the original type.

Colour.— Carapace, anterior six terga, anterior end of seventh

tergum, and tip of aculeus brownish black ; all the other parts

flavous.

Trunk. — -Carapace coarsely granular and carinate, as long as the

fifth caudal segment or as long as the first and half of the second ;

terga coarsely granular and strongly carinate, the three keels on all

the segments except the first strongly dentiform posteriorly, the

granules on the sides of the terga sub-serially arranged. Sterna

smooth, median crests of the fifth smooth ; lateral crests weakly

granular.

Tail. — Strong, four and a half times as long as the carapace ;

second segment as wide as long, fifth twice as long as wide ; median

lateral keel complete on segments 1, 2 and 3, all the keels

granular, superior sub-denticulate ; intervening spaces of segments

weakly granular, granules on the lower surface of fifth forming two

subsidiary crests; vesicle globular, as wide as high, granular below.

THE TOXICITY OF THE VENOM OF INDIAN SCORPIONS 789

Chela. — Humerus as long as carapace ; brachium three times as

long as wide, with two superior crests well developed and granular,

upper crest of posterior surface also present ; hand long and wide,

wider than brachium, smooth, its width about two-thirds of the length

of the underhand, the latter scarcely half the length of the movable

digit ; digits separated at the base, furnished with 14-15 rows of

teeth.

Legs. — Granularly crested femora ; tarsi with two rows of black

spinules beneath.

Pectinal teeth 25.

Measuremejits . — Total length 78 mm. ; carapace 10 ; tail 45*5 ;

brachium 10 ; underhand 5 ; movable finger 12 ; width of hand 4-8,

of brachium 3*5, of first caudal segment 8, of fourth 4*5.

Locality. — Malakand, North-West Frontier Province.

Remai'k. — The animal lived peacefully for over a month in the

company of a dozen B. tamulus ; but it refused to eat their fare of

cockroaches and bluebottles.

REVIEWS.

1. SYSTEMA AVIUM ^BTHIOPICARUM. Part II. By W. L. Sclater,

m.a., m.b.o u. pp. 305-922, 1930. Taylor and Francis, London.

We gave a short notice of the first part of this volume in a previous number

of the Journal (Vol. xxx, p.447) and we are now glad to have the oppor-

tunity of drawing attention to the completion of this great work.

Mr. Sclater in his introduction has given an interesting comparison in regard

to the numbers of birds dealt with. The ‘ numbers of sub-species and species

not divided into sub-specis ’ dealt with by him are 4,439, whereas those given

by Mr. Baker in the second edition of the Fauna are 2,293 and by Dr. Hartert in

• Die Vogel der palaarktischen fauna ’ is 3,198, while the late Mr. Chubb

enumerated 4,561 names in his list of the birds of South America, which

however has been considerably added to since.

A systematic list of the birds of the Ethiopian region may not at first sight

appear to concern the members of our society, but since the area dealt with

includes Arabia, south of the Tropic of Cancer, it should be of some interest to

anyone stationed at Aden or Muscat. Furthermore, many migrants which come

to India during the cold weather are also found in Africa in the winter. Then

too there are a number of birds which are common to both India and

the Ethiopian region, such as the Pied Crested Cuckoo, Clamator jacobinus

jacobinus and the Indian Swift, Micropus af finis af finis. In addition,

a number of Indian species are replaced by closely allied races in Africa.

That interesting bird, the Spotted Creeper, Salpornis spilonota spilonota, which

is found from Behar and Orissa to Khandesh, is represented by three or four

races occurring right across Africa to Angola, while our familiar Rose-ringed

Parroquet, Psittacula krameri krameri , is replaced by sub-species, very slightly

d i fife renti ate d in Abyssinia and West Africa.

Introduced species, which have become established, are included in the list,

and it is interesting to note that quite a number of Indian birds occur in

different parts of Africa. The Common Mynah is found in Madagascar,

Mauritius, Natal and elsewhere, the Indian Grackle in St. Helena, the House-

Crow at Zanzibar, Muscat and perhaps Aden, besides several others. On the

other hand, no African bird which has been introduced into India has succeeded

in keeping a footing in a wild state.

African Ornithology owes much to India. In the days of * John Company ’

the Bombay Government had representatives at Zanzibar and Aden and

Sir John Kirk was appointed surgeon to the Political Agency at the former

place in 1865 and finally in 1880 became Political Agent. He had already

made a collection of birds when accompanying Livingstone on his exploration

of the Zambesi region in 1858-64 and later sent native collectors to obtain birds

in various parts of East Africa.

In December 1840 Sir William Harris, of the Bombay Engineers, best known

as a big game hunter, was sent in charge of a mission to Shoa and made a con-

siderable collection of birds which was deposited in the Company’s Museum in

London . Six years later, Capt. Speke of the 46th Bengal Infantry, the discoverer

of the source of the Nile, accompanied Lt. (afterwads Sir Richard) Burton

on an expedition in Somaliland and brought back several new birds, which

were described by Edward Blyth of the Asiatic Society’s Museum. Some years

afterwards Burton, who was in the 18th Bombay Native Infantry, was appointed

Consul for West Africa and from time to time sent a number of interesting birds

to the British Museum from the different localities he visited.

Dr. W. T. Blanford, in his time the foremost naturalist in India, accom-

panied the Abyssinian Expedition of 1867 as Geologist and collected

birds while a well-known member of the Society, Lt. H. E. Barnes published

in the Ibis for 1893 an article on the Birds of Aden. On the Persian Gulf

side of Arabia, Col. Miles, Dr. Jayakar and Sir Percy Cox have contributed

much to our knowledge of the avifauna of Muscat, which however is just north

of the tropics.

REVIEWS

791

In 1899, Dr. Donaldson Smith made an expedition to northern Somaliland,

on behalf of the Gaekwar, for the purpose of collecting birds for the Baroda

Museum and a report on his collection is given in the Proceedings of the

Zoological Society for 1901.

Then perhaps we may include the great collections made by Sir Harry

Johnston in Nyassaland, since they were collected for him by Alexander Whyte,

formerly a chemist in Ceylon, nor must we forget that the author of the

* Systema ’ was himself for some time in charge of the vertebrates of the Indian

Museum. Calcutta.

To anyone studying African birds, this work is indispensable and to Museum

curators it should prove very useful, for in addition to the correct scientific name,

there is a short summary of the distribution of each species, and last but not

least, every bird is denoted by an English name.

N. B. K.

2. HANDBOOK OF THE BIRDS OF WEST AFRICA.— By G. L. Bates,

London, John Bale Sons & Danielson Ltd., pp. i-xxiii, 1-572.

A book on the birds of West Africa has long been wanted and except for the

two small volumes by Swainson in Jardine’s Naturalist’s Library, no work has

been written on that region.

The area dealt with may be said to be roughly that south and.wrest of a line

drawn from the northern border of Sierra Leone to Lake Chad and from there

southwards to the southern frontier of French Cameron. It consists of three

types of country : (1) the forest, principally near the coast, then (2) savannah

and (3) the semi-arid or thorny belt abounding on the desert area to the north.

The avifauna varies with each type of country, but some resident species

are common to all three, w'hilein addition, there is the migratory population of

winter visitors from the north — birds such as the stork, wryneck, many

waders, ducks and warblers. The marine species are not included which we

think is rather a mistake.

Mr. Bates, the author, was fcr a long time resident in the southern portion,

in what was formerly German Cameroon, and contributed numerous articles

on the birds of that region to the Ibis. He has also made several expedi-

tions to lake Chad, the upper Veeta and elsewhere and is therefore well

fitted for his task.

There is a description of each species both in adult and, when known, in

juvenile plumage, with measurements and other data followed by a paragraph

in larger print giving distribution and brief notes on habits, but no mention is

made of the range outside the area. This we think should always be included

even though very briefly. There are keys to the families genera and species

which should prove helpful.

This is a very useful handbook and from its small size and compactness,

can always be carried even though the traveller has restricted his baggage to a

minimum.

N. B. K.

3. BOSE, SIR J. C., THE MOTOR MECHANISM OF PLANTS.—

Longmans, London. 1928. Pp. xxv, 429. 21sh. Net.

In this book the author continues his studies on the physiological processes of

plants. It follows, as a matter of course, his preceding work . ‘ The Nervous

Mechanism of Plants ’ in which the author gave the results of his investi-

gations on the conduction of stimuli, and established the fact, subsequently

confirmed by others, that plants — at any rate vascular plants — possess a well-

defined nervous system.

Here the author has brought together in a connected form his researches,

spreading over many years, on the nature and mechanism of movements of

plants. An account of his most recent investigations, rendered possible only

by the invention of very ingeniously contrived and highly sensitive instruments,

is also given. These studies, which are concerned not only with visible

external movements but also with the invisible internal movements, have

792 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST SOCIETY, Vol. X XXIV

enabled Sir J. C. Bose to state that in plants ‘the motile organ has reached

a high degree of complexity hitherto unsuspected, containing as it does,

contractile tissue which may be well called ‘muscle’ and conducting tissue

which may well be called ‘ nerve Further he comes to the conclusion that

the contractile tissue closely resembles animal muscles in its properties.

The studies are divided into two sections. The earlier chapters are devoted

to the investigation of movements induced only by external factors, such as

Heat and Light ; and chemical, mechanical and electrical stimuli. The latter

part of the book is concerned with the investigation of what are known as

autonomous movements, since they are not apparently induced by any external

stimulation. The author, however, shows by a series of ingeniously devised

experiments that there is in reality no fundamental distinction between the two.

According to him, one is the result of the depletion of energy under

unfavourable conditions, and the other, of the absorption of energy from with-

out under favourable conditions. Put in his own words : Biophytum is thus

equivalent to a Desmodium brought to a state of standstill by depletion of its

store of energy and Desmodium to a Biophytum with an excess of stored

energy.

Owing to their exceptional sensitivity, it has generally been tacitly assumed

that contractility and irritability are only exhibited by the so-called

‘ sensitive plants ’ and that the other plants are neither excitable nor capable

of movement. The author has specially dealt with this question and demon-

strates that under suitable conditions of slimulation and investigation all plants

show identical responses, the difference, as it is found, being only one of degree

and not of kind. The method he adopts is to study the characteristic

behaviour of the * sensitives ’ under different modes of stimulation first, and

afterwards, under identical conditions, to study that of the * insensitives ’. The

results thus obtained are shown to be identical proving that, however latent,

the power of response is shown by all plants. The greater sensitiveness of

plants like Mimosa is further shown to be due to the presence in them of a

larger number of contractile cells. Besides, it is also demonstrated tnat inter-

mediate types occur between such sensitive plants and those that are apparently

insensitive.

Particularly interesting are the investigations relating to the ascent of sap in

plants. The generally-accepted explanation of this phenomenon has so far

been that the rise is due to purely mechanical causes — a push from below due

to root pressure and a pull from above due to transpiring leaves. The

experiments detailed in the book, of which there is a variety, prove convin-

cingly on the other hand, that the movement of sap is due to the physiological

activity of a definite tissue, the cortex. It is shown that ‘ the leaves and roots

in the intact plant evidently do not exploit the full potentiality of the propulsive

mechanism ’, for the rate of ascent was found to have become doubled after the

removal of the roots. Also, according to the findings of the author, the role of

transpiration is merely to set up a turgor-tension gradient by causing incipient

drought in the transpiring region and thus to facilitate continuous flow. The

flow was found to be still maintained even when the leaves were removed,

until the turgor of cells at both ends of the cut stem became the same, when it

shopped.

With regard to the mechanism of propulsion, Sir J.C. Bose has found that

the cells of the cortex are in a rhythmic state of pulsation , pumping the sap for-

ward by their alternate expansion and contraction. In this rhythmicity and the

function thus performed, he sees in plants the existence of a propulsive

mechanism similar to that of the circulation of blood and food in animals. In

this connection too, he makes the very interesting observation that the membrane

of each individual cell of the cortex acts as a valve, which allows easier passage

of the sap in one direction than in the other.

Throughout the book the author shows by records of crucial experiments on

plants and animals, carried out side by side, that under identical conditions of

stimulation, the response in the one is exactly paralleled by that in the other,

whether the stimulation be caused by external agents such as pressure,

temperature, etc., or by the administration of drugs. ‘ The throbbmgs of the

pulsating life ’ in the words of the author said elsewhere, ‘ have been found to

wax and wane under the specific action of drugs coming to an end at the death

of organism.’ Thereby he once more establishes the great generalization of the

identity of mechanism of all life.

REVIEWS

793

While the conclusions drawn by the author have not been universally accepted,

every one has acknowledged and admired his great ingenuity in arranging and

constructing new apparatus with striking combinations w hich, besides aiding in

other remarkable investigations, have rendered possible the measurement ofthe

contraction of a single cell !

In this book, which like its predecessors is full of important data, even those

who may not agree with the views of the author, will still find much food for

thought. The students of plant life particularly, and specially those of plant

physiology, will find here much to stimulate their thoughts and suggest fresh

problems for investigation.

N.K.T.

4. LEHRBUCH DER ALLGEME1NEN PFLANZENGEOGRAPHIE . —

von P. Graebner. 2 umgearbeitete Auflage. xii, 320 pages (illustrated). Leipzig.

Quelle & Meyer. 1929. 14.80 Marks.

Plant Geography, in its wider sense, is claiming increasingly greater attention

from all students of Botany. This is reflected in the increasingly greater oiit-

put of works, both in the form of original papers as well as of books, which is

being published from time to time. To this growing literature the present

work is a useful addition. It makes, however, a very agreeable departure from

the beaten track followed by most of the published treabses on this subject so

far. These latter have in the main — if indeed not exclusively— devoted their

attention either only to the florist ic side or to the ecological aspect. Even then

hardly any of them have attempted to draw upon the large resources of other

branches, such as Palseobotany, General Biology, etm The result has been a

very lop-sided presentation, lacking co-ordination and perspective, and

generally devoid of that stimulating feature which can only be imparted by its

fuller treatment as a part of, and standing in close relation to, the other

branches of Botany.

The present book avoids this general but faulty practice. It combines in

itself the useful features of the usual method of treatment with a clear indication

of the correlation that the described facts have to the other branches. In this

way emerges a complete picture of the organic whole, and the result is a pleas-

ing and readable book.

The text is divided into three sections. Preceding these is a short introduction.

This gives an historical sketch of the development of Plant- Geography. Then

follows a general account of the development of the Plant World through the

geological times, interpreted with the help of palaeobotanical records, and this

is continued into an account of the development of the existing types of

vegetation. The author shows clearly in a limited space how, starting from

small beginnings in the far-off geological ages, almost in a monotonous

uniformity, the vegetation has continued to vary in form and distribution in

response to the operation of external factors, the most potent of which, accord-

ing to the author, has been the climate. In this section the author has pressed

into service the results of researches into all phases of Botany. During the

course of the treatment he refers to, and attempts to explain many interesting

biological facts connected with the evolution and distribution of plants. Such,

for example, are the evolutionary Sequence of the somatic and reproductive

organizations, biological interpretation of variations, origin of species, inherit-

ance of acquired characters, origin of angiospermae and of the hermaphrodite

flower, etc., etc. Besides these are also treated changes of climate and relative

areas of land and water during geological ages, and the facts and causes con-

nected with the geographical distribution of plants,

The second and the third sections are devoted, respectively, to the floristic and

the ecological plant geography. The former treats of the usual topics of the

floral regions and the floral provinces, the chief vegetational and climatic

features of which are briefly set forth. In the latter the author first deals with

the various classes of factors now operating to transform the existing vegetation,

viz., the climatic, the edaphic and the biotic. The treatment of the last is very

meagre and fails to convey a just appreciation of the influence of these on the

changes induced on vegetation. The activities of the animals, and chiefly of

man, are treated under the ‘miscellaneous’ factors and disposed of in a few

paragraphs. Finally there is an account of the various terrestrial and

aquatic ‘ formations V

794 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

There are numerous clear drawings and photographs, though some more such

as those depicting the characteristic desert landscapes and aquatic associations

could, with advantage, have been included. There is a copious citation

of literature in the form of footnotes. There, however, appears to be no men-

tion of Willis’s work. Elodea is throughout referred to by its less commonly

known name of Helodea.

The basic idea in the preparation of the book, says the author in the preface,

has been not to make the all-embracing subject of plant-geography appear as a

confused mass of memory lumber and of otherwise dry details, but to relate the

existing plants to their previous history and to the forces now in operation, so

that the whole may appear as a souad system. In this the author has amply

succeeded, and one may express with him the hope that the book may gain

friends and may succeed in bringing back those who through dry and one-sided

treatment, have become alienated from this interesting and absorbing

subject !

N.K.T.

5. PLANT STUDIES.— By T. Ekambaram, m.a., ph.D., pp. x + 157

(illustrated) Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd., Calcutta, 1929.

This little book from the pen of the author who has been connected for

some time with a Teachers’ Training College, has been written to help teachers

of Plant Life in lower forms of the schools.

The subject matter, consisting of the descriptions of over a score of common

plants, has been presented in simple language, and one notes with real relief

and satisfaction the absence of that laborious and dry style, consisting in the

introduction of a frightful array of technical words, which is so common a

feature, but nevertheless a very serious drawback, of the majority of the

published text-books.

In describing the plants, the author has not restricted himself merely to the

narration of dry-as-dust facts, but has woven them up into a complete story

of the plant, correlating structure with function, and indicating the purposes

which the various organs of the plant serve in the economy of life, as well as

the manner in which they are adapted to the conditions of their surroundings.

This mode of treatment appears to be the only sound and satisfactory way of

introducing the readers, and specially the beginners, to the study of plant-life,

but while almost all the text-books on Zoology have been following this

commendable practice since long, there is no indication yet that the writers of

botanical books have realized its necessity and usefulness.

In the matter of the choice of plants, while the opinions of the individuals

will continue to differ, it may be said that the author has bestowed sufficient

care and thought in selecting a representative variety of types to convey a

fairly complete idea of the plant world. Naturally most of the types are

drawn from the dominant class of Angiosperms, but an attempt has also been

made to include representatives of other classes as well.

The book is fairly well illustrated and is free from errors. On page 9,

however, calyx is wrongly defined as consisting of sepals ‘ when they are united

to each other, and form a sheath or a tube or a cup.’ This should be corrected

in future editions. The statement on page 97 regarding the movements of the

* flower ’ of the Sun-flower along with the motion of the sun is not in accord-

ance with facts and requires to be corrected.

N.K.T.

6. ZOOLOGY.— A Book for Indian Students by Rev. I Pfleiderer, pp. viii.

+ 237 (illustrated) Basel Mission Press and Book Depot, Mangalore.

The author of this book on the study of animal life is already well known as

the writer of Glimpses into the Life of Indian Plants . What the latter book

did for the students of plant-life, the present one attempts to do for those of

Zoology. It is, however, more a nature study book than a book on Zoology,

as this term is generally understood these days. Consequently the descriptions

are free from the technical terms which so often terrify a beginner without

materially adding to his real knowledge.

The subject matter surveys the whole animal kingdom beginning with the

Vertebrates and ending with the Protozoa. The whole is split up into seven

REVIEWS

795

divisions which are further sub-divided into classes and orders. In dealing

with his subject the author first gives the general characters of the divisions

and classes and thereafter illustrates the characters of the orders by dealing in

detail with a common type from each. Here is combined with the structural

descriptions a plain description of the functions. The account is concluded

with a brief reference to some other representatives of the order.

The book is very profusely illustrated and the three coloured plates add

to the beauty and usefulness of the descriptions. A very vivid pictorial

impression of the animal kingdom is thus left on the mind of the reader. One,

however, misses the fullness of descriptions and the masterly treatment which

characterized the author’s book on plants. Rut this does not detract seriously

from the usefulness of the book which is sure to benefit any one who may turn

to its pages for information.

N.K.T.

7. GENERAL BOTANY.— An Introductory Text for Colleges and ad-

vanced classes in Secondary Schools, by E. N. Transeau, pp. x + 560 (illus-

trated). The World Book Company, New York.

The present work by an experienced teacher is a happy departure from the

stereotyped plan adopted by most writers of treatises on Botany. It combines

in a pleasing, instructive and useful manner, the general principles of the

science with their application to many problems as they affect the daily life

of man.

Besides drawing fully upon his ‘rather extended experience’ the author

has been guided in preparing the text by information from four other sources.

These are (1) the traditional course in general botany which embodies the

facts and principles agreed upon as most essential by most botanists for a

foundation in the subject, (2) suggestions from those who apply in a practical

manner the findings of the science, namely, persons engaged in the teaching or

practice of horticulture, agriculture and forestry, (3) suggestions and criticisms

from the students and enquiries made by those who took advantage of the

given course and (4) enquiries of a very practical nature made by the public.

From the above it will be clear that the author’s desire has been to teach

botany to his students with the broadest possible outlook on practical life.

This is further reflected in the way in which he has handled the material and

presented the facts. For instance, at the very outset, in order to draw the

pointed attention to the fundamental importance of the knowledge and study

concerning plant life he makes mention of the numerous ways in which man is

entirely dependant on plants. This gives, from the very beginning, a new

orientation to the study and undoubtedly serves to put the beginner in a mental

attitude which should ensure an intelligent study, as opposed to mere cram-

ming, of details which very often is what unfortunately ‘ traditional course ’

tends to produce. Similarly there are other chapters, in which the author

while presenting the general facts brings home the great economic bearing that

many of the facts so dealt with and the problems raised, have in nature.

In addition to these special features, the book, of course, treats of the general

details of morphology, physiology, ecology, plant distribution, genetics and

systematics in the usual way. In this treatment while all the groups of plants

are included, the largest portion of the book, comprising nearly four-fifths, is

devoted to the flowering plants. The Cryptogams and the Gymnosperms are

treated very briefly, though such topics as ‘ the bacteria in relation to life ’ and

‘ the Nitrogen cycle ’ ; ‘ Fungi ’ and ‘ Plant diseases receive fuller treatment.

The treatment is lucid and simple, and a very commendable feature is the

large number of illustrations consisting of many original photographs, drawings

and diagrams. Many of the latter are of unusual conception and serve to

illustrate the facts otwherise difficult of elucidation. At the end of many

chapters useful exercises are appended. In several respects, however, the

treatment is very inadequate, and this is particularly so with regard to the

account of the cellular structure. The book however helps its readers to

obtain a much wider knowledge, and to appreciate the facts Of. botany in a

truer and better perspective than is possible with most of the text-books so far

written on this science.

N.K.T.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

I.— THREE TIGERS AT A KILL

( With a photo)

The following account of my first day’s shooting in this country

may be of interest to some of your readers : —

I had been in the Nirmal district of Hyderabad some three

days when a buffalo, which had been put out, was killed by a tiger.

Most of this animal had been eaten and so I sat up the next

night over a fresh buffalo some 50 yards away from the old kill.

About 9-30 p. m. I heard tigers on the old kill and realized that

there were more than one there.

For an hour they continued to eat and then went away and drank

at a waterhole some 200 yards away and it seemed that they had

gone for good without spotting my buffalo.

Suddenly there was a rush under the machan, one grunt from the

buffalo and the animal was killed. I switched on the torch and

killed the slayer, a tigress, which lay dead alongside the buffalo.

For several minutes I kept on the torch, to make sure she was

dead.

Satisfied that this was the case, I partook of some light refresh-

ment and was just going to light a pipe when I heard two tigers on

the old kill, neither the shot nor the light of the torch had frighten-

ed them away.

Soon afterwards one of them came, and sitting alongside the dead

tigress" commenced to feed.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

797

I fired and heard a rush, but could not see where the animal had

gone, until I saw a tiger (which I imagined was the one just shot

at) crawling through some undergrowth.

Again I fired and after some time saw a tiger lying dead some

50 yards away.

When I came down from the machanin the morning, I was sur-

prised to find that the tiger lying 50 yards away had been shot

through the heart.

Soon afterwards, the boys called me and to my surprise there

was a third tigress, dead, close to the machan. 4

When I fired at the second tiger, this animal was still eating the

old kill ; it must have come at once at the shot to see what was

happening, and was killed with the third shot.

Equitation School, C. SWIRE,

Saugor, C.P. Major ,

May 14, 1930. The Royals.

[The writer’s good fortune is excelled by a Malay who slew a

brace of tigers with one shot from an old muzzle loader. The

incident is related by Mr. A. L. Butler, F.Z.S. {Journ. Bom . Nat.

Hist. Soc ., vol. xii, p. 228). The victims were a tiger and a tigress,

who were feeding on the carcase of a dead sambhar. It is not

unlikely that the tigers observed by Major Swire were members of

a family party. — Eds.]

II. -PANTHER CLIMBING UP TO A MACHAN

With reference to Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton’s Note on a ‘ Panther

climbing up to a machan;’ in your Journal, vol. xxxiii, No. 4, a very

similar case occurred in connection with Major F. S'. Gillespie,

r.a.m.c., sometime back. Major Gillespie was sitting up over a

Panther kill, and heard the panther arrive (from behind) and then

felt the tree gently quiver : and a moment later found the panther

sitting on a branch level with him. In this instance I believe

I am right in saying that Major Gillespie was so taken aback that he

missed the panther badly !

Honnametti Estate,

Attikan P.O., R. C. MORRIS.

via Mysore,

April 30, 1930.

[Mr. T.R.D. Bell {Journ. B.N.H.S. , vol.xv, p. 344), describes an

exciting experience with a panther which climbed to within 10 ft. of

his machan — a real instance of the hunter hunted. The machan

was built 20 ft. high in a mohwa tree, some 20 yards from the kill.

Close by was a second mohwa tree with a drooping branch which

almost touched the ground. The panther after a preliminary survey

798 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , H?/. XXXIV

of the machan disappeared. It was next seen at the base of the

second mohwa tree standing quite still, staring fixedly at the machan.

Then very quickly it crouched almost to the ground. It commenced

to move forward slowly, stealthily, away from the machan towards

the drooping branch, looking back now and then over its shoulder,

never altering its crouching attitude. It reached the branch, glided

up on to it and was lost in the screen of leaves. Presently the head

appeared round the trunk. It had climbed to the level of the machan.

A short leap of 10 ft. remained. A shot through the neck put an

end to the stalk. Mr. Bell concludes that this panther very likely

had some experience of a man on a platform in a tree. Villagers

in the neighbourhood, watching their fields by night, sleep on plat-

forms in trees. The panther had probably taken a man out of one

and eaten him. It tried to repeat the experiment. This explains

the boldness and the deliberateness of its stalk. — Eds.]

III.— A PANTHER INCIDENT

The following incidents may be of interest to you : —

On April 29, 1930, I sat up for a panther over a natural kill of a

buffalo calf. I forgot to tether the kill, and got into the machan at

about 4 p.m. At 7-30 p.m. I heard a scrape and saw the panther

disappearing with the kill into thick jungle.

I could not risk a shot, since the shikari was lying up somewhere

near and I did not know where he was, or whether he was in a tree

or not. After dragging the kill away, in about one minute’s time,

the panther returned to the spot where the kill had previously

been, and started sniffing at the ground. It was shot this time.

I subsequently discovered that the kill had been dragged twenty

yards. Why the panther returned I do not know, for it had removed

the entire carcase, and there was not a fragment left beneath the

machan.

Army School of Education, G. de LTSLE STURM.

Belgaum,

May 15, 1930 .

IV. — NOTE ON THE MALAY BEAR ( URSUS

MALAYANUS).

( With a photo!)

I enclose a photo of a Malay bear (mature male) shot by me in

July 1914 about 20 miles north of Bhamo (Upper Burma). My

shikar diary unfortunately gives no exact measurements but states

that he was about 4' 6" long ; head very broad ; short thick glossy

fur with a fine orange V. He was full of honey which ran out of

his mouth on the way back to the bungalow ; the Burmans had no

Miscellaneous notes

799

hesitation in eating it. The above may be of interest as I do not

remember seeing a photo of this bear in the Jour?ial or in any

V.— SOUNDS MADE BY PORCUPINES

Unless there are far more porcupines in these parts than in the

jungles Col. Burton has sat up in, it is curious that he has only

recently heard the ‘ puffing ’ noise porcupines make as they wander

round in search of their meals at night. I have hardly ever sat up

shikar book. Its occurrence so far north may also be worth

recording.

E. G. PHYTHIAN-ADAMS,

Walmer, Major LA. {Retd.).

Lovedale, Nilgiris,

June 15 , 1930.

(The distribution of the Malay Bear is given as extending from

the Islands of Java, vSumatra and Borneo into the Malay Peninsula

and so on through Burma and Pegu to the Tenasserim Province.

Nothing definite is known as regards the westerly limits of its range,

though it is said to occur in Chittagong and the Garo Hills and to be

found as far west as Darjeeling. Skins and skulls of bears shot in

Burma are a great desideratum. Little is known of the habits of the

Malay Bear in the wild state. The 30 odd volumes of our Journal

contain no notes on this species. Forest officers in Burma and

members resident in areas where this bear occurs may be able to

help in supplying the deficiency. — Eds.)

800 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

at night without hearing and, in moonlight, seeing them. Recently

I was sitting up over a kill and heard what I took to be porcupines

‘ puffing.’ along the path up to the kill, when to my surprise two

bears appeared on the scene. They did not like the look of things

however and made themselves scarce without delay. A day or two

later I was sitting up again and heard the same noise approaching,

and decided it was a bear, or bears, and two porcupines appeared !

The panther was then actually at the kill as the porcupines entered

the Nulla, and there followed much rattling of quills, louder puff-

ing, and scuttling off as the porcupines discovered his obnoxious

presence.

Honnametti Estate, R. C. MORRIS

Attikan P. O. via Mysore,

April 30, 1930.

VI.— OBSERVATIONS ON THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

Solitary Elephants

Sanderson in his ‘ Thirteen Years Among Wild Beasts ol India ’,

an excellent book though it is, makes several mistakes. In regard

to elephants he commits two errors which are remarkable in view

of the fact that Mr. Sanderson’s knowledge about elephants, and his

experience in the capture and shikar of Indian elephants has, I

suppose, been unequalled. He states in his book that ‘ a really

solitary elephant is rarely to be met with.’ I am certain this is

not the case. My experience is that solitary elephants seldom rejoin

herds. A solitary tusker will certainly graze with any herd that

may happen to be in the same jungle for the time being ; but will

generally stay behind when the herd moves on to new grazing

grounds. I believe that when it becomes ‘ mnsth ’, a solitary

elephant will seek a herd, but directly this sexual state in the ele-

phant has passed off, it will return to its solitary life. The elephants

on the Baragurs in North Coimbatore are certainly nearly all

solitaries, and I do not suppose that there are ever more than three

small herds for the whole length and breadth of that range. A

single tusker (rogue) which I shot in March 1928 on the BiJligiri-

rangans had been known to be in the same jungle for at least

20 years, leading a solitary existence. I saw him there myself in

1913 or 1914 and when I shot him in 1928, he was approximately in

the same place ! Solitary elephants are in my opinion not the

leaders of nearby herds as supposed by Sanderson. I agree with

Sanderson that it is highly improbable that any male elephant is

driven from its herd, and I have always expressed this view in

regard to both Bison and Elephants. I feel sure that in both

cases the bull arrives at an age when it prefers to live a solitary life.

Size of Elephants

Again Sanderson states ‘ there is little doubt that there is not an

elephant of 10' at the shoulder.’ It is extraordinary that Sanderson

should have made such an assertion. The two tallest elephants I

have ever seen were two single tuskers, shot by Major Brook Purdon

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

801

r. A. m. c., in 1925, and by me in 1928. In each case, the elephant

had only one tusk and both were 10' at the shoulder ; in fact the

first was just over 10'.

Speed of Elephants

Sanderson’s estimate that an elephant can run at a fast shuffle at

about 15 miles an hour is no exaggeration, and was supported

recently by writers (mostly referring to African Elephants) in the

Field . Personally I consider from my own experience that an

Indian Elephant when ‘ all out * can travel quite 20 miles an hour.

I do not think any « mahout ’ can make an elephant travel as fast as

one in full charge, or in full terrified flight. I once saw a pair

of elephants cross a grassy flat, and their speed over this stretch

of about 300 yards must have been nearly as good as that of a

race-horse.

R. C. MORRIS.

Honnametti Estate,

Attikan P. O., via Mysore,

June 10, 1930.

VII.— ON DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN MALES AND

FEMALES AND OTHER CONTROVERSIAL MATTERS

PERTAINING TO THE GAUR (BIBOS G A UR US)

A writer in a sporting journal recently wrote that a bison (gaur)

has no dewlap. He was quite rightly contradicted by another

correspondent who stated that bison do possess dewlaps. Most

sportsmen who have had any experience with gaur will agree that

the dewlap in a bison varies greatly, ranging from a large one to

none at all.

It is curious to read the varied dicta expressed by authors on

matters such as these and laid down by them as facts. Take for

instance the subject of the colour of the gaur’s eyes which have

been described incorrectly by many well-known sportsmen and

naturalists, including the late Mr. G. P. Sanderson. The descrip-

tion of the gaur’s eyes as given by most authors applies to the

colour of the eyes after death and not in the live animal.

To turn back to the subject of bison, and the views expressed on

them by various authors, I think that J. W. Best in his ‘ Indian .

Shikar Notes' makes a great mistake when he says ‘. . . . the

cows are very difficult to distinguish from bulls; in some cases,

however, the cows are lighter and even dun-coloured, and their horns

are smaller and curved more inwards than those' of the bulls.

These are, however, no sure guides, and, unless absolutely certain

that he is aiming at the bull, a sportsman has no business to press

trigger.’ This book was, I think, originally written for novices

and, as such, I consider that a greater error could not be made than

to say that a bison cow is difficult to distinguish from the bull. I

13

802 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

think this is an extraordinary statement to make for a shootable bull

bLon is as different from a cow as a fine stag sambhur is from

a small brocket, and a young sportsman should be told that unless

he sees such a bison, of a bigger build, darker colour, and heavier

in horn, than nearly every other member of the herd, he should not

shoot. I add in the word ‘ nearly ’ as it is quite possible for two

shootable bulls to be in a large herd. I should say that in all cases

cows are lighter than a good bull, and a cow’s horns are certainly

smaller in every case than those of a shootable bull ; nor is the dorsal

ridge in a cow nearly so well formed.

Honnametti Estate, R. C. MORRIS.

Attikan P.O.,

s via Mysore,

June 10, 1930.

[The presence or absence of a dewlap in the gaur is a charac-

ter which varies with individuals. All stages of development may

be observed. It is very pronounced in some animals and . scarcely

noticeable in others. The colouring of the gaur’s eye has again been

the subject of a controversy — some maintain the eye is blue and

others that it is brown. The fact is that the eye is blue in certain

lights and brown in others. Everything depends on the angle of

observation. In his note on the colouration of the gaur’s eye

( Journal , Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc ., vol. xxxi, p. 220), Mr. Dunbar

Brander explains that the blue colouration which the eye exhibits in

certain lights is due to the fact that the basal portion of the choroid

membrane behind the eye is blue. The blue showing through the

transparent cornea may give, at certain angles, the impression that

the whole eye is blue. The iris, the conjunctiva and the greater

part of the choroid membrane is however brown, so that in certain

lights again the eye appears to be brown. — Eds.]

VIII. —VIGILS AT WATERHOLES

On Jan. 6, 1929, at camp Ghartal, six miles from the railway station

of Warghoda in the Central Provinces, my shikari brought in the

news that he had seen the fresh pug of a tiger at a waterhole in

the dried-up bed of a stream about half a mile from camp, and so I

decided to sit up over this in the evening.

On reaching the spot indicated I found that there were two

waterholes about 80 yds. apart, and besides the tiger spoor, also

those of sambhur, pig, and peafowl, so I concluded that this was

the drinking ground for very near all the game in the vicinity.

I took up a central position amongst some scrub under a stunted

tree at 4 p. m. and patiently awaited developments. The first

denizen of the jungle to arrive was a pig who nosed about in the

slush and then walked away down the river-bed towards the cotton

fields. After this I suddenly beheld two quivering ears and a

Sambhur stag with his hind and fawn came in to the scene. The

MISCELLANEOUS NO 7ES

803

stag after drinking walked through the pool and then indulged in a

wet mud bath. He did not appear to take any interest in his mate

and young. The fawn running up and down through the water, was

having quite a happy time; but not so the mother. She was abso-

lutely alert to every sound and movement, and was in a great 4 state

of nerves.’ She never even put her nose to the water, and ap-

peared specially disturbed to think that her fawn was making such a

noise and attracting attention. The stag, after his mud bath got up,

rubbed himself against a tree by way of finishing his toilet, and

then walked off, while the hind and fawn walked back the same side

from whence they had come, and one was led to believe that they

had just walked down so far to see the old man off on his nightly

wandering.

After this nothing happened for about half an hour, and then a

hare came hopping along, every now and then raising himself on

his hind quarters and surveying the country all round. As it had

by now turned quite dark, I had come out of the bush and the hare

came up to within a foot of me, looked me up and down, made his

diagnosis and then hopped off up the bank.

Oh another evening a fawn came down for a drink and was

suddenly surrounded by a pack of wild dogs, five in number. They

would surely have killed this fawn as it was alone and very fright-

ened. I however fired and killed one of them and this scared the

rest away. I am sorry I was not able to kill a few more of these

vermin.

On yet another occasion I was standing over another waterhole

at dawn, hidden in a bush, when I heard a rustling in the grass

behind me and, on turning round, beheld no less than four chinkara

deer coming for a drink. My movements however disturbed them

and away they went like a flash to be followed, a few minutes after,

by a peahen and four chicks, two of whom had a three round con-

test, after a sip, much to the consternation of the old hen. Then

came a troop of monkeys but there was no gainsaying why they

had come. They were very matter of fact, very determined, and

it was a case of, 4 well this a waterhole, we are thirsty, we have

come for a drink, so let’s have a drink and be done with it, why

make any bones about the matter.’ And then just when I thought

that it was now too bright for anything else to come, a wretched,

loathsome hyaena appeared. He sliddered up sideways. I shot

the skulking brute.

But it is not always that one. has such a passive time when keep-

ing watch over a waterhole. On Dec. 8, 1928, after sitting over a

goat for three evenings waiting for a leopard, I was advised by the

shikari to try a drinking pool. This was about £ of a mile from the

cave in which he dwelt. I therefore took up my position on a little

hillock overlooking the water and about 30 yds. from it. Just as

dusk began to fall, a chinkara came for a drink. The next thing

I remember seeing, was a yellow and brown object fly pass, pounce

upon the gazelle, and virtually bound into a bush with it. The

suddenness of the attack tvas really starting. No tigers were report-

ed in this locality, nor had any pugs been seen, and finally this was

not what one could call tiger country.

804 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Ko/. XXXJV

The skin made a very acceptable birthday gift for my wife, for

needless to remark a *423 mauser bullet soon found its billet in the

neck of this 8 feet 4 inch specimen of fury. It is also interesting to

note that the way in which this tiger grabbed and bounded off

with his prey is not what is by any means the usual procedure,

possibly the open space and scanty stunted scrub accounted for this.

On Jan. 9, 1929, 1 was out at very early dawn on a path where the

previous evening I had seen the fresh pug of a leopard. This was

about | of a mile away from my camp. I was standing behind a

tuft of grass and directly in front of me was a shallow nullah with

stunted trees and wild plum bushes around a waterhole. The still-

ness was suddenly interrupted by the early morning prayer of the

Bhimraj (King crow) as he called out ‘ thakur jee ’, and then I heard

a stealthy movement and perceived a black object nosing about near

the plum bushes. The object looked big and in the uncertain light,

the movements were not unlike those of a bear, many of which were

reported around. I raised my rifle twice to fire, but could not see

the foresight. As however the object was ignorant of my presence

and was feeding quite happily, I thought a little patience was called

for on my part. A few seconds later, when my quarry was broad-

side on, I chanced it and fired. Then followed a jump into the air

and a thud. I metaphorically shook hands with myself only to feel

very downcast a few seconds later when my gun boy who had run

up shouted ‘ Suar hail

A. BAYLEY-D E-CASTRO,

Combined Military Hospital, Lieut., i.m.d.

Hyderabad (Sind),

May 10, 1930.

IX.— THE HEART SHOT IN GAME

There has lately been a good deal of correspondence in the

Field over the result of the ‘ Heart shot in Game Animals’ and one

well-known sportsman observed that he had frequently found that

an animal would drop dead to a heart shot when unconscious of the

presence of the shooter, but would generally either take to flight or

charge on receiving a bullet through the heart, if it had been watch-

ing the shooter.

The above is very true and simply a case of the mind’s control

over the system. In the first case the animal, all unconscious of

danger and with mind at rest, receives a mortal wound and col-

lapses on the spot ,* in the second instance he is watchful, on the

alert, apprehensive of danger, and sub-consciously will be preparing

either for flight or a charge, developing into action on being hit

even though mortally.

The most notable case of this I have experienced, occurred in

connection with a rogue elephant I once shot. The elephant

charged me (prior to being fired at) and swerved on receiving my

first shot, which missed its brain, and as he charged past me, I

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

805

found its heart with my second shot, which was very lucky as a

heart shot in an Indian elephant is a difficult one. The elephant

charged on for about 300 yards and then fell stone-dead driving its

tusks into the ground.

R. C. MORRIS.

Honnametti Estate,

Attikan P. O., via Mysore.

June 8, 1930 .

[An interesting comment on the above subject is J. B. D.’s letter

to the Field. He writes :

‘ I am surprised at the amount of correspondence upon which

I have long considered, was recognized. Why, even Homo sapiens

can launch a spear as the heart contracts for the last time.

A good deal depends upon whether the man or animal has seen

you and the amount of energy or anger that has been ‘ distributed.'

Any animal is far easier to kill when asleep than when every wire

is a live one. It is thus rare for a beast that is lying down

to struggle on to its feet when shot through the heart. So

numerous are the cases wherein a bullet right through this mus-

cle has failed to cause instant collapse that I ceased to chronicle

them.

I would go as far as to say that it is not improbable that a per-

centage of hits low down in the heart do not prove fatal. When the

bullet has passed through above the medial line, death takes place

within a few minutes.

Scores of stags must be shot through the heart every year in

Scotland and run a hundred yards ere falling ; but, as said, the

occurrence is so usual as not to excite comment.

I will give two instances that come to my mind.

I fired at a standing oryx with a service Martini-Henry. She

never flinched but galloped up a stiff incline of some 50 yds.,

started to walk when she had reached the level, proceeded some

30 yds., and rolled over stone-dead. There was a huge ragged tear

right through the heart about midway between the apex and the

medial line.

A lion came out of a bush about 12 yds. from me. I did not like

his look and fired at him with the weapon I had in my hands. This

was a double 8-bore carrying a 2J oz. ball specially hardened for

the benefit of elephants. It passed through him as if he were paper.

He slewed off, as I had already made a noise, and as he was still

going, I gave him the second barrel. This bullet passed through

just abaft and high of the heart. He trotted for fully 50 yds.

Examination revealed that, although the heart was not actually

punctured, it was practically lying loose in the body.

Complete collapse takes place only when the brain, or the verte-

brae from the shoulders forward, have been hit.’

A number of interesting letters have appeared in the same paper

relative to death from shock in animals. That death may ensue

from shock to the system as the result of a bullet grazing the nape

806 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

of the neck without actually damaging the vertebrae is borne out by

two instances given by Mr. J. Sowerby. {Field, April 5). The

writer saw a rabbit killed with a -303 bullet. Minute examination

showed a slight groove cut in the fur on the nape of the neck.

There was a slight bruise under the skin. An Oyster-catcher

touched in the same spot by a *25 R. F. bullet which just scraped

the skin, succumbed instantly. Apart from bodily injury the

instance related by 1 Tulloch Ard ’ of a hare being killed by the

concussion of -303 bullet which was supposed to have hit the ground

below him is interesting.

Commenting on the above Mr. D. D. Lyell writes :

‘ I see nothing remarkable in such an incident, for I consider the

concussion produced by the striking energy of such a projectile

might easily produce shock sufficient to stop the action of the

heart. Also, it does not follow that the heart in every mammal is in

good condition, and I expect in both animals and birds that some-

times it is in a groggy state, for we read of creatures falling dead

after getting a fright or due to extreme exertion.

Only the other day I fired a *256 Mannlicher bullet into a sloping

grassy bank, and the result was a hole some 8 in. in depth, and a

“ divot ” rebounded backwards for fifteen paces. Now had a hare

or rabbit been sitting over the spot, I am certain it would have been

killed with the recoil of the earth which was displaced. Had such

aji occurrence taken place I believe, however, fur would have been

removed, and “ Tulloch Ard,” in the:case he noted, did not mention

the hare being marked in any way.’

Mr. Meyer in his book Birds and Beasts ot a Roman Zoo

relates the incident of an apparently healthy well-grown Macaque

dropping dead from shock on being startled by a sudden clap of

thunder.

Mr. Morris’ note provides, we believe, the correct explanation

of the behaviour of an animal after being shot through the heart.

Taking flight or charging after the fatal shot is a reflex action, a

response to the impulse imparted by the brain at the moment of its

consciousness of danger. The action ceases when the energy

‘ generated ’ by the impulse is expended. — Eds.]

X.— THE COMMON MYNAH ( A . TRISTIS) AS A PEST

IN SEYCHELLES

After a long silence may I invite you again to help us on a

question of bird destruction in our small colony. I gladly recall

the assistance you gave us some 10 years ago when I happened

to visit Bombay.

The Common Mynah ( Acridotheres tristis ) was, it appears, intro-

duced here from India a century ago in order to combat the locust

plague. As the plague in question never occurred for the last 50 years

to my knowledge and, as no swarms of locusts are known to fly over

from ' Africa to Seychelles, the multiplication of mynahs is giving

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

807

us some anxiety as they destroy young birds of all sorts in their

nests (including pigeons) and have acquired a taste for local fruits

of all kinds. I even suspect them strongly of destroying small

beetles including the Coccinelids which are so beneficial in com-

bating scale insects.

Before destroying these birds altogether, it seems to be impera-

tive to ascertain from you what are their habits and their food and

what harm they are doing in India to your knowledge.

Any assistance from you in that matter would be greatly

appreciated.

[In India the Common Mynah is regarded as a bird which is

beneficial to agriculture. Occasionally mynahs eat oats, maize and

rice from standing crops, but any damage done by these birds

is insignificant in comparison with the good they do by destroying

hosts of injurious insects of all kinds. Lefroy & Mason in their

report on the ‘ Food of Birds in India ’ (. Memoirs , Department of

Agriculture , vol. xii), give details as regards the food of the

Common Mynah obtained as a result of the examination of the

stomach contents of a series of birds. Of 110 insects taken from

35 birds, 58 were identified as species injurious to agriculture,

5 beneficial, 47 neutral. Twenty birds examined by them had eaten

various species of figs,- oats, maize and paddy grain. The Mynah

is not, in India, generally a fruit eater, though a good pro-

portion of its food consists of various types of wild figs. This is ap-

parently the only class of fruit it habitually eats in this country. It

rarely does damage in orchards. Of cereals, maize appears to be

its favourite, and damage is done to this crop from mid June till the

harvest is ended.

Introduced into other countries, the Mynah has not proved benefi-

cial. It is said to be a great nuisance in New Zealand and Hawaii

as it drives away pigeons and fowls and destroys the nests and eggs

of birds. Change of environment has produced in this species

a change of habit. — Eds.]

XI,— ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE GREY-BACKED

SHRIKE (LAN/US TEPHRONOTUS VIGORS.)

IN THE SUBURBS OF CALCUTTA

In the Avi-fauna of Lower Bengal the genus Lanius is represent-

ed by very few species (or sub-species). These are migratory birds,

all except one being rather uncommon visitors, straggling into the

suburbs of Calcutta in Winter. Recently a specimen of Lanius

tephronotus (Vigors.) has through the generosity of Dr. Satya Churn

Law been presented to the Indian Museum along with some other

Seychelles,

February 27 , 1930.

P. R. DUPONT,

Director of Agriculture .

808 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , TO. XXXIV

birds of the District of 24-Parganas. It was obtained so late

as April 14, 1930, from the outskirts of a village about 14 miles

north-east of Calcutta. Another specimen of this species was

obtained by him near the same locality on April 4, 1927. It appears

from a comparison of the two birds that the one which has been

obtained recently is in perfect breeding plumage, whereas the

earlier bird, which had some of its feathers still under moult, was

nearly so. Both are full-grown birds, as will appear from their

respective measurements and colouration noted below : — •

Colouration. — Fore-head, lores and a broad band through the eyes

and ear-coverts black ; crown, nape, neck, back dark-grey which

extends well-nigh to the rump and lesser wing-coverts ; feathers of

the lower back and rump suffused with rufous ; upper tail-coverts

rufous ; central tail-feathers chestnut — brown, slightly darker than

the lateral ones. Wing-coverts and quills blackish — brown, outer

primaries narrowly and the inner secondaries broadly edged with

rufous. There is no wing speculum of white, and the rufous edges

to coverts and quills are very pronounced ; below white more or less

washed with rufous, which is very pronounced on the breast, flanks,

sides of abdomen, vent and under tail-coverts. Bill black, horny

towards the gape and the base of the lower mandible ; legs and feet

brownish — black, the claws darker.

Measurement of specimen obtained on April 14, 1930 total

length 242 mm. ; wing 100 mm. ; tail 106 mm. ; tarsus 28 mm. ;

culmen 16 mm.

Measurement of specimen obtained on April 4, 1927 : — total

length 236 mm. ; wing 102 mm. ; tail 116 mm. ; tarsus about 30 mm.

It is worthy of note that Lanius tephronoius (Vigors.) is recorded

as a bird of very great altitudes, even in the cold weather months

when many individuals are expected to be visiting the lower hills

and the plains themselves. Those that chance to straggle farthest

afield are nearly always found to be immature.

In the collection of the Indian Museum there is only one other

specimen of Lanius tephronoius (Vigors.) which was obtained from

the neighbourhood of Calcutta. It is unsatisfactory for the purpose

of comparison, being a very old skin, but the rufescent tone of the

plumage and wavy black bars of the underparts point to its being an

immautre bird. Blyth has recorded in his catalogue of the Birds

of the Asiatic Society of Bengal three specimens from a similar

locality, but has not mentioned if any were of immature plumage.

There is hardly any other record of the occurrence of this species

in the neighbourhood of Calcutta and in the District of 24-Parganas.

Nothing is definitely known as to the dates of its arrival in and

departure from Lower Bengal. The Fauna merely mention it as

a winter migrant to the Punjab, U.P., Bihar, Bengal and Burma.

In the Sunderbuns, Blyth found it a common bird and also ‘ on

many of the churs (or alluvial banks and islands) in the Ganges and

its branches/ The breeding range of the bird is recorded as em-

bracing Gilgit, North Kashmir, Ladak, through Tibet to Western

China, its nesting season extending from May to August. It is

remarkable that the bird obtained on April 14, 1930, should be

found to stay so late in Lower Bengal. An allied migratory

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

809

Shrike, viz., La?iius c. cristat'us Linn, has been observed to stay near

Calcutta and in the District of 24-Parganas till the end of April or

even as late as May 4, ( The Ibis,vo 1. iv, 12th Series, pp. 478-80).

Probably it may not be wide of the mark to assume that Lanius

tephronotus (Vigors.) may remain in Lower Bengal till a similar

date before it ventures on its career of finding a mate in the

Himalayas and other higher Plateaus.

Calcutta, M. N. ACHARJIE,

May, 1930. Assistant , Zoological Survey of Indict.

XII.— BREEDING OF THE GREAT STONE-PLOVER

( CEDICNEMUS RECV RVIROSTRIS)

On page 750 of the Journal , dated October 15, 1929, it is stated

that ‘ there are no authentic records in India of this bird (the Great

Stone Plover, CEdic?iemus recurvirostris ) ever depositing its eggs

in ploughed fields or land away from river-beds.’

It may interest you to learn that this fine bird breeds regularly

on the islands in the two lakes close to Udaipur city, laying its

eggs either on earth, or on coarse gravel, or on sheet-rock. There

being no sand, it has to do without. Four days ago I found, two

eggs on soft earth, at the foot of a low shrub, in exactly such a

position as is commonly selected by its smaller relative, the Indian

Stone-Plover, which is exceedingly common in the country round

about here.

Udaipur, Rajputana, C. G. CHEVENIX TRENCH.

April 21, 1930 .

XIII.— OCCURRENCE OF THE TUFTED POCHARD

(NYROCA FULIGULA ) IN GILGLT

On the 21st of this month, one of my jamadars in the Gilgit

Scouts saw a strange duck alight on the river, which runs fairly

fast at this time of year. Concealing himself behind a convenient

rock, he waited for it to be carried down to within range, when he

shot it and brought it to me..

It was a male Tufted Pochard ( Nyroca fuligula ) in excellent

plumage.

As I gather they are very rarely found in the Himalayas, and this

country is so unlike their normal habitat, there being no big lakes,

merely streams and flooded rice fields, I thought the matter might

interest you.

Gilgit, Kashmir, M. H. BERKELEY,

February 23, 1930. Captain.

[The Tufted Pochard though common in the Peninsula Region

of India is rarely seen in Kashmir and the Himalayas. — Eds.]

810 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

XIV.— FIRST INDIAN RECORD OF THE EASTERN

GREY DUCK (ANAS PCECILORH YNCHA ZONO-

RHYNCHA, SWINHOE) AND THE OCCURRENCE OF THE

EASTERN WHITE-EYE (NYROCA RUFA BAERI

RADDE) IN BIHAR

On March 27, 1929, my collector shot a drake of the Eastern

Grey Duck on the Uma Jheel, Pachgachia in the Darbhanga Dis-

trict, Bihar. One specimen of this duck had previously been got

at Kentung in the Southern Shan States and another from Taungyi,

both in Burma, and these are the only records from India and

Burma ; so it is most interesting that it should have turned up so

far west. My collector realized that it was not the Spotbill when

he shot it.

On February 22, 1929, he shot a fine drake of the Eastern

White-eye at Baheri quite close to Baghownie. It was the only one

amongst a number of the ordinary White-eye ( Nyroca rufa rufa

Linn.), the collector was able to tell it was different before he shot

it. I had long hoped for this sub-species to turn up, but out of

hundreds of specimens examined by me all proved to be the ordi-

nary White-eye ; so it is interesting to find that at long last it has

been obtained. Finn got eleven specimens in the Calcutta market

in 1896 and since then others have been found in Eastern Bengal,

Assam, Manipur and Burma. The drake is easily recognized by

its head and neck being glossed with green, but the ducks are not

so easily discriminated.

Museum House, CHAS. M. INGLIS,

Darjeeling, f.z.s., m.b.o.u.

March 18, 1930.

XV.— MIGRATION NOTES FROM KOHAT, N.W.F.P.

..

The following relating to the migration of birds may possibly

interest you or some of your members who study the subject.

Kohat , 1929

Cranes (. Kullam ) began to arrive about their normal date, i.e.,

latter end August.

Duck . — Abnormally early. Teal seen in August — Gadwal early

in September.

Quail . — Unusually early in large numbers and stayed much later

than usual, i.e., until beginning of December when they were still

being netted in odd patches of millet ( jowari ).

Return Migration, 1930

Cranes . — Normal ; end March, first half April, but completed very

quickly. During heavy rain first week in April, thousands of

Kullam were held up unable to cross north over the Tirah Hills

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

811

into Afghanistan. By April 10, Cranes had completely disappeared.

Quail. — Return migration . decidedly weak — local quail- catchers

assert that the main body of the birds went north abnormally early

this year.

Snipe and Duck. — Very much delayed. There were numerous

docks of duck and teal waiting for the April moon and a lot of

snipe.

Stray teal seen in Kohat until April 27. One snipe seen ; Kohat,

April 30.

Snipe reported Bannu, April 25, fairly plentiful, information from

Lt.LCol. W. P. Henry, P. A. V.O. Cavalry, Bannu— normally one

expects to see the very last of the snipe at Parachinar — head of the

Kurram river — about April the 1st. This year one may say the

incidence of the hot weather in the North-West Frontier Province

is at least a month late and the migration of birds appears to be

correspondingly delayed.

Kohat, G. dk la P. BERESFORD,

May 1, 1930. Lt.-Col. ,

Hodson’s Horse.

XVI.— BIRDS OF A HIMALAYAN TORRENT. A STUDY

IN BEHAVIOUR

The most delightful of Himalayan birds, those which everywhere

meet the eye and which first attract attention by their plumage and

behaviour, are the four inhabitants of the mountain streams. What

splendid surroundings they have chosen for their habitat ! A deep

gorge is cut into the range. Its steep flanks are clothed in heavy

vegetation. In its bed is a tempestuous torrent, roaring, splashing,

leaping amongst boulders, sweeping in one place round bosses of

rock, in another place swirling into frothy whirlpools, then for a

space flowing smoothly, then rising into a cloud of foam as it breaks

into rapids or cascades.

On and in the torrent live four birds. Every visitor to the

Himalaya must see them. Their beauty and charm is evident

enough: but in addition they give to the philosophical naturalist

some material for question and thought.

These birds are —

The White-capped Redstart.— Chaimarrhornis leucocep fl-

atus.

The Plumbeous Redstart. — Rhyacornis iuliginosa .

The Himalayan Whistling Thrush.— Myiophoneus tem-

mincki.

The Little Forktail. — Microcichla scouleri .

First a note on each of these. The White-capped Redstart is a

gorgeous bird, with a black body, chestnut underneath, and a chest-

nut tail tipped with black. Most conspicuous, however is its white

cap, vividly displayed in its flights amongst the stones. It loves to

perch on boulders in the torrent, with the waters swirling round

812 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

about it, standing, as it were, on an island in the foam, bowing its

head, jerking its tail, and displaying its striking colours to view. A

less elegant bird is the Plumbeous Redstart. The male is a kind of

leaden hue with a bright chestnut tail. The female is still plainer,

a dull brown, and her tail, instead of being chestnut, possesses a

large white patch. The Whistling Thrush is a much larger bird.

From a distance it appears uniformly black, but, when seen at

close quarters, it is cobalt blue. It loves to rest on the torrent

boulders, but it also ascends the wooded slopes and frequents the

side ravines. The Little Forktail is a fairy vision, an elusive

display of black and white, that seems perfectly adapted to the

water-washed stones. It loves the narrow gorge where the torrent

is loudest or where it pours over in a steep cascade.

All these four birds frequent the boulders. All are certain to

attract attention by the conspicuous movements of their tails.

Competition in the torrent

Here we have four insect-eating birds. They all live in the same

gorge : some or all of them may occupy the same stretch of

torrent : all are on the same quest, the search for insects along the

stream. Are the four birds competitors ? Is each robbing the other

of its food-supply ; or can we see some special adjustment to suit

the particular needs of each.

Careful observation will enlighten us on this point. Consider the

habits of each species. The White-capped Redstart is a ground

feeder. It uses the boulder as a kind of watch-tower from which to

spy an insect on the ground. It captures insects of many kinds, all

taken on the ground near the edge of the stream. The Plumbeous

Redstart has another method. It has specialized in flycatcher

activities. To it the boulder is a point of vantage from which to

make skilful sallies in the air. At times it may take something

from the moist stones, an insect that has been washed up by the

torrent : but its pursuits are mainly aerial, and it does not compete

with the white-capped species. The Whistling Thrush explores the

flanks of the gorge. It is not as confined as the others to the torrent,

but gets insects and molluscs on the wooded slopes and in the side

ravines. The roughest spots along the torrent are the haunts of the

Forktail. It likes the waterfalls and seething rapids. For its

captures come from a different source, from minute insects washed

into shallow water or tossed ashore by the turbulent stream. To

get them it wades out on the water-washed boulders where the

rushing torrent sweeps around its legs and envelops it in foam and

spray. For the same reason it loves the waterfalls. There it gets

many tiny morsels which the spouts of spray toss on to the

stones.

Thus we observe that each species has its special way of securing

food. All delight in the roar of the torrent ; all are in pursuit of

insects; all might be thought to be robbing one another of the

morsels which abound along the stream. But we see that they are

not strict competitors ; it is better to regard their activities as

interwoven, for each species in pursuit of prey lives its own

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

813

independent life. Each has its own area of search. The White-

capped Redstart explores the ground; the Plumbeous Redstart

makes sallies into the air: the Whistling Thrush searches the hill-

sides ; the Forktail examines the up-tossed spray. Thus, though all

kinds do not strictly compete, yet no corner of the stream is left

unsearched. This is a general principle in Nature. At first sight

many creatures seem to be competitors, but careful observation dis-

closes little differences. There is something in their habits or

something in their structure which shows that they are equipped for

different activities in the complex struggle of life.

Function of the Tail

No one can observe these torrent birds without remarking on the

striking manner in which they expand and oscillate their tails. It

is a habit which they all possess to a greater or less degree.

Flirting the tail is common amongst birds, but the species of the

torrent exaggerate the action. For some reason, which we must

investigate, this strikingly excessive movement of the tail is associ-

ated with torrent life.

Let us look closely at the behaviour. A White-capped Redstart

alights on a boulder. Its tail expands, then oscillates vertically. We

see a gorgeous chestnut-fan bordered by a black rim. The same

thing happens with the Plumbeous Redstart. The male oscillates

its chestnut feathers : the female shows flashes of white. Any slight

movement on the part of the bird gives rise to this spreading and

trembling of the tail. The Whistling Thrush too spreads its tail

when it alights. But it is not the quick oscillating movement of the

redstarts ; it is more a slow deliberate depression of the tail

combined with a spreading of the fan. The Little Forktail, while

at rest, keeps its tail in motion, opening it and closing it, displaying

its white edges which diverge like a trembling fork.

Now the question arises, — Why is all this ? Why should tail-

spreading and tail-oscillation be so highly developed in the birds of

the stream ? First, what is the function of a tail ? We are inclined

to regard the tail as a steering-organ for directing the aerial

movements of the bird. And it may be to some slight extent. But

it has other and more important functions. One of these is to act as

a brake. Watch a crow alighting on a tree and see how its tail

opens like a fan to check it as it comes to rest. A second important

function, is an organ of balance. It helps to bring the bird into a

state of equilibrium the very moment it alights. Take a wagtail by

way of illustration. See the way in which the tail oscillates the

instant the bird has alighted on the ground. For a second it moves

up and down very rapidly : then the movement dies away as

stability becomes secure. The oscillation clearly helps to bring

stability and balance to the bird. A bird has to balance a bulky body

on a pair of slender legs. The main portion of the load lies in front

of the support, but the tail extended backwards is a counter-balance

which helps to equalize the weight. Oscillating the tail will help

the balance especially at times when stability is insecure. It is like

a man trying to walk along a rope. The feat is difficult, but he can

814 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

make it more easy by carrying a balancing-rod across his body and

oscillating it up and down.

Now, with these two ideas in mind, that the tail, by expanding, acts

as a brake and by oscillating helps the balance, let us turn again to

the torrent birds. Tail movement, as I have said, is very active

amongst them. The tail is spread out like a fan and at the same

time lowered and raised. The functions of brake and balance are

combined. All this occurs at the moment of alighting. When

equilibrium is restored, the action ceases. But the slightest move-

ment, for instance if the bird changes its position or merely turns

its head for an instant, is sufficient to disturb the equilibrium, with

the result that the fan reopens and the oscillating function is

resumed.

The question, of course, follows : — If the tail is a brake and a

balancing organ, why should the birds of the torrent require it in so

conspicuous a degree ? Think for a moment of the habitat of these

birds. Round about them are swirling waters. They live on

boulders that project above the flood. The boulders are rounded,

often slippery with moisture. The birds have to stand on them with

outstretched claws, they cannot clutch them as they could the

stems of trees. Their haunts are full of instability and insecurity,

and the birds have nothing to grip. In such haunts they must

maintain themselves by balance ; hence the excessive movement of

the tail.

For these brids are, in a sense, alien to this torrent life. By

affinity they belong to tree-haunting groups, to birds which

habitually grip stems rather than balance themselves on stones. The

redstarts are allied to robins, which, of course, ordinarily perch on

trees. The Little Forktail belongs to the same sub-family. The

Whistling Thrush seems related fo the babblers which skulk in

bushes and scrub. The near relatives of these birds, therefore, live

in vegetation and when they alight, they can clutch the stems in order

to make their position secure. The torrent representatives have

diverged from the family. They have found new haunts on slippery

boulders. In their ancestors stability was secured by gripping ;

they must acquire it by means of balancing. Hence we see the

organ of balance employed in this exaggerated way. Chats and

robins, of course, do flirt the tail. It shows that they have to balance

to some extent. What has happened is that the torrent representa-

tives have had to develop the flirting function because they require

it more.

Hence, when a torrent redstart alights, the tail opens, the fan

expands. This checks the bird as it comes to the boulder and brings

it to rest on the smooth stone. Then immediately the balancing-

rod functions, the tail oscillates for a few moments, steadying

the bird, securing its equilibrium until its stability of balance is

attained.

Hence we have a simple mechanical explanation of the most

delightful feature of these birds, The swaying of the tail, the

spreading of the fan, the gorgeous view of chestnut in the White-

capped Redstart, the snow-white flicker of the Little Forktail ;

these are the features that attract and delight us, yet they have, as

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ' 815

we see, a simple explanation; they are directly associated with

equilibration and are necessary to secure the stability of the birds.

London, R. W. G. HINGSTON,

1929. Major, i. M. S.

XVII.— BIRDS SEEN ON A TRIP FROM POTTUVIL

TO KUMNA, CEYLON.

Between April 10 and April 21, 1929.

It may perhaps prove of interest in the future, to anyone who is;

interested in birds, if I place on record a list of the birds I saw on a

trip from Pottuvil to Kumna, a distance of -some thirty miles.

The trip lasted ten days, i. e., from April 10 to April 20, and

was organized by Mr. George Crabbe, for the purpose of taking

various fledglings of such birds as Pelicans, Ibis, Darters, etc., from

that extremely interesting, but very little known lagoon, which is

not far from the mouth of the Koombakan Oya.

The party consisted of Mr. George Crabbe, Mr. J. Morris Carey

and myself, and a taxidermist from the Colombo Museum, who

brought cages, etc., with him, for the reception of the fledg-

lings.

The list below is a full list of the birds seen during the journey,

and numbers some one hundred and five species. This is quite a

fair number, but does not include all the possible species of birds

that we might have seen.

Now as regards the Kumna Lagoon, which was our objective.

This is a large sheet of brackish water, completely hidden from all

view by its growth of mangroves. This mangrove swamp is from

forty to fifty yards in depth, and had to be laboriously cut through

before the raft which we had brought with us could be launched :

and when launched, the raft had to be towed up by our trackers,

through the path that they had cut into the swamp, as it was quite

impossible to propel it through the mass of cut vegetation by means

of a pole.

On emerging from the mangrove swamp into the open water of

the lagoon, there was before us one of the strangest and finest

sights that a person, keen on natural wild-bird life, could possibly

wish to see. I use the word * natural ’ to imply that the birds which

nest here have been completely undisturbed by mankind, and are

therefore very tame, and can be approached quite close without

showing a great deal of fear.

It was very interesting from the ornithologist’s point of view to

see how the birds which were nesting in this lagoon at the time of

our visit, which was about the middle of April, had divided them-

selves up into roughly distinct zones.

The Spoonbills had all flown, and there were none nesting when

we were there ; the Ibises had practically all flown too, but there

were several indications of where the bulk of the nests had been.

The Egrets too, had nearly all flown.

816 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXX TV

The Mangrove trees, some of them quite big trees, some of them

small, and others only bushes, along nearly the whole of the

southern side of the lagoon, were tenanted by Pelicans; many

nests being in tiers one above the other, and many being alongside

one another, practically adjoining. The nests were the usual rather

large platforms of sticks, and they all contained two or three young

birds, generally two.

The western side of the lagoon was almost entirely tenanted by

hundreds of Painted Storks — and next to these, though on rather

small detached islands, were Shell Ibises, whilst further on were

White Ibises, though unfortunately, both the latter species of

young birds had mainly flown, and there were very few fledglings

left.

Other small Mangrove islands lying towards the middle of the

lagoon, were tenanted by Cormorants. The other two sides of the

lagoon were hardly occupied at all by any big birds. The Herons

were cosmopolitan and nested practically everywhere, alongside

and amongst the Pelicans, Storks, Ibises, Darters, etc. I suppose

that with their murderous beaks, they can take care of themselves

in any situation.

The Pelicans were very noisy, and it was interesting to see the

old birds, which looked far too heavy to fly, launching themselves

off their nests into the air, and then flapping their wings rather fast

to start with, before they seemed to be able to get their proper

balance, and their big webbed feet into a comfortable position.

The Painted Storks toe, were very noisy, and there seemed to be a

great deal of resentment if a pair belonging to one nest, were to

alight, or try to alight, alongside another nest, that is to say if one

could judge by the clapping of their bills, which action produces, a

noise like the playing castenets or old-fashioned bones. Their

young birds, sometimes two or three and sometimes four in a nest,

made a tremendous noise, and looked very absurd when they tried

to stand up on their long legs. The old birds when intending to

alight, dropped their legs at full length just before getting down to

their nests, and this seemed to help to steady them in the latter

part of their descent. The young Grey Herons were very active

and were difficult to catch. They travelled at a considerable rate

from branch to branch, and over rushes and under-growth, and when

approached closely, immediately withdrew the head and neck, and

pointed their rapier-like bills upwards, and when striking, always

seemed to aim direct for the eye. One young bird when it was

being handed down to me from a branch by a tracker named

Gurruwa, pecked at him very suddenly, and just reached the top

side of his nose in the corner between the nose and the eye. This

blow drew blood, of course, but did not seem to hurt him much,

though if it had been a fraction more to the right, I fancy his eye

would have been considerably damaged.

The Darters were the most difficult of all the birds to take. To

start with, their nests, and rather good nests too, cup-shaped and

made of sticks, were about seven to ten feet off the water, and

when one got to the nests, the young darters, which by the way are

a mass of close-set white, soft, downy feathers, invariably climbed

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

817

over the side of their nest, and dived straight, like a dropped

stone, into the water, and it was then hopeless to try and catch

them. From this diving habit, we found that the best way to take

the fledglings was for one man to climb towards the nest, and for

another to stand directly below, and catch the fledgling in mid-air,

on its descent.

We visited the lagoon for four our five days, and Mr. George

Crabbe took many photographs, both fixed and moving scenes, and

Mr. Carey took several photographs also.

We took for the Colombo Museum the following fledglings

6 Darters.

6 Cormorants.

3 Pelicans.

4 Painted Storks.

1 Shell Ibis.

2 White Ibises.

2 Egrettes.

4 Grey Herons.

This family required a great deal of feeding, and we had to em-

ploy at first one, and then two Cingalese villagers, to get fish for

them every day.

One little point that interested me very much, was the fact that on

our second day’s visit to the lagoon, two or three common black

crows suddenly appeared croaking round about the islands in the

middle of the lagoon. It was obvious that the birds had followed

our carts down from Pottuvil, and seeing us go out from the camp

towards the lagoon, they evidently reasoned that if we went there,

there would probably be some ‘ doings ’ which might interest them

too. Barely had we noticed the birds and wondered at their

audacity in following us on to the lagoon to face this mass of

other bird-life, and whilst we were speculating as to why they had

come, several cormorants flew off their nests close by us, and in a

second a crow swooped down and carried off a beautiful blue

egg. I had nothing but admiration for these crows, for how

clearly had they reasoned out our purpose in going on to the

lagoon, and why too should they not share in some of the spoil

themselves ? Truly are they the most highly evolved of all birds.

Below is a list of all the birds seen on the trip, and I have listed

them in accordance with their families, genera and species, in order

that a true record may be there for anyone who may care to read,

and perhaps improve upon the list, some day

List of Birds

Family Corvidae

Corvus coro7ioides culminatus — The Southern Jungle-Crow.

Corvus splendens prote gains — Ceylon House-Crow.

Family Timalid^:

Turdoides gt'iseus striaius — The Ceylon Babbler.

Ropocichla atriceps nigrifrons — The Black-fronted Babbler.

ALgithina tiphia zeylonica — The Ceylon Iora.

14

818 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI V

Family Pycnonotim:

Pycnonotus luteolus — The White-browed Bulbul.

Molpastcs h. hcemorrhous — The Madras Red-vented Bulbul.

Family Turdim

Saxicoloides fulicala fulicata — The Black-backed Indian Robin.

Copsychus saularis ceylonensis — The Ceylon Magpie-Robin.

Kittacincla macroura indica — The Shama.

Family Muscicai im:

Terpsiphonc p. paradisi — The Indian Paradise Flycatcher.

Rhipidura aureola comprcssirostris — The Ceylon White-browed

Fantail Flycatcher.

Family Pkricrocotim:

Lalage sykesii — The Black-headed Cuckoo-Shrike.

Family Artamim:

Arta??ius fuscus — -The Ashy Swallow-Shrike.

Family Dicrurim:

Dissemurus paradiseus ceylonensis — The Ceyi.on Large Racket-

tailed Drongo.

Family Sylvim:

Acrocephalus stentoreus — Great Reed- War bier.

Prinia s . socialis — The Ashy Wren-Warbler.

Orthotomus s. sutorius — The Indian Tailor Bird.

Family Oriolim:

Oriolus xantlionotus ceylonensis — The Ceylon Black-headed

Oriole.

Family Sturnim:

Acridotheres tristis melanosternus — -The Common Ceylon Mynah.

Family Ploceim:

Ploceus phillipinus — The Common Weaver Bird.

Ploceus manyar flaviceps — The Madras Striated Weaver Bird.

Uroloncha p. pundulata — The Indian Spotted Munia.

Uroloncha striata striata — ’The White-backed Munia.

Family Fringilim

Passer domesticus confuscius — The Burmese House-Sparrow.

Family Hirundinim:

Hirundo daurica erythropygia — The Ceylon Swallow.

Family Motacillid^e

Motacilla flava ihunbergi — The Grey-headed Wagtail.

Anthus richardi rufulus — The Indian Pipit.

Family Alaudid^e

Alauda gulgala australis — The Small Nilgiri Skylark.

Miraira assamica affrnis — The Madras Bush-Lark.

Pyrrhitlauda grisea — The Ashy-crowned Finch-Lark.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

819

Family Nectarinid^e

Leptocoma lotenia. — Loten’s Sunbird.

Family Picim:

Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus stricklandi — Layard’s Woodpecker.

Family Capitonim:

Thereiceryx z. zelanicus — The Ceylon Green Barbet.

Xanlhol<zma hcemacephala lutea — The Crimson-breasted Barbet.

Family Micropid^e

Tachornis b. batassiensis — The Bengal Palm-Swift.

Hemiprocne coronata — The Indian Crested Swift.

Family Cuculim:

Clamator jacobinus taprobanus—ThQ Ceylon Pied Crested

Cuckoo.

Penthoceryx sonneratti waiti — The Ceylon Bay-banded Cuckoo.

Eudynamis s col op aceus scolopaceus — The Indian Koel.

Rhopodytcs viridirostris — The Small Green-billed Malkoha.

Taccocua leschenaulti — The Southern Sirkeer Cuckoo.

Centropus sinensis parroli — The Southern Crow-Pheasant.

Family Psittacim:

Psiitacula e . eupatria — The Large Ceylonese Paroquet.

Psiitacula krameri manillcnsis — The Rose-ringed Paroquet.

Family Meropim:

Merops orientalis orientalis — The Common Indian Bee-Eater.

Family Alcedinid^:

Ceryle rudis leucomelanura — The Indian Pied Kingfisher.

Ceyx t. tridactylus — The Indian Three-toed Kingfisher.

Ramphalcyon cape?isis gurial—HhQ Brown-headed Stork-billed

Kingfisher.

Halcyon smyrnensis generosa — The Ceylon White-breasted King-

fisher.

Family Bucerotim:

Anthraceros coronatus coronatus — The Malabar Pied Hornbill.

Lophoceros g. gingalensis — The Ceylon Grey Hornbill.

Family Falconim:

SpizaStus cirrhatus ceylonensis — The Crested Hawk-Eagle.

Spilornis checla spilogaster — The Ceylon Serpent-Eagle.

Haliaetus leucogaster — The White-bellied Sea-Eagle.

Haliastur Indus — The Brahminy Kite.

Milvus migrans govinda — The Common Pariah Kite.

Aslur trivirgatus trivirgatus — The Crested Goshawk.

Family Columbim:

Dendrophasa Pompadora — The Pompadour Green Pigeon.

Muscadivora cenea pusilla — The Imperial Green Pigeon.

Chalcophaps indica robinsoni — The Ceylon Emerald Dove.

Columba livia intermedia — The Indian Blue Rock-Pigeon.

Sireptopelia chinensis ceylonensis — The Ceylon Spotted Dove.

820 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Family Phasianidze

Pavo crisiatus — The Common Peafowl.

Callus laf ay ettii— The Ceylon Jungle-Fowl.

Colurnix coramandelica — The Black-breasted Quail.

Family Jac^anim:

Hydrophasiaims chirurgus — The Pheasant-tailed Jaipana.

Family Rostratulid^e

Rostratula bengalensis bengalensis — The Painted Snipe.

Family Sternid^e

Chelidonias leucopareia indica — The Indian Whiskered Tern.

Gelochelidon n. nilotica — The Gull-billed Tern.

Sterna albifrons sinensis — The White-shafted Tern.

Sterna albifrons saundersi — The Black-shafted Tern.

Family Charadriim:

Charadrius dubius curonicus — The Little Ringed Plover.

Pluvialis dominions fulvus — The Eastern Golden Plover.

Himantopus h. himantopus — The Black-winged Stilt.

Tringa siag7iatilis — The Marsh-Sandpiper.

Tringa hypokucos — The Common Sandpiper.

Tringa glareola — The : Wood-Sandpiper.

Tringa t. totanus — The Redshank.

Erolia minuta — The Little Stint.

Family Scolopacim:

Capelin, stenura — The Pin-tailed Snipe.

Family Pelecanidae

Pelecanus phillipensis — The Spotted-billed Pelican.

Family Phalacrocoracim:

Phalacrocorax javanicus — -The Little Cormorant.

Phalacrocorax fuscicollis — The Indian Shag.

Anhinga melanogaster — The Indian Darter.

Family Plataleim:

Plaialea leucorodea major — The Spoonbill.

Family Ibid^e

Threskiornis melanocephalus — The White Ibis.

Family Ciconim:

Dissura episcopus episcopus—The White-necked Stork.

Leptoptilus javanicus — The Smaller Adjutant.

Ibis lencotephalus — T he Painted Stork.

Anastojnus oscitans — The Open-Bill.

Family Ardeim:

Ardea purpurea 77ianille_nsis — The Eastern Purple Heron.

Ardea cinerea cinerea — The Common Grey Heron.

Egretta inte};7nedia intermedia — The Indian Smaller Egret.

Bubulcus ibis cor omandus — The Cattle Egret.

Ardeola gray i ~ The Pond Heron.

Nycticorax n. nycticorax— The Night-Heron.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

821

Family Phcenicopterim:

Phoenicopterus ruber antiquorum — The Common Flamingo.

Family Anatim

Nettapus coromendelia?ius — The Cotton Teal.

Dendrocygna javanica — The Whistling Teal.

Querquedula querqtcedula—'The Garganey Teal.

Family Podicepim:

Podiceps ruficollis capensis— -The Indian Little Grebe.

Hungerford, GEORGE BROWN.

May, 1930.

XVIII. — A LIST OF SOME BIRDS OF THE SEVEN HILLS

OF NAINI TAL. U.P.

The area from which this list was made includes the Naini Tal

Lake 6,350 ft., and the seven hills from their summits down to

5,000 ft. The seven hills areCheena 8,568 ft., Alma 7,792, Sher Ka

Dauda 7,869, Laria Kanta 8,144, Agarpatta 7,689, Handi Pandi 7,180,

Deopatta 7,987.

A radius of four miles from the lake on all sides would cover the

area.

The hills are steep and shaly. There is considerable broken

ground.

The forest is dense in parts with thick undergrowth. In places

there are open grassy slopes.

The forest consists of the three oaks — karshu, maru, bnuj—

cypress, rhododendron, ash, horse chestnut, ilex, some deodars,

blue pines (at 5,000 ft.), walnut and small bamboos.

The hills are so steep that there are no water-courses worth

mentioning except during the rains.

The plains are fourteen miles below and the snow range sixty-six

miles away.

There are no higher ranges between Cheena and the snow range.

The birds consist of residents, those passing through on migra-

tion, and those that move up or down according to the season.

Crows, magpies, jays, tits, sibias, nut-hatches, thrushes, black-

birds, woodpeckers, tree-creepers, streaked laughing-thrushes,

vultures, kites, partridges, pheasants and owls are residents.

Laughing-thrushes, mynas, minivets, flycatchers, hoopoes

bulbuls, parrots, warblers move up or down the hills according to

season. They are summer residents in Naini Tal.

Redstarts, grosbeaks, cormorants, grebes, rosefinches, black-

throated thrushes, Altai hedge-sparrows, and goldfinches arrive Or

can be seen in the winter and leave in the early summer.

No doubt there are many more birds needed to make the list at

all approximate to the actual number that could be seen ; but the

list gives ail that can be seen by fairly frequent and careful observa-

tion and search.

822 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

The birds are placed according to the order given in the Second

Edition of the Fauna of British India Birds , by Stuart Baker.

1. Himalayan Jungle Crow. Corvus coronoides intermedius.

A very common resident.

2. The Red-Billed Blue Magpie. Urocissa melanocephela occipitalis.

A common resident. They come into the station more frequently and

in greater numbers in the winter. They bathed and drank out of a bird bath

in the garden.

3. The Black-throated Jay. Garrulus lanceolatus.

A common resident. They frequent the station and gardens more often

in the winter. They also used the bird bath.

4. The Himalayan Jay. Garrulus bispecularis hispecularis.

A common resident of the surrounding woods.

5. The Green-backed Tit. Parus monticolus monticolus.

A very common resident.

6. The Crested Black Tit. Lophophanes melanolophus.

A common resident. A pair nested in my garden in March.

7. The Brown-crested Tit. Lophophanes dichrous dichrous.

Not common. Seen in the forests.

8. The Northern Yellow-cheeked Tit. Machlolophus xanthogenys xanthogenys.

Often seen in July and August in the forests.

9. The Red-headed Tit. yEgithaliscus concinus iredalei.

A very common resident seen in both gardens and forests.

10. The White-tailed Nuthatch. Sitta himalayensis

A very common resident : goes about in hunting parties with tits and

yellow-naped ixulus and the grey-headed warbler.

11. The Himalayan White-crested: Laughing-Thrush. Garrulax leucolophus leucolophus.

Seen occasionally at 5,000 feet. : once at 5,800 feet.

12. The White-throated Laughing-Thrush. Garrulax albogularis albogu laris.

A common resident. Goes about in large and noisy flocks in the forests,

and comes into the gardens in the winter.

13. The Red headed Laughing-Thrush. Trochalopterum erythrocephalum erythro-

cephalum.

Occasionally seen in the forests at 7,500 feet or higher ; but rare.

14. The Simla Streaked Laughing-Thrush. Trochlopterum lineatum griseicentio r.

A very common resident in gardens and forests.

15. The Striated Laughing-Thrush. Grammatoptila striata striata.

Seen in the summer from 5,000 to 7,000 feet in the forests ; not common.

16. Vigor’s Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler. Pomatorhinus erythrogenys erythrogenys.

Seen and heard in the summer months and autumn.

17. Baker’s Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler. Pomatorhinus erythorgeuys haringtoni.

Seen and frequently heard during the summer and autumn.

Lurks in the undergrowth about the station.

18. The Black-headed Sibia. Leioptila capistrata capistrata.

A very common resident •• abundant in gardens aod forests.

19. Hodgson’s Blue-winged Siva. Siva cyanouroptera cyanouroptera.

A pair seen frequently in April drinking and bathing in the garden bird

bath.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

823

20. The Yellow-naped Ixulus. Ixulus flavicollis flavicollis.

Seen throughout the year, but more numerous in July and August. Small

flocks seen associating with tits, warblers, silias, and nuthatches.

21. The Indian Red-billed Liothrix. Liothrix lutea callipyga.

Seen throughout the year, but more often in the winter when small flocks

were frequently met with. Small flocks used the bird bath almost daily during

December and January. Seen up to 8,000 feet in July, but mostly at 6,800 feet.

22. The Red-winged Shrike-Babbler. Pteruthius erythropterus.

Seen all the year. Abundant in the forests in July and August.

23. The Himalayan Black Bulbul. Microscelis psaroides psaroldes.

Numerous flocks from December to April. Further flocks in September.

24. The Rufous-bellied Bulbul. Hemixus maclellandi maclellandi.

Seen frequently from March to September in the forests up to 7,000 feet.

25. The Punjab Red-vented Bulbul. Molpastes haemorrhous inter medius.

Not at all common. Seen from February to September occasionally at 5,500

feet or lower.

26. The White-cheeked Bulbul. Molpastes leucogenys Ieucogenys.

Common in summer. Very few from January to April.

27. The Himalayan Tree-creeper. Certhia himalayana himalayana.

A common resident in forest and garden.

28. The Indian Bush-Chat. Saxicola tarquata indica.

Occasionally seen in June and July at 5,000 feet.

29. The Dark-grey Bush-Chat. Oreicola ferrea ferrea.

A very common bird in garden and forest from March to October.

Seen in December, January and February.

30. The Western Spotted Forklail. Enicurus maculatus maculatus.

Two seen in February, one in March and one in August in mountain streams

in which there was very little water at 5,500, 6,000 and 6,500 feet.

31. The Blue-fronted Redstart. Phoenicurus frontalis.

A very common visitor from December to March at about 6,500 feet.

32. The White-capped Redstart. Chaimarrhornis leucocephala.

A fair number about the lake — 6,350 feet— from December to April : after

that none.

33. The Plumbeous Redstart. Rhyacornis fuliginosa fuliginosa.

A fair number about the the lake from December to March.

34. The Red-flanked Bush Robin. Ianthia cyanura rufilata.

Very common from December to March down to 6,500 feet.

35. The White-collared Blackbird. Turdus merula albocinctus.

A resident. They come into the station during the winter. They used the

bird bath very often.

In the summer they ascend the hills to 7,000 or 8,000 feet and breed there.

36. The Grey-winged Blackbird. Turdus boulboul.

A resident. Commoner in the station in the winter when seen with the

white -collared blackbird and grey-headed thrush and black -throated thrushes.

They used the bird bath frequently.

37. The Grey-headed Thrush. Turdus castaneus castaneus.

Occasionally seen in the winter in February and March in company with

other thrushes. Not common.

38. The Black-throated Thrush. Turdus albogularis.

Very common from December to March ; after that none.

824 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

39. The Himalayan Missel-Thrush. Arceuthornis viscivorus bor.apartei.

Seen at 8,000 feet in February and March.

40. The Small-billed Mountain-Thrush. Oreocincla dauma dauma.

Occasionally seen at S,000 ft. in July.

41. The Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush. Monticola erythrogastra.

Two seen in February at 7,500 feet.

42. The Blue-headed Rock-Thrush. Monticola cinclorhyncha.

Seen from May to September at 7,000 to 8,000 feet. Breeds locally.

43. The Himalayan Whistling-Thrush. Myiophoneus temminckii temminckii.

A very common resident on hills, valleys and gardens and forests.

Frequently uses the bird bath, and seen in rocky country away from water.

This bird has a pretty song and is the only thrush at Naini Tal which sings

frequently and is often heard. The grey-winged and white-collared blackbirds

do not sing much here.

44. The Altai Hedge-Sparrow. Laiscopus himalayanus.

Flocks seen in February.

45. The White-browed Blue Flycatcher. Cyornis superciliaris superciliaris.

Fairly common from 22nd March to end of September.

46. The Verditer Flycatcher. Stoparola melanops melanops.

Very common from 3rd March to end of September. Most seen in April, May

and June.

47. The Brown Flycatcher. Alseonax latirostris poonensis.

Not common. Seen in September.

48. The Grey-headed Flycatcher. Culicicapa ceylonensis ceylonensis.

March to August and fairly common.

49. The Rufous-bellied Niltava. Niltava sundara sundara.

Two pairs seen in July at 8,000 feet and one in September.

50. The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Chelidorhynx hypoxnnfhum.

Two seen in March and two in April.

51. The Short-billed Minivet. Pericrocotus brevirostris brevirostris.

Very common from 10th February to October.

52. The Dark-grey Cuckoo-Shrike. Lalage melaschista melaschista.

One in early September.

53. The Himalayan Black Drongo. Dicrurus macrocercus albirictus.

• - Seen from March to August ; but not common.

54. The Himalayan Grey Drongo. Dicrurus leucophaeus stevensi.

April, May and June and September and early October.

Groups of 10 to 12 seen at times. Commoner than the black drongo.

55. Hume’s Willow-Warbler. Phylloscopus humii.

Passing through in May.

56. The Greenish Willow-Warbler. Acanthopneuste nitidus viridans.

Passing through in May.

57. The Large-crowned Willow-Warbler. Acanthopneuste occipitalis occipitalis.

Passing through in May and September.

58. The Kashmir Grey-headed Warbler. Seicercus xanthoschistus albosuperciliaris.

Very common from April to October.

Found a nest with young at 8,000 feet on 23rd May. Saw one of these

warblers feeding a young Himalayan cuckoo on the 30th May.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

825

59. The Brown HilbWarbler. Suya crinigera crinigera.

Occasionally seen in the summer on the open grassy slopes of the hills.

60. The Common Myna. Acridotheres tristls tristis.

Very common in the summer. A rapid decrease during September and

October.

61. The Black and Yellow Grosbeak. Perissospiza icteroides icteroides.

A large number in the oak forests at 7,000 to 8,000 feet during December

to April.

62. The Spotted=winged Grosbeak. Mycerobas nielanoxanthus.

A considerable number seen during January to the end of February at 7,000

to 8,000 feet in the forests.

No allied grosbeaks were seen at all although carefully looked for.

63. The Pink=browed Rose=Finch. Propasser rodochrous.

Occasionally seen from December to March.

64. The Himalayan Goldfinch. Carduelis caniceps caniceps.

Flocks seen in February.

65. The Red=browed Rose=Finch. Callacanthis burtoni.

Quite common from December to April. Large flocks seen in the forests, and

in the station feeding on the dried seeds of the mountain ash.

No other find was as common as this one.

66. The Himalayan Green=Finch. Hypacanthis spinoides spinoides.

Common from June to October. Seen occasionally in December and in

January. Occurred in pairs or in small flocks.

67. The Indian House=Sparrow. Passer domesticus indicus.

A common resident.

68. The Kashmir Cinnamon Sparrow. Passer rutilans debilis.

Fairly frequent in June, July and August.

69. The Eastern Meadow=Bunting. Emberiza cia stracheyi.

Seen in February, March and September.

70. The White Wagtail. Motacilla alba dukhunensis.

Occurs in March and April and again in August and September but not very

numerous.

71. The Grey Wagtail. Motacilla cinerea caspica.

Very numerous in March, April and September : a few up to December.

72. The Indian Tree=Pipit. Anthus hodgsoni hodgsoni.

Occurs in March.

73. The Brown Rock=Pipit. Anthus sordidus jerdoni.

Seen in May.

74. The Northern White=Eye. Zosterops palpebrosa elwesi.

Arrived on the 18th March and stays till October.

75. Blyth’s Yellow=backed Sunbird. TEthopyga nepalensis horsfieldi.

Frequently seen in the garden in June and July, feeding bn the wild pome-

granate flowers.

76. The Scaly=bellied Green Woodpecker. Picus squamatus squamatus.

A resident.

77. The Western Himalayan Pied Woodpecker. Dryobates himalayensis himalayensis.

A resident.

826 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

78. The Brown=fronted Pied Woodpecker. Dryobates auriceps.

A common resident. It frequents the garden. It fed on cocoanut put out

for the tits pecking very vigorously at the nut and swinging round and round

as the nut twisted.

79. The Great Himalayan Barbet. Megalaima virens marshailorura.

A common resident. It is heard most in the spring and summer.

80. The European Cuckoo. Cuculus canorus.

April to July, but not common.

81. The Himalayan Cuckoo. Cuculus optatus.

Common from April to J uly.

82. The Large Hawk-Cuckoo. Hierococcyx sparveroides.

April to July : seen and heard in the forests ; but not common.

83. The Himalayan Slaty-headed Paroquet. Psittacula schisticeps schisticeps.

Many in June to October up to 8,000 feet. They go down lower in the winter,

when they are not usually seen above 5,000 feet.

8i. The Himalayan Pied Kingfisher. Ceryle lugubris guttulata.

Seen by the lake in January.

85. The Common Indian Kingfisher. Alcedo atthis bengalensis.

A few are resident.

85. The Indian White-breasted Kingfisher. Halcyon smyrnensis fusca.

Several seen in June, July and August at Sukha Tal.

87. The European Hoopoe. Upupa epops epops.

Arrived on April 5th, leave by the end of September.

88. The Alpine Swift. Micropus melba melba.

Flocks in September.

89. The Common Indian House-Swift. Micropus affinis affinis.

Arrived 15th March, remain until October.

90. The Himalayan Wood-Owl. Strix nivicola.

Occasionally seen.

91. The Himalayan Brown Wood-Owl. Strix indranee newarensis.

Occasionally seen.

92. The Western Spotted Scops Owl. Otus spilocephalus huttoni.

Resident. One seen which had markings on the back of its head which

resembled two eyes and beak.

93. The Western Himalayan Barred Owlet. Glaucidium cuculoides cuculoides.

Resident.

94. The Western Collared Pigmy Owlet. Glaucidium brodiei brodiei.

Resident.

95. The Black Vulture. Sarcogyps calvus.

96. The Himalayan Grifon. Gyps himalayensis.

97. The White-backed Vulture. Psuedogyps bengalensis.

98. The Egyptian Vulture. Neophron percnopterus percnopterus.

99. The Bearded Vulture. Gypaetus barbatus hemachalanus.

100. The Kestrel. Cerchneis tinnunculus inter stinctus.

101. The Imperial Eagle. Aquila heliaca heliaca.

102. The Eastern Steppe Eagle. Aquila nipalensis nipalensis.

103. The Indian Black Eagle. Ictinaetus malayensis perniger.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

827

104. The Himalayan Fishing=Eagle. Ichthyophaga humilis plumbeus.

105. The Brahminy Kite. Haliastur indus indus.

Seen in winter about the lake.

106. The Common Pariah Kite. Milvus migrans govinda.

A common resident.

107. The Long-legged Buzzard. Buteo rufinus rufinus.

108. The Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon. Sphenocercus sphenurus.

July and August : 5,000 to 8,000 ft.

109. The Indian Rufons Turtle-Dove. Streptopelia orientalis ferrago.

Very common, arrives 15th March and stays till October.

110. The Indian Spotted Dove. Streptopelia chinensls suratensis

Seen on the cart road in August at 5,500 feet.

111. The Little Brown Dove. Streptopelia senegalensis cambaiensis.

Seen three times in August at 6,500 feet : one flew into my garden.

112. The Common Red Jungle-Fowl. Gallus bankiva murghi.

Resident, but not common.

113. The Cheer Pheasant. Catreus wallichii.

Resident, but seen often.

114. The Koklas. Pucrasia macrolopha macrolopha.

Resident, not often seen.

115. The White crested Kalij. Genmeus hamiltoni.

Resident : frequently seen.

116. The Common Hill-Partridge. Arborophila tarqueola tarqueola.

117. The Indian Black Partridge. Fancolinus fancolinus asiae

Rarely seen.

118. The Indian Whiskered Tern. Chlidonias leucopareia indica.

A few on the lake in September.

119. The Little Ringed Plover. Charadrius dubius jerdoni.

Two seen at Sukha Tal in September.

120. The Green Sandpiper. Tringa ochrophus.

One seen at Sukha Tal in September.

121. The Woodcock. Scolopax rusticola.

One seen on 3rd April.

122. The Large Cormorant. Phalacrocorax carbo sinensia.

Four on the lake from January to April.

123. The Mallard. Anas platyrhyncha.

Small flocks on the lake in September.

124. The Little Grebe. Podiceps ruficollis capensis.

Two seen in the lake during January and February.

Naini Tal.

May , 1930.

CORRIE HUDSON,

Major General.

828 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Pb/. XXXIV

XIX.— NOTES ON THE STAR TORTOISE

r TESTUDO E LEG A NS )

Testudo elega?is is usually found in the sandy flats at Rames-

waram ; its food consists of a succulent plant botanically called

Cissus quadrangular is which usually grows in association with the

Euphorbia (cactus) plant.

An adult specimen was kept by me in captivity for more than six

months at Rameswaram, and fed on the plant under reference but,

owing to the superstitious sentiments of the people, that rearing

tortoises at home is ominous to the welfare of family life and to

its neighbourhood, I had to do away with it as a donation to the

American College at Tallakulam, Madura.

During my collecting tours in North Travancore I have observed a

peculiar method, of killing these reptiles for food, practised by the

hill-tribes (Paliyars) by thrusting the finger into the anus and when

the head of the tortoise is protruded, it is suddenly fixed between

the teeth tightly, the body is twisted round and round till the neck

has been dislocated, when the carcase is put into the fire and con-

sumed before it is fully roasted.

Madura, R. SHUNKER NARAYAN PILLAY.

June 7, 1930 .

XX.— CAPTURING MONITOR LIZARDS AND

PYTHONS

The Monitor lizard to which Mr. Beni Charan Mahendra refers is

regarded as a great delicacy by the ‘ jungli’ coolies of Nagpur,

who form the backbone of our labour forces ; and they invariably

use the methods he mentions to obtain these.

When I was on this garden in 1927 one man, Sonia Oraon, spent

a great deal of the time when he was supposed to be hoeing in

searching the drain sides in the tea for lizards’ burrows. With his

hoe he would cut away the earth until the tail was visible, this he

seized and dragged the lizard out. After this his method was to

maim the poor wretch by breaking the joints of all its legs, thus

keeping it alive until he was able to take it home.

On my return after an absence of two years I find that Sonia has

grown more ambitious, although naturally such a conservative

would not change his methods ; he now flies at bigger game and

pythons are included in his game register. I watched him catch

one which measured 16 feet and which was exceptionally bulky. It

was in scrub jungle travelling slowly when we located it ; having-

sent a pal to its front end to attract its attention, Sonia literally

dived into the scrub and quickly emerged dragging the snake

backwards by its tail. It was then neatly persuaded to place its

head in a wire noose, what time another was slipped along its body

from the tail end.

The usual method of catching pythops is to throw a long bamboo

across them, and roll it along the body to the neck, when, provided

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

829

the ends of the bamboo are held down, the snake is quite help-

less and can be killed or tied up.

I trust the above may be of interest to you but I fear that

there is nothing new in what I write.

Rydak, Eastern Duars, FRANK C. RICHES.

June, 1930.

XXI. — -MASHEER FISHING IN BURMA

The article published in your number of February 15, 1929,

by Mr. A. Macdonald on ‘ Masheer in Burma and their Habits 5

was a most interesting one and is undoubtedly of great help to all

anglers resident in Burma or visitors to Burma. Up to date no

book, to my knowledge, has been published on the fishing in Burma

which, to those who know it, would fill a tome. Skene Du in his

book ‘ The Mighty Masheer ’ flits very shallowly over the fishing

in Burma and likewise does Thomas in his ‘ Rod in India.' I can

only attribute this to their lack of information on the fishing in this

part of the world. Mr. Macdonald has confined himself solely to a

short trip to the confluence of the Mali and Nmai Hkas which is an

extremely small area. The Mali and Nmai Hkas from their upper

reaches to the confluence in themselves supply any amount of meat

if a book were contemplated. Apart from the two main streams

mentioned, there are numerous other extremely good fishing

streams, some in administered, and some in unadministered terri-

tory, which have only been mentioned over a noggin of ale or

several gins and bitters in a club. If an author could be found,

I am certain he could obtain very valuable information of most of

the streams in Burma from various people who have had personal

experience of them. I can think of no better author than Mr.

Macdonald who, apart from his knowledge of fish and skill in writing,

knows many people who could give him all the information he

required. For instance the book could be chapterized into the

following : —

The Mali Hka and its Tributaries, the Nmai Hka and Tributaries,

Fishing in North and South Triangle, The Chin Hills, The Hukawng

Valley and the Naga Hills, Upper Chindwin — besides the above

there are some good streams that feed the Irrawaddy round about

Bhamo.

However, this is rather getting away from an incident I should

like to mention and this should be read in conjunction with

Mr. Macdonald’s article wThere he leaves to the imagination a fish

he ‘ had on ’ for just under 2 hours and one which R.T. struggled

with and lost after a two hours’ fight. I can beat both these

incidents and were it not for the fact, that I am able to produce

perfectly good collaboration, my incident would be classified as an

‘ Anglers Arms ’ yarn. The incident in question occurred during

the Naga Hills Expedition on the Namhpok Hka. The Column

arrived on the Namhpok at 3.20 p.m. on March 10, 1930 — the

weather was dull and cloudy and after the camp jhadjbeen pitched,

H.E.J. and I decided to try our luck. H.J.M. stayed behind on

830 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Ko/. XXXIV

a job of work. H.E.J. worked up-stream and I in the opposite

direction — the time now was 4.40 p.m. Immediately below the

camp I struck what looked like an ideal spot, a broad, fast rapid

running into a very deep pool, at the end of the rapid a side stream

hit the pool in deep water. I fished the rapid with no success.

When opposite the stream, fishing deep, I was taken by a fish at

4.58 p.m. the strike of the fish was unlike that depicted in fishing

yarns, i.e., a strike that almost takes the rod out of one’s hands and

then a scream — I realize this will draw a comment — instead, the fish

took the spoon in what I took to be ‘ Well, lam not really hungry ,

but I suppose I had better have it ’ sort-of-a-way. The reel

screamed and the line flashed out for about 40 yards after which

nothing happened. I hung on at great risk to rod and line for

about 10 minutes and then decided I had been snagged and the fish

had got off. The water was too deep and the current too strong

for any salvage work with a bamboo to be done, so handing the rod

to my Orderly and taking the end of the line I heaved. Instead of

being snagged and the fish off, the fish was well on and d d nigh

took the rod and the Orderly. I grabbed the rod and began playing

what I imagined to be a Grand-mother. However the fun was

by no means fast or furious as the old lady merely sank and stayed

nose-on to the current. Another ten minutes hard pulling made no

impression, so stones were resorted to and this only produced a

slight movement. I then decided the ‘ wait and see ’ policy was

the most sound; so turning over my rod I sat down and got a fire

going to keep off sandflies and keep myself warm. The time now

was about 6 p,m. and getting dark. I sent for a torch. At about

7.30 p.m. H.E.J. arrived and was convinced I was playing a sunken

log. But shortly after his arrival the fish made a movement. At

about 8.30 p.m. the fish started very slowly up-stream and I helped

as much as possible by pulling him in that direction. 1 had not

seen the brute up to this period and H.E.J. was convinced I was

into a ‘ mugger ’ ; for myself I imagined I had broken Colonel

Rivett-Carnacs’ record. The fish now seemed to be wearying a bit

and I was able to reel in a few yards of line — the process was slow ;

but at 9 p.m. the fish broke the surface and relieved us of all doubts

of ‘mugger.’ In the torchlight the fish looked enormous; so it

was decided, in order to hurry matters to shoot him. At 9.30 p.m.

H.E.J. shot the fish with a 22 Rifle and he was hauled out by

no means dead. After various guesses it was decided the fish

weighed not less than 42 lbs. On arrival at Camp 3 scales were

produced, two Lewis Gun balance springs registering 20 lbs. each,

and H.E.J’s. 30 lbs. scale. The three scales were hung on to each

other and the fish weighed — it registered 20 lbs. on each of the

20 lbs. scales and 28 on H.E.J’s. scale. After this weighment

great brains decided the weight of the fish was 48 lbs. The

measurements of the fish were then taken and the weight worked

out by formula ; this showed the fish to be approximately 28 lbs.

which seemed ridiculous in view of the fact that it had taken 4} hours

to land and only then after having been shot through just below the

dorsal fin. To cut a long story short, the fish was weighed next

morning in two bits and was exactly 28 lbs.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

831

From the above account can it not be justly surmised that

Mr. Macdonald’s fish was probably a little under 14 lbs. and R.T’s.

just about 14 lbs.

The tackle used was a Norse Murdoch 11^ ft. greenheart rod,

Manton’s special Lignum Vitae dressed line of 36 lbs. breaking

strain, stout killing wire trace and Mantons No. 7 gilt and silver

Hog-Back Spoon. The river was fast and deep and I was taken

about 200 yards.

Finally, will some kind reader please inform me how it is

possible to weigh a fish of 50 lbs. without destroying, it when in

possession of three scales capable of registering 20, 20 and 30 lbs.

respectively.

C/o Thos. Cook & Sons, S. C. MACGREGOR,

Rangoon. Captain .

XXII.— ANT-MIMICING SPIDERS AS VICTIMS OF

WASPS.

( With a photo)

I am sending you a photograph of the spiders obtained from the

cell of a wasp. I was not able to get at the wasp but the interest

Ant-Mimicing Spiders obtained from the cell of a wasp.

of the photograph lies in the fact that though such close mimics

of ants as all but one of the spiders were, they were not able to

832 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

escape from being caught and stored as food for its young by a

wasp.

Department of Agriculture, K. KUNHI KAN NAN,

Mysore State, Entomologist.

May 8 , 1930.

[It is impossible to identify the spiders in question from the

photograph, but it is evident that the remarkable likeness to ants

which these spiders exhibit was ineffective as a protection against

the attacks of the wasp.

Professor E. B. Poulton (Zool. Anzeiger, 1929. Akad. Verlgs-

gellsch. m. b. H. Leipzig, p. 79), discusses the subject of ‘ Ants as

Models for Mimicry.’ He brings together a few important observa-

tions of naturalists who, by their experience of animal life in the

tropics, are convinced that the widespread mimicry of ants by

various types of insects is advantageous. It is a mistake to believe

that even the most formidable or most distasteful insect or the

most successful mimic is immune from attack. If it were so, such

a species would speedily succumb to the deadliest enemy of all —

their own unchecked population. The observations of various

authors who have contributed to this vast subject lead directly to

the conclusion that it is advantageous for insects and other forms to

be associated with ants, for, in spite of attacks by other enemies,

ants are on the whole remarkably well protected and owe to this,

in combination with their communal life, the fact that they are the

most successful insects, and probably, except for man, the most

successful animals in the world. — Eds.]

XXIII.— A FREAK PAPILIO POLYTES ROMULUS Cr. $

( With a plate.)

I attach herewith a painting of a ^ Papilio polyles romulus , Cr.

drawn to scale. This specimen, I think, is unique and will interest

collectors. It was taken at Dehra Dun, U.P., by Miss Floris

Tarachand in October 1924. As will be seen, the right wings are

those of the £ which resembles Papilio hector , L, and the left wings

are those of the $ which resembles the except that there are two

splashes of red on the white discal band on upper side. It is also

curious that the wings on the left are a good deal smaller than

those on the right. The specimen figured has very generously

been presented to me by Miss Floris Tarachand and is now in

my collection.

Mussooree, U.P.,

June 12, 1930.

O. C. OLLENBACH.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

A Freak example of Papilio polytes romulus Cr. $

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

833

XXIV.— NOTES ON PARANTIRRH CE A MARSHALL /,

AND PRION ERIS SITA

In Volume xxiv, No. 1 of the Journal, Miscellaneous Notes,

xxvii, Lt.-Col. Fraser writes on ‘ Some Malabar Lepidoptera ’.

1. Writing of Parantirrhcea marshalli he says : * Its larva feeds

on cane and the insect is thus rarely seen away from the neighbour-

hood of cane brakes.’ Will he permit me to ask if 4 cane ’ at Lakati

is the same at the ‘reed’ of the Coorg Forest Department, the

‘ wate ’ of Watakolli, which the Chief Forest Officer in Coorg told

me was Ochlandra rheediif There is a considerable ‘reed-plot’

at Urti by the river, where Parantirrhcea marshalli is to be found.

Also, has he found the larva ? a description of it is badly needed.

2. Prioneris sita : At Lakati, Prioneris sita was common in

September ; he conjectures that it is ‘ single brooded and appears

only during September and October.’ But in Coorg it is certainly

present on the Ghats at the end of December and can be had every

month up to May, and in March it becomes plentiful.

As to its being sub-montane and disappearing as the ‘ Vayitri

Ghat is descended ’ ; this is not the case in Coorg. Both at Urti

at the bottom of the Periambadi Ghat and near the bottom of the

Sampaje Ghat, on the road and on the river, it was abundant in March

and April.

3. Like Col. Fraser, I was often intrigued by the description of

butterflies as ‘ rare ’ or 4 very rare ’ in Evans’ lists. It is certain that

a good many butterflies described as rare, are as Col. Fraser says,

4 not at all uncommon’, including those he mentions, in Coorg

as on the Vayitri Ghat and probably in all similar localities from

S. Kanara southwards. I suppose one explanation might be that,

though not uncommon in their own area, they are rare if all India

is considered. Another Papilio, P. crino is given as 4 not rare ’,

and I believe on the Nilgiris it is fairly common, but in Coorg it is

rare, if not very rare. This is a case of the opposite type. Of the

Appias, A. albina , A. wardi , A. libythea, A. shiva are ah noted as

rare ; but A. albbia is legion in Coorg and extends to Bangalore,

and A. wardi fairly] common on the Ghats, and A. shiva at its

seasons abundant. Among the Lycaenidse, Spindasis lohita

is common in Coorg ; Apharitis lilacina very uncommon ; Ambly po-

dia bazaloides very rare ; all are described as 4 rare ’ which, I take it,

represents the average distribution in many localities from which

reports have come.

The ideal note in lists of butterflies would, I think, go more into

detail regarding localities and apportion frequency or rarity of a

particular insect to each locality. But this would probably mean

too great space in printing. The trouble is that the books give

X. India for the habitat of a butterfly ; but X. India is a large

area with many varieties of climate, and the novice at any rate is

misled.

Berkhamstead,

May 27 , 1930.

15

J. A. YATES.

834 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

XXV. — NOTES ON APPIAS LIBYTHEA LIBYTHEA $

On page 228 of Vol. xxxii of the Journal, Lt.-Col. Macpherson

drew attention to the fact that the normal extreme dry season form

of Appias libythea 2 has a reddish abdomen. I note that in the dry

jangles round Bangalore, any $ of this butterfly caught in any

month in which it occurs has this reddish abdomen. I have speci-

mens taken in different months from July to February; no two

specimens are quite alike in the wing markings. They range from

what is figured in the books as W.S.F. to one in which the hw

is pure white except for faint traces of black at the end of the veins,

and on the fw of which the upper half only of the cell and the costa,

not quite to the end of the cell, are black, the cell is not joined

to the dark margin and the dark margin is much reduced and barely

reaches the dorsum as a narrow thread ; this pale form is, I pre-

sume, the extreme D.S.F. In all seasonal phases of the $ however

the abdomen is reddish. From W.S.F. to extreme D.S.F. often

it is almost orange and is visible when the insect is in flight. Is

this reddish abdomen a characteristic of dry areas, persisting even

when the local relatively wet season is on and when the insect has

the other wet season marks ?

Berkhamstead, J. A. YATES.

England,

May 26 , 1930.

XXVI. — ON THE PECULIAR CROSS-VEIN-LIKE STRUC-

TURES IN THE HIND-WINGS OF CROCE FILIPENNIS

WESTW., cT ( NEMOPTERIDAE )

Read at the seventeenth annual meeting of the Indian Science Congress.

(With three Micro-photographs.)

In the year 1929, while studying the morphology and bionomics

of Croce iilipennis Westw., I was attracted by the peculiar mode of

flight of the insect. In general, the flight consists of a series of up

and down looping movements and these movements are apparently

facilitated by the rapidly vibrating filamentous posterior wings.

During the same year, some more specimens were collected and

brought to the Entomological Section of the Kala-azar Research

Laboratory at the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine and

Hygiene, where I was carrying out investigations in my spare time,

and a close examination of the structure of the filamentous hind-

wings of the insect was made. A number of stained and cleared

balsam mounts of the unfolded hind-wings of examples of both

sexes were prepared and on microscopic examinations of these

mounts, a series of parallel structures apparently of the nature of

cross-veins were found in the hind- wings of males.1 These

structures are distributed throughout the entire laminated area which

1 Comstock (1918) describes and figures cross-veins in the hind-wings of

Nemopteridas. He fails, however, to note either the sexual differences in the

structures of the hind- wings or the spiral structure of the cross -veins.

Peculiar Cross-vein-like Structure in the Hindwings of Croce filipennis.

Fig. 1. Hindwing of Croce filipennis, Fig. 2. Individual cross-vein under high- Fig. 3. Non-laminated hindwing of Croce

showing coalesced longitudinal vein power microscope. Microphotograph of a filipennis $ devoid of cross-veins x 200.

running through centre of wing. Micro- single spiral x500.

photograph of a series of spirals x 20.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

835

occupies the basal one-third of the wing-length. In an individual

wing, there are about 58 pairs of such structures and these are all found

to run antero-posteriorly joining the proximal and distal margins of

the wing. The coalesced longitudinal vein (formed by the closely

approximated stems of R and M) runs through the centre of the

wing (Fig. 1), and it is along this that the usual folding of the wing

membrane takes place. Distally, the thickness of the laminated

portion of the wing becomes reduced and along with this a reduc-

tion in the size and number of the cross-veins is visible. The

cross-veins also lose their spiral structure at this region of the wing.

An examination of an individual cross-vein, under a high power of

microscope, reveals a spiral frame-work which is conspicuous in

being of a flattened character (Fig. 2). The length of a cross-vein

is 0T0 mm., while its thickness 0-04 mm. At first I took these spiral

structures to be remnants of wing tracheae. Later on, however, I

came across a short note on a similar subject by Forbes (1924)

wherein he mentions that in the case of Adephaga (Coleoptera) an

examination of the hind-wing shows that the tough nature of the

outer part of the wing in the flying position is entirely due to the

curiously constructed costal margin (formed by fused C., Sc., and

R). This coalesced vein is, in Forbes’ opinion, rather more like a

flat ribbon-like structure than a normal vein and it is also ribbed

transversely on its front edge so that it bends with ease antero-

posteriorly while being capable of resisting vertical pressure.

Forbes, however, fails to mention whether this appearance is due to

a continuous spiral or to transverse bars. If Forbes’ theory be applied

to the case of the hind-wings of Croce iilipennis Westw., it would be

natural for the costal margin as well as the fused longitudinal vein

to be ribbed and thus be strengthened; but this is not so in the case

under consideration. Prof. Johannsen of Cornell University, Ithaca,

in a letter to me mentions that the structure in question closely

resembles that which is present in the hind-wings of Carabidse

(Coleoptera) at the point where a fold crosses a vein. Johannsen’s

explanation, though quite relevant in the case of the Carabidae, does

not seem to fit in here, as, so far as my knowledge goes, the folding

of the hind-wing in specimens of both the sexes of C iiiipennis is a

longitudinal one along the course of the coalesced longitudinal vein,

and never across any vein. Lastly, what strikes me most is that

examinations of a large number of balsam mounts of the hind-wings

of males and females, reveal the presence of these structures only

in the males. The hind-wings of a female, (Fig. 3) though narrower

are nearly of the same length when compared with those of a male

and being non-laminated, are devoid of well-defined cross-veins and

are almost of equal thickness throughout their entire length. It

appears to me that besides allowing a sufficient amount of resilency

to the laminated area of the wing membrane of the hind-wing of a

male to counteract the vertical pressure of a constantly vibrating

column of air (due to the vibratile nature of the filamentous wings),

these structures are probably special accessory modifications of the

wings of a male to enable it to perform the function of flight more

efficiently than in the case of the opposite sex, and are thus of the

nature of a secondary sexual character.

836 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , VoL XXXI Y

References

‘ How a beetle folds its wings ’

Psychce, XXIX., No. 6.

‘ A general Text Book of Ento-

mology.’

Neuroptera, Nemopter idae,

Genera Insectorum , 136

Fascicule.

‘ The Wings of Insects Ithaca,

New York.

School of Tropical Medicine

and Hygiene, Kala-azar Research

Laboratory, Calcutta,

May, 1930.

S. MUKERJI,

M. Sc., Entomologist.

(The author wishes to express herein his indebtedness to Dr. A. D.

Imms, M.A., D.Sc., F. R. S., Chief Entomologist, Rothamsted

Experimental Station, for the trouble he took in going through the

paper and expressing his valuable opinion on the subject.)

XXVII.— BUTTERFLY COLLECTING GROUNDS AT

MUSSOOREE (U. P.)

In this article I propose giving a description of the different col-

lecting grounds for butterflies in the vicinity of Mussooree. To

those collectors, who are strangers to this hill-station and who

perhaps can only get up for a short holiday, to know where to

collect, without wasting their time in knocking around on the

chance of picking up a few specimens, this should prove useful.

The best period for collecting is from the beginning of May to

the time the rains come on, about 15th June. It is during this dry

spell that butterflies are attracted by the moisture in the mountain

streams and great numbers fly down daily to the pools or damp

sand. There are six collecting grounds which I describe below

in their order of merit, taking the Library as the starting point : —

(i) The Electric Pumping Statio?i , 5181'

There are two routes to this place.

(a) Take the road to the north of the Library and continue

on it till the Happy Valley gate is reached, from here get on to Dick

Road to the left which will bring you to the Municipal gardens,

continue along this road and you will pass close to a house called

Kandi Lodge and a little way further on you will arrive at Mackin-

non’s Brewery. Now get on to Pump House Road to the right, or

north, and carry on till the pumping station is reached. Having

arrived at the iron bridge, which spans the stream, don’t cross the

bridge, but scramble down below it till you are under the pumping

station. Here you will find some small pools and patches of moist

sand, caused by the overflow from the reservoir, and settled around

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

837

these pools and on the moist sand will be hundreds of butterflies of

various species, while there will also be a continuous stream of

fresh arrivals. It would be as well to explore the stream for some

300 yards further down, as numerous specimens are to be found

there also. The distance from the Library is about 5 miles.

(b) Take the road to south of the Library, named Maddock

Road which will lead you up to the Convent Gate, now get on to the

Park Road till you meet the Brewery Road on the right which

will lead you on to the Pump House Road. This route is

shorter of the two by about 1J miles. The collector should make

an early start so as to be on the ground by 9 a.m. and should stop

there till 2 p.m. In my collecting trips throughout India, Burma

and the Andaman Islands, I have come across places where butter-

flies were to be seen in large numbers, but these could not approach

the multitudes that visit the pumping station.

So great are the numbers and so intent are they on sucking

up the moisture that many get drowned, while others get trodden

under foot, as one moves about selecting the desired specimens.

I give below a list of species which a collector may expect to see

after the 1st of June : —

Danaidce

Danais agleoides. M.

,, tytia. Gray.

,, limniace. Cr.

,, septentrionis. But.

plexippus. L.

,, chrysippus. L.

Euploea core. Cr.

Satyr idee.

Pararge schakra. Roll.

Erebia annada. M.

,, hyagriva M.

,, scanda. Roll.

Ypthima sakra. M.

Melanitis leda ismene. Cr.

Lethe dyrta. Fd.

,, insana. Roll.

„ confusa. Auir :

,, verma. Roll.

,, pulaha. M.

,, vaivarta. Doh.

,, yama. M.

Mycalesis perseus. Fab.

,, nicotia. Hew.

NymphalidcB

Eulepis athamas, Drury.

Apatura ambica. Roll.

Sephisa dichroa. Roll.

Pichorragia nesimachus. Bdv :

Stibochiana nicea. Gray.

Euthalia patala. Roll.

,, lubentina. Cr :

,, garuda. M.

Auzakia danava. M.

Pantoporia selenophora. Roll.

,, opalina. Roll.

,, perius. L.

,, asura. M.

Neptis astolaM.

,, soma. M.

„ yerburyi. But.

,, mahendra. M.

,, sankara. Roll.

„ narayana. M.

„ zaida. Db.

,, ananta. M.

Cyrestis thyodamas. Bdv :

Junonia iphita. Cr.

,, lemonias. L.

,, hierta. Fab.

„ orithya. L.

Vanessa cardui. L.

,, cashmirensis. Roll.

,, c-album cognata. M.

,, canace. Joh.

Hypolimnas bolina. L.

,, misippus. L.

Rallima inachus. Bdl.

Issoria sinha. Roll.

Atella phalanta. Drury.

83S JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

Argynnis hyperbius. Joh.

,, childreni sakontala.

Koll.

Ergolis merione. Cr.

Pseudergolis wedah. Roll.

Libyihceince

Libythea celtis lepita. M.

,, myrrha rama. M.

Dodona durga Roll.

,, dipoea. Hew.

,, eugenes. Bates.

,, egeon. Db.

,, ouida. M.

Zemeros flegyas. Cr.

Abisara fylla. Db.

„ echerius. Stoll.

PapilionidcB

Papilio agestor govindra. M.

,, clytia dissimilis. L.

,, machaon asiatica. Men.

,, demoleus. L.

,, polytes romulus. Cr.

,, protenor. Cr.

,, polyctor. Roll.

,, eurons cashmirensis.

Roth.

,, cloanthus. Wd.

,, sarpedon. L.

Pieridce

Leptosia xiphia. Fab.

Delias eucharis. Drury.

,, belladonna. Fab.

,, sanaca. M.

Anapheis mesentina. Cr.

Aporia soracta. M.

,, . agathon phryxe. Gray.

Pieris brassicae. L.

,, canidia, Sparr ?

Gonepteryx rhamni nepalensis.

Dh.

Catopsilia pyranthe. L.

Colias fieldii edusina. But.

Terias hecabe. L.

Lyccznidce

Cyaniris albocaerulea. M.

,, puspa. Hew.

Cyaniris argiolus coelestina.

Roll.

,, huegeli. M.

Chilades laius. Cr.

Catachrysops Strabo. Fab.

Castalius rosimon. Fab.

Polyommatus boeticus. L.

Curetis bulis. Db.

Zephyrus ataxus. Db.

,, birupa. M.

„ syla. Roll.

,, icana. M.

Chaetoprocta odata. Hew.

Euaspa milionia. Hew.

Ilerda sena. Roll.

Aphnseus vulcanus Fab.

,, ictis nepalicus. M.

Iraota timoleon. Stoll.

Surendra quercetorum. M.

Arhopala centaurus. Fab.

,, rama. Roll.

,, dodonea. M.

,, ganesa. M.

,, atrax. Hew.

Deudoryx epijarbas, M.

Hysudra selira. M.

Virachola isocrates. Fab.

,, perse. Hew.

Rapala nissa. Roll.

,, schistacea. M.

,, melampus. Cr.

Tajuria diceus. Hew.

,, illurgis. Hew.

Loxura atymnus Cr.

Horaga onyx. M.

HesperidcE

Achalarus bifasciatus casyapa M.

Celaenorrhinus pulomaya. M.

,, leucocera. Roll.

Tagiades atticus. Fab.

Coladenia indrani. M.

Darpa hanria. M.

Suastus gremius. Fab.

Pedestes masuriensis. M.

Hyarotis adrastus. Cr.

Notocrypta feisthamelii. Roll.

Udaspes folus. Cr.

Augiades brahma. M.

Ismene ataphus. Wat :

Rhopalocampta benjaminii.Guer,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

839

(ii) The Mossy Falls , 5,500 '

The Arnigadh (stream) which rises in Landour and runs along

the foot of the ridge called Pari Tibba (Burnet Hill, local), passes

close to the Tivoli gardens, the falls occurring about \ mile lower

down. The road to it is along the Mall as far as the Picture Palace,

then the Rajpore road to about \ mile above Barlowganj to the

gate of the house named Ralston Cottage. From here take the

road to the left which will take you down to the stream. This is

quite a good place, and the collector would do well to explore the

upper reaches of the stream for about a mile or so. Distance

about 3 miles.

(iii) The Pumping Statio?i and Dhobi Ghat at the Bhilaru

Spring, 5,700 '

Along the Mall for a short distance, pass through the gorge on to

the Camel’s Back road and, about 150 yards from the gorge, take

the path to the left, between the house named Petersfield and the

Municipal Market. Keep to this path and you will get to the

spring. Distance about one mile.

(iv) The Stream. ■ below the Rifle Range, 6,000 '

As the Rifle Range is so well known, it is of little use describing

the route to it. The stream is about 200 yards below the range

and runs parallel with it. There is a good road down to the stream

and it is distant about -J mile from the Mall.

(v) The Spring on the Eastern Slope of Vmcents Hill , 6,500 '

Take the road to south of Library, called Maddock Road, till

you get to a spot below the Savoy Hotel ; now take the road to

left, called Spring Road and continue on it till the spring is reached.

This is a fair collecting ground and an hour or two spent there

would well repay one, besides being the easiest to get at.

(vi) The Spring and Dhobi Ghat, East of the Kincraig

Estate , 5,600 *

Take the old cart road to Rajpore and about a furlong beyond

the gate of Kincraig, a stream will be met. Follow this down and

you will arrive at the spring. This is a good ground for Papilio

polyctor .

During the rains little collecting can be done, but from about

middle of September to middle of November, the collecting

is quite good. About this time there appears to be a general

migration to the south from the Khuds (valleys) to the north of

Mussooree and the butterflies make for the saddles in the main

ridge in order to cross it. There are three such, taking them from

west to east.

(a) The flat at the gate of the Convent.

(b) The flat at the gorge, through which the road round Camel’s

Back passes.

(e) The junction of the lane, which passes by the Telegraph

Office, with the Camel’s Back Road. — The last named is the best

840 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

and some good catching can be done, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

on bright days. Collecting at this time of the year is rather

strenuous work, as all the specimens have to be taken on the wing,

and it needs a certain amount of skill, as every butterfly appears

to be in a hurry and flies at the limit of its speed. There are

certain species that are very local and are found only in particular

areas and for a limited time, viz.

(1) Erebia hyagriva. M.

This butterfly can be found in large numbers on a grassy

ridge called locally Patranikidhar. This ridge is in the Tehri State

about 3 miles beyond the Toll Bar, on the road to Jalki. The spur

is to the south of the road and runs down to Patrani village, some

500 feet below. E. hyagriva appears here in large numbers from

14th August and flies for about a month and appears to prefer dull

weather.

(2) Parage moorei. Bat .

Fairly plentiful on the road to Woodstock School about

middle September and is partial to mule droppings, flies for about

20 days.

Aulocera padma . Koll.

Found in fair numbers on the top of Landour, to the north,

on Circular Road, 7,400', where the road passes between the two

Cemeteries. It flies in company with Aulocera Swaha. Koll and

Saraswati. Koll during September and October.

Dilipa morgiana . Wd.

Found on the crest of Pari Tibba (Burnt Hill), 6,400', flying

in company with Sepisha dichroa. Koll from which species it is

difficult to distinguish it. Males are plentiful, but the female is

seldom seen. A narrow track leads up to the crest from about

i mile above the Massy Falls. This species is also found at Oak

Grove Boys’ School, 5,100'.

Mussooree, O. C. OLLENBACH.

August 14- , 1929 .

XXVII L— ON THE TRUE NATURE OF THE NUCLEAR

DIVISIONS IN OLD INTERNODES OF LOCAL

TRADESCANTIA STEMS.

( With a plate.)

Strasburger reported amitosis in old internodes of Tradescautia

stems, he figured a lobed nucleus in support of it. So far as higher

organisms are concerned, Sharp has recorded that amitosis occurs

in comparatively few well-authenticated cases. Constricted or

irregularly lobed nuclei were in the past freely taken as evidences

of amitosis. Goldstein in his recent investigations on nuclear form

(Bot. Gazette , vol. ixxxvi, No. 4, Dec. 1928), states that ‘ the

constricted nucleus appears more or less as if it were dividing.

Nuclear division in old internodes of Tradescantia stems.

Fig. 1. Microphotograph of a longitudinal Fig. 2. Microphotograph of a longitudinal

section of the stem of Tradescantia discolor section of Tradescantia zebrina showing point-

showing elongated nuclei. ed nuclei.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

841

Such nuclei occur in the parenchyma-cells of healthy green lily

leaves and petioles, and are not an indication of amitosis

. . . Such hypertrophied nuclei with cleft, crenate, or furrowed

membranes, or lobed, lobulate or amoeboid outlines occur normally

in healthy plants in special organs of nutrition, and associated with

certain phases of nutritional and secretory acitivity.’ Amitosis as

a normal phenomenon in healthy cells is to be differentiated from

deranged mitosis occurring in abnormal tissue due to the pathologi-

cal condition of the cells, in the latter condition the nuclei usually

fragment and perish in. the end.

To find out the true nature of the nuclear divisions, microtome

sections of the longitudinal strips of old internodes from stems of

Tradescanlia discolor (Fig. 1) and Tradescantia zebrina (Fig. 2) were

prepared, the sections revealed a number of elongated nuclei, some

ridged or irregular in outline, and a few were constricted almost

like the one figured by Strasburger, they were usually one in each

cell. Nowhere could I find the actual breaking up of the nuclear

body into two or more rounded segments. Such elongated nuclei

I could get in the cells of the ovarian wall of very young flower

buds of Polya?ithus tuberosa and of Tirdax procumbens.

This condition is surely not an indication of amitosis, it is con-

nected with the metabolic activity of the cells as has been remarked

by Goldstein. In Tradescantia virginiana stem Mons. Conard has

recently worked on mitosis on the lobed nuclei (Mem. Acad. Roy.

Belgique , vol. ix, 1928), he also considers that the constant occurrence

of such irregular and fragmented nuclei in Tradescantia is connected

with the vigour of the stems.

S. R. BOSE,

Carmichael Medical Professor of Botany.

College, Calcutta,

April 1930.

XXIX.— ON THE OCCURRENCE OF VEGETATIVE

BUDS ON THE ROOT OF GRAM

(With a text figure .)

The occurrence of vegetative buds on the roots of plants is rather

a rare phenomenon. It is, however, known in the case of the

Milkweed * and a few other plants.

While doing root-washing of gram plants during the month of

March, this year, small pin-head-like bodies were found to be

studded on the primary roots. Superficially these bodies offered a

close resemblance to the nodules — so very commonly met with

among the leguminous plants — and for a long time these were

actually passed for the same, because it was quite natural to expect

them in a member belonging to the family Leguminosce. The

identity of these buds were, however, revealed, when in a few

* Gerhadt, Fisk (1929) : Propagation and Food Translocation in the Common

Milkweed. Jour . Agri. Research , Vol, xxxix, No. 11, p. 839.

S42 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , K<?/. XXXIV

cases tiny shoots bearing compound vegetative leaves (see text

figure) were observed on the roots situated in the

same position as the pin-head-buds. When dissected

out, these buds showed the presence of miniature

compound leaves with very minute pinnae, all covered

thickly with woolly hairs. All these buds were found

to be borne in the axil of scale-like structure (see text

figure at s) which possibly has a protective function.

The lateral (secondary) roots were found to be

growing quite normally all round, on the primary

root. But, one thing was quite clear and significant,

namely, that the density of growth in a number of

the secondary roots, was not so great in the region

where the vegetative pin-head-buds were formed.

These buds were found about five inches below the level of the

earth’s surface. They were colourless being totally devoid of

chlorophyll.

It is very difficult — under the present condition of our know-

ledge— to foretell the role of these buds in the ontogeny of the

gram plant. The author hopes to make a careful study on this

point next season.

T. C. N. SINGH.

Gohuan (Bihar),

June 2 , 1930.

XXX.— AN INSTANCE OF ANOMALOUS BRANCHING OF

THE CONJUGATION-TUBES OF AN INDIAN FORM OF

SPIROGYRA NEGLECTA (HASS) KUETZ.

While examining some of the bottles containing algal specimens

in the Laboratory I found in one of them an interesting specimen of

Spirogyra which has been identified as a form of Spirogyra neglecia

(Hass.) Kuetz. Before proceeding to discuss the abnormalities of

the conjugation-tubes I give below a description of the specimen : —

Plant-mass crowded, densely interwoven ; filaments long, flexuous,

about 60-64 g wide ; cells variable in dimensions, 95-175 ^

long ; pyrenoid 6-8 ft in diameter, spherical, smooth, situated

lengthwise in a series, 3 in each face of the chlorophyll-band ;

bands 3 in number with smooth margin, 1|~2A turns in each

cell ; fruiting cells scarcely inflated ; conjugation-tubes found in both

male and female cells, 20-24 g in width ; unfused tubes forming long

irregularly-branched unseptate processes, sometimes nucleus migrat-

ing into these tubes either midway or to the apex, very rarely, a

cell giving out two such tubes from the same lateral side ; Zygo-

spores oval, prolate ellipsoid, 60-75 /i in length, 45 ft in breadth,

spherical in top view, cell walls smooth.

Hab . — Floating in a tank in the suburb of Calcutta, collected by

Mukshood Ali on August 26, 1924.

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Branching of Conjugation tubes of an Indian form of Spirogyra neglect a, (JHass . ) Kuetz.

For explanation see end of note .

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

843

Geo. Distribution. — Great Britain, France, Belgium, Bohemia,

America and Burma.

The branched conjugation-tubes noted above develop as simple

inflations of the lateral sides of either a male or a female cell. These

inflations gradually grow out into narrow cylindrical tubes extend-

ing in various fantastical processes. Sometimes some of these tubes

look like ‘hapterak The nature of branching is rather dichotomous

or trichotomous but not infrequently quite irregular. These

processes are often also straight or curved and not uncommonly

curling back, reversely or inversely, reminding one of the tentacles

of some of the animals of the animal kingdom. These irregular

developments of the conjugation-tubes of this Indian form of

Spirogyra negleda have been observed either on one, or rarely, on

both the lateral sides of only those cells, male or female, which have

failed to find out their partners in conjugation.

The structure of these abnormal conjugation-tubes does not

appear to be like that of the ‘ rhizoids ’ or organs of attachment

already reported by previous workers. These workers have recorded

that often there are extra processes mostly developing from the

dorsal sides of the vegetative cells as distinctly separate organs of

attachment. Delf has reported the presence of regular rhizoidal

organs of attachment in Spirogyra adnata . Iyengar has discussed

and figured some organs of attachment in Spirogyra sp. Zygnema

sp. and Mougeotia sp. He thinks that these organs of attachment,

observed by him, have developed as a result of ‘tactile stimulation k

West and Borge mention that in spirogyra, these rhizoid-like-

branching of the conjugation-tubes may develop from cells * some

distance removed from those cells actually engaged in conjugation.’

Fritsch and others too have reported the presence of organs of

attachment in Zygnemacece . Pascher has also discussed about these

rhizoid-like structures in Zy gnemacece which serve the purpose of

fastening the plants to the sub-strata when they occur in a rapidly

flowing water or meet with unfavourable conditions, and considers

them as abnormal developments.

West has suggested that ‘ in other cases, such as the replacement

of a conjugation-tube by a branched rhizoid, the stimulus is obviously

of another kind ’. In the present case the morphological and

cytological nature of the conjugating-cells and tubes are unlike

those of the rhizoidal organs described by previous workers. The

disorganization of the protoplasm and frequent migration of the

nuclei in the conjugation-tubes along with the protoplasm evidently

suggest that the stimulus is due to the physiological changes

during conjugation. Apparently there is a general stimulus

present due to metabolic changes when conjugation is about to take

place ; and all the cells, male and female, as a result of this stimulus

put forth conjugation-tubes. And when for some reason or other,

the partners in conjugation are not available, there is a prolongation

of the conjugation-tube in all directions, giving rise to these

fantastical processes, as if in an attempt at seeking a partner. But

as I have only preserved material, it has not been possible for me to

carry on physiological experiments to prove my hypothesis. I

therefore simply record this case for future work,

844 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Pb/. XXXIV

In conclusion I must acknowledge my deep debt of obligation to

Mr. K. P. Biswas, M.A., Curator, Herbarium, Royal Botanic Garden,

Calcutta, for his generous and helpful advice and criticism, and

also for the many facilities he has afforded me in preparing this

thesis.

Description of figures in Plate.

Figs. 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 are microphotographs, and the rest are

camera lucida drawings.

Fig. 1. General view of the spirogyra filaments showing the

anomalous growth of conjugation-tubes, x 50.

,, 2. A male filament showing empty cells and cells with

branched conjugation-tubes, x 50.

,, 3. A female filament showing zygospores and branched

conjugation-tubes developed from one or both the

sides of the cells which have failed to conjugate.

X 50.

,, 4. Normal nature of a part of a conjugating filament.

X 150.

,, 5. A pair of conjugating filaments showing two unpaired

male cells, x 50.

,, 6. Same as in figure 5 but showing unpaired male cells

alternating with paired ones, x 50.

,, 7. Part of a pair of conjugating filaments magnified to

show the origin and structure of these abnormal

conjugation-tubes, x 120.

,, 8. A filament showing two conjugation-tubes arising

from a cell, x 70.

,, 9. A normal filament, x 200.

,, 10. A filament showing initiation of formation of the

tubes, x 200.

,, 11. A female filament showing migration of the nucleus in

the branched conjugation-tube, x 200.

,, 12. The same as in Fig. 11 in a male filament, x 200.

,, 13. A much-branched conjugation-tube showing migration

of the nucleus and protoplasmic contents, x 200.

15, Crouch Lane KANTI GOPAL BANERJEE.

P. O. Bowbazar,

Calcutta.

XXXI.— SOME LIVERWORTS OF THE ORDER

M A R CIT A NTIA L ES FROM BURMA

The present note records Marcliantiales collected from Rangoon

(1927-1929), Maymyo (Oct . 1928) and Kalaw (April to May 1929).

The rainfall in all these places is limited to the months of May to

October, the plants thus passing through a dry period in the inter-

vening months,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

845

Practically all these species have already been described from

India by Kashyap (1929) therefore only their names with references

are given. In all, 8 genera and 13 species have been observed.

The classification followed in this note is that of Goebel (1910),

the course of evolution being considered to be in the direction of

simplification.

Order : Marchantiales.

Family : marchantiaceal

Genus: Marchantia. Linn. 1753.

M. polymorpha Linn. 1753 ; Pearson 1902, 466 ; Cooke 1907, 267 ;

Pascher 1S14, 182 ; Macviear 1926, 46 ; Kashyap 1929,32. Habit. —

Botanical Garden Maymyo and Taunggyi.

M. palainata Nees. 1824; Kashyap 1929, 34. Habit. Moist rock

near Taunggyi, stream-banks in Kalaw, Maymyo and Goktiek Gaze

(Cochrane).

Abnormalities of the female receptacles common, have previously

been described. (Khanna 1930.)

Genus : Dumortiera Reinw. Bl. et Nees. 1824.

D. hinuta (Sw) Reinw. Bl. et Nees. 1824; Pearson 1902, 274;

Macviear 1926, 42 ; Kashyap 1929, 42.

Habit. Under running water and mouths of waterfalls ; Botanical

Garden, Maymyo.

Genus : Cyathodium Kunze 1854.

C. cavcrnarum Kunze 1854; Lang 1905, 411 ; Khanna 1927, 227.

Habit. Shady places and near water, Rangoon ; Mergui (Ghose) ;

Maymyo and Kalaw.

C. kashyapii Khanna 1929, Khanna 1929, 118.

Habit. Rangoon moist places and banks of waters. Maymyo

Golf course.

Genus : Targionia Linn. 1753.

T. hypophylla Linn. 1753; Pearson 1902, 480; Cooke 1907, 277;

Macviear 1926, 33 ; Kashyap 1926, 57.

Habit. Maymyo, Kalaw, Taunggyi and Gokteik Gaze (Cochrane).

The specimens showed a marked variation in size and colour,

The differences were due to varied environments. Plants from

moist places were green and measured 13-20 mm, long and 3-5 mm.

broad, while those of dry and exposed places were dark green

and between 10-15 mm. long and 2-3 mm. broad.

Genus : Fimbriaria. Nees. 1820.

F. angusta St. 1899; Kashyap 1929, 63.

Habit. Very common in Maymyo along the Golf course and

roadsides. There are three more species of Fimbriaria , but these

could not be determined as the material was young.

846 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

Genus : Reboulia Raddi 1818.

R. hemispherica (Linn) Raddi 1818 ; Pearson 1902, 470 ; Cooke

1907, 272 ; Macvicar 1926, 36 ; Kashyap 1929, 72.

Habit. Moist rocks Taunggyi and Kalaw.

Genus : Plagiochasma L. etl. 1832.

P. articulation Kashyap 1914 ; Kashyap 1929, 75.

Habit. Rocks Kalaw, Mamyo and Taunggyi.

P. appendiculatium Let L. 1832 ; Kashyap 1929, 76.

Habit. The same as above.

Family : Ricciace^e.

Genus : Riccia Linn. 1753.

R. himalaynesis St. (Ms) 1916 ; Kashyap 1929, 93.

Habit. Very common on moist soils; Kalaw, Maymyo and

Rangoon.

R. cruciata Kashyap 1916; Kashyap 1929, 95.

Habit. Kalaw and Maymyo.

R. fluitans Linn 1753 ; Pearson 1902, 495 ; Cooke 1907, 287 ;

Pascher 1914, 181 ; Macvicar 1926, 28 ; Kashyap 1929, 97.

Habit. Floating or on mud. Maymyo and Rangoon.

References.

Campbell, D. H. (1912). The classification of the Liverwort.

The American Naturalist , vol. 45, 684, 695.

Campbell, D. H. (1918). Mosses and Ferns.

Cavers, F. (1911). The Inter-relationships of the Bryophyta.

New phylologist Reprint No. 4.

Cooke, M. C. (1907). Handbook of British Hepaticse.

Kashyap, S. R. (1916). Liverworts of the Western Himalayas

and the Panjab. With notes on known species and description of

new species. Jour., Bom. Nat . His. Soc ., vol. xxiv, 243.

Kashyap, S. R. (1929). Liverworts of the Western Himalayas

and the Panjab Plain . Part I. The University of the Panjab.

Khanna, L. P. (1927). Cyathodium cavernarum Kunze from

Burma. Jour ., Bur. Res. Soc., vol. xvi, Part 3, 227.

Khanna, L. P. (1929). The Morphology of Cyothodium kashyapii

Khanna. Jour., Ind. Bot. Soc., vol. viii, 188.

Khanna, L. P. (1930). The abnormal Female Receptacle of

Marchantia. Annales Bryologici , vol. iii, 150.

Lang, W. H. (1905). On the Morphology of Cyathodium. Ann.

Bot., vol. xix, 411.

Macvicar, S. M. (1926). The Students Handbook of British

Hepalicce.

Pascher A. (1914). Die Susswasser-flora Deutschlands O’ster-

reichs und der Schweiz. Heft 14. Bryophyta.

Pearson, W. H. (1902). The HepaticcE of the British Isles.

University of Rangoon,

March 21, 1930 .

L. P. KHANNA.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

847

XXXII. -NOTE ON BROOMCORN WITH FIVE BRUSHES

Broomcorn is a variety of Sorghum (juar) which differs from other

species in having panicles and seed-heads with much longer,

straighter and stronger branches. It is known to botanists as

Andropogon sorghum, var tecfmicum and is known in Southern

Europe and America. It belongs to the grass family and to the

same species as do common sorghums, used for making syrup, and

Kaffir corn and Jerusalem corn, grown for forage and for grain.

The standard type grows to a height of 10 to 15 feet and produces

a brush from 18 to 28 inches long.

In a sample of Italian broomcorn ‘ brush ’ a few seeds were

discovered by accident and formed the starting point of a series of

tests. The first series of tests showed that broomcorn can grow

under the most varied and adverse conditions with extraordinary

facility. It yielded sufficient stock of seed for field experiments on

a larger scale.

The second series of field tests were also surprisingly successful.

About half a maund of seed, possessed of a high degree of selecti-

vity, and capable of rearing a very strongly resistent plant, was

obtained.

This improved seed was distributed to some 25 farms in the

country. In one farm1 at Allahabad the plants have done very

well and produced a most abnormal type with 5 brushes instead of

only one. Some plants have got 3 brushes and all are heavy with

corn and seed heads. One has got 6. The seeds obtained are

bigger than those sown.

The greatest advantage is that birds cannot eat the corn after

ripening since the brushes droop with weight. The farmer has not

to watch his field.

Hundreds of parrots used to sit on these plants but none could

be eaten by them. After a time the birds ceased to come.

The corn is liked by villagers who have taken to introducing it in

their villages.

Broomcorn can be . put to numerous uses among which are the

manufacture of (1) brooms, (2) brushes of several kinds, (3)

ropes, (4) chiks, (5) fans and (6) baskets, etc.

XXXIII.— CULTIVATION OF BROOMCORN IN INDIA2

In the last paper at Madras, results of successful tests with

broomcorn under European, African and American conditions were

communicated. These tests have since been continued on a large

1 By courtesy of Mr. U. C. Mukerji, Asst. Commr. of Excise, Allahabad,

U.P.

2 Paper No. 28 read before the Indian Science Congress, Section I (Agri-

culture) at Allahabad on January 6, 1930, by Dr. S. S. Nehru, B.Sc., M.A.,

Ph.D., I.C.S.

Rae Bareli, U. P.,

March 1930.

S. S. NEHRU,

/. C. X.

848 Journal , Bombay natural hist . society , ra. xxxiv

scale in Algeria with uniformly successful results. Not only has

the selectivised hardened Indian seed been found by repeated

cultivation to yield the best brush, but it has been officially adopted

by the Governor-General’s Agricultural Institute for ail future

cultivation, to the suppression of all local varieties. Furthermore,

extensive plantation of this Indian broomcorn is being undertaken

in the region of Bona for the supply of raw material to three

factories of brooms and brushes. Also, the cultivation of Indian

broomcorn is now to be extended to Tunisia under the auspices of

the Agricultural Institute of Sfax.

Encouraged by the good results obtained in the various parts of

the world with the Indian broomcorn seed, which have been made

available to the farmer in a bulletin (No. 48) published by U. P.

Government on the cultivation of broomcorn for which I am

deeply indebted to our Chairman, some 26 farms in India have

gone in for broomcorn culture. This selectivised seed has

been distributed to 7 Government farms. II taluqdaris’ farms

and 8 private farms. The Government farms are in Muttra,

Partabgarh, Rae Bareli, Poona, Gwalior, Dharwar and Sholapur.

The taluqdaris’ farms are mostly in the Rae Bareli district. The

private farms are in Allahabad, Cawnpore, Jhansi, Lahore, etc.

Thus tests are being made in representative parts of the country.

Results to date are satisfactory on the whole although all the

farms have not yet reported. The Government farms in India,

as abroad, have done particularly well. The Gwalior farm (1) has

raised a very healthy crop, sown on August 24, 1929, with 80 cm.

long straight panicles which are suitable for good brooms, brushes,

etc. As the area cropped was small, results as regards yield per

acre, cost per acre, etc., are not given.

The Dharwar farm (2) has produced a fairly good crop, sown on

August 17, 1929. The panicle measures 73 cm. but there is curling

in some panicles at the base, which is a defect.

The Muttra farm (3) reports that seed sown on August 10, 1929,

showed good germination but after one month’s growth the crop

was destroyed by locusts. Further tests will be made this year.

The Partabgarh farm (4) tried broomcorn for multiplication of

seed only. A l/10th acre plot was sown on June 20, 1929. The

germination of the plot was very good, but growth and outturn

was affected, but comparatively less than the Kharif crops by the

heavy, incessant rain in July and August on the one hand, and the

long break in August and September. These adverse factors not-

withstanding the plants reached an average height of 10 ft.

The crop was harvested in October, yields being as follows : —

Seed 1 md. 17 srs. per acre.

Stalks 55 mds. per acre.

The soil was light dumat, well-levelled but not manured. The

Rae Bareli farm (19) has had good results although crops were

damaged by raiding monkeys. Sown on July 13, 1929, germination

on July 20, 1922 was very good. Average panicle measured 82 cm.

The crop was harvested in November with the following yields : —

Seed 18 seers per acre, average height 10 feet.

Stalks 30 mds. per acre.

Miscellaneous notes

849

An intermediate fodder crop was obtained on September 9, 1929,

when all the leaves were lopped and given to cattle.

Results from the remaining Government farms at Sholapur and

Poona are still awaited.

The taluqdaris’ farms which have not the advantage of expert

guidance as the Government farms have obtained some very

interesting results.

The Kachaunda farm has yielded the best brush as exhibited.

It measures 91 cm. which still falls short of the record of over one

meter held by Governor-General’s farm in Algeria. Narekigadhi

and Murarmau farms have shown that broom germinates and

grows as well in poor sandy soil as in rich loam. Khajurgaon

farm has had very good germination in the minimum of time,

3 days for loam and 4 for sandy soil. These farms have obtained

good supply of seed for further tests.

The private farms have not all reported yet, but one deserves

special notice. It has obtained from 10 plants 1/2 seer of seed

grain which is bigger and better than the seed sown. Some of the

plants have multiple brushes and one as many as six and when one

such brush is harvested another begins to grow in situ.

Reviewing all results, it is clear that broomcorn cultivation in

India has considerable prospects of success.

Rae Bareily,

March 1930 .

S. S. NEHRU,

M.A., Ph.D. , I.C.Si

16

PROCEEDINGS

Proceedings of the Meeting held on July 24-, 1930

A meeting of members of the Bombay Natural History Society and their

friends was held at the Prince of Wales’ Museum on Thursday, July 24,

at 6 p.m., Mr. J. B. Greaves presided.

Sir Reginald Spence, the Honorary Secretary in announcing the election of

5 life members and 44 ordinary members since the last meeting, referred to

the Annual Report of the Society which stressed the necessity of increasing the

membership. As the Society received no direct grant from Government, its

existence depended on the subscriptions received from its members. This was

practically the only source of its revenue, so if its activities were to remain

unimpaired, it was important that the strength of the membership should be

maintained and that losses from resignations should be made good by new

members joining. Even Scientific societies depended to-day on advertisement.

The Society’s Journal was its best advertisement. Members could help by

making the Journal better known by showing it to their friends. There must

be many people who have not heard of the Society who would gladly join if

they knew of the advantages it has to offer.

Commenting on the recent activities of the Society, Sir Reginald Spence

referred to the Vernay Scientific Expedition to the Eastern Ghats which had

already produced such good results. The Expedition had greatly increased

the knowledge of the distribution of birds in India and had necessitated the

recasting of our ideas as regards the range and status of many species. A

preliminary report of the work of the expedition has appeared in the last

issue of the Journal.

Forthcoming Publications

Among the forthcoming publications of the Society was the third volume

of Stuart Baker's Game Birds which deals with the pheasants. The work is

being issued in the same attractive form as the two previous volumes. The

book will be available in India before the cold weather.

As members were aware the Society has had for some time in preparation

a series of charts illustrating about 200 Indian birds in colour.

The illustrations are arranged in 5 charts. The first of which has already

been printed— the remainder are now nearing completion. The printers had

sent out an advance copy of one of the charts. Members could judge for

themselves from the specimen before them how useful these charts would be in

helping people to recognize the common birds seen about towns and villages

in the plains of India. They will be specially useful in schools and of invalu-

able assistance to teachers in awakening an interest among their pupils in the

bird life of the country.

The Museum

Sir Reginald next referred to the Guide to the Natural History Section of

the Prince of Wales’ Museum prepared by Mr. Prater, the Society’s Curator.

The Guide showed how much had already been accomplished in the Museum.

It also indicated how much more could be done for the ‘ public’ if the plans for

providing a separate wing for Natural History could materialize. Times were

not very propitious for an appeal for funds. Never the less there were people

who realized that the cause for which the Society was working was one which

deserved support. The Museum is an institution intended for the people, for

their instruction and entertainment. It was doing work for the good of the

country, for national progress and culture. He was glad to be able to announce

that a donation of Rs. 10,000 towards the new building had been received from

His Highness the Maharao of Cutch, one of the most generous benefactors of

the Society. The assistance received from His Highness was a source of

PROCEEDINGS

851

encouragement to those who were working for the realization of the plans

which would enable the Museum greatly to increase its utility to the public of

this City.

Improvement of Shell-Fisheries

There were yet other ways in which the Society was rendering public ser-

vice. It had just completed a survey of the shell -fisheries of the West Coast.

The survey was carried out on the Society’s behalf by Mr. H. S. Rai of the

Royal Institute of Science. The work done by Mr. Rai laid special stress on

the economic aspect of our shell fisheries and included the recommendation of

measures for the improvement of what is an important and valuable source of

food supply to people and an equally important source of revenue to the

fishing community of the coastal district. Mr. Rai’s report will shortly be

published in the Journal .

Public Health

Another channel of public service was the interest taken by the Society in

matters which concern public health. Medical men particularly in the tropics

had to turn to the naturalist for help in fighting disease. The chart for the

identification of Poisonous Snakes issued by the Society was in use in practi-

cally every hospital and dispensary in India. The Society was now interested

in an investigation into the venoms of Indian scorpions which was being con-

ducted on its behalf by Rev. Father Caius. It had also helped very consider-

ably through the medium of its Journal by the publication of important papers

relative to the subject of malaria. Sir Reginald referred to the extremely

valuable papers published by Col. W. Glen Liston in 1908 and by Dr. Bently

in 1911. Both Liston and Bently had rendered invaluable service to the City.

Their papers previous to publication had been read at meetings of the Society.

He was now privileged to bring to the notice of members the work done by

Major G. Coveil, in helping to rid Bombay of its greatest and most insidious

scourge.

The Problem of Malaria in Bombay

In the course of his paper which is published in the present issue, Major

Coveil summarizes the results of a survey completed by him in 1928. A single

species of mosquito transmits malaria in Bombay. This is Anopheles stepkensi ,

a mosquito which breeds in wells, cisterns, fountains, garden tanks and tubs

and similar collections of water, all of which are exclusively man-made.

Whilst malaria in 1928 was less prevalent in the southern portions of the

City than in 1911, the disease was found to have become more widely

diffused. The mill area about Parel and Worli is now a hot bed of malaria.

This is largely due to the northward shift of the population. The popu-

lation of Worli practically doubled itself during the period under review.

There has also been an enormous increase in the number of tanks and

cisterns in this area, the total rising from 92 in 1911 to 5,257 in 1928.

Added to this are the vast number of breeding places which have been created

during the construction of reinforced concrete buildings. Major Coveil

believes that it would be possible to bring malaria in the Island under com-

plete control by the adoption of a systematic campaign to eliminate all such

breeding places or render them mosquito-proof. As long as these permanent

breeding places exist, malaria will continue to persist in Bombay because there

will always be an influx of infected human beings from outside, and periodical

outbreaks of a serious nature will continue to occur whenever local conditions

are favourable for the spread of the disease. There are however certain grave

obstacles to the carrying out of preventive measures in Bombay. Among these

may be mentioned the fact that various parts of the Island are controlled by

different authorities and the lack of co-operation amongst these authorities : the

religious and sentimental objections on the part of certain sections of the people

to the closure of the wells ; and a deplorable tendency to drag matters affect-

ing public health into the realm of party politics. Without the active and

loyal co-operation of all concerned, success cannot be attained.

The education of the public in matters concerning their health is, in Major

Covell’s opinion, an equally important factor. To this end the Museum had

852 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

made a contribution in the excellent cases illustrating the breeding habits and

life history of the malaria mosquito. Enlarged models of the mosquito, of its

eggs, larva and pupa show exactly how the mosquito develops in water and

emerges eventually as the adult winged insect. The cases are labelled both in

English and the vernacular to make their lesson intelligible to a wide class of

people.

Proceedings of the meeting held on August 28, 1930

FISH SUPPLY OF WEST COAST

Suggestions for Inquiry

A meeting of the members of the Bombay Natural History Society was held

at the Prince of Wales’ Museum on Thursday evening, August 28, Mr. H.

A. W. Brent presiding. The election of the following 11 new members was

announced: Mr. W. D. Pyman, Siam; Mr. A. C. Dunsdon, Lucknow; the

Principal, Victoria College, Gwalior ; Major W. E. Duncan, D.S.O., M.C.,

R.A., Naini Tal, U.P. ; Captain H. M. Poulton, Sibi, Baluchistan ; the Com-

mandant, Zhob Militia, Fort Sandeman ; Air. A. A. F. Minchin, I.F.S.,

Bellary ; Mr. E. M. Crothers, I.F.S., Chittoor, Aladras ; Mr. A. St. Alban

Smith, Singapore ; H. H. theNawab of Bhopal, Captain L. Bootle-Wilbraham,

Madras.

Illness prevented Sir Reginald Spence from reading his paper on the Fish

Supply of the West Coast. In his absence the paper was read by Mr. S. H.

Prater, the Society’s Curator.

The paper dealt with the principal food fishes taken by the trawler

‘ William Carrik ’ and includes the more important fishes which form the

basis of the fishing industry in the local creeks and estuaries and concludes

with a summary of present-day marketing conditions in Bombay. The

catches made by trawling in local waters included ten important species.

These were Ghole ( Sciaena ) and three species of Rawas ( Polynemus ), all of

which figure on Bombay menus as ‘ Indian Salmon.’ Although they bear

no relation whatsoever to the salmon of northern waters, they are all excellent

food 'fish. Next come the Pomfrets, perhaps the best known fish in Bombay.

Two species are common locally, the white Pomfret ( Stromateus cinereus)

and the black Pomfret (S. niger). Not very well known in our city is a perch-

like fish, the ‘ Karel ’ {Pristipoma maculatum ), an excellent table fish which,

if better known, would certainly find favour among the consumers of the best

kinds of fish in Bombay. One sometimes sees a bright cherry red fish carried

on the heads of fish-wives through our streets. This is the ‘ Tamb ’ ( Lutianus )

Tell your cook about it.

The ‘ Tamb ’ is one of our prime food fishes. Cat fishes figured largely in

the catches made by the trawler. In Bombay they are generally classed under

the name Singhala. They are fish which enter largely into the dietary of the

poor. The same may be said of the Eels and Eel-Pikes known in our market as

‘ Warn.’ Slighter in build but akin to the ‘ Bombay Salmon ’ in flavour is a fish

called the ' Dori ’ {Scicenoides brunneus). It is a common fish in the Bombay

market in the cold weather. The Moon Fish or ‘ Chand’ ( Drepane punctata)

a gleaming silvery fish, as flat as a pomfret is an excellent table fish. A large

‘ Chand ’ is about a foot long and weighs nearly 3 lbs.

Skates and Rays were the undoing of the ‘ William Carrick.’ She took 50,000

lbs. of them and realized Rs. 311 for the lot. There is little demand for them

in Bombay. Yet Rays command a good market in England. Excellent as

food, they are more nutritious and digestible than many other prime fish

obtainable here. The same might be said of some of the sharks. A Mediter-

ranean species has been proved' to be of higher nutritive value than Salmon,

Plaice or Sole.

These are among the principal fishes available in the vicinity of Bombay by

trawling or bottom fishing, but there are a number of imoprtant food fishes of

excellent quality, which are poorly or not represented at all in the catches

made by the trawler. Most of these are in shore fishes. The ‘ Palu ’ ( Chry -

sophrys berda) is held in high esteem by all who know its edible qualities,

PROCEEDINGS

853

In Madras people call it the Black Rock Cod, but the Black Sea Bream would

be a better and truer name of it on the menu. 4 Surmai’ ( Cybium ) are well

known and esteemed in Bombay fish markets. They salt and dry well. One

of them f we have three common species) forms the basis of that pungent

decoction known as ‘ Tamarind Fish.’ Akin to the Surmai are two species of

* Karli ’ ( Chorinemus ) fine in flavour when fresh and good for salting. About

the 4 Gobra ’ ( Serranus ), Captain Flanders, the Superintendent of Markets,

holds that it has a flavour superior to the Pomfret, which really takes a lot of

beating. It is a tip worth remembering. Fishes of this genus, also known

under the name * Vekru,’ are sold alive in the markets ; so are ‘ Newtas,’ those

queer amphibious fish, which live in thousands upon our mud banks, where

their slippery movements can be watched after the tide has receded. The

‘ Vekru ’ and the 4 Newta ’ are beloved of the Borah community who like their

fish fresh and make certain of it.

Of Soles we have two good sizeable fishes. Your cook should be told to ask

for ‘ Bhakas’ if you want to sample them. They are in plenty during the

cold weather. Then there are Grey Mullets. The larger species are known as

‘ Boi ’ or 4 Pilsa,’ all of them are good table fish. Lady Fish, known locally

as ‘ Murdi,’ are recommended to ladies just in or just out of an 4 interesting

condition.5 Perhaps, this is why they are called Lady Fish ! But they are just

as good for their less interesting halves. The 4 Cock-up ’ known in the Bombay

market as the 4 Kajura ’ is one of the migratory species, which comes up our

creeks and streams to spawn. Its edible qualities are well known. We have

still to mention two species, members of the Herring family ; these are 4 Bing ’

and Pala ( Clupea ).

These are some of the prime fishes of the Bombay markets, but it will be a

surprise to many that these prime fishes are not the mainstay of the fishing in-

dustry. The well-being and prosperity of the fishing community does not

depend on them. We have unfortunately no statistics available of the fish

supply of the Bombay coast to give us the quantity and the values of the

various species sold. In Madras they do things better. They have a Fisheries

Department which, among other things it does for the fishermen, keeps annual

statistics of the quantity and the values of the various species sold. This

enables them to know what species are of real economic importance. One point

emerging from these statistics is the startling fact and it is the despised cheap

fish, Ribbon fish, Silver-bellies, small bony Horse Mackerel, various species of

Sardines, which are the real mainstay of the industry.

Supply in City below demand

It is stated that the fishing industry in India would suffer scarcely a loss

if all the Seer, Pomfret, Whiting and similar high-priced fish were extermi-

nated, while the loss of any of the smaller bony fish mentioned would inflict

irreparable damage to the fisheries and fishermen. In Bombay, dried 4 Bombay

Duck ’ or 4 Bombils 5 and Ribbon Fish { Trichiurus) , known locally as 4 wakti 5

form the principal animal food of thousands of poor people. Their advantage

is that they can be dried au naturel without salt. Fish cured with salt is a

luxury beyond their reach, and as for meat, they don’t get it twice in a year.

Other food fishes purchased in abundance ;are small Silver-bellies, Anchovies,

bony Mackerel, Shrimps and Prawns.

The present fish supply of this city is much below the demand. Our local

fisherman cannot cope with the city’s needs which are increasing and are met

by imports from our coastal ports, made possible by the establishment of

facilities for cold storage in our markets. The local industry has been adversely

affected in recent years by high operating charges in Bombay. Besides this the

spread of education has brought about a tendency among the children of our

local fishermen to give up the business of their forefathers and to seek their

livelihood elsewhere than upon the waters.

The proposed survey of the fisheries of the West Coast which the Bombay

Government are taking up this cold weather is looked forward to with interest.

Points which might form with advantage the subject of investigation are the

provision of statistics relative to the various species of marketable fish obtainable

on our coasts, the quantities in which they are obtained, and values realized,

the ports at which different species are abundant at different seasons of the year

and times of fishing and the weight and values of fish obtained at the principal

854 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

fishing centres. Equally helpful would be information as regards the nature of

the fishing ground and the depths at which the more important economic fishes

are taken at different ports at different seasons. Other important points

wTould be an inquiry into the various types of nets used by local fishermen and

into the destruction of fry in creeks, rivers and estuaries by the use of particular

types of nets and traps. The economic condition of the fishermen and factors

which may be adversely affecting the industry would naturally form an

important part of the inquiry and lastly, the suggestion of measures for the

utilization and development of bye-products of the industry would help

materially in its development. The Society would, of course, be glad to help

Government as much as possible in the inquiry.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MUSEUM FROM

JANUARY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1930.

1 Central Asian Wild Cat

( Felis shawiana ) Skin and

skull.

1 Indian Wild Dog ( Cuon

dukhiimensis) . Skin and

skull.

1 Four-horned Antelope ( 7>A

raceros quadricornis) . Skin

and skull.

1 Marbled Cat ( Felis mar-

morata ) . Skin on ly.

1 Golden Cat ( Felis tem-

mincki). Skin and skull.

1 Giant Squirrel(A\ gigantea).

Skin only.

1 Black-backed Squirrel ( T.

lokroides). Skin and skull.

1 Small Indian Civet ( V .

malaccensis). Skin and

skeleton.

1 Tsaine (£. b , burmanicus) .

Skin and skeleton.

1 Thamin $ ( R . thamin ) ...

1 White-browed Gibbon ( Hy -

lobates hoolock ) .

1 Sind Ibex ( Ch . blythi )

Mounted head.

1 Himalayan Black Bear (S.

tibetanus). Mounted Head.

1 Himalyan Black Bea.r(S. tibe-

tanus). Mounted Head.

1 Panther Juv. Skin, skull

and leg bones.

1 Panther {P. pardus ) Skin,

skull and leg bones.

1 Small Indian Civet ( V.

malaccensis ) Skin and skull.

1 Hyaena {H. striata ) Skull

only.

1 Swamp Deer <${R.duvaucelli)

Skin, skull and leg bones.

1 Swamp Deer (A*, duvau-

celli ). Skin, skull and leg

bones {Juv).

1 Swamp Deer {R. duvau-

celli). Skull only.

1 Hog Deer <$ {H porcinus )

Skin, skull, and leg bones.

1 Hog Deer $ ( H . porcinus)

Skin, skull and leg bones.

1 Spotted Deer ( C . axis)

Skin, skull and leg bones.

1 Spotted Deer $ ( C . axis)

Skin, skull and leg bones.

1 Spotted Deer $ ( C.axis)Skm,

skull and leg bones {Juv.)

1 Flying Squirrel. Skull only.

1 Hispid Hare ( C . hispidus)

Skin and skull.

MAMMALS

856 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL LUST. SOCIETY , Lb/. XXXI Y

MAMMALS — [< continued )

1 Indian Lion (P. 1. persicus)

(Skin and skeleton).

1 Taylor’s Flying Squirrel

( Petaurista iaylori).

1 Lesser Himalayan Flying

Squirrel (E. Hmbriatus) .

I Brown-toothed Shrew

(Soriculus caudatus ) .

Kathiawar.

Tavoy, Burma

Kashmir ...

Tura.Garo Hills Assam

Lt.-Col . A.H.E. Mosse

A.L.E. Brownlow.

A. E. Osmaston

N. E. Parry.

1 White Stork ( Ciconia c.

ciconia ) .

2 Black Swans ...

1 Golden Pheasant ( Chrysolo -

phus an iher sties ) .

1 Monal ( Lophophorus inipe-

janus ) .

1 Chestnut-mantled Khoklas

{Pucrasia m . castanea )

1 Brahminy Kite ( Haliastur

indus ) .

1 Mallard ( Anas platyrhyn -

cha) .

1 Wigeon ( Mareca pe?ielope).

I Mallard ( Anas platyrhyn-

cha).

1 Tufted Duck ( Nyroca f.

luligula ).

1 Stiff-tailed Duck {Erisma-

tura leucocephala).

1 Baikal Teal ( Nettion for-

mosum).

1 Garganey Teal ( Querque -

dula querquedula ) .

1 Common Courser {Cur-

sor io us coro7nandelicus) .

1 Indian Ringed Dove {Strep-

topelia decaocoto).

1 Munia {Uroloncha striata).

32 Birds

12 Drongos {Dicrurus macro-

cercus).

7 Black Drongos {D. Macro-

cercus) .

1 Rock Nuthatch {Sitta n .

tephronota) .

1 Crested Black Tit {Lopho-

phanes rufonuchalis).

1 Wood- Snipe {Capet la ne-

moricola) .

49 Birds

122 Birds ...

34 Birds ...

BIRDS.

Victoria Gardens,

Byculla.

Victoria Gardens,

Byculla.

Victoria Gardens,

Byculla.

Victoria Gardens,

Byculla.

Chitral.

Trichinopoly...

Upper Chindwin

Do.

Mole Stream, Bhamo.

Mawlaik, Burma

Shahpur District

Bankipore, Patna

Kolhapur District

Bastar State ...

Do

Tara, Garo Hills

Peshawar, N. W. F. P.

Calcutta

Madras

Sinjar, Baluchistan ...

Do.

Bhamo, Chinese Front-

ier.

Eastern Persia

Tuna, Persia

Chang Chang Pani,

Assam.

Superintendent.

do.

J. R. Stockley Roper.

Fr. Leigh.

N. Terkle White.

Do.

A. J. Jones.

T. White.

Lt.-Col. W. E. Flem-

ing.

Lt.-Col. H. Datton.

Pri. Sec. to H.H. the

Maharaja of Kolha-

pur.

P. Mitchell.

Lt.-M. G. Sturm.

N. E. Parry.

Lt. B. W. Battye.

Lt.-Col. R. B. Sey-

mour-Sewell.

Dr. Gravely.

Lt.-Col. C. H. Stock-

ley.

Lt.-Col C. H. Stock-

ley.

P. M. R. Leonard.

Collected during Sur-

vey. Lt. Col. R. Me-

inertzhagen.

C. E. Capito.

Collected during As-

sam Expedition.

C. McCann.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MUSEUM

857

REPTILES

Turtles.

4 Turtles {Emyda punctata) .

4 Do. do.

7 Carapaces of {Testudo ele-

gans ) .

1 T urtle ( Emyda sp . )

1 Tortoise ( Geoemyda t. ther-

malis ).

Benares University ...

Rameswaran, S.I. ...

Rameswaran Islands...

Madura, S.I.

Do.

Vellore District, North

Arcot.

Madras

Chowgat, Malabar Dis-

trict.

Vellore, Madras

N. K. Tiwary.

Shanker Narayan

Pill ay.

vShanker Narayan

Pillay.

Shanker Narayan

Pillay.

Shanker Narayan

Pillay.

Assistant Inspector of

Fisheries.

Director of Fisheries.

Do.

Lizards, Snakes, Etc.

1 Varanus bengalensis

Tura, Garo Hills, As-

sam.

N. E. Parry.

1 Eublepharis macularius ...

2 Cobras {Naia tripudians) ...

2 Cobras ( Naia tripudians)...

1 Oligodon cyclurus

1 Ty phi ops actus ...

1 Psammophis condanarus ...

1 Zanienis mucosus...

1 Dipsadomorphus trigona-

tus.

1 TropidonoUis piscator

Fort Munro, Dhera

Gazi Khan, Punjab.

Abbottabad

Do.

Pamtola, Assam

Malabar Hill

Karachi

Deolali

Jubbulpore ...

Lonavla

T. B. Creagh Coen.

Off. Com., I. M.

Hospital .

Off. Com., I. M.

Hospital.

D. Allan.

J. G. Ridland.

( Purchased alive) .

Station Hospital.

British Station Hospi-

tal.

W. Graham.

1 Zamenis mucosus

1 Oligodon arnensis

1 Tropidonotus s tola tus

1 Common Krait {Bungarus

caeruleus).

1 Common Krait ( Bungarus

caeruleus) .

1 Coluber Helena

[-

j

Santa Cruz ...

Andheri

Do.

Deolali

1 Trimeresurus gramineus ... Pachmarthi, C P.

1 Tropidonotus baileyi ... ‘ Yotung, Tibet

Officer Commanding

Station Hospital.

... F. Hearn.

... Capt. Fitzgerald.

... British Military Hos-

pital.

... | British Military Hos-

pital.

..J PoliceOfficer, Sikkim.

Insects, Etc.

63 Butterflies. ... ...j

1 Papilio machaon ...

2 Aporia lucodice ... J

Samples of teak showing in-

jury done by D. ceramic us.

Examples of eggs, larva and

pupae of the Bee-hole borer

teak ( D . ceramicus).

1 Pupa and imago of a Tineid

Moth parasitic on Pongama

glabra.

Bostan Terek, 60 to 70

m. of Khasghar.

Burma

Do

Capt. G. Sherriff.

D. J. Atkinson.

D.J. Atkinson.

Dr. G. R. Tambe.

17

858 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY . Vol. XXXIV

80 Fishes ...

1 Barbus nigra

1 Bufo melanoctictis

10 Fishes ...

3 Fishes ...

6 Land Crabs

Fishes, Etc.

Kachin Hills, Burma...

Do. do.

Bawani R., Coimbatore

Mosul, Mesopotamia ...

Rewdanda ...

Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton.

Lt. M. G. Sturm.

Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton.

Major O.G. Kieruander.

M. Madrid.

MINOR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM

Agricultural Office, Poona ; Mrs. Newland, Moradabad ; Dr. F. H. Gravely,

Madras; Range Forest Officer, Dhullia; L. D. Edmonstone, Pyinmana,

Burma ; Officer Commanding, Chitral Drosh ; Medical Officer, Barabkeys

Dispensary, Banda, U. P. ; Forest Zoologist, Burma; Lt. M. G. Sturm, Bel-

gaum ; Capt. F. H. Peppe, Basti State, U. P. ; Superintendent, Medical

Hospital, Dharwar ; Medical Officer, Sakri, West Khandesh ; Civil Surgeon,

Raipur, C. P. ; Chief of Rathore, Kharwa, Aimere ; Officer Commanding,

Indian Military Hospital, Mardan ; Hari Narayan Acharya, Ahmedabad ; Civil

Surgeon, Narsingpur ; Bharat Dispensary. Barda, U. P. ; Head Quarter

Hospital, Bhawani ; Dr. D. A. Turkhud, Kodaikanal ; F. Owen O’Neill,

Poona ; Medical Officer, Bhavani ; Medical Officer, Nuzoid ; Officer Com-

manding, Indian Medical Hospital, Santa Cruz ; Lt.-Col. J. Oxley, Assam ;

V. S. La Personne, Bombay ; Rev. Fr. J. F. Caius, Haffkine Institute,

Parel.

Printed at the Diocesan Press, Madras, and published by

Sir Reginald Spence for the Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay

THE

JOUR^A

OF THE

Bombay Natural History Society.

SIR REGINALD SPENCE, Kt., M. L. C., F Z. S-

P. M. D» SANDERSON, F-Z S. & S. H. PRATER, C.IVI.Z.S., M L-C

Date of Publication, 2nd March 1931 .

or £ 1-8-0

For terms of membership, see inside front cover.

Honorary Secretary's Address:

Bombay Natural history Society,

6, Apollo Street, Bombay.

LONDON AGENTS:

DULAU & Co., Ltd.,

32, Old Bond Street, W. I.

PRINTED AT THE DIOCESAN PRESS, MADRAS

EDITED BY

VOL. XXXIV, No. 4.

Price to Non-Members

... Ms. 15-0-0

THE SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS

Mesopotamia.

A Survey of the Fauna of Iraq. — Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, etc.— made by

Members of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force 1 D 1915-1919.

Rs. 7-8

( Price to Members Rs. 6).

Birds.

A Hand List of Genera and Species of Birds of the Indian Empire, by

E. C. Stuart Baker, O.B.E., M.B.O.U., F.Z.S., C.F.A.O.U. Rs. 6

{Price to Members Rs. 4-12).

Game Birds of India, Vol. I. (Indian Ducks and their Allies), 2nd Edition.

Rs. 50

{Price to Members Rs. 35).

Game Birds of India, Vol. II. (Woodcock, Snipe, Bustards and Sandgrouse),

1st Edition. Rs. 42

X Price to Members Rs. 30).

Game Birds of India, Vol. III. Pheasants, 1st Edition. Rs. 28

{Price to Members Rs. 17) .

Set of Game Bird Plates (30), Vol. I. Rs, 20

{Price to Members Rs . 15).

Set of Game Bird Plates (19), Vol. II. Rs. 13-8

{Price to Members Rs. 10).

Indian Pigeons and Doves with coloured illustrations, by E. C. Stuart Baker,

O.B.E., M.B.O.U., F.Z.S., etc. Rs. 37-8

{Price to Members Rs. 30).

Snakes.

Poisonous Terrestrial Snakes of our British Indian Dominions, 4th Edition.

By Col. F. Wall, C.M.G., I.M.S. Rs. 4

{Price to Members Rs. 3-8).

Identification of Poisonous Snakes —

Hanging Wall Chart, 30" x 40". Rs. 5

Folding Pocket Chart. Rs. 1-12

Snakes of Bombay Island and Salsette, by S. H. Prater, C.M.Z.S. Re. 1

Miscellaneous.

Wall Chart to distinguish a Wild Dog from a Domestic Dog or Jackal,

etc. Rs. 2-8

A List of Indian Butterflies by Col. W. H. Evans. Rs. 2

Wood=Destroying White Ants of the Bombay Presidency by Joseph

Assmuth, S.J. Re. 1

Back numbers of the Society’s Journal. Rates on application.

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Life Members pay an entrance fee of Rs. 20 and a Life Membership fee of

Rs. 350.

Ordinary Members pay an entrance fee of Rs. 20 and an annual

subscription of Rs. 25.

The subscription of members elected in October, November and December

covers the period from the date of their election up till the end of the

following year.

MEMBERS RESIDING OUTSIDE INDIA.

The terms are the same for members living outside India. Such members

should pay their subscriptions by means of orders on their Bankers to pay the

amount of the subscription, plus postage— in all Rs. 26-8-0 to the Society in

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CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXXIV, No. 4

Page

The Game Birds of the Indian Empire. By E. C. Stuart Baker,

f.z.s., f.l.s., m.b.o.u. , h.f.a.o.u., Part III. ( With a coloured

plate ) .. 859

The Revision of the Flora of the Bombay Presidency. By Rev,

E. Blatter, S.J., Ph.D., f.l.s. Part XIV 877

The Birds of the Prome District of Lower Burma. Part II.

By J. K. Stanford, i.c.s. and Dr. Claud B. Tieehurst, m.d., m.a.,

m.b.o.u., f.r.g.s. 901

Proposed Classification of the Smaller Indian Fiei.d (or

Jungle) Mice. By T. B. Fry, i.f.s. (Retd.) 916

Some Birds from the North-West Corner of Fars, Persia. By

E. C. Capito. {With a map) . 922

A New Ceropegia from the Western Ghats. By Rev, E. Blatter,

S.J., Ph.D., f.l.s., and C. McCann, f.l.s. ( With a plate ) 936

Notes on Some Rats damaging crops in South India. By P, N.

Krishna Ayyar, b.a ... 937

The Nesting habits of the Baya ( Ploceus philippinus ). By Salim

A. Ali, m.b.o.u. {{With 7 Plates and 11 text figures ) 947

Indian Dragonflies. By Col. F. C. Fraser, i.m.s., f.e.s. Part

XXXVI. {{With 7 text figures). 965

The Fish- Supply of the West Coast of India. By Sir Reginald

Spence, Kt., m.l.c., f.z.s, and S. H. Prater, c.m.z.s., m.l.c 973

Flowerless Plants. By Mrs. M. Robinson, b.a. Part V. {With 7

Plates ) 992

The Butterflies of Coorg. By J. A. Yates. Part 1 1003

The Panther as I have known him. By Lt.-Col, A. H. E. Mosse,

i.a., f.z.s. Part IV 1015

The Bulbuls of the Nilgiris. By Capt. F. N. Betts 1024

Notes on Indian Thysanoptera with brief descriptions of new

species. By T. V. Ramakrishna Ayyar, b.a., Ph.D., f.z.s. ( With

two plates and a text figure.) 1029

The Natural History of Calotes versicolor (Boulenger) the

Common Blood-sucker. ByJ.J.Asana, 1041

Editorial 1048

The Toxicity of the Venoms of India Scorpions. By Fr. J. F.

Caius, s.j. 1051

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES-

I. — Wanted Bears. By R. I, Pocock, f.r.s 1052

^ II.— On the food of the Vampire Bat {Megaderma lyra). By

Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse, i.a. ..................................... 1052

^ III.— The Striped-necked Mungoose {Herpestes vitticollis) . By

Major E. G. Phythian Adams, i.a. (Retd.) 1054

ii

CONTENTS OF VoL XXXIV , No . 4

Page

IV.— The Indian Wild Dog ( Cuon dukhunensis) . By R. C.

Morris. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... «^. * . . .. .» * 1054

^ V. — Measurements of a large Indian Wolf. ( Cams pallipes). By

Private Secretary to the Heir-Apparent of Dewas, Sr. ... 1055

^VI. — Courage and cowardice of the Hysena. By Major C. W.

Sanders. 1055

^yil. — Measurements of Big Game. By Lt.-Col. C. H. Stockley,... 1056

VIII.— Drumming sound made by Leopards. By T. R. Livesey. ... 1056

^ IX.— Malformation in skull of a Thar {Hermiiragus jemlaicus )

By Lt. R. K. M. Battye. ( With a photograph }. 1057

^^X.— Abnormal horns of Sambhar. By Lt.-Col. R. W, Burton,.

i . a . (Retd . ) . ( With a photo ) 1058

^-XI. — A variety of the Thamin or Brow-Antlered Deer ( RuCervus

eldi). By Lt.-Col. R. W. Burton, a. a. (Retd.). 1059

^ XII.— Swamp Deer ( Cervus dauvaucelli ) head with nineteen points.

By R, Powell. ( With a photo). 1C60

XIII. — The occurrence of the Grey Hypocolius {Hypocolius ampeli- -

nus) in North Konkan. By Salim A. Ali.-.; 1061'

XIV. —Courtship of the Scarlet Minivet ( Pericrocotus speciosus).

By C. McCann . 1061

XV. — Description of and notes on the female Chestnut-mantled

Koklas ( Pucrasia m. castanea) from Chitral. By V. S.

LaPersonne. .... 1062

XVL — Casualties among the eggs and young of small birds. By

Salim A. Ali. | 1062

XVII.— The origin of mimicry in Cuckoos’ eggs. By Salim A. Ali... 1067

XVIII.— Notes on the Pied Crested Cuckoo \Clamator jacobimis) in

Alibag Taluka. By Salim A. Ali 1071

.XIX.— Birds observed in the neighbourhood of Ranikhet. By F. S.

Briggs 1072'

XX.— Hovering flight of birds and no wind. By H. A. Allard. ... 1079-

XXI. — Pelicans and Turtles. By D. S. Laud. 1081

XXII. — Little Indian Grebes or Dabchicks ( Podiceps albipennis)

mobbing a snake. By Lt.-Col. C. C. Hickie 1081

XXIII.— Cannibalism in the Indian Cobra. By Beni Charan . :

Mahendra 1082

£XIV.— Unusual size attained by the Common Krait (Bimgarus

cacruleus.) By Capt. F. J. Rimell. 1083

XXV. — An unusually large Shaw’s Rat Snake ( Zamenis fasciolatus) “

By Lt.-Col. K. G. Gharpurey, i.m.s. 1084

XXVI.— Snakes of Nasik. By Lt.-Col. K. G. Gharpurey, i.m.s. ... 1085

XXVII. — Occurrence of Charasia dorsalis outside the Mysore Plateau.

By S. G. Manavala Ramanujan, ......v....v;.j.'...L....;v..V.i' 108§

CONTENTS OF Vol. XXXIV , No. I iii

Page

XXVIII. — Some measurements of the Estuary Crocodile {Crocodilus

porosus ) from Sarawak. By E. Banks 1086

XXIX.— The ways of fishing shikaris. By Col. A. E. Mahon 1088

XXX.— A leaf-mining Moth. By Dr. G. R. Tambe, m.a., b.sc.,

l. m. &s 1091

XXXI. — Specific identity of the Butterflies ( Terias venata and T.

Iceta). By Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse, i.a 1094

XXXII.— The Grasshopper ( Isopera pedunculata). By Major R.W.G.

Hingston, i.m.s : 1095

XXXIII.— A live beetle in the external auditory meatus of the human

Ear. By Lt.-Col. A. G. Tresidder, c.i.e., i.m.s 1096

XXXIV.— The effects of the bite of a Centipede IXScolopendra sp.) .

By C. McCann 1097

XXXV.— A Centipede after its moult ( Scolopendra sp.). By C. Mc-

Cann. 1097

XXXVI.— Some Notes on the flowering of Bamboos. By Rev E,

Blatter, s.j 1097

* XXXVII.— On the flowering of Bamboos. By N. E. Perry, i.c.s. .... 1099

XXXVIII.— The Fern-Palm (With a Photo), By D. S, Laud, 1101

XXXIX.— An abnormal fruit of Dipterocarpus tuberculatus , Roxb.

By L. P. Khanna, m.sc., f.i.s 1102

Proceedings 1103

Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

The Chinese Oyster- catcher . 2/5. The Indian, or Jerdon’s L.ttle Ringed Plover

Haem ato ous estrakaus osculans. __Charadrius dubms jerdom.

JOURNAL

OF THE

Bombay Natural History Society

March, 1931 Vol. XXXIV No. 4

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE.

By

E. C. Stuart Baker, f.z.s., f.l.s., m.b.o.u., h.f.a.o.u.

Vol. V.

THE WADERS AND OTHER SEMI-SPORTING BIRDS.

Part XIII

( With a coloured plate)

( Continued from page 622 of this volume .)

Genus : Hcematopus.

Hcematopus Linn., Syst. Nat., i, 10th ed., p. 152 (1758).

Type by mon., N. ostralegus Linn.

In this genus the bill is very long, compressed and slightly

truncated at the end ; the nostril is linear, narrow and placed near

the base of a groove, which extends about half-way to the tip of the

upper mandible; the wings are long and pointed, with the first

primary longest ; the tarsus is short, stout and reticulated through-

out ; there is no hind toe and the anterior toes are short, stout,

narrowly edged with a membrane and slightly webbed between the

toes, more especially between the third and fourth.

The genus is cosmopolitan, one species, with several races, being

represented in India.

The Oyster-Catcher of Europe has been divided by Salomonsen

into three races ( Ibis , January, 1930, pp. 56-60) as follows : — -

(1) HcEmatopus ostralegus ostralegus . Type-locality Oeland,

breeding in Scandinavia.

(2) H. o. occidcntalis . Type locality not yet defined, breeding in

Holland and Great Britarn.

(3) H. o. malacophaga . Breeding in Iceland and the Faroes.

When in Finland in 1928 and again in 1929 I was struck with the

fact that the eggs of the Finnish birds averaged much smaller than

S60 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , F&. XXXI V

those of the English ones but I could find no satisfactory character

by which to differentiate the two except that the specimens of

proved breeding birds showed considerable differences in the

structure of their bills. On the other hand the mass of material in

various Museums, some of which might also have been of breeding

birds, showed a very wide range of variation and I therefore

refrained from splitting. In 1929 Neumann divided the Scandi-

navian and English birds on the shape of their bills, that of the

former being slighter and much more pointed and that of the latter

stouter and more wedge-shaped. The heavier, bigger form from

Iceland does not appear to occur in India, but the other two

undoubtedly do, though at present I have not been able to

determine their respective ranges and I therefore deal with all

under the title Hcematopus ostralegus ostralegus.

Hcematopus ostralegus

Key to Sub-species

A. Bill shorter, culmen 77 to 90 mm.; wing

shorter, 240 to 261 mm. ... ... H. o. ostralegus.

B. Bill longer, culmen 80 to 98 mm.;

wing longer, 262 to 282 mm. ... ... H. o. osculans.

Hcematopus ostralegus ostralegus.

The Oyster Catcher.

Hcematopus ostralegus Linn., Syst. Nat., 19th ed., p. 152 (1758)

Oeland, Blanf., and Oates, iv. p. 245.

Vernacular Names. — Darya gajpaon (Hind.) ; Yerra-kaliulanda

(Tel.).

Description. — Whole head, neck, upper back, scapulars and inner

secondaries black ; lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts white,

the last tipped with black ; tail black with white base, broadest on

the outermost rectrices ; wing-coverts black, the greater with broad

white edges, forming with the white outer secondaries a broad wing-

bar ; primaries black, the first three with long, white streaks on the

inner webs ; the fourth with a white shaft-patch near the tip,

increasing to a broad white patch on the sixth to eighth primaries ;

remainder of lower parts white.

Colours of soft parts. — Iris red or orange-red; bill bright orange-

red, paler and duller at extreme tip ; legs and feet dull brownish-

purple or purple-red.

Measurements . — Win g 240 to 261 mm. ; tail 99 to 114 mm. ; tarsus

about 48 to 54 mm. ; culmen 77 to 90 mm.

Young birds are browner and have the feathers of the mantle

narrowly edged with whitish; the centre of the chin and throat

are more or less white and there is a broad patch of white on the

fore-neck.

Nestling in down.— Upper parts sandy -brown ; crown mottled

with black, especially in the centre ; a U-shaped black mark on

lower back and rump ; tail black, stippled with rufous barring;

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE 86i

chin and throat fulvous-brown with black bases, fore-neck with a

still blacker patch ; rest of underparts white, thighs mottled brown

and fulvous.

Distribution . — The sea-coasts and islands of the greater part of

Europe and Western Asia. In winter South to Sind, Cutch and

Kathiawar in great numbers, less common in South but recorded

from Ceylon. Records from Eastern India and Burma probably all

refer to the next race.

Nidification. — The Oyster-Catcher breeds over the greater part of

Northern Europe, commencing to lay during the last week of April

in the more temperate regions, whilst further North it does

not lay until early June, often continuing well into July. The

favourite site for the nest is undoubtedly a shingle bed on the

seashore but, where the bird is common, it often breeds far inland

on the banks of streams and lakes and even in fields and ploughed

lands, whilst in Scotland its nests may be actually many miles from

the sea on the heather-clad tops of the hills and mountains. Very

often most curious sites are selected. A Cumberland bird chose

the top of a boundary wall and every year laid its three eggs In

this rather precarious position, more than once having them blown

over in the high gales. Even this, however, never made her desert

the place and one lot of eggs destroyed, she promptly laid another

in the same nest and generally succeeded in hatching them. In

Finland I twice found them breeding on the roofs of the houses

built in marshes by the Finns to hold their winter store of hay and

I was informed that one of these pairs built every year on the same

roof. Where they are very numerous, the birds sometimes breed

almost in colonies and thus I remember in Wigtownshire on one

occasion finding no less than 42 nests in the space of a couple of

hours and in an area containing two fields of short stubble grass and

a short stretch of foreshore. The nest is as a rule just a scratch in

the shingle made by the birds with their feet and carefully lined

with bits of shell, small white pebbles or similar material. In

Norfolk I have on several occasions found the nests lined entirely

with small rabbit bones obtained from the carcases of the many

rabbits which perish annually in the floods which cover the marshes

adjoining the sandhills in which they breed. Rarely one may find

a nest without any lining at all but this is quite exceptional.

Generally the nests will be found in a quite open space but I have

occasionally seen them laid in amongst marram grass on sand hills

and of these I have seen one or two completely concealed by

the surrounding high grass. They have also been found in patches

of pea or potato cultivation and there is one record of a nest having

been taken in a cabbage patch behind a watcher’s garden. Very

often the Oyster-Catcher makes its first nest so close to the sea

that it is flooded out at the first high tide and it is a curious

fact that the birds do not seem to learn by experience, for one pair

of my acquaintance annually make their nest with great care on the

long shingle bank so close to the water that the eggs get washed

out at the first high tide. The second nest was then made well

above high water mark, yet the following year the birds again made

it at the bottom of the bank and were again washed out.

862 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XX XIV

The full clutch of eggs numbers three or four, in some places,

four being more common, whilst in others three is the usual number.

Occasionally two only are laid. In colour they vary from a pale

buff stone to a rather rich yellow or buff and they are marked more

or less thickly with spots and blotches of dark brown and reddish

brown, with others underlying them of grey or natural tint. In

some eggs the blotches become scrawls and lines and a few eggs

may be found which are scrawled all over, though, on the whole,

variation in the eggs of the Oyster-Catcher is not great. In

Finland I came across several clutches which were a very distinct

green in tint, in one clutch almost dark green but this colour, as

also the richest tint of buff, fades very quickly after the eggs are

blown and in a very short time the eggs become drab and ordinary

looking. Jourdain gives the average of 100 eggs as 57*0

x 40-0 mm. but this probably includes only British eggs and the

Norwegian and Finnish eggs which I have measured only average

54*6 x 37*2 mm. ; maxima for all eggs are 70-1 x 37*4 mm.

and 62T x 18-9 mm, ; minima 5T6 x 40*4 mm. and 62-6 x

35'0 mm.

There are several records of five, six or seven eggs being found

in an Oyster-Catcher’s nest but these are nearly always the produc-

tion of two females. In Norfolk two pairs of birds at one time bred

every year on the same shingle bed but the male of one of these

pairs died and the lady joined forces with the other pair and every

year the two hens laid in the same nest and took by turns to carry

on the domestic duties. These two hens usually laid three eggs

each but on one occasion one of the females laid four and this prov-

ing too much for one bird to cover satisfactorily, the watcher in

charge took one of the eggs away.

There is probably no bird more difficult to catch on its nest than

the Oyster-Catcher for it is not only extraordinarily shy but it is

exceptionally clever in detecting the approach of any enemy. The

cock bird, who is always on the watch gives its mate very early

warning and both birds immediately leave the vicinity of the nest.

Rarely, when the eggs are very hard-set they will fly whistling over

the head of the intruder, getting more and more excited as the

latter gets closer to the eggs but it is very rare that one can judge

the exact position of the nest from their cries. On the other hand,

when the birds are very young, the parents at once come to meet

any supposed adversary, whistling plaintively the whole time and

more and more excitedly the nearer he gets to the chicks and, so

definite are their cries, that it is generally easy to spot the where-

abouts of the youngsters, however difficult it maybe actually to find

them. Unlike the Terns, Ring Plovers and other birds, young

Oyster-Catchers are almost invariably taken by their parents into

cover as soon are they are hatched and directly the warning notes are

uttered by their parents they crouch in amongst the roots of the

grass and are almost impossible to locate. If found, the little

things lie perfectly still with their eyes tight closed, to all

appearances dead but, if the finder moves back a pace or two, the

eyes open and in a second the chick slinks away and once more

becomes invisible. »

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

863

Habits ~ The Oyster-Catcher is essentially a bird of the sea-coast

but exceptions are numerous and it may be often found far inland

on the shingle banks of rivers and indeed high up on the hills. In

India, however, except during migration, it will seldom be found

anywhere but near the sea or the estuaries of big rivers adjoining

it. Even in India it is an extraordinarily shy wild bird and ex-

tremely difficult to approach within shot, whilst its loud plaintive

whistle soon puts every other bird in the vicinity on the qui vive.

It is said to be eatable but it is certainly not worth shooting from

any point of view beyond the difficulty with which it is approached.

In India it is found principally in small flocks and singly, whilst

in Europe during the winter it is often found in flocks of

immense size, numbering perhaps several hundred. A certain

number of birds may also be found in small flocks during the

summer in North-West India, but these are undoubtedly non-breed-

ing birds of the first year, for even in England similar male flocks

may be seen throughout the year associating and feeding at the

edge of the sea, whilst others are busy breeding. The cock birds

seem also to collect occasionally in small flocks, whilst the hens are

sitting, but these only remain together for a few hours at the most,

as the cock birds themselves take an interest in the eggs and

probably sit for a few hours during the night. They feed almost

entirely on small Crustacea and insect food and they are adepts at

obtaining the contents of the various mollusca, forcing the limpets

off the rocks by using their bills as a wedge between the shell and

the rock, whilst they also chisel out, as Ticehurst calls it, the con-

tents of the various shellfish very cleverly. Their call is a loud and

very plaintive whistle rapidly repeated and varying in strength

and shrillness according to whether it is an alarm note or warning

note, or an ordinary call to its mate.

Burturlin separates our Western Asian form of Oyster-Catcher

under the name of longipes , but I cannot separate the bird, although

there are large series available for examination. Ticehurst and

some other ornithologists, however, consider it a good race. It is

supposed to be distinguishable by its longer bill and in having

more white on the throat in winter.

Hcematopus ostralegus osculans.

The Chinese Oyster-Catcher .

Hcematopus osculans Swinhoe, P. Z. S., 1871 p. 405 (N. China).

Hcematopus ostralegus Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 245 (part).

Vernacular Names . — None recorded.

Description . — Similar to the preceding bird but larger and with a

decidedly longer bill ; the amount of white on the primaries is

generally, but not always, less, the first primary seldom showing

any white at all on the inner web.

Colours of soft parts as in the typical race.

Measurements. — Wing 262 to 280 mm. ; tail 101 to 112 mm. ;

tarsus about 52 to 58 mm. ; culmen 80 to 98 mm.

Distribution. — Japan, North China to North Burma and extreme

Eastern Bengal.

m JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

Nidification. — N o thing recorded. An Oyster-Catcher, which is

probably of this race, has been obtained, with its eggs, breeding

on an island in the Sunderbunds, but the skin has not been

available for comparison.

Habits. — Very little known or recorded. Thisform has always been

considered a migratory race, breeding in the North and only visiting

India in the cold weather but it is possible that some may remain

to breed in suitable places. In Assam it occurred on the bigger

rivers but apparently always on migration and moving North

and South ; in Eastern Bengal I never personally saw it during

breeding season but I never visited the islands in the mouths of the

Ganges and Brahmaputra where its eggs were taken. The few

birds I have seen behaved, whistled and flew just like the European

birds and were equally wild and difficult to approach. They

were generally in small flocks, more rarely singly or in pairs.

Subfamily Charadriisle.

Dr. Lowe thus diagnoses this subfamily : — ‘ Pluvialine forms in

which the lacrymals are not free but are merged on the supraorbital

rim, in which there is a conspicuous foramina for the nasal duct

immediately caudad of the nasals, in which the supraorbital grooves

are deeply sculptured, often perforated with foramina, and extend

well back to the anterior margins of the parietals, and in which the

supraorbital rim is conspicuously raised, everted, or conicid.’

Key to Genera .

A. A white ring round the neck

B. No white ring round the neck.

(a) Plumage brown above, not spotted

yellow ...

(b) Plumage above spotted with yellow,

no dark band across the chest.

Genus : Charadrius.

Charadrius Linn., Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 150 (1758).

Type by taut, Charadrius hiaticula Linn.

In the genus Charadrius , as now restricted, we have the Ringed

Plovers only, distinguished from the other genera by having a

white ring round the neck as well as by certain structural characters.

In appearance they are very like the genus Leucopolius , containing

the Kentish Plovers, but these latter have the lacrymals free ; the

plumage of the young also differs somewhat. Charadrius has three

toes and the tarsi reticulated ; the wing is long with the first primary

longest.

Key to Species.

A. Shafts of all primaries white near

end ; wing 129 to 138 mm ... C. hiaticulus .

B. Shaft of first primary white through-

out, of others dark ; wing 102 to

121mm ... ... ... C. dubius.

C. Shafts of all primaries dark, or first only

white near tip; wing 139 to 152 mm. C. placidus ,

Charadrius.

Cirrepedesm us.

Pluvialis.

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

865

Charadrius hiaticulus.

Charadrius hiaticulus Linn., Syst. Nat., i, 10th ed., p. 150

(1758).

Type-Locality ; Sweden.

The typical form is slightly larger than the Eastern form and

decidedly paler.

Charadrius hiaticulus tundra.

The Eastern Ringed Plover.

YEgialitis hiaticola tundra Lowe, Bull, B. O. C., xxxvi, p. 7

(1915) (Yenesei).

YEgialitis hiaticula Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 243.

Vernacular names. — None recorded.

Description . Forehead, lores to upper ear-coverts black; a broad

line across the forehead from eye to eye white ; anterior crown

black; under and behind the eye a white semi-ring, a short broad

supercilium white; crown and nape brown ; a white collar on the

hind-neck, followed by a broad black band; upper parts dark

brown ; primaries blackish, the shafts white in the middle, brown

at the base and tip and with a white patch on the outer web of the

fifth to the secondaries, increasing on the latter till the central is

nearly all white, then decreasing until the inner are like the back ;

tail brown with a broad subterminal white band and white tip, the

latter increasing until the outermost pair of feathers are almost

pure white ; the black forehead is continued as a broad band to

to ear-coverts ; chin, throat and sides of neck white, meeting the

white hind-collar ; a broad band of black across the fore-neck and

upper breast meeting the black hind collar ; remainder of under-

parts white.

Colours of soft parts . — Iris brown ; eyelids yellow ; bill orange-

yellow, the dertrum black; legs and feet orange-yellow.

Measurements. — Wing 120 to 138 mm. ; tail 52 to 64 mm. ; tarsus

about 22 to 26 mm. ; culmen 13 to 15 mm.

Young birds have no black on the head or breast, this being

replaced by brown ; the black breast when first assumed has whitish

fringes.

Nestling in down. — Crown and lower back greyish-buff speckled

with darker brown : a black line through the eye round the nape

and a U-shaped black mark on the lower back : hindneck and under-

parts white.

Distribution. — Finnish Lapland, through Northern Russia to East

Siberia. In winter South to Persian Gulf, India and China, extend-

ing to N. E. Africa.

Exactly how far West this form of Plover extends is difficult to

determine. The birds of Northern Finland undoubtedly average

darker and slightly bigger than our British birds and the Finnish

ornithologists now consider all their breeding birds to be tundra.

With this I am inclined to agree and I think all our Indian birds

must come under this name,.

866 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

Nidification. — The Eastern Ringed Plover breeds from North

Finland to Eastern Siberia, commencing to lay in the more

Southern parts in the end of April, whilst fresh eggs may be obtain-

ed in the far North as late as the middle of July. We found it

breeding in considerable numbers both on the foreshores of Nor-

thern Finland and on the numerous islands adjoining, selecting

sites both on the shingle and sand coast and on the fine grass

covered sand hills adjoining them. On some of the larger islands

they were particularly numerous and we once saw five nests within

a distance of about 30 yards, all containing three or four eggs. The

nest is exactly like that of its British cousin, a scrape in the shingle

or sand, generally, but not always, lined with tiny white pebbles

and scraps of shell. The favourite position is amongst the debris

collected on the high water mark, about three out of every five

nests being placed with a yard or two of this line. Very often the

birds select a spot which has some conspicuous land mark near it,

such as a log washed up by the sea, a conspicuous boulder or a pile

of debris larger than usual. When breeding on the sand hills we

found that their nests were generally unlined and were made in

amongst thin grass which grew around the tops, nowhere thick

enough to conceal them. In such places the nests are very easy to

find, for the little birds alight at a short distance from the nest

and then run up to it, so that all round each nest there is a net-work

traced by their feet and it is very much easier to see the footmarks

than it is to see the nest and eggs, although once found they may

seem to be very conspicuous. The number of eggs laid is almost

invariably four, very rarely either three or five, so rare indeed that

they may be considered abnormal unless the three represents a

second laying. The hen-bird, which I believe alone sits upon the

eggs during the day, is a fairly close sitter but much too wary to

allow anyone to approach near enough to spot her on the nest,

whilst the cock-bird in the manner usual to the plovers, generally

keeps a sharp lookout from some point of vantage not very far

from where she sits. Nests that are made along the seacoast are

not very difficult to find, for even where the shingle prevents the

tracks of birds from being seen, if one walks quietly along a few

yards above high water mark and keeps a careful lookout ahead, he

will generally be able to spot the little plover as it runs down the

shore on leaving its nest. The eggs which are rather broad peg-top

in shape, vary in colour from a pale yellow or greyish stone to a

rather warm buff — or olive-stone. Typically they are marked with

fairly numerous but small spots and specks of black, which are most

numerous at the larger end where they form an indefinite ring.

Secondary markings are scarce and sometimes absent altogether

but, when present, in any numbers are generally rather larger than

the superficial markings. In colour they are a pale to dark

lavender. A series of eggs in my collection average 32*0x25*0

mm.

Habits.— In India we find the Eastern Ringed Plover in small

flocks or in pairs and in this country they are for the most

part confined to the sea-coast and to the banks and islands of our

bigger rivers, though they may be occasionally found at very great

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

867

distances from the sea. They are extraordinarily active little

birds, both on the wing and on foot, flying and running with great

speed. Their voice is typically plover-like and their shrill but

rather sweet call soon draws attention to them. In running they

proceed by little spurts, much in the same way as do the various

members of the Kentish Plover group and like that bird, its normal

attitude when still, has the head well tucked into the shoulder and

not extended as it is so often depicted.

Its breeding song, which of course is never heard in India, is a

very sweet trisyllabic trill uttered both when in flight ascending

and descending and, less often, from the crest of a sand hill or the

top of a bank. Its warning note is a single and harsh cry and its

ordinary call note a single or sometimes double whistle. It feeds

on insects and tiny mollusca, very often in company with other

small waders, both of its own species and others. It is not a

shy bird during the winter and may usually be approached within

shooting distance but it is not worth powder and shot, although

it is by no means bad to eat if one has nothing else, though it

would take a considerable number to make a dish.

Charadrius dubius.

Key to Sub-Species .

A. Larger. Wing 115 to 121 mm.

(a) Bill longer and less slender, 13 to 14 mm. C. d. dubius .

( b ) Bill shorter and more slender, 12 to 13 mm. C. d. curonicus .

B. Smaller. Wing 102 to 114 mm. . . C. d. jerdoni .

Charadrius dubius dubius.

The Chinese Little Ringed Plover .

Charadrius dubius Scop., Del. Flor. et Faun., Insubr., ii, p. 93

(1786) (Luzon).

AEgialitis dubia Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 241 (part).

Vernacular Names. — None recorded.

Description. — This species is a small replica of the preceding

species. It differs in having the shaft of the first primary all white,

that of the others all dark brown ; there is no white patch on the

outer webs of the primaries, and the secondaries are all coloured

like the back ; the black fore-crown is nearly always divided from

the brown by a very narrow white line.

Colours of soft parts. — Iris brown ; bill black, the extreme base of

the upper and rather more of the lower mandible yellow ; legs and

feet yellow in breeding season ; greenish-yellow, dusky olive or

greenish-brown in non-breeding plumage.

Measurements. — Wing 115 to 119 mm. ; tail 48 to 58 mm., tarsus

22 to 24 mm., culmen 13 to 14 mm.

In non-breeding and young birds. — The same differences occur as

in the Ringed Plover.

Distribution. — South-China and Formosa throughout the Malay

Archipelago, the Indo-Chinese countries and once near Mergui ip

868 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

Tenasserim, whence I had two skins sent me of birds shot in

January 1898.

Nidiiication . — The breeding of the Chinese Little Ringed Plover

seems to be very similar to that of our little Indian bird, Jerdon’s

Ringed Plover. Jones describes it as breeding in very great

numbers near Shantung and Wei-hai-wei, where he found them breed-

ing in scattered colonies on the vast areas of sand by the great

rivers and in smaller numbers on the sea-coast itself. Latouche

also found its nests and eggs at Chihli. The nests are like those of

the previous bird but are apparently very seldom lined in any way,

being merely hollows scratched in the sand by the birds themselves.

The eggs, four in number as usual, vary in colour from a pale cream

or yellow buff to a warm reddish buff, whilst the markings consist

of tiny specks and spots of dark brown with secondary similar

markings of pale grey or lavender. In most eggs they are scattered

numerously over the whole surface, but in others are more numerous

at the larger end, though they never form definite caps or rings.

Sixty eggs average 27-7 by 218 mm.; maxima 312 by 22 mm. and

30*3 by 23'0 mm.; minima 27'7 by 22*1 mm. and 28-6 by 2T9 mm.

The breeding season lasts from the end of April to early June but,

according to Jones, the greater number of eggs are laid between

May the 20th and June the 10th. Latouche on the other hand took

eggs at Chihli as early as the 12th of April.

Habits. — Very similar to those of the other small Ringed Plovers,

from which they differ but little if anything in flight, voice and diet.

Jones records it as being very much more common in the neighbour-

hood of fresh water than on the sea-coast more especially during the

breeding season. In winter it collects in small flocks sometimes

numbering as many as 30 or 40 individuals but even at this period

it may sometimes be seen singly or in pairs. Within Indian limits

it is only a very rare straggler, occurring occasionally in Tenasserim

whence I had two skins sent me of birds which had been shot by

one of my collectors on the sea-coast in January.

Charadrius dubius curonicus.

The European Little Rmged Plover .

Charadrius curonicus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., i, 2, p. 692 (1739)

(Curonia).

XE g alii is dub ia Blanf. & Oates, iv, p. 241 (part).

Vernacular Names. — -Zirrea (Hind.), Bytu*nlanka , Rewa (Tel.).

Description. — A decidedly paler bird than the typical form ; on an

average also the black on the crown and the breast-band is rather

less in extent.

Colours of soft parts . — As in the preceding form.

Measurements. — Wing 114 to 121 mm.; culmen 12 to 13 mm.

Distribution . — Breeding throughout Europe ; North and Central

Asia to North-East Siberia. In winter south to Africa, South*

Western Asia and to the greater part of China, India, etc.

Niditication. — The European Little Ringed Plover does not

breed within Indian limits but has been found as far south as

Turkestan and it also breeds in Northern Persia. Its nests and eggs

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

869

do not differ from those of Jerdon’s Ringed Plover and are found

in similar places, that is to say, on sandy and shingly coasts and,

less often, by fresh-water lakes and the sandy banks and islands

of rivers. In Finland I found them breeding on sand hills at a

considerable distance from the sea or from any piece of fresh-water.

My first intimation that the birds were breeding in these hills, was

the usual mass of little footprints surrounding their nests. One of

these, containing four eggs, we found with very little trouble and

after we had retired a short distance and hidden ourselves, the

female quickly returned to the nest. She showed very little care in

approaching it. About thirty or forty yards away she ran to the

top of one of the sand hills and had a careful look round and then,

apparently satisfied that there was no danger, proceeded by the

usual little jerky runs, alternating with brief halts, and settled down

on the eggs. The eggs differ from those of Jerdon’s Ringed Plover

in being bigger, less often reddish or sandy in colour, and not so

finely marked. Normally the eggs are pale sandy in ground colour

and are numerously speckled with brown and reddish brown, the

underlying markings of lavender and grey being few in number

and sometimes absent altogether. In size the markings vary from

the minutest specks to small spots and blotches and are scattered

freely over the whole surface of the eggs but still more numerously

at the larger end. Rarely the eggs are more grey-green or yellow

in tint and still more rarely the markings assume the character of

rather big blotches. A clutch is almost invariably four, though a

second laying may consist of three only.

A hundred eggs average 29*8 by 22T mm.; maxima 32*8 by 23*0

mm. and SOT by 23-5 mm. ; minima 27'3 by 21T mm. and 28-6 by

2V0 mm. In the more Southern places of its breeding area a few

birds lay as early as March, whilst in Northern Europe they com-

mence breeding in May and eggs may be found up to the end of

June or even during the first week in July.

Habits . — All the Ringed Plovers have very much the same

habits. Their flight is swift and powerful and their progress on foot

very rapid and always made in the same way — a quick little run,

then a halt and then another run. Their love song, a rather sweet

little trill, is uttered in the air, the bird fluttering and then sailing

alternately, though they are also said sometimes to display whilst

on the ground, trailing their wings, fluffing out their feathers and

singing at the same time. This display on the ground I have

never seen, although we spent a great many hours watching the

birds in their breeding grounds. Their alarm note is a sharp double

whistle, like that of the British bird which Witherby syllabifies as

‘ Whee-ar ’ constantly repeated. In India during the winter they

may be found in small parties on almost all the bigger rivers and

lakes as well as on the sea-shore.

Charadrius dubius jerdoni.

Jerdoris Little Ringed Plover.

NEgialitis jerdoni Legge, p.z.s., i, p. 125 (1880) (Ganges).

/Egialitp dubia Blanf, and Oates, iv, p. 241 (part).

870 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Vernacular Names.— Zirrea (Hind.); Bytu-ulanka^ Rewa. (Tel.).

Description. — Differs from both the preceding froms in its much

smaller size. The frontal black line is smaller than in curonicus.

The colour of the base of the bill is a much brighter yellow,

whilst the orbital skin is also generally better defined and a brighter

yellow ; the general colour is paler.

Colours of soft parts. — Except as above noted, the same as in the

other races.

Measuremerits. — Wing 102 to 111 mm. ; sexes alike ; culmen 11*5

to 12-5 mm.

Distribution. — All India, Ceylon, throughout Burma and the

greater part of the Malay States ; Siam, Annam and Cochin China.

Nidificaiion. — ThisiLittle Ringed Plover is to be found practically

throughout the whole of the Indian Empire from Ceylon to Kashmir,

making its nest in the usual little scrape in sand or shingle on the

shores and islands of rivers or lakes. Less often they are in sandy

or shingly ground at some distance from any water. Like its

English relative, it occasionally decorates its nest with tiny white

stones or shells but this is exceptional. On the other hand, unlike

the European bird, the eggs may frequently be found half buried in

the sand, nor does this appear to be accidental for I have taken eggs

when the weather was so calm that there could have been no move-

ment of the sand, and the eggs appeared to have been partly

covered by the birds when leaving the nest. With the Kentish

Plover in the tropics this covering of the eggs by the bird seems to

be very general, possibly to save them from the heat of the sun

and the same reason may induce Jerdon’s plover to so protect them.

The behaviour of the birds at the nest differs in no way from that

of the previous bird, nor is it any more shy. A full clutch of eggs

may be either three or four, as often one as the other. In some

places four seems to be the number most often laid, whilst in others,

three only is the almost invariable number. Mr. Eates, who found

these birds breeding in Sind on mud flats close to the Hubb river,

states that four is quite exceptional. It is rather noticeable that

this little Plover often lays its eggs in the vicinity of some definite

land-mark, such as a piece of fallen timber or a stone somewhat

larger than the surrounding shingle, so that when hunting for these

birds one should always make an especially careful search around

such landmarks. As with the other Little Plovers also, searching

for the footmarks is an easy way to obtain the eggs. These latter

vary in ground colour from a pale sandy or pale buff to a quite rich

reddish buff or brown buff, whilst I have seen a few eggs with a

distinctly bluish tinge. The markings are similar to those of the

eggs of the preceding bird and differ from those of the Kentish

Plover group in consisting of specks and tiny spots rather than of

scrawls and lines. The breeding season commences during the

last week of February, through March and April to the first week in

May, but the great majority of eggs are laid during March and

early April, so as to give the birds time to hatch off before the rains

come and the rivers are flooded. In Kashmir their eggs may some-

times be taken in June, when the birds breed beside lakes, on ground

not likely to be flooded early.

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

8?1

Sixty eggs averge 27*5 by 207 mm. ; maxima 29'5 by 20*8 mm.

and 27-4 by 2V6 mm. ; minima 25m0 by 19*6 mm. and 261 by 19 9

mm.

The process of incubation is 21 days.

Habits. — This Little Plover is found wherever there are rivers

with clean sandy or shingly banks or islands but it never or very

seldom frequents those in the alluvial plains with muddy banks.

In some places such as already referred to above in Sind, they may

occasionally be found on the sun-baked mud flats, but they desert

these as soon as there is sufficient rainfall to make them soft and

muddy. Their actions both on the wing and on the ground are

like those of the preceding bird and their voice is similar but 1 think

rather shriller, nor are they quite such noisy birds. If one invades

the breeding haunts of the European Ringed Plover, the birds often

display considerable anger and continue whistling round the

intruder for some time but our little Indian bird seems to take

things much more calmly and seldom utters much protest even

when the eggs are taken, though their excitement is greater once

the young are hatched. I have on several occasions been fortunate

enough to witness the courtship of this pretty little wader. As a

rule, the male bird soars into the air uttering his sweet trill and then

with quivering wings he drops in a slow loop towards the ground,

again mounting into the air and repeating the drop at quick

intervals. Sometimes the lady joins in the flight and sometimes

both birds descend to the sand bank and the male displays as he runs

about trilling nearly all the time. Whilst thus engaged, his wings

and tail shivering until they almost touch the sand, he runs back-

wards and forwards in quick runs, after every two or three runs

bobbing and bowing and then repeating his exercises. The little

lady for the most part contents herself with the more serious

business of searching for food, but occasionally she too may indulge

in a few little runs and bows. Their food consists of the usual tiny

Crustacea, etc., consumed by all the small plovers but this bird often

seizes flies and other small insects on the wing and is very expert

in catching them.

Charadrius pxacidus.

The Long-billed Ringed Plover.

Charadrius placidus Gray, Cat. Mam. Birds Nepal, p. 70 (1863)

(Nepal).

AEgialilts placida Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 244.

Vernacular Names. — None recorded.

Description. — Very similar to the Ringed Plover but larger and

with a much larger bill. The shaft of the first primary is brown,

paler and yellowish towards the tip but never white ; the black on

the lores and cheeks is replaced by brown or blackish-brown ; the

forehead is wholly white.

Colours of soft parts. — Iris brown ; bill black, the gape and

extreme base of lower mandible yellowish ; legs, feet and margins

of eyelids yellow.

372 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Measurements. — Wing 139 to 152 mm. ; tail 76 to 78 mm. ; tarsus

about 31 to 31 mm. ; culmen 18 to 20 mm.

Distribution. — Breeding throughout Eastern Siberia, Manchuria,

Japan and North-Eastern China. In winter migrating South to

Southern China, Burma, Indo-Chinese countries and Northern

India. It has been obtained in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan Duars,

Assam and Eastern Bengal.

Nidiiication — Mr. J. D. Latouche found this bird breeding in

some numbers during April and May in North-East Chihli and in

the Ibis of 1921, p. 20, he describes the taking of these eggs as

follows : —

£ On the 2nd of May of that year I went out to search for the

eggs myself with a camera and during the course of the

hunt, saw several empty nests. One containing four eggs

was found and an attempt to photograph the bird on the

nest having failed, I took the eggs which were incubated,

but not too far advanced to preserve. The nest, like all

the others seen that day, was a round depression among

the shingle and had a thin lining of scraps of twigs or

grass. The nests were placed among the stones some

distance from the water. The birds lay from about the

middle of April to the first week in May.’

The eggs are very typical of the genus. The ground colour is

very pale sandy, rarely with a tinge of buff, but generally with a

curious livid tint. The markings consist of the usual tiny specks

and freckles but are of pale reddish or reddish brown and are less

numerous than those normally found in the eggs of any of the pre-

ceding species of Ringed Plover. On the other hand the secondary

markings of pale grey are comparatively more numerous and

easily discernible. They are of the usual Ringed Plover’s egg

shape, broad ovals, sharply pointed at one end, in some cases

almost pegtop-shaped.

The average of thirty eggs measured by Latouche is 35*9 by

26-4 mm. In my own series the maxima are 37'0 mm. by 26-9 mm.

and 35-0 by 27'2 mm.; minima 31-6 by 26*9 mm. and 35*4 by 26'0 mm.

The number laid seems to be almost invariably four, rarely three

only. Staff-Surgeon Jones in a letter to me describes the birds as

being noisy, showing their displeasure loudly when he visited their

breeding haunts, circling round overhead and calling loudly all the

time. It is probable that at this time (June) many of the birds had

young and it is possible that they are not so noisy before the eggs

are hatched. They seem to breed in colonies although these may

be scattered over a considerable area and their breeding haunts

include both the wide stretches of sandy seashore and the banks

and islands of the bigger rivers.

Habits.-— Latouche describes the birds as not very shy and

though he disturbed some from their eggs, they returned very

quickly. According to Chinese observers the Long-billed Ringed

Plover appears to be resident over the greater part of its area for

Lactouche considers it to be a resident bird in Chihli, Fokhien and

even. in Western Yunnan. Even if this is so, however, it certainly

extends further South and West" during the winter, occurring not

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

873

uncommonly in Burma and rarely even in Eastern India during the

cold weather. In the Indo-Chinese countries its status is not yet

known as well as it might be and it is possible that the so-called

migrants in these countries may really be resident birds. The

flight, voice and food, so far as these have been described, seem to

by very like those of its smaller relations. I can give no descrip-

tion of its courting habits or song.

Genus : Cirrepedesmus.

Cirrepedesmus Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, xliii,

p. 417 (1856).

Type by taut, Charadrius atrifrons Wagler.

In this genus there is no white ring round the neck and the bill is

decidedly shorter than in Charadrius and is shorter than in Pagoa,

the dertrum is much swollen and occupies about half the culmen ;

the legs are comparatively short, the feet medium and the tarsus

reticulated throughout. I cannot separate the Large Sand-Plover

generically from Cirrepedesmus , all the characters seeming to be the

same except that Pagoa , which Mathews creates for the Large Sand-

Plover, has a slightly longer bill.

Key to Species.

A. Bill shorter than middle toe without claw... C. mongolus.

B. Bill longer than middle toe with claw ... C. leschenaultii.

Cirrepedesmus mongolus.

Charadrius mongolus— Pallas, Reise Russ. Reichs, iii, p. 700,

1776.

Type-locality ; Salt Lakes of Mongolia.

Differs from the form occurring in India in having the forehead

pure white; the chestnut-rufous of the breast is deeper and the

colour of the upper plumage a little darker.

Cirrepedesmus mongolus atrifrons.

The Pa?nirs Lesser Sand- Plover.

Charadrius atrifrons Wagler, Isis, 1829, p. 650 (Bengala).

AEgialitis mongolica Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 238.

V ernacular Names. — None recorded.

Description. Forehead, lores, cheeks and ear-coverts black, more

or less marked with white ; anterior crown, supercilia and hind-neck

pale fulvous-chestnut ; posterior crown and upper plumage cinereous-

brown, the shafts faintly darker ; sides of the rump and upper tail-

coverts white; tail brown with white tip, the outermost feathers

nearly all white ; primaries blackish, the whole of the shaft of the

first primary and the terminal halves of the others white ; a white

patch on the sixth and succeeding primaries on both webs ; outer

secondaries tipped white; chin, throat and fore-neck white ; upper

breast and sides of lower breast pale chestnut-rufous ; remainder of

lower plumage white.

Colours of soft paris. — Iris brown ; bill black ; legs and feet fleshy-

grey, yellowish-olive to bluish or olive-slate colour.

874 Journal, Bombay natural hist, society, voi. xxxiv

Measurements . — Wing 124 to 129 mm. ; tail 44 to 53 mm. ; tarsus

33 to 34 mm. ; oilmen 16 to 18 mm.

In non-breeding plumage the forehead, lores and ear-coverts are

fulvous, the ear-coverts mixed with brown ; the collar on the hind-

neck is obsolete or wanting and the rufous on the breast and flanks

is much less in extent.

Y'oung birds have pale fringes to the feathers of the upper parts.

Downy chick. — ‘ Forehead buff, nape-ring buffy white ; upper parts

warm buff marked with brownish black tending to run into lines ;

lower parts white tinged with buff on lower throat (pectoral band)

and on the sides of the head ; bare skin on sides of neck blackish.’

(H. Whistler.)

Distribution . — This Sand- Plover breeds in the Pamirs and through-

out the higher plateaus of Kashmir, Ladak, Tibet and North-West

China. Probably also in Turkestan and parts of Southern Siberia.

In winter it is found over an enormous area of Africa and Southern

Asia. In India it occurs commonly on the coasts of North-West

India as far south as Bombay and more rarely further south and

inland on the bigger rivers. It occurs in the Andamans but certainly

does not breed there normally, though Hume received skins of

young birds obtained there in May, July and September.

Nidification.— Mr. B. B. Osmaston ( B.N.H.S . Journal ) says that

he found these birds ‘ breeding in Rupshu near the Tsokar and

Tsomoriri Lakes about 15,000 feet, on the Indus at 13,000 feet,

between the Indus and Shushar at 14,000 to 14,500 feet and along

the Pangkong lake at 14,000 feet. They were also found breeding

in the Suru Valley at about 13,000 feet.’

He also records in Vol. xxxii. of the same Journal :

‘ The egg-laying commences about the middle of June and it

continues until the middle of July. Three eggs only are laid in a

slight depression scraped in the mud amongst stones or shingle.’

‘ The nest, or rather nest cavity, for there is no nest, is very

difficult to locate. The parent bird if disturbed by the approach of

a man when incubating, gets up off the eggs very quickly and slinks

away with lowered head after the manner of many other plovers.

When returning to its eggs, the approach is made very cautiously

and great care is necessary, even with the advantage of a pair of

field glasses, not to lose sight of the bird in the stretch of sand and

stones among which it moves in a series of short runs.’

‘ The eggs are slightly pyriform and without gloss. The ground

colour is cafe au lait sometimes with a distinct warm tinge,

speckled more or less all over with dark-brown markings.

‘ The eggs vary in length from 38*2 to 35*4 mm. and in breadth

from 27*2 to 25-6 mm., the average of twelve eggs being 36*7 by

26-3 mm.’

Mr. Hugh Whistler also found this bird breeding in Lahul in 1922

at about 14,000 feet at the Chandra Lake, obtaining two clutches

each of three eggs and three downy young, the description of which

is given above. In 1923 he obtained them on the Northern slopes

of Baralacha Range where on the 23rd and 26th of July he found

odd birds and a party (the latter evidently consisting of the old birds

and fully fledged young). His descriptions of the nests and eggs

THE GAME BIRDS OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

875

agree well with that of Mr. Osmaston, but he records that in one of

his nests there was a sort of rough lining of broken chips and frag-

ments of stem of a small creeping ground plant. ( Ibis , 1925,

p. 204).

I have a fair series of eggs in my collection including some of

those taken both by Mr. Osmaston and Mr. Whistler and I find that

these vary a great deal more in ground colour than may be gather-

ed from the above descriptions. This varies from a cold green-grey

to a rich buff. Other clutches have a greenish tint, pale greyish-

stone colour or a buffy-stone colour of different depths ; in shape

whilst none of my eggs are actually pyriform, all are distinctly

pointed at the smaller end.

Twenty-five eggs average 37-0 by 26 3 mm. maxima 39-7 by 27*0

mm. and 38T by 27-1 mm. ; minima 35\I by 26-0 and 36-3 by 35’ l

mm. The eggs were taken on dates between the 2nd week in June

and the 3rd week in July.

Habits . — Mr. Whistler thus describes the habits of this bird in the

Ibis. ‘ The adults showed the usual habits of the genus on the

breeding-ground, running swiPly from the intruder or flying round

in circles, but they were less noisy than Common and Lesser Ring

Plovers. The call-note is a soft ‘ twip ’ ; the alarm-note may be

described as a sort of chatter of two syllables f Corrupt not unlike

the croak of a frog ; it is uttered usually on the wing, but also

occasionally on the ground.’

‘ This handsome little Plover remains but a short time on its

breeding-ground. At Karachi, where it is the most abundant of the

waders, Ticehurst has recorded that the birds leave gradually and

not in a body but that they are all gone by the end of May. This

departure, however, does not take place till the breeding plumage

is assumed, and it is so delayed that the male organs are enlarged

practically to breeding size, while courting and pairing take place on

the Karachi sands. They return there early in August and are

abundant by the middle of the month. This account agrees with

the published records regarding Ladakh, Tibet, and Turkestan

which mostly refer to June and July. Presumably therefore only

one brood is produced in the year. I can find no evidence contrary

to my belief that this species passes from the Karachi coasts and

the Bay of Bengal to its breeding-grounds in one sustained flight.’

Osmaston describes the note as a vibrating call reminding one of

that of the Jungle Nightjar. With this exception, the habits and

actions of the bird generally are very like those of the different

species of Charadrius. During the breeding season they are said to

be comparatively tame and to return soon to their nests when

disturbed ; but in India during the cold weather where they collect in

flocks, they are often wild and hard to approach.

ClRREPEDESMUS LESCHENAULTII.

The Large Sa?id-Plover.

Charadrius leschenaultii Lesson, Diet. Sci. Nat., xlii, p. 36 (1826)

(Pondicherry, India).

Charadrius geollroyi Blanf. and Oates, iv, p. 237,

2

876 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , K?/. XX N I V

Vernacular Names. — None recorded.

Description. — A much bigger bird than the Lesser Sand-Plover;

also differing in having a white forehead, less rufous on the breast

and flanks and a more rufous sandy tinge to the upper parts.

Colours of soft parts as in the Lesser Sand-Plover.

Measurements. Wing 128 to 140 mm. ; tail 50 to 57 mm. ; tarsus

about 35 to 38 mm. ; culmen 23 to 25 mm.

Distribution. — Found during the breeding season in Japan, Corea,

Formosa, Hainan and possibly North-east China. In winter South

to Australia and West to Eastern Africa.

N idification. — Unknown.

Habits . — The same as those of the preceding bird.

( To be continued )

REVISION 01?

THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY

BY

E. Blatter, s.j., Ph.D., f.l.s.

PART XIV

( Continued ii'om page 637 of this volume ) .

STERCUUACE/E (Cke. i, 121).

Genera 48, species 660. -“Chiefly tropical.

Cooke has 9 indigenous and 3 introduced genera. Of the former Sterculia is

being split up into Sterculia , Pterygota and Firmiana\ Walthevia has been

transferred in a previous issue to the family Bombacacece. Pentapetes and

Buettneria are here treated as indigenous genera.

To the introduced genera I add ; Dombeya and Theobroma..

Key :

A. Flowers unisexual. No petals.

I. Leaves without peltate scales. Fruit folli-

cular.

1. Follicles woody or coriaceous

(a) Seeds not winged ... ... 1.

(b) Seeds winged ... ... 2.

2. Follicles membranous ... ... 3.

II. Leaves clothed beneath with peltate hairs.

Fruit indehiscent ... ... ... 4.

B. Flowers bisexual, Petals present.

I. Androecium columnar below, dilated above

into a cup on the margin of which are

placed the anthers usually alternating

with staminodes

1. Fruit a membranous inflated capsule ... 5.

2. Fruit of straight or spirally twisted folli-

cles ... ... ... ... 6.

3. Fruit a woody loculicidal 5-valved cap-

sule ... ... ... ... 7.

II. Androecium tubular, conical, antheriferous

for nearly its whole length. No stami-

nodes ... ... ... ... 8.

III. Androecium tubular, antheriferous at the

margin. Anthers solitary or in groups

alternating with staminodes

1. Bracteoles caducous. Anthers 10-15.

(a) Leaves cordate ... ... *9.

(£) Leaves tapering from the truncate

base ... ... ... 10.

2. Bracteoles persistent. Anthers 5 ... 11,

IV. Androecium tubular at the base only.

Stamens 5. No staminodes ... 12.

V. Androecium tubular. Anthers marginal,

solitary or in groups between the stami-

nodes.

1. A herb ... ... ... ... 13.

Sterculia.

Pterygota.

Firmiana .

Heritiera .

Kleinhovia.

Helicteres .

Pterospermum .

Eriolaena.

Dombeya.

Pentapetes.

Melhania.

Melochia .

Buettneria

878 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

2. Trees or shrubs.

(a) Capsule membranous, 5-angled,

5- winged ... ... ...*14. Abroma.

(b) Capsule woody globular or oblong,

12-25 mm. long ... ...*15. Guazuma.

(c) Fruit hard, leathery, up to 30 cm. by

10 cm. ... ... ...*16. Theobroma.

1. Sterculia, Linn. (Cke. i, 122).

Over 100 species. — Tropics.

Cooke has 6 indigenous and 2 introduced species. Of the former S. colorata ,

Roxb. will be transferred to the genus Firmiana and S. alata Roxb. to the

1. Sterculia foeiida, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 1008 ; Cke. i, 123.

Table 364 of Wight 1c. mentioned by Cooke should be omitted.

Distribution : Konkan, forests of the W. coast of the Madras Pres, at low

elevations, Upper Tenasserim, Martaban, Malay Peninsula, Ceylon, E. tropi-

cal Africa, Moluccas, Philippines, N. Australia.

2. Sterculia urens, Roxb. Cor. PI. i, (1795), 25, t. 24 ; Cke. i, 123.

Distribution : Gujarat, Konkan, Deccan, Kanara, S. M. Country, dry

forests of Madras Pres., Rajputana, Northern and Central India, Chota

Nagpur, Burma, Ceylon.

3. Sterculia villosa, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 50 ; Cke. i, 124.

Distribution : Common in deciduous forests throughout the greater part of

India and Burma.

4. Sterculia guttata, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 50 ; Cke. i, 124.

Add: Wight Ic. t. 487.

Distribution : Ghats of the W. Peninsula from the Konkan to Malabar,

Bellary.

5. Sterculia populifolia, Roxb. Hort Beng. 50; FI. Ind. iii, '148 ; Gamble

Madras FI. 106. — 5. populifolia, W. & A Prodr. i, 62 ; Masters in Hook. f.

F.B.I.I, 361. — Hildegardia populifolia , Br. in Benn. PL Jav. Rar. 235.

Description: A small tree; bark smooth; young branches angular,

resembling those of a poplar. Leaves 7.5-10 by 10 cm., 7-nerved, glabrous,

rounded, cordate, acuminate ; petiole 5-1 5 cm. Panicles axillary and terminal,

shorter than the leaves ; branches angular, glabrous, spreading ; ultimate

pedicels shorter than the flowers. Flower-buds oblong. Segments of

calyx 6 mm., free nearly to the base, linear-spathulate, downy externally.

Ovary hispid, ovoid, tapering into a short style ; stigma 5-lobed. Follicle

solitary, membranous, ovate, ventricose, terminated by a membranous,

oblique, obtuse, cultriform wing. Seeds oblong, 2 cm. long, albuminous,

radicle next the hilum.

Locality : Planted in the Bombay Presidency.

Distribution : Deccan Hills and E. Ghats of Madras Pres,

6. Sterculia campanulata, Wall, ex Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 3S2 ; Kurz For.

FI. Burma i, 139 .—Pterocymbium javanicum , Br. in Benn. PI. Jav. Rar. (1844),

219, t. 45.

Description : A tree, 15-20 m. high, the young parts more or less tomen-

tose ; bark smooth, grey. Leaves 10 by 9 cm., ovate to oblong, cordate,

glabrous above, pubescent beneath, 5-nerved, entire or more or less 3-5-lobed,

with the lobes blunt, more or less acute ; petiole 3‘5-5 cm. long, puberulous ;

stipules 6 mm. long, subulate, caducous. Panicles terminal, ascending,

shorter than the leaf ; pedicels jointed. Bracteoles caducous. Calyx bell-

shaped, pruinose, 5-lobed, the lobes oblong, acute, velvety along the border.

Staanmil column pubescent below. Ovaries 5, sessile, gibbous at the apex ;

RE FIS ION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 879

styles short, cohering' ; stigmas filiform, recurved ; ovules 2, collateral, erect,

anatropous. Follicles 5-6 or fewer by abortion, stipitate, glabrous. Seed

solitary at the base of the follicle, puberulous.

Locality : W. Ghats : Planted at Khandala.

Distribution : Tropical forests along the eastern slopes of the Pegu Yoma

and Martaban, Andamans, Nicobars, Siam, Perak, Perlis, Cochin-China,

Malay Archipelago, Philippines.

2. Pterygota, Schott & Endl.

Trees. Leaves undivided. Flowers in panicles from the axils of fallen

leaves, 1-sexual or polygamous. Calyx deeply 5-partite. Petals 0. Staminal

column cylindric, bearing 4-5 phalanges of about 5 anthers each in male

flowers, and staminodes round the base of the ovary in female flowers. Ovary

of 5 sessile carpels ; ovules many ; styles short, recurved ; stigma 2-lobed.

Fruit . of 5 large globose or obovoid follicles hard and woody, opening when

ripe with 1 valve only. Seeds about 40, with an oblong-obovate wing attached

to the margin of the valve; albumen adhering to the cotyledons ; radicle small,

superior.

Species 4.— Tropics of the Old World, one in the Bombay Presidency.

1, Pterygota alata, R. Br. in Benn. PI. Jav. Rar. (1844), 234 ; Gamble FI.

Madras 1011 — Sterculia alata , Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 50 ; PL Coro, iii, 84,

t. 287 ; Cke. i, 125.-- Pterygota Roxburghii, Schott & Endl. Melet. (1832),

32. — .S'. Hey?iei , Bedd. FI. Sylv. t. 320.

Description : Cke. i, 125.

Locality: N. Kanara : Near Barboli in evergreen rain-forests ; SirsiTaluka

near Londa about 2,000 ft. alt. (Talbot). — Planted at Khandala and Poona.

Distribution : Silhet, Chittagong, Pegu, Andamans, W. Ghats in evergreen

forests from N. Kanara to Tinnevelly up to 3,000 ft.

3. Firmiana, Marsigli.

Trees ; leaves palmately lobed. Flowers in terminal panicles. Calyx

tabular, covered with stellate tomentum, lobes short. Petals 0. Staminal

column slender, with about 30 sessile anthers. Ovary of 5 carpels ; carpels

2-ovuled ; styles short, recurved ; stigmas acute. Fruit of 5 stipitate membra-

nous follicles, opening before maturity. Seeds usually 2, one adhering to each

margin of the open follicle, ovoid, smooth ; embryo transverse, radicle inferior.

Species 10 ; one in the Bombay Presidency.

1. Firmiana colorata, Br. in Benn. PI. Jav. Rar. (1844), 235 ; Gamble FI .

Madras 107. — Sterculia colorata , Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 50; Cke i, 125 ;

Talb. For. FI. Bomb, i, 140, fig. 85.

Description : Cke. i, 125.

Locality: Add: Konkan : Mulland, Salsette (McCann!), W. Ghats:

Khandala (Blatter !), Khandesh : Satpuras (Blatter & McCann !).

Distribution : Mt. Abu, deciduous forests throughout the Bombay Pres.,

W. Ghats forests from S. Kanara to Travancore, Ceylon, Deccan, N. Circars,

E. Bengal, Pegu, Indo-China, Siam.

4. Heritiera, Ait. ; Cke. i, 126.

5. Kleinhovia, Linn. ; Cke. i, 127.

1. Kleinhovia, Hospita, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2 (1763), 1365; Cke. i, 127.

Corolla rose-coloured, except the tips of two petals which are yellow.

Capsule deeply 5-lobed.

Not indigenous in the Bombay Presidency.

6. Helicteres, Pink, ex Linn.; Cke. i, 127.

Species 45. Tropics of both hemispheres.

I. Helicteres Isora, Linn. Sp PI. (1753), 963; Wight Ic. t. 180; Talb. For.

FI. Bomb, i, 146, fig. 89 ; Cke. i, 128.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Bombay (Blatter !) Salsette, Common (McCann!),

W. Ghats : Khandala (Blotter!).

Distribution: From the Punjab and Bengal to Ceylon, Burma, Malaya,

Australia, W. Indies.

880 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , VoL XXXIV

7. Pterospermum, Schreb. ; Cke. i, 128.

Species 20. Tropical Asia.

Cooke describes four species : /*. suberifolium, P. acerifolium , /*. rrficu-

latum , Z3. Heyneanum.

Talbot [For. FI. Bomb, i, (1809], 150) has united /*. retieulatum with

Heyneanum under the older name P. Heyneanum , Wall.

I cannot follow Talbot’s opinion, but I shall exclude P. Heyneanum from

the Bombay flora.

1. Pterospermum suberifolium, Lam. Tab. Encyc. et Method. Ill (1823), 156, t.

576 ; Cke. i, 129. Pctitapetes suberi folia, Linn. Sp. PL 698.

Distribution : N. Circars in Ganjam. Deccan in Mysore, Coimbatore,

Cuddapah and N. Arcot, up to 3,000 ft , Nellore Coast. There is no evidence

to show that it grows wild in the Bombay Pres.

2. Pterospermum acerifolium, Willd. Sp. PI. iii, (1800), 729; Masters in Hcok.

f. F.B.I. i, 368 ( excl . P. aceroides , Wall.) ; Cke. i, 129.

Locality: N. Ka?iara : Devimane forests (Talbot). Planted elsewhere.

Distribution : Sub-Himalayan tract and outer Himalayan valleys and hills

up to 4,000 ft., Bengal, Chittagong, Khasia Hills, Manipur, Tenasserim,

Burma, N. Kanara, Siam.

3. Pterospermum retieulatum, Wight and Arn. Prodr. 69; Cke. i, 130.—

P. Heyneanum , Talb. For. FI. Bomb, i, J5C [partim) fig. 91.

Description : Cke. i, 130.

Locality : Konkan along the Ghats in moist evergreen rain-forests.

N . Kanara : Sirsi and Siddapur talukas (Talbot).

Distribution : Malabar and Tranvancore in evergreen forests at low eleva-

tions.

Note : That Pterospermum Heyneanum is a species distinct from P. reti-

culatum is evident from the following table :

P, retieulatum

Leaves very oblique at base.

Stipules smaller.

Flowers 3-4*5 cm. across;

Involucral bracts pinnatisect with-

filiform segments.

Calyx 2*5-3* 7 cm.

Capsule 7*5 cm. long, obtusely angled,

acute.

Cells of capsule 4-seeded.

P. Heyneanum

Leaves much less or not at all oblique.

Stipules ensiform, 12 mm. long.

Flowers up to 8*5 cm. across.

Involucral bracts foliaceous, deeply

and variously cut and gashed.

Calyx 5-6' 2 cm. long.

Capsule 5 cm. long, obtusely 5-

angled.

Cells of capsule 8-10 -seeded.

P. Heyneanum does not seem to occur in the Bombay Presidency. In the

Madras Presidency, the tree has been found only in the forests of N. Circars

and Deccan from Ganjam to Cuddapah and Chingleput (Gamble).

8. Eriolaena, DC. (Cke.i, 130).

Species about 8. — Indo-Malayan.

Cooke describes 4 species as occurring in the Bombay Presidency : E.

Stocksii , E. Hookeriana , E. Candollei , and E. qninquelocularis.

Talbot (For. FI. Bom- i (1909) 152) says: ‘I am unable to satisfactorily

distinguish between the 4 usually accepted species which are founded

I think on no constant differentiating characters of importance.’

Graham (Cat. Bomb. PI. p. 20) mentions only E. Hookeriana and thinks it

might be identical with E. Candollei.

Dalzell and Gibson (Bombay FI. p. 24) give only E. Candollei.

Beddome (FI. Sylvat. p. 50) distinguishes 2 species : E Hookeriana and E.

quinquelocularis , and this he did, as Talbot thinks, on slender grounds.

Gamble (Madras FI. p. 100) retains the same 2 species and adds a third-one :

E. Lushingtonii Dunn which (in Kew Bull. (1915), 88) is considered as ‘ E.

quinqueloculari , Wight, affinis, foliis membranaceis , alabastris medio con-

strictis distinct a. ’

Brandis (For. FI. N.-W. & Cent. Ind. (1874), 36) describes only E.

Hookeriana and adds ; 'lam ipclined to think that the differences between

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 8$i

E. Hookeriana, E. flavescens, Garcke [= E, quinquelocularis] , and E

Stocksii are not very great.’ — But in his Indian Trees (1911) p. 87 he retains all

the 4 species mentioned by Cooke, observing, however, that E. Stocksii is

closely allied to and perhaps not specifically distinct from E. Hookeriana.

Let ns examine the single species :

1. Eriokena Stocksii, Hook. f. & Th. in Hook. f. F.B I. i, (1874), 370 , Cke.

i, (1901) , 131 ; Brandis Ind. Trees (1911 ), 87 ; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921),

81

Cooke says that there are two good specimens of this species in the Kew

Herbarium. But there is no fruit on either and thus Cooke was unable to

decide whether E. Stocksii should be maintained as a separate species or

united with Hookeriana. This seems to show that Cooke would have united

E. Stocksii with E. Hookeriana but for the absence of the fruit in the Kew

specimens. In other words we shall never be able to find out whether E.

Stocksii is a distinct species till we see the fruit. It is over 80 years since

Stocks collected in the Konkan and no botanist has in the meantime gathered

a specimen showing the characters of leaf and flower given foi E. Stocksii but

with a fruit different from that of E. Hookeriana.

But what about the specimens mentioned by Brandis as originating from the

Aravalli hills and the Panch Mahals (1. c.) ? They were either in fruit or not.

If they were, how could Brandis identify the plant with E. Stocksii , as the fruit

of this species is not known ? If they bore no fruit then there was no possibility

of identifying them with E. Hookeriana.

The same difficulty is felt with regard to two specimens put under E.

Stocksii by Haines (l.c.). He remarks : ‘ The specimens appear to be distin-

guished from E. Hookeriana , W. & A., by the very narrowly ovoid buds, much

longer than the laciniate bracteoles, and by the stellate tomentum on the

underside of leaves being thinner. It seems to me a variety of E. Hooke-

riana ’ .

Considering all this I think the best thing to do is, not to unite E. Stocksii

with E. Hookeriana , but to drop it entirely.

As to the other 3 species I think we have sufficient reasons for considering

them as distinct species.

2. Eriolaena Hookeriana, Wight & Am. Prodr. (1834), 70 ; Grah. Cat. p. 20 ;

Mast, in Hook. f. F.B. I. i. (1874), 370 ; Brandis For. FI. N. W. & Centr. India

(1874), 36; Ind. Trees (1911), 87; Cke. i, (1901), 131- Gamble Madras FL

(1915), 110 ; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 81.

Description : Cke. i, 131.

This species can be distinguished from E. Candollei by the hairy style, by the

shorter capsule with the valves tubercled and not keeled.

Locality: Along the S. Ghats, Konkan and dry forests of the Satpuras

(Talbot).

Distribution : Bihar and Orissa : Hill tracts south of the Ganges from

Shahabad and the Santal Parganas to Sambalpur and Angul (Haines).

Madras Pres. : E. Ghats from Ganjam to Godavari, hill forests of the Deccan

and Carnatic, up to 5,000 ft. in Cuddapah ; W. Ghats in the Pulney Hills

(Gamble).

3. Eriolaena Candollei, Wall. PI. As. Rar. i, (1830), 51, t. 64; Dalz. & Gibs.

24; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B. I. i, (1874), 370 ; Cke. i, (1901), 131 ; Brandis Ind.

Trees (1911), 87 ; Kurz For. FI. Burma i, (1877), 148.

Description : Cke. i, 131.

Locality : Add : W. Ghats : Khandala (Blatter !).

Distribution : Konkan, S. M. Country, N. Kanara, Bhutan, Burma, Siam,

Laos, Tonkin, Yunnan.

4. Eriolaena quinqueloculrris, Wight lc. iii, (1847), 7 ubi describ. tab. 882,

( Microchloena quinquelocularis , Wight 1. c. 882) ; Bedd. For. Man. in FI. Sylv.

p. xxxv. t. 5, fig. 2 ; Cke. 1, (1901) 132 ; Brandis Ind. Trees (1911), 87 ; Gamble

FI. Madras (1915), 110 ; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 81.

Description : Cke. i, 132.

According to Haines this species can easily be distinguished from E. Hooker-

iqnq ‘ by the slender 2-5-flowered peduncles, and minute very caducous, entire

882- JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , FhL XXXIV

or only lobed bracteoles, and in fruit by the less tubercled narrow capsules,

1— 1‘ 25" long, lanceolate in outline and sharply pointed. In leaf it is very

similar, but the under surface is white and more thinly stellate and the petioles

relatively longer, being often as long as the blade.’

Distribution : Bombay Pres . : Konkan, W. Ghats, Deccan, S. M. Country. —

Madras Pres : Deccan, Sandur Hills of Bellary, hills of Coimbatore, W. Ghats

from Mysore to Travancore at 2,000 -4, COO ft. (Gamble). Bihar.

# 9. Dombeya, Cav. (not in Cke.)

Shrubs. Leaves often cordate, palmately nerved, frequently lobed. Flowers

rosy or white, numerous, in loose axillary or terminal cymes, in umbels or

crowded into dense heads. Bracts 3, unilateral, caducous. Calyx 5 partite ;

lobes lanceolate, reflexed in flower, persistent. Petals 5, oblique, cuneate-

obovate, marcescent. Stamens 15-20, 5 sterile, the remainder shorter, united

into a tube or cup. Ovary 2-5-celled ; ovules 2-3 in each cell. Styles free or

connate ; stigmas 5. Fruit a loculicidal capsule.

Species probably about 100. Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles. 3 species are

cultivated in Bombay gardens.

1. Flowers in 2 parted cymes *1. D. acutangida.

2. Floweis in many-flowered much branched

axillary and terminal cymes .,.*2. D. spectabilis.

3. Flowers in 4-8 flowered umbels.. .#3. D. natalensis.

*1. Dombeya acutangula, Cav. Diss. (178 7), 123, t. 38, f. 2.

Description : A low tree or shrub. Leaves crowded at the ends of the

branches. Leaves 7*5-10 cm. diam., thin, round cordate, clothed or both sides

with short stellate hairs or nearly glabrous, shallowly 3-5 lobed or entire, petiole

5-7*5 cm. long. Flowers white or reddish, in many flowered 2 parted cymes ;

bracteoles large, ovate, caducous. Peduncles as long as the petioles, villous ;

pedicels about 12 mm. long, villous. Sepals 8 mm. long or less, reflexing.

Petals 10-12 mm. long, oblique-obovate. Stamens 18, exceeded by the

staminodes ; filaments united at the base only. Ovary densely tomentose ;

styles free at the tips only.

Distribution : Mauritius, Bourbon.

*2. Dombeya spectabilis, Bojer in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. ii, 18 (1842) 191.

Description v A small tree. Leaves cordate, orbicular or oblong, acute,

undulate, 5-9-nerved, rough above and rusty or whitish pubescent beneath;

petioles downy. Flowers 2 cm. across, white, in many-flowered much-branched

axillary and terminal cymes. Sepals lanceolate, shorter than the corolla.

Petals roundish. Stamens united only at the base.

Distributioji : E. tropical Africa.

*3. Dombeya natalensis, Sond. in Linnaea 23 (1850) 17.

Description r Foliage poplar-like. Leaves cordate, acute, long-petioled,

somewhat angular, toothed, with minute stellate pubescence, 5-7 -veined.

Involucre of narrowly awl-shaped leaflets. Umbels 4-8-flowered. Flowers

pure white, large, sweet-scented.

Distribution : Natal.

10. Pentapetes, Linn.

Herbs with hastate-lanceolate leaves. Flowers axillary with 3 caducous

bracteoles. Sepals 5, lanceolate, persistent, connate at base. Petals 5.

Stamens 20, in 5 groups of 3 each, alternating with 5 staminodes, which are

nearly as long as the petals,. Anthers 2-celied, extrorse. Ovary 3-5-celled,

cells many-ovuled ; style entire, twisted, thickened upwards, stigmas 5,

minute. Capsule loculicidal. Seeds 8-12, 2-seriate in each cell, not winged.

Cotyledons plaited, 2-partite.

Species 1. Indo-Malayan.

1. Pentapetes phoenicea, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 698 ; Cke. i, 136.

Description: A pretty branched herb, 0*6-l'5 m. high, glabrous or with a few

scattered stellate hairs- Leaves long, lanceolate, sharply toothed or crenate-

serrate, 7*5~-J3.cm. long, with only 1 primary nerve. Flowers large, red?

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 883

nodding on short 2-flowered peduncles. Sepals stellate and bristly. Capsule

subglobose, bristly, axis woolly. Seeds subglobose, dotted.

Locality : Gujarat : Ghadi (Saxton & Sedgwick).— Cultivated in Sind.

Distribution : Indigenous in N.-W. India and Bengal.

11. Melhania, Forsk. (Cke. i, 133).

Species 45.— Africa, warmer parts of Asia and tropical Australia.

Cooke mentions 4 species : M. incana , M. abyssinica, M. tomentosa , and

M. Denhamii. Of these M. tomentosa , Stocks has been united by Parker with

M. futteyporensis, Munro.

1. Melhania incana, Heyne in Wall. Cat. (1828), 1200; Mast, in Hock. f.

F.B.I. i (1874), 372; Cke. i, (1901), 133.

Distribution: S. M. Country of Bombay Pres.; Madras Pres.: Deccan,

Cuddapah, Coimbatore.

2. Melhania abyssinica, A. Rich. FI. Abyss, i, (1847), 76 ; Mast, in Oliv. FI.

Trop. Afr. i, (1868), 231 ; in Hook. f. F. B. I.i, (1874), 372 ; Cke. i, (1901), 133 ;

Blatt. FI. Arab, in Rec. Bot. Surv. India viii, pt. i, (1919), 86. — M. ovata,

Boiss. FI. Or. I, 841 (excl, syn.).

Distribution : Sind, Arabia, Abyssinia, Cape Verde Islands.

3. Melhania futteyporensis, Munro ex Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i, (1874),

373 ; Parker For. FI. Punj. (1918) , 47.— M. Hamiltoniana , Munro Hort. Agrens,

9 ( non Wall.). — M. tomentosa , Stocks ex Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i, (1874),

373 ; Cke. I (1911), 133 —M. abutiloides , Aitch. ( non Arn.).

The reason why Parker has united :M. tomentosa with M. futtyporensis is

because the distinction between the two is based on the bracteoles alone. The

bracteoles, however, vary considerably and cannot, therefore, forma reliable

basis for classification. The following description is taken from Parker (1. c.):

‘ A cano-pubescent undershrub 2-3 feet high. Leaves 2-3 inches long, oblong,

oblong-lanceolate or sometimes ovate, slightly cordate or rounded at the base,

usually rather thick, softly tomentose on both surfaces especially the lov'er ;

petiole 1 inch long or less ; stipules setaceous, about as long as the petioles.

Peduncles axillary and terminal, 2-4-flowered. Bracteoles very variable, cor-

date-ovate to lanceolate, the edges recurved or not, equalling or shorter than

the calyx. Sepals lanceolate, acuminate, villous outside. Petals exceed-

ing the sepals, • 5 inch long or more, yellow\ Capsule -5 in long, ovoid,

villous.’

Distribution : Gujarat, Sind, Rajputana Desert, dry hills of the Punjab,

Trans-Indus, Central Provinces.

4. Melhania Denhami, R. Br. in Denh. & Clapp. Trav. (1826) App, 232 ; Cke. i,

(1901), 132. — For synonyms see Blatt. .FI. Arab, in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind. viii,

pt. i, (1919), 86.

Locality : Add : Cutch (Blatter !).

Distribution : Rajputana Desert, Cutch, Sind, Baluchistan, Arabia, tropical

Africa.

12. Melochia, Linn. (Cke. i, 134).

Species about 65. Tropics.

Only 2 species are known from the Presidency : M chorchorifolia and M .

velutina. The latter should, according to Stapf (Kew Bull. (1913), 317), be

changed into M. umbellata.

1. Melochia corchorifolia, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 675; Cke.i, 135.

Locality: Cutch (Blatter!). — Gujarat: Godra (Cooke). Bombay Island

(Blatter!). N. Kanara (Hohenacker).

Distribution : In most districts of the Madras Pres. ; hotter parts from

Kumaon to Sikkim, Malay Peninsula and Ceylon.— Tropics generally.

Uses : Leaves eaten as a vegetable ; stem yields a fibre (Haines).

2. Melochia umbellata, Stapf in Kew Bull (1913) , 317 ; Gamble FI. Madras

(1915), 110. — Visenia umbellata , Houtt. Handl. viii (1777), 309. — Visenia

Umbellata, Wight Ic. 509.— V. indica, Houtt. ex Miquel FI. Ind. Bat, i, ii^

884 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

189. — Melochia indica, (Houtt.) A. Gray ex K. Schum. in Engl. Bot. Jahrb. xi

(1888), 209. — Melochia velutina, Wall, ex Bedd. For. Man. in FI. Sylv. (1871)

p. xxxv, t. 5, fig. 3; Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i, (1874), 374 ; Cke. i, (1901).

135. — Melochia arborea, Blanco FI. Filip, ed. 1 (1837), 52k.—Ridleia tilice-

tolia , DC. Prodr. I, 491 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. FI. 24.

Description : Cke. i, 135.

13. Buettneria, Loefl. (not in Cke.).

Herbs, shrubs or trees, often climbing and frequently prickly. Leaves

often glabrous. Flowers minute, in much-branched axillary or terminal

umbellate cymes. Sepals 5, connate below. Petals 5, claws concave, limb

with a long strap-shaped 2-fid appendage. Stamens 10, connate below,

bearing 5 stamens alternating with 5 staminodes. Ovary sessile with 5

two-ovuled cells ; style entire or 5-fid. Capsule globose, spiny, with 5 one-seed-

ed cells and 5 septicidally deciduous valves. Seeds axile, exalbuminous ;

cotyledons folded round the superior radicle ; plumule lobed.

Species 60. Tropics. 1 species indigenous in the Bombay Presidency.

1. Buettneria herbacea, Roxb. Cor. PI. i, t. 29 ; Wight lc. t. 488 ; Dalz. and

Gibs. FI. Bomb. 23 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 376.

Description : A branched herb with a perennial woody rootstock. Leaves

distant, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, toothed, paler beneath, 2'5-6 cm. long,

base cordate or rounded, 3-5-nerved ; petiole 4 mm. long. Stipules linear,

equalling the petiole. Flowers small, purplish, in axillary cymes. Sepals

linear-lanceolate, reflexed. Petals with long slender tips and 2-fid appendages.

Fertile filaments very short, staminodes ovate. Capsule softly spiny, 6 mm.

diam.

Locality'. Konkan : (Dalzell & Gibson).

Distribution : Orissa ; Madras Pres. : N. Circars, Deccan and Carnatic.

*14. Abroma, Jacq.

Trees or shrubs. Leaves cordate, ovate-oblong, serrulate, sometimes angled .

Peduncles opposite the leaves, few-flowered. Sepals 5, connate near base.

Petals 5, purplish, concave below, prolonged above into a large spoon-shaped

lamina. Staminal cup of 5 fertile and as many sterile divisions, fertile

filaments opposite the petals, 3-antheriferous ; anthers 2-lobed, lobes divergent.

Staminodes longer than the fertile filaments, obtuse Ovary sessile, pyramidal,

5-lobed ; cells many-ovuled ; styles 5. Capsule membranous, 5-angled,

5-winged, truncate at apex, septicidally 5-valved, valves villous at the edges.

Seeds many, albuminous ; embryo straight, cotyledons flat, cordate ; radicle

next the hilum.

Species 10. Tropical Asia to Australia. One species cultivated in the

Presidency.

* Abroma augusta, Linn. f. Suppl. (1781), 341 {Ambroma) ; Cke. i, 136.

Abroma fastuosa, Gaertn. Fruct.

Description : A shrub or small tree with velvety branches. Leaves 10-15 cm.

by 10-12 cm., repand-denticulate, base 3-7-nerved, upper smaller, narrower,

entire, glabrescent above, tomentose below ; petiole 12-25 mm. Stipules

linear, deciduous, as long as the petiole. Peduncle about 4 cm. long, axillary.

Flowers 5 cm. diam., dark red. Sepals 2-5 cm., lanceolate, free nearly to the

base. Petals scarcely exceeding the sepals, imbricate in bud, deciduous.

Capsule almost 4 cm. long, obpyramidal, finally glabrous, thrice as long as

the persistent calyx. Seeds enveloped in light cotton wool.

Locality : Grown as an ormanemtal plant in the gardens.

Distribution : Indigenous or cultivated throughout the hotter parts of India,

Java, Philippines, China.

* 15. Guazuma, Plum, ex Adans.

A tree. Leaves simple, tomentose. Flowers in axillary cymes. Sepals 5,

connate below. Petals 5, concave at the base, prolonged above into 2 narrow

strap-shaped processes. Stamens 10, connate below into a tube, divided above

into 5 three-anthered filaments, alternating with 5 lanceolate staminodes.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 885

Ovary sessile, 5-lobed, 5-celled ; styles more or less connate ; ovules many in

each cell. Fruit globular, woody, tubercled, many-seeded. Seeds album-

inous ; cotyledons folded.

Species 5. Tropical America.

One species cultivated and sometimes run wild in the neighbourhood of

human habitations.

* 1. Guazuma tomentosa, H.B. & K. Nov. Gen. PI. 5 (1821), 320; Cke. i,

136; Parker FI. Punj. (1918), 48.

Description'. Leaves 7-11 by 5 cm., oblong-ovate, obliquely cordate,

acuminate, serrate, scabrid above, pubescent beneath, base 5-7-nerved.

Flowers small, iu axillary cymes, yellow. Sepals 5, at first spathaceous.

Petals 5. Anthers 2-lobed; lobes divergent. Capsule 12-25 mm. long,

globose or oblong, 5-celled, woody, covered with blunt tubercles, black when

ripe.

Distribution : Frequently cultivated. A native of tropical America.

# 16. Theobroma, Linn.

Usually small trees. Leaves large, entire, simple, thick and strongly

nerved. Flowers small, sometimes borne laterally on the branches rather

than in axils. Calyx deeply 5-parted or -lobed. Petals 5, mostly clawed

or narrowed below. Fertile stamens 5, opposite the sepals. Ovary sessile,

5-celled, many-ovuled ; style filiform. Fruit a large woody drupe or pod.

Seeds imbedded in pulp.

Species about 20.— Tropical America, One species sometimes grown in the

Bombay Presidency.

* 1. Theobroma Cacao, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 782. — The Common Cacao.

Description : A wide-branching evergreen tree, reaching 5-8 m. in height.

Twigs pubescent. Leaves alternate, oblong-oval or elliptic-oblong, entire,

short-petioled, the blade 15 cm. long more or less, rounded at the base,

abruptly acuminate, with strong midrib and paired or somewhat alternate

arching side veins. Flowers small, in fascicles directly on the bark of the

trunk and main branches, about 2 cm. across when expanded. Pedicels

slender, 12 mm. or more long. Calyx rose-coloured ; segments acuminate.

Corolla yellowish ; petals with a stalk-like claw and expanded blade. Fruit

30 cm. long or shorter, mostly 10 cm. or less in diam., about 10-ribbed, red,

yellow, purplish or brown, elliptic-ovoid, the rind thick, hard and leathery ;

ceils 5, each with 5-12 seeds in a row imbedded in a white or pinkish acid pulp.

Locality : Grown in some gardens.

Distribution : Apparently a native of Central and S. Africa.

T1LIACEA5.

1. Grewia, Linn.

Species 150. Africa, Asia, Australia, especially tropics.

Cooke gives 17 species. Of these G. umbellata , Roxb. must be excluded

from the Bombay Flora. It is a Malayan species occurring in the Malay

Peninsula, Siam and Borneo, but has never been found in the * Concan and

Coromandel ’ as stated by Masters in the FI. Brit. Ind. i, 385.

In the same way G. polygama , Roxb. has to be removed as it has never been

observed in W. or S. India.

Numerous changes in the nomenclature of other species have to be made :

G. columnaris , Sm. =. G. orientalis , Linn.

G. orientalis , Wight & Arn. = G. rhamnifolia, Heyne,

G. populifolia, Vahl = G. tenax , Fiori.

G. salvifolia, Heyne = G. Damine , Gaertn.

G. pilosa. Cooke (non Lam.) ;== G. flavescens, Juss,

G. abutili folia, Vent. = G. aspera , Roxb.

Key (after Cke.) :

A. Inflorescence terminal and axillary, some-

times extra-axillary. Flowers in umbellate

cymes.

I, Erect shrub or small tree

1, G. orientalis ,

886 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

II. Scandent shrubs

1. Toiuslong. Drupe deeply lobed, purp-

lish ...

B. Inflorescence leaf* opposed and axillary,

sometimes extra-axillary

I. Leaves scabrous with stellate hairs

II, Leaves glabrous or nearly so

C. Inflorescence axillary, rarely extra-axillary

I. Leaves usually hoary, at least beneath

1. Gland of petals minute or o

2. Gland of petals conspicuous

{a) Leaves 3-nerved from the base

(£) Leaves 5-6-nerved from the base

* Stipules leafy, auricled

** Stipules linear-lanceolate

II. Leaves not hoary beneath

1. Drupe with a crustaceous rind

( а ) Leaves ovate-oblong. Anthers hairy.

(б) Leaves orbicular. Anthers glabrous.

2. Drupe fleshy

(а) Flowers all bisexual.

* A small tree. Leaves lanceolate.

Drupe didymous

** A straggling shrub. Leaves roun-

dish, irregularly toothed or lobed.

Drupe l-4~lobed

(б) Flowers polygamous

D. Inflorescence terminal in panicled cymes.

Flowers involucrate...

1. Grewia orientalis, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 964; Vahl Symb. Bot. 1, 34 {non

Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 384). — G. columnaris , Sm. in Rees Cyclop. (1811),

17, n. 5 ; Wight Ic. t. 44 ; Grab. Cat. 21 ; Dalz. and Gibs. 26 ; Mast, in Hook,

f. F.B.I. i, 383 ; Cke. i, 138 ; Talbot For. FI. i, (1909), 157.— G. bracteata,W\c\.

ex Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 383 {non Roth.). — G. pilosa. Wall. Cat. n. 1112,

C, D, E, F {non Lam. neque Roxb.).— G. carpinifolia, Wall Cat. n. 1093 {non

Jtiss. neque Roth, et Roxb.),— G. obtusa , Wall. Cat. n. 1103 {partim).

Description : Cke. i, 138 under G. columnaris.

Locality : Ko?ikan : We have only Graham’s records : Malabar Hill in Bom-

bay and Salsette. — N. Kanara : The specimens to which Cooke refers are,

according to Talbot, somewhat imperfect and cannot with certainty be

referred to this species.— I have not seen any specimens from the Presidency.

Distribution : Bengal, Carnatic from Chingleput to Tinnevelly and lower

Travancore, Ceylon, E. tropical Africa, Java.

2. Grewia umbellifera, Bedd. For. Man. in FI. Sylv. p. xxxvii ; Mast, in Hook,

f. F.B.I. i, 393; Cke. i, 138; Talb. For. FI. Bomb, i, (1909), 155, fig. 94

{Partim). — G. Ritchiei , Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 389.

G. heterotricha, Mast.; given as a synonym by Talbot, is a distinct species.

He finds it impossible to separate the two species by any constant specific

character. It can be admitted that the differences between the two species are

not very pronounced, but then we must also consider that so far nobody has

seen the fruit of G. heterotricha. I think it, therefore, advisable not to reduce

G. heterotricha in the meantime.

Description : Cke. i, 138.

Locality : Konkan (Ritchie). — N. Kanara : Yellapur and Gersoppa (Talbot) ;

Castle Rock (Blatter !)

Distribution : Madras Pres. : W. Ghats in all the districts (Gamble).

3. Grewia rhamnifolia, Heyne in Roth. Nov. Sp. (1821), 244; Gamble FI.

Madras (1915), 117 ; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 88. —G. orientalis , Wight

& Arn. Prodr. i (1834). 76; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. FI. 26,* Mast, in Hook, f.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 88?

F. B.I. i, 384 {non Linn.) ; Cke. i, 139 {non Linn.) ; Talb. For. FI. Bomb, i,

(19G9), 157, fig. 95 {non Linn.).

Description : Cke. i, 139.

Locality: On the Southern Ghats (Dalzell & Gibson). This is the only

record ; but no botanist after Dalzell and Gibson has ever seen this plant. Its

occurrence in the Bombay Presidency is very doubtful.

Distribution : Bihar and Orissa ; Madras Pres. : N. Circars and Carnatic

districts, extending to the E. Deccan; Mysore: Bababuden hills at 3,000 ft.,

Ceylon.

4. Grewia heterotricha, Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 385 ; Cke. i, 139 ; Gamble

FI. Madras (1915), 117. — G. umbellif era , Talbot For. FI. Bomb, i, (1909), 155

( partim ) .

Can be distinguished from G. umbellif era by the much larger buds, by the

pedicels being few together, by the leaves being densely pubescent beneath and

by the much shorter gonophore.

Description and Locality : Cke. i, 139, 140.

Distribution : N. Kanara ; W. Ghats in S. Kanara, Coorg, Coimbatore and

Nilgiri districts, at 3,000—6,000 ft. (Gamble).

5. Grewia tenax, Fieri Bos. Piante legn. Eritrea (1909), 246 ; Blatt. FI. Arab,

in Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind viii, pt. i, (1919), 88. — Chadara tenax , Forsk. FI. Aeg.

—Arab. (1775) p. cxivand p. 105. — Grewia chadara , Lam. in Encycl. Meth. Bot.

iii, (1789), 44. — G. populifolia, Vahl Symb. i, (1790), 33 ; DC. Prodr. i, (1824),

51.1 ; Boiss. FI. Or. i, (1867), 843 ; Oliv. FI. Trop. Afr. i, (1868), 246 ; Mast, in

Hook. f. F.B.I. i (1874), 385; Cke. i, 140 ; Blatt. FI. Aden (1915), 131. — G.

betulcefolia, Juss, in Ann. Mus. Par. iv, ( 1804), 92, t. 4, f. 1 ; Gamble Fh

Madras (1915), 117. — G. membranacea , A. Rich. FI. Abyss, i, (1847), 90. — G.

reticulata , Hochst. ex Mast, in Oliv. FI. Trop. Afr. i, 246. — G. ribesicefolia,

Hochst. ex Mast. l.c.

Description and Locality : Cke. i, 140.

Distribution : Punjab, Desert of W. Rajputana, Sind, Baluchistan, Cutch,

S. M. Country, Deccan and Carnatic of Madras Pres., Ceylon, Afghanistan,

Persia, Arabia, tropical Africa, Mauritius.

6. Grewia Damine, Gaertn. Fruct. ii, 113 ; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 118. —

G. salvifolia, Heyne ex Roth Nov. PI. Sp. (1821), 239 {non Linn. f. nec Roxb.) ;

Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 387 {partim).

Description : Cke. i, 140.

Distribution : Trans-Indus, Salt Range, Sind, Rajputana, S. M. Country,

N, Circars, Deccan from Kistna to Bellary .—Ceylon.

7. Grewia orbiculata, Rottl. in Ges. Naturf. Fr. Neue Schr. 4 (1803), 205;

Mast, in Hook, f. F.B.I. i, 386 ; Cke. i, 141; Talbot For. FI. Bomb, i, 160. —

G. rotundifolia , Juss. in Ann. Mus. Par. 4 (1804), 92, t. 50; Gamble FI.

Madras (1915), 118 ; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 92.

From the above synonymy I don’t quite see why Gamble and Haines have

adopted G. rotundifolia, Juss.

According to Talbot l.c. the figure of G. rotundifolia in leones t. 45 appears

to be a representation of G. pilosa , Lam.

Description : Cke. i, 141.

Locality : Deccan : Gokak hills (Ritchie).— -Talbot’s record from the Konkan

has to be eliminated. He himself says l.c. that he is unacquainted with this

species.

Distribution : Madras Pres. : N. Circars in Vizagapatam and Kistna,

Deccan in Kurnool and Cuddapah, Carnatic, in S. Arcot and Tinnevelly

(Gamble).

8. Grewia tilisefolia, Vahl Symb. i, (1790), 35 ; Cke. i, 141. — G. asiatica var.

tilicefolia, Brandis Ind. Trees (1911), 98.

Locality: Add: Khandesh : Satpuras up to 4,000 ft. (McCann!); IV.

Ghats: Khandala (Blatter!); Panchgani (Fernandez!); Pasarni Ghat

(Blatter !).

Distribution : Sub-Himalayan region from the Jumna to Nepal up to 4,000

ft., Central India, all districts of Madras Pres., Bihar and Orissa, Burma,

Ceylon, E. tropical Africa.-

888 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HI ST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXlV

Var. leptopetala, Cooke in Cke. FI. Bomb, i, 142. — Grewia leptopetala, Brandis

Ind. Trees (1906), 100.

Locality : Deccan : Hills near Poona (Brandis).

*9. Grewia asiatica. Linn. Mantiss. (1767), 122 {non Roxb.) ; Parker FI.

Punj. (1918), 55: Haines Bot. Bih & Or. (1921), 94 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I.

i, 389 {excl. syn. subinaequalis) ; Cke. i, 142 {partim) .

Description : A shrub or small tree ; young parts stellately pubescent.

Leaves 7-17 by 6-12 cm., ovate or suborbicular, acute or sub-acuminate or

cuspidate, sharply and often coarsely doubly senate, subglabrous above,

hoary-tomentose beneath, rounded or only slightly cordate at the base

5-6-7*nerved ; petioles 6-12 mm. long, thickened at the top ; stipules nearly

as long as the petioles, linear, subulate or lanceolate. Flower-buds broadly

cylindric or ciavate. Peduncles axillary, usually many, long and slender, far

exceeding the petioles and often 3-4 times as long, sometimes 4 cm. long.

Flowers large. Bracts beneath the pedicels lanceolate. Sepals about 10 mm.

long, linear-oblong, acute, stellately pubescent or tomentose. Petals yellow,

oblong or ovate-oblong, jagged orentire, about 6 mm. long, not bifid ; gland

with a wide fleshy margin, pubescent towards the edges. Gonophore long.

Stigma with 4 short, rounded lobes ; style much thickened above. Fruit red,

globose, 6-8 mm. diam.; pyrenes 1-2, always one-celled only.

Locality : Extensively cultivated.

Distribution : In the wild state unknown.

10. Grewia flavescens, Juss. in Ann. Mus. Par. iv, (1804), 89 ; Gamble FI.

Madras (1915), 119 ; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 89. — G carpinifolia. Mast,

in Hook. f. F.B.I. , i, 38 1 {non Juss.).— G. pilosa, W. & A. {non Lam.). —

G. pilosa Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 388 ( partim , non Lam.).

Locality: Add: Khandesh : Akrani at 3,700 ft. (Tal bot) . — Konkan : Uran

(Hall berg \) .—Deccan : Bijapur (Talbot).

Distribution : Arid subtropical belt of Asia, Africa, South and Central

India to Senegambla (Drummond).

11. Grewia villosa, Willd. in Ges. Naturf. Fr. Neue Schr. 4 (1803),

205 ; DC. Prodr. i, 512 ; Wight & Arn. Prodr. i, 79 ; Mast, in Hook. f.

F. B.I., i, 388; Cke. i, 143; Talbot For. FI. Bomb, i, 163 ; Gamble FI.

Madras (1915), 119; Parker FI. Punj. (1918), 54— G\ orbiculata, G. Don. Gen.

Syst. i, 551 {non Rottl.). '

Description : Cke. i, 143.

Locality : Add : Deccan : Gokak (Talbot).

Distribution : Trans-Indus, Punjab, Rajputana, Sind, Deccan and Carna-

tic of the Madras Pres, from the Kistna southwards. — Cape Verde Islands,

tropical Africa.

12. Grewia laevigata, Vahl Symb. i (1790), 34 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i,

389: Cke. i, 143; Talbot For. FI. Bomb, i, 164, fig. 101.— G. disperma,

Rottl. in Spreng. Syst. ii (1825), 579 ; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 118;

Haines Bot. Bih & Or. (1921) , 91.

Description : Cke. i, 143. — ‘ Towards the base of the leaves the teeth

are converted into small cup-shaped glands which appear to be characteristic.’

(Parker).

Locality : Add : Konkan : Near village sites and in deciduous monsoon-

forests (Talbot). — W. Ghats : Igatpuri ( McCann !) ; Khandala (Blatter!);

Lonavla (McCann !).

Distribution : Snb-Himalayan tract from the Ravi eastwards, Assam,

Burma, Bihar and Oiissa, Bombay Pres., Madras Pres., in all districts,

Malay Archipelago, Australia, tropical Africa.

13. Grewia aspera Roxb Hort. Beng. (1814), 42 ; FI. Ind. ii, (1832). 591 ;

Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 119; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 89. —

G. abuiilifolia, Mast, in Hook. f. F B.I. i, 390 ( partim ) ; Williams Bull.

Herb. Boiss. v. (1905), 29 (Juss ?) ; Cke. i, 144 ; Talbot For. FI Bomb, i, 165.

Description : Cke. i, 144.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Salsette (McCann !)<

Distribution : India, Burma, Cambodia, Malaya.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 889

14. Grewia hirsuta, Vahl Symb. 1, (1790), 34 [non Smith in Rees Cyclop.) ;

Wight & Arn Prodr. i, 78 ; Ic. 76 ; Mast, in Hook f. F.B.I. i, 391 ; Cke. i,

144; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 119; Haines Bot. Bih & Or. (1921), SO

(parlim) .—G. tomentosa , Roxb. FI. Ind. ii, 589 inadnot. sub no. 13, G. poly-

gama ; ( non Juss).

Description : Cke. i, 144.

Distribution : Sub-Himalayan tract from the Indus eastwards up to 4,000

ft., Chota Nagpur, N. Circars and Carnatic of Madras Pres , Konkan, Deccan,

and S.M. Country of Bombay Pres., Burma, Ceylon, Laos, Siam, Cambodia,

N. Australia.

15. Grewia Microcos, Linn. Syst. ed. 12, ii, (1767), 602 ; Mast, in Hook. f.

F.B.I l, 392 ; Cke. i, 145. For synonyms see Mast. 1. c.

Description : Cke. 1. c.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Salsette (Blatter !).

Distribution ; India, Burma, Assam, China, Malaya.

2. Erinocarpus, Nimmo.

Species 1.

1. Erinocarpus Nimmonii, Grah. Cat. Bomb. (1839), 21 ; Cke. i, 146.

Description : Cke. 1. c.

Distribution : Endemic in the Presidency.

3. Triumfetta, Linn. (Cke. i, 146).

Species 75. — Tropics.

Cooke has 3 species : T. pilosa , T. rhoniboidea , T. rotundifolia. The name

T. pilosa has to cede to T. tomentosa , Noronha, T rhoniboidea is Linne’s

T. Bartramia. Two further species, new to the Presidency, are being added.

I. Fruit with bristles, 2'5 cm. across. Leaves

ovate-oblong or ovate-acuminate or

lanceolate-acuminate, softly tomentose

or pubescent beneath ... ... 1. T. tomentosa.

II. Fruit with bristles 5-6 mm. across. Pericarp

tomentose

1. Fruit globose. Leaves tomentose beneath.

Herbaceous undershrubs

a. Lower leaves 3~5-lobed. Bristles of fruit

glabrous. Stamens 8-15... ... 2. T. Bartramia.

b. Lower leaves orbicular. Bristles of fruit

puberulous. Stamens 15-25 ... 3. T. rotundifolia.

2. Fruit ovoid. Bristles ciliate down one

side. Stamens 5-13. Leaves sub-

glabrous, irregularly bluntly dentate ;

lower ones ovate 3- lobed. Annual ... 4. T. pentandra.

III. Fruit with bristles 12 mm. across, glabrous.

Leaves ovate-caudate, serrate, glabrous

Annual... ... ... ... 5. T. annua.

1. Triumfelta tomentosa, Noronha in Verh. Batav. Gen. v, (1790), ed. i, Act.

iv. 27. — T. pilosa , Roth Nov. PI. Sp. (1821), 223 ; Wight & Arn. Prodr. i, 74 ;

Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 394 ; Cke. i, 147 ; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 120 ;

Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 85 ierronee adscripta Roxburghio ). — T. oblongata ,

Link Enum. PI. Hort. Berol. ii, 5.- T. cana , Blume Bijdr. i, (1825), 113;

Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 396. — T. pseudocana, Sprague & Craib in Kew Bull.

(1911), 23 ; Ridley FI. Malay Pen. i, (1922), 304. T. tomentosa , Bojer in Ann.

$c. Nat. ser. ii, xx, (1843), 103. — T. tomentosa , Telfair ex. Wall. Cat. n. 1080,

890 journal, Bombay natural hist , society , voi.xxxiv

The above synonymy shows that 7". pilosa , Roth, 7". Blume, 7". pseu •

docana, Sprague & Craib, and T. tomentosa, Bojer have been united. As

an explanation I refer to a passage by V. Narayanaswami in which Craib’s

Florae Siamensis Enumeratio is reviewed (Journ. Ind. Bot. Soc. v, (1926), 33):

‘ on page 191 Triumfetta cana Masters in F.B.I. p. 396 non Bl. is, I think, a

mistake ; for T. cana , of F.B.I. by Masters is identical with T. cana , of Bl, Bij.

i, 113. Because Masters’ description of the capsular spines being straight

ciliated is clearly an error in judgment as is shown on an examination of the

sheets he quotes i.e., Hk. and Th.’s Khasia mountain specimen, which has the

spines distinctly bent at the tip. On no sheet of T. cana , Bl. (Masters) in the

Calcutta herbarium are the spines seen perfectly straight, but all are more or

less bent, It is also considered that the change of T. cana , Mast, to T. pseu-

docana of Sprague and Craib is in the first instance unnecessary, and secondly

according to specimens in Calcutta herbarium, T. cana , of Masters has been

proved to be identical with T. cana , Bl. Further T. cana , Mast, is in no way

distinct from T. tomentosa Boj. which is described as having straight trans-

parent bristles but which actually is not so, as a close examination of all the

sheets in Calc. Herbarium has shown that the transparent bristle tips in all

cases are more or less bent and not straight. Hence instead of multiplying

synonyms for one and the same species, it is convenient to have all these

reduced to T. pilosa which is the earliest authentic? name of the species and

making T. tomentosa and T. cana , Mast, and Bl. as varietal forms only.’

I agree with Narayanaswami, excepting the last sentence, in which he says

that T. pilosa is the earliest authentic name of the species. T. tomentosa ,

Noronha is older, going back to 1790, and that name, therefore, must be

retained,

Locality : Add : W. Ghats : Khandala (Blatter and McCann !).

Distribution : Throughout tropical India, Burma, Malay Peninsula. Malay

Archipelago, China, Ceylon, Abyssinia, W. tropical Africa, E. tropical Africa P

2. Triumfetta Barframia, Linn. Syst. ed. 10 (1759), 1044; Roxb. FI. Ind. ii,

(1832), 463 ; Fawcett et Rendle in Jourm Bot. lix, 224.-7". rhomboidea, Jacq.

PL Carib. (1760), 22, nomen , et Select. Stirp. Amer. (1763), 147, t. 90 ; DC.

Prodr. i, 507 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F B.I. i, 395 ; Cke. i. 147 ; multi alii . —

Bartramia indica , Linn. Sp. PI. i, (1753), 389. — T. trilocularis , Roxb. FI. Ind.

ii, (1832). 462.-7". angulata , Lam. Encycl. iii, 421.

In the above synonymy the earliest trivial name is ‘ indica' but, 'as Craib

points out, it * cannot be used owing' to the incompletely known T. indica ,

Lam.’

Locality: Add: Konkan : Bombay (Blatter!); Salsette (Hallberg !).—

W. Ghats : Igatpuri (McCann !) ; Khandala (Blatter !).

Distribution : Tropical and subtropical India, Ceylon, Malay Peninsula,

Malay Archipelago, China, Africa, America.

3. Triumfetta rotundifolia, Lam. Encyc. iii, (1789), 421; Mast, in Hook. f.

F.B.I. i, 395 ; Cke. i, 148.

Locality : Add : W. Khandesh (Blatter & McCann !).

Distribution : South Punjab ; Central India ; Bombay Pres. : Gujarat,

Khandesh, Deccan ; Madras Pres. : in all districts of the Circars, Deccan and

Carnatic ; Mysore ; Bihar ; Burma.

4. Triumfetta pentandra, A. Rich, in Guill. & Per. FI. Seneg. (1830-33), 93, t.

19 ; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 120.— 7". neglecta , Wight & Arn. Prodr. i (1834),

75 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i, 396; Parker FI. Punj. (1918), 56 ; Haines Bot.

Bih. & Or. (1921), 85.

Locality,: W. Khandesh (Blatter & McCann !).

Distribution : Punjab : W. to the Indus., Mt. Abu, Madras Pres. : E. coast

of Guntur, Tinnevelly, Ceylon, Abyssinia, Senegal.

5. Triumfetta annua, Linn. Mant. i, (1767), 73; Mast, in Hook. f. F. B. I. i,

396; Gamble FI. Madras (1915) , 120 ; Haines Bot. Bih. & Or. (1921), 85.

Locality: W. Ghats : Khandala (Blatter!).

Distribution : Tropical Himalaya from Simla to Sikkim ; Assam ; Burma ;

Andamans; Deccan in Godaveri and Bellary; W. Ghats of Bombay Pres.,

S. Kanaraand Coorg ; Malay Archipelago ; tropical Africa.

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 89 1

4. Corchorus, (Tourn.) Linn. (Cke. i, 149).

Species about 40. — Warm countries.

From the Bombay Presidency Cooke mentions 7 species, to which I add

C. urticcefolius ; C. antichorus and C. acutangulus are being changed into

C. depressus and C. cestuans respectively.

Key (chiefly after Gamble) :

A. Erect annuals or rarely becoming peren-

nial and woody, but then always with

pubescent capsules. Leaves ovate-lanceo-

late to oblong-lanceolate

I. Capsule depressed-globose, ridged and

muricate, 5-valved ; valves woody.

Leaves straight-sided, serrate ... 1.

II. Capsule ending in a single beak, lobed at

the summit

1. Capsule 2’5-7'5 cm. long, ribbed or

angled, glabrous or scabrid

a . Capsule 10-ribbed, 5-valved, glabrous.

Leaves ovate-lanceolate, finely cre-

nate-serrate ... ... ... 2.

b. Capsule 3-4-angled, 3-4-valved, more or

less pubescent

* Leaves straight-sided, crenate-ser-

rate ... ... ... 3.

** Capsule under 2'5 cm. long. Leaves

ovate, serrate ... ... 8,

2. Capsule 12 mm. long, cylindric, pubes-

cent, 3-valved. Leaves straight-sided,

serrate ... ... ... 4.

III. Capsule ending in 3 radiating points, 3-4-

valved, 2’ 5-3’ 7 cm. long

1, Capsule 6-angled, 3-winged. Leaves

straight-sided, serrate ... ... 7.

2, Capsule cylindric, not winged, Leaves

ovate, crenate-serrate ... ... 6.

C . capsularis.

C. olitorius ,

C, trilocularis.

C. urticaefolius.

C. fascicularis.

C. csstuans.

C. tridens .

B. Woody, prostrate undershrub. Leaves

roundish. Capsule 1*2-3 cm. long, glab-

rous, cylindric, 4-valved ; beak entire ... 5. C. depressus.

1. Corchorus capsularis, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 529 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I.

i, 397 ; Cke. i, 148.

Distribution : May have beeen introduced from China or Cochin-China.

2. Corchorus olitorius, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 529 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I, j,

397 ; Cke. i, 149.

Locality i Add: IV. Khandesh (Blatter & McCann!). Konkan : Bombay

(Blatter!); Salsette (McCann!).

3. Corchorus trilocularis, Linn. Mant. (1767), 77 ; Mast, in Hook. f. F.B.I. i,

397 ; Cke. i, 149.

Locality: Add; Sind : In many places (Sabnis !). Cutch (Blatter!).

Khandesh : Bhusaval (Blatter & McCann !).

4. Corchorus fascicularis, Lam. Encycl. ii, (1786), 104 ; Mast, in Hook. f.F.B.

I.i, 398 ; Cke. i, 149.

Locality : Add: Sind (Duthie). Khandesh (Blatter!). Konkan : Bombay

(Blatter !) ; Salsette (McCann !).

Distribution . Throughout the hotter parts of India, Ceylon, tropical

Africa, Australia.

5. Corchorus depressus, Stocks in Proc. Linn. Soc. i, (1848), 367. — Antichorus

depressus , Linn. Mant. (1767), 64. — Corchorus Antichorus , Raeusch. Nom.

Bot. ed. 3 (1797), 158; Cke. i, 150. — Jussicza edulis, Forsk. FI Aeg.-Arab.

3

892 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , TO. XXXI Y

(1775), 210. — Corchorus microphyllus , Fres. in Mus. Senckenb. ii, (1837), 156. —

C. humilis , Munro ex Stocks in Proc. Linn. Soc. i, (1848), 367.

Locality: Add: Sind: In ,■ many places (Sabnis!). — Cutch (Blatter!).—

Kathiawar : Dwarka (Borgesen) ; Rajkot ( Blatter!).

Distribution ; Deccan, Gujarat, Cutch, Sind, Rajputana, Afghanistan,

Arabia, N. Africa, Cape Verde Islands, tropical Africa.

6. Corchorus tridens, Linn. Mant. App. (1771), 566 ; Cke. i, 150.

Locality : Add : Sind : Thar and Parkar (Sabnis B 750 !).

Distribution : Rajputana Desert, Deccan and Carnatic of Madras Pres.,

* Generally distributed ’ (Masters). Afghanistan, tropical Africa.

7. Corchorus aestuans, Linn. Syst. ed. 10 (1759), 1079 ( non Forsk.) ; Fawcett

& Rendle in Journ. Bot. lix, 225. — C, acutangulus , Lam. Encycl. ii, (1786), 104 ;

Mast, in Hook. f, F.B.I. i, 398 ; Cke. i, 150.

Description : Cke. i, 150.

Locality : Ldd : Konkan : Salsette (Blatter !).

Distribution : Hotter parts of India. Tropics generally.

8. Corchorus urticaefolius, Wight & Arn. i, (1834), 73 ; Mast, in Hook. f.

F.B.I. i, 397 ; Gamble FI. Madras (1915), 122.

Description : An annual herb. Leaves 5-7' 5 by 2' 5-4* 5 cm., ovate, cordate,

acuminate, serrate, sometimes oblique, thinly pilose. Peduncles extra-

axillary, 2-3-flowered . Capsule elongated, under 2*5 cm. long, terete or

slightly 3-angled, bent downwards, hairy, beaked ; beak erect, entire ; valves

with transverse internal partitions.

Nearly related to C. trilocularis , but with a much shorter fruit.

Locality : Konkan : Bombay Isl. (Blatter !).

Distribution : Madras Pres. : dry districts of the Carnatic, Salem, Chingle-

put ; Ceylon, Burma, Abyssinia.

5. El^eocarpus, Burm. ex Linn. (Cke. i, 151).

Species 90. Tropics.

Cooke has 6 species. Of these I omit E. aristatus, Roxb. and E. Munroi ,

Mast, for want of .sufficient evidence of their occurrence in the Presidency.

1. Elaeocarpus Ganitrus, Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814), 42.

The presence of this species in the W. Ghats can scarcely be doubted, but

judging from its distribution (Nepal. Bengal, Assam, Burma. Malay

Peninsula) we are allowed to conclude that it is not indigenous in the

Presidency. It does not occur in the Madras Presidency.

2. Elaeocarpus serratus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 515 («o;z Roxb.) . E. cuneatusy

Wight 111. i, 83.

Locality : N. Kanara.

Distribution : Madras Pres. : In all districts of the W. Ghats up to 5,000 ft.

tropical Himalaya, Sikkim 2,000—3,000 ft., (not in Malay Peninsula), Ceylon.

3. Elaeocarpus oblongus, Gaertn. Fruct. i, (1788), 202, t. 43 ; Wight Ic. t. 46.

Distribution : Madras Pres. : In all districts of the W, Ghats up to 6,000 ft

Malaya.

4. Elaeocarpus tuberculatus Roxb. Hort. Beng, (1814), 93.

Distribution : W Ghats from N. Kanara southwards to Travancore, up to

5,000 ft., Burma, Malaya

LINACE7E

Genera 9. Species 150. — Cosmopolitan.

1. Linum, Tourn. ex Linn.

Species 90.— Temperate and subtropical, especially Mediterranean.

2. Linum mysorense, Heyoe in Wall. Cat. (1828), 1507.

Locality: Add: Konkan; Trombay (Blatter!), — W. Ghats : Panchgani

(Blatter!) *

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 893

2. Reinwardtia, Dutn.

Species 1. India to China.

In the following R. tetragyna , Planch, is united with R. trigyna , Planch.

1. Reinwardtia trigyna, Planch, in Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. vii, (1848), 522.

— R. indica , Dura. Comm. Bot. (1822), 19. — R. repens , Planch. 1. c. (1848), 523.

— R. tetragyna , Planch. 1. c. (1848), 523. R . trigyna , Dalz. & Gibs. FI. Bomb.

(1861), 16. — Linnm trigynum , Roxb. in As. Res. vi, (1799), 357 ( non Linn.) ;

Roxb. FI. Ind. ii, (1832), 110 ; Bot. Mag. t. 1100— A. repens , D. Don Prodr.,

FI. Nep. (1825), 217. — A. tetragynum, Colebr. in Wall. Cat. 1506; Benth. in Bot.,

Reg. t. 1326. — A. Cicanobum, D. Don. 1. c. 217. — Macrolinum trigynum ,

Reich b, Handb. (1827), M.—Kittelocharis trigyna, Alef. in Bot. Zeit. (1863),

282.

I give Parker’s description in his For. FI. Punjab, 57, with a few changes.

Description : A glabrous shrub, 0’6-0 9 m. high, branches erect or prostrate

and rooting. Leaves 2'5-10 cm. long, elliptic-lanceolate' or oblanceolate, acute,

decurrent into a short petiole, entire or minutely crenate-serrate, glabrous,

mucronate, pale beneath ; stipules minute, subulate, caducous. Flowers

mostly solitary and axillary, yellow, showy, about 3‘8 cm. across. Sepals 5, lan-

ceolate, acute, 12*7—15 mm. long. Petals 5, contorted, obovate, cuneate, about

2'5 cm. long. Stamens 5, connate at the base, hypogynous, with as many inter-

posed staminodes, in some flowers shorter, in others longer than the style.

Glands 2-3 adnate to the staminal-tube. Ovary 3-5-celled, cells 2-locellate ;

ovules one in each locellus ; styles normally 3, free or connate at the base,

sometimes 4, 5 or 7 of different lengths. Capsule globose, the size of a pea,

shorter than the persistent sepals.

Locality: Add: Konkan: Bombay (Blatter!); Penn (McCann !).— W.

Ghats : Panchgani (Blatter!).

Distribution : Along the Himalaya from the Indus eastwards, Salt Range,

Trans-Indus, Simla, Kumaon to Sikkim up to 6,000 ft. Assam, Chittagong,

Bihar, Mt. Abu, Bombay Konkan and Ghats, W. Ghat forests of S. Kanara and

Mysore, Tonkin, Siam, China.

3. Hugonia, Linn.

Species 11.— Palmotropics.

1. Hugonia Mystax, Linn. Sp. PL (1753), 675.

Distribution : Konkan and N. Kanara of Bombay Pres.; throughout the dry

forests of the Madras Pres., Ceylon.

MALPIGHIACE7E

Genera 56. Species almost 800. — Tropics, especially S. America.

1. Hiptage, Gaertn.

Species 22.— From Mauritius to China.

Cooke has H. Madablota , Gaertn, which has to be changed into ;

1. Hiptage benghalensis, (Linn.) Kurz in Journ, As. Soc. Beng. , xiv, 2 (1879),

36; Niedenzu in Engl. Pflanzenr. iv, 141 (1928), 77. — Banisteria benghalensis

Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 427, n. 4.— Banisteria tetraptera , Sonnerat Voy. Ind. Or.

ii, (1782) t. 135.— Hiptage Madablota , Gaertn. Fruct. ii (1791) , 169, t. 116 ;

Wight II, (1838) t. 50 —Gaertnera racemosa , Roxb. PI. Corom. i, (1795) t. 18.

Locality : Add.* IV. Ghats: Lonavla (Meebold) ; Khandala (Blatter!) ;

Panchgani (Blatter!).

Distribution: Bombay Pres.: Konkan, W. Ghats, N. Kanara; Madras

Pres. : N. Circars and Carnatfc chiefly in ravines up to’6,000 ft., Ceylon, Mt.

Abu (not in Sind as has Talbot) ; Siwalik, Kumaon, Nepal, E. Bengal, Assam,

Burma, Andamans, Malay Peninsula, Siam, China, Malay Archipelago to For-

mosa and the Philippines,

894 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

2. Aspidopterys, A. Juss. (Cke. i, 158).

Species 17. — Tropical Asia.

Cooke has 3 species. I omit A. Roxburghiana , A. Juss. This species has

been split up into 3 by Hutchinson (Kew Bull. (1917), i91): ^4. indica , (Roxb),

Hochreut.. glabriuscula, A. Juss. and ^4. oxyphylla , A. Juss. There is some

likelihood that pL indica may occur in the Bombay Presidency. But so far

there is no evidence, and Hutchinson is of opinion that A. indica is confined

to the W. Peninsula and ‘ probably entirely to Madras.’

1. Aspidopterys cordata (Heyce) A. Juss. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 2, xiii,

(1840), 267.— Hircza cordata , Heyne in Wall. Cat. (1828), 1060; PI. As.

Rar. i (1830), 13 ; Cke. i, 158.

Description: Cke. i, 158. ‘ In this species the pedicels above the articula-

tion are always more or less hairy, but they are frequently glabrous towards

the apex.’ Hutchinson.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Thana district, Salsette (Jacquemont 991). Hills

near Bhivandi (McCann !).

Distribution : Bombay Pres.: Konkan, Deccan, N. Kanara ; Mardas Pres.:

Deccan, Bellary, Mysore.

2. Aspidopterys canarensis, Dalz. in Hook Kew Journ. Bot. iii. (1851), 37;

Cke. i, 159. — A. glomerata , Wight Ic. (1853) t. 1985.

Description : Cke. l.c.

Locality : Add : Konkan : Near Bombay (Dalzell).

Distribution ; The Bombay Ghats of the Konkan and Kanara ; Mysore,

W. Ghats of Malabar to Tinnevelly.

ZYG0PHYLLACE7E (Cke. i, 159).

Genera 22. Species 160. — Xero— and halophytes of tropical and subtropical

regions.

1. Tribulus, Tourn. ex Linn. (Cke. i, 160).

Species 12. — Africa, Asia, America, Mediterranean.

1, Tribulus terrestris, Linn. Sp. Pl, (1753), 387 ; Cke. i, 160.

Description : Cke. 1. c.

Locality : Add: Sind: Laki in Larkana (Sabnis B116 !) ; Khairpur

(Sabnis B346 !) ; Mirpurkhas (Sabnis B847 ! B1035 !). — Cutch (Blatter !).

— W. Khandesh (Blatter & McCann !).

Distributio?i : Warmer regions of the world.

2. Tribulus alatus, Del. FI. Aegypt. iii, (1812), 62 ; Cke. i, 161.

Description : Cke 1 c.

Locality : Add : Sind : Thar and Parkar (Sabnis B627 !).— Cutch (Blat

ter !).

Description : Sind, Cutch, Rajputana Desert, Baluchistan, Persian Balu-

chistan, Arabia, Syria, Egypt.

2. Seetzenia, R. Br. (Cke. i, 161).

Species 1,— Africa, Asia.

1. Setzenia orientals, Dene. FI. Sin. in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 2, iii (1835), 281 ;

Cke. i, 161.

Description : Cke. 1 c.

Distribution : Cutch, Rajputana Desert, Sind, Baluchistan, Arabia, N. &S.

Africa.

3. Peganum, Linn.

Species 4. — Mediterranean, Asia, N. America.

1. Peganum Harmala, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 444 ; Cke. i, 162.

Locality: Add: Sind: Hyderabad (Sabnis B238 !); Mirpurkhas (Sabnis

B709 !).— Cutch (Blatter !).— Konkan : Bombay (Blatter !).

Distribution: Bihar, U. Provinces, Deccan, Konkan, Cutch, Sind, Balu-

chistan, Waziristan, Persian Baluchistan, Persia, Mediterranean, Centra]

Asia,

REVISION OF THE FLORA OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 89^

4. Zygophyllum, Linn. (Cke. i, 162).

Species 60. — Tropics of the Old World, desert and steppes.

1. Zygophyllum simplex, Linn. Mant. i, (1767), 68; Cke. i, 163.

Locality : Add : Sind : Manora (Sabnis B842 !) ; Mugger Peer (Sabnis

B208 ! ; Hyderabad. Ganja Hill (Sabnis B998 !) ; Thar & Parkar (Sabnis

B1098 \). — Cutch (Blatter !).

Distribution : Rajputana Desert, Cutch, Sind, Baluchistan, Arabia,

Palestine, Egypt, Mediterranean, Somaliland, Cape Verde Islands. S. and S.

W. Africa.

2. Zygophyllum coccineum, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 386 ; Cke. i, 163.

Locality : Add : Sind : Sehwan (Sabnis B676 \) ; Laki (Sabnis (B82 !) ;

Hyderbad (Sabnis B240 !) ; Ganja Hill (Sabnis B995 !) ; Mirpurkhas (Sabnis

B882 ! ) .

Distribution : Sind, Baluchistan, ' Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, Canaries,

Nubia, Somaliland.

5. Fagonia, Tourn. ex Linn. (Cke. i, 163).

Species 20. — Mediterranean to India, S. Africa, California, Chili.

1. Fagonia cretica, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 386 ; Cke. i, 164. — F. arabica, Linn,

l.c, — F. Bruguieri , DC. Prodr. i, (1824), 704.— A\ echinella , Boiss. Diagn ser. i,

viii, 123. — A", diversifolia , Boiss. Diagn. ser. ii, i, 112.— A'. Mysorensis, Roth

Nov. Sp. 215. — F. cretica var. arabica , T. Anders, in Journ. Linn. Soc. v,

Suppl. i, 12.

Locality: Add: Sind: Karachi (Sabnis B782 !) ; Clifton (Sabnis B793 !,

B804 !) ; Mugger Peer (Sabnis B210 !) ; Laki (Sabnis B12.1 !) ; Hyderabad

Sabnis B992 !) ; Thar and Parkar (Sabnis 1061 !) ; Mirpurkhas (Sabnis B867 !;;

Jamesabad (Sabnis B970 ! ; B1115 !) ; Umerkot (Sabnis B1014 !). — Cutch

(Blatter !). — W. Khandesh (Blatter and Hall berg !).

Distribution : Deccan, W. Khandesh, Cutch, Sind, Baluchistan, Waziristan,

W. Rajputana, Upper Gangetic Plain, Punjab, westward to Afghanistan,

Persia, Arabia and Mediterranean.

. *6. Guaiacum, Plum, ex Linn.

Species 1.— Warm America, W. Indies.

One species cultivated in India.

*1. Guaiacum officinale, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 381.

Vern. Names : Guaiacum, Lignum Vitae tree.

Description : A middle-sized or low ornamental tree, 9-12 m. high. Stem

generally crooked, branches knotty, bark furrowed. Leaves evergreen,

abruptly pinnate, with 2 or 3 pairs of ovate or obovate, obtuse, and perfectly

smooth leaflets, 6-12 mm. long. Flowers in small clusters. Calyx 5-partite,

sepals oval, hairy, thrice exceeded by the blue petals. Stamens 10. Style

tapering. Fruit a capsule, roundish, compressed, 5-angled, 5-celled, or the

cells by abortion fewer, one seed in each cell.

Distribution : Inhabits some of the W. India Islands and the Florida Keys.

— Planted in India.

7. Balanites, Del. (Cke. i, 195, under Simarubacece) .

Species 3. — Egypt, tropical Africa and India.

Cooke has 1 species : Balanites Roxburghii, Planch. I unite this with

Balanites acgyptiaca, Delile, as the differences between the 2 species are too

insignificant for a specific separation.

1. Balanites cegyptiaca , Del. 111. FI. d’Eg. (1813), 263, t. 28, f. 1. — Xiinenia

cegyptiaca, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 1194.— X. cegyptiaca , Juss. Gen. 260 —

X. Agihalid, Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. viii, no. 2.— X. ferox, Poir. Encycl. viii,

80S.- Balanites Roxburghii , Planch, in Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 4, ii (1854), 258 —

B. cegyptica , Wall. Cat. no. 6855 ; Wight Ic. t. 274.— A. ferox , G. Don Gen.

Syst. i, llk.—Agialida Roxburghii , O. Ktze.

§96 Journal , Bombay natural hist, society, voi. xxxiv

Description : A shrub or small evergreen tree, rarely reaching 9 m. Young

parts pubescent or tomentose or glabrescent. Twigs armed with stout axillary

or supra-axillar}^ spines, 1-6 cm. long, which often bear leaves or flowers.

Leaves alternate, 2-foliolate ; petioles 3-6 mm. long ; leaflets elliptic or

rotundate, obtuse or subacute or broadly pointed, 1-5 cm. long ; petiolules

up to 5 mm. long. Flowers small, greenish white, fragrant, in axillary few —

or many-fkrwered short-peduncled cymes or fascicles. Sepals 5, ovate, 3 mm.

long, pubescent outside, silky within. Petals 5, oblong-obovate, glabrous

outside, silky-villous or glabrous inside, very little longer than the sepals.

Stamens 10 ; filaments subulate, glabrous ; anthers dorsifixed. Disk cupular,

with a 10-lobed glandular margin. Ovary ovoid, silky, 5-celled ; ovules

solitary in each cell ; style short, conical. Fruit an ovoid drupe, 2*5-6 cm.

long, on a short thick stalk, faintly 5-grooved, pale yellow when ripe ; pulp

5 mm. thick, with an offensive greasy smell ; stone hard, fibrous. Seed exal-

buminous ; embryo with thick plano-convex, corrugated or 2-lobed cotyledons

and a superior radicle.

Distribtition : Drier parts of India, Arabia, Egypt, Eritrea, tropical Africa.

GERANIACE/E

Annual herbs or undershrubs, rarely arborescent ; leaves alternate or

opposite, mostly lobate, dissected or compound ; stipules often paired ;

flowers often handsome, hermaphrodite, actinomorphic or slightly zygomorphic,

axillary, solitary to subumbellate ; sepals persistent, 4-5, free or connate to the

middle, imbricate or rarely valvate, the dorsal one sometimes spurred ; petals

5, rarely 4, very rarely absent, hypogynous or subperigynous, imbricate, rarely

contorted ; stamens 2-3 times the number of the sepals, sometimes a few* with-

out anthers, filaments mostly more or less connate at the base ; anthers 2-celled,

opening lengthwise ; ovary 3-5-lobed ; ovules 1-2 in each cell, superposed,

pendulous, rarely more than 2 ; fruit lobed, lobes 1-seeded, rarely more-seeded,

often beaked ; seeds pendulous, with thin or no (rarely copious) endosperm and

mostly curved embryo.

Genera 11. Species 650. — Cosmopolitan,

1. Monsonia, Linn.

Species 30.— Africa, Asia.

1. Monsonia senegalensis, Guill. et Perr. FI. Seneg. Tent, i, (1830), 131.—

M . asiatica, Vicary in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xvi, (1847), 1161.— M. Lawiana ,

Stocks ex Wight in Calc. Journ. Nat. Hist, vii (1847), 19.— M. chumbalensis ,

Wight Ic. iii, 5, t. 1047. — Erodium chumbulense , Munro ex Wight Ic. iii, t.

1074.— Geranium Lawianum , Nimmo in Grah. Cat. PI. Bomb. Add. post ind.

Distribution : Deccan Gujarat, Cutch, Sind, W. Rajputana, U. Provinces,

Baluchistan, Arabia, Senegambia, Abyssinia, Kordofan, German, E. Africa,

Hereroland.

2. Monsonia heiiotropioides, (Cav.) Boiss. FI. Or. I (1867), 897. — M. hispida ,

Boiss. Diagn. ser. 1, viii, (1849), 120, — M.mallica, Edgew. in Journ. Linn. Soc.

vi (1862), 200 . — Geranium heiiotropioides , Cav. Diss. iv. (1787), 220, t. 113, f.

2.— Erodium heiiotropioides , Willd. Sp. PI. iii. (1800), 638.

Disti'ibution : Sind, Multan, Rajputana Desert, S. Persia, Arabia, Egypt,

Nubia.

* 2. Pelargonium, L’Herit

Species 250.— Chiefly S. African, a few Mediterranean, Australian ; not

indigenous in India.

A number of Pelargoniums, usually called Geraniums are cultivated in Bom-

bay gardens. The commonest are :

*1. Pelargonium peitatum, (Linn.) Ait. Hort. Kew ii, (1789) , 427 . — Geranium

peltatum , Linn. ; Curtis Bot. Mag. i (1793) t. 20.

The Ivy-leaved Geranium.

A weak and straggling plant. Leaves thick and shiny, slightly peltate and

prominently angle-lobed. Flowers 2-lipped, pink or reddish.

Native Country : S, Africa. — This is the parent of the Ivy-leaved Geraniums.

kEVISION OF THE FLOE A OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 897

*2. Pelargonium lateripes, L’Herit. Geran. (1787-88) t. 24.

Ivy -leaved Geranium.

Has a graceful drooping .growth. Leaves cordate, not peltate.

Native Country : S. Africa.

* 3. Pelargonium inquinans, (Linn.) Ait. Hort. Kew. ii, (1789). 424.

Fish Geranium.

Plants very velvety and sometimes viscid. The leaves not zoned, long-

petioled. orbicular-reniform, crenate. Calyx-tube densely glandular and

viscid. Petals broadly obovate, scarlet, but also varying to lighter colours.

Said to be the parent of most of the ‘ scarlet geraniums ’ of English

gardens.

Native Country : S. Africa.

*4. Pelargonium .zonale, (Linn.) Ait. Hort. Kew. ii, (1789), 224. Zonal or

Horseshoe Geranium.

Shrubby, with a strong fishy odour ; young branches succulent, somewhat

hispid. Leaves round-cordate, usually with a zone or horseshoe-mark of deeper

colour on the upper surface. Petals narrow wedge-shaped or spathulate.

Flowers scarlet and crimson through all shades of red to pure white.

Native Country : S. Africa.

*5. Pelargonium quercifolium, (Linn, f.) Ait. Hort. Kew ii, (1789), 422;

L’Herit. Geran. (1787-88) t. 14.

Oak-leaved Geranium, Scarlet-flowering Rose Geranium.

Shrubby and branchy, somewhat hairy and glandular. Leaves with stalks

5-10 cm. long, cordate-ovate, with 2-3 pairs of oblong side lobes. Flowers few

to several, rather small, in umbels, red or purplish.

The leaves have often a dark spot and are not agreeably scented.

Native Country : S. Africa.

*6. Pelargomium radula, (Cav.) L’Herit. Geran. (1787-88) t. 16. Rose

Geranium.

Leaves deeply palmately parted, the lobes narrow linear and pinnatified,

margins revolute, rough hispid on the upper surface, soft-pubescent beneath.

Flowers small, pale purple, with dark streaks. Sepals setose and glandular.

Native Country : S. Africa.

3. Erodium, L’Herit. (Cke. i, 166)

Species 65. — Chiefly temperate.

1. Erodium cicutarium, L’Herit. ex Ait. Hort. Kew. ii, (1789), 414 ; Cke. i,

166.

Distribution : Sind, Baluchistan, Jaisalmer, Punjab, W. Himalaya.—

Cosmopolitan.

OXALIDACEAE

Herbaceous or suffrutescent, rarely arboresscent; leaves alternate, digitately or

pinnately compound, sometimes simple by suppression of the leaflets ; leaflets

spirally coiled when young, usually closing at night ; stipules absent ; flowers

hermaphrodite, actinomorphic, sometimes of two kinds, some perfect and

others minute and apetalous ; flowers solitary or subumbellate, rarely racemose

or cymose ; calyx 5-fid or partite, imbricate ; petals 5, shortly clawed,

free or shortly connate at the base, contorted ; stamens 10, hypogynous, connate

at the base, sometimes five without anthers ; anthers 2-celled, opening length-

wise ; ovary 5-celled, superior ; styles 5, free, persistent ; stigmas capitate or

shortly divided ; ovules 1 or more, axile ; fruit mostly a capsule ; seeds often

with an elastic testa ; endosperm fleshy, copious ; embryo straight.

Genera 7. Species about 880. — Mostly tropical and subtropical.

1. Oxalis, Linn. (Cke. i, 167).

Species 791.— Cosmopolitan, chiefly S. Africa and America.

• Cooke has 1 species. I add a new variety of the same, and 2 species which

have become naturalized.

I. Flowers yellow ... ... ... 1. O. corniculata

898 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX IV

II. Flowers violet

1. Leaflets 3 ... ... ... 2. O. latifolia .

2. Leaflets 4 ... ... ... 3. O. tetrapkylla.

1. Oxalis cormculata, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 435. For synonymy see R Knuth

in Engler’s Pflanzenr. iv, 130 (1930), 146.

Var. corniculata, Zucc. in Abh. Akad. Muench. i, (1825-30), 230.

Stems prostrate or creeping, like the whole plant more or less pilose

Peduncles sub 5-flowered. Capsules pubescent.

Locality : All over the Presidency.

Distribiition : Cosmopolitan.

Var. hispida Blatter, var. nov .

Flores pallide lutei . Sepala intus glabra , extus adpresse hirsuta . Fructus

pilis patentibus hispidus.

Locality: W. Ghats : Panchgani (J. Fernandes !).

2. Oxalis latifolia, H. B. K. Nov. Gen. et Sp. v, (1821), 184, t. 467.

Description : When in flower 17-23 cm. high, stemless. Roots arising from

the lower surface of a round bulb, fibrous, brown, very much branching ;

scales of bulb deep brown, many-nerved. Basal leaves 3-8, 3-foliolate,

petiolate ; leaflets below paler, often 37 mm. broad, 21 mm. long, apex with a

broad not very deep sinus ; lobes divergent, more or less oval, with a few hairs

or with scattered cilia on the margin ; petioles about 8-14 cm. long. Peduncles

basal, pilose or glabrous, up to 1£ times as long as the leaves, 14-23 cm. long,

bearing a simple 6-13-flowered umbel. Bracts broad at the base, more or less

abruptly acuminate, acute, 1-3 mm. long, glabrous. Pedicels 1-2 cm. long,

slender, glabrous or subglabrous. Sepals oblong or lanceolate-oblong,

3’5-5 mm. long, acute, glabrous, at the apex with 2 red callosities. Petals

violet, 8-13 mm. long, Longer stamens pubescent, appendiculate on the

back ; the shorter ones glabrous.

Locality : Naturalized at Panchgani. —Has also been found in the Pulney

Hills, Simla, Kumaon, Mussoorie, Shillong, Sibpur. Native of Mexico.

3. Oxa'is telraphylla, Cav. Ic. iii, (1794), 19, t, 237 ; Link & Otto AbbiJd. ii,

21, t, 11,

Description : In flower 30 cm, high and more, stemless, Roots arising from

the lower surface of the bulb, tortuose, black, rather thin, Bulb 15-35 mm.

diam., more or less spherical, covered with scales ; scales 25 mm. long, lance-

olate, acuminate, acute, nerved. Leaves basal, few, 3-6 ; leaflets 4, rotund-

obtriangular, with the margin at apex retuse, scarcely excised, membranous,

glabrous or provided especially below towards the nerves with long hairs, on

both surfaces minutely impressed-cellular, up to 35 mm. long and broad.

Petioles fleshy, glabrous, 5 times as long as the leaflets or longer, 12-30 cm.

long, Peduncles basal, glabrous or provided with scattered long hyaline cilia,

20-35 cm. long, bearing a simple, 5-12-flowered umbel. Bracts lanceolate,

slightly acute ^reddish at apex, 2-5 mm. long, Pedicels 1*5-2 cm. long, thin,

glabrous. Sepals lanceolate, obtuse, at the apex red-callose, 5 mm. long.

Petals 4-5 times as long as the sepals, reaching 20 mm. narrowly cuneate at the

base, spathulate-obovate, at the apex retuse-rotundate, violet. Stamens and

styles puberulous.

Locality: W. Ghats : Panchgani (Blatter !), naturalized.

Also found at Ootacamund, Pulney Hills, Simla, Shillong.— Native of

Mexico.

2. Biophytum, DC. (Cke. i, 167).

Species 51.— Tropics.

Cooke has one species. I add B. Reinwar dtii.

1. Pedicels 3-10-flowered. Leaflets 2-3 times as

long-as broad ... ... ... 1. B. sensitivum .

2. Pedicels 3-6-flowered. Leaflets 4-5 times as

long as broad ... ... ... 2. B. Reinwardtii

REVISION OF THE FLOE A OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY 899

1. Biophytum sensitivum, (Linn.) DC. Prodr. i, (1824) 690 ; Cke. i, 167. —

Oxalis sensitiva, Linn. Sp, PI. (1753), 434; Roxb. FI. Ind. ii, (1832), 457 ;

Wight and Arn. Prodr. i, (1831), \Y2.—Toddavaddia sensitiva , O. Ktze. Rev.

Gen. i, (1891) 96. — Herba sensitiva , Rumph. Herb. Amb. v, (1747), 301, t.

104.

Locality : Add : Khandesh (Blatter!).

Distribution : Throughout the hotter parts of India. Very likely distributed

all over tropical Africa and Asia to the Philippines.

2. Biophytum Reinwardtii, (Zucc.) Klotzsch. in Peters Reise Moss. Bot. (1862),

85. — B. sensitivum var. Reinwardtii , (Zucc.) Guillaum. in Bull. Mus. d’Hist.

Nat. xv, (1909), 127 . — Oxalis sensitiva , Zucc. in Denkschr. Akad. Muench.

ix, (1823-24), 183. — O. gracilenta , Kurz in Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xxxix, 2

(1870), 68. -Todda Vaddi, Rheede Hort. Mai. ix, (1689), 33 t. 19.

Description : In flower 6-12 cm. high. Stem up to 8 cm. high, sometimes

very short, simple, with short scattered appressed hairs ; crowned at the apex

with 6-17 leaves. Leaves up to 5-7 cm. by 13-18 mm., 14-20-jugate ; petiole

thin, filiform, puberulous, interspersed with remote, setaceous hairs ; largest

leaflets up to 8-9 mm. long and 2*75-3 mm. broad, elongate-triangular, retuse

at the base (the apical ones cuneate-spathulate or almost triquetrous) glabrous

or slightly setaceous-pilose, the same colour on both sides. Peduncles more

or less as long as the leaves, 2-7 cm. long, densely puberulous like the pedicels,

slender, 3-7-fiowered. Bracts minute, linear-subulate or subulate, very acute,

scarcely 1 mm. long, scarcely coacervate. Pedicels often 5 mm. long, filiform.

Sepals more or less pubescent or glabrescent, lanceolate, acute, more or less

strongly 5-nerved, 2*5 mm. long. Petals cuneate, about thrice as long as the

calyx, up to 8 mm. long. Seeds very cristate-favoso-tuberculate.

Locality : Bombay (Boivin 351 ex R. Knuth).

Distribution : W. Coast and W. Ghats from S. Kanara to Cochin and

Anamalai Hills up to 6,000 ft., Upper Gangetic Plain, Dehra Dun, Garhwal,

Ceylon, Malay Peninsula, China, Malaya to the Philippines.

3. Averrhoa, Linn. (Cke. i, 168).

Species 2.-— Cultivated in all tropical countries.

1. A. carambola, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 428; Cke. i, 168 Tamara Tonga ,

Rheede Hort. Mai. iii (1682), t. 43. — Prunum stellatum , Blimbing Rumph.

Herb. Amb. i, (1750) t. 53.

Distribution : Cultivated throughout the tropics.— Perhaps a native of

Malaya.

2. A. bilimbi, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 428 ; Roxb. FI. Ind. ii, (1832), 451. Cke. i,

168. — Bilimbi Rheede Hort. Mai. iii, (1682), 3, t. 45. —Blimbing bula, Rumph.

Herb. Amb. i, (1750) t. 36.

Distribution : Cultivated throughout the tropics. Very likely a native of

Malaya.

* TR0P/E0LACE7E (not in Cke.)

Succulent prostrate or twining herbs with watery juice ; root often tuberous ;

leaves alternate or the lower opposite, simple, peltate, sometimes dotted ; sti-

pules absent ; flowers hermaphrodite, zygomorphic; ' solitary, axillary; calyx

coloured, 2-lipped ; sepals imbricate or valvate, the lateral often broader, the

dorsal produced into a spur (sometimes regarded as a part of the axis) ; petals

5 or rarely fewer by abortion, slightly perigynous, imbricate, the upper two

exterior and often more or less different from the others ; stamens 8, free, de-

cimate ; anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise laterally ; ovary superior sessile,

3-celled, cells 1-ovulate ; ovule pendulous; style one, apical, with 3 stigmas ;

carpels separating from the short central axis, indehiscent, hardening, rugose ;

seeds without endosperm ; embryo straight with thick fleshy cotyledons.

Genus I. Species 50.— S, America, Mexico. Only cultivated species in the

Presidency.

•1. Tropseoluni majus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 345 ; Bot. Mag. i, (1787), t. 23.

Nasturtium, Indian Cress.

900 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

Description : A strong-growing somewhat succulent climbing annual.

Leaves peltate, nearly orbicular and undulate-angled. Flowers large, mostly

in shades of yellow or orange. Spur straight ; the 2 upper petals entire or

undulate, the 3 lower narrower and fringed on the claws.

The number of varieties is very great. There are flowers ot pale straw

colour, orange, scarlet, dark rich crimson brown, and of every intermediate

hue, spotted and striped.

Native Country : Peru to New Granada.

* 2. Tropaeolum minus, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 345 ; Bot. Mag. (1792) t. 98.

Nasturtium.

A dwarf annual, not climbing, smaller in all its parts than T . majus. Leaves

orbicular-reniform, apiculateat the ends of the veins. Petals narrow, apiculate

at the apex, the lower intensely spotted.

Native Country : Peru.

*3. Tropasolum peregrinum, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753), 345. — T. aduncum, Sm. A

Sketch, etc. i, (1793), 158 ; Bot. Mag. xxxiii, (1811) t. 1351.

Canary Bird Flower.

A tall-climbing annual. Leaves peltate near the margin, cordate-orbicular,

5-lobed to about the middle. Flowers canary-yellow, odd and very irregular ;

spur green, hooked ; 2 upper petals erect and large, obovate-clawed, 3 lower

small, narrow, ciliate.

Native of Peru, and perhaps also of Ecuador.

( To be continued. )

THE BIRDS OF THE PROME DISTRICT OF LOWER BURMA.

BY

J. K. Stanford, m.c., i.c.s.

WITH NOTES ON THE COLLECTION.

BY

Dr. Claud B. Ticehurst, m.d., m.a., m.b.o.u., f.r.g.s.

Part II

( Continued from page 672 of this volume .)

White-Throated Bulbul (Criniger tephrogenys burmanicus). 345, 385.

Oates (B. B. I. 183) describes C. griseiceps as ‘ generally diffused over the

hills of Pegu extending down to the towns of Rangoon and Pegu. On the

western side it is probably altogether absent.’ In the Fauna , ed. i.

(i. 256) the distribution of C. burma?iicus is given as from ' Toungoo, Karen

hills, etc ’ ; in the Fauna , ed. ii. (i. 364) from ‘ hills E. of the Salwin from

Yamethin to Moulmein which is a geographical impossibility. The distri-

bution of both forms needs further investigation.

I shot one at about 2,500 ft. on the Nyaunggyo stream on 3rd April, 1929, and

another not far from the same place on 9th April, 1929. I did not see it

elsewhere.

[These two birds W. 100, $ 99’5) are certainly not griseiceps , which the

Fauna gives as inhabiting central West Burma south to Tenasserim. They are

nearest burmanicus from Toungoo but are a little less brown on the upper

parts; more specimens from Arakan are needed. Griseiceps was described

from Upper Pegu.]

Black Bulbul (Microscelis psaroides nigrescens). 379.

Blyth recorded a specimen from Arakan. Oates did not meet it. I found

this species common between 2,500 ft. and 3,000 ft. but only collected one, a

male, on 9th April, 1929. It was nearly always seen in pairs and the long-drawn

cat-like note was most noticeable.

Himalayan Brown-eared Bulbul (Hemixus f. flavala). 330, 356.

Oates’ collectors got it in ‘ the hills of Arakan,’ probably near Nyaunggyo.

I shot two at the same place on 2nd and 4th April, 1929. Those I saw were in

pairs in evergreen forest at 2,500 ft.

[I can match this with examples from Sikkim.]

Rufous-bellied Bulbul (Hemixus macclellandi sub-sp. ?). 329.

Blanford and Oates recorded it from Arakan.

I shot a single out of the top of a very high tree in dense evergreen forest

on the Nyaunggyo stream at about 2,400 ft. on 2nd April, 1929. This was the

only one seen for certain.

[This single specimen (a g, wing 113) does not correspond with the typical

race from Assam on the one hand, nor with tickelli from Tenasserin on the

other. It may well be that there is a distinct race in the Arakan Yomas but

further specimens must be obtained.]

Burmese Red-vented Bulbul (Molpasfes hsemorrhous burmanicus). 159.

The common bulbul of the plains in Prome district. It is said by Blyth to

occur in Arakan, but it was conspicuous by its absence above 1,000 ft. on the

Taungup road in April 1928-29. Very great numbers roost together in cane-

brake jungle near Prome.

902 JOURNAL, BOMBA Y NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Burmese Red- whiskered Bulbul (Qtocompsa jocosa erythrofis). 229.

Oates remarks that it abounds ‘ in the whole of Pegu except the portion

lying between Prome and Thayetmyo, where it is very rare or absent altogether.’

I should say without hesitation that it was confined to the southern half of the

district, along the Irrawaddy valley, and by no means common. I saw a pair

on the Letpanbu jheel, the most northerly point at which I saw any. None

was seen in the Arakan hills in either 1928 or 1929. It is a bird which frequents

not gardens or villages but dry scrub jungle near the river, and is very

local.

[This is O. emeria peguensis of the Fauna. ]

Black crested Yellow Bulbul (Otocompsa flaviventris). 387.

Oates describes it as common through Pegu and * not easily overlooked.’ I

found it exceedingly common and conspicuous fin fact it was the most common

Bulbul) in the Arakan hills in 1928 and 1929 where it w’as breeding in April,

but nowhere else. Subsequently I found it common lower down the Pegu

Yomas in the Insein district, so that I do not think I overlooked it over the

greater part of Prome district. A nest with one egg found in a mango tree at

Nyaunggyo in mid-April 1928, the bird of which I could not identify, was

almost certainly that of this bird (Stuart Baker in lilt.). On 9th November, 1929,

it may be worth recording that a very large gathering of these birds appeared

in my garden at Insein and moved on an hour later. These were, I think,

undoubtedly migrants.

[This single bird is more olive, less golden above, and paler, and less rich

yellow below than the typical race ; a wing 83'5. A further series is

desirable.]

Olive Bulbul (lole olivacea virescens).

Oates describes it a^ plentiful in Pegu c except in the dry portion near Tha-

yetmyo and Prome where it appears to be absent.’ I saw none but may have

confused it with Pycnonotus blanfordi .

Blanford’s Olive Bulbul (Pycnonotus blanfordi). 46, 167, 191,

Very common all over the plains ; not seen in the hills.

Black-headed Bulbul (Microtarsus m. melanocephalus).

According to Oates it is found only in the southern portion of Pegu. I never

saw it at Prome.

Slaty*bellied Wren (Fesia cyaniventer cyaniventer). 328.

Oates does not record it south of Manipur. I obtained a female on 2nd April,

1929, at Nyaunggyo (2,400 ft.) and was quite unaware, till later, of its identity or

could have collected others. This bird was feeding in bushes on a bank in

evergreen jungle and uttering a single note, twice or thrice repeated. On 9th

April, near the same place, I watched one hopping about and singing on the

ground in dense undergrowth, a very powerful and sweet song of seven or eight

notes, and so ventriloquial that it took me ten or fifteen minutes to locate it,

though it was within a few yards of me.

[In this female the head is coloured as the back ; I cannot distinguish it from

Sikkim examples.]

Burmese Stone=Chat (Saxicola caprata burmanica). 138.

Very common all over the plains and foot-hills. I did not see it above 500 ft.

Breeds in pea-fields in the Irrawaddy valley in February and March. Appears

to be a resident, but in January 1929, I noticed nothing but males. I have

noticed this with the British 'Stone- Chat and it is possible that the sexes winter

apart.

Japanese Bush*Chat (Saxicola torquafa stejnegeri). 42.

Oates describes it as a very common winter visitor. I saw considerable

numbers, but it was mainly confined to the Irrawaddy valley, in the drier sandy

land.

[Paler on the breast than most indica ; stejnegeri usually but not quite always

has a broader and stouter bill than indica. ]

THE BIRDS OF THE PROME DISTRICT, BURMA

903

White4ailed Bush=Chat (Saxicola torquata leucura) . 50. 57

Oates describes it as ‘ somewhat rare ’ and only got it a few miles south of

Thayetmyo, but quotes Blanford as saying that it is a constant resident

along the Irrawaddy. I saw many obvioufly paired and apparently

breeding in long grass on the Irrawaddy islands in February and March. The

female much resembles a Spotted Flycatcher and not a Chat at all

Western Dark»grey Bush=Chat (Oreicola ferrea ferrea). 213, 419.

Oates (i. 283) states that he got O. ferrea once near Prome. This

record is not apparently accepted by Stuart Baker (ii. 38), or was subsequently

corrected. Henricks shot a j at Ngaphaw in the foot-hills of the Pegu Yomas

on 25th February, 1929 (200 ft. ) , and another at Sinde on 15th March, on the west

bank of the Irrawaddy, both in low hills covered with scrub.

[These two birds are quite indistinguishable from N. W. Himalayan birds.]

Jerdon’s Bush=€hat (Oreicola jerdoni).

Oates saw it in March at Letpadan (B and O. 11. 66.) in the Tharrawaddy

district considerably south of Prome district. This is very probably why Stuart

Baker records it as extending ‘ as far as Prome.’

Spotted Forktail (Enicurus maculatus guttatus).

Oates (i. 26) records it from Manipur and Arakan and says he got it at

Nyaunggyo, and ‘ had no doubt it was common.’

I saw two or three pairs in company with the next species near Nyaunggyo

and obviously breeding, but failed to obtain one.

Blackjacked Forktail (Enicurus immaculatus) 369, 407.

Oates (i. 25) found it on both sides of the Pegu Yomas and very common in

all the mountain streams. The only two forktails which I obtained at Nyaung-

gyo were males of this species, but I am satisfied that guttatus also inhabited

exactly the same streams. I saw a single forktail at a tiny pool of foul water

at about 1, 500 ft. on the eastern slopes of the hills, in burnt jungle, this pool

being probably the only water of any kind for many miles. It undoubtedly

breeds in the Arakan hills, but 1 was unable to find a nest.

Chinese Red=spotted Bluethroat (Cyanosylvia suecica robusta). 45, 35.

Oates ( i . 1 5) found it common in Pegu from November to May, in tracts

covered with dense elephant grass. Large numbers frequented the swampy

reed-beds of a small stream on the Nawin marshes in January 1929. They

were exceedingly shy and skulking, but, if watched quietly from a distance,

would come out aud hop about on the marsh like Redbreasts. Not seen after

March, and most of them had probably disappeared by that time.

[Three males wing. 75’5~77-5 ; bill 17-17’5. Tips of primaries exceed

secondaries by 15-20 mm. Large birds, very dark and grey on upper parts.

These match well birds from various parts of China.]

WhUe=tailed Blue Robin (Notodela leucura). 40L

Up to 1893 it had not been recorded south of Manipur, except in Karennee

and Tenasserim. I shot a single male at Nyaunggyo on 12th April, 1929, which

flew silently out of bamboo jungle on to a path. This bird is probably not

rare but overlooked in the country it frequents.

Indian Magpie=Robin (Copsychus saularis saularis). 160, 286.

Very common and resident. I have seen it hawking flying ants with

Drongos. Not seen in the Arakan hills in April 1928 or 1929.

Sharna (Kittacincla malabarica malabarica). 79, 360.

Found up to 2,500 ft. in the Arakan hills in dense bamboo jungle where,

judging by its song in the evenings, it is extremely numerous but rarely seen.

The only two nests I have seen were both in artificial holes in large bamboo

posts. One held incubated eggs on 5th April and the other, made largely of

horsehair, was built in May in a post of my stable, despite almost hourly

disturbance by syces. This bird deserted after sitting some days.

[This is K . macroura indica of the Fauna. Kloss has pointed out that the

oldest name for this bird is malabarica of Scopoli. 1786.]

904 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY \ Vol. XXXIV

Orange-headed Ground-Thrush (Geocichla c. citrina). 342.

Oates described it as found throughout the whole of Burma, and resident.

He found it breeding in May and June, apparently in the plains. I saw several

near Nyaunggyo between 2,500 ft. and 3,000 ft. in evergreen forest in April

1928 and 1929, apparently paired and breeding. One bird attracted me by its

song from some distance off and was feeding on a ‘ Nyaung-bin ’. It is

remarkably fearless of man, but if it sits motionless, is easy to overlook.

Mountain-Thrush (Oreocincla dauma dauma). £ 370.

Oates got it on the Pegu hills in April. Henricks shot a single female at

Nyaunggyo on 6th April, 1929, in evergreen bamboo jungle.

Lesser Brown Thrush (Zoothera marginata).

Oates (i. 8) got one in the Arakan hills, ‘ where Mr. Blyth first got it I

believe. I have not observed it in Pegu \

I shot one of a pair on the Nyaunggyo stream in April 1928, but did not

preserve it, nor did I see any in 1929.

[Specimens of this bird are very highly desirable as it was from Abakan that

Blyth described the species.]

Burmese Blue Rock-Thrush (Monticola solitarius). 33, 211 .

Oates (i. II) describes it as * found abundantly over the whole of British

Burma during the cold season ’, arriving in October and leaving in March.

It is a very silent and unobtrusive bird and frequently seen on bungalow roofs

at this time. I saw one at Nyaunggyo on 14th April, 1928; which was possibly

on migration.

[These two females might be equally pandoo or affinis. W. H7, 118.]

Himalayan Whistling-Thrush (Myiophoneus t. temminckii).

Oates describes it as found ‘ on the Arakan hills and its spurs, nearly down

to the Irrawaddy ’. I saw several on the streams near Nyaunggyo in April

1928 and 1929 where they were undoubtedly breeding, and it possibly comes

lower down in the rains. I failed however to find a nest, and on being disturbed,

they would vanish at once into evergreen jungle, where they would sit motion-

less for long periods. I regret that I failed to obtain any, but have little doubt

they were of this race.

Sooty Flycatcher (Hemichelidon sibirica gulmergi). 390, 395.

Oates describes it as a rare winter visitor over the whole of Burma. 1 saw

several at 3,000 ft. along the road near the Taungup Pass on 10th April, 1929,

and shot another in bamboo jungle on the 11th April. Those seen on the 10th

appeared to be single males or pairs, and 1 thought they were probably

breeding.

[The race of Sooty Flycatcher wintering in Burma is, according to Mr. Stuart

Baker, H. s. cacabata. These two birds however I cannot in any way

separate from N. W. Himalayan birds. The distribution given tor gulmergi

in the Fauna is N. W. Himalayas from Afghanistan to Gharwal, but this is

only the summer distribution ; where it goes in winter is not stated.]

Red-breasted Flycatcher (Siphia parva albicilla). 22, 85, 175.

Oates observed it in Pegu from mid-November to the end of March and

states that it was recorded from the Thoungyin valley in mid-September.

The earliest I have seen was on 17th September, 1928, but it is common by

early October.

This bird is the most abundant of the flycatchers throughout the cold

weather but is nearly always seen singly. Though a great number are

probably scattered over one stretch of jungle, one rarely if ever sees two birds

together. It leaves in late March or April.

[It is stated in the Fauna that the females and young (1st winter) birds are

not distinguishable from those of parva . Most of them including these four

birds are quite distinguishable by the colder, greyer, brown upper parts and the

whiter under parts suffused with grey on the breast instead of creamy white

suffused with buff.]

THE BIRDS OB' THE PROME DISTRICT , BURMA

905

Blue-throated Flycatcher (Cyornis rubeculoides dialilaema). $, 164, 217, 376, 405.

According to Oates, very common in winter. I did not find it very common

in Prome but shot a female at 300 ft. near Ngapaw on 26th February and others

on 7th and 12th April, 1929, at Nyaunggyo, where I saw several which

appeared to be in their breeding haunts.

[A pair from the plains and a pair marked as breeding from the Arakan hills

seem to be the same. The males have an inverted V wedge of rufous running

up into the blue of the throat. The females are quite as in rubeculoides. These

correspond with dialilcema well. From Arakan, Messrs. Kinnear and Robin-

son (Novit. Zool. 34, p. 233) have described a race of rubeculoides as rogersi.

A female of this race examined by me seems very distinct with markedly warm

brown upper parts. The Nyaunggyo female obtained by Mr. Stanford and

thought to be breeding does not correspond at all with the female of rogersi .]

Verditer Flycatcher (Stoparola m. melanops). £ $, 118, 168.

Henricks obtained a female at Tarokmaw on 4th February -and a male near

Prome on the Irrawaddy on 15th February. 1 did not observe it.

Grey-headed Flycatcher (Culicicapa c. ceylonensis). 201, 335, 374.

Oates remarks: ‘In Upper Pegu apparently confined to the hills alone.’

Henricks shot a £ near Prome on 15th February, and I saw a good many

in the Arakan hills in open tree jungle in April, 1929. They appeared to be

breeding and were very tame, flying all round an intruder at close quarters.

Northern Indian Black=naped Flycatcher (Hypothymis azurea styani). $?, 19, 381.

Probably common and resident. One was obtained near Paukkaung on

18th January, and a single female at 2,400 ft. on 8th April at Nyaunggyo.

Burmese White=browed Fantail Flycatcher (Rhipidura aureola burmanicus). 319.

Oates described it as uncommon except in the northern part of Pegu near

Thayetmyo.

I shot a male at Hmawza on 30th March, 1929, out of a flock in indaing

jungle.

White-throated Fantail Flycatcher (Rhipidura a. albicollis).

Oates says it breeds in ‘ May, June and July ’ ; Stuart Baker says, ‘ March to

July ’. I should say it was fairly common and resident. I saw a pair on the

Nyaunggyo stream at 2,400 ft. with a fledged young one on 2nd April, 1929.

Burmese Shrike (Lanius eolluroides). Local name Hngetsat. 1, 69, 127, 158.

Oates remarks on its abundance in the Prome District, where I found it

common and widely distrituted, in the cold weather. Oates says it is absent

or very rare from the middle of March to the end of June. I certainly noticed

its almost total disappearance by mid-March. Not seen in the Arakan hills

in April, 1928 or 1929.

[These birds in January and February all show some moult on the under-

parts and appear to be completing a body moult. The wings and tails have

not been recently moulted.]

Brown Shrike (Lanius c. cristatus). 70, 266.

Oates describes it as a common winter visitor. Henricks obtained a male

on 24th January, 1929, at Kandin on the Rangoon road, and I obtained one

near Prome on 11th March.

[The March bird is in very worn dress and moult not yet begun.]

Grey=backed Shrike (Lanius schachttephronotus). 357.

Oates did not meet it, but it was recorded from the Arakan hills by Blyth.

The only Shrike seen by me in the Arakan hills in 1929 was a single $

of this species at Nyaunggyo on 4th April.

[This bird is just finishing a complete moult on 4th April.]

Indian BlackJieaded Shrike (Lanius n. nigriceps).

Oates observed it at Prome. I imagined I snw it but all the specimens

Collected were eolluroides .

906 JOURNAL, BOA/BAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vo l. XXXIV

Black-backed Pied Shrike (Heniipus picatus). 148, 149.

Oates describes it as resident over the whole of Pegu but by no means

common and not recorded from Arakan. I only saw it twice, a small flock in

indaing jungle near the northern border of the district (both those obtained

were males) on 11th February, 1929, and a pair at 3,000 ft. on the Arakan hills

near the Taungup Pass on 10th April, 1929.

[These males are in immature dress of first winter and the race inde-

terminable.]

Nepal Wood=Shrike (Tephrodornis gularis pelvicus). 350, 355, 375.

Oa^es describes it as a constant resident over the whole of Pegu. I found it

nowhere except between 2,400 ft. and 3,000 ft. in the Arakan hills where it was

still in small parties in early April. Of one party, I noticed that individuals

sat bolt upright and had the typical swearing note of a shrike and did not

resemble pondiceriana in habits at all.

[One of these April specimens is a bird of the previous year and has the tail

feathers much narrower than in adults ; the outer tail feathers show the

curious wavy markings which young shrikes show. The lores and ear coverts

are brown instead of black. In all the grey of the head is confined to the

crown thus showing a tendency to pelvicus , on the other hand, the size is rather

small (wing. 114-120) for that race in which the wing measures 115-130 mm.

thus showing also a tendency to the Siam race annectens. The largest from

Nepal of course grades right through to the smallest, gularis (w. 87-94) from

Java, a very good instance of diminution in size of a species from north to south.

Indian Common Wood=Shrike (Tephrodornis p. pondiceriana). 29, 76, 313.

4 Constant resident in Pegu and breeds in March.’ (Oates).

I found it fairly common in indaing jungle, nearly always high up in trees

and in small flocks. Not seen in the Arakan hills where I only found pelvicus.

A S, shot while singing, crouched flat on a branch, on March 29, 1929, was

undoubtedly breeding. It had a shrill warbling song.

[These are nearest to the typical race.]

Burmese Scarlet Minivet (Pericocrotus speciosus elegans). 202, 367, 368.

Oates found it over the whole of Pegu. I saw several but collected few

minivets and found them very hard to distinguish in the field. Two were

obtained at 2,500 ft. in the Arakan hills where it appeared to be common and

breeding.

[^ w. 96, t. 90 ; 2 $ $ w. 88-92, t. 86-88. The male has the whole of the

outer web of the central tail feathers red and the first three primaries lack

the red spot. In the females the first three primaries lack the yellow spot.

The following races must be considered

fraterculus. — Described from Hainan. Eleven males thence w. 94-98.

First two primaries plain in first three in 2. Central tail feathers wholly

black or occasionally edged with red on distal half of outer web. Out of over

twenty males examined from Burma, only two have the central tail feathers

black" (one from Karennee and one from Kyoukkyo) but they agree with

fraterculus in the spots on the primaries. These are what the older writers

called elegans and I cannot unite them with fraterculus as is done in the

Fauna , ed. ii.

flammifer. — Described from Pakchan (Bankasoon) in S. Tenasserim. Nine

males thence w. 89-93, one 95*5. First three primaries plain in the male

(two from Baukasoon, first two primaries plain); first four primaries plain

in most females (first three plain in one ‘ S. Tenasserim ’ and two from Trang ;

first two primaries plain in one from Thayet District) . Outer webs of central

tail feathers in male red (except one). It will be seen therefore that flammifer

from the type district is not quite constant in character. When, however,

birds from Malay are examined, it is found that the tendency to shorter wings

is more pronounced (none exceed 91 mm.; the red on the outer web of the

central tail is constant and the first three primaries in males are always without

the spot. It is unfortunate that flammifer was not described from N. Malay.

It will be seen therefore that the male from the Arakan hills agrees with

flammifer in the spotting of the primaries but is rather large. The females

The birds of the prome district , Burma

907

however do not agree with flammifer in having the first three primaries plain

instead of the first four.

Macclelland’s elegans was obtained in Assam probably in the Khasia Hills.

There seems no doubt that this bird of Macclelland’s is the eastern representa-

tive of speciosus. The type, a rf, has a wing of 97 mm. and a series from

Dibrughar and the Khasia Hills measure 11 £ £ w. 95-102 ; the typical race

from Sikkim w. 102-105 ; elegans then must stand for the Assam-Burmese

race ; somewhere it may grade into fraterculus as it certainly does into

flammifer in the Peninsular of Burma, which again grades into xanthogaster

further south still. 1

Rosy Minivet (Pericrocotus roseus roseus). £ 173.

'Abundant over whole of Pegu’ (Oates). Henricks obtained a male at

Prome on 16th February.

[This bird is in heavy body moult. The moults of all the minivets require

study. Apparently roseus has an ante-nuptial moult though I do not think

all minivets have ; another point which requires elucidation is— in, which

of the Minivets do the males breed in the female dress ?]

Burmese Small Minivet (Pericrocotus peregrinus vividus). 147.

‘ Throughout Pegu and Arakan;’ (Oates) . 1 shot one out of a large mixed

party on 11th February in indaing jungle, which included Ioras, Hemipus pica-

tus and Sitta neglect a.

[A female on 1 1th February shows slight moult on the throat.]

Siamese Large Cuckoo-Shrike (Graucalus macei siamensis). 4. 208.

Common in certain localities in the plains in sparse tree-jungle. I did not see

it at all in the Arakan hills in April, though Oates procured it there. It is

partial to peepul-trees, and when three or four birds are chasing and fighting

each other round one of these, they much resemble in flight, notes and habits ?

the British Missel-Thrush ( Turdus viscivorus). I have occasionally seen it

feeding on the ground.

Pale Grey Cuckoo -Shrike (Lalage melachista siamensis). 139.

Oates describes it as spread over the whole of Pegu.

The only ones I saw in Prome were a $ shot in the Arakan foot-hills, west of

Tonbo, on 7th February and one or two seen in the hills at 2,400 feet in April,

1929.

Ashy Swallow-Shrike (Artamus fuscus). 113.

Common and probably resident. The one shot at Tarokmaw was in a flock

apparently feeding on insects on a letpanbin (cotton tree) in flower. Not seen

breeding*

Black Drotigo (Dicrurus macrocercus). Burmese : — hn get-taw, 9.

Oates considered this bird to be a migrant in Pegu from October to January,

and in ‘ the other months it is either absent or very rare’. With this view I

agree. 1 did not see any in the Arakan hills in April.

[A female w. 142, t. 163, on measurements might be one of four races :

Cathczcus is the form recognized in Central Burma.

Burmese Grey Drongo (Dicrurus leucophseus). 73, 228.

Common in the cold weather in teak and indaing jungle, Oates considered

it a resident. Specimens were obtained at Kandin on 24th January and at

Ngaphaw on 27th February.

[A male from Ngaphaw off 27th February, w. 143, t. 154, fork 54; a female from

Kandin, 24th January, w, 135, t. 145, fork 50. Both these birds are the Pale Ashy

Drongo. A great deal more work is required over the Drongos of India and

Burma before the races and their distribution can be understood and it would

be useless and misleading to attempt to give these birds a trinomial name.

Mr. Stuart Baker on the one hand and Messrs. Robinson and Kloss on the

other have attempted to solve the problem and have both come to entirely

different conclusions. Mr. Baker finds that there is only one Ashy Drongo,

extending from N. W. Himalayas to South India and to Java, which can be

4

908 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

split up into races on average length of wing and tail and that coloration —

dark or pale— is of little moment. Messrs. Robinson and Kloss consider, as did

Hume and Oates, that there are two species, the Dark Ashy Drongo

longicaudatus and the Pale Ashy Drongo leucophcsus , both of which over these

areas have races. As regards this question, I would remark that, so far as I have

seen— a fair series— Drongos vary in size according to sex, and it is therefore

perfectly useless dividing up races on average measurements of unsexed or

incorrectly sexed specimens. What we want as regards Burma is a good series

of correctly sexed breeding birds and winter birds from various places together

with field notes as to whether the light and dark forms exist side by side or

whether one form is a winter visitor.]

Bronzed Droago (CSsaptia senea senea). 67, 68, 325, 388.

Very local. Henricks shot two at Kandin on 24th January and several were

seen. Another was obtained at Sinde on the west bank of the Irrawaddy on

15th March. This Drongo appeared to be the only one at ail common in the

Arakan hills in April 1929 where it was breeding.

[J Arakan hills, w. 118 t. 110 ; three from Kandin and Prome, w. 118-126 t.

115-123. A topotypical series of eenea measure w. 113-130 and of mcilayensis w.

105-118. These Prome birds are therefore nearer the typical race.]

Burmese Large Racquet-tailed Drongo (Dissemurus rangoonensis), 28.

Common.

[I can confirm Mr. Salim Ali’s observation that the racquet at the extremity

of the outer tail feathers is formed by the inner web and that the shaft of the

feather is twisted in its long axis.]

Indian Hair=crested Drongo (Chibia hottentotta hottentotta).

Oates (i. 227) found it abundant north of Prome and at Nyaungchidauk at

the foot of the Arakan Hills. I did not obtain it in April 1929.

Eastern Great Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus orientalis). $ $ 107, 298.

I shot a $ at Kyithe on 2nd February on theLetpanbu jheel and another on

22nd March. It appears from Oates to be a winter visitor only. Both those I

shot were great skulkers.

Schrenck’s Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps). 148.

Oates described it as common. I shot a male on the Letpanbu jheel on

1st February, 1929, and saw several others, exceedingly shy.

Indian Tailor Bird (Orthotomus sutorius patia) . 64, 404.

In this part of Burma it is a most inveterate skulker, never seen outside dense

bamboo clumps, and, except for its note, would rarely be observed. I got one

in the Arakan hills at about 2,000 ft. in April.

Streaked Fantail Warbler (Cisticola juncidis cursitans). £ 58.

Extremely common along the Irrawaddy valley,

Franklin’s Wren-Warbler (Franlkinia gracilis). J 75.

Probably common. The only one shot was out of a travelling party in

bamboo jungle near Kandin on 24th January 1929.

Beavan’s Wren-Warbler (Franklinia r. rufescens). 30, 198, 264, 334, 336.

Oates describes it as common at the foot of the Arakan hills on the eastern

side. I obtained birds on an island north of Prome in high grass on 22nd

February, two near Paukkaung in January and March, and two at 3,000 ft. in

April 1929 near Nyaunggyo, where in the grass of the open jungle it appeared

to be not uncommon.

[The two birds from Nyaunggyo on 3rd April are undergoing a complete

moult. The January bird from Paukkaung is a juvenile.]

Striated Marsh-Warbler (Megalurus palustris palustris). J 37. d 145.

Very common in the Irrawaddy valley, (Oates saw it at Thayetmyo) where

it breeds. The only nest found by me contained 3 incubated eggs on 30th May.

THE BIRDS OF THE PROME DISTRICT , BURMA

909

It was in an isolated tuft of grass on the bank of a paddy field. It breeds in

some numbers in the south of the district in the big pea-fields near Letpankaya.

Probably resident.

Thick-billed Warbler (Phragmaticola aedon). 137, 185.

I shot a single bird skulking in scrub jungle, west of the Irrawaddy near

Tonbo on 7th February, and another single bird near Prome on 17th February,

also exceedingly shy. Both these were far from wTater on dry hillsides. It

is noteworthy that Oates usually found it near water and not a skulker.

Burmese Yellow-bellied Flycatcher=Warbler (Abrornis superciliarls subsp. ?) $ 348.

Oates says he got this bird in various parts of Pegu but that it was rare. I

shot a $ at Nyaunggyo at 2,400 ft. on 3rd April, 1929.

[The types of Abrornis superciliaris came from Tenasserim and not, as

Mr. Stuart Baker states in the Fauna , from the Himalayas. The latter bird

should be called flaviventris, Jerdon, type loc., Sikkim. Salwinensis of

Baker becomes a synonym of superciliaris. This single bird from Arakan does

not quite match [la viventris or yet superciliaris as exemplified by series from

the type localities. Possibly a distinguishable race inhabits Arakan. The

series from Burma in the British Museum is not good.]

Burmese Wren-Warbler (Prinia inornata burmanica). Local name: Hnget-letmat .

38, 94, 132, 194.

Common along the Irrawaddy valley.

[The tail measurements of these four birds obtained in January and

February range from 55-5 to 77 mm. considerably longer than that given

in the Fauna. I may here note that in the latter work the type locality of

Prinia inornata blanfordivs, given as Thayetmyo ; it should be Tounghoo.]

Yellow bellied Wren-Warbler (Prinia f. flaviventris). $ 140.

Paired and singing in its breeding quarters by early February, the favourite

haunt being the huge stretches of kaing grass on the Irrawaddy islands. I

have seen nothing to indicate that the snapping sound is made by the wings

as suggested in the Fauna. The few well-known birds which clap their

wings, e. g., Nightjars and the Long-eared Owl, produce a very different type

of sound by this means.

[The * snapping ’ noise is made by several species of Prinia and appears

to me to be made by the bill.]

Fairy Blue-Bird (Irena p. puella). 332, 347, 348, 366.

Oates found it in evergreen forest on the Pegu hills but ‘ not on the western

slopes’. I found it only in evergreen forest at 2,400 ft. in the Arakan hills

where it was common, though very shy.

[One male on 3rd April in full female dress. Here and there on the head and

body there are adult feathers (blue) in quill, the result of accidental loss

of feathers of the old dress. Birds which live in heavy jungle may frequently

lose odd feathers by accident and in the case of those which are still in

immature dress, the replacing feathers are those of the adult plumage. This

I believe to be the explanation of these mixed plumages seen often in Irena

Pericrocotus , Hemipus and others, and there is no reason to suppose a colour

change without moult to explain it.]

Burmese Black-necked Oriole (Oriolus chinensis tenuirostris). Local name : Hnget-

wa. 2 10, 2 126.

Oates did not find this in the ‘ dry parts of northern Pegu ’ and considered

it a winter visitor only. Both those obtained by me were in the cold weather,

but without shooting a large number it was difficult to distinguish species.

Indian Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus xanthornus). 104, 276, 284.

Common and apparently resident.

[A male on 1st February has the throat and chin grey, streaked with black,

and the wings and tail not so pure and bright as in the adult. Probably a bird

of the first year.]

910 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol, XXXI V

Maroon Oriole (Oriolus trailii).

Oates received it from Arakan. I never saw it.

Indian Orackle (Eulabes javana'intermedia).

Not common and seen principally by mein pairs in the hills between 1,000

and 2,000 ft. Frequently kept by Burmans as a cagebird. I did not collect

any.

Assam Spotted-winged Stare (Psaroglossa s. assamensis). 119.

Henricks shot a $ at Tarokmaw on the Irrawaddy on 4th February 1929. I

have never seen it and think it must be rare. Oates never saw it and records

it from only two places in the Pegu Division.

Grey-headed Myna (Sturnia malabarica nemoricola) 3, 97, 253.

Usually seen in small parties in tree-tops from November to March. Usually

seen feeding in a mango tree. I shot another solitary bird in March coming

to roost in bushes with large numbers of Pied-Mynahs in the Nawin marshes.

Not seen breeding nor in the Arakan hills in April.

[One of these birds, quite an adult otherwise, has the winglet and primary

coverts black instead of white. Such variations in nemoricola have several

times been recorded.]

Jerdon’s Myna (Gracuplca burmanica). 195, 418.

Oates described it as ‘ very abundant in Northern Pegu,’ and resident. I saw

very large flocks on 17th April on the Irrawaddy near Prome. Quite common.

Common Myna (Acridotheres t. tristis).

Common. Breeds in March.

Indian Jungle Myna (TEthiopsar f. fuscus). 124, 252.

Common. ,1 saw several flocks apparently on migration on the Nawin

marshes in March.

Burmese Pied Myna (Sturnopastor capensis superciliaris). 121.

Common. I failed to observe its migration, Oates describes it as ‘ more or

less absent from the Thayetmyo area in October and November.’

Baya (Ploceus philippinus). Local name : Sa-pongyi. 218, 219, 220.

Three were shot by Henricks out of a flock at Ngaphaw on 27th February on

a large tank close to the village. I regret very much that I did not collect any

breeding birds but Oates describes Ploceus baya as being abundant all over

Burma, and this was apparently the bird he meant. 1 saw at least two species

of Baya breeding in vast numbers in a large reed-bed on the Nawin marshes

just north of Prome in the rains.

[There is not the slightest doubt that these birds, in non- breeding dress, are

not passerinus. They are very pale birds and can be matched with birds from

Sind and Ceylon in similar dress, wg. 69-71. The Fauna does not admit

P philippinus as an inhabitant of Burma. It is to be hoped that Mr. Stanford

will be able to procure some breeding birds from this colony. There was in

the past considerable confusion over the names of the Bayas, which even to-day

is not entirely cleared up. According to Hume, Ploceus baya was the Eastern

Baya now called Ploceus passerinus passerinus Reichenow. Oates {Fauna, ed.

i) used P. baya for the Indian Baya and the mysterious P. megarhynchus of

Hume for the Eastern Bayas. The latter, however, Mr. Baker considers to be a

third species. Unfortunately Ploceus passerinus is a pure synonym of Ploceus

baya ( vide — Horsfield and Moore’s catalogue.]

Golden Weaver-Bird (Ploceella chryssea). 43, 44.

Two birds obtained out of a flock on stubble near Prome close to the breeding

colony mentioned above on 20th January were of this species. Oates found it

abundant but local in Southern Pegu.

[Just finishing a complete moult.]

THE BIRDS OF THE PRO ME DISTRICT , BURMA

911

Burmese Striated Weaver=Bird (Ploceus manyar flaviceps). 87.

One obtained at Prome on 27th January, 1929, out of a large flock on the

Nawin, close to the breeding- ground mentioned above.

[This bird does not look like an abnormality ; it certainly, however, does not

tally with the dark richly coloured peguensis. It is exactly like Sind birds in

similar dress which I have called flaviceps . This latter race was described

from Southern India and the series thence in the British Museum is such a poor

one that I do not feel satisfied that the Sind birds differ from it, hence 1 use the

older name ; if the two races should prove to be distinguishable, the Sind bird

must be called striatus. ]

White=backed Munia (Uroloncha striata subsp. ?). 386.

The only place where I saw this bird was between 2,000 ft. and 3,000 ft. along

the Taungup road in the Arakan hills in April 1930, where it was in consider-

able flocks feeding on a flowering weed and in bushes along streams. On

being disturbed, the flecks would fly round and suddenly settle and disappear

in the dense growth. Oates describes Amadina striata (B. B. i. 365) as being

recorded by Blyth from Arakan.

[This munia too is very puzzling, and I cannot match it with any race. It is

blacker on the head and ear-coverts than any Burmese bird and in this respect

is quite like the South Indian bird. However, unlike the latter, it has a

grizzled and not a pure white abdomen. More specimens from the Arakan

Hills are needed.]

Burmese Spotted Munia (Uroloncha punctulata subundulata). £ $ 186, 187.

This bird is not uncommon, but I did not collect a series. It is partial to

breeding in houses and gardens, especially in bushes. Roosts in bamboo and

is probably resident.

Burmese Red Munia (Amandava flavidiventris),

I saw a flock near Nyaungsaye in January 1929 near the Irrawaddy, but other-

wise did not notice it.

Burmese House=Sparrow (Passer domesticus nigricollis). 289.

In my opinion P.montanus is the common sparrow of the district, and one

that mainly frequents houses. In some dak-bungalows, notably Padaung, both

House, Tree and Pegu Sparrows all breed in a colony. Oates remarks that

domesticus was outnumbered by the next species in most parts of Burma.

[If the Burmese House-Sparrow is not different to the .South Indian, then

nigricollis of Burton is an older name for it than Confucius f\

Indian Tree=Sparrow (Passer montanus malaccensis). 287, 288.

As Ticehurst remarks, this sparrow7 is really the House-Sparrow7 of the east.

In the hot weather it feeds largely on flies and insects, and comes into houses

with great familiarity. Does not seem in this district to be ousted by the

House-Sparrows. Stuart Baker (iii. 177) confines malaccensis to the hills of

Burma, whereas it is very abundant in the plains. A male shot at Padaung in

March was killed while sitting with a female flaveolus. I should not be sur-

prised if they occasionally inter-breed,

Pegu House=Sparrow (Passer Slaveolus). d £ <j> $ $ 221, 222, 223, 224, 2^0, 306.

Oates describes it as ‘ comparatively ’ rare except about Thayetmyo. This

is now a very common bird in the drier parts of the district and the Irrawaddy

valley. It breeds in large numbers in certain dak-bungalow7s, notably Pauk-

kaung and Padaung, and in company with domesticus and montanus. In

November 1927 and again on 24th March 1928, 1 saw flocks apparently on passage

near Prome.

Greyheaded Bunting (Emberiza f. fucata).

Oates recorded it from between Toungoo and Thayetmyo, I did not

obtain it.

Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla). 133, 135, 392.

Oates has no record of this bird from the Pegu Division or Arakan, and

$tqart Baker describes it as a Tree-Bunting, not uncommon in the Assgpa

912 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL MIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

foothills. I am inclined to think that all those obtained by me were on

migration. On 6th February, 1929, 1 shot one out of a pea-field nearTarokmaw

on the Irrawaddy, thinking as it rose that it was a Red-throated Pipit. On 7th

February, I got another single bird near Tonbo, 10 miles further up the

Irrawaddy, in a stream running through dense jungle. On 9th April I shot one

in the Nyaunggyo stream at 2,400 ft. out of bushes, and on 10th April got

one out of a small party on the Arakan side of the Taungup Pass on a grass

covered hillside at 3,000 ft. I should think that this bird was easily overlooked.

It reminded me of a very small Lapland Bunting in appearance.

Yellow-breasted Bunting (Emberiza aureola). Local name : Sa-ni. 23. 46, 101, 157.

196, 271, 301.

Extremely common from November to March in very large flocks. Roosts

in bushes. Large flocks seen as late as the third week in March, though Oates

records that they stay till May. On 24th March, 1928, I saw large flocks along

the Irrawaddy apparently on passage. Occasionally a very big movement of

these birds to roost at dusk may be observed as in the case of Swallowrs.

[The males on 23rd March are moulting the feathers of the face ; the yellow

supercilium, dusky and yellow ear coverts and forehead and yellow chin of

winter become black. No moult elsewhere. 6 J wg. 73-80 ; 2 $ $ 72-75.]

Chestnut Bunting (Emberiza rutila). 13, 338, 359, 377, 378, 397.

Oates recorded it on the authority of Hume, and never apparently met with

it. He mentions that it was the * common bunting of the higher Karen hills.’

I only met it twice. On 17th January, 1929, I shot one out of a small flock in

teak jungle near Paukkaung (100 ft.) on the edge of the forest reserve. In April

1929, I found it very common at about 2,400 ft. near Nyaunggyo. All I saw

were feeding on the seeds of the Telegu bamboo [Dendrocalamus longispathus) ,

and, on being disturbed, disappeared into high tree-jungle. On April 11,

I followed the direction taken by flocks in the late afternoon and found several

hundreds congregating to roost in a deep hollow, full of bushes and rough

grass, alongside the Taungup road, every bush being full of them. A good

many Tree-Pipits were roosting in the same place. In appearance and flight

these birds, when feeding, reminded me much of Lesser Redpolls and are

unlike other buntings in their partiality for trees.

[These Buntings in the first week of April are also moulting the face. One

male, presumably of the previous year, differs from the adult in having the

mantle olivaceous with dark brown central streaks and the greater coverts

brown with olivaceous edges which parts in the adult are chestnut. 4 £ w.

73*5-77, 2$ $w. 67-70.]

Crested Bunting (Melophus melanicterus). $389.

I shot a female on 10th April, 1929, at about 3,000 ft. about 3 miles east of the

Taungup Pass on the road, the only one ever seen by me. Oates never met it

in the Pegu Division though it was recorded by Blyth. I doubt if it will be

found in the district except along the summit of the Arakan Hills.

Indian Sand-Martin (Riparia paludicola chinensis).

Breeds in very large numbers along the Irrawaddy and larger streams

running into it. It certainly breeds from December onwards and probably

throughout the cold weather. I did not collect any ; so am unable to say if

ijimae also occurs.

Eastern Swallow (Hirundo rustica gutturalis). 60, 170, 171.

Oates says he saw nothing to suggest that this bird bred in Burma. Nor

have I. It is found in very large numbers from September to April mainly

along the river in Prome.

[Wings 108*5-115. On 17th February, one bird is performing a complete

moult.]

Striated Swallow (Hirundo rufula japonica). 239, 240.

I shot 2 or 3 Striated Swallows and saw many others resting on the sands

near Shwedaung on 3rd March, 1929, two in juvenile plumage being obtained.

One or two were seen near Nyaunggyo in April 1929, apparently on migration,

THE BIRDS OF THE PROME DISTRICT, BURMA

913

[As I have already pointed out ( B.N.H.S.Journ ., xxxii., l,p. 350), Red-rumpde

Swallows of the nepalensis type wintering or on passage in Burma are rather

larger and rather more heavily spotted than the Himalayan breeding birds, and

the name applicable is japonica. These three birds from Shwedaung are in

full moult ; w. 116*5-123 and on the whole are more heavily streaked than

nepalensis. They are too small and not heavily streaked enough for striolataf]

White Wagtail (Motacilla alba leucopsis). 117.

Common throughout the cold weather. No signs of any breeding. In early

February 1929, a considerable number of single males were seen in the

Irrawaddy valley, apparently on migration. I saw large numbers flocking to

roost on the Sidaing Stream at dusk in February 1928 in an area where only

scattered birds could be seen by day.

[A single bird obtained on 4th February is moulting the body feathers, two

central pairs of tail feathers and the lesser and median wing coverts.]

Eastern Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea caspica).

Fairly common all over the district in suitable places from September to

March or April. I did not collect any. Never seen except singly or in pairs.

A newly-arrived migrant appeared in my garden at Insein, far from water, on

29th September, 1929, and another in my garden at Prome in late September

1927.

Grey-headed Wagtail (Motacilla flava simillima). 36, 126, 303.

One yellow wagtail in this district is very common and arrives in immense

numbers in September and stays till March. Nearly all I have watched on the

ground appear to have no supercilium and to be extremely dark if not black

on the head, lores and ear coverts throughout the winter. Once in October

I witnessed a most remarkable movement of these Wagtails northwards along

the river at Prome, hundreds high in air, flying presumably to some roosting

place.

[These three Wagtails of the flava group are about as bad as they could be

for identification work ; one is unsexed, one almost certainly sexed wrongly,

and all three are in very abraded dress. They are certainly near simillima

with dark slate heads and ear coverts, one has a narrow white supercilium,

while in another this is yellow, in the third absent. Fresh plumaged birds

are required for proper identification. All these three birds have longer bills

than ihunbergi and have a characteristic of simillima.

Yellow-headed Wagtail (Motacilla citreoia citreola). $ 146.

Not uncommon but nearly always found singly on the large swamps and

jheels of the Irrawaddy valley in the close vicinity of water. Oates (i. 193) did

not meet with it and records only one specimen from Papun. I saw one as late

as 11th April, 1928, near Okshitpin in the Arakan foot hills.

Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indiais). 227, 251.

Only seen by Oates once or twice in the Pegu Division. I think it is easily

overlooked on account of its very weak note and its habit of sitting still close to

an intruder. In three months I saw specimens in several widely distributed

places; on 24th February at Padinbin, and again on 27th February at

Ngaphaw, both in the Pegu Yoma foothills. I obtained one out of a pair on

the edge of the Irrawaddy in thin scrub jungle on 6th March and saw another

on 17th April in the same place. On 10th April, at about 3,000 ft. near the

Taungup Pass, I saw one or two, which, from their excited manner, appeared

to be breeding. On the ground this bird creeps about and looks much more

like a Pipit than a Wagtail, and when disturbed usually flies up into a tree. It

is common in the Insein district within a few miles of Rangoon.

[A bird on 27th February is moulting on the chin and throat. This curious

bird exactly bridges the two genera Motacilla and Anthus and if the genus

Dendronanthus were dropped, there would be little ground for keeping the

other two genera separate. The tail in the Forest Wagtail is short but not

shorter than in M. flava pygmcea. The central tail feathers are shorter than

the rest and are differently coloured, as also in the Pipits. The hind claw

resembles that of the smaller Pipits more than that of a Wagtail. The plumage

generally is much more reminiscent of a Wagtail, especially M. capensis , thap

of a Pipit.]

914 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Richard’s Pipit (Anthus richardi richardi). 39, 40, 47, 134. Local name : Sabctdi.

I shot numerous specimens on open ground and in A^zV/jf-cultivation all

along the Irrawaddy valley, it being partial to dry sandy areas* Its great size,

sharp single note and flight are most noticeable. I have no reason to suppose

it breeds. Oates remarks that he does not recollect ever seeing any near

Prome and Thayetmyo. I should say it' was a winter visitor in fair numbers

from September to March.

Indian Pipit (Anthus rufulus rufulus). 93.

Oates describes it as very abundant ‘ except in the dry northern parts near

Prome’. In my opinion it was commoner in the dry parts of the district,

particularly in the islands of the Irrawaddy valley. I did not observe it

breeding.

Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus). 41, 55, 56, 131, 302.

Very common from January to March along the Irrawaddy. All I saw were

on kaing -cultivation or along the edges of the sheets of water left when the

river falls, in fact, of all the Pipits, this was the only one I saw constantly fre-

quenting wet sand. On the wing it is noticeably dark and has a strong flight,

much reminiscent of the Lapland Bunting. Did not seem to mix with other

birds, nor did I see it in the Arakan Hills.

Indian Tree=Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni hodgsoni). 17, 18, 47, 250, 272.

Very common from mid-September to the end of March and found all over

the district. It is generally in small flocks, under the shade of trees, flying up

when disturbed. I saw a very large flock at Nyaunggyo (2,400 ft.) during

the first week in April 1929, apparently on migration, and found a large

number one night coming in to roost in a pit with Emberiza rutila.

[A bird on 20th March is moulting the body plumage and part of the tail.

Birds obtained prior to this date shewed no moult.]

Indian Skylark (Alauda gulgula gulgula). 59, 88.

I never observed this bird except in ones and twos along the Irrawaddy

valley; but judging by the number heard singing in the early mornings in

January and February over the pea-fields in this area, it is fairly numerous.

It is the earliest bird to commence singing, long before it is really light. It is

noteworthy that A. gulgula was considered by Oates as ‘ apparently absent

in the Irrawaddy valley from the head of the Delta up to the frontier,’ which

really means the Prome and Thayetmyo area. This bird starts to sing in

mid-November.

[I cannot separate these two birds from the typical race and pegusnsis seems

to be a synonym. The difife rences relied on by Oates (S. F. iii, p. 343), do not

appear to be constant.]

Ganges Sand=Lark (Cafandrella rayta! raytal). $ £ 53, 54, 305.

Oates (i. 374) describes it as confined 1 to the sandbanks of the Irrawaddy

between Prome and the frontier.’ I found it common throughout the riverain

part of the district, and it will probably be found also south of Kyangin in

Henzada and Tharrawaddy, at any rate in the hot weather. It is extremely

tame and can be observed at any time scavenging among the debris just out-

side fishermen’s huts. It is rarely seen in pea-fields and only on the barest,

most open stretches of sand. I watched birds pairing and fighting in January,

but failed to discover any nests. It would be interesting to know where the

bird resorts to when the river is in flood and for forty miles every island and

sand-bank is blotted out. Occasionally in December and January, I have seen

parties of 20 or 30 apparently gathered for shade on the edge of a steep bank

just above high-water mark.

Burmese Bush=Lark (Mirafra assamica microptera). g 8, 322.

This bird is as local as the English Wood-lark and replaces Alauda gulgula

in the drier northern part of the district wherever there are trees, fallow and

bush-jungle. I saw no signs of it in the Arakan hills. One or two shot by

me had a curious swollen condition of the toes. Oates found it abundant

at Thayetmyo and did not observe it anywhere $lse,

THE BIRDS OF THE PROME DISTRICT , BURMA

915

White*Eye (Zosterops palpebrosa paipebrosa). $ 394.

The only one obtained by me was at 3,000 -ft. on 10th April, 1929, about a mile

east of the Taungup Pass into Arakan out of a small party? This species was

observed by Fielden at Thayetmyo (Oates i. 342), and Z. simplex peguensis has

been found breeding near Thayetmyo.

Pegu Streaked Spider-Hunter (Arachuothera niagna aurata). $ 203, 294.

Henricks obtained a' pair at Theme in the Pegu Yoma foothills on

24th February, 1929. The only other Spider-hunters seen by me were a pair at

3.000 ft. near Nyaunggyo which 1 failed to obtain.

Mackenzie (S. R. iii. 417) found them ‘ by no means rare’ in Prome and

took nests in July and August 191 8—19. Oates observed it at Thayetmyo.

[The typical form is recorded for Arakan; these two Prome birds are however

certainly aurata .]

Burmese Scarlefibacked Flower-Pecker (Dlcgeum cruentatum ignitum). 31, 320, 321.

Very common. Specimens were obtained on 19th January and on 30tli March

on which date I got two out of a family party in a mango tree which had

clearly only just left the nest.

[The juvenile plumage : — Upper parts dull olivaceous ; upper tail coverts

rust}'' red ; underparts dull grey with a slight olive wash on the flanks ; wings

and tail black with very slight gloss ; wing coverts and lertials edged oli-

vaceous.]

Burmese Purple Sunbird (Leptocoma asiatica intermedia). 66, 192, 197, 353.

Not uncommon. I obtained several near Prome and one in the Arakan hills

on 4th April, 1929, at 3,000 ft. out of a small flock.

The Malayan Ruby=Cheek (Chalcoparia s. singalensis).

Oates (i. 326) notes that he did not see it in Prome though it occurred in

similar country east of the Yoma.

Pitta.

I saw no Pittas at all, though I was closely on the watch for them in Nyaung-

gyo in April 1929.

Bluemaped Pitta (Pitta nepalensis).

Oates’s collectors (i. 412) got one ‘ on the Arakan hills near Nyaunggyo ’ so

that the distribution in the Fauna (iii. 445) should probably be altered to

include South Arakan.

Green-breasted Pitta (Pitta c> cucullata).

Oates found it plentiful on the Yoma between! Thayetmyo and Toungoo, so

it probably occurs on the Prome-Toungoo watershed.

Lesser Blue-winged Pitta (Pitta moluccensis).

Oates (i. 415) apparently had specimens brought him from ‘ Arakan ’ by his

collectors.

Arakan Black-and-Red Broadbill (Cymbirliynchus affinis).

Oates obtained this bird ‘ near Nyaunggyo.’ 1 saw no signs of it there and

Broadbills were remarkably scarce in April 1928 and 1929.

Long-tailed Broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae).

Oates observed it on the hills of the Thayetmyo-Toungoo border. It was

only seen by me near Nyaunggyo in the Arakan hills, where in ten days careful

search in April 1929, I only saw one bird and had another brought me on 7th

April. I watched a pair building on 14th April, 1928, in evergreen jungle over-

hanging the Nyaunggyo stream. The nest was a huge bundle of black hairs

(from what animal I know not, probably an ox) and fibrous roots hanging from

the tip of a bough. Both birds assisted in building and were very parrot-like in

their actions. One was exceedingly tame and sat near me swinging its tail

like a Shrike. I saw another simdar old nest on the same stream in April 1929

suspended from a bamboo tip.

( To be continued. )

PROPOSED CLASSIFICATION

OF

THE SMALLER INDIAN FIELD (OR JUNGLE) MICE.

BY

T. B. Fry, i.f.s., (Retd.)

The late Mr. Thomas when dealing generally with the Indian

Mice (J.B.N.H.S., xxii, p. 682, 1914), definitely separated the field

from the house mice, and established a new genus Leggadilla in

which he included some of the larger forms, and kept the genus

Leggada to cover the remainder, but still left unsettled a very

large number of the smaller forms, grouping them under the specific

name ‘booduga’.

The material available for study is now very considerable as

specimens have been obtained by the Survey from many different

parts of India and Ceylon. Burmah is \esk well represented as,

with few exceptions, specimens from the region of Mt. Popa alone

have been obtained. The object of the work now undertaken is to

complete as well as may be that part of the classification of the

smaller field-mice which Mr. Thomas left in abeyance, by admitting

that earlier writers on the subject were fully justified in giving

specific names to the comparatively few specimens they had to deal

with, but which they knew were caught in widely separated parts

of India, and might therefore reasonably be considered definitely

different animals. In the first place it may be stated that all of these

smaller field-mice, measuring say head and body some 75 mms. or

less, with hind foot of 15 mms. or less and with a 10 mammae

formula, have a strong family likeness, no matter where they come

from ; and it is practically impossible to distinguish them by skull

measurements, since though certain differences in size and shape

may be apparent, yet they are confined within such small limits

that they cannot be accepted as of specific value ; consequently,

strictly speaking, these mice should be separated on a sub-specific

basis only. This, however, cannot well be accurately done owing

to the difficulty in determining whence the species arose ; whether

for instance the animal first appeared in the north of India and

spread southward or vice versa — hence there seems no valid reason

for taking any particular recorded name as a specific one. It is true

that Mus ( Leggada ) booduga, Gray. Charlesworth’s Mag. Nat.

Hist., I, p. 586, 1837, appears to be the oldest name available and

was adopted by Blandford and others, further, it is certain that the

type made by Gray came from Southern India, very probably from

Dharwar ; on the other hand, the name cervicolor was assigned by

Hodgson to a mouse presumably taken in Nepal in 1845. (Mus

(Leggada) cervicolor, Hodgson, A.M.N.H. , xv, p. 268, 1845).

These two mice, named quite independently, one from the South,

the other from the North of India differ appreciably in general

outward appearance and somewhat in size, also the skull of the

THE SMALLER INDIAN FIELD {OR JUNGLE) MICE 917

former appears on an average to be smaller than that of the latter,

yet which of the two, if either, should be accepted as typical of

the species can only be a mere matter of opinion. At a date later

than 1918, Mr. Thomas adopted the name Leggada cervicolor,

Hodgs. for some mice collected in Nepal by Baptista thereby

reversing his former view that cervicolor should be recognized as

a synonym of booduga; accordingly it is now proposed to follow

this procedure, and accept other specific names given by various

authors, ignoring the fact that the field-mice from say Bengal

are possibly of the same species as those found in Dharwar or

elsewhere, but recognizing that owing to differences of climate,

elevation and general environment, some slight but permanent

modifications in colour and size have occurred, sufficiently noticeable

to justify the adoption of different specific names for different local

races.

The names, some of which it is proposed to utilize, are shown in

Blandford’s Mammalia, p. 416, as synonyms of Mas booduga and

again in Wroughton’s Summary under Leggada, J .B.N.H.S. ,

xxvi, No. 4, p. 959, 1920. General colour and average size in

millimetres are shown under each heading.

Distribution.

1. Leggada cervicolor, Hodgs.

H & B. 66; T. 72; Hf. 18; E. 14*5.

Colour above, pale sandy brown, below, isabelline, fur rather

long and somewhat woolly, dividing line not clearly defined.

Four specimens collected by Baptista in Nepal were found by

Mr. Thomas to agree with a lectotype of Hodgson’s Mas cervicolor

and were recorded in Report No. 37, J. B.N.H.S., xxix, No. 2,

p. 422, 1923, under this name. No precisely similar specimens have

been received from any other district, and therefore for the present

the name applies only to the small field-mice of Nepal.

2. Leggada terricolor, Blyth.

H & B. 61; T. 58; Hf. 14; E. 11.

Colour above, dull earthy brown, below, white to isabelline,

dividing line well marked in white bellied specimens, less so in those

with isabelline bellies.

This name appears to be applicable to the lesser field-mice found

in the following districts : — Bengal (the type locality) Bhutan

Duars, Central Provinces, Gwalior, Berar and Nimar, and of

these the fifty-eight specimens obtained by the Mammal Survey

from Bengal may be considered as topotypical since the name was

given by Blyth to specimens taken south of, and in the neighbour-

hood of Calcutta and also from Midnapur ; moreover he noted it

as the commonest field-mouse in Lower Bengal, and as being very

abundant in the Santal Districts west of Midnapur. The area

concerned is a very wide one, and conditions must vary considerably,

918 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

still the general appearance, size and colour both above and below,

of the mice from all these localities is so similar, that it seems

unwise to attempt any further differentiation. Blyth ( J.A.S. , xxviii,

p. 296) gave the name tytleri to a mouse from Dehra Dun but the

description tallies closely with that of cervicolor and possibly was

identical with it; in any case the name does not seem suitable for

the Kumaon specimens as they resemble those from N.W. Punjab

much more closely than those from Nepal.

The difference between the ‘earthy’ brown colouring of L.

terricolor and the ‘sandy’ brown of L. cervicolor is strongly marked,

and in addition the fur of the former is much closer in texture than

that of the latter which is made up of longish more or less woolly

hair.

3. Leggada dunni, Wroughton.

H & B. 63; T. 61; Hf. 13; E. 11.

Colour above, drab, below, white to pale isabelline, dividing line

usually clearly defined. Fur short close.

Mus ( Leggada ) dunni was separated from booduga by Wroughton

in 1912 — vide J.B.N.H.S., xxi, p. 339. In Report No. 2, a single

specimen obtained in Cutch by Crump was shown as dunni while

in Reports Nos. 10 & 12 Kathiawar and Palanpur respectively,

Wroughton observed that mice found in the open country showed

the characteristics of dunni while those from hilly wooded country

resembled booduga, consequently he recorded some under the

one head, some under the other. The slightly darker hue of the

upper coat, and the tendency towards pale isabelline, as opposed

to pure white, below is clearly noticeable in some of the hill

specimens from Kathiawar and Palanpur, but in no other respect is

any difference apparent; therefore it seems reasonable and desirable

to include all the small field-mice under one name. The type

locality of dunni is N.W. Punjab, and the mice from Kumaon and

Kangra Valley must also be placed in this category, although those

from the latter are a trifle darker in colour both above and below.

4. Leggada nagarum, Thomas.

H & B. 75*5 ; T. 62; Hf. 14 ; E. 13.

Colour above, darkish brown, below, dark grey, fur moderately

long, dividing line more or less indistinct.

Passihg eastward again to Assam, further study of the specimens

from this district which were classed as L. booduga in Report

No. 41, has led to the conclusion that they should rightly be

relegated to the above-named species, the type locality of which is

the Naga Hills. Why these mice were not correctly named in the

first instance is something of a mystery, since had they been care-

fully compared with the specimens named by Thomas, no doubt as

to their identity could have arisen ; probably the mistake occurred

simply because at the time the Report was written the habit of

calling all the small Indian field-mice booduga was then in vogue,

$nd no comparison was made,

THE SMALLER INDIAN FIELD {OR JUNGLE ) MICE 919

5. Leggada booduga, Grey.

H & B. §2; T. 57; Hf, 14; E. 12.

Colour above, fawn to light or darkish brown; below from pure

white to pale or even darkish isabelline, varying according to local

conditions, dividing line also varies in distinctness according to the

hue of the under parts.

This name appears to be applicable, with a few exceptions, to

all the small field-mice, i.e., with H. & B. of 75 mms. or less, found

within the limits of Khandesh on the north, to Cape Comorin in

the south ; the exceptions being some specimens obtained by the

Survey in Madura, Coimbatore and the Eastern Ghats.

Those found on the hilly forest-clad country of the Western Ghats

differ to sjome extent in size, and colouration both above and below,

from those coming from the plains of Dharwar, Coorg, etc., but

these differences do not seem sufficiently pronounced to justify any

splitting into sub-species. Moreover the variations can no doubt

be fairly attributed to changes of environment, such as elevation,

rainfall, soil, tree-growth, etc.

Specimens originally reported as L. booduga, and for which that

name is still retained, were obtained by the Mammal Survey from

Khandesh, Poona (including ghat country), Ratnagiri (Koyna

Valley), Dharwar (presumably the type locality of booduga ),

Kanara, Mysore and Coorg. Skulls of specimens from the

above-mentioned districts compared with typical Dharwar skulls

(Dharwar being accepted as the type locality of booduga) showed

only very slight differences in size and shape, thus furnishing

additional justification for grouping them all under the one head.

6. Leggada palnica, Thomas.

H & B. 73; T. 66 ; Hf. Iff; E. 13.

Colour v above, darkish brown, below pale grey ; dividing line not

very clearly defined.

Eleven specimens obtained in Travancore were originally reported

as booduga and the justification for using this name fay in the

fact that their average size agreed more or less with that of some

Deccan specimens ; but closer examination shows that probably they

are all rather immature, while their skulls are considerably larger

than those of true booduga ; again the slight differences from

typical palnica in colour and texture of fur may be due to environ-

ment or seasonal causes ; these considerations lead to the conclusion

that they must be reclassified as Leggada palnica.

6. Leggada lepida, Elliot.

H & B. 67; T. 58; Hf. 15; E. 12.

Coloui above, light sandy or fawn with a slight reddish tinge,

a faint dark line down the back ; below, white or pale isabelline,

a small white mark b^low the ear, dividing line usually sharply

defined.

920 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL BlIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

The exceptions noted under L. booduga include specimens from

Coimbatore (type locality) 5, Cape Comorin 4, Madura (High Wavy

Mt.) 6, Eastern Ghats 35 and Bellary 18; of these the last two show

only a mere trace of the white marking below the ear, but are

otherwise similar to the two former, while all of them are clearly

different from ‘booduga’ ; in connection with this white mark it

should also be mentioned that most of the Eastern Ghats specimens

are obviously immature.

The British Museum possesses no named specimens of Mas

(Leggada) lepidus , nor again are there any authentic specimens in

the Madras Museum ; consequently direct comparison not being

possible, identification depends entirely on Elliot’s description,

which is somewhat vague (Mas lepidus , Elliot, Madras Journal

L. Sc., x, p. 216) ; still in some essential points the Survey specimens

appear to agree with it very closely. Although Elliot made no

mention of the ear-mark noted above which is a very noticeable

feature in the specimens from Coimbatore and Cape Comorin, yet

this discrepancy in the description of ‘lepidus’ may well have been

due to the non-existence, or very slight trace of, the mark in the

specimens dealt with by Elliot. The type of lepidus is only known

to have come from S. India, the exact locality not being recorded,

so quite possibly it may have been taken in the Madura district

where for some local reason this ear-mark may not have been

developed ; at any rate in the Survey specimens the mark is barely

traceable. Blyth, it is true, considered lepidus to be a synonym of

booduga, but he may have based his opinion on size alone, dis-

regarding the question of colour and the delicacy of the limbs, two

well defined distinguishing features.

7. Mus (Leggada) fulvidiventris, Blyth.

H & B. 68; T. 65; Hf. 15; E. 1T5.

Colour above, darkish brown, fur short, smooth ; below, mostly

pale isabelline or even white, dividing line varies from sharp to

moderately well defined according to the colour of the under parts.

Blyth described under this name (J.A.S.B., xxi, p. 351, 1852) a

mouse from Trincomali, N.E. coast of Ceylon, as affined to Mus

terricolor except that it was larger and generally greyer or less

fulvescent, and gave the length (H. and B.) as about two and three

quarter inches and tail two and a half inches. The specimens

obtained in Ceylon by Major Mayor, for which it is proposed to adopt

the name fulvidiventris cannot be compared with Elliot’s type as

it is not in the British Museum Collection, but they tally with his

description quite well both in respect to size and colour. The

Survey specimens from Ceylon are somewhat larger, and differ

appreciably in colour and texture of fur from typical L. booduga or

terricolor, and assuming them to represent Blyth ’s mouse it would

seem that he was fully justified in giving another name to his mouse

from Trincomali, and further that in the present reclassification the

adoption of his name, fulvidiventris, for the Ceylon field-mice, as a

whole, appears to be equally well justified.

The smaller Indian field ( or Jungle) mice 921

8. Leggada lepidoides, sp.n.

H & B. 69; T. 52; Hf. 14; E. 11*5.

Colour above, rather variable, some specimens being darkish

brown on the back tending to a greyish brown on the sides and

flanks, while others are paler with an ochraceus tinge ; below,

usually pure white, in some cases deepening to a very pale isabelline,

dividing line well defined.

Looked at from above there is a marked resemblance to L. terri-

color from the Duars; but the latter are invariably of much darker

hue below. The reason for linking these mice from Mt. Popa with

L. Jepida from Madras lies in the fact that both of them have a

small white spot below the ear. This mark is not quite so fully

developed in the Burmese mice as in those of Madras, sometimes

being only just visible; the character may not be an important one

in itself, but it suffices to establish a sort of relationship between

the field-mice of these widely separated areas. Moreover they do

not differ greatly in average size, either in bodily or skull measure-

ments : — in fact the Burmese skulls are practically indistinguishable

from those of L. lepida, or L. bodduga, therefore it is unnecessary

to give actual dimensions. Whether the ear-mark arises from

some similarity of local conditions in the two countries is a matter

for conjecture, but the fact remains that it is only in specimens from

these two regions that this peculiarity appears to be found.

Two Leggadas from Burmah have been described, one from the

Salween Valley by Peters (L. beavani, P.Z.S., p. 559, 1866), the

other by Anderson from the Kakhyen Hills ( Mus Leggada)

kakhyensis or viculorum ( Zool . Yunn. pp. 107, 108, 1878) ; but in

neither case do they appear to represent the Mt. Popa specimens

collected by Shortridge, either in general measurements or in

colour, consequently it became necessary to rule out these names

and establish a new. species.

SOME BIRDS FROM THE NORTH WEST CORNER

OF FARS, PERSIA,

BY

C. Erik Capito, O. B. E., F. Z. S.

( With a Map).

The following notes are on birds collected in an area at the north east end

of the Persian Gulf between 1924 and 1928. Various friends contributed to the

collection amongst whom were h . G. Lawson , G. H . Dawson and G. M. Gibson ,

but the majority of the birds were shot by either Baba Jan or myself.

Except for the first year practically all the birds were skinned and prepared by

Baba Jan, a Kashquli. I am very much indebted to Mr. N. B. Kinnear of the

British Museum, Natural History for all the identifications and the correlations

with Messrs. Witherby & Palmer’s collections as well as for corrections to this

manuscript.

The specimens consisting of a total of 460 skins of 138 species together with

74 clutches of eggs have been divided between the British Museum and the

Society.

The undernoted papers describe birds from nearby areas

1. On a collection of Birds from Bushire in, the Persian Gulf by R. B.

Sharpe. Ibis , 1886, pp. 493-499. These birds were collected by

J. V. Palmer from Bushire in 1885 and consisted of 83 skins of 53

species.

2. An Ornithological Journey in Fars, S. W. Persia by H. F. Witherby.

Ibis, 1903, pp. 501-571 (Bushire, Shiraz and Diner).

The area in which the birds were collected consists of a portion of the N. W.

corner of Fars and a portion of the southern end of Arabistan and is bounded

t?y the Hindiyan river to the north as far as Deh Mulleh and then by a line

across to the Marun river near Bebehan, from there it follows the high hills to

the N. E. running N. W. and S. E, nearlyto the Shapur river and then on the

south by that river, which changes its name to Rudhilleh as it emerges from

the hills into the coastal plains to enter the Persian Gulf ; on the west by the

Persian Gulf.

The area consists of a coastal plain bordering the Persian Gulf which is

about 10 miles wide, part of which consists of arable land, partly salt desert

while close to the shore there are a few sand hills. On the desert section low

tamarisk scrub grows in places, whilst near the villages, a few gardens growing

vegetables with either or both date palms and tamarisk trees. Some of the latter

must be very old judging by the girth of their trunks. Otherwise the plains

are devoid of vegetation except in the spring months when wild flowers are in

abundance and the local farmers grow, with the aid of a scanty rainfall, crops

of wheat and barley. Between the Hindiyan and Rudhilleh rivers, several

comparatively small streams flow from the foothills into the Persian Gulf their

courses being; cut into ravines 10-50 feet deep by 50-150 yards wide.

The foothills consist of alternate layers of yellow and reddish sandstones and

mudstones weathered iu some places into fantastic shapes, but, except for a

very occasional stunted ‘ Konar ’ tree, are devoid of vegetation, and even in the

spring, the grass and wild flowers do not grow in such profusion as on the

plains or in the higher valleys. As the land rises the sandstones and mud-

stones give place in parts to limestones and blue mudstones with here and there

hills of gypsum with red and blue shales. At a higher stage these gypsum hills

predominate but give way to massive limestones in the still higher ranges.

However for the most part, these limestones are outside my collecting area.

Between the ranges of hills there are fertile valleys but crops, with very few

exceptions, such as along the Zeitun river and at Baba Kellu and Bikarz,

are all rain fed.

SOME BIRDS FROM THE N. W. CORNER OF PARS, PERSIA 923

The wild vegetation as the hills rise from the foot hills consists of widely

separated clumps or single ‘ Konar ’ trees with wild almonds becoming quite

frequent at about 2,000 ft. and at this height ‘ Ban ’ trees are to be found here

and there, whilst stunted oaks start at about 3,500 ft. In the spring, wild flowers

are in abundance and grass covers any place which has even a small amount

cf earth. Most streams that have perennial water are either bordered with

bull-rushes or, if their beds are stony, occasional bushes of oleander and tama-

risk grow either on the banks or in their beds. Along the banks of the

Zeitun and Kheirobad rivers are big stretches of tamarisk and willow jungle,

the home of the francolin, partridge and pig.

Depressions forming small lakes are occasionally found in the gypsum

hills, the largest being the Bahm-i-Shur lake which is about a mile long by

one-quarter of a mile at its greatest width.

Rainfall in the area averages 12-5 inches a year which falls between Novem-

ber and April with occasional showers in October and May. The winter

temperature falls to a minimum of 26° F. at night with a day shade temperature

of about 50 to 60° F. In the summer the climate of the 4 or 5 miles bordering

the shores of the Persian Gulf is very humid with a maximum temperature of

about 114° F. unless an offshore wind is blowing when the air is drier and the

temperature rises accordingly. Further away from the coast the climate is

drier with a rise in temperature which at some 10 or more miles inland may be

as high as 127° F. in the shade. As the hills rise over 1,000 ft., the temperature

does not rise so high and at 1,900 ft. the maximum temperature never exceed-

ed 121° F. whilst the highest minimum temperature was 78° F. the average

minimum temperature for July at this height was 75° F.

1. Corvus corax lawrencei. Punjab Raven.

Resident and common throughout the area.

2. Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax Red=biIIed Chough

Resident in the upper parts of the area more especially in the deep gorges of

the Zuhra river. During the cold weather they descend lower down and

large flocks were seen playing round the hill tops at about 1,600 ft. near Kilo

Kerim .

3. Sturnus vulgaris poltaratskyi. Finsch’s Starling.

A common winter visitor arriving in large flocks in the autumn — first seen

October 20, 1924 and October 26, 1925— and leaving again in April or early

in May. The local people eat the starling

4. Oriolus oriolus oriolus. Golden Oriole.

No specimens obtained but one was seen at a small waterfall near Bikarz

Castle in May,

5. Carduelis carduelis niediecki. Persian Goldfinch.

Specimens were obtained in March 1927 nearMishun. I do not think they

were regular visitors nor did they prolong their stay in the area though I saw

others about the same time North of Shah Taslim.

6. Fringilla coelebs ccelebs. Chaffinch.

A regular winter visitor to the hilly part of the area and examples were

obtained on December 12th in the Tang-i-Mishun, February 5th at Shah

Taslim and February 26th at Mishun. They appear to migrate North in

March.

7. Passer hispaniolensis transcaspicus. Eastern Spannish Sparrow.

Local name : Gungesh.

Resident in the area. They breed in trees and buildings and make a great

nuisance of themselves about bungalows. Eggs were obtained from March 29th

to June 5th, on which latter date a quite fresh clutch was found. On April 6th,

a nest was found in a Konar tree in which a wood-shrike also had its nest,

8. Emberiza calandra calandra. Corn Bunting.

Palmer obtained specimens near Bushire in February and March and

Witherby found it fairly common from the coast to over 9,000 ft. further east.

All my specimens were obtained in the cold weather, on March 6 and 21, 1924

5

924 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

February 11 and December 2, 1925 and February 16, 1926. A clutch of

3 eggs was brought in to me at Bikarz on March, 22, 1924, which appears to

belong to this species.

9 Emberiza meianocephala. Black=headed Bunting.

Witherby describes this Bunting as ‘ the most evenly distributed and

common bird ’ in the part of Persia which he visittd. Palmer records a

specimen from Bushire obtained in April and I got examples at Mishun on

April 2, 1924 and on May 6, 1925. In my experience the Black-headed

Bunting is a passage migrant passing through the area southwards between

November 17 and 26 and on the return migration in the spring it arrives

early in April— on the 6th in 1924, 8th in 19?5 and 6th in 1926— and remains till

the beginning of May when it continues its northward flight.

10. Emberiza hortulana. Ortolan Bunting.

Migrant — a single specimen was obtained at Mishun on April 18, 1926.

Palmer shot an example near Bushire in April and Witherby one on April 30,

near Nash-i-Bahram 3,300 ft.

11. Alauda arvensis intermedia. Eastern Skylark.

A single specimen was obtained, but unfortunately the label has been lost ;

and I do not remember where and when it was shot. Both Palmer and

Witherby got single examples at Bushire in January and March 23,

respectively.

12. Calandrella brachydactyla brachydactyla. Shorbtoed Lark.

Witherby found this bird very local and I did not meet with it often. A female

was obtained at Ganoweh on January 11th, 1923.

13. Ammomanes deserti fraterculus. Palestine Desert=Lark.

This bird is quite common and a resident in practically the whole area

though in fewer numbers on the plains. No nests were obtained. Witherby

noted it as fairly common near the coast and found a nest at Kamarij (2,700 ft.)

on March 20th.

14. Galerida cristata magna. Hume’s Crested=Lark.

Local name : Kul Knlcitin.

This lark occurs in large numbers throughout the area and is resident. The

eggs are usually laid early in April, and the nest is made in a depression in the

ground. One pair made their nest at the side of our tennis court at Mishun

but abandoned it after laying eggs as tennis restarted then and they objected

to being disturbed.

15. Alaemon alaudipes dorise. The Persian Bifasciated Lark.

Resident in the lower part of the area along the sea coast and on the tidal

banks of the Hindiyan river, they have also been noted on the Karun river

between Marid and Dorquain where it is still tidal.

16. Anthus sordidus decaptus. Brown Pipit.

A male and female were obtained at Mishun on October 26, 1924, and a

female near the same place on July 23, 1926, but otherwise I have no notes

on this bird.

17. Motacilla sp. ? Wagtail.

A yellow wagtail of sorts was seen many times, but I was never able to secure

specimens. In the autumn migration, it appears a little later than the White

Wagtail and on the return passage they pass through earlier than that species.

In 1926, a pair were seen on October 23.

18. Motacilla alba dukhunensis. Indian White Wagtail.

A winter visitor whose arrival in the autumn is a sure sign of the approach

of the cold weather and likewise the departure indicates that the hot weather

is at hand. This species arrives about October 6 and leaves again about the

end of Maich,

SOME BIRDS FROM THE N. W. CORNER OF PARS, PERSIA 925

19. Sitta neumayeri dresseri. Large Rock Nuthatch.

Local name : Bulbul-i- Kuhi .

Resident in the hilly part of the area where they are found in rocky gorges.

No nests were found but young from the nest were brought in by the local

inhabitants on April 20 and 24, 1925, and one of these was kept alive in my

aviary till June 10. In one gorge where drilling went on regularly, these birds

became so tame that they would come and sit on the steel structure and drink

from a tank of water with men working alongside.

20. Lanius excubitor pallidirostris. Allied Grey Shrike.

Local name : Alla Kardeh.

Examples of this shrike were obtained at Bikarz (2,000 ft.) on October 5,

1924 and near Amiri (100 ft.) on September 3, 1926, but I have no notes as to

when it arrives or departs.

21. Lanius excubitor aucheri. Bonaparte’s Grey Shrike.

Local name : Alla Kardeh.

This shrike is probably a resident and adults were obtained at Bikarz (2,000 ft.)

on October 5, 1924 and Mishun (1,900 ft.) January 9, and February 2, 1925. Two

nestlings were brought in to me at Mishun in May of 1925 and 1927 which I put

into spirit and another which I got in the same place, April 18, was reared in

my aviary till it was fully fledged but unfortunately it died on May 13. The

nests are in Konar trees and 1 obtained eggs on different dates in April.

22. Lanius senator niloticus. Eastern Woodchat Shrike.

Local name : Alma Bash.

A summer visitor arriving about February 22, and departing about Septem-

ber 15. Eggs were taken on the Niza plain near Mishun on March 29, at Gaeh

Qara Guli on the Zuhra river also on March 29, and at Ab Garm on April 6.

23. Lanius collurio. Red-backed Shrike.

This shrike was generally to be seen in the plains near Ganoweh in March

and April and a specimen was obtained there on September 2, 1926, but I did

not meet with it in the hills though Witherby obtained a young bird near

Ardekan (2,700 ft.) on May 26, and saw a fully adult male at Shiraz on April

30. Palmer shot an adult near Bushire in April.

24. Lanius isabellinus. Isabelline Shrike.

Local name : Qissel Quoirukh.

A summer visitor. I got an adult male at Ab Garm (1,700 ft.) on April 12,

and a nestling which I take to belong to this species was brought in to me from

Bikarz on April 19. Two young birds were sent home to the London Zoologi-

cal Gardens where one of them lived some years. These had been obtained at

Mishun as nestlings.

25. Lanius cristatus phoenicuroides. Rufous Shrike.

Local name : Qissel Quoirukh.

This shrike arrives in the spring and I obtained specimens as follows : Bikarz

February 26, Bid-i-Zard April 12, Tang-i-Mishun June 12. I have no notes

about its breeding.

26. Lanius nubicus. Masked Shrike.

A bird of this species was shot at Jamal-i-Khar near Bikarz on June 2.1, 1924.

27. Pycnonotus leucotis mesopotamise. Mesopotamian White=eared Bulbul.

Local name : Bulbul.

Witherby notes this bird as common between Bushire and Shiraz from March

to May. I obtained specimens at Bikarz in the end of March and a young bird

at Cham-i-Khal on May 13, 1924. This bulbul arrives in flocks about Septenu

ber25, and leaves again early in June ; during this period it is found through-

out the area from the hills to the plains. I did not find any nests but had three

eggs brought to me which were taken on April 16, near the Zuhra river. It is

a resident of the date palms of the Shatt-el-Arab and may also occtjr as £

resident in the gardens of Bebehan,

926 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , XXXIV

28. Phylloscopus sub-sp. Chiffchaff.

Only one specimen of this was obtained at the Bahmi-Shur lake on February

7, 1926.

29. Sjlvia communis icterops. Eastern Common White-throat.

I procured this bird near Mishun on May 2 and September 24, and at

Ganoweh on October 1. Witherby says.it was local and not common.

30. Sylvia curruca curruca. Lesser White-throat.

A single example of this white-throat was shot on March 12 at Shah

Taslim. Palmer procured two examples at Bushire in April.

31. Scotocerca inquietus striatus. Streaked Scrub Warbler.

A male example of scrub warbler was obtained on August 8, 1929, at Gach

Qara Guli 2,600 ft. and sent to me.

32. Agrobates galactodes familiaris. Grey-backed Warbler.

On May 6, Gibson shot a female off her nest containing four fresh eggs in a

Konar tree near Mishun whilst Baba Jan got one at Baba Kellu on July 22,

1926.

Witherby noted it in all the fertile plains between Bushire and Shiraz and

Palmer obtained a male and female with nest and eggs near Bushire in

April.

33. Argya caudata huttoni. Afghan Babler.

Local name : Dum Diraz or Uzem Quoirukh or Leecu.

A resident and breeding from March to April in low bushes. It lays three^to

five greenish blue eggs in a cup-shaped nest of grass in a bush. Several of

these birds were kept in my aviary and did very well. I noted it only in the

hills.

34. Turdus atrogularis. Black-throated Thrush.

Winter visitor. A specimen was caught alive on January 20, 1925, but died

a few days later. Palmer obtained two females at Bushire on February 16

and March 4.

35. Monticola axitalis. The Rock-Thrush.

A single example of this thrush was shot near Mishun on January 25, 1925.

Palmer obtained a male at Bushire in March 1885.

36. Monticola solitaria longirostris. Blyth’s Blue Rock-Thrush.

Local name : Bulbul-i-Kuhi or Siah Bala, the first local name is the same as

that used for the Rock Nuthatch.

Resident in the area. A nest was obtained at Dasht-i-Gazal on April 5,

1925, and I shot several birds at Bikarz in January also at Mishun in January,

February and October and on the Zuhra river in November, whilst in the

British Museum there is a male and female obtained by Palmer near Bushire

in March and April.

37. (Enanthe oenanthe oenanthe. Common Wheatear.

A single specimen of the common wheatear was obtained at Dugumbazan on

April'8, 1925. Witherby got a male at Bushire on March 21.

38. (Enanthe deserti albifrons. Desert-Wheatear.

At Ganoweh I shot a male on February 26, 1924.

Witherby saw this wheatear at Bushire at the end of March and Palmer

obtained a male there on the sixteenth of the same month.

39. (Enanthe finchii. Barnes’ Chat.

Local name : Oglechak.

This chat except for a few months in the hot weather is always to be found

in the area. It appears to leave at the end of June and returns again at the

end of September (September 28 in 1925). They are said to breed in the

hills but I did not find a nest.

40. (Enanthe isabellina. Isabel fine Wheatear.

Local name : Pidoom .

This wheatear leaves us about the middle of June returning again towards

the end of August, the 23rd in 1925 and the 20th in 1926. They are quite

Some birds from the n. w. corner of fars, Persia 927

common and breed in the district and though I did not find any nest, several

birds in juvenile plumage were brought in to me. Blandford considered this

the commonest chat in Persia and Witherby agreed with this statement.

41. (Enanthe xanfhoprymna chrysopygia. Red»tailed Wheatear.

Local name : Suklak or Buzqalab.

Winter visitors and the only specimens I procured were between November

9 and February 26.

42. (Enanthe picata. Indian Pied Wheatear.

Local name : Karalachak.

Witherby considered this chat rare in S. W. Persia. I obtained specimens at

Mishun (1,900 ft.) in October, November, December and January, Baba Kellu

(1500 ft ) July 22 and Tangi-Galligau (2,100 ft ) on June 19, 1925. It is a

resident.

43. (Enanthe alboniger. Hume's Wheatear.

Local name : Karalachak .

As far as I noticed this species is to be found in the area from October till

the end of June and I got two specimens, a male at Tang-i-Galligau on

June 19, 1925, and another male at Mishun on January 21, 1925.

44. Saxicola torquata indica. Indian Bush Chat.

At the Bahm-i-Shur lake I shot a single specimen on February 28, 1926.

45. Phaenicurus ochrurus phoenicuroides. Kashmir Redstart.

. Local name : Suklak or Sukhtak.

Winter visitor, the only specimens I shot were at Mishun in January, Febru-

ary and November and at the Bahm-i-Shur lake in January. Witherby got a

female at Bushire on March 22, 1902, and Palmer sent two males and one

female to the British Museum from the same place obtained on February 25,

March 5 and April 18.

46. Phoenicurus ochrurus ochrurus. Black Redstart.

Specimens were obtained on February 7, 1926 and January 19, 1927 at the

Bahm-i-Shur lake and Mishun respectively.

47. Phoenicurus erythronota. Eversman’s Redstart..

Local name : Sukhta,

A single bird was shot on January 7, 1925, at Mishun and Palmer obtained

a male on the 27th of that month in 1885.

48. Erithacus rubecula hyrcanus. Persian Robin.

Winter visitor. A specimen was obtained at Bahm-i-Shur on February

20, 1927, and others had been seen every winter.

49. Irania gutturalis. White=throated Robin.

A male was shot at Mishun (1900 ft.) on April 18, 1926. Witherby records

this species as common in the wooded and bush districts from 2,000 ft. upwards

and even in open country, as long as there were a few bushes, it was not

uncommon.

50. Hirundo rustica rustica. Common Swallow.

Spring visitor. Swallows arrived in the area on the following dates, 1924,

February 18, 1925, February, 10, 1926 ; February 22, 1927 ; February 21. They

commenced nest building almost at once — in 1925 I saw a completed nest on

March 3 — and the first eggs are hatched about April 12. All the young are

fledged and have left the nest by May 8, and about June 6, the swallows begin

to collect preparatory to their departure. By June 19, the majority of the birds

have left and the remainder, with the exception of a very few which remain

throughout the summer in places where there is plenty of water, have departed

by July 10.

Passage migrants are seen going South about September 12, and a stray bird

was observed on the plains on January 13, 1925.

Whenever possible the nests are attached to the ceilings of new or old

buildings and as far as my observations go, the species was single brooded ip

this part of Persia.

§2 8 Journal , Bombay natural hist, society , ra. xxxiv

51. Delichon urbica. House»Martin.

Spring visitor arriving about the end of January or beginning of February —

February 7, 1925, January 23, 1927 — and nesting in April. In my experience

they build their nests under overhanging ledges of rock and not in buildings.

Witherby says great numbers were nesting on the walls of the caravanserai of

Mian Kotal (6,000 ft.) in April and he found it common but local in towns and

villages. I have no date as to when they left, but consider it was in early June,

a little ahead of the swallows.

52. Ptyonoprogne obsoleta obsoleta. Pale Crag=Martin.

Winter visitors. I obtained specimens on January 29, at Tang-i-Khor

(1,700 ft.) and February 5, at Shah Taslim (2,000 ft.) but also saw examples

on both earlier and later dates. Witherby saw this species at Bushire between

March 21 and 25.

53. Dryobates syriacus. Syrian Pied Woodpecker.

This species is found in most places where there are ‘ Ban ’ or stunted oak

trees in the area but they are not common. Witherby did not meet with this

woodpecker below 2,600 ft. but I got it near Misliun at about 2,000 ft.

54. Cuculus canorus canorus. Common Cuckoo.

Spring visitors and passage migrant. First heard on the following dates

1924, February 9 ; 1925, February 23 ; 1926, January 25 ; 1927, January 30 ; and

appeared to leave at the end of April — the 19th being the latest date, one was

heard and none were seen much after this date. I have no notes on the

breeding of this species except that a nestling was brought in to me on April

19, 1924.

I shot a female on November 1 at Mishun and this is about the date on which

this spe:ies passes through on the southward migration. At Sulabardar

(2,500 ft.), I obtained a hirpatic female on March 25, 1924.

55. Merops apiaster. European Bee-Eater.

Summer visitor beginning to arrive towards the end of April— first noted on

April 26, 1926 — and leave towards the end of September or early in October.

This species undoubtedly breeds in the area though no eggs or young were

obtained.

55. Merops superciliosus persicus. Blue-cheeked Beefeater.

Summer visitors. This Bee-eater commences to arrive in the area at the end

of February or early in March and in October gradually begins to depart. I

did not find any nest nor did I obtain any young.

57. Merops orientalis beludschicus. Sind Green Beefeater.

These are resident in the area, nothing was seen of their nidification.

Specimens were shot of December 14 and 16, 1924 ; June 13, 1926 and July 22,

1926.

58. Upupa epops epops. Hoopoe.

Summer visitor arriving in the end of February aid beginning of March--in

1924 ; March 2, 1925 ; February 23, 1926 ; March 3, 1927 March 5 A female with

four young, two or three weeks old, were brought in to me on April 18. After the

middle of June this species was, as a rule, only seen siagly and by October all

had left, the last noted was on October 3, 1924.

59. Alcedo atthis pallasii. Central Asian Kingfisher.

Resident in small numbers and found along streams where bushes and trees

grow along the banks.

60. Ceryl rudis rudis. Pied Kingfisher.

Resident near the larger rivers. Specimens were obtained at Mishun (1,900

ft.) on October 26 and Bikarz on January 26, 1925 (2,000 ft.) Often seen on

the Zuhra and Zeitun rivers.

61. Halcyon smyrnensis smyrnensis. Whitedjreasted Kingfisher.

The commonest kingfisher in the area and found near all running streams of

any size ; not, however, in large numbers

SOME BIRDS FROM THE N. W. CORNER OF FARS, PERSIA 929

62. Coracias garrulus semenowi. Eastern Roller.

Summer visitor arriving in March — 1924, March 13 ; 1925, March 12 ; 1927,

March 27,— and leaving about July 10 or 15, but I saw one at Masjid-i-

Suleiman — outside the area but in the same type of country — on August 4, 1925.

In 1924 nestlings with their feathers just beginning to form were brought in to

me on May 30 and on the following day 1 received another fully fledged. I

kept several in my aviary and sent one to the London Zoo which lived for some

time.

63. Bubo bubo sub-sp ? Eagle=0wl.

In May 1925 two young were brought in to me from the gypsum hills (alt.

about 2,500 ft.) which I reared and subsequently sent to the London Zoo.

Again in 1927 two youngsters in down were obtained on March 15 and after

keeping them for some months were also sent to the London Zoo. No specimen

of this bird was shot.

64. Ketupa ceylonensis semenowi. Arabistan Brown Fish-Owl.

A male of this owl was brought in to me on July 31, 1924, from Gach-i-

Turush, circa 2,750 ft.

65. Otus brucei. Striated Scops Owl.

Resident. A male was obtained at Bander Rig on the coast in November

1925, a female with 4 eggs was brought in to me at Baba Kellu on April 4,

1925 and lived in my aviary for over a month and a third in juvenile plumage

was caught at Mishun on May 25, 1925. In the hills this owl nests in holes in

the ‘ Ban ’ trees.

66. Asio flammeus flammeus. Short-eared Owl.

A single example of this owl was shot at Ganoweh on the coast on January

11, 1925. Witherby saw at Bushire what he thought was an example of this

owl on March 21.

67. Athene noctua bacfriana. Hutton’s Owlet.

A very common resident. Generally breeds in holes in a cliff or in a

steep bank of a river, One bird reared its young in the office strong room,

getting in through a ventilator hole. It laid four eggs which it successfully

hatched and the young had feathers by May 16. In 1925 I sent several live

specimens, which had been caught young, home to the London Zoological

Gardens.

68. Tyto alba alba. Barn-Owl.

An example was caught alive in Mishun Castle in the spring of 1925 and sent

to the London Zoological Gardens.

69. Falco tinnunculus tinnunculus. Common Kestrel.

A resident in the area but I was unable to find any nests though a young bird

was brought in to me and kept in my aviary for some time.

70. Aquila clanga. Spotted Eagle.

Two specimens wTere caught alive at Mishun at the end of February 1927 and

were sent home to the London Zoo where one lived till the end of October

1927.

71. Circaetus gallicus. Short tued Eagle.

An example of this Eagle was brought to me alive in August 1924, it had

previously been kept by some local people and who said they caught it when

very young in the gypsum hills near Mishun (about 2,500 ft.). In the autumn

of 1924 I sent it to the London Zoological Gardens.

72. Hieraetus pennatus. Booted Eagle.

Local name : Do-baradar.

Resident in the area and nesting on the cliff's. Two eggs were taken at

Tang-i-Gogird on March 7, 1925, and one of them hatched out under a hen on

March 27. Later another two young birds, ten days old, were obtained from

a nest on April 18, and two more with feathers beginning; to appear, were

brought in to me from Gach-i-Turush on March 27, 1927.

The Persians call this eagle Do-baradar or two brothers from the habit of

always hunting in couples, stooping alternately until the quarry is killed, when

930 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

the bird which has actually killed the quarry will eat first, devouring exactly

his half share of the victim, generally a chukar, and leaving the other half for

i ts mate.

73. Buteo rufinus rufinus. Longdegged Buzzard.

A resident with somewhat similar habits as the last but not such a clean

feeder as it will eat sick birds and mammals. Several specimens of this bird

were kept in my aviary for six months or more.

74. Circus aruginosus. Marsh Harrier.

Frequently seen during the winter months, a specimen was obtained at the

Bahm-i-Shur lake on February 22, 1925.

75. Circus cyanus. Henharrier.

A male was obtained at Mishun on February 1, 1925. Witherby saw a few

Pallid Harriers C. macrurus in the plains and up to 3,000 ft. and Palmer shot

one at Bushire in April.

76. Accipiter nisus nisus. European Sparrowhawk.

Winter visitors, no specimens were obtained.

77. Milvus migrans migrans. Black Kite.

A male was obtained at Mishun on December 22, 1925.

78. Neophron percnopterus. Egyptian Vulture.

Resident and fairly common both in the hills and plains.

79. Pelicanus sp ? Pelican.

Large numbers of pelicans were seen where the Hindiyan river flows into the

Persian Gulf and in fewer numbers near Hindiyan village. One or two were

also observed on the Khor Khalil at Ganoweh but no specimens were shot.

80. Phalacrocorax carbo subcormoranus. Large Cormorant.

This species is numerous on the Persian Gulf in winter and on the Bahm-i-

Shur lake where a specimen was obtained on July 25, 1926. They are also

found on the larger rivers of the area and probably breed on the Islands of the

Persian Gulf whilst some also may breed on the Bahm-i-Shur lake.

81. Phalacrocorax pygmsus. The Pigmy Cormorant.

An example was obtained on the Bahm-i-Shur lake on December 1, 1926.

82. Anser sp ? Geese.

Geese were seen both on the plains near Ganoweh and flying overhead at

Mishun. Dawson said he saw some near the Bham-i-Shur lake. No specimens

were obtained for identification.

83. Tadorna tadorna. Shellduck.

This duck is not a regular visitor and was only seen in the area during a

particularly cold winter in 1925, at Ganoweh in January and the Bahm-i-Shur

lake in February.

84. Casarca ferruginea. Ruddy Shellduck.

The Ruddy Shellduck arrives in the area about the middle of February and

leaves again in the end of July or early in August. One was seen on the Rhd-i-

Shur near Bikarz on August 2, 1924. They breed both in the hills and plains

and on May 17, 1924 four young, unable to fly, were captured in a pool on the

Rud-i-Shur. A still younger bird was picked up on June 27 of the same year

not far from where the four were found and on April 12, 1927, several ducklings

unable to fly were caught on the plains north of Ganoweh. Of the original

four I kept two alive in my aviary for two years when one went blind, its mate

lived for another 12 to 18 months,

85. Anas platyrhyncha platyrhyncha. Mallard.

Not common on the Bahm-i-Shur lake but occasionaly seen in pairs in small

streams in the winter months.

86. Anas strepera. Gad wall

A winter visitor in small numbers on the Bahmd-Shur lake and small streams

and pools in the area. ,

SOME BIRDS FROM THE N. IV. CORNER OF EARS, PERSIA 931

87. Anas acuta acuta. Pintail.

Winter visitor in very small numbers. Occasionally found on the Bahm-i-

Shur lake and other smaller sheets of water in the area.

88. Anas crecca. Common Teal.

A winter visitor in small numbers to all suitable waters.

89. Anas angustirostris. Marbled Duck.

Winter visitor but not in large numbers, found both on the Bahm-i-Shur

lake and other suitable pieces of water.

90. Spatula clypeata. Shoveller.

A pair were obtained on the Bahm-i-Shur lake on May 11, 1924, where

perhaps they breed. They were never seen there during the winter.

91. Nyroca fuligula. Tufted Duck.

One of the commonest winter visitors but chiefly to the Bahm-i-Shur lake

though I have also occasionally seen it on the raimpond at Ganoweh.

92. Nyroca ferina. Common Pochard.

This duck is found on the Bahm-i-Shur lake in about the same numbers as

the preceding species, it also occurs on other lakes but not in such large

numbers.

93. Netta rufina. The Red=crested Pochard.

By far the commonest duck visiting the area and found on the Bahm-i-Shur

lake, the rain pond at Ganoweh and also on many of the smaller ponds in the

hills but I never saw it on any of the streams in the hills.

94. Nyroca nyroca. White=eyed Pochard.

One of the commonest winter visitors and found chiefly on the Bahm-i-Shur

lake.

95. Erismatura elucocephala. StifMailed Duck.

Common on the Bahm-i-Shur lake where it appears to be a resident as I

Saw it there in the winter and obtained chicks in down on August 17,1924. I

did not see it anywhere but on the above-mentioned lake.

The following table shews the percentage of the different species of duck

shot by parties on the Bahm-i-Shur lake during the winters 1925, 1926 and

1927 and checked by me

Red-crested Pochard 35%

Common do. 13%

White- eyed Duck 13%

Tufted Duck 12*6%

Stiff-tailed Duck 11%

Shoveller 5 6%

It should be noted, however, that

other waters than on the Bahm-i-Shur lake.

96. Phoenicopterus rubra antiquorum. Flamingo.

Not often seen, a specimen was obtained near Ganoweh on February 6, 1925.

Witherby saw t\Vo at Bushire on March 18.

97. Ardea cinerea cinerea. Common Heron.

An example was obtained at Shah Taslim, 2,000 ft. on January 25, 1925,

and it was fairly common in the winter months, but none were noted during

the summer.

98. Demegratta asha. ReebHeron.

A single bird — a male—-in the white phase of plumage was shot at Ganoweh

on January 12, 1925.

99. Nycticorax nycticorax, NighbHeron.

A female of this species was caught alive at Mohammedi on the Rudhilleh

river on April 22, 1925, but it did not live long in my aviary. The ovaries were

very large..

Common Teal 4*4%

Gadwall 2 %

Mallard 13%

Pintail 1

Shellduck j- Less than 1% each.

Brahminy J

Brahminy Ducks were more common on

§32 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI V

100. Ardetta minuta. Little Bittern.

Specimens of the little bittern were obtained on May 31, 1924 and April 10,

1925 at Shah Taslim. Palmer shot a male at Bushire on March 16, and a female

in April. This bird was frequently heard in the rushes bordering streams and

lakes during the early summer.

101. Ciconia ciconia. Common Stork.

Local name : Hajji Lak-Lak.

A passage migrant through most of the area, though it breeds at Bebehan in

the North and also at Ram Hormuz which is just outside our limits to the

North.

On October 8, 1924, large flocks passed through Mishun heading south and a

few days later a further flock was seen. The return migration is in February,

and large numbers were seen resting on the Mishun plain on February 5,

1928.

102. Chalamydotis undulata macqueeni. Houbara.

This species visits the coastal plains in winter, arriving towards the end of

September — September 30, 1926 at Hindiyan — or early in October and departs

again about the end of March or early in April.

The houbara is hunted by the local inhabitants with falcons and provides

good sport. It was said by the people of Bebehan to breed on the Lishtar plain

which lies to the S. E. of that town, but I was unable to get confirmation of

this.

103. Cursorius gallicus gallicus. Cream-coloured Courser.

Found on the coastal plains in small numbers in winter. Three specimens

were obtained a male and female on January 10 and 11 at Ganoweh and a male

at Bona Ismail on Januaiy 22, 1927.

104. Capella gallinago gallinago. Common Snipe.

Only found in small numbers, chiefly at Shah Taslim.

105. Crocethia alba. Sanderling.

Fairly common in winter on the shore of the Persian Gulf, I shot one at

Ganoweh on January 11, 1925.

106. Tetanus totanus terrigonotee. Central Asian Redshank.

Two examples were obtained at Ganoweh on December 4, 1924, and

January 12, 1925.

107. Totanns nebularius. Greenshank.

A single specimen— a male— was shot at Ganoweh on February 26, 1927.

108. Erolia alpina alpina. Dunlin.

A winter visitor to the coastal plain— one specimen was obtained at Ganoweh

in February.

109. Numenius arquata lineata. Curlew.

According to my notes curlews are found near Ganoweh and along the

coastal plain at all times of the year, but no doubt those seen in the summer are

non-breeding birds. Occasionally the curlew is observed in the hills, several

were noted near Mishun chiefly in the autumn.

110. Pagoa leschenaulti. Large Sand-Plover.

I have a bird shot at Ganoweh in January and four from Kharg Island in

February.

111. Eudromias morinellus. Dotterel.

A specimen was obtained from a flock at Deh Mulleh on the Hindiyan river

on January 21, 1927.

112. Lobivanellus indicus atronuchalis. Red-wattled Lapwing.

Resident and quite common along the streams both large and small. Two

clutches of four eggs each were obtained one at Mishun on April 13, 1925, and

the other at Bid-i-Zard, S. B. of Bikarz on April 14 of the same year.

SOME BIRDS FROM THE N. W. CORNER OF EARS, PERS/A 933

113. Vanellus vanellus. Lapwing.

A winter visitor to both the plains and the hills. Two specimens were

obtained near Bikarz on January 26, 1925, and by the Bahm-i-Shur lake on

November 15, 1925.

114. Larus argentatus cachinans. Yellowdegged Hering Gull.

The only example of this Gull which I got was from Kharg Island on

February 22, 1927, but it also occurs at Ganoweh and along the coast.

115. Larus ridibundus ridibundus. BIack=headed Gull.

This Gull was also obtained on Kharg Island on February 22, 1927, and is

likewise found along the coast.

116. Larus genei. Slender=billed Gull.

As in the case of the two Gulls above mentioned, this species was also brought

me from Kharg Island on February 22, 1927, and is also found along the

coast.

117. Chliodonias leucopareia leucopareia. Whiskered Tern.

Persian name : Molaik.

A single example — a female — was shot at Ganoweh on January 11, 1925.

118. Chlidonias leucoptera. Whlte=winged Black Tern.

I shot an example of this bird while hovering over a rain pool at Kilo Kerim,

on May 8, 1925.

119. Thalasseus bergii velox. Red Sea Large Crested Tern.

A male was shot at Ganoweh on February 24, 1927.

120. Thalasseus sandvicensis sandvicensis. Sandwich Tern.

Two males and a female were shot at Ganoweh on February 24, and 25, 1927

121. Thalasseus benghalensis benghalensis. Indian Lesser Crested Tern.

Two birds were shot at Ganoweh along with the last.

122. Podiceps cristatus cristatus. Great Crested Grebe.

Frequently seen on the Bahm-i-Shur lake where it may possibly be a resident.

Two were obtained there on November 2, 1924 and February 1, 1925.

123. Podiceps rilficollis iraquensis. Mesopotamian Little Grebe.

A resident on the Bahm-i-Shur lake where I have obtained specimens in

June, July, August and September and have seen many while shooting duck

there in the winter.

124. Rallus aquaticus korejewi. Water Rail.

A female was caught at Ganoweh on December 12, 1924.

125. Porzana porzana. Spotted Crake.

I had an example of this crake brought in to me which had been caught at

Ganoweh on June 25, 1925.

126. Porzana pusilla pusilla. Eastern Baillon’s Crake.

A single specimen was caught at Ganoweh on October 17, 1925.

127. Crexcrex. Corncrake.

One was procured near the Zuhra river below7 the Jerreh Gorge on September

27, 1925.

128. Gallinula chloropus. Moorhen.

A resident on the Bahm-i-Shur lake. Sharpe records one obtained by

Palmer near Bushire in April.

129. Fulica atra atra. Coot.

A resident and very common on the Bahm-i-Shur lake and other small lakes

w hich have water in them all the year round.

934 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

130. Columbia livia sub. sp. Rock Dove.

A fairly common resident in the area living in cliffs either in the hills or in

stream banks on the plains.

Young birds were obtained on June 14, 1925 and May 1926.

131. Streptopelia turtur arenicola. Persian Turtle Dove.

A summer visitor to the area arriving April 5, 1924, April 9, 1925 and

April 12, 1926, they appear to leave towards the end of September. They are

found both on the plains and in the hills, nesting in the hills in Konar bushes

and presumably in the gardens near villages on the plains.

Fresh eggs were brought in to me on May 4, and 27, 1924, but two young

doves, about four weeks old, were brought to me on September 5, 1925. An

isolated pair of doves were seen near the Zuhra river on December 16, 1924.

132. Sireptopelia risoria risoria. Ring Dove.

A specimen was obtained at Ganoweh on August 18, 1926.

133. Pterocles senegallus. Spotted Sandgrouse.

Local name : Kotoo .

Occurs in the plains of the area in the autumn and winter only. One was

obtained at Deh Mulleh on September 1, 1926.

134. Pterocles alchata caudactus. Pintail Sandgrouse.

Local name : Kokar.

These birds come to the Ganoweh section of the area in the winter and breed

on the salty plains behind Ganoweh and Bander Rig. Flocks frequently fly

over Mishun in the early summer, but they have not been noted to breed in the

higher parts of the area though it is possible that they do so on the Lishta

plain. In the autumn they appear to go towards Ahwaz. Two eggs were

taken at Mohammedie on the Rudhilleh river on May 22, 1925.

135. Ammoperdix griseogularis termeuleni. Persian Seesee Partridge.

Local name : Tahu or Tuhi.

A common resident of the whole of the hilly part of the area and in the

broken nullahs of the plains. They chiefly dwell on the rocky hillsides but are

very fond of coming to a road and feeding on mule or camel droppings.

The Seesee starts breeding in April and goes on well into August. On

April 12, 1924, I shot a hen with a fully-formed egg in her oviduct and on

the same day obtained a clutch of 7 eggs. A clutch of 8 fresh eggs was obtained

on June 9, 1924 and on July 17, 1924, a clutch of three eggs Were put under

a hen and hatched out on August 16. A female with a sitting of 10 eggs was

obtained at Kilo Kerim on August 10, 1924, and the eggs were put under a hen

but she killed all the chicks as they hatched out. On August 18, 1925, a

female with a covey of about a dozen chicks, 2 to 3 weeks old, was seen near

Mishun.

136. Alectoris graeca waerae. Persian Chukar Partridge.

Local name : Kabk.

Very plentiful in the higher and stonier parts of the area but have been seen

very occasionally as low as 450 ft. above sea level. At this height a covey of

chicks about half grown were seen on July 16, 1925. They are also met with on

the smooth slopes of the gypsum hills in the area but probably prefer to live in

the more rocky parts where bands of limestone outcrop. They start nesting in

February and on February 23, 1926, a clutch was obtained and put under a hen

and hatched out on March 23. On March 25, 1925, 29 eggs were brought in,

16 of which hatched out on April 10. On April 11, 1924, at altitude 1,400 feet,

a female with a brood of young chicks was seen at Half Qil and at Bikarz on

June 7, ' 1924, a male and female was seen with a brood of young chicks able

to fly strongly. On June 29, 1924, a female with a brood of chicks as big as

Seesee was put up near the top of the Kuh-i-Mishun, alt. 2,500 ft. A large

number of chicks were obtained and kept in spirit.

137. Francolinus vulgaris arabistanicus. The Persian Francolin or Black

Partridge.

Local name : Darvaj.

A resident but there are, as a matter of fact, few places in the area wrhere it

decs occur, and these are nearly all in the North pr North West end. Along

SOME BIRDS FROM THE N. W. CORNER OF PARS, PERSIA 935

the banks of the Zeitun river above Deh Mulleh and up to the Kheirobad

branch it is plentiful as it is on the banks of the Marun River. It is also found

along the banks of smaller streams running down from Mount Khumi, more

particularly in the Kumbal stream. Ilyas Khan, ‘ Kashquli,’ brought a number

and put them in the scrub at Baba Kellu, but they did not survive the construc-

tion of a road past this place.

For some reason they do not occur along the Zuhra River above the Jerreh

Gorge though there are several localities which look suitable for them to live

and breed in, it is possible that floods, which are frequent and severe on this

river, have drowned them out.

I found the black partridge very difficult to keep in captivity and I was

unable to obtain any eggs.

138. Coturnix coturnix coturnix. Common Quail.

These are nearly all passage migrants though one was shot in- the scrub

along the banks of the Zeitun River in December. They stay at Mishun in the

spring for about a fortnight at the vernal equinox and could be heard calling

in the mornings from amid the growing corn.

A NEW CER0PEG1A FROM THE WESTERN GHATS

BY

E. Blatter, S.J., Ph.D., F.L.S. & C. McCann, F.L.S.

Ceropegia polyantha Blatter & McCann, sp. nov.

Asclepiadacea, accedit ad C. oculatam Hook., sed differt habitu suffrnticoso,

foliis obliquis glabris margine ciliatis , venis in facie foliorum dorsali tuber-

culatis, petiolis longioribus, floribus numerosis {usque ad 30) , corollae segmentis

in gemmis cylindricis spiralibus , sepalis duplo longioribus dorso hispidis ,

corollae lobis linearibus facie vcntrali villosis.

Suffruticose. Root tuberous, about 8 cm. across, globose or globose-

depressed, white inside, inodorous, bitter to taste. Stem up to 3 m. high,

woody below, twining, often much branched, terete, shining, green, tinged

with black or purple, glabrous ; internodes up to 17 cm. long, nodes thickened.

Leaves membranous, glabrous excepting the ciliate margin, up to 17 by 8 cm.,

oblique, varying from broadly to narrowly ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, acute,

cordate or subcordate at base, with undulate margin, dark green above, paler

beneath, nerves depressed above and reddish to purple, prominent and purple

beneath, midrib stout and fleshy beneath, all nerves beneath with pointed

tubercles; at base of leaf on upper side a number of glands (up to 12),

arranged in 1 or 2 semi-circular rows, first green or yellow, finally black.

Petiole stout, curved inwards, channelled above, 3‘5 cm. long, tubercled on

dorsal, side like midrib, colour of the stem. Flowers many (up to 30) in

umbellate cymes. Very often a small abortive cyme from the axil of the leaf

nearest to the peduncle. Peduncle up to 6 cm. long, stiff, almost at a right

angle to stem, arising from between the petioles but always closer to one

petiole, hispid with spreading white hairs, thickened upwards, dark purple.

Pedicel 1*5 cm. long, sparingly hispid. Bracts subulate or linear- lanceolate-

acuminate, green or purple, glabrous. Calyx divided to the base ; sepals 1*5

cm. long, subulate sparingly hispid on back, purple. Corolla 5 cm. long,

straight. Tube much inflated below, almost globose, about 9 mm. diam., pale

green, finely mottled with purple, upper part of tube below the throat perfectly

cylindrical, pale green with sometimes a few purple dots ; then tube widened

like a funnel, pale green, with larger purple markings. Lobes in bud forming

a slightly twisted cylinder, when open 2*2 cm. long, erect, linear, somewhat

broader at base, with the margins reflexed, connate at tip, dark green in the

upper f , paler yellow green in the lower part, villous on ventral side, glabrous

on dorsal, ciliate on margin. Inflated base of tube black with long villous

hairs inside, divided from the tube by a yellowish green line, above this line

deep brown purple, almost black, passing into the yellow green striate throat

where the external mottling is showing through. Outer corona cup-shaped, 5-

lobed, each lobe bifid, teeth acute or obtuse, lobes purplish above the middle,

hairy inside and along margins and a few scattered hairs outside, below the

middle yellow, hairy inside, glabrous outside. Inner corona of 5 linear, obtuse .

lobes, purple in the upper part, yellowish in the lower, glabrous, straight, 3 mm.

long, apex minutely papillose ; stigma pale green. Pollinia yellow. Fruit not

seen.

Loc. : Lingmala hills near Mahableshwar, generally on Randia dunietorum

Lam. (McCann & Fernandez 3470 A, B, C, D ! type, 3441 !, 3442 !, 3471-3478 !

cotypes) ; Khandala, on top of ‘ Sausages ’ (Blatter! Herb. St. S. X. C.).

Elt ; September 30, 1918 (Khandala), September 27, 1930 (Lingmala).

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Ceropegia polyatitha Blatter and McCann, sp. nov,

NOTES ON SOME RATS DAMAGING CROPS

IN SOUTH INDIA.

BY

P. N. Krishna Ayyar, b.a.,

Madras Agricultural Department.

It is universally recognized that there are few animal pests that

cause, by their depredations, greater loss to man than those

belonging to the group popularly known as Rats. On account of

their numerical strength, wide distribution, their great fecundity

and adaptability to varying conditions and omnivorous feeding

habits, these have attained unenviable notoriety all over the world.

But it is only recently, comparatively speaking, that the highly

important role played by them in the destruction of crops has come

into prominence. The destruction caused to crops by these is

undoubtedly frightful, the loss sometimes amounting to very nearly

fifty per cent of the gross outturn.

Incredible as it may seem, it is nevertheless a fact that Economic

Zoologists, particularly in India, have paid deplorably little attention

to this group of rodents ; consequently there is practically very

little on record regarding the exact *species concerned in the

damage, their habits and the method of their control, except the

very brief and passing reference made by Fletcher in his excellent

book on Some South Indian Insects., Therefore, the present paper,

so far as the writer is av/are, is perhaps one of the first if not the

first venture in this direction in South India.

Although a variety of important crops such as Paddy, Ragi and

other grain crops, Sugarcane, Cotton, Coconuts, Tea, etc., are

subject to the ravages of these pests, it is a pity that our knowledge

of these is very scanty and limited and it is no wonder

that any control measures based on such knowledge as we

possess of the lifehistory and habits of field rats have been

in most cases unavailing. It is believed, therefore, that any infor-

mation regarding the biology of these animals, mode of life,

occurrence, breeding, habitations, etc., will be of great importance

in tackling this serious problem. With this view the writer has been

devoting some time and thought for the last few years, amidst his

other duties, to the study of this particular group. To this end

some of the most important species, e.g. the Southern Mole-rat

Gunomys, were kept under observation in cages at the Insectary

and elsewhere. The habitations of many have been examined in the

fields and some repressive measures also have been carried out

though to a limited extent.

In any branch of study the correct identification of the species

should form a necessary preliminary and should always precede

other aspects of study. The proper identification of this class pf

938 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY, Vol . XXXIV

rodents has been a matter of some difficulty as a result of the vast

strides of progress in our knowledge in this line since the publica-

tion by Dr. Blanford of his classical work on Mammalia in the

Fauna of British India series. Since 1891 when this standard work

on Mammalia was published so many new forms have been

discovered, and so many changes in nomenclature have been found

necessary that identifications based mainly on this work will neces-

sarily be to a certain extent out of date. The progress in this

direction is mainly due to the Mammal Survey conducted by the

Bombay Natural History Society the results of which are published

in the various volumes of the Journal. Therefore with the help of

the latter the nomenclature of each species has been carefully

investigated and the writer has thought it wise to include along

with the distinguishing characters of each species, the present day

nomenclature, chief synonyms, the popular and vernacular names

and a few facts about their distribution. Vernacular names are

given wherever known but .these will be of little value as the ryots

do not discriminate between the various kinds of rats but often apply

one common name for all.

The idea of the paper is primarily to introduce the reader to such

of the species of rats as have come within the personal cognizance

of the author in South India, as also to indicate the gaps in our

knowledge and the lines on which further investigations are needed.

Some explanatory notes regarding the details of habits of some

species with a few remarks about the nature and extent of damage

to various crops and their status, with a brief reference to the

localities wherefrom they have been collected are added under . each

species. A few remarks regarding their control partly based on

the writer’s experience have also been included so as to impart a

sort of completeness to the subject dealt with. In presenting these

few notes nobody is more conscious than the writer that the work is

necessarily very defective and incomplete in regard to every aspect

of study, and the only justification for the preparation of this paper

is that it may at least serve to invite the attention of economic

biologists to the importance of this group of animals.

The material on which the paper is based consists of specimens

collected by various persons from time to time and received by the

Government Entomologist, Coimbatore, as well as those collected

by the writer as opportunities offered. Hence the writer is under

great obligations to the Government Entomologist for the oppor-

tunities afforded, especially at the beginning of the study, and to

those members of his staff who have helped with specimens. The

writer is also indebted to the Bombay Natural History Society for

having confirmed and corrected his provisional determinations of the

different species of rats.

In the matter of arrangement of the different species the writer

has gone a little out of the way because the main consideration

has been the order or degree of destructiveness of the species

concerned. So far as the writer’s observation goes the premier

place according* to this criterion will have to be assigned to the

Southern Mole-Rat ( Gunomys .) Then next in order come the Soft-

furred Field Rat, the South Indian Gerbil, etc., which are also

responsible for a good deal of damage to crops.

RATS DAMAGING CROPS IN SOUTH INDIA

939

Family: MURIDA2.

Sub-family : Gerbillin.®.

Genus : Tatera, Lat.

Tatera, Lataste 1882. Wroughton. J.B.N.H.S., xxv. p. 40,

1917 and xxvi, p. 779, 1919.

The group of animals represented by the name Gerbilus indicus

in Blanford’s Mammalia No. 264 was separated as the sub-genus

under the name Tatera in 1882 and later on Indian forms were

named Tatera as a full genus in 1902. The tail of these forms is

dark above and below and pale along the sides. Tatera has the

sole and foot entirely naked whereas Gerbilus has sole and foot

hairy.

(1) Tatera cuvieri Waterhouse. The South Indian Gerbil.

1838. Gerbilus cuvieri Waterhouse, P.Z.S., p. 56.

1891. Gerbilus indicus Blanford, Mammalia, No. 264

(Part).

1917. Tatera cuvieri Waterhouse Wroughton, J.B.N.H.S.,

xxv, p. 44.

Vernacular name. — Velleli (white rat).

These buffy coloured rats have their feet longer and their tails

are also nearly two inches longer than typical indica and this is the

distinguishing character of cuvieri .

Head and body 5’2 in — 7*2 in about 6'6 in.

Tail more than 7‘9 in (indica less than 7 '5 in).

Hind foot T4 in — T9 in about T7 in.

This is not an uncommon species. It is not so universally

distributed as Gunomys. This species is destructive to paddy,

especially stored paddy, outside buildings in Aduturai (Tanjore).

They also destroy coconut seedlings in some parts of Malabar by

burrowing underneath and feeding on the tender portion of the

shoot inside. Our knowledge about the habits of this animal is

unsatisfactory. These have more or less a straight run and the

depth might vary from J to 2 feet. The burrows may have more

than one entrance. These burrows are often made in a day and

are not so extensive as those of Gunomys. The rats perhaps have

their permanent residence in adjoining bushes, prickly-pear and

such suitable places. These are also reported to store a good lot

of grain in their burrows.

Sub-family : Muring.

Genus : Gunomys, Th.

Gunomys, Thomas. Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., xx, p. 202,

1907 and J.B.N.H.S. , xviii, p. 465, 1908.

From the genus Mus (Rats) the bandicoots were first separated by

Gray in 1842 under the generic name Nesokia ( Nesocia of Blanford).

Thomas seeing three well-marked groups in this genus divided

Nesokia into three genera (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., xx, p. 202, 1907).

Blanford uses Nesocia (as he spelt it) — Nesokia for all the groups.

But Thomas restricted the name to include only the short, tailed

a

940 JOURNAL , ROMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

mole-rat of Northern India and at the same time revived the genus

Bandicota and erected the genus Gunomys to represent the Southern

or long'-tailed mole-rats. The chief characters of Gunomys are

the small size, and length of the tail being more than two-thirds

of head and body, and, mammae being irregular, 14-18 in number.

Whereas Nesokia has the tail very short less than two-thirds of head

and body ; mammae 2-2 = 8 ; Bandicota — Size large, tail almost

as long as head and body; mammae 3-3=12.

(2) Gunomys kok Gray. The Southern Mole=rat.

1837. Mus kok Gray. Chari. Mag. N.H.I. , p. 585.

1891. Nesocia bengalensis Blanford, Mammalia, No. 295.

(Part).

1908. Gunomys kok Wroughton, J.B.N.H.S. , xviii, p. 747.

Vernacular names. — Kurumbai yeli; Ernmira yeli (i.e. noise like

coughing of man) also called Paddy field rat.

Distinguishing Characters. — Length of upper molar series 8 mm.

Head and body, 6-9", Tail 5-7". Fur, fine soft. General colour

dark greyish brown. Belly, greyish white. Tail, practically bare.

This is perhaps the most formidable of our crop destroyers. It is

a very abundant species throughout the Madras Presidency extend-

ing even to the hills. They are very destructive to paddy every-

where. They are known to damage paddy in such widely

different places as Coimbatore, Samalkota, Tanjore (Aduturai) and

many other places. They also destroy Ragi crops in Coimbatore

to a very large extent. Many other crops, such as roots of Tea

bushes in Anamalais Estate, have also received their attentions.

They are concerned in the destruction of coconut seedlings in some

parts of Malabar by burrowing underneath the soil and feeding-

on the tender portion of the seedlings. They also destroy Tapioca

roots in Malabar and sometimes feed on the underground portions

of plantains and Colocasia in the same district. In the Southern

taluks of Malabar it has been noted to be a bad pest of a variety of

pumpkin — Cucurbita maxima — whose large fruits, resting on the

ground, are eaten into from under the soil leaving only the hard

outer rind intact and to all appearance undamaged. Mole-Rats are

very- destructive to Lucerne crops in the Central Farm, Coimbatore,

by eating away the soft succulent portion of the roots. In these

plots regular rows of these plants can be seen dried up. If pulled

out they _ are found to be devoid of the root portion which has been

devoured by rats.

It may, therefore, be assumed that this is the most destructive

species in South India, attacking as it does a variety of crops, being

plentiful in and near about cultivated fields. Its favourite resorts

are paddy fields. In Coimbatore they are equally abundant in Ragi

fields. Several of their habitations in both paddy and ragi fields

have been dug out and several specimens collected and examined

and the following account of their habits and habitat is mainly

based on such observations.

In paddy fields the burrows are chiefly confined to the bunds when

the crop is in ears.. But during the off season burrows are not found

in alL bunds but are restricted to those bunds situated by the side

of water channels ; probably the species requires to be near water

being a good diver and probably a great drinker. The runs are long,

RATS DAMAGING CROPS IN SOUTH INDIA

94i

extensive and somewhat complicated. They may extend to 20 or

30 feet or even more. They have sometimes four or five opening's

or exits. The runs seldom go beyond a depth of 2 feet below

ground and are rarely more than 3 or 4 inches in diameter. The

presence of a burrow is always indicated by the heap of fresh earth

thrown by the side of the bund. Generally the main entrance is

kept obscured from view by this heap of earth. There are some-

times three or four branchings (even half a dozen) some of which

may end in blind ways. It is because of these exits that the rat

often escapes from some unexpected side of the bund when digging

is going on at the other side several feet away. Generally only one

rat, rarely two, is found to inhabit one burrow. In the breeding

season it is easy to find a mother with a number of young

ones rising up to ten. The nest in the breeding chamber consists

of grasses and other leaves. Inside such runs plenty of grain

(paddy earheads) are hoarded up in the harvesting season. At

other times small accumulations of grasses and roots can be seen,

showing that they can subsist on these for a time. Sometimes

remains of crabs such as the carapace, limbs, etc., have been

recovered, along with grasses, from the runs.

In the Ragi fields the conditions are slightly different and the

burrows are seldom found on bunds but are practically within the

fields themselves. The branching runs in Ragi fields are confined

within a radius of 4 or 5 feet and lead into a kind of central chamber.

The destruction done to the crop is considerable. From one of

the burrows, extending nearly to a depth of 2 feet with three side

exits, dug out recently, which had only one female occupant, a

quantity of Ragi earheads which would give nearly three-quarters of

a Madras measure of grain, was actually recovered and there are

numerous such habitations in the field.

These rats are very active and wonderfully agile and are gifted

with considerable speed as is evident from their alertness in escaping.

They also dive splendidly in water in fields, so much so that

four men could not recapture one that escaped in water. They are

very fierce and utter a peculiar grunting sound when in fear or

anger. Mole-Rats are to a certain extent pugnacious among

themselves as is shown by the fact that when two adult

specimens w7ere kept in captivity in a cage they carried on some

kind of fight and the male lost almost the whole of its tail which

was bitten off by the female. After three days the same poor

creature was severely injured by its companion and actually killed.

A mother and nine young ones, captured from paddy fields, were

kept in cages under observation for nearly eight or nine months.

These were confined in woden cages the sides of which were much

gnawed into and such portions had to be covered with tin plates.

In confinement the rat is very fierce and often jumps and dashes

against the glass 4sides and wire gauze in attempting to bite any-

thing that comes near. These were mainly fed on Cholam

earheads, cotton seeds from bolls, paddy, pomegranate fruits,

Ragi earheads, prickly-pear fruits, wheat, gingelly seeds, etc., but

they will eat anything that is supplied, with great avidity. The

young ones in three months became adults and one of these

produced nine young ones at a birth. The mother made a nest

942 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXX IV

with cotton lint thrown into the cage within which the young' ones

were wrapped. When this cotton padding was disturbed the

mother was observed to carefully set it right by rearranging them

in cotton.

They were born naked and blind and did not open their eyes

until after some, days, nearly one month, when they were covered

with fur and fairly grown. They were completely helpless till

about that time. One peculiar case of cannibalism was observed

in this instance, within fifteen days of producing young ones,

seven out of nine were eaten up by the mother, one after another.

The chief enemy of these rats is probably man. Mole-Rats are

eagerly searched for by some communities in South India and

captured for food. In Tanjore the Pariahs are said to dig up the

bunds and feed on the flesh of these animals which is said to be

good eating.

The control of this rat is rather difficult. Fumigation will not

be effective as the runs are extensive and poison baiting is no use

as the rats may not eat this when there is plenty of other food

available. The best thing under the circumstances especially in

paddy fields will be to employ professional rat catchers to dig up

the bunds in the off season and carry on a regular campaign

against them.

Genus : Millardia, Th.

Millardia Thomas, J.B.N.H.S., xx, p. 998, 1911.

The Genus Millardia was erected by Thomas in 1911 for the

‘Meltad’ rats and he separated them from Epimys as they differed

in an essential character, viz. the suppression total or partial of the

posterior sole pads.

(3) Millardia meltada Gray. The Soft=furred Field Rat.

1837. Golunda meltada Gray. Chari. Mag. N.H.I., p. 568.

1891. Mus meltada Blanford, Mammalia, No. 290.

1911. Millardia meltada Thomas, J.B.N.H.S. , xx, p. 998.

Vernacular name, — Pilleli (Grass Rat).

This is a smaller rat than Gunomys. It is dark brownish grey

above and pale grey below. The fur is very soft. Head and body

about 5 inches, tail 4 inches.

This species does some damage to paddy though it comes only

second in rank to Gunomys. Specimens of these have been obtained

from Aduturai where they are injurious to paddy. The burrows are

fewer and shallower and are found in bunds of paddy fields. These

will not get into water and have no peculiar habit of diving.

At Coimbatore these rats are confined to cotton fields. They

do considerable injury to cotton and sometimes are very numerous.

They seem to be gregarious in that more than one (sometimes three

or four) may be found in a single burrow where accumulations of

cotton kapas, sometimes to the extent of one or two pounds, may

be seen. They do not so much inhabit burrows as the cracks

of sun baked earth in the fields. They probably have their

permanent residence within the adjoining prickly-pear bushes,

periodically invading cotton fields nearby.

RATS DAMAGING CROPS IN SOUTH INDIA

943

Genus : Leggada, Gray.

Leggada Gray. Thomas, J.B.N.H.S. t xxvi, p. 418, 1919.

The genus Leggada was first separated from Mus by Gray in 1837

because of the presence of an additional lunate lobe on the anterior

face of the first molar. But this character was later on found to be

not constant or imperfectly developed. Mr. Thomas, therefore,

considered that the name Leggada will have to be sunk as a

synonym of the genus Mus. But he (Thomas) again revived and

re-established the name Leggada for Field Mice or Jungle Mice

and restricted the name Mus to House Mice proper the chief

difference between the two being longer or shorter muzzle.

(J.B.N.H.S.j xxvi, p. 418, 1919.)

(4) Leggada booduga Gray. The Southern Field Mouse.

1837. Leggada booduga Gray. Chari. Mag. N.H.I. , p.

" 586.

1839. Mus lepidus. Elliot, Mad. Mag. L.&S.X., p. 216.

1891. Mus booduga Blanford, Mammalia, No. 287.

1919. Leggada booduga Gray. Thomas, J.B.N.LI.S.,

xxvi, pp. 419 and 960.

Vernacular name. — Chundeli (Small Rat).

This is a pretty little mouse of varying shades of colour,

generally of a greyish white colour. This is easily marked off

unmistakably from other rat pests mentioned because of its small

size, which varies from 2| to 3 inches ; with a tail about the same

length.

This species is somewhat rare. They have been collected from

Ragi fields and cotton fields of Coimbatore and they do slight damage

to the crops. In the Ragi fields they are found in small burrows in

bunds and not in the field itself. The burrows are usually small

and simple and not extensive or complicated. They may also be

found in heaps of stones near the field. It is said that they display

to a great degree the phenomenon of cannibalism inasmuch as

many are killed and eaten, if a large number is kept confined in the

same cage, even when plenty of food is available.

Genus : Rattus, Linn.

Rattus rattus Linnaeus.

The separation of rats under the name Epimys from the mice

(Mus) was proposed by Trouessart in 1881. (Bull. Soc. Sci. d.

Angers). Hollister showed that the oldest name for the genus is

Rattus and must be used in place of Epimys. The Common Indian

House rat Epimys rufescens or Epimys rufescens Var. with white

under parts’ of the Mammal Survey reports and Mus rattus of

Blanford are indistinguishable from Rattus rattus Linnaeus, as

pointed out by Hollister and confirmed by Hinton, J.B.N.H.S. ,

xxvi, p. 59, 1918. So Blanford’s genus Mus includes both Rattus

(rats) and Mus (mice) and his Mus rattus is Rattus rattus. This

species Rattus rattus shows a definite variation so that many races

have been recognized as noted by Hinton ( J.B.N.H.S xxvi, p. 63).

944 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

(5) Rattus rattus wroughtoni, Hinton. The Common Indian

Rat.

1891. Mus rattus Blanford, Mammalia, No. 272. (part).

1912. Epimys rufescens, variety with white under parts

Wroughton. J.B.N.H.S. , xxi, p. 1189.

1919. Rattus rattus wroughtoni, Hinton, J.B.N.H.S. , xxvi.

p. 384.

Vernacular names. — Veetteli (House Rat); Yeli (Rat).

This sub-species R.r. wroughtoni is recognized by its pure white

belly from the other sub-species R.r. rufescens which has a dark

belly. The general dorsal colour is reddish or yellowish brown.

The feet are light whitish or yellowish. This rat is mainly de-

structive to tender coconuts. Its damage has been noted from

Coimbatore and its suburbs, Malabar, Cochin, etc. Perhaps this

damage occurs everywhere in the south, its attentions being mainly

confined to tender coconuts which are damaged in large numbers.

They bite holes through the husk or fibrous portions and through

the tender shell of unripe nuts in order to drink the sweet liquid

contained within and these spoilt nuts drop down in large numbers.

They live and breed inside nests specially constructed in the crown

of palms and rarely descend. The nests are made of fibrous

strands that serve the purpose of attachment of the leaf stalk to

the stem and leaflets. These are wound round after being bitten

to the proper size leaving a cylindrical space in the middle.

Some protection may be given to these trees by providing zinc

hoods in case the trees are not so close together as to have their

leaves touching one another. But in the case of large topes having

thousands of trees in contiguous rows the only practicable remedy

is to apply poison baits.

(6) Rattus rattus rufescens Gray. The Common House=Rat.

1837. Mus rufescens Gray, Ann. Mag. N.H.I., p. 577.

1891. Mus rattus Blanford, Mammalia, No. 272.

1912. Epimys trufescens Wroughton, J.B.H.N.S. , xxi, p. 405.

405.

1919. Rattus rattus rufescens, Hinton, J.B.N.H.S., xxvi,

p. 403.

Vernacular names. — Veetteli (House-Rat) ; Yeli (Rat).

This is the ordinary house rat and this species is dark bellied (as

distinguished from previous sub-species which is white bellied). It

is brownish grey in colour (rufous). There is no sharp line of

demarcation along flanks.

This rat is omnivorous feeding on all kinds of vegetable and

animal food available. Its habits are well known. It lives in roofs of

houses and burrows in the ground and store rooms doing consider-

able damage to stored paddy, cotton seeds and various other stored

products. Its havoc is great in warehouses and storehouses as

silks, leather goods, carpets and groceries are all subject to its

attacks. Besides causing the destruction of property they are also

a source of menace to our health being the common carrier of the

Plague flea. The justification for the inclusion of this species

among crop destroyers is due to the fact that they are very

destructive to paddy stored outside soon after harvest — Poison

baiting is the only practical remedy.

RATS DAMAGING CROPS IN SOUTH INDIA

945

Family: GLIRIDAE.

(7) Platacanthomys Iasiurus Blyth. The Malabar Spiny

Mouse.

1891. Platacanthomys Iasiurus Blanford, Mammalia, No.

263.

1913. Platacanthomys Iasiurus Ryley, J.B.N.H.S., xxii,

p. 507.

This is the only one of the species mentioned in this paper which

has not been seen by the writer. They are reported to live in

hollowed out cavities in trees. They are said to destroy pepper,

jack-fruit, and cardamoms in hill tracts in Travancore, Anamalais,

etc. They are also reported to hoard up grain and roots like

Gunomys and Tatera. They are said occasionally to get into toddy

pots. They are said to be easily smoked out of the hollow dead

branches which form their chief abode.

Control Measures.

It has been seen that enormous damage is caused by different

species of rats to a variety of crops and the resultant losses in

some cases may run to a high percentage. Therefore the con-

sideration of the question of the preventive and control measures

of rat damage is of utmost importance. Various methods such

as hunting, trapping, fumigation and poison-baiting have been

recommended for trial among which the last two — poison-baiting

and fumigation — have been given a fair trial in South India

with varying results. In any successful application of remedial

measures a preliminary knowledge of the habits and mode of life

of the pest concerned cannot be over-emphasized. The methods

attempted in this part of the Presidency have been carried out on

the lines suggested in Pusa Bulletin No. 135 of 1922 and these may

be briefly summarized as follows.

Poisoning. — This is the quickest means of destroying rats and has

some decided advantages in some cases over others but a proper

exercise of caution is required in carrying it out in order to ward

off accidents. The principal poisons used in preparing the baits

are strychnine, plaster of Paris, barium carbonate, arsenic and

Paris green, potassium cyanide and phosphorus.

The preparation of these baits is indicated thus : —

1. Strychnine. — About one oz. of strychnine sulphate is

dissolved in 1^ oz. of warm water and this is mixed with a thick

syrup of jaggery, made with two seers of jaggery and half a seer

of water. The mixture is heated and is sifted gradually over

fifteen seers of grain. After twenty-four hours one oz. of the bait

untouched by hand, is put into every rat hole, as the rats are said

to have a ready perception of the smell of the human hand, any taint

of which causes them to leave the bait severely alone.

2. Plaster of Paris (1 lb.) is substituted for strychnine.

3. Barium carbonate may be substituted for plaster of Paris.

Another poison bait easily prepared is by mixing Paris green

with cooked rice. A bait that is commonly tried in Malabar against

Rattus rattus wroughtoni with great succe§s is prepared in a simple

946 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

manner. Rice is boiled with onions with a little coconut oil for

flavour. To this is added a little arsenic poison. Small balls of these,

of course untouched by hand, are placed on crowns of coconut palms.

Fumigation.-— This method to destroy rats in their burrows has

been tried in several instances with good results. The success

of this measure will largely depend on the nature of the burrow and

the thoroughness with which the exit holes are traced and closed.

It may be ineffective or useless where the burrows are very

complicated or labyrinthine. Carbon bisulphide, calcium cyanide

dust, sulphur arsenic fumes have all been used to asphyxiate the

animals in their habitations. Before fumigating however all

entrances to rat runs should be carefully spotted out and closed

with earth. In applying carbon bisulphide the method adopted is to

saturate some cotton wool or other absorbent material such as a

piece of sponge or handful of rags with the liquid and introduce

the same into the rat burrows and finally close the opening with

earth to prevent the gas escaping. Calcium cyanide may be used in

a cyano-gas dusting machine by which the dust is pumped into the

burrow. Sulphur arsenic fumes may be introduced by means of an

ant exterminator.

Rat viruses. — In America several micro organisms or bacteria

found originally in deceased rats have been exploited for destroying

rats. Such rat viruses are reported to be largely advertised in that

country. The results of trials with these have also been reported

to be unsatisfactory. Even if they were successful the cost of the

cultures would be prohibitive for general use.

Organized rat-hunts will certainly confer great benefit. Skilled

and trained hands can effectively control rats by trapping. But in

this more than in any other the need for organization and co-

operation cannot be stressed too much so as to make the campaign

effective and fruitful.

The encouragement of all natural enemies of rats is certainly

one of the means of checking their increase.

It may be noted that in some cases the problem of their control

may have to be tackled by a combination of some of these methods

so as to yield beneficial results.

Conclusion.

In presenting this note, especially the latter portion regarding

control, the writer had other objects in mind than merely giving

a narrative of several measures tried but for want of greater

opportunities for actually testing these in the field the portion

dealing with this aspect is necessarily unsatisfactory. It is also

felt that there is much room for further studies of the habits and

habitations of these animals on which the entire question of control

mainly hinges. In spite of all these defects the writer ventures to

hope that this paper will have achieved more than what it set out

to do if it, in the least manner, leads to greater familiarity with

or increased interest in these unattractive but very important animal

pests,

THE NESTING HABITS OF THE BAYA ( PLOCEUS

PHILIPPINU S) .

A New Interpretation of their Domestic Relations,

by

Salim A. Ali, m.b.o.u.

( With 7 plates and 11 figures in the text.)

Having had exceptional and uninterrupted opportunities for

studying the Baya this nesting season (1930), I have endeavoured to

tackle some of the much-debated points in connection with the

breeding habits of this interesting little bird. To my mind, my

observations have not only dispelled all doubt as regards the origin

and significance of the so-called ‘Cocks’ Nests’, but have also

thrown some light on the hitherto unsuspected and remarkable

relationship between the sexes.

Bayas are common in the Alibag Taluka of the Kolaba District,

about fifteen miles from Bombay down the coast. Out of the

breeding season they go about in flocks often numbering upwards

of a hundred birds. Small parties are commonly met with on

Coral trees ( Erythrina indica ) immediately after the blooms have

withered, and, though I have not examined the stomach contents of

birds feeding on these trees, as far as could be ascertained from

careful observation through field-glasses, they appeared to feed

on the tender newly formed pods.

By the middle of May, some of the males had already acquired

full breeding plumage, while a great many were in a transitional

stage. At this time small flocks were constantly seen frequenting

the interior of dense bushes during the heat of the day, indulging in

choruses of chit-chit-chit, chee-ee-ee, so familiar while the birds are

engaged in nest-building.

The earliest date on which a company of cocks — all in full

breeding dress — were noted busy building was May 22. On July 30,

I came upon a small flock comprising about five cocks in full

breeding plumage and an equal number of what appeared to be

females, feeding on an out-of-the-way cart track. I got five

specimens in one shot ; dissection proved that these were all males.

Two were in breeding plumage with testes about the size of small

peas. The other three had their colouration somewhat richer and

brighter than females, and besides, had a slightly golden tinge on

the forehead: Their organs were undeveloped and no bigger than

pin-heads. These birds were probably in their first year.

On August 19, by which date nesting appeared to be in full swing

everywhere, I discovered a colony (No. 1) building on a Babool tree

(Acacia sp.) standing isolated in the centre of a tank formed in a

depression in the midst of paddy cultivation. This appeared a

suitable spot for observations as it was close enough to my bungalow

948 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , Hfl/. XXXIV

to allow frequent access, and yet sufficiently out of the way for

village lads not to disturb the birds or tamper with my arrange-

ments. I had a step-ladder rigged up, about eight feet high with

a small platform at the top, just large enough to accommodate one

person sitting on a stool. Around the platform were fixed upright

palm leaves so as to form a kind of ‘hide’. This step-ladder-hide

was placed in the tank in knee-deep water opposite the colony, at a

distance of ten to fifteen feet from the nests, and ever since and up to

the time when all the young had left the nests I spent from half to

three hours at a time in it almost every second or third day. The

platform brought me more or less on a level with the nests, and I

was enabled to observe and photograph the birds at work at close

range and under comfortable and perfectly normal conditions. On

the first appearance of the ‘hide’ the birds seemed rather alarmed,

but as it was left standing there, day in and day out, they soon

became used to it and grew indifferent to its presence even when

occupied.

I give below the results of my observations which extended over

several months. These are based on notes in my field diary relating

not only to the colony which I have designated No. 1, but also to

numerous others which were under regular observation throughout

the period with the aid of powerful field-glasses. My notes, relative

extracts from which I append, were all made either on the spot or

soon after my return from the vigil. Only in a few instances I have

had to elaborate them somewhat, so as to be intelligible to the

reader.

Site. — It is difficult to determine what are the exact factors that

govern the selection of the site for a nesting colony. When there are

a number of trees standing close to one another in almost identical

situations, and apparently — from human considerations — all equally

suitable, what makes the birds single out just one particular

individual, and then perhaps there may not be another colony within

a radius of half a mile or more?

The trees most favoured in these parts (Alibag Taluka) are Babool

( Acacia sp.), Ber ( Zizyphus sp.), Palmyra Palm (Borassus

flabeUifer ), Tamarind ( Tamarindus indica), and Coral (Erythrina

indica). The first three are certainly the most patronized, while in

my experience, Erythrina is resorted to exclusively by young cocks

building late in the season. Besides these, I have only once seen

a single nest on a Casuarina (C. equestifolia ). The same tree may

be used for two or several successive seasons, but as regards the

same nest being used more than once, I have no experience. Hume

mentions1 that ‘the same nests are at times used during the

second season.’ From what he writes, however, it would in any

case appear that this is only in exceptional' or very rare cases. In

the only instance that came under my notice where an old site was

being used — Colony No. 1 — all the old nests were pulled down by

the birds either before commencing or simultaneously with the

building of new ones, although some of the old nests appeared in

fairly good condition. One thing is certain that the birds invariably

‘ Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds\ Vol. ii, p. 117,

jOURN., BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC.

Plate J.

i. My Observation ‘ Hide ’ in position at Colony No. i.

Copyright

2. A ‘ Close up ’ of a portion of above Colony.

Salim A. Ali

THE NESTING HABITS OF THE BAY A

949

select the eastern side of the tree to build upon, which is protected

from the South-West Monsoon. I have found this to hold good

in the case of every colony that has come under my observation

so far, either in this or previous seasons, except one which consisted

of one completed and two half-built nests facing in the opposite

direction. It may be mentioned, however, that these latter were

built unusually late in the season — about the end of September —

when the severest part of the Monsoon was over.

The nests are often suspended from branches overhanging water.

It is difficult to imagine what advantage the bird derives from this

habit. Where the selected tree is isolated and stands like an island

in water, one can understand the nests being more or less protected

against rats and other terrestrial animals. But before being able to

say anything on this point, it is first and foremost necessary to

ascertain who are the natural enemies of the Baya. On this matter,

1 have no direct evidence though my notes (September 25) show that

in Colony No. 2 all the nests had been torn open near the egg-

chamber and deserted. The Palmyra palm on which they hung

stood on a bund between two paddy fields, and the destruction in

this case may possibly be the work of a rat or some other terrestrial

animal. On the other hand, I have noted (October 3) the agitated

behaviour of the members of Control Colony (for a description of this,

see Appendix, ‘September 26’), when a Crow Pheasant .( Centropus

sinensis) appeared in the proximity of the tree, while they remained

indifferent to the presence of a pair of Koels ( Eudynamis scolo-

paceus), who are also destructive to the eggs of small birds, but only

in open nests as far as I am aware. I have seen a Crow Pheasant

tear open a nest of a Sunbird ( Leptocoma zeylonica) and suck the

eggs, and it may be permissible to accept the perturbation of the

Bayas in this instance as circumstantial evidence of its doing the

same with Baya nests, given the opportunity. On another occasion

(October 13) I have noted a Shikra ( Astur badius) making an

unsuccessful stoop on Colony No. 1. If then, the chief enemies of

the Baya are winged, what is the advantage of suspending the nests

over water?

Now as regards mammals. The suggestion by Mr. Horne1 that

the newly-built nests he observed on the ground under the tree was

the work of squirrels for use of the material in their own nests, is

I think, untenable. In the country where I have so far had oppor-

tunities of observing the Baya, I have never come across a squirrel’s

nest built of the same material as a Baya’s. Moreover, I continually

found nests in all stages of construction floating under the tree at

Colony No. 1 which stood in knee-deep water, which was decidedly

not the work of any but the cocks themselves, as has also been

observed by Spennemann with Ploceus manyar in Semarang.2 I

watched several from time to time, snipping off the suspensions

deliberately, fluttering their wings and joining in the choruses as

they did so. The work of undoing was treated in the nature of

serious occupation on a par with the building. The reason for this

1 1 Nests and Eggs', Vol. ii, p. 118.

2 Aug. Spennemann, “lets over Ploceus man jar ” De Tropische Natmir

1926, pp. 186— 189,

950 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

destruction was impossible to guess. There may as has been

suggested, be some defect in the construction with which the builder

or the inspecting female was dissatisfied, but on the other hand I

have found a completed nest lying on the water which contained

two fresh eggs (September 18). This latter I suspect to be the

work of some disgruntled rival.

To continue with Mr. Horne’s suggestion. To my mind the only

other motive for the squirrel in snipping off the nests could be to

get at the eggs, and Mr. Horne himself mentions that ‘some of

them had unbroken eggs in them.’ Thus apparently, his squirrels

derived no profit from destroying the nests !

We have, therefore, still to discover the natural enemies of

the Baya in order to

understand the signifi-

cance, if any existing, of

the habit so commonly

observed, of building over

water.

Material used and plan

of structure. — The material

used in the country where

I have had opportunities

of studying the Baya has

been either strips of date

leaves or of coarse grass.

The colonies that came

under my observation this

season used strips of the

rice plant exclusively. The

method of tearing the

strips and handling them is

both ingenious and inter-

esting. The paddy leaf

has a saw edge and is

furnished with minute up-

wardly-directed spines on

the several ridge-like,

almost parallel, veins. The

leaf, therefore, can be

pulled through forefinger

and thumb only if pulled at

b (see figure 1). The saw

edge and spines do not

allow its being pulled in

the opposite direction.

When tearing off the

strips, the Baya makes an

indentation on the edge at

b, about 12" below the tip

a, of the required thick-

ness, and by a sideways

jerk of the head tears it

upwards towards a, but not severing it completely at the tip. It now

Fig. 1.

THE NESTING HABITS OF THE BAY A

951

bites through another thickness at b, still holding the first unde-

tached strip in its beak, and repeats the operation till it has two

strips, but still connected at a ; it collects a third and often a fourth

in the same manner. The bird now flies off, and the pull so exerted,

severs the bunch of strips from the leaf at the tip a, which trails

through the air after the bird. The final jerk often also severs

some of the other strips at a, which then stream behind the bird as

so many individual strips. When the Baya arrives at the nest,

therefore, he is gripping the strips in his beak at b. He presses the

bunch roughly into site. The serrated edge and spines prevent the

strips from slipping and falling down. b is the only possible

working end, and this the bird threads through and pulls out, the

roughness operating like the teeth of a ratchet and maintaining the

strips in position once they have been properly pulled in. The strip

is held down by a foot while the end b is being woven in. I have

been able to watch this process time and again from beginning to

end.

WThen commencing a nest, the strands are wound and twisted

round and round the selected twig until a firm support is secured.

From this depends a mass of strips, something like a tassel, which

is worked into a transverse loop. This loop invariably forms the

skeleton of the structure. Porches are built over the upper part on

either side, one developing and broadening out later into the egg-

chamber, and the other which is not so bulgy, produced into the

entrance tube. Most of the former observers, with the only

exception, as far as I know, of Whistler,1 have laid stress on the

fact that the loop is put in at a later stage in the construction, after

the nest has assumed the shape of a ‘Bell’, for the convenience of

the hen to perch upon while working on the interior. This is not

borne out by facts.

As regards the mud employed in the nests, the purpose of this

appears to be obscure. It has been suggested that it is put in to

give a correct balance to the nest, and prevent it from swaying

violently in the breeze. Jerdon mentions that in one case, which has

since become almost classical, he found 3 oz. of mud ; this must

indeed be exceptional. Of the numerous nests examined by me—

certainly over fifty — all contained between 0-5 and 1 oz. The

quantity in one seemed unusually large, but when weighed was found

to be only I '4 oz. Considering the normal quantity usually seen,

one can hardly imagine it to produce any appreciable difference in

steadying the nest in the strong winds which are prevalent during the

breeding season of the Baya. Then again, there are some nests in

the same colony which have no mud in them at all, and seem to fare

none the worse for its absence (see Appendix, ‘September 29’). The

Oropendolas ( ZarTiynchus wagleri), one of the Icteridce or Hangnests

of tropical America which also build woven pendant nests on high

trees exposed to violent trade-winds, apparently do not employ any

mud for steadying their nests.2 The purpose of the mud is certainly

1 H. Whistler. ‘ Birds Notes \ Vol. V, p. 340. 1914.

2 F. M. Chapman, ‘ The Orope?idolas of Laboratory Hill ’ (Barro Colorado-

Panama) ‘ My Tropical Air Castle— D. Appleton & Co., 1930).

952 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vot. XXXlV

not to fix fireflies on ! I think it is time, however wide-spread and

romantic the belief may be, that this story was once and for all put

to rest. The mud is stuck into the nest chiefly at the early ‘Bell’

stage when it remains unoccupied at night (September 27 and 30).

If fireflies were really stuck in, it would be only possible to do so

at this stage when the mud is still soft. Immediately the mud

hardens, the fireflies would perish, thus automatically nullifying

the object for which they are alleged to be put in since dead fireflies

do not emit any light. Moreover, all the evidence — if indeed it

can be called evidence — we have on this point is not only uncon-

vincing but highly questionable.1 The only explanation one can

suggest is that the habit of sticking mud in the nests is a form of

atavism — the relic of some ancient custom at one time beneficial to

the species. A study of allied forms, their evolution and develop-

ment may throw some light on this point.

Share of the sexes in nest-building, and sexual relations. — Dr.

Jerdon suggests2 that upto the time the cross-bar or loop is put into

the nest, both birds have worked indiscriminately, but that ‘when

this loop is completed, the female takes up her seat on it, leaving

the cock bird to fetch more fibre and work from the outside of the

nest while she works on the inside . . . ’ Hume endorses this

description, and the versions of a great many subsequent writers

support the idea of co-operation between male and female from the

commencement of building operations.3 My own observations,

however, tell an entirely different story. The interpretation I have

put on the sexual life of the Baya with which nest-building is

inextricably interwoven, is, as far as I am aware, perfectly new.

Before offering it, I have thoroughly tested my facts on all sides

as far as lay within my power, and found them to be sound and

unassailable, and I feel confident that further independent and

continuous observation in the field will confirm my conclusions. 1

can hardly think of another species of bird whose domestic relations

are known to be so bizarre and fascinating except the Oropendolas

(Zarhynchus wagleri) of tropical South America whose nesting

habits are so graphically described by Frank M. Chapman.4 I gladly

acknowledge that it was a perusal of this admirable essay that

helped me to overcome my diffidence and to set down on paper what

I have suspected to be the case for some time.

Both site-selection and nest-building are done exclusively by the

cocks. The adult cocks in full breeding plumage are the earliest

to begin, and always keep to colonies of their own. Never has a

1 See D. Dewar, ‘ The Nesting Habits of the Baya ’, Jour. B.N.H.S. ,

Vol. xix, pp. 627-627.

2 * Nests and Eggs Vo'l. ii, p. 115.

3 Dr. E. Stresemann has since drawn my attention to p. 344 of his excellent

manual (‘ Handbuch der Zoologie-Aves ’—Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin,

1928) where, on the authority of C. A. Wood (* The Nest of the Baya Weaver

Bird,’ Auk 1926, pp. 295-304), and Karl Russ (‘ Die Webervogel and

Widafinken Magdeburg 1879), he states that the external construction o f

the nest in this species is carried out exclusively by the male, and that the

female only does the internal lining.

4 F. M. Chapman—' My Tropical Air Castle D. Appleton & Co., 1930.

JOURN., BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC. PLATE II.

A Cock on Nest in an early stage (Note the transverse loop which 4. A further stage in the construction,

invariably forms the skelton, being developed) .

THE NESTING HABITS OF THE BAYA 953

young' cock been observed by me building- in company with adults.

Young- cocks g-enerally take to nest-building- late in the season, and

likewise have their own separate colonies. Obviously they work

without previous training- or experience, and just as to the manner

born, but seem to lack the requisite earnestness and purpose. In

consequence of this a great many — in my experience, certainly all —

such juvenile nests , are never completed, and they are not

infrequently of the queerest shapes and most ‘unprofessional’

appearance. (See Appendix, ‘September 25, 26, 27 and 29’).

At first I took these young working cocks to be females, but

dissection always proved them to be otherwise. Their testes were

fairly developed — about the size of small peas — and on closer

examination, some of them also showed a tinge of golden yellow on

forehead, crown and upper back. It is not unlikely therefore, that

some of these young cocks of the first year (?) may breed though

personally I have never come across such an instance. When at

work, they indulge in the same sort of chirruping choruses and

fluttering of wings as the adults do. I have never heard a female

‘singing’.

In the initial stages of an adult nesting colony, no hens are as

a rule in evidence, and I have been unable to discover their where-

abouts during the first few days. It would appear that the instinct

to breed, asserts itself earlier in the adult cocks than in the hens, for

it is not until the time when the nests have progressed to a stage

where the egg'-chamber is finished or nearly so, that some of the

females first become physiologically ‘ripe’. They now visit the

colony quite obviously with the sole object of ‘prospecting’ for laying

sites, i.e., to discover if there are any nests that are ready for their

occupation. The arrival of the hens at the colony causes a great

stir in the community of working cocks, who leave their work and

strut about after the hens, pressing their attentions upon them with

such impetuosity as often to cause them to retire from the tree.

The hens, however, soon return and deliberately visit nest after

nest, entering them and sitting on the cross-bar in the absence of

the owners who have gone to fetch material. The cock whose- nest

is furthest advanced, is presumably also the readiest to breed. If

a hen is satisfied with a particular nest, she sets about establishing

herself in possession. She persists in returning to it again and

again on being strutted and chased after by the cock, who gradually

gets used to her presence and finally accepts her as his legitimate

spouse. Two hens often fight for the possession of an acceptable

nest. The successful hen henceforward boldly enters the nest and

busies herself with finishing off and making the interior comfortable.

In no case have I been able to observe the co-operation between

male and female so often described. The lion’s share of the

building — in fact all of it — is undoubtedly done by the cock alone.

Her contribution is only the ‘interior decoration’. I have never seen

a female fetch a single strip of grass, though she may occasionally

bring a feather or some vegetable down which is incorporated into

the bottom of the egg-chamber. On one occasion I have also seen

her bringing a pellet of mud into a completed nest. The hen enters

the egg-chamber, and from the movements of the nest while she is

within, it becomes apparent that she is pulling and tugging the

9$4 journal , Bombay natural hist, society , w. xxxiv

strips and finishing off the interior. Shortly after occupation, the

eggs are laid.

Apart from the strutting and posturing of the cocks, I have

witnessed no courtship ceremonials, and in spite of very close

watching, not once has actual copulation been observed. (For an

exceptional instance which seems difficult to explain, see note,

‘October 11’). Copulation certainly does not appear to take place

on the nest tree, and, as while the building is in progress the male

never leaves the colony except for the purpose of procuring material

and feeding, which he seems to do more or less simultaneously, it is

unlikely that it takes place outside. From various little movements

of the nest and sundry twitterings from within where a cock has

followed a hen into the abode, it is my belief that copulation takes

place inside the nest where the pair is not liable to be disturbed

by the attention of the neighbouring cocks, which would surely be

the case if a female exposed herself at this stage for any length

of time amongst the band of males without. The cock takes no part

in the incubation of the eggs.

The ‘building mania’ as it has been called, that comes over the

adult cock at this season is a sure indication of his readiness to breed,

and so long as he continues to build and complete nests, so long is

the indication manifest that he is prepared to marry fresh wives.

As soon as his first nest is completed and occupied by a hen, the cock

takes up the building of a new nest. Leaving the entrance tube of

his first nest a moderate length — a few inches — the cock forthwith

selects a new twig, which need not necessarily be in the immediate

neighbourhood of the first nest (see diagram of Control Colony on

September 26) and proceeds to build a second. If he is strong and

vigorous, and his instinct to breed sufficiently intense, he completes

the second nest also. As soon as the egg chamber is ready or

nearly so, the nest is taken possession of by another ‘prospecting’

female, of which there are several hanging about the colony as the

season wears on, and the whole process is repeated till she is also

safely on her eggs.

A strong suspicion of the existence of this state of affairs had

already crossed my mind after I had had Colony No. 1 under

observation for a few days. This colony was however a large

one. The number of cocks and hens continually coming, going

and hopping about was too unwieldy for adequate control, I could

not obtain indubitable evidence here. Fortunately, shortly after-

wards I came upon another small colony on a Palmyra palm

containing six completed nests and three others at early ‘Bell’

stages. On each of these latter an adult cock was working, while,

though the completed nests were occupied by hens who flew in and

out, there were no other cocks in attendance. This was most

interesting, and exactly what I had been looking for. I promptly

set about trying to discover what the exact position here was. To

this end, I drew a rough sketch plan of the colony (‘Control Colony’)

marking the half-built nests and their respective cocks 1, 2 and 3,

and the 6 complete nests a, b, c, d, e and f. I carefully noted down

the behaviour of the cocks in relation to each of the completed nests.

Next day I was again on the scene with a clean sheet of paper, made

a fresh sketch plah of the colony and noted the movements of the

cocks. This was repeated on two or three subsequent occasions,

THE NESTING HABITS OF THE BAY A 955

each time beginning afresh and quite independently and with a new

sketch plan. The notes I had made (see Appendix ’September 25,

26, 27, 29’) were then compared and scrutinized and it was found

that my suspicions were well-founded. Each of the three cocks

possessed two complete nests occupied by females, in addition to

what he was then busy on.

Only one of these three cocks, however, had the breeding instinct

of sufficient intensity to complete the third nest, which was in due

course also occupied by a hen. In the other two instances, although

females visited and inspected the nests on several occasions, the

construction never advanced to a stage where they could be appro-

priated by them. Meantime the zeal of the cocks had begun to

flag. They gradually lost interest in the new nests and some time

later ceased work on them altogether and busied themselves with

tinkering about with their already-completed nests in somewhat

casual fashion. Although in this case the cock stopped all further

building after the completion of his third nest, it is not difficult) to

conceive that given stronger stimulus he might have started on a

fourth. Whether this would have been completed or not, would

depend again upon the force of his building, i.e., breeding instinct.

Here, therefore, is the origin and explanation of the ‘Cock Nest’

theory which presupposed that the cock made these shelters by way of

outlet for his super-abundant building energy and for his own special

benefit, to serve as a protected perch for him to roost in. Not only

is any such implication unwarranted by facts, but I have further

ascertained (notes, September 30, October 1, 2 and 8) that at night

the cocks do not roost in the nest-tree at all, but fly off long distances

every evening to some common roost which I was unfortunately not

able to locate. On a previous occasion in November, I came

upon a patch of tall, coarse grass in Salsette where hundreds (they

may have been a thousand !) of Bay as were roosting at dusk. The

din of their chatter was audible a good three-quarters of a mile off.

It was probably some common roost of this nature that was resorted

to in this instance every evening by the cocks and unmated hens.

Coming now to the number of eggs laid by the Bay a. In my

experience, and that of numerous other observers, two to four eggs

constitute a normal clutch. Where more than this number occur,

it is generally conceded that they may be the product of two or

more hens. According to my interpretation of the sexual relations

of the Baya this laying by two or more females in a single nest is

not difficult to account for. A female whose physiological ‘ripeness’

for egg-laying has been delayed through some cause or another,

often arrives at a colony late in the season, to find that there is no

nest available for her to occupy. She moves, and is chased about,

from nest to nest until she comes upon one which already contains

eggs, but is unattended. (The hens at this stage leave the nests

to themselves for considerable periods during the heat of the day).

She promptly enters and surreptitiously depositing her egg, is off

again. Next day, she bides her opportunity and repeats the

performance, and it is possible that owing to the paucity of laying

sites, a third hen may also be driven to utilize this same nest.

Now, if my theory about the copulation taking place inside the

nest holds, then I believe in a case like the above, it is possible that

7

956 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vo l XXXIV

a hen who has slipped in surreptitiously and probably without

drawing the attention of the cock and thus gone untreaded by him,

may lay^eggs that are infertile. I suggest that a greater number of

egg's than the maximum normal clutch of four, is found in nests

chiefly at the end of the breeding season when no fresh building work

is being done by the cocks, thus necessitating hitherto ‘unpossessed’

hens to resort to occupied nests. This was certainly the case in the

only experience I have personally had in Sind of finding seven eggs

in one nest. Most of the other nests in this colony contained chicks,

and fresh building appeared to have been in abeyance for some time.

Further, while many observers have, time and again, found six to

eight eggs in a nest, and in one case as many as eleven,1 is it not

significant that no one ever seems to have recorded more than four

chicks in a Baya’s nest? Though this is frankly pure speculation,

and much more observation is needed on this point, does not the

above lend colour to my suggestion that the extra eggs, over and

above the maximum normal clutch (presumed to be the work of a

second or third female) are infertile consequent upon the peculiar

sexual relationship of the species?

My observations may be summarized as follows

1. The Baya is polygamous, not in the ordinary sense but in

a manner of his own. The number of his wives depends

upon the number of completed nests he is able to build

for them, a factor dependent on his potency — in other

words, on the force and intensity of his breeding instinct.

2. The hen takes no part in the building of the nest except

‘interior decoration’ at a late stage.

3. Incubation is carried on! solely by the hen.

4. Feeding the chicks is done mainly by the hen. This instinct

is also present in the cocks to a small extent, but is

indulged in only late in the season after the building

mania has run its course.

5. The ‘Cocks’ Nests’ are nothing* more than abortive attempts

of the cocks, whose zeal for building has petered away

while they are engaged on the work.

A remarkable thing which will be seen from my notes is the

persistence with which a pair of White-throated Munias ( Uroloncha

malabarica) haunted Colony No. 1. That this was not just an

exceptional coincidence is shown by my record on September 26

relating to Control Colony, where another pair was also observed

behaving in a like manner. It was not unknown to me that this

species occasionally lays in the disused nests of Bay as. I had

on previous occasions, frequently observed pairs going in and out

of old Baya nests, and on April 6, 1924, had actually taken four

eggs from one into which a. Munia had been noticed entering.

Again, on visiting Baya Colony No. 1 on December 12 this year

(1930), I discovered that one of the now deserted nests was occupied

by a pair of Munias who flew in and out of the long entrane tube

with perfect ease. This nest contained a brood of clamouring

young, while a neighbouring nest was also tenanted by a second

1 {Nests and Eggs Vol. ii, p.T19.

JOURN., BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC.

Plate IV.

7. All the builders flutter their wings and join in the choruses, in whatever

position they happen to be at the time.

Copyright Salim A. Ali

8. Pilfering material from neighbouring nests is extensively

practised by certain ‘habitual offenders.’

THE NESTING HABITS' OF THE BAY A

957

pair and probably contained egg's. This conduct of the Munia

provides interesting food for conjecture. If the bird laid in disused

nests, it would only succeed in avoiding the labour of building but

would still have to incubate the eggs itself. If on the other hand it

was successful in slipping into an unguarded Baya nest, whence the

brooding hen had gone out (as actually happened on September 18)

and in laying its egg there, it would be, quite involuntarily, but with

good effect all the same, compelled to retire on return of the

legitimate occupant, leaving its egg to be hatched by the Baya.

Would such a process not tend, in course of time, to develop into,

and establish, a habit of systematic and voluntary parasitism as has

been observed in some African Weavers?

Unfortunately, so far I have not been able to secure direct

evidence of the Munia actually laying in an occupied Baya nest, but

I feel certain that its actions will repay careful watching.

My thanks are due to Dr. Erwin Stresemann of the University

Zoological Museum, Berlin, for kindly reading over my Manuscript

and referring me to some valuable literature on the subject.

APPENDIX

Extracts prom my Field Note Book Relating to Nesting

of Bayas. Season 1930.

August 19. — Colony No. 1. Only males in breeding plumage at work on

nest-construction ; none in oft plumage. No females about. Arrival of a hen

caused a flutter amongst the working cocks. So much noise and excitement

resulted that she soon withdrew. Much pilfering of material goes on. j4

pilfers his neighbour B’s nest while the rightful owner is away to fetch strips.

Later, in the absence of A, B makes up for the loss ! There are'evidences of a

. guilty conscience in the furtive glances of the robber and in his hasty with-

drawal on the approach of the rightful owner ! A number of nests are nearly

ready, apparently only wanting the entrance tube. Where are the females ?

When and how will they appear on the scene ?

August 20. — Another colony No. 2 building on a Palmyra palm also

consisted exclusively of males in breeding plumage.

August 21. — Activities at Colony No. 1 were marked this morning by the

presence of several females Immediately one of these appeared, there was a

general commotion amongst the cocks, who pursued her strutting from branch to

branch, often following her when she flew off to a nearby tree. The females

thus driven off, returned again and again. Their object appeared to be to

inspect the progress of the building work, and one female would visit several

nests successively while the respective males were away to fetch material.

In Colony No. 2 there was onty one nest at the advanced * Bell 5 stage

with the egg-chamber nearing completion, where a female was also seen at

work, the cock on the outside, she within. The work on the interior is done by

the birds sitting on the cross bar ....

August 22. — Watched Colony No. 1 for 3 hours. Females arriving and

entering nests. Do they mate by establishing possession of a nest ? A pair of

Uroloncha malabarica came and made itself at home in the colony to the

extent of one bird entering a half-built nest and sitting on the cross-bar while

the other perched on the dome. Owner was away at' the time. All the nests

at the ‘Bell’ stage have mud inside, near the egg-chamber. Saw a cock

collect some from the neighbouring swamp and stick a lump inside his nest.

953 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

August 24.— Again observed a pair of U. malabarica loitering amongst the

nests in Colony No. 1, frequently entering the nests in the absence of the

owners.

August 28.— .Spent half hour at Colony No. 1. Made following notes on the

spot : ' Saw lumps of mud being brought by the male and stuck in at this

stage.

A number of nests at this stage

were found wrenched

Fig. 2. Fig. 3.

off and lying on the water below. This could not be the work of a squirrel as

the tree stands isolated in wrater. A cock who had one nest completed, with

about 3 " of entrance! tube, had commenced another about two feet away from

this. He was pilfering material from his neighbour freely, hastily pulling out

three or four strips while the owner was away. This bunch of strips, he first

pressed roughly into site with his bill, then each one was woven in individually.

The foot is used to hold one end down while the other is being worked

through. Much and continuous attention is given to the support ;

whenever the cock is sitting idle, he goes on working at this, pulling the

strips taut and trying to reinforce the suspension further. In some cases

these supports wind round for over a foot of the twig. Often when the nest is

completed, fresh strands continue to be brought to fortify the hanging.

Appear to have a rigid moral code! When an owner returns and finds his

nest mauled about and his immediate neighbour with a beak-full of filched

strips, which from their colour are obviously not fresh ones, he never goes for

him bald-headed on suspicion. He proceeds to repair the damage in the most

matter-of-fact way. A scuffle only ensues if the robber is caught red-handed.

The birds, with claws locked, whirl round and round in the air dropping till

within a few inches of the water when they separate and each returns to his

nest. On one occasion they actually touched the water with a flop ! ’

September 18. — In the interval since my last note, there have been ten days

of continuous and heavy rain— over 35 inches. The water round the tree at

Colony No. 1 is thigh deep. . . . To-day’s observations confirm my suspicions

regarding the sexual life of the Baya. I believe that when a nest is nearly

completed, a female takes possession of it. The females sometimes fight for

possession. In course of time the cock becomes accustomed to her presence.

From this stage on, when the nest is nearly complete, she works at the interior,

he without. 1 have not observed co-operation between the two as has often

been described, of his passing the end of a strand to her inside and her return-

ing it through the wall of the nest. The egg-chamber having been properly

smoothed and ‘ decorated ’, she lays the eggs and commences to incubate

sometimes even before the entrance tube is begun. When a cock has finished

one nest and a hen has * accepted ’ it, he forthwith begins another as an out-

let for his building mania. If he has sufficient ‘ push ’ left to bring it near

completion, it may be that another female whose physiological cycle has been

delayed, but is now mature, comes along and takes possession of it, otherwise

it remains half finished— at the stage that has so often been described as

‘ Cock’s Nest ’. Found a completed nest snipped off and lying on the water

below. Examination showed that the support had been cut clean through. It

could not have been blown down by strong wind. Looks like doing of the bird

itself —probably that of a disappointed suitor ! It contained two eggs, white with

fresh pink tinge ; pointed long ovals 21 x 13 and 22 x 13*5 mm. respectively. In

the nest there was only one little daub of mud above and to one side of the egg-

chamber, weighing roughly \ oz. No insect remains in mud ! A pair of

Uroloncha malabarica still haunting the colony, trying to enter tubes of

completed nests and being repeatedly assailed by cocks. Photographed one

about to enter a completed nest (but without any entrance tube). Both birds

entered and remained inside for fully five minutes, but left hurriedly on arrival

of occupant hen who entered the nest and stayed within for over ten minutes.

Later this nest was examined. It .’contained two fresh eggs, but both Baya.

Three or four more nests were examined at the full ‘ Bell ’ stage and where the

egg-chamber was nearly completed. Mud in each roughly not more than \ oz.

No trace of fireflies !

Pi- ATE

A Cock, dissatisfied with his partly-built nest, works in dead 10. Sometimes two females fight for possession of an eligible

earnest for its undoing. ' nest.

THE NESTING HABITS OF THE BAY A

959

September 23 .—Spent 3 hours at Colony No. 1. A half finished nest was

found floating underneath the tree. Examination showed that the suspension

had been severed just where it expands finto the ‘ Bell -Am convinced that

this was the doing of the cock himself, as a bird was observed destroying the

support of another half-built nest in the same way. He was working away at

this, undoing quite seriously and deliberately, stopping every now and again to

flutter his wings and join the communal choruses. By the time I left, the

connection wTas nearly severed. Saw one hen carrying some mud in her bill,

entering a nest she had taken possession of. Even the ‘ sitting ’ hens are

molested by the cocks working in the proximity when she arrives to enter her

nest, and their attentions compel her to make a rush for the entrance. There

was, throughout my vigil to-day and on the 18th, no cock in attendance on the

nest which was examined by me then and found to contain 2 eggs. The same

wTas the case with several completed nests also which were obviously occupied

— females leaving and re-entering — and to my mind this indicates that the cocks

are busy on further nests. The nest found on the water contained 2 patches

of mud on side of, and above, egg-chamber. Altogether the quantity must

weigh between | and f oz.

The pair of Uroloncha malabarica made several attempts to enter the nests

but retired disappointed.

September 25. — Visted Colony No. 2. It has been entirely deserted, practically

every one of the completed nests being torn open near the egg-chamber, and

hangingin tatters. The members of the colony have obviously dispersed, and

are now to be seen on a great many ‘ Ber ’ trees in the surrounding paddy-

fields, working in colonies of from 2 to 8 nests. On one Palmyra palm, about

400 yards from Colony No. 2, there hang 6 nests completed and occupied by

hens, and 3 more in early stages. Only 3 males in breeding plumage were at

work here — one on each of the latter — throughout the time I was watching (about

40 minutes), and I feel convinced that some of the cocks were responsible for 2

or more of these nests.

On a Ber tree close by, there were 2 nests at the ‘ Bell ’ stage, on one of

which a young male (?) was at work. They both looked most * unprofessional ’

thus :

A

and it seemed as if the workers were trying their hand for the first

Fig. 4.

time ! The young male who flew off occasionally and fetched strips, was in

juvenile or female plumage, slightly brighter on the breast.

At Colony No. 1, 2 hens were seen carrying green caterpillars into nests.

Two nests hanging by long thin suspensions, have come to grief having been

caught up in the thorns presumably while swinging about in strong breeze,

thus :

FrG. 5.

This would indicate that long suspensions can be a disadvantage.

September 26. — A bird in female plumage working on one of the 2 * amateur’

nests recorded on 25th. From time to time he fluttered his wings and uttered

' chit -chit-chit ’ followed by the chorus of ‘ chi-whi , chi-whi , chee-ee-ee-eel On

another small Ber tree hard by, a colony of young cocks in juvenile plumage

working away on several nests in early stages. In some individuals, there is a

suggestion of yellow tinge on forehead, back and b:east. There is no adult

cock in this colony of about 12 nests.

To determine the exact status of each of the 3 cocks recorded working on half-

finished nests yesterday on a Palmyra palm containing 6 completed nests

besides, which I shall henceforward call ‘Control Colony’, I went out this

morning with paper and pencil and spent 3 hours watching the birds. Obser-

vation fully confirmed my surmise that each of the cocks owned more than onp

pe^t, I transcribe in full, the notes made on the spot ;

960 JOURNAL , BOMBAY, NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. XX XIV

‘ 6 nests already occupied by hens : 3 under construction. All the latter are

at * Bell ’ stage. Only 3 adult cocks in breeding dress in the colony. Among

the working birds, one or the other occasionally goes and perches on a com-

pleted nest when female enters. From some, he is driven off by a neighbour-

ing cock, while if perched on another he remains unmolested. Rightful

ownership ? A pair of Uroloncha malabarica persistently trying to enter nests

and being constantly driven off by cocks. A hen twice seen flying into a nest

with soft material for lining — once ascertained to be vegetable down. Made

sketch plan of colony, thus : — See Fig. 6, p. 960.

d 1 observed reinforcing a with an additional strip, unchallenged by other

cocks.

A good deal of jealousy prevails amongst the cocks, and fights are common;

they whirl round and round in the air grappling with each other till

almost on the ground. Birds flying into paddy-fields and eating tender paddy

grains from the ears; Females leave nest off and on and visit "fields, evidently

with the same object. The strands brought by the cocks are about 12" long.

J 1 put in another strip to a. 2 was twice visited by an outside hen, who

entered ‘ Bell ’ and sat on the cross-bar, flying off when the cock arrived and

commenced to flutter his wings, hanging on the outside head downwards.

J 3 visited e and adjusted a strip.

When <$2 visited a and clung on the entrance as if he would enter, J 1 left his

work on 1 and attacked him, both falling in the scuffle till almost on the

ground.’

September 21 . — Again visited Control Colony and started investigations

afresh drawing a fresh sketch plan of the nests. Made following notes : ‘ Same

cock observed working at strengthening exterior of egg- chamber and rim of

entrance tube of e and /.

Another cock reinforcing a and b.

Egg-chamber of 2 nearly ready. 1 and 3 still at advanced ‘ Bell ’ stage.

A fourth cock came from outside and tried to perch on d , but $ 2 left his

work at 2, attacked and drove him away. The fourth cock was never seen

again.

2 then sat for a while on d preening his feathers unchallenged. £ 2

observed strengthening suspension of d, and then returning to 2.

J 1 went near 3, presumably to pilfer material ; cock working on / left his

work, attacked and drove him away and came back to /,

Fig. 6.

JOURN., BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC.

Plate VI.

Copyright Salim A. Ali

12. When fresh building work is finally abandoned, the Cocks often

occupy themselves in elongating the entrance tubes of their nests.

the nesting habits of the bay a

961

d 2 busy reinforcing exterior of egg-chamber in 2, and later, entrance tube

of d. He entered it while the hen was away and did some pulling and tug-

ging on the interior. Came out and tinkered about with entrance tube of c, and

then hopped across to 2.

Females don’t do serious work on exterior but are occasionally seen casually

pulling at a strip as they sit on the nest prior to entering.

Strong breeze blowing, d 2 reinforcing suspension of d. From here he

hopped on to c, put in a fresh strand and then returned to 2.

A female visited 2, and was chased by 2 fluttering,

d 1 visited a, did some repair and returned to 1. A female visited 1.

3 visited e and put in a strand.

(I 2 working away industriously at d, bringing fresh green strands and

weaving them in, chiefly round bottom (exterior) of egg-chamber and rim of

entrance tube, also adding fresh strips to c.

I have now no doubt that a and b belong to 1.

c and d belong to $ 2.

e and f belong to $ 3.

At the colony of young birds, recorded on 26th, the nests as far as they have

progressed, are untidy and ‘unprofessional’ structures. One is more or less just

a rough tube (solid) from suspension, about 15" long and 3" in diameter,

f

Fig. 7.

Another thus :

Fig. 8.

Took census of Colony No. 1. Completed nests

!>

Fig. 9.

25 ; at full ‘ Bell ’

stage about 8 ; in early stages or incomplete ‘Bell’ about 8. Total includ-

Fig. 10.

0-

ing deserted beginnings, 47. This excludes a number in various stage (but

mostly ‘Bell’) discarded for some reason or another and found lying on the water

underneath the tree. The number of cocks was counted variously between

10 and 12. They were certainly not more, but may have been less. A cock was

adjusting strips on the nest examined on 18th and found to contain 2 eggs, and

into which a hen was noticed entering with a caterpillar some days later. He

subsequently entered the nest and remained within for about 5 seconds. Has

never been seen to take an interest in the nest before.

Visited Colony No. 1 again at 8 p.m. with electric torch. No birds sleep-

ing in uncompleted nests or roosting in the tree. No fireflies !

September 29. Visited Control Colony again this morning to confirm previous

observations regarding ownership. Started afresh, quite independently making

a new sketch plan of the nests. Nest No. 2 was complete except for the

entrance tube, and a hen was seen flying out of it while the cock was working

on the exterior. She has obviously taken possession. Made the following

notes on the spot : ‘ White nest 2 is ready, 1 and 3 appear to have made small

progress since the 27th. From e a cock jumped across to 3 and proceeded to

weave.

d 3 visited e, and returned to 3.

2 has assumed a more smooth and finished appearance. £2 hopping across

to c, adjusting a strip and returning to resume work on 2. From jerky move-

ments of 2, it appears that hen is working within.

A cock brought fresh strips to c — adding them on exterior,

962 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

<Jl on 6. An outside hen visited 1. struttingly returned to 1, driving and

chasing her away by his impetuosity. ^1 visited proximity of 3 ; cock working

on e left his work and chased him off, ^1 later returned to a and commenced

tinkering about.

flew off and returned with fresh strips. in 40 seconds. On another occasion

in 50 seconds.

<JT seems to have become rather indifferent to his half finished nest, and

spends most of his time on a or b, or in the neighbourhood, doing little.’

To-day’s observations confirm yesterday’s conclusions.

At the colony of young cocks in the Ber tree, the untidy hanging sketched

pn the 27th has taken shape ; a nest is forming at the extremity, thus :

Fig. 11.

All the birds working in this colony are in immature plumage with a faint

tinge of lemon yellow in some individuals on breast and forehead, although the

latter is still streaked. One of the 2 amateurish nests sketched on the 25th, has

been snipped off at the suspension and now hangs by a single strand. A third

nest has been commenced on the same tree, lower down. In these imperfect

nests it was also noted that mud was being brought and stuck in.

At Colony No. 1, work seems to be more or less at a standstill. A number of

nests remain half completed, but from the colour of the strips it is apparent

that not much fresh material has been put in. The cocks spend most of their

time in singing and hopping and strutting about after the hens as they arrive

or leave the nests. Several hens seen carrying grasshoppers and caterpillars

into their nests — no cocks so far seen assisting in this. The females utter chit-

chit -chit-chit before shooting up the entrance tubes.

Some males were observed at Control Colony eating a few grains of paddy

before tearing off strips. The suspensions of the nests were being constantly

added to by the respective cocks.

Took down nest (examined on 18th at Colony No. 1 and found to contain 2

eggs) and brought it home. Contains 2 chicks, blind but with quills sprouting

along spine and on wings. Sparse down on head stands erect when clamour-

ing for food and being fed. Gape rich lemon yellow ; inside of mouth bright

orange. These colours certainly help to make the mouths conspicuous in the

darkened interior of the nest. This nest contains no mud whatsoever. A

couple of large white (egret ?) feathers are incorporated in the lining of the

egg chamber. There was no mud in a fully completed nest found lying on

the water under the tree.

Visited Colony No. 1 at 6T5 p.m. with a view to find out where the cocks

roost at night. Just before sunset, and upto the time they left the colony

activity seemed to be at its highest and a great deal of noise prevailed. Actual

building was little, but there was much singing and fluttering of wings and

hopping about from branch to branch, the cocks pressing their attentions on

the hens About 10 minutes after sunset, small parties of 4 or 5 flew off in a

southerly direction. After 3 or 4 such parties had departed, silence pervaded

the colony. Only the hens in occupation of nests were left behind. A number

of these sat about the adjoining twigs, preening their feathers and uttering

chit -chit-chit, and gradually flew up their respective tubes, one after another.

The parties that left comprised of cocks as well as hens; probably such as had

come prospecting for nests. I watched these bands disappearing over the trees

about 2 furlongs distant.

October 1. Took up position at sunset on a mound near the trees over which

I had observed the parties disappear last night. With binoculars I could see

activities at Colony No. 1 and also mark the parties as they left. They came

along soon after sundown over the trees, and continued further till they

disappeared over another clump a further 2 furlongs to the south.

October 2. Visited Control Colony, appears to have lost interest in nest

1, which continues to remain at open ‘ Bell ’ stage. He spends most of his

time tinkering about with a and b, particularly in elongating the entrance tube.

The tubes of a and b are longer than those of the other nests in this colony ;

JOURN., BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC. PLATE VII

Copyright Salim A.

13. Some birds alight on a neighbouring branch before flying 14. A Baya shooting up the entrance tube of its nest is

into the nest with food for the young. wonderful sight.

THE NESTING HABITS OF THE BAY A

963

that of b being fully 12". ^3 has also lost interest in nest 3 which also remains

at the open " ‘ Bell ’ stage. He is mostly on e and f, pulling the strips and

occasionally adding a couple of fresh ones. Nest 2 is complete with the

entrance tube 2-3 inches long. It is occupied by a hen who entered and left

every few minutes unchallenged by^ 2, who was absent for some time but later

came and sat on 2.

Activities at the young male colony in the Ber tree also appear to be flagging.

Posted myself at sunset along the route of the homing Bayas, near the clump

of trees over which they had last disappeared, with Mahmood nearer the nest

tree to warn me of their approach. About 5 minutes after sunset a party of 8

came along and flew over me, but disappeared over another clump a further

two furlongs approximately. They were flying strongly when last seen and

showed no signs of alighting.

October 3. A Crow Pheasant ( Centropus sinensis) alighted in a neighbouring

Ber tree about 25 feet distant from Control Colony. He was attacked by all the

3 males as soon as he showed himself at the top, and forced to withdraw into

the foliage. On the cocks sounding their peculiar drongo-like chit-chit of

alarm, the hens rushed out of all the seven nests and joined them in mobbing

him. The hens soon re-entered their nests. A little later the Crow Pheasant

again exposed himself at the top. The cocks repeated the attack and on their

warning cry the hens again sallied forth, and the Crow Pheasant retired to the

bushy centre of the tree. No attention was paid by the Bayas to a pair of Koels

{Eudynamis scolopaceus ) in the same tree.

At Colony No. 1 building activities seem decidedly on the wane. A cock was

observed perched complacently, half fluffed-out, and with abdomen resting on

twig and a bunch of fresh green strips in his bill, for well over 5 minutes !

He later leisurely proceeded to weave this into a completed nest. Many hens are

engaged in bringing food for the young, whose incessant cheeping now adds to

the liveliness of the colony. Mostly green caterpillars and green nymphs of

grasshoppers. Feeding done by hens alone ? Counted 8 as the largest number

of cocks present in the colony at any one time.

Immediately after the suspension is made, a rough transverse loop is put in ;

thus this invariably forms the skeleton round which the structure is built.

A mass of droppings on the ground immediately under a nest is a sure indi-

cation that it contains young.

October 8. By the ‘ Relay System ’ I was able to trace the cocks and nest-

less hens of Colony No. 1 for over a mile and a half towards their roosting

place at sunset’. They disappeared over some tall Casuarinas, flying strongly,

and I have no further hope of locating their roost which is obviously a great

distance away.

October 9. Spent 3 hours at Colony No. 1. Females busy feeding young.

Green grasshoppers appear favoured. Where the chicks are very young (as I

afterwards ascertained) the mother would often perch on a twig before entering

nest, and pull off the harder portions of the insect, such as the legs and head,

and carry only the soft body to the chicks. Cocks were doing no new work,

but one or the other would occasionally bring a fresh strip or pull one out of

some half finished nest and weave it into an already completed one. They did

no feeding, but ‘ fooled ’ about in the tree, fluttering their wings and chirup-

ping every now and again. One cock did bring a brown caterpillar once, but

perched with it in his bill listlessly on the nest as if at a loss how to proceed for

a couple of minutes, and finally solved the puzzle by swallowing up the insect

himself ! Examined 11 nests for contents, either by snipping off entrance tube

near egg chamber or slitting up the whole length till opposite egg-chamber,

with a pair of scissors. Six nests contained chicks between 5 and 8 days old,

two in every case. In the seventh nest the two chicks were grown enough to

flutter out while the nest was being handled. The 8th nest contained only 1

egg ; the 9th 2 ; the 10th 3 ; and the 11th 4.

October 10. At Control Colony nest No. 1 has fallen down. 3 has been

abandoned at the full ‘ Bell ’ stage. S 1 occupies himself now chiefly with

elongating entrance tubes of a ard b. That of the latter is now fully 2 feet

long, d 2 and 3 also tinkering about with their nests, fluttering and chorus

singing.

At Colony No. 1, the cocks are busy ‘ seaming’ up the slits made by me

yesterday with fresh green strips, which appear as neat green stripes down the

centre of the entrance tube. Where the entrance tubes were snipped clean off?

964 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

a fresh green collar has been added which is being developed into a new

entrance tube.

October 11, Spent 3 hours at Colony No. 1. The feeding instinct seems to

be present in the cocks, but so far is very weak. Some were seen bringing

insects but they would perch on the nest or on an adjoining twig and hop

about from one to the other uttering th z chit-chit of alarm (warning notes) and

not knowing how to proceed. In some cases they entered the nests after much

dilly-dallying while in others the insects were swallowed up by the birds them-

selves ! A female arrived from outside ; a cock strutted up to her and without

any preliminaries jumped on her back and treaded her. Iam unable to say

if copulation was really effected but he went through all the actions during

the exceedingly short time he was on her back— about i second. Immediately

after this, the hen flew off in the direction of the nightly roost, and was seen

flying strongly and directly over a clump of trees about i mile away. What

is the significance of this episode ? I have never seen anything like it before !

Mud in a nest whose young have already left weighed T4 oz.

October 13. . . . A Shikra ( Astur badius) stooped on Colony No. 1.

The cocks who appear to act as sentries and watches of the colony, immediatey

made a great noise with their drongo-like chit-chit alarm calls. They dashed

off from the tree to one across the tank, accompanied by some of the hens, and

continued to sound the alarm for a considerable time after the death of the

aggressor at my hands. Some of the hens shot into their nests, and for a time

there was complete silence from the chicks. The hawk had failed to secure a

bird. His stomach dissected was quite empty.

A. cock at Control Colony was seen carrying a green grasshopper into nest e.

October 11 . Examined 9 nests at Colony No. 1. Five contained 4 nearly

full-fledged young each. Two contained 3 chicks each and one 3 eggs. Only

one nest contained 2 chicks. Cocks now taking greater part in feeding. One

fully-fledged chick, in trying to escape, fell in the mud under the tree, and

was seized like lightning by a Bull Frog ( Rana ligrina ) of which there were a

number lying in wait (?).

October 22. —At Control Colony, J 1 was observed plucking and conveying

green paddy grains into nest a.

Nests e and / have a lateral hole near the entrance to their tubes which

have been somewhat widened at their ends. The fresh green strips woven

round the rim, show that the work is recent. Looks as if another storey was

being added. This is in all probability the work of the legitimate owner

(cock) himself as none of the other nests belonging to other cocks have it.

The cocks appear to feed the chicks only in one of their several nests — the

favourite one (! ?) In 2 cases I was able to ascertain definitely that their

attentions were confined to the latest nests of their series.

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES

BY

F, C, Fraser, Lt.-Col., i.m.s., f.e.s.

Part XXXVI

( With seven text-figures )

( Continued from page 107 of Volume XXXIV).

Genus Lestes, Addenda.

1 Lestes patricia Fraser

Lestes Patricia Fras. Rec. Ind. Mus. vol. xxvi, p. 486 (1924).

Male. (Female unknown.) Hindwing 24 mm. Abdomen 37 mm.

Head : Labium greyish ; labrum, genae, epistome, and frons azure blue ;

vertex and occiput matt black ; eyes deep azure blue above, turquoise blue

beneath (fading to olivaceous brown after death).

Prothorax greenish- blue laterally, matt black above.

Thorax bluish-green on the dorsum and laterally, pale greenish-white

beneath. Dorsum marked with a broad stripe of matt black extending out

to about halfway between the dorsal carina and humeral suture and with

straight borders. Laterally the upper portion of the area between the

humeral and postero-latera! sutures greyish-green, whilst beneath are two pairs

of black spots partly obscured by pruinescence.

Legs bluish outwardly, reddish on flexor surfaces, black on the extensor ;

femoral spines short, tibial long. (About 11 spines on the femora.)

Wings hyaline, palely enfumed, this especially noticeable with the wings

superposed ; pterostigma dark brown, about four times as long as broad ;

14 postnodal nervures in forewings, 10 in the hind ; discoidal cells equal ; ac

situated midway between the antenodal nervures.

Abdomen bluish-green marked with matt black on segments 1 and 2, and

from segments 6 to 10 ; segments 3 to 5 warm brown dorsally, non -metallic.

All segments with a broad dorsal stripe which dilates apicad but does not

extend quite to base of segments ; segment 1 with its basal half only black, 2

with a mid-dorsal stripe slightly dilated apicad, 7 with the dorsal stripe gradual-

ly widening apicad, whilst segments 8 to 10 are entirely black, the last two

being somewhat pruinosed dorsally.

Anal appendages.— Superiors black with the inner dilatation white, this latter

rather broad and with a robust black tooth at its base ; apical ends turned in

abruptly at nearly a right angle and with a few small spines on the outer

border. Inferiors very short, digitate, extending nearly to the end of expand-

ed part of superiors, apices naked, obtuse, black.

Distribution. — Coorg only. The type insect is the only specimen known

and is in the author’s collection. It was found lurking in bushes beside a small

pond near Virajpet, on the Sidapur road. It bears a superficial appearance to

C. pulcherrima and is easily distinguished from other Indian species of Lestes

by the single mid-dorsal black band with straight borders.

(The description of this species should follow directly after that of L. viri-

dula , Part xxxiv, vol. xxxiii of this Journal.)

Fig. 1. Forewing of Burmargiulestes melanothorax (Selys.)

966 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI V

Subfamily Megapod agrioninae.

Podagrion Selys, nom. preoc., Syn. Agrion. Bull. Acad. Belg. (2) xiv. p.

12 (1862) ; Id. Mem. Cour. xxxviii, p. 40 (1886).

Dragonflies of medium size, usually of more robust build than the average

Coenagrionine, body colouring non-metallic, resting with wings widely or

partly spread. Wings with a long petiole, narrow, hyaline, discoidal cell

elongate, moderately narrow, variably acutely angulated distad ; sectors of

arc arising from lower half of arc ; R3 arising far distad of node ; origins of

IR3 and R4 + 5 variable; Cu2 arched slightly costalwards at its origin ; no

oblique vein present between R3 and IR3 ; pterostigma variable, usually

slightly more than twice as long as broad ; intercalated sectors present in

most, especially at apical area of wings, these sectors giving a pectinated

effect to I A and MA in some species ; anal bridge vestigial or complete.

Abdomen long and slender or moderately long and robust, especially in the

females. Superior anal appendages of male usually more or less forcipate ;

inferiors vestigial.

Genitalia. Lobe usually depressed, hamules large and prominent, penis

with the end culed over its stem and ending in two long, more or less curled

branches which embrace the stem, lobe tumid, more or less pyriform. Vulvar

scales very robust and extending well beyond end of abdomen. Larvae

Unknown.

Distribution. Only three genera are known from within Indian limits,

beyond which the subfamily extends throughout the tropics, neotropics,

Australasia and the Philippines.

The three Indian genera stand somewhat isolated in the fauna, each being

represented* by a single species within our limits and all confined to the north-

east districts and Burma. Burmargiolestes nielanothorax Selys, which

Fig. 2. Anal appendages of Burmargiolestes melanothor ax. (Selys).

a. Dorsal view. b. Profile view.

was formerly included under genus Argiolestes has since been placed in a

genus of its own, so that the distribution of this species is no longer anomalous.

A Rhinagrion which I had incorrectly placed as M. tibetatia turns out to be ^

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES 967

large race of R. mima Karsch, the distribution of this species now extending

from Borneo to Burma. Lastly Mesopodagrion , as represented by iibetana

Macl., still remains a monotypic genus, confined, so far as known, to Thibet

and Southeast China.

Genus Burmargiolestes Kennedy (1925).

Burmargiolestes Kennedy, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Havard, lxvii, No. 7.

p. 296. PI. fig. 6. (1925).

Wings long and narrow, petiolated nearly to level of distal end of discoidal

cell and far distad of Ac ; node situated at less than one-third the distance

from base of wing to pterostigma ; Ac situated almost opposite the basal

antenodal nervure ; Ab vestigial, only a trace of its distal end present ;

discoidal cell acute at distal end, its costal side about two-thirds the length of

postcostal, these two sides diverging slightly and the outer side oblique ; 1R2

arising about 3 cells distad of the origin of R3 ; R3 arising slightly nearer the

node than pterostigma ; IR3 arising 1 cell distad of the subnode ; R4 + 5

arising at the subnode ; MA and I A pectinate. (This pectination being an

expression of intercalated sectors between R4 + 5 and MA, and Cu2 and I A) ;

intercalated sectors also present between IR2 and R3 and between 1R3 and

R4 + 5 at apical ends of wings; only a single row of cells between I A and

hinder border of wings ; pterostigma elongate, at least twice as long as broad,

slightly dilated at the middle, both inner and outer ends oblique, unbraced,

covering less than 2 cells.

Head narrow ; epistome rather prominent. Prothorax with posterior lobe

subbilobate ; thorax robust ; legs rather short, tibiae not dilated, claw-hooks

situated near end of claws. Abdomen long and slender, slightly dilated at

base and anal ends. Superior anal appendages nearly twice the length of

segment 10, forcipate ; inferior appendages vestigial. Genitalia: hamules

broad, subquadrate plates ; penis broad at apex and slightly notched, curling

up over the stem, its branches embracing that structure and spiral-like at the

ends ; lobe of penis flask-shaped, tumid. Vulvar scale robust, extending

slightly beyond end of abdomen. Genoty qz—B . melanothorax (Selys).

Distribution. —South Asia and the eastern Himalayan tracts.

Burmargiolestes melanothorax (Selys)

Argiolestes melanothorax Selys, Bull. Acad. Belg. (2) xiv. p. 38 (1862) ;

Id. Mem. Cour. xxxviii. p. 80 (1880) ; Id. Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov,

series 2. x. p. 500 (1891) ; Laid. Rec. Ind. Mus. vol. xiii, pp. 323-325

(1917) ; Kirby, Cat. Odon. p. 125 (1890).

Burmargiolestes melanothorax Kennedy, Bull. Mus. Comp. Havard, ixvii,

No. 7. p. 296, PL fig. 6 (1925).

Male. Abdomen 40 mm. Hindwing 28 mm.

Head : labium brown ; labrum pale blue ; bases of mandibles and genae

black ; epistome, frons and basal joints of antennae pale blue ; vertex and

occiput black ; eyes olivaceous brown.

Prothorax black with a broad subdorsal pale biown fascia on each side.

Thorax glossy black, the upper ends of humeral and lateral sutures pale

yellowish brown.

Wings hyaline ; pterostigma dark reddish brown to almost black ; 23

postnodal nervures to forewings, 21 in the hind.

Legs yellow, the tarsi and spines ferruginous, the distal ends of femora with

a diffuse spot of dark brown on the extensor surface.

Abdomen glossy black or blackish brown in subteneral specimens, segments

3 to 6 with an obscure yellowish spot or annule near the base. Anal append-

ages blackish brown ; superiors twice the length of segment 10, forcipate,

slightly tumid at base, then subcylindrical and finally compressed at the apex

where they are dilated and broadly notched and hollowed out on the inner

surface, and present a flattened facet just proximal to the notch ; outer borders

finely spined, broadly sinuous ; inner border of base minutely tuberculate and

spined. Inferiors not visible from above, rounded, vestigial plates.

Female. Abdomen 34 mm. Hind wing 29 mm.

Very similar to the male but of more robust and shorter build. Differs as

follows, — labium brownish black ; black of vertex encroaches on frons which

§68 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXiV

has two punctate black points ; eyes darker brown ; abdomen with sides paler

and the dorsum of segments 8 and 9 yellowish brown ; segment 10 pruinosed

white in adults ; anal appendages conical, pointed, as long as segment 10 ;

vulvar scales brown, robust, minutely spined below.

Wings palely suffused with brown in adults especially at apices which may be

quite dark brown along extreme borders ; pterostigma shorter and broader,

often imperfectly braced, covering 2 to 2k cells ; 29 postnodal nervures in

forewings, 21 in the hind ; Ac, especially in the forewings, often slightly

proximad to the level of the basal antenodal nervure.

Distribution . Upper Burma, Sikkim and Assam. The species from Siam

and Tonkin appears to be quite distinct. The discoidal cell in this species is

much shorter than in typical Argiolestes , the proportion of its costal and

subcostal sides is quite different, the nervure Ac lies much more basad, whilst

the origins of IRS and R4 + 5 differ entirely from what is found in that genus ;

important differences are also found in the genitalia.

Fig. 3. Forewing of Rhinagrion mhna (Karsch.)

Genus Rhinagrion Calvert (1913).

Amphilestes Selys, Bull. Acad. Belg. (2) xiv. p. 42 (1867) ; Id. Mem.

Cour. xxxviii, p. 92 (1886). nom. preoc. ; Kirby, Cat. Odon. p. 126

(1890).

Rhinagrion Calv. non. nom. ( Amphilestes ) Proc. Acad. Phil, 65, p. 258.

(1913).

Wings long and narrow, petiolated to the level of Ac ; node situated at

slightly less than one-third the distance from base to pterostigma ; Ac situated

nearly opposite the level of the distal antenodal nervure, slightly proximad to

that structure ; Ab complete, meeting Ac at border of wing ; discoidal cell

subacute at apex, its costal side two-thirds to three-quarters the length of

subcostal, these sides diverging distad, outer side rather oblique ; 1R2 arising

4 to 5 cells distad of the origin of RS or halfway between the origin of latter and

the pterostigma ; RS arising in the forewing 5 to 6 cells distad of the node and

much nearer latter than pterostigma; IRS arising at the subnode; R4 + 5

arising well before level of subnode ; MA and Ou2 simple ; I A zigzagged at its

distal" half only; no intercalated sectors except short ones at the apices of

wings ; pterostigma elongate, more than twice as long as broad, slightly dilated

at its middle, inner and outer ends oblique, only occasionally braced, covering

2 cells.

Head moderately narrow ; epistome not prominent ; occiput deeply concave.

Prothorax with a simple rounded and arched posterior lobe ; thorax robust,

furnished, in the female, with prominent hooks at the anterior ends of humeral

sutures for copulating with the male.

Legs rather short, robust, tibiae slim, claw-hooks near ends of claws, femoral

and tibial spines short, robust, not very numerous. Abdomen long, cylindrical,

moderately robust especially in the female, dilated at base and gradually so at

anal end. Anal appendages forcipate, nearly twice the length of segment 10,

inferiors vestigial. Genitalia: hamules moderately broad quadrate plates,

pointed posteriorly; penis narrow at apex, curling over stem of organ, its

branches strongly curled to embrace the stem and shaped like the horns of an

ox as seen from the dorsum ; lobe small, inconspicuous, pyriform.

Vulvar scale robust, projecting well beyond end of abdomen, stylets of great

length. Genotype, — R. macrocephala (Selys)

Distribution. Burma, Borneo, Malaysia and Sumatra.

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES

§6§

Rhiuagrion mima Karsch

Fig. 4. Anal appendages of Rhiuagrion mima t Karsch).

a. Dorsal view. b. Profile view.

Amphilesies mima Karsch, Ent. Nachr. xvii, pp. 242, 243, (1891) ; Kruger,

Stett. Ent. Zeit. p. 100 (1898) ; Laidlaw, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. p. 382,

2nd Dec. (1902).

Rhinagrion tibetana Fras. ( = mima ) Rec. Ind. Mus. vol. xxvi (1926).

Male. Abdomen 36 mm. Hindwing 27 mm.

Head black marked with bright ochre or citron yellow ; labium pale straw

yellow ; labrum bright cchreous broadly bordered with glossy black ; epistome

similar ; bases of mandibles and genae bright yellow ; frons and vertex bright

ochreous with a broad median uneven stripe of matt black ; occiput, antennse

and the seat of the latter as well as a small point in front of them matt black ;

eyes olivaceous bordered behind by a narrow black band and this latter by

another ochreous band equally wide.

Prothorax with an anterior collar, the whole of posterior lobe and a large

oval spot on each side bright ochreous, middle lobe and dorsum black.

Thorax velvety black marked with bright yellow or ochreous as. follows, — a

broad antehumeral stripe not extending to upper and lower part of dorsum,

gently curved with the concave sides of the stripes facing one another, the

upper halves of the antealar sinus. Laterally bright yellow with a moderately

broad median black stripe.

Legs bright ochreous, the flexor surfaces paler yellow, the spines, tarsi,

flexor surfaces of tibise and the extensor surfaces of the two anterior pairs of

femora black.

Wings hyaline, palely enfumed in old adults ; pterostigma black, covering

one and a half to two cells ; 13 to 14.postnodal nervures in forewings, 12 in the

hind.

Abdomen ferruginous ringed subapicad on segments 2 to 6 with bright

ochreous followed by moderately broad black apical rings, segment one paler

yellow7 or greenish yellow with a narrow apical bordering of black laterally

and a finely delineated dorsal marking shaped like the handle of a dagger ;

segment 10 with a broad dorsal marking shaped like a cross ; ventral surfaces

and ventro-lateral borders of segments 8 to 10 black.

970 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol, XXXI V

Anal appendages black, the superiors with the apical third bright ferrugi-

nous except the extreme apex which is black. Superiors forcipate, curving

medialwards to meet at apices, apical halves compressed, the inner surface

shallowly concave, apices bevelled within and ending in an acute point.

Inferiors rounded, very short, vestigial, not visible from above.

Fig. 5. Markings of head and thorax of Rhinagrion mivia (Karsch.)

Female. Abdomen 33 mm. Hind wing 29 mm.

Very similar to the male but more robust, differs as follows,— -bright

markings of head, prothorax and thorax citron yellow, those on the former

more restricted, a large irregular spot on the vertex being isolated by the

black ; occiput with a narrow dark ferruginous border behind.

Thorax with the black on anterior border of metepimeron reduced to an

irregular dark blackish brown stripe incomplete above and below. The

anterior part of mid dorsal carinh bifurcating to enclose a small triangular

space, on either side of which is a large laterally compressed spine ending in

a finely pointed hook, the outer part of the spine continued as a shell-like

plaque overhanging the posterior lobe of prothorax or sometimes hidden

partly by the latter.

Abdomen with segment 1 greenish yellow, the subapical annules on segments

2 to 6 brighter yellow and very conspicuous between the apical black annules

and ferruginous of dorsum. On segments 3 to 7 the apical black is continued

basad laterally, but slightly so on 3, but as far as the base on segments 6 and 7

on which segments the black also passes basad on the middorsum so as to

enclose a spot of the ground colour ; segment 8 black, the middorsum finely,

a subapical, subdorsal spot and the ventral border broadly ochreous ; seg-

ments 9 and 10 entirely black,

Anal appendages black, short, conical. Vulvar scales and stylets black.

Legs with the extensor surfaces of all femora ochreous or ferruginous. Wings

with 15 postnodal nervures in the fore, 14 in the hind.

Distribution . — South Shan States, Maymyo, Upper Burma, Sumatra and

Malay Peninsula.

A number of both sexes taken by Col. F. Wall, i.m.s., along the borders of

a small stream. The species which appears to be locally common, is most

closely allied to R. borneensis Selys. Col. Wall’s specimens which I incorrect-

ly placed as tibetana have since been determined as mima by a comparison

which I have been able to make with specimens in the British Museum. They

are considerably larger than type and the markings are more yellow or ochreous

than greenish-yellow.

Fig. 6. Forewing of Mesopodagrion tibetana (Macl.)

INDIAN DRAGONFLIES

971

Genus Mesopodagrion Maclachlan (1896).

Mesopodagrion Macl. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 6. vol xvii, May (1896).

Wings long and narrow, but moderately dilated about the middle area,

petiolated to a little proximad of Ac ; node situated at a little more than

one-third the distance from the base of wing to pterostigma ; Ac situated at a

level slightly nearer the distal antenodal nervure : Ab complete, extending a

little proximad of Ac ; discoidal cell more acute than in Rhinagrion, its

costal border rather less than two-thirds the length of subcostal, outer border

very oblique, costal and subcostal sides diverging slightly ; 1R2 arising about

3 cells distad of the origin of R3 and about midway between the node and

pterostigma ; R3 arising 6 cells distad of the node in forewing and much nearer

node than pterostigma IRS arising at the subnode ; R4+ 5 arising well before

subnode ; MA and Cu2 simple ; 1A zigzagged from its origin ; 2 rows of cells

between Cu2 and IA near their terminations ; intercalated sectors between IR2

and R3, between R3 and IR3 and between R4 + 5 and MA ; pterostigma

elongate, dilated at middle, oblique at outer and inner ends, well braced,

covering about 3 cells.

Head moderately narrow ; labium deeply cleft, lobes distant, subacute at

apex. 2nd joint of antennae rather longer than the first epistome not pro-

minent ; occiput concave. Prothorax with posterior lobe simple, rounded,

arched ; thorax robust. Legs robust, rather short, spines of moderate length,

not numerous, tibiae slim, claw-hooks situated at extreme ends of claws.

Abdomen robust, cylindrical, moderately short as compared to species of

Rhinagrion, dilated somewhat at base and anal end. Anal superior append-

ages not twice the length of segment 10, forcipate, tapering, acute at apices ;

inferiors rounded, vestigial. Genitalia : lamina arched ; hamules quadrate

plates pointed posteriorly ; penis narrow at apex but squared and curling

strongly over body of organ, its branches embracing the stem and making a

complete curl like a ram’s horn ; lobe small, pyriform, grooved longitudinally.

Vulvar scales robust, strongly curved, projecting well beyond end of abdomen.

Anal appendages of female conical, acuminate, as long as segment 10.

Genotype,— Mesopodogrion tibetana . Macl.

Distribution : Thibet and S. W. China.

Fig. 7. Anal appendages of Mesopodagrion tibetana Macl.

a. Dorsal view. b. Profile view,

8

972 Journal , Bombay natural hist, society, voi. xxxlv

Mesopodagrion tibetana Macl.

Mesopodagrion tibetana Maclachlan, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 6. vol.

svii. (1896).

Rhinagrion tibetana Eras. Rec. Ind. Mus. = Rhinagrion mima Karsch.

Male. Abdomen 33 mm. Hindwing 30 mm.

Head : labium brownish yellow ; labrum, bases of mandibles and genae

greenish yellow; vertex and occiput matt black with a short oblique line on

the outer side of each ocellus, a short line on the posterior border of occiput

and a large spot behind each eye yellow.

Prothorax black with a broad greenish-yellow stripe on each side continuous

with a similarly coloured antehumeral stripe on thorax.

Thorax black on dorsum, yellow on the sides ; dorsum marked with a pair of

slightly curved antehumeral greenish-yellow stripes, the concavity of the

stripe facing inwards. Laterally a moderately broad oblique black stripe

broadening anteriorly.

Legs black, coxae and trochanters with yellow spots.

Wings hyaline, palely enfumed and faintly tinted at the bases, pterostigma

dark brown to blackish framed in black ; 21 postnodal nervures in forewings,

20 in the hind.

Abdomen glossy black, basal segments clothed with long black hairs,

segment 1 broadly yellow at the sides, segment 2 with a pair of parallel yellow

stripes along the sides, segments 3 and 4, and in teneral specimens, segments

3 to 7, wiih a large baso-lateral spot which is confluent with a rather broad

lateral greenish-yellow or yellow stripe extending from base nearly to apex but

falling short of latter in adult specimens on segments 4 to 7 ; segments 9 and 10

black, the latter with a large lateral yellow spot.

Anal appendages black : superiors forcipate, rather longer than segment 10,

subcylindrical at base but compressed nearer apex which is acuminate, whilst

on the inner side, near the middle of appendages is a false joint or sulcus, at

which point the appendage is slightly but distinctly angulated inwards.

Inferiors rounded, vestigial, not visible from above. Genitalia as for genus.

Female. Abdomen 35 mm. Hindwing 34 mm.

Closely similar to the male but the markings more greenish-yellow, and the

spot behind the eyes absent or obsolete. The markings on the abdomen

similar to those on teneral males, the stripes being continued on to the 3rd and

4th segments, and the basal spots on to the 7th ; segment 9 with a very large

lateral yellow7 spot whilst the 10th is largely yellow on the sides.

Anal appendages as long as segment 10, slightly curved laterally, acuminate,

pointed, yellowish at base and separated by a large conical structure as viewed

from above. Vulvar scales black, strongly curved. Wings faintly enfumed ;

pterostigma as for male (yellowish white in the allotype which however is

slightly teneral) ; 21 postnodal nervures in forewings, 19 in the hind.

Distribution : Thibet and south-east China. The type and allotype, in the

Maclachlan collection, are from Moupin and Siao-Lon respectively. Recently

Mr. Kenneth Morton has received several more specimens from the same

district which I have been able to compare with the types. The markings in

the latter are definitely apple-green but, so far as the male is concerned, may

be blue in the living insect.

( To be continued.)

THE FISH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA

BY

Sir Reginald Spence, Kt. m.l.c., f.z.s, and S. H. Prater

C.M.Z.S., M.L.C.

{With three Plates)

In No. 2 of Volume xxix, published as long ago as August 1923,

the then editors, the writers of the present paper, published an article

on the Fish Supply of our Western Coast based on the report of the

work of the Steam Trawler William Garrick and promised ‘ in the

next number of the Journal ’ to continue with a description of the

principal edible fish and to comment on Mr. Hefford’s remarks on

the possibility of achieving commercial success with small boats

and deep sea seining. The editors also proposed to make a re-

ference to the needs of a market on shore.

They also stated that they would be pleased to include (if

possible) any comments and suggestions members of the Society

might have to make on what they had written. This statement is

now their 1 Saving Clause’ and is the only excuse they have to offer

for making No. 2 of volume xxxiv published in 1930 take the place

of ‘ the next number ’ which was published in December 1923.

An old editor of the Journal did, it is true, write out a few months

ago and enquire when his successors were going to get a move on.

No other member made any comments, but Mr. F. V. Evans, one

of our Vice-Patrons, helped us in a very practical manner. He

provided us — and still provides us — with the financial means neces-

sary to enable us to carry out our promise to issue illustrations of

principal edible fish as, thanks to his generosity, we have now in

the Prince of Wales’ Museum a fine series of casts of the edible

fishes of the Western Coast of India and are able to illustrate the

second part of our paper. It is due to the above mentioned causes

rather than to the pricking of an uneasy conscience that we carry on

the story of the William Carrick and say something about the con-

dition of the Fishing Industry in Bombay in 1930.

The ‘ Wagli ’ (Skates or Rays)

In chapter V of his report Mr.#Hefford gives information as to

the chief kinds of Fish caught. We may dispose, first of all, of the

fish or fishes which were obtained in largest numbers. These were

the ‘ Wagli’ (Skates and Rays) and of these Mr. Hefford writes : —

‘ For total weight caught by the trawler, the fish classed under

this name come easily first compared with any other kind taken,

constituting 24 per cent of our total catches (by Weight). There are

several different genera and species known under the same general

S»74 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Fb/. XXXIV

vernacular name of Wagli and called rays or skates by English-

speaking people all over the world. They all belong to the group

of cartilaginous skeletoned fish known to Science as the Batoidei and

all are characterized by a flattened body with a rhomboidal or kite-

shaped outline, sometimes more or less rounded, and a slender elon-

gated tail. The family Try gonidce is very abundantly represented

by several different species in Bombay waters (Plate I). This is the

family of Sting-rays or Whip-rays, so called because of the slender

whip-like tail, armed with one or more long saw-edged spines,

with which the fish is able to inflict painful inflammatory wounds.

The flesh of these fish is practically indistinguishable in flavour

from that of the European Raidce (Skates and Rays) which fish,

though formerly not much esteemed in England, nowadays com-

mands a good market and is recognized as an excellent food. It is,

as a matter of fact, much more nutritious and digestible than many

other sorts of fish which command higher prices. The same may

be said with greater emphasis about the Bombay Wagli in com-

parison with other sorts of fish obtainable here. Apparently its

somewhat grotesque appearance and its apparently scaleless skin

are drawbacks which at present limit its consumption to the poorer

and lower classes of the fish-eating people of Bombay.’

‘ Besides the above mentioned family.of Trygonida , represented

in our catches by Trygon walga , T. uarnak , T. zugei , T. sephen and

Pteroplatea micrura , and possibly others, other fishes of the Wagli ,

kind which were commonly taken were NEtobatis na vinari, and

species (undetermined) of Myliobatis , Dicerobatis , and Rhino pteraJ

As an indication of the distribution of Skates and Rays in Indian

coastal waters it is interesting to compare the catches made by the

Trawler ‘ Lady Goschen ’ on the Malabar Coast and the ‘ Golden

Crown ’ in the Bay of Bengal. On the Malabar Coast the com-

monest skates were Trygon sephen and T. khulii . One large

example of the former taken by the Trawler scaled 1,000 lbs.- The

operations of the Goldren Crown show that in the muddy waters off

the Sunderbans the most characteristic species were T. uarnak and

T. bleekeri. They included 23 percent, of the catches. One huge exam-

ple of T. uarnak scaled 1,360 lbs. Rhynchobatus djeddensis was most

plentiful off Chittagong, while further south on the Ganjam coast

T. kuhlii and T. zugei were found to be the most common. Off the

coast of Akyab the commonest species, according to Captain Lloyd,

are T. uarnak and T, waiga.

Skates are plentiful in the Bombay Market during the cold

weather. Their abundance during the season is ascribed to the

fact that they come close to the shore to produce their youfig.

This is believed to be in accordance with the habits of most shore

fishes which migrate to deeper waters as they grow larger. The

Trawler, working further at sea than the local fishing boats are

accustomed to, brought back, in the case of many species, larger

examples than customarily sold in the market.

Various species of skates ( Trygon , Rhynchobatus , etc.) are

brought to the Bombay Market between October and May. They

average from 1-50 lbs. and sell at Rs. 2 to Rs. 10 each according to

size— the demand depends on other species of fish first available.

THE FISH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 975

The William Garrick's estimated total catch of wagli was about

50,000 lbs., averaging approximately 30 lbs. for every hour of

trawling, 21,724 lbs. of zvagli , separately marketed as such, realized

altogether Rs. 311, an average price of 2-7 pies per lb. The highest

price per lb. was 8 pies (in January) and the lowest, half a pie

per lb. (in November).

The statistics supplied by the Madras Fisheries Department for

the year 1926-27, dealing with fisheries over a portion of the

West Coast comprising the districts of South Kanara and Malabar,

enumerate 42 marketable fishes arranged according to value and

quantities obtained: — ‘ Skates and Rays ’ figure 13th on the list.

The total catch during the year amounted to 12,856 maunds, ap-

proximately 1,028,480 lbs. valued at Rs. 36,380, which works out at

roughly 7 pies per pound. In a statistical account of the Fish

supply of Madras city, 52 food fishes are given in the order of their

value. f Skates ’ come 15th on the list and realize on an average

retail price of 3 as. 6 p. per lb.1 The report says, ‘ Rays are highly

esteemed as food by the masses.’ The statistics above quoted

show that this class of fish is better appreciated in Southern and

South-Western India than on the Bombay coast. On the Burmese

coast at Akyab Trygon walga is a favourite food fish of the

Arakanese, another skate equally esteemed is Pteroplatea micrura.

9, 946 lbs. of these fish, taken by the ‘ William Carrick ’, were

supplied gratis to the British Military forces in Bombay and, it is

understood, were a very much appreciated ration.

It is rather curious, in view of the low estimation the flesh of

these fish is held in Bombay, that the announcement in the windows

of Fried-Fish shops in towns on the east coast of England ‘ Skates

available to-day ’ should at once lead to an increase in the Fish

Shop’s Trade. It is also to be regretted that in view of the need of

fertilizers on the land so much of the catch of zvagli had to be emptied

back into the sea as it did not pay the cost of handling and transit

on shore.

The Ghol (or Goal) Fish

The fish which came second. in point of quantity (24,298 lbs. landed)

but first in point of total value among all the kinds caught by the

Trawler is the fish Mr. Hefford calls the ‘ Goal ’, but the proper

spelling of which is probably ‘ Ghol ’. In the market this fish is

sold to us under the general name of Salmon, but the name Salmon

is also applied to various species of Polynemus.

He writes: —

‘ It is a fish well known in Bombay markets, where it fetches a

good price on account of its firm white flesh and good size. Its

commercial position here may perhaps be compared with that of

the cod in the fish markets of Europe or Northern America. It

belongs to the genus Sci<z?ia of the family Sciceziidcz to which belong

numerous species distributed throughout the warmer seas of the

world. Sixteen different species of Scicena are recorded by Day as

1 It should be noted that the rates quoted for the Bombay and Madras

markets are retail prices.

976 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , FW, XXXIV

occurring in India. Many of these are too small when full grown

to possess appreciable commercial value. The large goal which

were commonly taken in the trawl oft Bombay, appear almost

without exception to belong to the species Sciczna diaca?ithus . The

weights of individual hsh lay for the most part between 10 and 25

lbs., the average being about 15 lbs. Our best catch of goal was

made on February 21, 1922 off Karachi in 14 fathoms of water

when 75 fish having a total weight of 1,149 lbs. (after being gutted)

were taken in a haul of 5-J- hours duration. The species is known

to occur in great abundance near the coast in the neighbourhood of

Karachi in the months of April and May when it is the object of a

great local fishery.1

On the south coast, off Calicut, the commonest species taken by

the ‘ Lady Goschen ’ was Sciczna bleekeri. The largest catches were

made between November and April. In the northern waters of the

Bay of Bengal, as shown by the catches made by the Golden

Crown , the commonest species was 5*. vogleri. In Madras city the

species of Sciczna generally taken are 5". belangeri , *S. albida , ,S.

miles , S. maculata, and 5. aneus. Specimens of this genus in the

Society’s collections obtained from the Bombay market are : —

N. diacanthus , 5*. sina, S. maculata , 5. ossa, S. glaucus and S. aneus.

Despite Mr. Hefford’s identification of his main catch of Sciczna

as S. diaca?ithus, the two commonest species in the Bombay market

are Sciczna sina and S. glaucus. Both these species attain a large

size, 100 lbs. in weight and upto 6 feet in length. S. sina is

included among the migratory fishes which visit our creeks and

estuaries. The season for Ghol along the Bombay coast is from

October to May. The fish are cut up and sold piece-meal, the

price varying from 8 annas to 10 annas per lb. As regards prices

obtained, Mr. Hefford writes :■ —

‘ Large goal are of value not only for the sake of the fish itself

but also on account of the Swim bladder (the ‘ maw ‘ pok ’ or

‘ sound ’) from which isinglass is obtained.’

‘ The highest price per lb. realized from our sales was 11 annas.

The lowest was 11 pies. The average for all sales was 4 annas 2*5

pies per lb.’

‘ An idea of the appearance of the fish may be obtained from the

photograph.’ (Plate I.)

On the Malabar coast the Scicznidcz range 9th as regards quantity

and 10th in value. Between 1925 and 1926, 31,821 maunds were

taken representing a total value of Rs. 57,227. In Madras city,

Scicznidcz rank 5th in importance as regards weight and value.

The total catch for the (year 1921-22 amounted to 147,152

lbs. The price is lower than in Bombay, averaging 2 anns 9 pies

per lb.

The Pomfret

As regards the best known and most popular fish in Bombay, the

Pomfret , Mr. Hefford thinks that possibly its relative abundance in

the cold weather season to some extent detracts from its esteem,

Mr. Hefford need not worry. The pomfret is missed so much in

the rainy season that each cold weather it seems to gain in

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate I.

Wagli ( Try g on microps) .

Goal ( Scicena diacanthus ) .

Ravas ( Polyuemus indicus ) .

Warn ( Murcenesox talabonoides) .

{Reproduced from the Report on the Work of the Steam Trawler ‘ William Carrick ’.)

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate II.

Tambusa ( Lutianus johmi).

THE FISH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 977

appreciation and certainly when it is not with us nothing is said

to its discredit but decidedly the reverse. Mr. Hefford writes : —

‘ Europeans commonly ref£r to it as a ‘ flat fish * and erroneously

class it with the plaice and dab of British waters but it is not a flat

fish in the same sense as these (which have both their eyes and all

their colouring on one side of the body only and have the habit of

lying on the sand at the bottom of the sea where they find their

food, and very rarely, if ever, leave the lowermost layers of the

water). The pomfret is indeed flattened in shape but it has an eye

on each side of its head and is coloured similarly on both sides of

its body. It does not appear habitually to swim near the bottom

or our trawl hauls would have contained more pomfret than they

did. Occasionally small shoals of pomfret were observed from

the trawler swimming quite close to the surface of the sea.’

‘ The pomfret is scientifically known as Stromateus cinereus P It

is also commonly called the ‘ white pomfret ’ to distinguish if from

the ‘ black pomfret ’ ( Stromateus niger ) which is quite common in

these waters but is apparently very much less abundant than the

former. In the ‘ Fishes ’ volume of the ‘ Fauna of India ’ series a

third species ( Stromateus sinensis) is given the English name of

‘ white pomfret ’, and the common pomfret is termed silver pomfret

when immature and grey prom fret when adult. Stromateus sinensis

however is so relatively little met with among the Bombay market

fish that it calls for no further remark here.’

Since S. cinereus (Marathi, Saranga) is so universally known as

the pomfret, it is only necessary to distinguish it from Day’s

S. niger (Marathi, Halwa) — the black pomfret, and it seems preferable

to adopt the fauna nomenclature here. It may be mentioned that

5. cinereus in the fresh condition is characterized by the silvery

lustre of the scales on the sides of its body which, while more con-

spicuous in the young are by no means lacking in the big fish.

We therefore call S. cinereus — the silver, and 6*. smensis — the white

pomfret.

While N. sinensis is rare in Bombay, it is not uncommon on the

Malabar coast during the South-west monsoon. It is the commonest

pomfret in the Madras market and is quite plentiful on the Arakan

and Bengal Coast. Dr. Jerdon describes it as the best flavoured

of the three pomfrets Mr. Hefford writes : —

‘ The total quantity of pomfrets caught by the trawler was 6,876

lbs. of which 5,939 lbs. sold in Bombay market realized a total sum

of Rs. 2,618. Our biggest single haul was 490 lbs. in a 3^- hours ’

tow made on October 6, 1921, off Bombay in 24 to 25 fathoms

(Voyage XVIII, Haul 3). The prices realized by our sales ranged

from Rs. 1-3-7 per lb. in July (during the monsoon when loca

boats are not at sea) to 2 annas per lb. in November and December,

1 These are the scientific names in Day’s works on Indian Fishes which are

the ichthyological books of reference most likely to be easily accessible to the

reader. It may, however, be mentioned that the present-day authorities do not

recognize these generic names. Nor is the black pomfret regarded as a true

pomfret at all. The similarity between the two species is, as a matter of fact,

quite superficial.

978 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

a time when there is a plentiful supply available in Bombay.

The average for all pomfret marketed^was 6 annas 11-9 pies.’

Between June and September pomfrets are very scarce in the

Bombay market, The season for pomfret commences about Octo-

ber, the largest quantities are marketed between November and

February, the prices, in good seasons, then range from four to six

annas for a pair of good, sizable fish. At the commencement

of the hot weather the numbers decrease and prices range from

Re. 1 to Rs. 1-8-0 a pair. The fish available are much smaller

in size. A southward migration of pomfrets appears to take

place between March and April when this species becomes plentiful

on the South Kanara coast, while in July and August they are

abundant further south on the Malabar coast. A similar south-

erly migration seems to take place on the East Coast of

India. Dr. J. T. Jenkins, in his observation on the working

of the ‘ Golden Ciown' in the Bay of Bengal, says that pomfrets

were most abundant in the northern part of the Bay of Bengal

during January and February when vast shoals were observed

swimming liesurely past the trawler ; while in Madras City the

statistical report indicates that the fish is most plentiful between

June and November. A curious feature about the catches by the

‘ Golden Crown ’ was that the largest hauls were made by day-light.

Between February 9 and 15, 20 hauls were made, 10 by day

and 10 by night. The total weight secured was 2,773 lbs. of which

only 65 lbs. were taken at night. Pomfrets in the Bombay market

were found ‘ in roe ’ during September, and young fish measuring a

few inches in length are taken in plenty during November and

December. The young of 5. sinensis are observed in plenty along

the coast and estuaries of Bengal during March.

The ‘ Karel 5

The next fish in importance in Mr. Hefford’s list is the ‘ Karel.’

He writes : —

‘ This fish is not well-known in Bombay, but it may undoubtedly

be classed among the ‘ prime ’ qualities. It is a perch-like fish cor-

responding with the species described and figured by Day as Prisli-

poma maculatum. The name karel is that used by the Ratn'agiri

deck hands of the trawler, but it appears to be similarly used in

Bombay also, though at least some people apply the name Karkara

to the same fish. Day ( Fauna of India — Fishes I, p. 510) gives

Karkutla as the Marathi name of the species. Dr. Jenkins in his

report on the working of the Steam Trawler ‘ Golden Crown ’

includes it with one or more other perch-like forms under the name

Bekti (used as a class name — the bekti of Bengal being strictly

applicable to the species Lates calcarifer which is the Khajura of

Bombay). The Karel is a bright handsome fish with a dark

greenish purple back and silvery sides. On those caught near

Bombay the silvery lustre is associated with yellow pigment which

gives the fish a pale golden appearance, but on the Sind grounds

the fish are more purely silvery. The younger fish are characterized

by the presence of dark bars on the sides which disappear with age.

Its flesh is firm and flaky and of good flavour. It soon became the

THE FISH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 979

favourite fish of the Europeans on the trawler and was eaten in pre-

ference to any other. If it became better known it would certainly

find favour among the consumers of the best kinds of fish in Bombay

and would command better prices than we made.’

Writing about this fish, Day remarks, ‘ It is fair as food, but not

much esteemed.’

‘ The total weight of Karel caught by the trawler was 15,190 lbs.

The total weight of large Karel marketed as such in Bombay was

8,411 lbs. which realized a total sum of Rs. 1,209. The price per

lb. varied from seven pies in November to four annas in August.

The average was 2 annas 3-6 pies per lb.’

‘ The largest Karel taken in the trawl was 25 inches long. The

usual range of size of the fish marketed as Karel was from about

15 to about 22 inches. The corresponding range in weight is 2 lbs.

to 6 lbs. Our largest take in a single haul was 807 lbs. (about 250

fish) in a haul of 3f hours’ duration made on August the 29, 9 miles

east by south from Kundari 15 to 16 fathoms.’

On the Madras coast P. maculatum is common between February

and May. On the Malabar coast it does not appear to be abundant.

The total catch for the year 1925-26 was only 421 maunds valued

at Rs. 577.

The * Bahmin ’

Fourth in order of value among the fish landed by the trawler is

the fish known to anglers as the Bahmin and to Bombay land-

ladies and hotelkeepers as the Indian Salmon. The total landings

of this fish were 3,254 lbs. and realized Rs. 1,215.

Mr. Heiford writes : —

‘ Three distinct species of the genus Poly?ie?nus (viz., P. indicus ,

P. plebeius and P. teiradactylus) are included in this class to all of

which in the market and in the menus the English name of Salmon

or Indian Salmon is applied. While possessing absolutely no

resemblance to the salmon of northern waters, these fish have

excellent eating qualities which are reflected in their market prices.

I give the Marathi name Ravas as a sort of class name for market

purposes, following in this respect the practice of the members of

the Ratnagiri fishing community who were on the ‘ William

Garrick ’. The name ‘ Ravas ’ is applied generally to all Polynemus

species. The most abundant species taken by the trawl in our

catches, P. indicus , which is also. the most frequently seen in Bombay

fish markets, is however commonly known in Bombay as dara

(Plate I). The same name is often applied to the larger specimens of

P. telradactyhis. There are several records from our earlier voyages

in which the particular species is not shown, but from the records

where the specific identity is clear, we obtain for P. indicus (dara) a

total of 88 large fish' of a total weight of 1,135 lbs. (average 13 lbs.).

The heaviest individual fish recorded was 34 lbs. (total length 3'

8"). The largest catch in a single haul was one of 17 fish weighing

altogether 435 ibs. made in 3£ hours on January 30, 1922, 23 miles

WNW from Kundari in 22 fathoms. There are records of 48 small-

sized fish of this species with a total weight of 58-J- lbs. and of 35

specimens of small size the weight of which was not separately taken.’

980 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

‘ Polynemus plebeius, which resembles Z5. hidicus in having five of the

free filament-like rays at the base of the breast fin which are charac-

teristic of the family, but may be fairly readily distinguished from

the latter species by the relatively greater thickness of the root of

the tail (called by zoologists the caudal peduncle) and by the pro-

portionately larger eye, was of less common occurrence in our

catches and never of sufficiently large size to be of commercial

importance. Day’s works give no record of sizes for this species.

Fifty-five specimens altogether were recorded, the largest being

11 1 inches in length.’

This species was found to be common in the muddy waters of

the coast of Arakan where good catches were made by the ‘ Golden

Crown I

‘ The third species, Polynemus tetradactylus , differs from the above

two in having only 4 free rays to the pectoral fin. It is a more

shapely fish than the others and has the silvery sheen and the

graceful body contour which call to mind comparison with the true

salmon of the north. Our records of fish weighed contain altogether

83 of this species with a total weight of 331 lbs. 9 others are record-

ed but no weights given. Only one specimen of large size is

definitely included among these records and that is one of 15J lbs.

The best catch recorded is one of 40 fish weighing altogether

220 lbs. made on July 12, 1921, in 22-25 fathoms, 21 miles

E.N.E. from Kundari, but there is some doubt as to whether the

whole of this catch actually consisted of this one species of

Polyyicmus. ’

‘ The price realized varied from 13 annas 9 pies per lb. in Decem-

ber to 3 annas 6-3 pies in February. The average is 5 annas 11*9

pies per lb. The ‘ pok ’, ‘ maw ’ or Swim bladder of the ravas is

thick-walled and rich in gelatine like that of the goal and is simi-

larly of commercial value as a source of isinglass.’

The species of Polynemus obtained from the Bombay market in the

Society’s collection are P. indie us, P . sextarius , P. keptadaclylus , P.

plebeius , and P. tetradactylus.

Of these the largest is P. tetradactylus , the Bahmin, famous as a

sporting fish, which is said to attain a length of 6' and scales as

much as 168 lbs. (Wallinger).

P. indicus grows to about 4', and according to Day is rarely over

20 lbs. as compared with Mr. Hefford’s fish of 3' 8" weighing

31 lbs. P. plebius goes up to 53 lbs. (Wallinger). P. hcptadadylus

and P. sextarius are small fishes not much above 6" to 8" in length

and about 2 lbs. in weight. P. plebius (Ravas), P . tetradactylus (The

Bahmin or Dara which is the name Wallinger gives to the large

Bahmin) and P. tetraadactylus (Shendwa) are listed among the mi-

gratory fish which visit our creeks and streams and rivers during

the monsoon for spawning purposes. ‘Ravas’ are abundant at

the mouth of the Tapti and its tributaries in May and June. Hun-

dreds of maunds of fish are taken by the fishermen in our creeks

before the monsoon and again in October.

P. paradiseus known on the Bengal side as the ‘Mango Fish’

similarly runs up the rivers of the East coast during the monsoon

and the cold months. It commences to be taken in June.

THE FISH SUPPL V OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 981

The ‘ Wam ’

Mr. Hefford writes of the ‘ Wam

‘ This is the Marathi name for fish belonging to the genus

Murczncsox of which there are three species known in Indian seas

(Plate I). Our catches consisted almost entirely of M. talabonoides . An

occasional M. chiereus was observed, but we have no definite record

of the third species, M. talabon. One distinguishes between them by

the arrangement of their teeth; but observations of the dental charac-

teristics of a live wo,m are very apt to be attended by a sudden and

vicious display of their utility as a weapon of offence. In its

tendency to snap like an angry dog the wam resembles the

European conger to which it is also very similar in body form and

in its edible qualities. The jaws of the wam, however, are longer

and more slender than those of the conger. It appears to be asso-

ciated with an entirely muddy bottom habitat, while on the other

hand, the European conger is a frequenter of rocky ground. The

flesh of the wam is somewhat tough when fresh, but it has better

keeping qualities than the more tender fish. Its scales are so

small and so embedded in the skin that they appear to be

absent, which may detract from its market value. An idea of the

appearance and size of the wam taken in the trawl may be obtained

from the photograph.’

‘ All our wam were of large size varying in weight between 7

and 17 lbs., the majority being about 9 or 10 lbs. weight and about

5 feet long. The smaller sizes obviously escape through the

meshes of the net. Altogether 16,337 lbs. of wam were landed for

market, of which 14,703 lbs. were sold as such and realized Rs. 1,103.

The highest price realized was 2 annas per lb. in June; the lowest

5 pies per lb. at the end of September and middle of November.

The average price was I anna 2'4 pies per lb. The ‘ pok ’ of the

wam is marketable as a source of isinglass.’

In Bombay and Madras, eels are abominated by the higher caste

Hindus who regard them as Sea-serpents and they are rejected by

Mohammedans because they are scaleless. Scaleless fish are for-

bidden to Mohammedans, Jews and were at one time to the British

Navy. There used to be an old rule in the Navy that scaled fish

were wholesome as food and that scaleless fish were not. This is

not always the case, many fish with large scales are poisonous

while scaleless fish, like some of our Silurid<z (Cat fishes), are whole-

some and nourishing. It is interesting in this connection to note

that the fresh blood of some of the eels of the genus Murczna is

highly poisonous if injected into the blood of a mammal. Its

venomous nature is due to the presence of ichthyotoxin which is

compared to the toxablumen of vipers. The toxicity of the blood

varies with the season and environment. A guinea pig injected

with the serum of the blood of a common eel was dead in three

minutes.

The following species are in the Society’s collection and were

obtained in the Bombay market. Miircena tessalata , M . unaulata and

982 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

Murcenesox telabonoides . The last species is plentiful between

October and March. The weights range from 1 lb. to 151 lbs.

The ‘ Tambusa’

Next in order Mr. Hefford places a fish with the Marathi name

‘ Tambusa ’ (Plate II). He says : —

* The fish marketable under this name belong to the genus

Lutianus- of which there are many different species in Indian seas.

In our hauls the species Lutianus johnii was predominant. It is a

particularly handsome fish, rather like a robust-looking Karel in

general shape and even more beautifully marked than that brilliant-

fish. The Marathi names, Tambusa, Tambus or Tambre, were

obviously suggested by its shiny and ruddy appearance. Its sides

have a pale golden sheen and the upper half of the body is speckled

with a rich brown colouring associated with red. The smaller fish

are less richly coloured. The flesh is firm and of good flavour, not

unlike that of Karel but perhaps still more like that of thebigravas

(dara) or Indian Salmon. If properly known it would certainly be

regarded as one of the ‘ prime ’ fishes of Bombay. The range of

size usually lay between about 24 inches (8 lbs.) and 30 inches (12 lbs.)

The largest observed was 33 inches long and weighed 1.7J lbs.’

* The only other Lutianus species of which we caught any appre-

ciable quantity was L . annularis which is entirely bright red

in external colouring, 1 but as regards edible qualities not unlike the

other. The usual sizes met with lay between 16 and 24 inches.

The greatest length recorded was 26 inches. The Ratnagiri men

on the trawler called it Lalgon (i.e., Red One), but I do not know

how far this may be regarded as the distinctive name for the species.

It was called tambusa for market purposes and in the trawling

records ‘ Red Tambusa ’ to distinguish it from the other which we

called ‘ Speckled Tambusa ’. Altogether, 6,065 lbs. of tambusa

were sold as such in Bombay and realized a total sum of Rs. 801.

The trawler records show a total catch of 5,181 lbs. of the speckled

and 1,840 lbs. of the red sort. The best single haul of the former

was made on February 20, 1922, off Karachi in 14 to 7 fathoms

(hauling 31 miles S.E f E. from Cape Monze) when 70 fish weighing

719 lbs. were caught in 3^ hours. In the case of the red tambusa

a haul of 3J hours on November 11, 1921 in 23 ifathoms off Diu

Head (124 miles NW \ W from Bombay) produced a catch of 179

fish weighing 992 lbs. It would thus appear that both species are

more abundant to the north-west than in the vicinity of Bombay.

The speckled species was found to be the more general in its

distribution both as regards locality and season. Practically all our

red tambusa were taken in the months of October and November.’

‘ The best price realized for speckled tambusa was 6 annas 3 pies

per lb. (in October), the lowest was 11 pies (in November). On

November 15, when 1,491 lbs.— practically all red tambusa —

were marketed, an average of only 8 pies per lb. was realized. The

average price from all sales of tambusa was 2 annas 0*6 pies per lb.’

1 The dark markings on the head and nape and at the base of the tail are

inconspicuous on the freshly-caught fish, ,

THE FISH SUP PL Y QF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 983

Cherry-red tambusa frequent in the Bombay market are Lutiamis

argentimaculatus , L. roseus and gibbus. Lutiamis jolmii to

which Mr. Hefford refers is listed as one of the migratory fish

which visit the estuaries and creeks. Other species obtained in

Bombay are L. kasmira, L. lineolaius and L. rivulaius .

The ‘ Shingala :

Third in order of abundance in the trawler catches and generally

distributed over the muddy grounds in the neighbourhood of

Bombay, comes the * Shingala \ Of this fish it is recorded •

‘ Well-known though not Very highly esteemed in the Bombay

fish-markets. They appear to be as abundant in the Bay of Bengal

as they are this side. In the Golde?i Crown reports, they are

termed ‘ gurnards ’, a name given by the Britsh crew of the Bengal

Government trawler on account of their resemblance to the European

fish of that name in having broad bony heads and a liberal

armament of spikes. The British crew on the ‘ William Carrick ’

called them ‘Catfish’,1 a name almost universally applied to the

SiluridcB , the family to which these fish belong and which is

represented by numerous species in the fresh waters and seas of the

tropics in both hemispheres. Many different genera and species of

cat fish are known in the larger rivers and lakes of India, the purely

marine species being relatively few. From the commercial point

of view, the marine genus Arms is the only one of appreciable

importance and to this genus belong practically all the Shingala

landed by the ‘ William Carrick \ As to the species, there were

two or three and possibly as many as half a dozen different ones

among our catches but their precise differentiation was a tedious

and difficult matter to which sufficient attention could not be paid

on the trawler and therefore specific names cannot here be given

with confidence.

‘ Our total catch of Shingala was over 16,000 lbs. — an average

of almost 9-J- lbs. for every hour of* trawling. Our biggest catch in

a single haul was 1,010 lbs. taken on August 24, 1921, 22 miles

S.VV \ W. from Janjira in 23 to 11 fathoms in a 3-J hours’ haul,’

‘The largest-sized individual noted was 35 inches long and

weighed 14 lbs. The usual range of size was from about 15 to

about 24 inches (2 to 6 lbs).’

‘ The total sum realized by the sale cf 12 maunds 321 lbs. of

Shingala was Rs. 568, averaging' 8-8 pies per lb. The highest price

realized was 2T annas per lb. in August and September ; the lowest

was 2 pies in November.’

‘ This fish only appears to be eaten by the lower classes. Its

scaleless skin, which rather easily rubs off, and its colour which is

usually leaden grey and sometimes of a livid blue, are points which

go against it as a market fish. The flesh too is somewhat soft

though of perfectly good flavour when fresh. The swim-bladder or

‘ poks ’ yield isinglass ’.

1 From the whisker-like appearance of the feelers or barbels arranged

round the mouth.

984 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXI V

Marine Cat fishes from the Bombay market in the Society's

reference collection are Plotosus arab, Rita buchanani and Arius sona.

There is also a plaster cast of A. dussumieri. On the Malabar coast

Siluridce (cat fishes) rank 6th in quantity of catches and 3rd in value.

The total catch for the year 1925-26 amounted to 65,433 maunds

equivalent to 5,234,640 lbs. valued at Rs. 2,68,089. Catches are

made throughout the year, but the quantities increase between

September and January. In Madras City cat fishes though not

eaten by the richer classes enter largely into the dietary of the poor,

the same applies to Bombay. The total weight of cat fish brought to

Madras city in 1921-22 amounted to 73,123 lbs, valued at

Rs. 10,646. The average price paid being 2 annas 4 pies per lb.

Cat fishes sold in the Bombay market range from 1 lb. to 121 lbs.

Retail prices range from 4 annas per lb. in the full season to 5 or 6

annas per lb. in the off season.

The 1 Dori.’

Akin to the popular Goal and next on the list comes the ‘ Dori' .

The report says : —

‘ This fish is known on the Ratnagiri and Canara side as ‘ Wanwas.’

Its scientific name is Scianoides brunneus and, as that name suggests,

it has a close relationship to the Scicenas , to the same family as

which in fact it belongs. It has the appearance of a very slender

goal, which fish it also resembles in taste.’

‘ Our total landings of dori were 4,060 lbs. of which 3,292 lbs

were marketed as such (the rest in mixed lots) and fetched altogether

Rs. 550. Average price, 2 annas 8 pies per lb. The highest price

realized was 3 annas 6*5 pies per lb. in December ; the lowest 1 anna

6 pies in February. Day ( Fauna of India. Fishes , Vol. II, p. 127)

says it is common at Bombay in October but from the beginning of

September to the middle of December, this fish was almost entirely

absent from the trawler catches. Possibly they migrate inshore

at this season. They were not found at all off the Sind coast.’

‘ This species showed more variety in size than most of the sorts

taken in the trawl. The longest individual recorded measured

43 inches.

The ‘ Chand ’

‘ The fish known to science as Di-epOMe punctata is, from its shape

and gleaming silvery colour, very appropriately named chand ,

cliandva or moon-fish. It is one of the most commonly occurring

species in the Bombay neighbourhood and very few catches were

made which did not contain chand in greater or less numbers. The

size of these fish was as a rule very small, from 5 to 8 inches long

being the usual range. Small chand were frequently not weighed

separately but were included in the class called ‘small mixed’

in both trawler and market records. Chand were included in the

records of catches from 195 hauls. In 108 of these, they were

separately weighed and in 5 cases together with a second species

also loosely called ‘ chand ’ by the crew but which was as a matter

of fact the Karawada (. Ephippus orbis). The weighings at sea

Journ. Bom. Nat. Hist. Sod

Chand ( Drepane punctata ) .

{Reproduced from the Report on the work of the Steam Trawler ‘ William Carrick ’).

THE FiSH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 98S

totalled 3,435 lbs. from which (it is estimated) 135 lbs. may be

subtracted as representing approximately the weight of the

Ephippus orbis included, thus leaving 3,300 lbs. as the total weight

of the ( hand weighed on the trawler. Out jof this total the

quantity of large chand (i.e., exceeding 12 inches in length) which

were caught amounted to only 257 fish, the estimated weight of

which would be about 1,200 lbs. The total weight of chand as

weighed separately when landed for market was 2,594 lbs. out of

which 110 lbs. were sold in mixed lots. The 2,484 lbs. of

chand marketed as such realized a total of Rs. 465, an average of

2 annas 11-2 pies per lb. The highest price realized was 3 annas

5*5 pies per lb. in October ; the lowest was 4-8 pies in

November.

‘ A remarkable feature about our catches of chand was the absence

of fish which might be termed medium size. The small rarely ex-

ceeded 8" in length and their individual weight would not as a rule

exceed 3 or 4 ounces. Of the large fish, however, the smallest was

usually not less than 12 inches long and not less than 3 lbs. in

weight. Only 6 medium-sized fish were recorded, their lengths

lying between 8 and 11 inches. The largest recorded was a little

over 18 inches long. Day says chand are ‘ in most places esteem-

ed as food.’ They ought to be esteemed everywhere for the

larger ones at least are of excellent edible quality. If properly

known, they would, I am convinced, command a good price in

Bombay.’

Chand are plentiful in the Bombay market between July and

October and the weights vary from 1 to 5 lbs. Retail prices are

from 3 to 4 annas per fish.

The above-mentioned ten fish, namely —

Goal or ‘ Ghol ’ — Scicena species, probably Sctcena diacanthus as

it is the large-sized species which is the principal catch.

Pomfret — Stromateus cinereus (The Silver Pomfret)

Stromateus niger (The Black Pomfret)

Karel- — Pristipoma maculatum

Bahmin, Ravas or Day a —

Poly?iemus indicus

Polynemus tetradactylus

Warn — Murcenesox telabonoides

T ambu s a — Lutianus joh nit

Shingala — Family Siluridce , genus Arius , species

Dori or Wan was — Scicenoides brunneus (allied to the Goal Fish

which it resembles in appearance (though more slender)

and in taste)

Chand or Chandva — Drcpane pimctata (The Moon Fish),

and, last of the ten in present-day value but first in quantity

and possibly greatest in the potentiality of enhanced value

in the future

Wagli (Skates or Rays)

appear to constitute the fish stocks of chief commercial impor-

tance available in the vicinity of Bombay for exploitation by

Polynemus plcbeius

986 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

trawling or any other bottom-fishing method. There are however

other fishes which among the trawler's landings were of relatively

minor importance but which require brief notice in order that a

proper idea may be presented of the kinds of fish catchable by the

trawl in the seas near Bombay.

Mr. Hefford in his report writes : —

‘ The most important of these is the Balu ( Chrysophrys berda ) of

which altogether 887 lbs. were marketed and realized Rs. 139, an

average price of 2 annas 6 pies per lb. This fish is highly esteemed

by all who know its edible qualities. In the Madras Presidency it

has received the English name of * Black-Rock Cod ’ though its

resemblance to the well-known cod of northern seas is difficult to

trace. The name ‘ Black Sea Bream ’ would better describe its

appearance and systematic position in the families of fishes. Our

best catch wTas one of 115 fish weighing altogether 95 lbs. made

in 4J hours in 16 to 19 fathoms, hauling 15 miles W^S from

Kundari, on December 17, 1921. The individual sizes usually

ranged from 8 to 12 inches (A lb. to 1| lbs. weight). Our largest

recorded was 14 inches long.’

* There is another fish with the scientific name of Pagrus spinifer

that figures among our catches which bears a close resemblance

to the Pala and in fact both belong to the same family ( Sparidce ).

In colouring they are very different, the Palu being silvery grey

with the edges of the scales outlined in black and a good deal of

black about the fins. Pagrus spinifer is predominantly pinkish in

colouring which renders it very attractive to the eye. As an edible

fish it is as excellent as the more sober-coloured Palu. Though

quite common off the Sind Coast we found very few of this species

in the neighbourhood of Bombay and I have not yet succeeded in

finding a Marathi name for it. Our Ratnagiri crew called it Palu

and then, when its distinction from Chrysophrys berda was pointed

out, qualifiedit as Lai Palu which, failing an original, might beadopt-

ed as its local name. In our trawling record it is termed Red Palu.

This is the species which, in the Golden Crown reports, goes by

the name of ‘ Red Flats ’ which was obviously a rough and ready

improvisation by the English crew of that trawler. Our European

fisherman on the William Carrick called it the Carrick Bream

from the close resemblance that it bears to the British Sea-Bream

which belongs to the allied genus Pagellus. An English-speaking

fisherman of Karachi referred to it as ‘ Red Snapper ’ and it is, as a

matter of fact, closely related to that important Australian food fish

as well as to another Pacific species, ( Pagrus major) which, as the

Red Tai or Akadai figures so largely in the menus , the art and the

mythology of Japan. Pagrus spmifer is a familiar and highly

esteemed food fish in Karachi where it is called Dant by the local

fisher-people. ’

‘ Our biggest catch of Red Palu was one of 625 lbs. numbering

approximately 900 fishes of sizes ranging from 6-J to 16 inches.

This was from a tow of 5^ hours’ duration made on December 6,

1921, hauling 52 miles south-east from Cape Monze in 17 fathoms

depth. This fish whs landed for Bombay market on only two occa-

sions. On December 13, 19.21, 46 lbs. realized Rs. 9 (average 3 annas

THE FISH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 987

2 pies per lb.). On March 1, 975 lbs. sold for Rs. 50, an average of

only 9*8 pies per lb., which low price was doubtless due to the fish

being practically unknown in Bombay.

‘ The Surmai or Seer-fish,1 belonging to the genus Cybium is

fairly well-known and esteemed in the Bombay fish-markets. They

do not figure very abundantly in the trawler-catches and those we

secured were all of: comparatively small size. Our best haul was

on February 11, 51 miles south-east from Kundari Island in 14 to

12 fathoms depth when 49 fish having an aggregate weight of

116 lbs. were taken in a 3-J hours’ tow. The sizes ranged from 14J

to 26 inches. It will be noted that this haul was made in compara-

tively shallow water. It is probable that these fish do not habitually

swim so near the bottom as to come within the reach of the trawl.

Of the five known Indian species, Cybium lineolatum and C. com -

mcrsonii appear to be the most commonly occurring in Bombay

waters.’

Cybium commersonii to which Mr. Hefford refers is described by

Major Lane as an excellent game fish. He calls it the ‘ Cheetah of

the Ocean ’ and says it preys on mullet, shooting up from below

into a school of them and leaping with its prey in its mouth quite

12 feet out of the water.

Common Surmai in Bombay to which Mr. Hefford does not refer

are Cybium guttatum and C. kuhlii . C. guttatum is abundant in

the market from October to January. It is excellent in flavour and

salts well and is sold in a dried and salted condition throughout the

year. It is the Surmai which is selected for making that much-

favoured concoction known as ‘ Tamarind Fish ’. On the Malabar

Coast, Seer fish rank 16th as regards quantity and 9th in value.

The total catch for 1925-26 was 12,539 maunds valued at Rs. 77,616.

The total amount of seer brought to the Madras market in 1922 was

33,004 lbs. valued at Rs. 13,660.

In the Colombo markets, which receive their supplies from all the

fishing centres round the coast of Ceylon, the best months for

Cybium are November, December and January, when the approxi-

mate quantities sold daily in 1929 were 3,200, 3,950 and 2,000 lbs.

respectively. The species indicated are C. guttatum and F. inter-

r upturn.

Mr. Hefford writes: —

‘ The 477 lbs. of Surmai sold as such in Bombay market

realized an average price of 3 annas 5 pies per lb. The highest

was 3 annas 10*5 pies per lb. and the lowest 1 anna 2 pies.

‘ The Dagola or Dagol, known by the scientific name Chori -

?iemus , is another sort of fish with which the fishermen of these

coasts are well acquainted, but which came but rarely to our net.

Like the Surmai this is a swift-swimming fish and probably moves

about in higher levels in the water than are fished by the trawl.

About 500 lbs. of Dagola were caught altogether. 406 lbs. marketed

in Bombay realized Rs. 67 ; an average price of 2 annas 7*6 pies

per lb.’

In Karachi, however, the ravas ( Polynemus ) is called Seer,

9

988 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

1 Bhakas ( Psettodes erumei). — This fish was called ‘ Turbot ’, and

sometimes ‘ halibut ' by the Europeans on the ‘ William Carrick.'

It bears some resemblance to each of these northern species of

flat-fish and is the only representative of the great family of Plenro-

nectidcex found in the neighbourhood of Bombay that has any

commercial importance or that was commonly taken in the trawl.

551 lbs. is the sum total of our takings of this fish, though it should

be noted that there is a liability for the weights of fish taken in

small numbers to escape being separately recorded, which depress-

es the total weight given for the catch of this and other species

of minor importance to something below their true amount. Our

biggest catches of Bhakas were made in voyage xx when one haul

produced 55 lbs. in 4J- hours. This was on October 25, 1921 haul-

ing 25 miles N.W^-W. from Kundari Island in 23 to 20 fathoms. On

this occasion the larger fish were observed to be sexually ripe and

the increased catch was doubtless due to an aggregation for spawn-

ing purposes. These mature fish were from 12 to 13 inches in

length. The only other species of flat-fish which were of frequent

occurrence in our hauls were the fish known to the Ratnagiri fisher-

men as ‘ Lep 1 which belongs to the genus Pseudorhombus. These

were too small and too few to have any commercial significance.

The ‘ Soles ’ 2 which are said to be quite common in the shallow

inshore waters in the neighbourhood of Karachi were never taken

in the trawl except in ones or twos. In the neighbourhood of

Bombay very small-sized specimens were occasionally met with.’

The following species of Soles from the Bombay market are in

the Society’s collection. Psettodes erumei, the largest, Pseudorhombus

arsius , both common and valuable food fishes. Other species include

Solea ovata , Synaptura zebra , S. orientalis , Cynoglossus elongatus and

sindensis and Plagusia bilneata. On the Malabar coast the Sole

fisheries rank 4th in quantity and 7th in value. Total catches from

1925 to 1926 were 104,260 maunds valued at Rs. 1,08,516.

In addition to P. erumei in Madras P. arsius , C. lingua , Plagusia

marmorata , ,S. cornuta , ►S. commersoniana are noted. Synaptura are

not esteemed as food. Soles are sold all the year round, but the

best months are August and September. In Akyab C. lingua is

described as common throughout the year in river and sea and

esteemed by Europeans. In the muddy water off Akyab the

‘ Golden Crown ’ took P. erumei and C. macrolepidota , P. arsius. The

Soles were also obtained off the mouth of the Hugh and further

down off the Orissa coast. Trawling over a sandy bottom, the

following specimens were obtained : — Sy7iaptura commersoniana ,

P. bilineata and marmorata.

Sharks a?id similar fishes. — For the purpose of this review and

without going into the question of their precise positions in scienti-

fic classification, it will suffice to refer the class of fish which is

given in the summary tables of the trawler-catches as ‘ Sharks,

etc.’ to the four main kinds contained in it. We do not propose

1 This is according to Day’s classification. Present-day authorities exclude

Psettodes from the Pleuronectidce .

2 Cynoglossus , Plagusia and Synaptura .

THE FISH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST OF INDIA 989

to print the summary tables, but Mr. Hefford’s reference is interest-

ing. He writes : —

‘ Most numerous were the ordinary forms of sharks known by

the vernacular name of Mnshi which belonged for the most part

to the genus Carcharias of which there are many species in Indian

waters. Some of these attain a very large size but it was remarka-

ble that of all those taken in the ‘ William Carriers ’ trawl none was

ever obtained over five feet in length. The largest recorded in-

dividual weight is 65 lbs. (length not recorded). Being relatively

unimportant commercially in comparison with other kinds caught

in the trawl, the catches of these fishes were not always recorded

with complete precision as to quantity. They were sometimes

weighed but not counted, sometimes counted but not weighed,

and frequently recorded indefinitely as ‘ a few’ or ‘ several ’. And

only rarely were they measured. The total of all weighings which

were taken amounts to 4,050 lbs. The average weight of all fish

weighed and counted is 5*2 lbs.’

‘ Of Hammer-headed Sharks ( Zygcena ) there are records of 90

individuals caught, of which 55 were weighed. These show an

average weight of 9*2 lbs. The heaviest individual weight re-

corded is 34 lbs. The varnacular name for these fish is Kanere

(i. e., having big ears). The name is suggested by the project-

ing flaps on each side of the head which bear the eyes of the fish

at their extremities.’

‘ The remaining shark-like fish which call for notice belong real

ly to the same zoological sub-order as the wagli (rays) viz. the

Batoidei. These are the Kandere or Saw-fishes ( Pristidce ), charac-

terized by a bayonet-like prolongation of the snout armed on

each edge with a series of sharp teeth, and the family known to

science as Rhinobatidce which in general shape rather resemble the

Pristidcz but their pointed snout has no offensive armament. These

fishes are named in the local vernacular Lang and in Canara are

called Fadka. Somewhat similar species in England are called

Fiddle-fish and in America Guitar-fish.’

‘ The largest and heaviest individuals of all the fish taken in the

trawl were Kaiidere (Saw-fish). These occasionally exceeded 8 feet

in total length and were much too big to weigh. There is one re-

cord of a saw-fish with a total length of 124 feet, the tail, fin and

breast fins of which alone weighed 46 lbs. Altogether 49 saw-fishes

were caught and of those which were weighed, 15 individuals give

an average weight of 60 lbs.’

‘ A total of 49 lanj also is recorded. The largest individual

record was entered as ‘ about 100 lbs. weight, probably more ’.

Twenty-five fish which were weighed show an average weight

of 23 lbs.’

‘ As a rule only the fins of large shark-like fish were kept. The

smaller fish were usually regarded as ‘ stocker bait 7 for the crew.

894 lbs. landed for market and sold separately, realized Rs. 46 (an

average of 9*8 pies per lb.) The highest price realized was 1

anna 9 pies, and the lowest 3 pies per lb. 216 lbs. of shark fins were

sold for Rs. 40 an average price of 3 annas per lb. On one occasion

8 unnas 7 pies per lb. was realized,’

990 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

‘ Amongst the various fishes described under the term ‘ small

mixed ’, mention may be made of Otolithus rubber a most abundan-

species, and of a small-sized species of Scieena at present uniden-

tified, which at times were numerically very abundant. Both sorts

are excellent eating when fresh, and there is nothing to be said

against them except on the score of size which in our catches rare-

ly exceeded 10 inches (about 4 to 5 fishes to the lb.) The English

name ‘ Whiting ’ is applied to these fish, as well as to other sciaenid

fish, in the reports of the Fishery Survey of the Bay of Bengal,’

‘ Other frequent constituents of the class ‘ Small Mixed 5 were

Polynemus sextarius (a small species of Ravas which matures at a

length of a few inches and rarely exceeds 8 or 9 inches in length) ;

Saundals (. Lactarius delicatulus ) an excellent fish to eat, but rarely

greater than a foot in length ; and various species of Cara?ix (Horse

Mackerel), which were sometimes fairly abundant. The commonest

were Lalbi ( Caranx malabaricus). Less ahundant were C. atropus ,

C. rottleri, C. kurra and C. g alius. Scomber microlepidohis , the true

mackerel, occasionally occurred. In the deeper water the very

handsome red and yellow Synagris jap07iica and Synagris bleekeri

were occasionally met with in abundance. Less frequent but by no

means uncommon were Upe?ioides vittatus and Upenoides sulphureus

both very pleasing to the eye and closely related in a zoological

sense to the much-esteemed Red Mullet of Southern European

seas. The Chorbombil ( Saurida tumbil) was frequently taken but

never in great abundance. Bummaloes, Bombils, or Bombay ducks

(Harpodon nehereus) were sometimes taken in fair quantities, espe-

cially in the shallower water, but these easily damaged fish

suffered a good deal of crushing in the trawl and after a trial it was

deemed profitless to keep them for market. A good proportion

were thrown overboard unweighed. The herring family ( CUipeidce )

was most abundantly represented by the genus PellonaJ

Mr. Hefford’s list while it gives some of the principal food fishes

of the Bombay markets naturally pays little attention to the species

described by him as ‘ small-mixed We have unfortunately no

statistics available of the fish supply of the Bombay coastal ports,

to give us the quantity and the value of the various species sold.

Failing this, it is impossible to arrive at a conclusion as to the

species which are really the basis of the local fishing industry or

to form an idea of the real economic status of the 10 principal

fish obtained by the trawler 4 William Car rick.' Statistics prepared

by the Madras Fisheries Department covering the fish supply

of the Malabar Coast and South Kanara for the year 1925-26

indicate that the mainstay of the Fishing Industry is the despised

cheap fish, classed by Mr. Hefford as ‘ small-mixed ’ — Silver-

Bellies ( Gerres , Eq7iula and Gazza ), Anchovies (. Engraulis ), small

bony Horse Mackerels {Caranx'), various species of Sardines ( Clupea )

and Soles and not the highly priced marketable fish such as the

Scicenidce (Ghol), Seer ( Cybium ), Cock-up (Tales) and Pomfrets.

The Director of Fisheries, Madras, in the course of his report says :

‘It is a startling, but nevertheless true, statement that the fisherman

would hardly be affected and the Fishing Industry in India would

suffer scarcely a loss should all the Seer, Pomfret, Whiting and

THE FISH SUPPLY OF THE WEST COAST 01 ' INDIA 991

similar highly-priced fish be exterminated, while the loss of any of

the smaller bony fish mentioned would inflict irreparable damage

to fisheries and fisherman.’

On the Malabar Coast the most important class of fishes from

the economic standpoint are Mackerel (Bangras) which are captured

in enormous numbers between January and May. They are salted

and dried and sold in bundles. After Mackerel comes Oil Sardines

( Clupea longiccps ), Cat fish, Silver-Bellies, Prawns, Sharks, Sole,

and Ribbon Fish ( Trichurus ). Seer and Sciamidce (Ghol) take the

9th and 10th place in a list of 42 fishes arranged according to

quantity and value.

In the markets of Madras City, prawns and crabs come first in

value after which, following in order of importance, are the Horse

Mackerels, Silver-Bellies, Ribbon fish, Lactarius, Jew fish

{Sd&nidcz) Anchovies, Sardines, Herrings and Grey Mullet

(. Mugil ). In the Colombo markets, which receive supplies from

all the coastal ports of Ceylon, the report of the Marine Biologist

for the year 1929 indicated the principal species as Horse Mackerel

(small), Sardines, Seer, Tuny, Ribbon fish, Queen fish ( Chirocentrus )

and Aporion pristipoma .

On the Bombay Coast, Ribbon fish, Silver-Bellies, Anchovies

and small bony Horse Mackerel are taken in great quantities.

Ribbon fish are sold in enormous number, in a dried condition.

They are dried without salt, an important consideration where

cheapness is the principal requisite, and, with Bombay Duck form

the principal animal food of thousands upon thousands of poor

people who cannot afford the luxury of salt fish and as for meat do

not taste it twice in a year. In the Bombay markets, Bombils or

Bombay Duck are sold between April and October. They are

most abundant between June, July and August. They are netted

in great quantities at the entrance to the harbour in nets known as

Boshi. The net resembles a truncated cone and is fixed between

two stakes. A small bos hi with an entrance of 5^ feet is about 20 ft,

in length ; while a larger one with an opening 33 ft. in dia-

meter may be quite 133 ft. in length. These nets are sunk down

the stakes with heavy weights so that the end of the cone lies on

the sea bed while the top is as close to the surface of the water as

possible. The nets are worked entirely with the tide. They are

put down just before flood-tide and are taken up a little before

slack water. Bombay Duck, like Ribbon fish, dries easily in the

sun without salt. Its relatively enormous jaws armed with

numerous teeth can be easily hitched on to those of a brother on

the drying line, to the great saving of time and labour when thou-

sands of fish have to be hung.

Both these fish are sold in enormous quantities in temporary and

permanent markets all over the Konkan coast where people

assemble from far in the interior to barter grain for bundles of

dried fish which they carry upon their heads up the foot-paths of

the ghats. When fresh, Bombils are sold at Rs. 1-12 to Rs. 3 per

100, dry they cost 8 annas to 10 annas per 100.

{To be continued .)

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

BY

Mrs. M. Robinson, b.a. (t.c.d.), nat. sci. trip. cam.

Part V

Ferns and their allies

(The Pteridophyta)

( Continued from page 430 of this volume)

( With 7 plates )

The last great group of the flowerless plants is perhaps the most

interesting of them all. It includes the very large family of the

Ferns, the most widely known, and extensively cultivated, of the

Cryptogams. Two other small families, one including the Lyco-

podiums and Selaginellas , usually known as the Club-Mosses and

Stag-horn Mosses, and the other comprising only the Equisetums or

Horsetails, appear at first sight to differ from the Ferns more than

they resemble them, but a closer examination will show that they

are nearly related families, having many characteristics in common.

One very interesting thing about these plants is the fact that the

group as a whole is of enormous antiquity, and the members of it,

that have survived to our own day, are but poor little remnants

both in size and in numbers, of their ancestors. In the remote

ages of the past, when the geological period known as the Carboni-

ferous age was young, the ancestors of the ferns and the club mosses,

and thejiorsetails, were at the height of their development, and

formed the chief vegetation of the world. Flowering plants which

now form our primeval forests, and clothe our hillsides with

verdure ; which provide food for all living animals including man,

and paint our country sides and gardens with the glorious colours

of their flowers, were then utterly and entirely unknown ; they had

not come into being. The forests of those days were of gigantic

tree ferns, beside which the largest tree ferns of the present day

would look small ; dense groves of bushy club mosses, eight or

nine feet high ; and clumps of giant horsetails as large as bamboos,

with slender whorled leaves waving in the air, would make a land-

scape very different from that of to-day. The ground instead of

being clothed with the soft springy turf we know, would be

carpeted only with mosses and liverworts or trailing Selaginellas ,

or encrusting lichens, but of these no remains have survived, as in

the case of the ferns, to tell the full story of the vegetation

of the past.

From this ‘ age of Cryptogams ’, as it has been called, many

fossil remains of ferns and their allies have survived, and a long

series of plants have been found and carefully studied. Many forms

are found which no longer exist to-day, showing indeed a gradual

Jj, rn., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate i.

Flowerless Plants.

{For explanation see end of article .)

Flowerless Plants.

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

993

deterioration of the fern group as such ; but, on the other hand,

seeming to show that the great group of flowering plants have

developed from these ferns, through a number of forms showing

characters which are intermediate between the two groups. None

of these intermediate forms have survived to the present day-

in living species, but their fossil remains are there even down to the

smallest detail for the palmobotanist who can read the ‘ story

of the stones

With such a long and distinguished ancestry behind them, it is

pleasant to find that though so much reduced in size, the tree fern

being now the exception rather than the rule, the number of species

of ferns is still very large, and the group still holds its own for

beauty and interest in the plant world. Their form is of infinite

variety, ranging in size from the tiniest of filmy ferns clinging like

moss to the under-sides of the rocks in the beds of streams, to the

tall Alsophila that lifts its beautiful crown of leaves with its young

fronds coiled like great golden brown croziers in the centre, twenty

feet or more above the tumbling torrent at its foot. Ferns have

always been cultivated and loved for their grace and beauty ;

there is no form of floral decoration but is enhanced by the presence

of the maiden hair fern ; and a fernery beneath some large and

spreading tree, or on a rockery where few other things will grow,

is an abiding joy. In the middle ages before Botany was a science,

ferns were regarded as rather mysterious plants, for though the

plants came up every year, and increased and multiplied, no flowers

and fruits were ever found as in other plants, only some small

* seeds ’ on the back of the leaves. From these ideas it was but a

short step to attribute magic properties to the plant itself, and

a legend arose that ‘ fern seed ’ which could only be gathered on

Midsummer Eve by those initiated into the mysteries, had the

property of rendering its possessor invisible. This was disproved

by a German botanist, Hieronymus Bock, who published a herbal

in 1539, in which a chapter is devoted to a description of how

he gathered the seeds of ferns on Midsummer Eve, without any

incantations, and in the presence of two other people, and how he

found no magic properties in the seeds. Shakespeare would seem

to cast doubt on this old superstition, for he makes one of his

characters say ‘ I think you are more beholding to the night, than

to fern seed for your walking invisible ’ !

The ‘ seeds’ referred to are, of course, the spores, which are to be

found on the backs of the fronds of most ferns. They are borne in

little spore cases or sporangia , which are grouped together forming

round dots, or streaks, or covering the whole under surface of the

frond. The fern plant thus is the sporophyte , and when the spores

germinate, they give rise to a different generation or gametcphyte ,

producing an alternation of generations , exactly as we found among

mosses and liverworts. The great difference, however, between

these two last groups of the Cryptogams, is that in the ferns and

their allies the sporophyle has become by far the more important of

the two generations, whereas in the mosses and liverworts, it is the

gametophyte which forms the main plant, the sporophyte being merely

a kind of capsule containing spores, attached to it, and having no

094 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , F<?/. XXXI Y

separate existence from the gametophyte. The gametophyte of a

fern, on the other hand, is much less complex than that of a moss,

being in fact merely a flat plate of cells, often heart-shaped, and

bearing anther idia and archegonia from one of which, after fertilization,

a sporophyte arises. It is known as a prothallus , and is very small and

inconspicuous, rather resembling a very small and delicate liverwort.

Numbers of protkalli can often be seen in a fernery, on the surface

of the soil, like a thin green film, little sporophytes appearing on

them very soon. Plate I illustrates a very highly magnified spore,

in fig. 5 ; starting to germinate in figs. 6 and 7 ; a fully-grown pro-

thallus magnified about ten times in fig. 8; and one bearing a young

sporophyte magnified about eight times in fig. 9. This prothallus

very soon dies away, leaving the sporophyte to an entirely separate

existence, and it soon attains its full development of root, stem and

leaves, A typical fern plant, a species of Aspidiwn , is shown in

Plate I, fig. 1, where the roots, r. spring from the underside of the

stem or rhizome, rh. which may be short and compact as shown, or

may be long and creeping as in Pteris, shown in fig. 2. In the tree

ferns, the stem continues to grow above ground till it resembles a

slender tree trunk, bearing a crown of enormous leaves at its apex.

The dead bases of the old leaves remain on the stem giving it a

rough and irregular surface. This kind of stem is known as a

caudex .

The leaves or fronds spring from the upper side of the stem, the

younger ones being inside in the compact form, or caudex, and near

the growing point of the creeping stem. The young fronds of a

fern are always coiled spirally inwards, and this characteristic dis-

tinguishes ferns from all other plants, which have their leaves folded

and pleated and rolled inwards, but never coiled in the bud. The

frond consists of a stem called the rachis , and the blade or lamina.

The rachis is often smooth and polished and dark in colour, as in

Adiantum, the Maidenhair Fern, but is also sometimes covered with

chaffy scales or r amenta, as in Aspidium , seen in Plate I and many

other species, or is clothed with hairs of varying kinds. The blade

shows great variety both of form and texture. It may be simple

and undivided as in the four species shown in Plate II, or it may

be cut up into sections or pinnce as in Asplenium normale, Plate III,

fig. 3, and Lindsaya cultrata , in fig. 8. The pinnae are themselves

often divided again and yet again producing a very much cut up

leaf such as Slenoloma , fig. 12, Trichomanes fig. 14 and Botrychium ,

Plate IV, fig. 2. The edge of the leaf may be entire or toothed, or

indented in any of the various ways that one finds among the leaves

of flowering plants, and the texture may be soft and delicate as in

Adia7itum and the filmy ferns ( Trichom.anes ) which can only live in

a moisture-laden atmosphere, or may be hard and leathery as in

many of the Polypodiums , and Hemionitis and many others. Every

intermediate variety is also found.

A characteristic of the ferns that will at once strike the attention,

is that the stems are hard and stiff, and in many instances attain a

considerable, thickness, as in the caudex of the tree ferns. The

leaves have similarly stiff hard stems, and a very definite mid-rib

with a system of smaller veins often forming a network over the

Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate III

Flowerless Plants.

{For explanation see end of article.)

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Plate 1

Flowerless Plants.

[For explanation see end of article.

FLO W ERL ESS PLANTS

995

whole leaf. The roots too are stiff and wiry, and dark in colour

quite unlike the soft colourless rootlets of mosses and liverworts.

Evidently here there is a much greater development of cellular

tissue, and if a stem is cut across, and the section examined, it will

be found to have an appearance something like that illustrated in

fig. 3 on Plate I. Little groups of darker tissue are scattered about

in the general ground tissue of the stem, and if these are examined

with the low power of the microscope, they are seen to be formed of

a number of large cells with much thicker walls grouped together

inside a layer of dividing cells. The outside of the stem too is

surrounded by a layer or two of thicker-walled, harder cells which

protect the soft ground tissue. These groups or bundles of special

cells run through the entire length of the stem, and continue down-

wards into the root (where they can be seen by cutting a section in the

same way), and also upwards into the leaves, where they form the

veins. Their special function is to give strength and rigidity to the

plant and to serve as channels through which the water absorbed by

the roots passes upward into all parts of the plant. They are

known as vascular bundles , and as the ferns and their allies are the

only group of the cryptogams that have a well-developed vascular

system, they are sometimes referred to as the vascular cryptogams.

The higher plants have a well-developed vascular system, the same

in essentials, but differing in many details from that of the ferns.

The chief point of difference is that in the higher plants the vascular

bundles may increase in size year by year, by the formation of more

and more woody cells, until the stem may be entirely of wood as

in the case of our forest trees which increase in thickness every

year. In the ferns, this increase in the amount of woody tissue

never takes place, even in the tree ferns though it has been found in

some of the higher fossil types.

When we examine the fronds for the sporangia , we find that these

may occur in an infinite variety of ways. The back of the frond

may show a number of little round dots, regularly arranged along

the midribs or near the edges of the leaflets— or there may be a few

rather large dots, or they may be kidney-shaped, or oblong, rather

broad, or long and thin, and again appear like little cups at the

edges of the fronds. Other forms have long, narrow bands running

the whole length of the frond, while in some ferns, the whole of the

under side is covered thickly with the sporangia. Where there are

definite little groups of sporangia as in the form of dot or oblongs,

each group is known as a sorus , and the sorus is usually covered

with a thin skin known as an indusium , which protects the spo?-angia.

When these are ripe, the indusium splits or rolls back allowing the

spores to escape from the sporangia. In some genera, the indusium

grows out from the centre of the sorus and covers it like a little

umbrella, as shown in figs. 1 and 2 on Plate V, which are enlarged

drawings of the sorus of an Aspidium ; in other genera, e.g.,

Davallia , Stenoloma, Trie Romanes, it grows from outside the sorus

which it encloses as in a little cup, and in the big family, Pteridece

including Eteris and Adiantum , both well-known ferns, the indusium

is formed by the rolled-over edges of the frond. In two or three

other families, including the big tribe of the Polypodia^ (PI. III.

996 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI V

figs. 10 and 11) Hcmionitis , the Mule fern Plate II, fig. 3, Drymoglos -

sum and Elaphoglossum all shown on Plate II there is no in-

dusium at all, and the sporangia can be seen clustered together as

in PL. Ill, fig. 10, with no covering. Some genera such Elapho-

glossum and Hemionitis have the sporangia spread over the whole

surface, and not confined to definite sori on the back of the frond.

Another variation is found in genera such as the four shown on

PI. II where the sporangia are not found on all the fronds, but only

on certain fertile ones which differ in shape from the sterile fronds.

In Osmunda , Bolrychium and Ophioglossu?n which are all shown on

Plate IV, the same frond is divided into two distinct portions — a

fertile part which is entirely composed of densely culstered sporan-

gia, and a lower sterile portion. This gives a very flower-like

appearance to the plant, and Osmunda is often spoken of as the

flowering fern. All these ferns are found at the higher elevations

in India, Osmunda and Ophioglossum preferring open swamps, while

Bolrychium is found in the sholas.

A sporangium is a stalked structure of which the upper, more or

less globular head contains the spores Plate V, figs. 3-7. In some

genera it has a ring of special cells either vertically or horizontally

arranged, known as the annulus Plate V, figs. 3-7. The contraction

of the annulus causes the sporangium to open and allows the spores

to escape. In some families notably those including Lygodium a

climbing fern, fig. 5 and Osmu?ida , fig. 7, the annulus is reduced to an

apical cap of cells.

There is one large family of ferns including two natural orders,

the Maratiiacece and the Ophioglossacece , which are interesting as

having certain characters more in common with the older fossil ferns

than have any other of the existing types. The Maratliace<z are all

large ferns and include Maratlia , Kaullussia , and Angiopleris , and

differ from other ferns in the development of the sporangia . Here

the sporangia arise, not each from a single cell, but from a group of

cells, and are fused into a more or less compound structure known

as a synangia. There is no annulus, and the synangia splits open

to let the spores escape. A part of a frond of Angiopleris evecta is

shown on Plate V, fig. 8, with rows of synangia at each edge of the

pinnae, at first sight resembling ordinary sori. Closer examination

with a hand lens, shows each dot to be one synangium formed from

the fused sporangia, (fig. 9). In the Ophioglossacece , the three genera

Ophioglossum , Boirychium and Hehninthostachys all have the

sporangia collected on a special spike at the upper part of the

frond. The spora?igia are rather large, and split open into two

halves, and there is no annulus. These are shown on Plate IV,

figs. 2 to 5.

The ferns of India were collected and studied with great thorough-

ness by the late Col. R. H. Beddome, f.l.s., a Conservator of

Forests, Madras, who published a large work with beautiful illus-

trations called the ‘ Ferns of British India.’ This, I believe, is now

out of print, but a handbook was published in 1892, which is an

extremely useful little book for the collector or student. The

classification of the ferns given, is very helpful, and more recent

\york has only introduced a few changes. The following

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

classification of the whole group which has for its Latin name

Pteridopkyta may be helpful : —

The Filicales

The family is divided into two groups, from the nature of the

development of the sporangia —

A. The Lcptosporangiatece where the sporangium develops from

a single cell of the epidermis and has an annulus. It

includes —

I. EuUlicinecz the tru6 ferns, divided into the following

Natural Orders : —

1. Hymenophyllacece

2. Polypodiacece

3. Cyathacece

4. Gleicheniacece

5. Schizeacece

6. Osmundacece

II. Hydropteridece usually called the water ferns four small

and rare genera found in water or swamps. They

produce two kinds of spores. Azolia , Marsilia , Sal-

vinia, Pilluhtria , shown on Plate VII, figs. 6, 7 and 8.

Marsilia quadrifolia with its little shamrock-like leaves, and

clusters of sporangia near the base of the plant, grows in vast

quantities in swampy ground particularly round Cooper’s Creek, in

the northern part of South Australia. The aboriginal tribes in this

district, and probably in others, used to gather the sporangia, and

grind them into a kind of flour, which they called ‘ nardoo ’. This

they made into cakes, and some writers assert that though nourish-

ing to the aborigines, these cakes are semi-poisonous to whitemen.

The members of the famous, but ill-fated exploring expedition of

1860, led by Burke and Wills, were lost in the bush for many

months, but were found by aborigines who kept them alive by feed-

ing them on nardoo cakes and on berries. Wills died alone in the

bush leaving a last entry in his diary ‘ Starving on nardoo seed is

by no means unpleasant, but I should prefer a little fat and sugar

mixed with it.’

B. The Eusporangiatece , where the sporangium develops from a

group of cells, and has no annulus. It includes two

Natural Orders already shortly described above. — .

1. Marattiacece, with genera Marat Ha, Kauliussia, Danaea

Angiopteris, Archangiopteris , all large ferns.

The Pteridophyta

Filicales

Eycopodiales

Equisetales . . .

Sphenophy llales

The Ferns

Lycopodiums and Selaginellas

The Horsetails

Only extinct forms. Fossil remains

are found, but none have sur-

vived to the present day.

998' JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXlV

2. Ophioglossacees with three genera Ophioglossum , Botry-

chium , and Helmihihostachys . The first two are shown

on Plate IV.

The Eufilicine^e

The true ferns form by far the largest class of the Pteridophyta,

and a few more details of the six natural orders given above, will

give a better idea of this great class, but for a complete list and

description of the genera, the reader is referred to Beddome’s

Handbook.

1. The Hy menophy llaccez contains only two genera, Hymeno-

phyllum the bristle fern, and Trichomomes the filmy fern. Both are

found in India and are small, very delicate ferns. The sorus is cup

shaped and the centre column bearing the sporangia projects beyond

the edge of the cup in some of the genera forming the ‘ bristle ’

(Plate III, figs. 14 and 15).

2. The Polypodiaceez is by far the largest order of which the

distinguishing character is that the annulus is vertical as in

Plate V, figs. 3 and 4. It is sub-divided into several large Tribes

distinguished by the nature of the sori and indusium—

1. Woodsia. The indusium is inferior, and splits at the top

and turns back in a number of segments.

2. AspidecB . Indusium superior, round or kidney shaped,

leaves divided. Aspidium , Nephrodium, etc., Plate III,

fig. 1.

3. Oleandrece. Indusium kidney-shaped, leaves simple, and

jointed. Olea?idra.

4. Davallice. Sorus terminal, or close to margin which turns

back to form indusium. Davallia , Lindsay a, Nephrolepis

Stenoloma, etc., Plate III, figs. 8-12.

5. Asplenicz. Sori usually oblong, straight or curved ;

indusium splitting down side, Asplenium , Scolopendrium

(English Harts-tongue) Blechnumy etc., Plate III, fig. 3.

6. Pteridece. Sori terminal, or along the veins, not as a

rule true indusium, edge of frond rolls back. It

contains the genera Pteris , Adiantum, Aciinopieris ,

Cheilanthes (Silver fern) Gy mno gramme (Gold fern) and

many others (Plate III, figs. 5-7).

7. Vittarece , a small tribe of small ferns with usually simple

leaves, and marginal sori. The prothallus is more or

less filamentous. Vitiaria , Monogramme , Anthrophyum ,

etc.

8. Polypodies. Another large tribe characterized by having

no indusium. Well-known genera are Polypodium ,

Pleopeltis , Drymoglossum ("Plate III, figs. 10 and 11,

Plate II, fig. 4).

9. Acrostichece , a fairly large tribe, where the sori are spread

over the whole surface of the fertile fronds, which may

differ from the sterile. There is no indusium. Elapho-

glossum , Hemionitis , Platycerium. (Plate II, figs. 1-3).

3. CyathacecE. — The ferns in this Natural Order are all confined

to the tropics, and are all large ferns. The indusium is rather

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist, Soc.

Plate V.

FlowerlEvSs Plants.

(For explanation see end of article .)

Journ., Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate VI

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

999

cup-shaped, growing up round the sporangia and opening at the

top. The annulus is oblique, resembling that of Gleichenia (Plate V,

fig. 6). Some genera are Cyathea , Dickso7iia , Alsophila (the tree

fern).

4. Gleicheniacea. — This is a small order of three genera

Gleichenia , Slromatoptcris, Platyzoma , which Beddome places all in

one genus Gleichenia . They are climbing ferns usually dichoto-

mously branched. The sori are often reduced to only one spor-

angium, which is rather large and stout and shortly stalked. The

annulus is a complete oblique ring (Plate V, fig. 6).

5. Scliizece. — The sori in this order are a”gain reduced to one

sporangium which is sessile and has an apical annulus (Plate V,

fig. 5). Lygodium also a climbing fern has rather large leafy

involucres. In Schizea and Anemia , the two other genera, there is

a special fertile segment of the frond, Anemia rather resembling

Botryc Ilium,

6. Osmwidacece . — This order contains two genera Osmunda ,

widely distributed over the globe, and Todea which is confined to

Australia . and New Zealand and parts of South Africa. The

sporangia all collected into a fertile spike (Plate IV, figs. 1 and 2)

are stout and bulky with a thick stalk, two of them sometimes

appearing to coalesce into a single one. There is no. real annulus,

though a group of slightly thicker-walled cells below the apex are

generally referred to as an annulus (Plate V, fig. 7). Several

characteristics of the Osmundacecz seem to approach those of the

Eusporangiate ferns, and it is thought that they may be an inter-

mediate group between them and the Leptospora7igiate ferns, with

which it is classed.

The Lycopodiales

This group of the Pteridophyta includes the Lycopodiuiiis , Selagi-

nellas , and two lesser known plants Isoeies and Psilotum. Two

Lycopodiums and a Selaginella are illustrated on Plate VI, from

which it will be seen that they do not bear much resemblance to

the true ferns, being in fact more like large mosses in outward

appearance, while their common names of Club-Moss and Stag-horn

Moss would seem to indicate that this resemblance is striking.

They have nothing in common with the mosses however, as the

moss-like plant of Lycopodium i and Selaginella is the sporophyte ,

sporangia being produced in the axils of the leaves. Sometimes

special cones of spore-bearing leaves are formed as in fig. 1 Sp. C.,

in other genera and in Selaginella , there is no special cone. In

Lycopodium the leaves are all of one kind, and the sporangia are all

of one kind, as in figs. 5 and 6. In Selaginella the stem bears a row

of small leaves flat against the upper side of the stem, while larger

leaves grow from the lower side, and a very small leaf called a

ligule is found at the base of each large leaf. In the spore bearing

cones, two kinds of sporangia are found. One dark in colour

contains numerous very small spores, called 77iicrospores, the other

contains only four large spores, called 77iacr os pores. The

Lycopodium spores produce a prothallus much resembling that of a

fern, and bearing both antheridia and archegonia, The uiacrospores

\m JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

of Selaginella produce a prothallus bearing only archegonia or

female organs — microspores produce a prothallus with only

antheridia. This production of two prothalli takes place also in

the Hydropteridece , the water ferns referred to above as having two

kinds of spores.

The two plants illustrated on Plate VII, figs. 3, 4 and 5 are also

placed in this order. Isoetes shown in fig. 3 is known as Quillwort ,

and in outward appearance bears a strong likeness to several

flowering water plants, such as Lobelia Dortmanni , and Litiorella

lacustris , found in the same habitat. The long quill-like leaves

however bear sporangia at their bases, macrosporangia on the

outer, and microsporangia on, their inner leaves. These develop

into prothalli, as do those of their allies the Selaginellas and a small

ligule found just above the sporangium provides another point of

similarity with them. Psilotum shown in fig. 5 has long slender

stems with much reduced scale like leaves, in the axils of which

are found the sporangia. It has no roots, growing epiphytically,

that is to say it grows upon some other plants, but not drawing

nourishment from it, as in the case of a parasite. The root-like

bases of the stems absorb moisture from the air and from any

mould, etc., that may be lodged on the host, usually a tree. Many

ferns are epiphytes.

The Equisetales

This contains only one natural order of one genus Equisetum , of

which the common British Horsetail— Equisetnm arvense , which is

shown on Plate VII, fig. 1, may serve as example. The sterile

shoot bears long, slender, needle-like leaves in whorls, at intervals

on the stem. The fertile shoot has reduced leaves, and a cone-like

head bearing sporangia arranged regularly round it. Each

sporangium has four little sacs of spores, hanging below the

rounded head. These split open on the inside towards the stem to

liberate the spores.

The discussion of the Sphenophy llales is beyond the scope of this

paper, as there are no living representatives to be found. The

study of these fossil plants is an extremely interesting one, and as

already mentioned throws much light on the development of the

flowering plants now supreme in the vegetable world, and also on

the past histoiy of the flowerless plants, which no longer hold the

important place that was theirs in past ages. One group only, the

Algae, has probably held its own in numbers and distribution.

Nothing has as yet ousted these lowly plants from the waters of

the globe, their natural habitat. No flowering plant has been

found in the salt waters of the oceans and seas, where the algae

abound in every variety of form and colour ; every drop of fresh

water contains minute species of the algae, too small to be seen

with the naked eye, but often in such numbers as to colour the

water with their greenness ; and though many flowering plants are

also found growing in fresh water, there will always be found a

number of the algae, the most lowly, but the most persistent of the

flowerless plants.

Plate VII.

1

J xn. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Flowerless Plants

(For explanation see end of article .)

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

1001

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

Part V

The Ferns and their allies

Description of the plates

Plate I

1. A typical fern sporopbyte ( Aspidium ) rh. short compact stem or

rhizome. /. frond bearing sporangia on the back. fb. coiled young

fronds, ra. rachis. r. roots.

2. Creeping rhizome of Pleris.

3. Cross section of rhizome showing vascular bundles v. b. (magnified)

4. The same, highly magnified.

5. 6 & 7. Germination of the spore producing young prothallus p, all highly

magnified.

8. Full-grown prothallus; underside bearing rootlets r. antheridia an,

archegonia ar. Mag. 10 times.

9. Prothallus with young sporophyte sp. Mag. 8 times.

Plate II

Ferns with the fertile fronds differing from the .sterile fronds.

1. Gymnopteris variabilis.

2. Elaphoglossum conforine (Stag’s tongue).

3. Hernionitis arifolia (Mule fern)

4. Drynioglossuni pilosella , f. fertile, st. sterile fronds.

Plate III

Different types of Sori

1. Part of frond of Aspidium ; circular sori.

2. Same enlarged a. young sorus. b. older with sporangia showing at

edge of indusium.

3. As pleninm normale -oval sori.

4. Same enlarged

5. Actinopteris dichotoma — linear sori.

6. Same enlarged.

7. Enlarged leaflet of Adiantum capillus veneris.

8. Lindsay a cultrata.

9. Same enlarged.

10. Pleopeltis lanceolata — one of the Polypodies — circular sori — no indusium.

11. Same enlarged.

12. Stenoloma Chinensis (Lace fern) one of the Davallice.

13. Same enlarged — a. closed sori— b. open.

14. Trichomanes (Filmy fern).

15. Same enlarged. Cup shaped sorus with prolongation of column in centre

on which sporangia are inserted.

Plate IV

Ferns which have the upper part of frond formed

ENTIRELY OF THE SPORANGIA

1. Osmunda regalis (Royal fern).

2. Boirychium daucifolium (Moon wort).

3. Sporangia of same enlarged,

4. Ophioglossuni nudicaule (Adders tongue).

5. Sporangia of same enlarged.

Plate V

1. Cross Section of frond of Aspidium showing a sorus with sporangia sp

beneath the indusium i .

2. The same highly magnified.

3 .Sporangium of Polipodium—c. capsule on long stalk with annulus a.—

vertical.

1002 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL MIST. SOCIETY , FbA XXXIV

4. .Same showing ruptured annulus.

5. Sporangium of Lygodium — capsule on very short stalk with annulus a. —

round the apex.

6. Sporangium of Gleichenia with oblique annulus a.

7 . Sporangium of Osmunda — Annulus reduced to slightly thickened cells at

apex where capsule splits.

8. Part of frond of Angiopteris Eveeta — with syna>gia on under side.

9. Same enlarged 8 times showing synangia.

Plate VI

Some fern allies

1. Part of sporophyte of a common Lycopodium.

2. Another species of Lycopodium.

3. Enlarged drawing of a vegetative branch.

4. Do. do. fertile branch.

5. Section showing sporangia in the axils of the leaves.

6. One leaf with sporangium.

7. Sporophyte of a common Selaginella.

8. Section of fertile branch showing microsporangium mi. in upper leaves.

macrosporangium mci. in lower leaves.

9. Microsporangium with microspores (Enlarged 10 times).

10. Macrosporangium with macrospores ( do. )

Plate VII

Some more fern allies

1. Sporophyte of Equisetum arvense with (a) vegetative and (6) fertile

branch, (c) sporangia clustered round club shaped head.

2. One sporangium containing the spores in the four little pockets below the

round top.

3. Plant of Isoetes (Quill Wort).

4. Sporangium at base of leaf of same, with small bract or ligule just

above.

5. Sporophyte of Psilotum.

6. Sporophyte of Pillularia sp. sporangia.

7. Sporophyte of Marsilia sp. sporangia.

8. Sporophyte of Salvinia.

Nos. 6, 7 & 8 all reduced, and after Strasburger.

THE BUTTERFLIES OF COORG

BY

J. A. Yates.

Part I

la March 1927 I suggested to Col. H. C. Winckworth, whom I knew as an

enthusiast, that I might try to collect a few butterflies on his behalf in Coorg.

I had travelled and inspected all over the province almost every year for eleven

years, and had observed that butterflies were abundant, more especially at

certain seasons, as immediately after the monsoon ; but doubtless my observa-

tion was attiacted chiefly to the larger and brighter species, and was lacking in

intelligent detail. I had in that March only three days at my disposal to observe

and collect. Col. Winckworth lent me the necessary apparatus and gave me

suitable instructions. I came back with 70 odd species, and was encouraged

by this, as I thought, considerable success to continue. Col. Winckworth and

I spent Easter on the ghats, and in May I was back again on duty. My work

frequently took me across country and through the forests and woodlands :

whereas before, on these expeditions, I had no special interest as I went along,

I had now something definite to observe. I made it a habit to spend Sundays

and holidays at likely spots. On two occasions I took ten days’ casual leave in

pursuit of my hobby. And at the end of my time I had, preparatory to retire-

ment, a little over two months’ leave in India, which I spent very agreeably

for the most part on the ghats on the hunt for fresh rarities.

Rather too late it struck me that I might bring Mr. F. Hannyngton’s list

(, Journal of B. N. H . .S'., vol. xxiv, No. 3, p 578) up to date. I say too late, for

if I had thought of this revised list earlier, I might have found in Coorg certain

common species that I had obtained in the dry jungles round Bangalore.

Unfortunately Hannyngton gave only partial details for all groups except

Hesperid.ce. Thus he gives the total of Papilionidce as 18 : it would be

valuable to know if he took Pathysa nomius nonrius in Coorg ; if he did, the

total would be raised to 19. Pathysa nomius is not a rare insect in certain

jungles round Bangalore ; I cannot help thinking that it should be found in the

eastern dry forests of Coorg. Unfortunately my work did not permit me to get

to the Eastern forests between June and September ; and in April and May I

could only pay a casual visit to them. Round Bangalore P. nomius flies from

April to August, so far as I have observed. Does it fly at the same time in the

eastern areas of Coorg ? I have not seen it in the evergreen area, where Pathysa

antiphates fiaira is prevalent.

Again a complete list of Hannyngton’s Lyccenidce would have been most

helpful to me ; did he take Azanus uranus, Azanus jesous , Pratapa deva and

Iraota timoleon , the first two and the last of which I took near Bangalore,

but did not take in Coorg, probably because 1 did not seriously look for them

at a time when I had not this list in view. In his totals he gives Morphince 2 :

Discophora lepida , I take it, must be one : what is the other ? Is it Amathusia

phidippus frederici ; which Brigadier Evans gives as South Indian species ?

If so, another would have to be added to the total.

I have included in my list Euthaliatelchinia , which a schoolboy collecting

for his school brought back from the Sampje ghat to Bangalore : it is in the

museum of Bishop Cotton Boys’ School. I have no more reason to doubt its

existence in Coorg than to doubt that I obtained the following at the spot where

Euthalia telchinia was obtained : Gerydus biggsii, Nacaduba pactolus continen-

talis , Ambly podia abseus indicus , Riley and Itys miscrostictum. The first and

third of these are represented in my collection by single specimens. Since

they were found in a new region, I have deposited them in the Natural History

Musieum, South Kensington.

Since Hannyngton’s list was published Brigader Evans’ indispensable

« Identification of Indian Butterflies’ has appeared in book form. Without it, I

should have frequently been at sea. I must also acknowledge with gratitude

Brigadier Evans’ frequent kindness in identifying species for me. With his

10

1004 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vot. XXXIV

book and his help I have been able to piece together this incomplete record,

which includes all the species mentioned by Hannyngton and all the species

that Col. Winckworth and myself obtained.

It is my opinion that there are quite possibly more species to be discovered

in Coorg, and particularly in the dense evergreen forests on the Western slopes

of the Ghat. There are quite remarkably many species that are common to

the North East of India, Burma and to the South West forests ; similar condi-

tions account for their appearance in areas so far apart, I suppose : and it is

perhaps not more difficult to account for the separation of these tropical butter-

flies from the rest of their race or from their close relations in N. E. India, than

it is to account for the isolation of palaearctic species on the Nilgiri and Palni

hill-tops. One would have thought that the races of S. W. Indian forests would

have approached, if not been identical, with the special Ceylon races ; apparent-

ly this is not the case. To take two cases 1 Nacaduba pactolus continentalis ,

Fruh. Sikkim-Burma’ (Evans), and ‘ Atnbly podia abseus indicus. Riley.

Sikkim-Tavoy’ (Evans) are, it would seem, the Ccorg races, and not the

nearer Nacaduba pactolus ceylonicus and Amblypodia abseus mackwoodi , Riley

respectively from Ceylon. May there not be more species discoverable in

Coorg ? I do not expect them to be common or easy to get, but I feel that

the Coorg forests have not been combed out. Neither Hannyngton nor Col.

Winckworth nor myself were able to search all or anything like all the likely

spots in this — entomologically speaking — rich little provinces. The forests

on the western slopes are so dense, that there are many places that only a full-

time collector could reach. All the ghats, not merely the two principal ghats,

to the West Coast might well be hunted, eg. the Shiradi ghat the Bisili ghat,

the track from Bhagamandala to S. Kanara, the old ghat road via Heggala

to Tellicherry, up which Abercrombie climbed to reach Seringapatam, and

various other paths, used only by woodlanders, down to the plains. The streams

and openings along these tracks should afford rich opportunities for collection

and might well produce further species hitherto unrecorded from S. India.

I should like to put on record the great help I received from Mr. P. C. IJttaya,

who was my assistant in work, who accompanied me on most of my treks

across country who frequently gave up his holidays to join me in mine on

butterfly hunts.

The following are my totals—

If Curetis thetis and Curetis cesopus and if Neptis nandina hamposni and

Neptis soma kallura are to be treated as four separate species instead of two,

the total is 280. If other gaps in my information could be filled, I am sure the

total would be over 280.

[Note I have treated CatoPsilia crocale and Catopsilia pomona as separate

species. I very much doubt however if they are strictly separate, since they

merge so frequently one into the other. Is there any obvious difference

between them in their larval stage ? So far as I can discover, there is none.]

[References to Evans’ Identification of Indian Butterflies .]

I. — Family. Papii.ionid^:

A 1. Troides minos, Cr. Found in the evergreen area both above and below

the ghats. Mostly flies or floats high among the tree-tops, but comes down to

feed on lantana and other flowers, in the morning till about 10 a.m., and

again in the afternoon from about 4 p.m. Does not seem to descend to drink

at wet patches. I have however caught ^ and $ mating on the ground.

1005

THE BUTTERFLIES OF COORG

A 2. 83 Byasa jophoti pandiyana, M. Taken mostly on the slopes of the

Western Ghats and at the foot of the ghats, where it is not uncommon. Except

at feeding time, i.e., until about 10 a m. and from 4 p.m., it dees not seem to

fly much in the open, but can be caught inside the forest flying low. I have

watched it float leisurely from the forest up deep gullies to the open road. It is

most common in April- May and September-October, but can be caught

occasionally in other months. Not taken at water on the ground.

A 2. 9. Byasa hector, L. As elsewhere, flies in Coorg at all times. Not at

water.

A 2. 103. Byasa aristolochiae aristolochiae, F. Universal, not taken at water.

A 3. 53. Chilasa clytia clytia, L. More usual in the evergreen parts of the

country. Taken on flowers, and at water in the hot part of the day.

Var. dissimilis, L. Similar in distribution and habits to the typical form.

A 4. 13. Papilio polymnestor polymnestor, Cr. Throughout the country, but

more frequent in the evergreen area and in the months March-May and

September-October, comes freely to water. I have a specimen [$] with the

‘ red basal markings’ as clear above as below the forewing.

A 4. lOct Papilio paris tamilana, M. Well distributed but more frequent in the

evergreen areas. Feeds throughout the day on flowers and comes down to

water but not so freely as polymnestor and daksha.

A 4. 13. Papilio crino, F. Though common enough in the Nilgiris, this but-

terfly is, in my experience, rare in Coorg. I have not seen it on the ghats, but

have taken it or seen it only above the ghats, at Kolakeri near Napoklu in ever-

green country, and near Ponnampet where the forest is of the intermediate or

mixed type.

A 4. 14. Papilio huddha, Wd. Not uncommon in the evergreen country both

above and below and on the ghats : far commoner in Coorg than P. crino. It

is more frequent in the months April- May and September-October , bu; is

occasionally seen in other months. I have never seen it at water.

A 4. 16. Papilio dravidarum, W.M. This is distinctly a butterfly of the evergreen

country. I have taken it above, below and on the ghats. At certain seasons

if is fairly common, e.g. March to May and September-October. It was

common, for instance, in May at the crossing of the Kakkotpole River into

Marinad (3,000 feet) and in March on the Paiyaswani R. [Sampaje ghat]. At

both places it came freely to water about 11 a.m. I have taken it at Watecolli at

2,000 feet, Appugala (five miles from Mercara). Parane, Kolakeri (near

Napoklu), Ajjemada Stream (Brahmagiri in the S. East of Coorg) and else-

where. It is commoner than P.s clytia in Coorg.

A 4. 19 3- Papilio helenus daksha, M. Well distributed, but commoner, and at

times almost abundant in the evergreen forest on the western slopes. Taken

both on flowers and at water, to which it comes freely. Most abundant March-

May and September-October.

A 4. 25ct Papilio polytes romulus, Cr. All three forms of $ taken. Universal and

very common, but $ var. cyrus rare. Comes to water, but not so freely as the

last.

A 4. 26 a. Papilio demotion liomedon, M. In my experience in Coorg more fre-

quent than P. crino , but rarer than all the other Papilionidae found. 1 have taken

it above the ghats, on the slopes and at the foot of the ghats, always in evergreen

forest. I took several at SulliainS. Kanara. It affects Mussaenda frondosa,

lantana, clerodendron and other flowers. In the middle of the day it seems to

retreat into the shade and haunts the sides of dark streams, resting either on

bushes or stones away from the sun. Occasionally -comes to water. I have taken

it in September-October, November, December and again in April and May.

A 4. 27& Papilio demoieus demoleus, L. Universal ; a sun-lover ; taken on plants

and at water.

A 5. 63 Pathysa anfiphates naira, M. In my records appears in December and

continues till May. According to Hannyngton the race is identical with the

Travancore form figured by Bingham as typical ’ ; ‘ uph gray tornal area

1006 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

extending as abroad band to the costa’ (Evans), But it first appears in a D.F.S.

without a grey tornal area or band : it approaches the typical form, which from

my observation appears in March, through intermediate stages of grey area

extending from the tornus. D.S.F. characteristics are seen also in the limita-

tions of the black bands fw. The butterfly is widely distributed in the evergreen

area, above and on and below the ghats. [I have taken or seen it in the follow-

ing localities : Kolakeri andPanur near Napoklu ; Appugala, between Mercara

and Napoklu ; Bekkusodlur near Ponnampet ; Kakkotpole River, crossing to

Marinad ; Periambadi and Sampaje ghats.] It flies rather high early and in the

afternoon ; as soon as it becomes hot it descends and goes up and down streams

or roads in search of water, for it is a very thirsty creature. Once it has settled

it does not so easily take alarm as do the Pierids ; the latter often try to chase

it away, but it is presistent and once settled will remain, when Pierids in seem-

ing hundreds will rise scared by a net. In March and April 1929 it was almost

abundant on the Sampaje ghat road, 13| miles from Mercara, and at the

Paiyaswani River below.

A 6. 2 co. Zetides sarpedon teredon, Fd. Perhaps the commonest Papilio in

Coorg. Present in all areas ; abundant in the evergreen country : on flowers,

and on damp ground, where dozens may often be seen in seried rows.

A 6. 30. Zetides doson elaeius, Fr. Not so abundant in Coorg as the last, but

still very common ; general throughout. Habits similar to those of teredon ,

often settles on mud among teredon , also in serried rows separately.

A 6. 8ci. Zetides agamemnon menides, Fruh. Much less common in Coorg than

the last two. But whereas they are not apparently found in the drier areas of

the Mysore plateau, agamemnon is generally distributed. It does not favour

muddy patches, as teredon and doson do : generally caught on flowers.

II.— Family Pierids

B 1. ct. Leptosia nina nina, F. Common everywhere. A feeble flier : moves

in and out of bushes or undergrowth, keeping low.

B 6. 2. Delias eucharis, Drury. Common on Coorg as elsewhere, but not so

common as Prioneris sita, Fd. Comes down to water.

B 7. 2. Prioneris sita, Fd. Common throughout S. Coorg, i. e., the evergreen

and in certain places on the ghats almost abundant. Taken commonly at the

foot of the ghats. Best seasons, September — October, and March to May., but

fairly plentiful in December-January. A stronger flier than the last ; comes

freely to wTater.

B 8. (3. Belenois mesentina mesentina, Cr. This is not a common butterfly of the

evergreen forest. It is common in the drier country, e.g., the Mysore plateau.

B 9. '2 a . Huphina nerissa evagete, Cr. Common in Coorg and generally

distributed, both W. S. F. and D. S. F., but not so abundant as the next in the

evergreen area. Comes down to water.

B 9. 3 0. Huphina nadiaa remba, M. J are very common throughout the

evergreen and intermediate areas, especially the former. $ $ shy and scarce ;

they seem to prefer the protection of the jungle. Comes to water freely,

D. S. F. appears about November and continues till February. There are

intermediate stages between D. S. F. and W. S. F.

B 10. 3 a. Appias indra shiva, Swin. [‘ Most likely to be found along the

foot of the ghats ’ (Hannyngton)] . C J abundant December to February on the

eastern side of the high hills crowning the ghats (Swamimale, Tandiendamolu

and Brahmagiri) and on the ghats (e.g. at Watecolli on the Periambadi ghat,

and at Jodpalar and other spots on the Sampaje ghat); less abundant at the foot

of the ghats (e.g, Urti). W. S. F. appears in March and again in September.

$ $ by comparison very rare : in my experience haunts clearings, glades and

streams inside the forest, where they are more protected. SJ come freely to

water.

B 10. 4 a. Appias libythea Hbythea, F, Hannyngton gives it as in Coorg. All

my specimens were taken in the dry jungles round Bangalore. I failed to take

it in Coorg.

THE BUTTERFLIES OF COORG

1007

B 10. 5 0. Appias lyncida latifasciata, M. Fairly well distributed, but not

common. Always found in the neighbourhood of rivers and streams.

relatively rare. Caught chiefly on flowers e. g., Ramtulasi, (a verbena), wild

gingelly, a wild jasmine. Also at water. Flies up and down and across

streams. D. S. F. November to February or March.

B. 10. 6 (3. Appias albina darada, Fd. It is much the commonest Appias. Its

number is legion in Coorg on the ghats. [Fairly common also in the dry

jungles round Bangalore.] £ 2, var. semiflava , were almost abundantDecember

(1928) to March 1929. I took one specimen of var. f lava , apparently identical

with the Ceylon species, in January 1929. Comes to water in hundreds at

times of abundance. I think R. (rare) in Evans’ list must be a misprint.

BIO. 7 0. Appias paulina wardii, M. [‘Most likely to be found along the

foot of the ghats’ (Hannyngton)]. Most common on the ghats, but to be found

fairly frequently above the ghats in the intermediate country, d at times

abundant, especially at water among A. albina and A. indra shiva. $ $ rare or at

least shy ; seem to seek the protection of jungle. D. S. F., appearing in

October, is replaced by W. S. F. early in February.

B 11 2 } Catopsilia crocale Cr. and Catopsilia pomona, F.

B 11. 4. Catopsilia pyranthe minna, Herbst.

B. 11. 5. Catopsilia florella gncma, F.

All common, but not so abundant in Coorg as A. albina darada. Not

gregarious, however, as A. albina. All come to water.

B 15. 1. Terias libythea, F.

B 15. 2 a. Terias venata venata, M.

B 15. 3. Terias laeta, Bov.

B 15. 4 ct. Terias blanda silhetana, Wall.

B 15. 5 a. Terias hecabe simulata, M.

B 15, 7 a. Terias sari ormistoni, Watkins.

(1) Terias blanda silhetana appears to be commoner than T. hecabe. At Urti I

took a curious dirty white freak, a case of albinism, I suppose. I saw another

at the same spot.

(2) Terias sari. I have obtained only in the evergreen forest of the ghats,

generally rather low down. It is rather a feeble flier and prefers the shade to

the open sunlight. Caught near small streams and springs by the roadside

(Urti, lower part of Periambadi ghat and lower part of Sampaje ghat).

B 17. 1. Ixias niarianne, Cr. More in the eastern dry forest area.

B 17. 2 B. Ixias pyrene frequens, But. Everywhere from dry to evergreen

country.

B 18. 1 ct. Colotis amata modesta, But.

B 18. 4 ot, Colotis fausta fulvia, Wall.

B 18. 50. Colotis etrida etrida, Bov.

B 18. 6. Colotis eucharis, F.

B 18. 7 a Colotis danae danae, F.

Seldom in the evergreen country. I have not taken Colotis fausta myself in

Coorg. Hannyngton records it from the eastern border.

B 190. Hebomoia glaucippe australis, But. Common throughout the country

and especially in the evergreen area. Flies higher than other Pieridce , round

the tops of flowering trees, but comes down to flowering bushes (lantana, etc.),

and frequent at water with Papilio and Appias.

B 20. 2 a. Pareronia ceylanica ceylanica, Fd. A butterfly of the evergreen forests.

I have only seen and taken it, resting momentarily and feeding on flowers, on

the Periambadi ghat. It is certainly not common in Coorg.

1008 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vo l . XXXIV

B 20. 3. Pareronia Valeria hippla, F. Haunts the dry areas on the eastern

borders of Coorg, to which it spreads from the Mysore country, e.g., Hebbale,

Alur forest, Fraserpet. Flies in the neighbourhood of streams and tanks ;

settles on bushes : not seen at water.

III. — Family Danaid^l

C 1. 1(3. Hestia lynceus malabarica, M. Common on the Western Ghats and in

other evergreen localities above the ghats. Not observed at water. Floats

lazily about trees and bushes.

C 2. let. Danals aglea aglea, Cr.

C 2. 7. Danais nilgiriensis, M.

C 2 9. Danais limniace mutina, Fruh.

C 2. 10(3. Danais melissa dravidarum, Fruh.

C 2. 12. Danais plexippus, L.

C 2. 14. Danais chrysippus, L.

With the exception of D. nilgiriensis , all common throughout Coorg.

D. aglea , limniace and melissa dravidarum frequent in crowds Crotolaria

plants. D. nilgiriensis I have only seen at Irpu under the Brahmagiri Range

on the border of the Wynaad, and at Mercara high up, near the Chief

Commissioner’s Bungalow and the hills behind. At Mercara Vanessa indica-

pholcz ; another Nilgiri insect, rare elsewhere in Coorg, is not uncommon

from November to about January.

C 3. 6(3. Euploea klugii kollari, Fd.

C 3. 150. Euploea core core, Cr.

C 3. 180. Euploea coreta coreta, God.

All the Euploeas frequent plants of the Crotolaria family. E. klugii kollari

is by no means common. Both E. core and E. coreta are abundant. Euploea ,

unlike Danais , particularly affects wet roads and mud patches.

IV. — Family Satyrid^e

D 2. 3a-. Mycalesis anaxias anaxias, Hew. Well distributed throughout the

evergreen area, but not abundant. It seems to prefer rather deep shade, and

is less inclined to stray into the open than most other Mycalesis in Coorg. I

have frequently taken it flying in wate with Zipoetis sailis.

D 2. 9a.. Mycalesis perseus typheus, Fruh.

D 2. lOct. Mycalesis miueus polydecta, Cr.

D 2. 11. Mycalesis igilia, Fruh.

D 2. 14. Mycalesis subdita, M.

D 2. 160. Mycalesis khasia orcha, Evans.

Of these five species. M. subdita , which is the usual Mycalesis in the drier

country round Bangalore, seemed to me to be the least common in Coorg.

D 2. 20. Mycalesis adolphei, Guer. As observed by Hannyngton, obtainable only

on the high hills of the Western Ghats. It is however obtainable for a consider-

able distance both on Svvamibetta and Tadiendamolu. On the latter it is to be

had within \ mile of Nalknad palace, at about 4,000 feet : and at much the

same altitude on Swamibetta.

D 2. 320. Mycalesis pafnia junonia, But. Throughout the province in W'ood-

land ; common.

D 3. 23a.. Lethe europa ragalva, Fruh. The least common of the three Lethes

in Coorg ; in fact rather rare.

D. 3. 24a.. Lethe rohria nilgiriensis, Guer. Not uncommon and well distributed

both in the deciduous and the evergreen are^.

THE BUTTERFLIES OF CQORG

1009

D. 3. 25(3. Lethe drypetis todara, M. Very common, especially in the inter-

mediate and evergreen areas.

D 14. 8. Yphthima chetiul, Guer. Rare. I have taken it at 4,000 feet on

Swamibetta. Hannyngton reports it as only near the summit of the same

mountain.

D 14. 9. Yphthima ceylonica, Hew. Not common in Coorg, so far as my

experience goes.

D 14. 10/3. Yphthima hubneri hubneri, Kirby. Very common everywhere in

woods.

D 14. I4ct. Yphthima baldus madrasa, Evans. Very common.

D 15 1. Zipoetis saitis, Hew. Quite common before and after the monsoons,

i.e., March (last half) to May, and September to November. Also ‘ during the

monsoon’ (Hannyngton). Occasionally to be had in other months, e.g.,

December and January ; but it is rare in the dry months. Haunts the

evergreen forest of the western slopes, and particularly favours wate and

damp jungle by streams and rivers. Occurs also above the ghats on the

eastern slopes of the hills, as at Kakkotpole River (Marinad). Floats at 4 to 7

feet above the ground through the zvate clumps, [wate = Ochlandra rheedii\.

D 16ct. Orsotriaena medus mandata, M. Common, at least in the intermediate

and evergreen areas.

D 22. 1. Melanitis leda ismene, Cr. Abundant everywhere in woods.

D 22. 2f3. Melanitis phedima varaha, M. Fairly common in the intermediate

and evergreen areas. I have no record of it from the dry forest.

D 22. 3d. Melanitis zitenius gokala, M. ‘ Is decidedly rare in Coorg ’

(Hannyngton). My captures of it were all in the evergreen and intermediate

areas, by the side of afforested streams.

D 24. Parantirrhoea marshalli, WM. First recorded from Coorg by Col.

H. C. Winckworth r.a. m.c. I have taken it, both and $$, at various

places on the Periambadi ghat, where wate ( Ochlandra rheedii) is abundant,

from Urti at the bottom to a spot above Watecoli. It occurs to my certain

knowledge for ten months of the year— September to June. I have also seen

it on the old disused ghat road at Heggala. It is, I think, not uncommon in

its special haunts, though never easy to get. It seems to have two main

flushes in the year — April-May and September-October.

D 25. let. Elymnias hypermnestra caudata, But. Well distributed through Ihe

intermediate and evergreen areas. I have not seen it in the deciduous forest.

It is at times, e.g., April and October, almost common on the ghats. It flies

higher, settling on trees and tall bushes, than most other Satyrids ; also comes

more into the sunlight.

V. — Family Amathusiid^e

E 10. 3/3. Discophora lepida lepida, M. Not uncommon on the ghats, but

hard to get because of its habits. The rfd normally do not come into the open

by day; especially do they avoid the sun. Early on damp misty mornings,

e.g., in October after rain, they may be occasionally caught sitting on a leaf*

with folded wings, on the edge of the jungle. They may be disturbed during

the day in dark deep jungle. They do not fly far then, but dash from cover to

cover. In the evening just before dark, at about the same time as

Parantirrhoea marshalli flies, Discophora become active ; they fly fast and

high, but seem to come to rest soon and may be caught sitting on a leaf, the

rich brown underneath being conspicuous. The $$ are more in evidence

during the day, and often flit across glades, and do not seem to fear the light

so much as the Discophora lepida is to be found above the ghats also,

e.g., at Srimangala, and at Irpu, and on the edge of the dry area near

Gonicoppal ; in all cases in damp spots by streams or in thick swampy jungles.

It is about from. March to May, September-October, and Decern ber-January,

and may be in other months,

1010 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

VI.— Family. Nymphalid^e

F 1. 2j3. Charaxes polyxena imna, But. ‘ Fairly common in the evergreen

forest ( Hannyngton) . It is also to be seen in the dry eastern forests ; I have

seen it near Karke Bridge, between Fraserpet and Somwarpet, at the end of

January, and near Titimati on the edge of Coorg in September. That it is not

confined to the evergreen forest is proved by the fact that it has been caught in

the Lai Bagh at Bangalore. VC at any rate come down to damp mud or to

wet rock. I have only seen on the edge of jungles, into which they slip

easily at one’s approach.

F 1. 7 (3. Charaxes fabius fabius, F. ‘ A rare visitor in the east ’ (Hannyng-

ton). I record that I have taken it low down on the Periambadi and Sampaje

ghats in March. Both captures were made at water. It is certainly much less

common in Coorg than the last. Round Bangalore fabius occurs prinicpally

from August to October.

F2. Id. Eriboea schreiberi wardi, M. This butterfly is certainly rare, if not

very rare in Coorg : it is even more difficult to catch than it is rare. Hannyng-

ton says he only saw it once in three years on the Periambadi ghat. It flies as

a rule very high round flowering trees, but in the hot part of the day may

come down. I saw one flying very high round a certain small patch of forest

by the river at Urti ; it seemed to come back continually to one small tree,

but always out of reach. I went the next day between 1 and 2 p.m., and at

this time of day, it was flying lower and eventually settled lower underneath

a twig, so that I could catch it. In flight and manner of resting it closely

resembles Eriboea athamas. I have seen not less than a dozen but only captur-

ed two, missing — for it is a very wary insect — a couple of others. I got one at

Kakkotpole river (Marinad), saw and missed one at Irpu, both above the

ghats on the eastern side of the slopes. I have seen it in January, March,

April (end) and May. It occurs, apparently, both above and below the ghats

in ever-green forest, always so far as my observation goes, in the neighbour-

hood of streams. [The British Museum has a splendid series from S. Kanara.]

F 2. 2 (3. Eriboea athamas agrarius, Swin. Common all over Coorg and at

all seasons. It has a habit of choosing a bush or tree, or even a leaf of a

bush to which and from which it flies. It settles either above or below the

leaf. It comes freely to water.

F 6. 8 (3. Apatura parisatis afacinus, Fruh. It is a matter of chance, I suppose,

but my experience was not the same as Hannyngton’s : I saw and caught more

VC than $$. The V often sits upright on a leaf at the edge of a tree or shrub,

to which, if disturbed, he will fly back. He will come down to mud on a

damp road.

F 10. 1 a. Euripus consimilis meridionalis, WM. A rare butterfly. Col. Wink-

worth’s experience was the same as Hannyngton’s; $$ out number CC. I

record my small experience as 2 VC • !$•

F 18. 3 ct. Euthalia lepidea miyana, Fruh. Though not abundant, this butterfly

is, I think, common throughout the evergreen and intermediate areas ; it is

almost as common as E. nais is round Bangalore. It is a shy woodland insect ;

haunts the edges of woods into which it slips when disturbed. It seems to be

somewhat attached to particular spots : I have noticed that, like E. laudabilis ,

it can always be found again at a spot where it has once been observed. I

have never observed it come down to water.

F 18. 10. Euthalia telchinia. Men. I did not catch this myself, but I am satisfied

of its existence in Coorg. The facts are these. In May .1928, a schoolboy,

R. Gilby, of Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, Bangalore, was spending his holidays

with a brother in S. Kanara about 20 miles from the Coorg border. He

bicycled a certain distance into Coorg up the Sampaje ghat to collect butterflies

for a school collection, which Mr. C. N. Marcon, a master at the school, was

getting together. He brought back from this expedition a number of butter-

flies, attractive things such as a schoolboy would notice ; they were mostly well-

known species. Among them was a E. telchinia V, badly damaged, which I

sent to the Society to have my identification verified. The possibility of a

butterfly, known hitherto only in N. E). India and N. Burma, being caught in

THE BUTTERFLIES OF COORG

1011

S. W. India seemed doubtful. I cross-examined the boy, who told me almost

exactly where he caught it on the Sampaje ghat ; and described its flight as

very similar to that of E. garuda (which he called green pigeon). He said he

saw it was something nice, but had no idea of its rarity. He said he had had

no butterflies sent him from the north. The specimen was set by Mr. Marcon

and is in the school museum. I see no reason to doubt its capture in Coorg,

especially as subsequently, in March and April of last year (1929), having

gone to that part of Coorg to look for E. telchinia myself, within 30 yards of

Gilby’s spot I took Itis microstictum , W. M. and Nacaduba pactolus continen-

tal is, and lower down, within half a mile, in the same forest by the river

Amblypodia abseus indicus , Riley and Gerydus biggsii $ ; none of these had

been found nearer than N. East India before. If these, why not the other ?

F 18. 140. Euthalia garuda meridionalis, Fruh. All over Coorg, as elsewhere.

But in the evergreen country I have seen and caught many more of E. lepidea

miyana than of this.

F 18. 170. Euthalia lubentina arasada, Fruh. Except .S’, telchinia this is, so

far as my experience goes, the rarest Euthalia in Coorg. Hannyngton makes

no comment ; his experience would have been valuable. E . lubentina is

fairly widespread. I have taken it in N. Coorg (Madapur) and S. E. Coorg

(Irpu), and on both the Periambadi and Sampaje ghats. I have seen this

Euthalia nearer to water than any of the others, but not actually at water ; on

rocks by a stream, and on a bush above a stream. At Madapur in May 1928,

it frequented Eugenia hemispherica (?) which was in flower.

F 18. 260. Euthalia evelina laudabilis, Svvin. Hannyngton records it from the

Eastern forests and the ghats. I have seen it also on the eastern slope of the

ghat hills. It seems to prefer forest to woodland. It is partial to certain

haunts ; each brood inhabits the area inhabited by its predecessors. Hannyng-

ton gives January and September as months for its appearance. I add March,

April, May and October as months in which I have seen it and taken it.

This beautiful butterfly fascinates by its assimilation of colouring to sur-

roundings. At a corner of a forest path it flits across, settles underneath a leaf

in a bush or tree or on the upper side of a leaf, if the light is not too strong, with

wings expanded in the manner of all Euth alias , and on one’s approach will

disappear, its green lost in the green of the forest. It will sometimes fly out for

a short distance on the open road to disappear again in the forest. Inside the

wood it is almost as hard to follow as Kallima. I have often been reminded by

it of ‘ a green thought in a green shade ’.

I have seen it near streams and have caught it in a ditch by the roadside, but

settled on a leaf not on the ground. I have not seen it settle on mud.

F 18. 27. Euthalia nais, Forst. This is a butterfly that seems to like bright

sunshine and rather dry conditions. For this reason, I suppose, it does not

extend to the evergreen areas. Like Hannyngton I have only seen it in the

eastern part of the province in open parkland on the edge of the deciduous

forest. It commonly flies rather low and settles on the earth with its wings

widespread, brilliant in the bright sunlight.

F 20. 0. Parthenos sylvia virens, M. A butterfly wholly of the evergreen

forests ; chiefly of the ghats and the country below the ghats. Like

E. laudabilis it flies in the shade of the forest, but comes more frequently

outside. It settles on flowers freely : at Sullia in S. Kanara in September 1928,

I saw a dozen or more after rain at 3 p.m. settled on some lantana by the road-

side. It generally seeks cover inside the undergrowth or in the leaves of a

tree. I have never seen it settled on the ground at water. The g appears to

have a bronze patch on the disc uhw.

F 24. 70. Liminitis procris undifragus, Fruh. Flies throughout the evergreen

area both above and below the ghats. Davidson and Aitken, quoted by

Bingham, say the larva feeds from July to October. Since it occurs also in

January and again from March' to May, I presume there must be at least two

more broods. It likes open glades, road sides and clearings ; comes freely to

flowers during the day. I have once seen it settled on wet sand at a small

stream-crossing at the edge of the forest.

F 25. 2ct. Pantoporla nefte inara, Db,

1012 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

F 25. 4 a. Pantoporia selenophora kanara, Evans.

F 25. 10/3. Pantoporia ranga karwara, Fruh.

F 14. Pontoporia perius, L.

All four, so far as my experience goes, are found only in evergreen forest :

they are essentially woodland butterflies, that are generally to be found inside

the forest, but come out to feed or to expand their wings and to enjoy for a short

time the sunlight on the edge of the forest. Of the four, Pantoporia ranga

karwara seems to be the most widespread in Coorg ; the least frequent is

P. selenophora. But none of them can be called common. All four are found

on the ghats (Periambadi and Sampaje).

F 26. let. Neptis columella nilgirica, M. Not common in Coorg, Found in both

th’e deciduous and evergreen forest. Titimati, Srimangala [Irpu road] and the

ghat roads are three typical localities— deciduous, intermediate and evergreen.

F 26. 6ct. Neptis hylas varmona, M. Abundant everywhere,

F 26. 7ct. Neptis soma kallaura, M.

F 26. 8a. Neptis nandina hampsoni, M.

I am uncertain about these. There certainly seem to be two varieties of one

species, if not two species. I have one specimen which closely resembles

N. soma soma of the books. Apart from other characteristics, this and similar

specimens differ from those of the nandina type in the narrow and pointed

nature of the discoidal streak ; the cell streak in these also is less clearly notched

than in those I take to be N. nandina hampsoni . Yet there is no clear

dividing line between the two types. It is difficult to say, after examining

Col. Winckworth’s specimens as well as my own, where one type ends and the

other begins ; there are intermediate and indeterminable specimens. I think

probably an examination of a long series would show them to be all of one

species : and I think only a series of breeding experiments could settle the

matter. Whether one species or two, this rare Neptis is definitely an

inhabitant of the evergreen forest of the ghats and the thick evergreen

woodland above the ghats.

F 26. 26a. Neptis viraja kanara, Evans. This is undoubtedly rare in Coorg and

is apparently only to be found in the thick evergreen forest country. I "have

it from the Periambadi and Sampaje ghats.

F 26. 32/3. Neptis hordonia hordonia, Stoll. Common throughout all areas.

Like N. hylas it comes more into the open than the other Neptis.

F 27. 4a. Cyrestis thyodamas indica, Evans. Common in the evergreen country,

especially near streams. It settles on trees, often under leaves, with either

folded or spread wihgs. Its most characteristic pose, according with its rather

flat jerky flight, is when settled with wings spread flat on the ground on

damp patches. Fairly abundant, especially before and after the monsoon, i.e.,

March to May and September to November.

F 30. 1. Hypolimnas misippus, L. Common in Coorg as elsewhere. I have

not seen $ var. alcippoides. $ var. inaria Cr. occurs both in Coorg and in

Bangalore.

F 30. 2. Hypolimnas bolina, L. More abundant everywhere in Coorg than the

last. Commonly on flowers of all kinds. Not taken at water.

F 33. (5. Doleschallia bisaltide malabarica, Fruh. Hannyngton says he only saw

one specimen in three years on the Periambadi ghat. I have not seen' any.

Col. Winckworth caught one at the bottom of the Periambadi ghat in October

1927. It would seem to be very rare in Coorg.

F 34. 1(3. Kallima philarchus horsfieldii, Koll. Well distributed in the inter-

mediate and evergreen areas ; both above and below the ghats. D.S.F. appears

in October after the S. W. monsoon. This butterfly, though more common

from March to October, flies throughout the year. I am told that in August

when the jack fruit ripens, it is almost abundant in groves of jack trees, being

attracted by the ripe fruit.

THE BUTTERFLIES OF COORG

1013

F 35. 1 a. Precis hierta, hierta, F.

F 35. 2 cfc. Precis orithyia swinhoei, But.

F 35. 3 a. Precis lemonias vaisya, Fruh.

F 35. 4 a. Precis almana almana, L.

F 35. 5. Precis atlites, L.

F 35. 6. Precis iphita pluviatilis, Fruh. All common ; perhaps the least com-

mon in Coorg at any rate in the evergreen area is P. almana , and the common-

est is P. iphita, which is more of a woodland butterfly than the others. P.

atlites is generally found in the neighbourhood of water— wet paddy fields and

streams : it is not apparently; found in the dry country of the Mysore plateau.

F 36. 1. Vanessa cardui, L. Throughout Coorg as elsewhere.

F 36. 2 3* Vanessa indica pholoe, Fruh. Hannyngton considers it a rarity in

Coorg and possibly a straggler from the Nilgiris in the cold weather. It

certainly is not common but the freshness of the specimens I have seen

and the distance of Coorg from the Nilgiris make me doubt his suggestion.

It is, as a matter of fact, fairly common at Mercara in November, on bushes

of Mysore thorn ( Ccesalpina sepiaria) and wild bramble near the Mercara

Travellers’ Bungalow. I have seen it on flowers on the wall from the Commis-

sioner’s gate to his bungalow. Another more distant point from the Nilgiris is

Bhagamandala.

F 36. 3 (3. Vanessa catiace viridis, Evans. Found in a good many places in

Coorg. Generally flies near streams. Has a habit of making short flights and

coming back to the same spot — a rock or a bush.

F 41. (3. Cupha erymanthis maja, Fruh. Common and at times abundant

throughout the intermediate and /evergreen country. Flies round and through

trees and bushes. Settles on various flowers. Not seen at water.

F 42 1. Atella phalanta, Drury. Common, but commoner in the drier areas

than in the evergreen country. A low flier ; settles on trees and bushes. Not

gregarious as the next— at least not in my experience.

F 42. 2 (3. Atella alcippe mercea, Evans. As noted by Hannyngton, ‘ decidedly

local and gregarious ’ on the western slopes. I have seen it once in the eastern

forests on the borders of Coorg. It is evidently rapid in development, and

there must be almost continuous broods. I have taken the larva £ grown ; it

has developed and completed its growth within 48 hours, and passed through

the pupa stage within a week. The small tree Alsodeia zeylanicavs, abundant on

the lower part of the Sampaje Ghat, largely as a rather big undergrowth.

The larva feeds on the bright green tender terminal leaves ; as one passes

through the forest, one hears a continual sound of small things falling to the

ground ; these are the larvae of A. alcippe in all stages of development.

Attached to the leaves are also innumerable pupae. At the same time on the

road especially where the ground is damp, there are continual clusters of the

butterfly, which are so frequent as to be a nuisance ; they distract the eye from

other species. I have seen Atella alcippe in March and April in literal

thousands along’a stretch of H miles of road through the forest. [ Alsodeia

zeylanica is in the Coorg language Okkichelape ; the thin branches or twigs are

said to be used as switches when driving cattle at the plough.]

F 44. [3. Cynthia erota saloma, Swin. Chiefly in the evergreen country : most

common on the ghats. Very easily taken on flowers. Not seen at water. The

D.S.F. of the $ is of a distinctly lighter shade than the W.S.F.

F 45. 4 3- Cirrochroa thais thais, F. Common in the intermediate and ever-

green areas in glades, on trees, and at flowers. Apparently at all seasons.

F 47. 2 3. Cethosia nietneri mahratta, Fd. Throughout the intermediate and

evergreen country, but most frequent on the ghats. Flies in glades and on the

edges of the forest. Not taken at water.

F 48. Byblia ilithiya, Drury. Rare in Coorg. I have never seen it. Col.

Winckworth took one specimen at Urti, Where it occurs round Bangalore at

1014 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXXIV

special spots, it is fairly abundant. Taken from July to January on tank bunds,

in gullies and round bushes.

F 49. 1 a. Ergolis ariadne indica, M.

F 49. 2 3. Ergolis merione merione, Cr. Both are common. Of the two

merione is the commoner. Caught on flowers and on leaves of bushes.

F 52. Telchinia violas, Fab. Throughout the province. Flies low over grass,

settles on low bushes and flowering plants.

VII.— Family Erycinid^e.

G 1.2 <*. Libythea lepita lepitoides, M. Included by Hannyngton. I have not

taken it.

G 1. 3 (3. Libythea inyrrha carma, Fruh. Throughout the province, common.

Especially favours roads, damp spots, and sandy spits in river beds.

G 4. 5 a. Abisara echerius prunosa, M, Very common. Usually in the day-

time flies inside woods ; at dusk flies in the open ; two may be seen chasing

each other round and round in rapid flight. At dusk freely settles on twigs and

leaves in the open.

( To be continued . )

THE PANTHER AS I HAVE KNOWN HIM.

BY

Lt.-Col. A. H. E. Mosse. i.a., f.z.s.

PART IV.

( Continued from page 693 of this volume)

Apart from rare casual meetings, daytime experiences with the

panther are, in the country of which I have most knowledge, usually

associated with beats. Unless, however, there are some special

features most accounts of beats are apt to read much alike. I shall

therefore only refer to one or two.

One beat, a good many years ago, when most of my experience

was still to gain, provided me with one of the shocks of my life and

taught a salutary lesson. The actual beat itself was perfectly

straightforward and calls for no remarks. The panther, a male

of medium size, gave me an easy broadside shot trotting past at

about thirty yards distance. Unfortunately, I held a little too far

forward and he went on with a broken shoulder, getting away into

a jungly hillside where the density of the cover varied considerably.

It simplified matters somewhat that I had been able to see

definitely that the near shoulder was broken ; with a wound of that

type he would not go far, and after half an hour — a longer interval

would have been wiser — I followed him up. Within two hundred

yards he was tracked into some long grass. Stones thrown into

this produced no effect, but a man in a tree thought he could make

him out. So I climbed up; but just as my rifle was being handed

to me there was a commotion in the grass and the panther streaked

out on the far side and disappeared. On following again, a scout

in a tall tree said he had seen the panther go up a wide sandy nullah

straight ahead of us until it turned a corner to the left, round which

he went. The corner of the nullah was some one hundred and fifty

yards ahead. I knew the spot and that the nullah further on was

full of thick korinda bushes, for the shelter of which, I made up my

mind, the panther was making.

This side of the corner then, it seemed there could be no danger

and for the moment my vigilance relaxed. The trackers started

along the nullah. I, for no particular reason that I can remember,

left them, taking a line of my own some twenty yards to the left,

where the ground was fairly open, but intending to rejoin them

before reaching' the corner. However, when I had covered about

fifty yards I came to a patch of grass perhaps a foot high and

five feet square, in which was growing a bush about the size of a

gooseberry bush. I brushed against this in passing and my heart

was in my mouth ! for with a startled ‘wough’, from under my feet

ioi6 Journal , Bombay natural hist, society, voi. xxxiv

sprang- the panther, upon which I had all but trodden ; I nearly

jumped out of my skin ! Before I had recovered myself he was out

of sight behind some bigger bushes. My escape from disaster was

probably due to the fact that the trackers in the nullah, twenty

yards away, thinking, as I did, that the beast was nowhere near,

were talking, and the panther listening to them had not noticed

the silent approach of my hemp-soled boots : he was therefore as

much taken by surprise as myself. Half an hour later we found

him again in a patch of high grass on a steep hillside. I was

reconnoitring this, from above as one should always do, when out

he came straight at me. With his broken shoulder, however, the

hill was too much for him, and he swung round again just as I

fired, missing clean. Again he was marked down under a thorn-

bush, where I could not make him out clearly and hit him, as it

turned out, too far back. He was able to get away, very sick, but

at length the end came with a gallant charge stopped by a bullet

in the brain at about five yards distance. An easy shot, for, though

he meant business, he had not the strength to put much pace into

his effort.

In this case there can be no doubt that I should have been in for

serious trouble, had the panther not been taken by surprise owing

to his attention being fixed on the trackers. Why he had turned

back after rounding the corner of the nullah, instead of proceeding

on to the thicker cover ahead is more than I can guess. But the

moral was clear — never to think one knows with certainty what a

panther will do in any given circumstance. Another lesson was

never to allow any chattering within possible hearing of a beast,

except when absolutely necessary and then only in a whisper,

though, to be sure, it was probably the breach of this rule that saved

me !

Here is an example of the element of luck that obtains in all

shikar. A panther in a beat succeeded in passing my machan

unobserved and then took refuge in a cave, from the shelter of

which nothing would move her. We tried to smoke her out but

without success. At length, a last resource, I fired a shot straight

into the darkness of the cave, hoping that might bring her out : but

there was no result and I had to give up. One of my men however

offered to spend the night in an adjacent tree watching to see if she

emerged before morning. Soon after sunrise he turned up at my

tent with the news that the panther had been moaning as if in pain at

intervals during the night, that she was still in the cave, and, what

was more, that she was now close to the entrance and just visible.

I hurried off to the place, crept quietly up to the cave rifle in hand,

and peeping carefully round a rock was able to make out, indistinctly

but undoubtedly, the spotted skin of the panther lying a few yards

away. Slowly I raised the rifle and fired, springing back on the

instant behind my sheltering rock. Nothing moved, and soon we

had the dead panther dragged out. She wa’s stiff and cold, having

evidently been dead- for some hours ! My random shot of the day

before, fired with no intention but that of rousing her, had found

its billet in the centre of her body. It was a remarkable fluke !

Sometimes the luck is with the panther, as on one occasion when

THE PANTHER AS / HAVE KNOWN HIM 101/

an easy shot at a particularly fine animal trotting quietly past only

twenty yards away, resulted in a misfire ! Twice I have been

beating for a tiger when a panther approached and offered an

easy shot, but was allowed to go unharmed for fear of alarming the

nobler game. On neither occasion did the tiger put in an

appearance at all.

An unwounded panther will rarely charge unless cornered ;

the following incident was perhaps one of the exceptions that

prove the rule. I had been shooting one afternoon, and was on

my way back to camp, when a man came up to say he had just

seen a panther go into some bush in a river-bed close by. This bush

extended for two or three hundred yards, then came to an end.

The banks were comparatively open but on the right bank further

on was some thick jungle. There was no convenient tree and no

time to construct any sort of shelter, so I took up my position on

this bank behind a bush, and sent the men collected from an adjacent

village to beat the river-bed from the other end of the cover. I was

armed with a single-barrelled T50 Express rifle, and had with me

an orderly carrying a 12-bore shot gun loaded with ball. I had

a ‘stop’ posted in a tree to the left to turn the panther if he should

make in that direction.

At length the panther appeared at the edge of the cover in the

river-bed, then crept quietly up the bank and stood fifty yards away,

directly in front of me, and looking towards the jungle at my back.

He apparently came to the conclusion that the way was clear, for

he started forward leisurely enough and in a few seconds more

would have offered me a perfect shot. Unfortunately, the man in

the tree to the left had seen him, lost his head, and emitted a yell.

Instantaneously the panther turned and was back in the river cover

again. Closer came the beaters, making a tremendous shindy, but

for half an hour the panther declined to stir ; at last he came with

a rush, some forty yards to one side. From this point I was not

entirely hidden by my bush ; he spotted me, checked for a moment,

and then, instead of keeping his line for the jungle beyond, turned

and charged straight at me. If I had had any anticipation of this

sort of thing the 12-bore would have been in my hands, not the

T-50 : however there was no time to change now, and as I had only

one bullet on which to count, I had to try and make sure of my shot

by letting him come as close as might be before firing, and trust

to my orderly in case of accident. The panther covered the

intervening space in a minimum of seconds. He was perhaps ten

or twelve paces away and I was on the point of pressing the trigger,

when suddenly he swerved to the right and went past me like a

flash. I swung round and fired a broadside shot at about three

yards distance and never touched him ! To say I was disgusted

would be putting it mildly, but, after all, my rifle-shooting had never

included practice at a lightning-flash !

That panther had had ample cause for losing his temper ; he may

have meant to charge home when he first saw me, but thought

better of it when nearer approach shewed there were two of us, and

that we did not give way. But my own impression is that he was

merely bluffing.

1018 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol.XXXlV

I can however give one instance of an apparently unprovoked

attack. One afternoon two men, Thakardas by caste, came into

my camp, one a youngster of eighteen or so, rather badly mauled

about the right side and arm. Their story was that they were

occupied, in cutting wood, at about mid-day, when a panther

suddenly sprang out upon them, and seized the boy by the right

side, below the arm-pit. He said that he then seized one of the

panther’s ears with his right hand, and with his left its lower jaw,

while the other (his elder brother) sprang astride the panther’s

back and smashed its skull with a blow or two of a heavy stick !

It sounded a tall yarn, but they were so matter-of-fact about it that

I have no doubt it was quite true. I sent out a couple of men with

the uninjured brother and they brought in the dead panther — a

rather small female — with a broken skull, but no other sign of

injury. This attack was a remarkable one, but probably to be

accounted for in one of two ways. The panther may have had

a young family near by (though no trace was found of any), or she

may have been in some manner taken by surprise and thought she

was attacked.

I once witnessed an example of the speed of a charging panther

which afforded as narrow an escape from a ‘nasty mess’ as I have

any desire to see. I had a shot on foot at a panther bounding

away at about thirty yards distance and hit him, as afterwards

appeared, in the hind quarters, the bullet raking forward. He fell

and lay struggling. From his movements I thought his spine was

injured and that he was therefore helpless, so, fired my second barrel

at his head to finish him off. Just as I pressed the trigger he made a

snap at his wounded quarter and I missed. At the sound of the

shot he looked up, and in a moment, for his spine was not injured,

was charging straight for the first man he saw. This was a Rajput

shikari who had come up unknown to me, and was standing

where he had no business to be, about twelve yards to my left.

I dropped my rifle and snatched another from the orderly at my

side, but before it reached my shoulder that raging living thunder-

bolt was on the shikari and down went man and beast together.

Then occurred a remarkable incident. The shikari was wearing

on his head a pagri consisting- of many folds of a mixture of silk

and cotton, a fine but very tough material; this was not merely

wound round his head but was in some way fastened to his hair.

As he fell the panther struck with both paws at his head. Result,

that the next instant the spectacle was provided of the man on his

back and the panther on top, striving, for the moment unsuccess-

fully, to release its claws entangled in the pagri’ s clinging folds !

It was ludicrous if one had had leisure and inclination to laugh.

There was just time however to run up close and put in a finishing

shot, before the panther, not a large one, could do any damage.

The dead beast was pulled off, and the shikari picked himself up

quite unperturbed, true Rajput that he was, and none the worse

except for a single scratch on the back of his hand. Of course he

would not have escaped so lightly but for the fact that the panther’s

first wound was a mortal one and the effort of the charge had

absorbed most of its failing strength. Nevertheless had that first

THE PANTHER AS / HAVE KNOWN HIM

1019

blow been three or four inches lower, the whole front of the man’s

face would probably have been torn clown by those deadly claws.

Though essentially a nocturnal animal, the panther now and then

begins his hunting some time before sunset or continues it after

sunrise. But you will very rarely meet him. With his quickness

of sight and hearing he will invariably detect you first and unless

he chooses to be seen you will not see him. One of the rare

occasions on which I have met a panther casually in the daytime

when not looking for him is worth recalling. It was near

Himatnagar in the State of Idar. I was encamped there shortly .

after the installation, at which I had assisted, of the then

Maharajah, that grand old Rajput sportsman Sir Pratap Singh.

On the river close by was a charming waterfall, the face of which,

wherever the flow was not too strong, was covered with maiden-hair

fern. At the foot of the fall was a deep pool perhaps twenty yards

in length, which at that time was inhabited by a small mugger and

was known to us accordingly as the Mugger Pool. I never saw

more than the nose or top of the head of this mugger but judged

him to be not more than three or four feet long, and therefore no

obstacle to a swim. The delight of those early mornings in the hot

weather ! A plunge in that beautiful cool water, a swim round, and

then to clamber half out and sit amidst the delicate green of the

maiden-hair beneath and surrounded by the silver cascades of the

most perfect natural shower-bath ; what mattered the burning hours

of the day to follow, grilling in an office tent — the present was bliss !

It was on such a morning that I was striking across the pool,

heedless of the mugger's rights, when I happened to glance up

towards the rocks above on the far side, and gasped ! For there,

some fifty or sixty yards above me, on his haunches sat a panther

surveying with interest this new white mugger or whatever it was

that the water had produced. I wished afterwards that I had stayed

in the water to see if he would come nearer to investigate ; but I

was taken by surprise and my only thought was to get back into my

clothes and then to the sowar who had my gun with my pony not

far off.

When he saw me out of the water on the opposite bank, the

panther stood up, looked at me for a moment or two, and then

walked leisurely away. Later we tried to track him up but without

success. It was extraordinary his being there, three or four miles

from the nearest cover, so late in the morning, for it must have been

two hours after sunrise. Looking back, what seems so ridiculous is

that I felt extremely uncomfortable at being seen in a state of

nature — by a panther ! I can’t explain why : if one had to come to

an unduly close acquaintance with a panther’s claws, one might

almost as well be without any clothes for all the protection they

would afford.

We all know the weasel’s reputation for not being caught

napping, but how many people have caught a panther asleep?

I was once just on the point of starting on a twenty-mile ride

to catch a train, for a few days’ leave in the hot weather; when

khabar came in of a panther in a small nullah, two or three miles

distant and not out of my way.

J1

1020 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

A villager had noticed the fresh tracks and with an eye to possible

bakshish had followed a short distance and actually found the

panther asleep. He took me straight there trotting beside my pony

until it became advisable for me to dismount. There was no time

to collect beaters, and the chances were all in favour of the panther’s

escape once he was roused, so I determined to try and stalk him

as he lay. My guide led me to where the nullah was narrowest,

creeping up behind a thick bher tree growing out of the grass.

On the far side he said the panther was lying. With the utmost

caution I parted the cover sufficiently to study the opposite bank

about seven or eight yards away, -and after two or three minutes’

inspection distinguished a patch, about twelve inches by six in area,

of spotted skin, in a slight hollow under the top of the- bank behind

some bushes and long grass.

I could see nothing of head or limbs, and saw no possibility of

obtaining a better view from any other spot. Besides, I dared not

move again, so took the risk and fired. A very slight convulsive

movement and that was all ; with great luck my bullet had found

his heart. Unsporting? Well : from one point of view, as I have

said before, panthers are vermin and one need not be over-

scrupulous as to one’s methods of destroying them. On this

occasion there was no time for any other plan and I had hardly

expected to be able to make such a successful approach. Then my

shot was an extremely fortunate one, for I had no certainty as

to what part of the body I was aiming at. If it had been a few

inches further back, the wound would probably not have been

immediately fatal or disabling, and close as I was to him it might

very well have then been the panther’s turn. Moreover, to clinch

the matter, there was at the time a man-eating panther in the

district and, though there was no conclusive proof of identity, there

was some reason for thinking that this might be the criminal.

I think the unexpected incident which stands out clearest in my

memory is that of my first meeting with that rare beast, the black

panther. It was in the Nilgiris where, of course, the occurrence of

melanistic specimens of the panther is less infrequent than is the

case farther north. I had been doing a morning prowl in the hope

of finding a warrantable sambur stag keeping later hours than

usual, but without success. Strolling leisurely back towards my

camp, I heard the swearing of a party of the black langur monkeys

of the Nilgiris coming from an adjacent shola — as the patches of

thick cover are called which clothe the hollows and parts of the

slopes of hills on the high Nilgiri plateau. I had no doubt that

the commotion was due to the presence of one of the big cats. The

shola was quite a small one separated by a strip, some forty or

fifty yards wide, of open hillside, from another and much bigger

shola. This fact seemed to offer a possibility of inducing the unseen

beast, tiger or panther, to move to the more secure shelter of the

larger cover.

I therefore sat me down under an isolated small tree between the

two sholas and sent my two men to walk through the small shola

from the far side. The scheme worked according to plan. Not

five minutes had passed when there sprang out from the lower end

THE PANTHER AS I HA VE KNO IVN HIM 1021

of the shola a black panther ! With the sun shining* on his coal black

hide, he presented a beautiful picture of graceful movement as he

proceeded in great cantering bounds towards the cover beyond

while I missed him clean with both barrels ! A trotting panther

maintains the same level and is an easy mark, but when he bounds

it is another matter. He was a hundred yards away ; so, at that gait,

there was a measure of excuse for my failure; but it was a great

disappointment.

Three days later and over a mile away, time about 9 a.m.,

a black something caught my eye on the far side of a wooded ravine.

Putting my glasses on to it, I recognized my friend again, this

time in the company of an ordinary yellow panther who, to the naked

eye, had not been visible. It took me some half an hour to get to the

other side of the ravine, by which time the black panther had

disappeared, though his yellow mate lay basking on a rock. I did

not disturb her.

Early in the afternoon I was out again lying in wait. I had not

been able to procure a goat. After a while the monkeys gave

warning of some beast on the move and presently the yellow panther

emerged from cover two hundred yards away, but though I waited

until dark the black one did not appear again.

As I have said, in the Nilgiris the black panther is not so great

a rarity as farther north. I had never heard of one in Gujarat.

However, in the year 1924, I was encamped in a jungly district of

the Idar State. There were panthers abo.ut but I was occupied with

a Border Court and had not attempted to make their acquaintance.

The work of the Court finished, I spent my last afternoon

on a visit to a Bhil Mission Settlement some miles away. Returning

home I was within half a mile of my camp just before sunset when

I saw a black dog, as I thought, cross the track one hundred yards

in front of my car, and halt on the bank at one side. When within

fifty yards it dawned on me that this was no dog but a black panther

of moderate size! I immediately stopped the car and got my rifle

out of its cover, but before I could load the beast decided to move

on and with a graceful bound disappeared in the jungle adjacent

to the track. This was a great surprise, rather exasperating tod

to think that, had I tied up for him during the week I had been

there^ I might well have got him. I could not postpone my departure

and was unable to visit that neighbourhood again before leaving

the district for good.

It will be noted that it was his colour which enabled my eye to

pick up that Nilgiri specimen at a distance. And at closer range,

under conditions of light when an ordinary panther, if motionless,

would be more or less invisible, a black one would almost always

be conspicuous. To what extent this conspicuousness actually

handicaps the animal in capturing its prey is problematical. That

it does so to a certain extent it seems reasonable to suppose, but

I fancy the handicap is less than one might imagine owing to the

success with which any creature that keeps still can avoid detection

in the jungle. Another factor that may have some importance is

the rarity of the black panther ; the deer tribe in India have ordinarily

no occasion to associate black as a colour with a four-footed foe.

1022 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

while their curiosity at sight of an entirely strange object is

sometimes liable to lead them to destruction.

The panther’s occasional practice of hiding his ‘kill’ for safety

up a tree is well-known. Also that he will sometimes lie in wait

upon a branch above a game track. I am sure too that during a

beat he will often seek refuge within the concealing foliage of a

thick tree. I have, however, actually seen a panther in a tree on

three occasions only. A goat killed by a panther was on one

occasion dragged the remarkable distance of three-quarters of a mile

and hidden under a bush at the foot of a thick foliaged evergreen

tree known in Gujarat as the rhain. One of two men sent out at

midday to construct a hide came back with the news that, while

studying the rhain tree as to its possibilities for a machan, they had

detected the panther itself well hidden in the heart of the tree. I set

forth at once, to be informed by the second man who had remained

on watch that the beast had not moved. At a distance of forty

yards, even with the glasses, I could see nothing. It was only after

I had approached with circumspection to within twenty yards that

I was able, with the aid of the binoculars, to distinguish just the

round head of a panther looking lazily at me from a height of

about eighteen feet and obviously quite satfsfied that it was entirely

concealed from view. I removed the glasses from my eyes and

could see nothing. Putting them up again I took note of a

conspicuous yellow leaf exactly above his right eye which afforded

a definite point of aim. I felt certain I could make sure of the

brain at that distance. Aiming accordingly, I fired ; there was a

convulsive struggle or two and all was still. The glasses showed

the body hanging across a branch head downwards ;-he was obviously

dead. Imagine my disgust on getting him down to find that my

victim was a poor little half-grown cub, four or five months old !

Viewing, as I had done, the head through glasses only I had not

realized its small size. It had not occurred to me to suspect the pre-

sence of cubs, of which the tracks had not been noticed though, wise

after the event, I now understood that the mother had dragged

her kill that unusual distance in order to bring it near to the spot

where she had left her children. I saw the mother, rather a large

female, with a second cub later, but did not interfere with her as the

cub was hardly large enough to shift for itself.

I have already mentioned a female panther which climbed into

a tree so as apparently to keep an eye to the proceedings of her

youthful son who was about to try and make a kill. I do not think

I can bring my stories of the panther to a better conclusion than

by giving an account of my third experience of a panther in a tree —

an incident which for me shed a new light upon the panther’s

intelligence.

It was among the hills of Northern Gujarat. I had two beats

one morning in the hot weather for a panther of no great size : on

each occasion she contrived either to break back through the beaters

or to sneak past one of the stops. Each time she was marked down

again — an unusual piece of luck. The third time was on a hillside

overgrown in parts with long grass, in parts with bush of varying

thickness, and dotted all over with a number of trees, I took post

THE PANTHER AS 1 HAVE KNOWN HIM

1023

in a tree at the foot of the hill and the beat started from above

down towards me.

About five minutes after the commencement, the beaters were still

near the top of the hill when, about half way down, some ninety

yards away from me, the panther suddenly appeared leaping up

on to the trunk of a tall tree, bare of foliage, which stood out

prominently among its lesser neighbours. Leisurely the great cat

climbed towards the summit, and there in the highest fork sat down

to watch the advancing line of beaters. For four or five minutes

she studied the numbers and dispositions of the enemy,. then, having

learnt all she wanted to know, proceeded to descend again, leisurely

as before and disappeared in the long grass below.

A friend to whom I told the story remarked : ‘Of course she

climbed the tree in search of a hiding place’. She did nothing of

the sort. No panther’s instinct would lead it to try and hide in a

leafless tree that obviously afforded no cover whatever, and that

when there were actually two other trees with abundance of foliage

within a few yards. This panther had been twice disturbed by the

beaters : now when she heard the sounds of their approach again

she selected the most suitable tree for her purpose and went aloft

to reconnoitre. Her deliberation was most marked. Here was no

working of that mysterious faculty we call instinct, but an action —

or rather a series of actions— of definite intelligence, the outcome

of some degree of conscious thought. No man who watched this

beast’s behaviour as I did could possibly believe otherwise.

And so much for the panther as I have known him.

THE BULBULS OF THE NlLGiRIS.

( With 2 plates.)

BY

F. N. Betts.

The Bulbul family, the Pycnonotidce, is well represented on these

hills. From the plains level to the summit of the highest peaks,

in the heart of the towns or the depths of the jungle, members

of the clan are always in evidence and their cheerful voices provide

sl very large proportion of the bird music that falls upon the ear.

Six species have been recorded from the district, of which four

are common and two rare, and it is unlikely that any others occur.

They are all arboreal in habit and seldom come to the ground except

to gather nesting material and when they do their weak, short legs

will hardly support them and they shuffle about in a very awkward

manner. As a family they are catholic in their feeding habits.

Whilst some species are almost entirely frugivorous, most of them

consume large quantities of insect food and are always ready to

turn fly-catcher especially when a flight of termites is in progress.

Though none of them have any song, properly speaking, yet their

calls are usually tuneful and always light hearted and even the

Black Bulbul whose voice is harsh and raucous seems inspired

with such sheer exuberance of spirits that one can forgive its

discordance.

By far the most familiar of them all is the Red-whiskered Bulbul,

Otocompsa emeria fuscicaudata. It is probably the commonest and

certainly the most conspicuous bird on the Nilgiris at all elevations.

Tame and confiding to a degree, it delights in gardens and culti-

vated country but is equally common in open scrubby jungle, though

it avoids heavy forest and the bare, treeless, grass downs of the

plateau. Though not strictly speaking gregarious, loose flocks of

considerable size are often to be seen after the breeding season, but,

if carefully watched, these will be found to consist of a number of

independent pairs. They do not seem to wander a great deal and

each pair usually remains in the neighbourhood of its breeding

haunts throughout the year.

This species is quite omnivorous and plays havoc with fruit in

gardens and has a playful habit of pulling up the most valuable of

the seedlings which the ‘mali’ has just put out in the flower beds.

It however consumes a great many insects, many, no doubt,

harmful which must be put to its credit. It not infrequently comes

to the ground to feed, but it is by no means at home there. At times

especially in the evening, it will try its skill at fly-catching, darting

out from some outstanding twig and displaying considerable

dexterity though it is not such an adept as the Black Bulbul.

It is a noisy bird and has a variety of calls. The one which seems

to correspond most nearly to a song is a rollicking phrase sounding

like ‘The Rice must be finished off’. In the breeding season the

THE BULBULS OF THE NI LG IRIS

1025

males may often be seen posturing- before their mates with drooping;,

quivering- wing-s and tail, repeating this sentence over and over

again, evidently under the impression that they are songsters of

the highest order ! The alarm note is a harsh ‘lerrrr’. This is

employed when the nest is approached or when there is a hawk

or owl in the vicinity and it may often be heard in the evening when

the birds are going to roost and each seems to feel it incumbent on

him to scold at the top of his voice by way of a goodnight, just as

the English blackbirds scream and cackle in the shrubberies at dusk.

The nesting season is prolonged and stray nests may be found in

any month, but the main period is from February to June and again

in September after the South-West monsoon.

The nest is a shallow and usually fairly neat cup of twigs and

dead leaves bound with cobwebs especially round the rim. The

lining is nearly always roots and dead grass, but I once found one

lined with hair. Almost any site may be chosen but it is seldom

far from and is sometimes actually on the ground. The most usual

situation is in some low bush or evergreen shrub, or in a creeper

growing up a wall or verandah. It is usually fairly well concealed

and, where the birds breed in big patches of Lantana or other scrub,

may be quite hard to find. In gardens and where cover is scarce,

any bush that provides some sort of shelter is certain to be occupied.

The highest nest I have ever found was some fifteen feet up at the

end of a branch of an isolated Blackwood tree ; but this is out of the

ordinary. The birds are very faithful to their favourite site. One

pair always breed every year in a bamboo just outside my bungalow.

This year they had a nest there with two eggs early in March which

successfully hatched after eleven days’ incubation. They were very

circumspect in approaching the nest and I never saw them building.

The hen, presumably, sat very close and would allow me almost to

touch her before flying off. Both birds fed the young and seemed

to bring nothing but flies and caterpillars. I have seen fledgelings,

however, given Lantana berries. Unfortunately, these young

disappeared after a few days, a crow being almost certainly the

culprit. Nothing daunted, the Bulbuls built another nest a

fortnight later in just the same spot, but again disaster overtook

them, after which they gave it up and built in a small Dadap tree

some thirty yards away.

In this part of the world the normal clutch is two, three being

rare, and a bird in my garden is at the present date, June 18th, sitting

on a single egg — probably a third or fourth brood. The eggs vary a

good deal both in size and colouring, but in this district there appear

to be two main types. The commoner is pinkish in ground colour,

heavily freckled and mottled uniformly all over with small spots and

speckles of various shades of purple and reddish-brown so that the

ground colour is hardly visible. In the other type, the markings are

a beautiful, rich, mahogany-red with no purple or pink at all and so

heavy as almost to obscure the white ground colour.

Common and tame as they are, I have not found them easy birds

to photograph. Building a hide and clearing a view for the lens

always attracts the crows and in the more open situation the nests

are time and again robbed before one can get any pictures. When

the nest is in a thick bush, the birds have a most annoying habit of

im JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

creeping- up from behind and carefully keeping* the nest between

themselves and the camera, so that all one sees is a head. Plate

No. 1 took three hours to obtain. The nest contained young and

I had put up the hide some days before, so that the parents were

quite used to it but they were very shy of the lens and absolutely

refused to give a good pose, creeping up from behind to feed the

young and showing the greatest alarm at the sound of the shutter.

Finally however one of them settled down to brood and became as

bold as she had hitherto been timid. Nothing seemed to disturb

her, neither the shutter nor the noise of changing plates. She

allowed me to take a second exposure without the slightest

movement and only flew off upon my emerging from the hide.

This species is unmistakeable for any other. It has a black head

with a long pointed crest jutting forward like Punch’s cap and only

depressed^ in flight or when sitting on the nest. The patches of

crimson on the cheeks and vent, the white throat and underparts and

the incomplete gorget of brown on the breast are all quite

distinctive.

The young birds on leaving the nest lack the red on the cheeks

and vent and their crests are very short, but they quickly put on

mature plumage and do not stay with their parents for more than

a few weeks.

The Madras Red-vented Bulbul, Molpastes cajer cafer is very

similar to the last species in all its habits, but in this district

is not nearly so common or widely distributed. It is a bird of

lower elevations. Davison obtained a straggler, near Ootacamund

at 7,000 feet, but this is most unusual. According to him, it

begins to become common just above Coonoor at about 5,000

feet and is very common all down the Eastern slopes. On the

Western side, I have never seen it above 4,000 feet and it is nowhere

very common. Even at the foot of the slopes on the Wynaad

plateau, it is not numerous anywhere south of Gudalur. From

Gudalur northwards, however, it increases in numbers till it becomes

the common species on the Mysore plains. It is restricted to drier

country a^nd will never be found in heavy forest, preferring open

parkland, light deciduous jungle, gardens and cultivation. It Is

not a gregarious species and is nearly always to be seen in pairs.

It feeds on the ground occasionally and consumes a large variety of

insects, seeds and berries and, like the Red-whiskered Bulbul, can

be very destructive in gardens. The nest is indistinguishable from

that of Otocompsa emeria and is built in just the same situations ;

but the eggs, which vary considerably, are of quite a different type,

being much more boldly and sparingly marked.

The Madras Red-vented Bulbul has a black head with short bushy

crest, dark brown upper parts with lighter fish-scale markings,

sooty breast, white rump, crimson patch on the vent and the white

tips to the tail feathers.

The Black Bulbul, Micrscelis psavoides ganeesa, is purely a hill’

species, and does not occur much below 4,500 feet except as a

scarce wanderer in the cold weather. Above that level, however, it

is extremely common. It is a very different bird from either of the

last two species, being entirely arboreal and keeping very much to

the tree-tops, seldom descending even as low as the undergrowth

J O-URN., BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC.

NEST OF RED- WHISKERED BULBUL. RED-WHISKERED BULBUL ON NEST.

THE BULBULS OF THE Nl LG IRIS

102 1

The borders of the hill sholas are its favourite haunts and there it

will be found in flocks of considerable size whose members play

follow-my-leader from tree to tree and make the air ring- with their

harsh cries. Untidy-looking birds, clad in rusty black with a short

ragged crest and red legs and beak, their slightly forked tails give

them a faint resemblance to . king crows. Certain jungle trees in the

fruiting season attract large numbers and they are also very fond of

visiting the flowers of trees like the Coral Tree (Erythina) though,

whether they come for the honey or the insects attracted thereby, it

is hard to decide. They are the strongest fliers of the family and

are expert fly-catchers. In the non-breeding season large flocks

collect and though not strictly mig-ratory, they wander a great deal

at this time. They desert the western side of the hills almost entirely

during July and August when the South-West monsoon is at its

height. Like most Bulbuls, they are very pugnacious especially in

the breeding season when the males fight fiercely and they will

defend their nests boldly against all intruders. They are extremely

noisy creatures and have a large number of calls all loud and

strident, the commonest being a long-drawn squealing ‘weenk’.

The neighbourhood of a nest is often betrayed by the scolding and

cursing which goes on as one approaches it.

Though they are not birds of the garden, they are by no means

shy but they seldom breed in the neighbourhood of houses or

villages. The nesting season lasts from March till May and several

broods are reared. The nests are always at a considerable height

from the ground, anything from fifteen feet upwards.

They are particularly fond of the rather stunted trees standing

apart at the edge of1 the forest belt where the grassy slopes of the

higher hills begin. The nests are built in a horizontal fork, usually

at the very top of the tree or at the end of an outlying branch, and

are neat, shallow cups of dry grass and leaves with a good deal

of moss, lined with rootlets or fine grass. The eggs are almost

invariably two in number and are very handsome, white or pinkish

in ground colour, heavily clouded and spotted with brownish red and

purple, but never to such an extent as to conceal the ground.

The young birds resemble their parents and soon leave them to

join the main flocks which even in the breeding season do not

break up entirely.

The Yellow-browed Bulbul, I ole icterica, is a forest species

which does not occur above about 4,500 feet and is almost confined

to the heavy evergreen jungle which covers so much of the slopes of

the hills. In its normal habitat, however, it is very common. It is

usually to be seen in pairs and appears to be purely frugivorous.

Even the young when quite small are fed upon berries and matter

regurgitated from the parent’s crop. One pair that I observed

brought berries up to nearly f inch in diameter. These were not

given at once, but held in the old bird’s beak whilst the youngster

pecked and pulled apparently until the skirt was broken. When

it was finally given, the old bird put its beak into the chick’s

throat and removed the stone. Normally they are rather shy but

I have found them the easiest of birds to photograph. I put up my

hide within three feet of one nest and had hardly entered it before

the birds were back brooding and feeding the young with the

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

greatest confidence and taking no notice at all of the lens or the

noise of the shutter. Unfortunately for photographic purposes, the

nests are nearly always in dense, dark forest where the light is

very poor. They are placed in small saplings or evergreen shrubs

among the undergrowth. In this district, in nine cases out of ten,

the nests are in the laurel-like shrub shown in the photographs.

They are not particularly well concealed and are very distinctive,

being shallow cups made almost entirely of green moss bound with

cobwebs and lined with black rootlets and always slung in a

horizontal fork. The eggs, two in number, are unlike those of

any other Bulbuls. They are white, heavily spotted and spotted with

small reddish spots and have none of the purple shades so common

in the eggs of this family.

Yellow-bowed Bulbuls are handsome bfrds with their bright

yellow foreheads and underparts and olive-green wings and

backs. They have sweet voices with a number of mellow

whistling notes, though the alarm call is somewhat harsh and

jarring.

The remaining two species are both rare forest birds and are

only found at comparatively low elevations.

The Ruby-throated Bulbul, Pycnonotus gularis, is a strikingly

handsome little bird, with a black head, yellow eye, crimson throat

and sulphur yellow underparts, the remainder of the back, wings

and tail being olive-yellow. They are small birds for Bulbuls and

are extremely shv inhabiting the thickest jungle, especially brakes

of Lantana or thorny bamboos. Here they go about in small

parties, usually very silent, though a low, churring call note may

sometimes be heard. In the breeding season they have a delightful

little tinkling song far above the average performance of the

family. They are largely insectivorous and spend most of their time

diligently searching the trees for their insect food. They never come

to the ground. In this district the only place that I have seen them is

at the foot of the hills in the Ochterloney Valley, in old bamboo

jungle now entirely overgrown with Lantana. I have never found

the nest, but it is said to be of the usual type, a small cup of dead

leaves bound with spider’s webs, and lined with a few roots and

grasses and placed in low bushes in heavy forest, never in the open.

The Gray-headed Bulbul, Microtarsus poiocephalus, has only once

been recorded from the district, Davison obtaining a specimen near

Coonoor. It will probably be found to occur, however, not uncom-

monly, on the forested slopes below 3,000 feet at any rate on the

Malabar side. It is a shy and unobtrusive species usually found in

small hocks among the tree tops in swampy jungle. They are

entirely arboreal rarely descending even to the undergrowth and

seem to be mainly insectivorous. They are fairly noisy birds,

continually uttering a long-drawn wheezy note which seems to be

their only call.

They are soberly clad in dull green and grey. In the field the

most distinctive features are the clear grey rump and tail, the

latter bordered with black. The white iris is also conspicuous.

The nest according to the Fauna is a small, compact cup placed in

low bushes in heavy jungle. The eggs number two, or not

infrequently one only.

JOURN., BOMBAY NAT. HIST. SOC.

YELLOW-BROWED BULBUL AT NEST.

(. Iole icterica.)

NEST OF YELLOW-BROWED BULBUL.

( Iole icterica.)

NOTES ON INDIAN THYSANOPTERA WITH BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS

OF NEW SPECIES.

BY

T. V. Ramakrtshna Ayyar, b.a., ph.d., f.z.s. ; and

V. Margabandhu, m.a.

Madras Agricultural Department.

( With 2 plates and a text figure ) .

This paper is intended to be the first supplement to a Memoir * on Indian

Thysanoptera published by the senior author in 1928. As mentioned therein

further collections of Indian forms were made since then and portions of the

material worked out from time to time. In this short paper eleven new

species including a new genus are described ; in addition a few fresh records

for India and available notes on:already noted species are also added.

The new forms noted are the following : —

Erythrothrips asiaticus. n. sp.

Hiolothrips pandyani.

Mymarothrips garuda.

Dendrothrips dwivarna.

Heliothrips kadaliphila.

Euryaplothrips crassus.

(new gen. and sp.)

Fulmekiola indica.

Scolothrips asura.

Oxythrips hemavarna.

Haplothrips tirumalraoi.

Euoplothrips malabarica.

n. sp.

Erythrothrips asiaticus, n. sp,

Macropterous female.— Length, 1*520 mm. General colour, greyish to dark

brown with reddish pigment here and there. The head, mouth-cone, the first

two antennal joints, the dorsal aspect of the head and prothorax and all the

femora dark grey ; abdomen and pterothorax light grey with reddish pigment

on the latter and on the last abdominal segment ; ovipositor yellowish.

Antennal joints 3 and 4 light yellow, with the latter greyish towards apex ;

5th to 9th grey to yellowish grey. Eyes dark, ocelli brownish. Wings, trans-

parent with the veins and cross-veins light grey ; there is a longitudinal dark

grey band along the posterior border of the fore-wing which is broadest

at middle. Fringes found only on the posterior margin of the wings. All tibiae

and tarsi lemon-yellow, tibial spines dark-brown.

Head as long as broad and scarcely longer than prothorax, vertex very

slightly produced between the closely approximate bases of the antennas ;

cheeks parallel, eyes prominent, and less than half the length of the head,

twice as broad as long, spherical and pilose. Mouth-cone rather pointed and

reaching the base of mesosternum. Maxillary palpus 5-jointed. Antennae

twice as long as head ; joints 1 and 2 of same length, 3 and 4 of same length

and almost of the same breadth throughout, though broader towards the apex

than at the base ; joints 5 to 9 together longer than either 3rd or 4th. The

latter have large sense areas. There are short hairs on all the joints and a few

transparent short bristles on the 9th.

Thorax : prothorax broader than long and not armed ; pterothorax longer

and broader than prothorax. Fore femora broad and stout. Wings extend

to 9th abdominal segment, fore-wing of same breadth except at base and apex,

cross-veins clear, costal margin with no fringes or spines ; about a dozen short

conspicuous setae present along the dark longitudinal band.

Abdomen as long as or slightly longer than head and thorax put together,

posterior angles of segments 2 to 8 with a pair of short bristles and the 9th and

10th with a few longer ones.

Measurements /—Head length *209 mm, breadth T71 mm ; prothorax, length

*181 mm, breadth *200 m. ; Antennal joints: 1 38u, II 38u, III 86u, IV 81u,

V 41u, VI 29u, VII 24u, VIII lOu, IX 5u.

* Memoirs of the Dept . of Agriculture , India , Entom. ser., vol. x (7),

pp. 217-316, 1928.

1030 journal , Bombay natural hist, society , w. xxxiv

Described from two specimens got from grass sweepings at Coimbatore,

S. India. (V. M. Coll.)

This is the first species of Erythrothrips discovered in the Old world,

the two previously known ones being American, viz., E. arizonce , Moulton and

E. durango, Watson ; the Indian form differs from these two in some distinct

features. Some of these differences are the colour of the antennae and legs,

the extent of the dark wing band, and the structure and number of the setae

on the posterior wing-vein.

4:olothrips fulyicollis, Bagnall.

(A. M. N. H. 9, iv, 1919, p. 253.)

Bagnall’s very brief description of this species may be supplemented with the

following notes taken from specimens of the insect collected on Mango in Pusa

Behar, and received from Mr. Fletcher : —

General colour dark to greyish or yellowish brown. Head and abdomen dark

to grey brown, prothorax yellowish, pterothorax brown to dark brown and of a

lighter hue than head and abdomen. Mouth-cone grey. Antennae dark brown

except apex of 2nd and basal two-thirds of 3rd which are yellowish. Legs grey

to dark brown — the forelegs and the femora of the middle and hindlegs more

or less suffused with yellow. Wings greyish brown with three distinct

transparent cross bands, at base, middle and apex ; veins and cross veins

very light grey ; fringes brownish.

Head slightly broader than long and as long as pronotum. Mouth' cone pointed

reaching base of mesosternum. Antennal joints 3 and 4 of same length, joint

5 equal in length to joints 6 to 9 together. 3 and 4 have elongated and the 5th

a small roundish sense area towards the apical region of each ; that of the 4th

very clear over the dark brown ground colour of the joint. The long and cross-

veins of fore-wing distinct, costal spines short and sharp ; 8 setae on upper

vein beyond the central cross-vein, most of them situated on the preapical

fuscous area. Fringes absent on costal margin. Front legs shorter than the

other four. Abdomen broadest at middle, apex bluntly pointed, 9th and 10th

segments with long dark bristles.

The male which was not noted before by Bagnall was also collected with the

above material and the following notes on the male may be added : — -

Macropterous male. — Coloured similar to female except that the apical

segments of the abdomen are darker, testes reddish. 2nd and 3rd joints of

antennae except the extreme apex of 3rd almost wholly whitish yellow' in some,

joint 5 a little longer than joints 6 to 9 together ; the sense area of the 4th

curved at apex. Wings extend to apex of abdomen. Abdomen with the 9th

segment stout and broad with a strong hook like clasper and a very stout

curved spine on each posterior angle ; 10th segment rather small and with a

tranverse row of long bristles just before apex.

^olofhrips pandyani, n. sp0

Macropterous female. — Length T85 mm. General colour yellowish browm, the

head and thorax, especially the latter of a deeper brown ; abdominal tergites 6

to 8 greyish brown, the rest of the abdomen yellowish brown, more yellowish

than the thorax. Ventral side of abdomen and ovipositor yellow. The first

four joints of the antennae uniformly^ whitish yellow, 5th to 9th inclusive dark

grey to black ; in some specimens the 3rd and 4th sometimes show a touch of

greyish brown. Eyes black, ocelli with reddish pigment cups. Legs yellowish

suffused with brown, especially so in the case of the middle and hind-legs,

tarsi paler. Wings light grey brown with two distinct broad transparent cross-

bands, one a little beyond the base and the other a little beyond the centre, the

latter is very clear ; hind-wings with uniform very light grey infumation.

Head broader than long, cheeks gently arched and broadening towards base ;

vertex very slightly projecting forwards between the bases of the antennae.

Eyes large, half as long as head. No conspicuous bristles on head ; one or

two very short spines on cheek behind eyes and a few slender short ones on the

occiput. Mouth-cone broad at base and broadly pointed and reaching middle

of prosternum. Antennal joints 1 and 2 stout and cylindrical, 2nd longer than

1st, 3rd which is the longest of all has a distinct basal stalk and has almost the

same breadth beyond the stalk, 4th shorter than 3rd, and of same shape but

without the stalk. 5th to 9th together slightly longer than the 3rd, 5th is the

longest of the distal five and as long as all of them together. 3rd and 4th

Plate I.

Thysanoptera

{For explanation see end of article .)

Journ,, Bombay Nat. Hist. So t.

Plate li

Indian Thysanoptera

{For explanation see end of article.)

NOTES ON INDIAN THYSANOPTERA

1031

joints have a long very narrow pale membraneous area along the inner margin,

which is evidently sensory.

Prothorax as long as but broader than head, sides slightly arched outwards

with no conspicuous bristles. Pterothorax broader than prothorax at base but

narrowing towards abdomen. Front legs rather stouter and shorter

with the femora slightly incrassate ; all the tibiae with strong apical

spurs. Wings extend to 9th abdominal segment, fore-wings long and broadly

rounded at apex with the long and cross-veins clear ; the upper vein has 10

to 12 and the lower 9 or 10 short setae beyond the central cross-vein ; costal

margin with about 35 small spines. Wing scale has 3 or 4 setae in a row and

2 or 3 long bristles at apex. Wing fringes only along post half of hind margin.

Abdomen longer than head and thorax together ; narrow at base, widest at

middle and again narrowing towards anal segment ; the latter bluntly pointed.

9th and 10th segments with moderately long bristles. Ovipositor conspicuous

and turned upwards.

Measurements: Head, length *200 mm., breadth ‘222 mm.; Prothorax,

length *200 mm., breadth *246 mm. Pterothorax, breadth ’333 mm.

Antennal joints-I 50u, II 55u, III 190u, IV 160u, V 120u, VI 50u, VII 35u,

VIII 20u, IX 15u.

Macropterous male.— Length P555 mm. Almost of the same colour as female,

but with the greyish colour more conspicuous all over the body. In the

antennae the apex of the 3rd, the 4th, and 5 to 9 joints all of a uniform greyish

brown colour. Testes visible as reddish bodies.

Body elongated and slender ; limbs long, abdomen long and narrow. The

5th joint of antenna much longer than all the other apical segments together.

The 9th abdominal segment not so large as in fulvicollis and without very

strongly developed spines or hooks. Measurements : — Head, length T76 mm.

breadth -155 mm. ; Prothorax, length T55 mm. breadth *200 mm. ; Antennal

joints : I 45u, II 55u, III 225u, IV 220u, V 160u, VI 25u, VII 25u, VIII 15u,

IX 15u.

Described from a dozen females and a few males collected on ‘ Cumbu ’

ears ( Pennisetum typhoidum ) and grass sweepings at Koilpatti, Tinnevelly Dt.

(T. V. R. Coll.)

This is the second species of ‘ AEolothrips ’ noted from India, the first being

A. fulvicollis , Bagnall noted from N. India. This new form differs from

fulvicollis in many distinctive features, such as the colour of the antennal

joints and wings, the relative lengths of the antennal joints and the structure

of the posterior abdominal segments in the male.

Myniarothrips garuda, n. sp.

Macropterous female. — Length 1*615 mm. This very interesting insect resem-

bles in many respects the African species M. ritchianus described by Bagnall in

1926. This new form however differs from it in the following characters

General colour is yellowish brown with reddish pigment especially over the

abdominal segments 3 to 6 and the apical segment; a bright yellow median

longitudinal patch extends from the ocellar region to the base of abdomen and

it is broader at the pterothorax ; cheeks brown, pronotum brown tinged with

reddish along the sides and the median region yellow. Head longer than broad,

not transverse. Prothorax broader than long. The fore-wing with "a distinct trans-

verse colourless clear patch just before the apex which is grey ; it also show's a

faint second cross-vein connecting the upper and lower veins just at the begin-

irigofthe transverse patch, and situated in front of the one connecting the

upper vein and the costa.

M. ritchiana is also shorter in length being only P35 mm. ; the comparative

lengths of the antennal joints also differ.

Described from two specimens, one collected on grape vine leaf at

Coimbatore with Rhipiphorothrips crueniatus , H. (V. M. Coll.) and the other

on turmeric leaves at Bhavani with Panchcetothrips indicus , Bag. (P. N Nair

Coll.)

Chirothrips manicatus, Haliday. (Proc. U. S. A. Nat. Mus.

xxvi, 1902, p. 134.)

Habitat : On grass sweepings, Tobacco, and a few other plants at

Coimbatore.

1032 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

Though this insect has a very wide distribution all over Europe and

America, this is the first record of a s Chirothrips ’ from Tropical Asia.

Hydatothrips ramaswamiahi, Karny.

(Ent. Mem. Dep. Agr. Ind. ix, 1926, p. 188.)

Habitat : Besides the host plants noted before, the insect has been recently

found on Pongamia leaves in Sholinger (V. M. Coll.) and on Cumbu

leaves in Koilpatti (T. V. R. Coll.) This species appears to have a wide

distribution in S. India.

Scirtothrips dorsalis, Hood.

(Ins. Insc. Mens, vii, 1919, p, 90.)

This insect recorded by the senior author previously as a pest of the

* Chillies ’ crop in some parts of S. India, has been found to breed on a variety

of plants recently in Cochin, Travancore, and the southern districts of the

province.

Examination of numerous forms from different localities has shown that

there are some variations in the colouring of the abdomen so much that some

are likely to be taken for different species ; the writers, however, think that

these different forms in colour may at the most be considered as local varieties.

Dendrothrips dwivarna, n. sp.

Macorpterous female. — Length 1T00 mm. General colour reddish brown and

yellow ; head greyish brown, mouth parts lighter grey; thorax light greyish

brown profusely covered with bright red pigment all over except along margins

of pterothorax which are edged with dark brown. Eyes black; ocelli with

reddish pigment. Antennal joints 1, 2 & 3 concolourous with head, the other

joints whitish yellow. Front four legs greyish brown except tarsi and apex of

tibiae which are pale whitish ; the third pair of legs pale yellowish white with

the apex of the tibiae and its spur darkish. Fore-wings uniform greyish brown

though somewhat paler at base ; hind-wings paler with a very narrow median

longitudinal streak distinctly dark grey. Abdomen of a uniform pale yellowish

colour, the 9th and 10th segments having a slight dark tinge at the sides.

Head small, broader than long ; vertex produced in front in the form of a

broadly-pointed, short triangle, with the antennae rising at the sides of the

triangle; cheeks strongly arched and almost completely occupied by the big

eyes. The front margin of vertex has six conspicuous dark spines arranged as

below— -One in front of the anterior inner angle of each eye, one in front of it

and one at each side of the base of the triangular projection. Ocelli distinct,

posterior ones larger than the front one. The occiput has a distinct transverse

collar-like ridge situated just behind the line across the posterior ocelli ; a short

bristle on each cheek behind the eye. Antennas 1st joint short and cup-shaped,

2nd stout and longer than the 1st and ovoid in shape with a few short bristles,

3rd shorter than 2nd but of the same shape almost, 4th & 5th of same length,

elongate oval, broader at base and gradually narrowing towards apex, 6th

longest of all, broadest at base and narrowing towards apex with an irregular

transverse groove a little beyond centre making the joint appear divided into

two and thus making the antennae appear 9-jointed ; 7th and 8th together

rather shorter than 6th, elongate and narrow with a few hair-like setae, 7th of

same breadth throughout. Mouth cone short, broadly pointed and reaching

base of front legs ; maxillary palp 2-jointed ?

Prothorax slightly broader than head and much broader than long, sides

convex with one transparent bristle on each side situated some distance in front

of the post-lateral angle. Pterothorax of almost same breadth throughout and

much broader than the prothorax. Mouth-cone short and bluntly pointed and

extending to middle of prosternum. Wings extend to base of 9th abdominal

segment; fore-wings broadened at base and of almost same breadth beyond,

the costal and the hind margins being almost parallel ; wing surface fringed

with numerous very minute setae ; at the extreme apex of the wing is a dark

conspicuous slightly curved spine; upper vein not clear, but along the track

there are four short setae situated at long intervals ; one near the curve of the

costal margin near base, the second at the centre, the third beyond and the

fourth a little before the apex ; lower vein absent and no setae present ; along

the costal margin there arc 20 to 22 spines of which 7 or 8 at the basal region

NOTES ON INDIAN THYSANOPTERA

1033

are longer, the conspicuous dark spine at the extreme tip being the longest of

all ; wing scale with 2 or 3 conspicuous bristles at apex. Hind-wing narrow

with the median longitudinal streak prominent.

Abdomen longer than head and throax together, elongate oval in shape and

bluntly pointed at apex, 9th segment larger than 10th and bears a group of

three or four short darkish spines towards each post-lateral angle, these two

groups lying on either side of the prominent ovipositor as in a transverse line ;

10th segment more or less tubular and has short weak bristles at apex.

Measurements : Head ; length llOu, breadth 151u, Prothorax ; length 110u,

breadth 165u ; Pterothorax ; breadth 220u. Antenna length. 198 mm. Joints

in u ; — I 15, II 35, III 15, IV 30, V 30, VI 45, VII 20, VIII 15.

Described from five females collected on ‘ Jak ’ shoots in Kaladi, Travancore

State (T. V. R. Coll) and on the same plant at Trichur, Cochin State

(C. S. V. Coll.)

The insect is a distinct species and has a characteristic red and yellow

colouration. In general appearance and form it resembles species of

‘ Dendrothrips ’ and it is provisionally described as a species of that genus.

In the apparently 9-jointed antenna, in the structure of the wings and in the

triangular projection of the vertex, it approaches * Corynothrips ’ of Williams,

but the bristles in this form have not the peculiar spinulose structure very

characteristic of Corynothrips.

Heliothrips kadaliphila, n. sp.

Macropterous male.— Length P14 mm. General colour dark to yellowish or

reddish brown ; head, portions of thorax, the apical two abdominal segments

all the femora and tibiae,. 1st, 2nd and the 6th joints of the antennae dark

yellowish brown. All tarsi, bases of mid and hind femora, distal thirds of mid

and hind tibiae, antennal joints 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 pale whitish ; joints 1 and 2

often whitish. Eyes black, ocelli with pinkish pigment. Wings uniform

yellowish grey ; fore-wing with a transparent colourless area a little beyond

the basal dark region. Basal three-fourths of abdomen dark brown.

Head broader than long ; front margin of vertex distinctly produced forwards

into a short triangle between the bases of the antennae. Eyes large, posterior

ocelli bigger and placed close to each other distinctly away from* the inner

margin of the eyes ; one slender seta at the cheek behind the eye. One

small seta in front of each posterior ocellus and a few small ones in a transverse

row in front of a disinct transverse collar-like ridge across the occiput. The

surface of the head is closely and clearl.y reticulated ; the cheek is arched

behind the eye and more or less corrugated, the posterior lateral region

is laterally drawn out and appears as a lateral projection. Antenna: Joints

1 and 2 short stout, and cup shaped, 3rd joint longest, narrow at both ends and

wide in the middle, 4th similar to 3rd and both with forked sense-cones 5th

widening towards anterior end, 6th oval almost and broadly united to theVth

7th and 8th long and narrow with slender bristles at apex ; the antenna is

twice as long as the head. Mouth-cone somewhat long and bluntly pointed,

reaching base of mesosternum.

Prothorax shorter than head but broader; surface shows distinct polygonal

areas, sides not armed. Pterothorax broad and oval, sides convex, broader

than head or thorax. The femera and tibiae also show some reticulated surface.

Wings extend to the 9th abdominal segment ; costa has 20 spines, the upper

vein has 2 or 3 setae at the base and with none beyond ; the lower vein shows

6 or 7 short faint ones.

Abdomen long and blunt apically ; there are two pairs of short tubercular

spines situated on each side of the median line, the anterior pair stouter and

longer than the hind pair. The surface of the abdomen also shows the fine

reticulated structure arranged in beautiful patterns in some places.

Measurements: Head length *114 mm., breadth *181 mm.; Prothorax

length *095 mm., breadth ’219 mm. ; Pterothorax, breadth -285 mm. ; Antenna

length ’233 mm. joints in a: I, II, III, 76u, IV 57, V 41, VI 24 VII 14*

VIII 9'5.

Macropterus female. length 1-432 mm. Similar in colour to the male but

of a deeper brown. Ovipositor long ; apical margin of 9th segment with a

transverse row of six long set® extending in length to the apex of the tenth

segment. In all other features like the male.

1034 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , TO. XXXIV

Described from a dozen males and females collected on ‘ Kadali ’ (Banana)

in Coimbatore.

This insect is a typical * Heliothrips ’ showing the network structure of

the body surface and is quite distinct in that respect from H. indicus , Bag. ;

it also appears to be different from other species known to the writers, and

from indicus itself in colouration and other features.

Reticulothrips peringueyi, Faure.

(S. African Jour. Nat. Hist, v, 1925, p. 145.)

This very interesting species which was first described by Prof. Faure of the

Transvaal University as the type of a new heliothripine genus was collected

in ; Coimbatore by both the writers on Panicum and grass sweepings. This is

evidently the first record of the species for India.

Rhipiphorothrips cruentatus, Hood.

(Ins. Insc. Mens vii, 1919, p. 94.)

Recently noted as a bad pest of grape vines in the Madura Dt. and Travancore.

Selenothrips rubrocinctus, Giard.

(Franklin-Pro. U.S. Nat. Mus. xxxvii, 1908, p. 719.)

Habitat: Noted in small numbers on Cashew-nut leaves (Anacardium) in

Trichur (T. V. R. Coll.) and in the Malabar (Y. R. R. Coll).

This insect is the notorious ‘ Cacao thrips ’ of the West Indies, and this is the

first record of the species from India, though a similar insect has been recorded

from Ceylon bv Green— vide Trop. Agric. xxvii, 1906, p. 248.

This is another species the activities of which have to be watched by economic

entomologists.

Ayyaria chaetophora; Karny.

(Mem. Dept. Agr. Ind. En. ser. ix, 6. p. 193.)

The genus Ayyaria was erected by Karny from a unique female speci-

men found in the material submitted to him by the senior author of this paper

a few years ago. Further specimens of this interesting insect were collected

recently by the authors from two or three localities in the province. The

following notes including a short description of the male might therefore be

added to supplement Karny ’s description of the type : —

Female. — General colour grey to dark biown with plenty of red pigment over

the thorax ; head and thorax greyish brown, but the abdomen has a deeper

colour except the extreme apex which is lighter and has a tinge of red pigment ;

the connecting membranes between the segments with a yellowish tinge ;

ovipositor golden yellow. The grey brown colour of the different parts of the

body and oo the antennal joints is of a deeper hue than in the type. The

femora are distinctly dark brown except at base and apex. Karny’s type was

evidently a very young adult.

Mouth cone short and bluntly pointed, reaching the middle of prosternum.

There is a transverse series of short setse behind each eye, the marginal one

projecting across the gen a.

Macropterous male.— Length 1-21 mm. Similar in colour to the female,

except that the femora and other joints of the legs are of a lighter colour,

almost pale whitish ; abdomen dark, with the apex lighter.

Body rather narrow and slender compared to the female. The 9th abdominal

segment has two pairs of dark stout tubercular spines ; these are situated along

the mediau line, one pair behind the other towards the posterior region of the

segment ; the front pair ones are stout and longer than the posterior two which

are very short though distinct ; on the 10th segment is a pair of long up curved

spines on the median region. In addition there are thinner and longer bristles

at the sides of the 9th segment, the bristle on each lateral side being very long.

Habitat : On Castor shoots, Samalkot (T. V. R. Coll.) ; on garden Croton,

Coimbatore (V. M. Coll.) ; on Grass sweepings, Walayar forests, Malabar

(T. V. R.).

Fulmekiola indica n. sp.

Macropterous female . — Length T210 mm. General colour uniform pale to

lemon yellow ; in some specimens the thorax has a deeper tinge and the abdomen

NOTES ON INDIAN THYSANOPTERA

1035

a very light hue ; the mouth-cone margins of thorax narrowly, the apex of

abdomen including tip of ovipositor tinged with grey. Wings transparent with

very light greyish infumation ; on the light yellowish ground colour of the head

can be made out three light colourless streaks, one along the median line from

therefore margin and the other two one from behind each eye, all the three con-

verging behind at the base of the mouth-cone. Eyes black, ocelli with red

pigment. Antennal joints 1 and 2 concolourous with head ; 3, 4, and 5 pale

whitish with a slight tinge of yellow ; basal half of 6th yellowish grey, its distal

half and the 7th grey ; the 5th is slightly grey towards apex ; 3rd to 7th margins

very narrowly dark. Legs similar in colour to body.

Body rather elongated ; head distinctly longer than broad ; vertex before the

eyes projecting conically at the anterior margin ; cheeks very slightly arched ;

the occiput with light irregularly arranged transverse striae near base. Eyes

large, facetted, oval, one-third the length of head. Just behind the anterior

margin of the head and posterior to the bases of the antennae is a transverse

row of long bristles, about 5 or 6 in number, of these the ones on each side of

the median line are very conspicuous. Behind aline across the hind margin of

the eyes and the posterior ocelli is another irregular transverse row of smaller

bristles; the lateral one on each end of this row projects across the gena.

Mouth-cone rather long and attennuated reaching anterior margin of meso-

sternum.

Prothorax shorter than head, broader than long, margins gently arched.

Antennal joints : 1st short and stout, broader than long, 2nd longer than

1st and broadly oval, almost globular, with a short conspicuous seta on the

surface ; joints 3, 4, 5 of almost same length and shape, all are slightly constrict-

ed at base, broadly oval beyond that and broadly attached to the next at apex ;

6th elongate oval and the longest of all; 7th of almost same breadth throughr

out, blunt at apex and with a few setae.

Prothorax shorter than head, but broader than long, margins gently arched ;

at each antero-lateral angle is a small anteriorly directed spice and at each

posterior angle a pair of long but weak bristles ; there are also a few smaller

ones along the basal line. Pterothorax broader than head or thorax, longer

than broad, sides strongly arched at base but almost parallel beyond wings

and narrow extending to 8th abdominal segment ; along the costa are 22 to 24

setae, the ones towards the apex being longer ; on the upper vein at the basal

part there are 6 or 7 setae at equal intervals ; beyond that are 4 situated at long

intervals ; the lower vein has 12 setae arranged at regular intervals ; the 7th in the

upper vein is situated opposite to the 3rd of lower vein, the 8th opposite to the

7th of lower, 9th opposite to the 11th of lower, and the 10th beyond 12th of

lower, near apex. Front legs stouter than the other legs.

Abdomen elongate oval, longer than head and thorax together, abruptly

narrowing at the 8th segment. On the 9th segment is a transverse row of 4 or

5 very long bristles extending beyond the anal segment in length ; on each side

of the median line of the 10th segment is situated an equally long bristle ; spines

at apex of abdomen shorter.

Measurements : Head length, *154 mm. breadth, T21mm.; Prothorax, length,

•110mm., breadth -154mm. ; Pterothorax, breadth. -209mm.; Abdomen length,

•616mm., Antenna length, *242mm. ; length of joints in u ; I 20, II 35, III 45,

IV 45, V 50, VI 55, VII 20.

mm.

Macropterous male.— Length -880 mm. Somewhat smaller than the female in

size but in colour and general structure similar ; the testes are seen through

the skin as bright red bodies.

Described from a dozen females and one male collected on sugarcane leaves

at Samalkot, Godavari Dt. (V. T. Rao Coll.).

The genus ‘ Fulruekiola ’ was erected by Karney in 1925 (Bull. Deli. Prof.

Thys. on Tobacco, No. 23) for a form close to ‘ Thrlps ’ but differing from that

genus in the slender and elongated body, the long head and mouth-cone, and

the weak prothoraric bristles.

Scolothrips asura, n. sp.

Macropterous female.— Length. ,902mm. General colour a mixture of pale

yellow and dark brown : head, antennal joints 1 & 2, pterothorax with base of

abdomen, and abdominal segments 6 to 8 dark grey with profuse red pigment,

prothorax, the other antennal joints, t^ean-iddle abdominal segments and apex

12

1036 Journal , Bombay natural hist . society, voi. xxxH

of abdomen yellowish to pale white; the ovipositor yellow and the legs pale

whitish ; wings with fuscus infumation upto the middle, with a small hyaline

patch on it just beyond the base, the middle region broadly transparent, then

again with fuscous cloud almost to the apex which is however transparent.

In most other respects th:s new form is similar to the well-known

5. sexmaculatus , Perg. The important features in which this differs from

known species are : The peculiar colouration of the body and the wings, the

strong spines of the wing and the weak ones at the anal region and the differ-

ence in the relative measurements of the antennal joints 2 & 6 compared to that

in the other species, the 6th being more than twice the length of the 2nd.

Described from two female specimens collected on ‘ Banana ’ leaves,

Coimbatore (V. M. Coll.).

Anaphothrips flavicinctus,. Karny.

The senior author has collected a brachypterous female of what is un-

doubtedly Karny’s A . flavicinctus , which is the same as Bagnall’s Euthrips

citricinctus.

Length 1T88 ram. General colour and form as in the macropterous form ;

the following striking features may be noted. — Antennal joints pale whitish

with a tinge of light yellow, apex of 4th light grey, 5th to 8th dark grey with

the base of 5th lighter. Legs uniform whitish yellow. Wings very much

reduced, shorter than head in length and transparent, with a few very short

setae at the margin .

The fringe on the posterior margin of 8th segment and the bristles on apical

segments well developed.

One female collected on ‘Cumbu’ ears in Koilpatti, Tinneveliy District

(T. V. R. Coll.)

Oxythrips hemavarna.1 n. sp.

Macrpterous female. — Length 1T02 mm. General colour uniform golden

yellow ; mouth-cone and t'p of abdomen slightly darkish, ocelli with orange

pigment; antennal joints yellow with the 4th and 5th lightly shaded with

brown, the 6th of a deeper brown and the 7th and 8th of a lighter hue.

Head slightly broader than long, vertex and cheeks arched ; eyes roundish,

ocelli placed close to one another, the posterior ones being very close to the

inner margin of eye. Mouth-cone bluntly pointed extending slightly beyond

middle of prosternum.

Prothorax distinctly longer and broader than the head and as long as broad,

sides arched gradually broadening towards the posterior margin ; postero-lateral

angle on each side with a pair of short faint transparent bristles. Pterothorax

broader than prothorax, mesothorax broader than metathorax. Fore femora

thick ; hind tibiae slender and longer than the middle ones. Wings : basal

portion of upper vein with 5 or 6 short setae, and the distal half with 3 or 4

placed at long intervals ; these are more conspicuous than the others. The

lower vein has only 3 or 4 at long intervals ; fringes long and greyish. There

is a clear narrow streak along the lower vein. Costa of upper vein with 20 to 21

spines.

Abomen;f elongate, gradually broadening from the 1st to the 6th segment and

then narrowing and ending almost in a point ; 9th and 10th segments form a

cone ; 10th segment slightly longer than the 9th.

Measurements : Head, length -105 mm., breadth T14mm.; Prothorax, length

*152 mm., and same breadth ; Pterothorax breadth ‘209 mm.; Antenna, length

•228 mm. ; joints in*: I 24, II 24, III 33, IV 38, V 27, Vi 38, VII 10,

VIII 10.:

Described from two females on Mango leaves : Coimbatore. (V. M. Coll.)

This insect was submitted to Dr. Priesner for confirmation of the identification.

Tryphactothrips rutherfordi, Bagnall.

(A. M. N. H. 8, xv, 1915, p. 319.)

This insect has been found very common in and around Coimbatore. The

following notes are added to supplement Bagnall’s description of the type.

The antennae are short and stout ; joints 1 to 5 yellow, the 2nd a little deeper,

Gold-colored.

NOTES ON INDIAN THYSANOPTERA

1037

6th to 8th grey ; joint 1 slightly longer than broad and cylindrical, 2nd almost

globular, broadest of the joints ; 3rd narrow at base, widest at middle and

again narrowing towards apex and longest of all ; 4th narrow at base but

gradually widening towards apex and slightly symmetrical ; 5th to 8th

closely connected together, 5th slightly constricted at base and broadly and

closely connected with 6th. the connections between the style and the 6th not

well defined.

The chsetotaxy of the wings shows a difference between that of Bagnall’s type

and the specimens collected by the authors in South India. The arrangement

in the forewing is this : - Costa 10 or 11 short and stout ones ; besides these the

apex of the costa at the tip of the wing has two conspicuous curved spines

being the longest in the body ; upper vein 3 near base of which one is light

coloured and the other two black, 3 lighter ones at the middle region, 3 black

ones again, and 1 lighter one towards apex ; thus there are 10 in the upper.

The lower vein has 9 in all arranged more or less as in the upper vein and of

similar colour and size; it has only 2 near the base instead of 3 as in the upper.

In the type costa has 8 or 9, upper vein 7, and the lower 8. It remains to be

seen whether these differences are only varietal or specific.

Panchaetothrips indicus, Bagnall .

(Rec. Ind. Mus. vii, 1912, p. 257.)

This insect, which has been noted only on Arrowroot and Turmeric till now,

was recently collected on Hcemelia patens in Coimbatore. (V. M. Coll.) .

Euryaplothrips, n. gen.

This new genus is erected to include an interesting haplothripine form near

Bagnall’s Priesneria and Trybomiella.

The insect is quite different fom either Priesneiria or Trybomiell in having

the head very short and distinctly broader than long, and in this respect it very

closely approaches the genera Brachythrips and Austrothrips. The

forewings have no duplicate hairs as in Trybomiella but have the general

Fig. 1. Euryaplothrips Crassus , n. gen. & sp. — A . Outline of

insect. B. fore-wing.

structure of a haplothripine wing. On the whole the most striking feature is:

the thick, short, broadheaded form ; at the suggestion of Dr. Priesner, the

type is named E. crassus.

1033 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXX IV

Euryaplothrips crassus n. sp.

Macropteroiis female.— Length T30 to 1'60 mm. General colour uniform light

to dark brown ; the front tibiae and all the tarsi pale yellowish to yellowish

white ; antennal joints 1 and base of 2 concolourous with head, 3 to 6 pale

greyish, 7 and 8 of a deeper grey. Portions of pterothorax and apex of tube of

a lighter tinge. In some specimens the thorax is found suffused with reddish

pigment. Wings transparent, fringes brownish ; the extreme base of fore-wing

tinged with grey brown. •

The general form of the body short and stout built. Head distinctly broader

than long, shorter than prothorax ; the front margin slightly arched, the cheeks

almost parallel behind the eyes, no conspicuous bristles on the head or cheeks,

only a few very small setas on the occiput and near the eyes ; the occiput with

faint transverse striae near the base. Mouth-cone as long as head, bluntly

pointed and reaching a little beyond middle of prosternum. Eyes large,

ocelli also large, the posterior ones being bigger than the front one ; the eyes

and ocelli are far in front almost near the front margin. Antennae consider-

ably longer than head; 1st joint short and cup-shaped, slightly longer than

broad, 2nd more or less funnel shaped being constricted at base and widening

towards apex ; at the apex on each side of the junction with the 3rd joint is

slightly crenulated ; 3rd to 5th more or less of the same length and shape,

narrow at base and broadening towards the next joint ; the apical region of

joints 3; 4 and 5 of a transparent colour probably sensory (?) 6th almost of the

same breadth throughout ; 3rd to 5th well supplied with sense-cones. Prothorax

posterior margin much broader than the anterior margin, longer than the

head ; there is a conspicuous transparent bristle at each margin just behind

the antero-lateral angle ; there is in addition a bristle at the middle of each

margin ; the postero-lateral angles rounded and with a pair of clubbed bristles

of which only one is conspicuous. Pterothorax stout and broad. Front legs

stout with the femora more or less incrassated and the tarsus with a small

conical tooth. Wings fairly long and extend to the 9th abdominal segment;

haplothripine in structure, constricted at the middle and widening at apex ;

fore-wings have no duplicate hairs, and the basal bristles are medium sized

and clubbed.

Abdomen longer than head and thorax together, broader than pterothorax at

base, two pairs of wing retaining bristles on each segment clear, the second

pair being stouter and longer.

Measurements: Head, length 1*320 mm., breadth *176 mm., Prothorax, length

*176 mm., breadth *390 mm. ; Pterothorax, breadth *396 mm ; Tube, length

*110 mm., Antenna, length ’330 mm , joints in u~~ I 40, II 50, III 55, IV 60,

V 55, VI 45, VII 43, VIII 30.

The male is similar to the female in general form and structure ; the bristles

at the posterior lateral margins of the 9th abdominal segment are more

conspicuous.

Described from about a dozen specimens collected on Amaranthus flower

heads in Coimbatore (T. V. R. Coll.)

Examination of more material of these haplothripine forms in India and a

detailed study of the peculiarities of these genera would help us in judging

correctly the real affinities of the genera like ‘ Haplothrips, Zygothrips ’,

Priesneria, Trybomiella and other allied forms.

Haplothrips (Trybomiella) raniakrishoai, Ky.

(Mem. Dep. Agr. Ind. Ent. Ser. ix, vi, p. 218).

According to Bagnall this species falls under the sub-genus ‘ Trybomiella ’

being characterized by the absence of duplicate cilia at the apex of the

fore-wing.

Haplothrips (Trybomiella) tirumalraoi, n. sp.

Macropterous male.— Length P760 mm. General colour uniform brown ; this

is deeper on the head, thorax, legs and the last three abdominal segments ;

abdominal segments 2 to 8 of a pale greyish brown colour. Antennal joints

1 and 2 same colour as head, 3 to 5 light yellowish brown, 6 to 8 dark greyish

brown. Tarsi of all legs lighter. Wings clear, fringes greyish. Ocelli with

slight reddish pigment ; tip of mouthcone dark.

Head elongate, longer than prothorax and broadest behind eyes ; cheeks

almost parallel though imperceptibly narrowing towards base where the

NOTES ON INDIAN THYSANOPTERA

1039

breadth is slightly less. Eyes longer than broad, situated rather forwards

almost near the front margin ; ocelli close to inner margin of each eye. There

is a distinct postocular bristle projecting across the cheek, blunt at tip.

Mouth-cone broadly rounded and extending to middle of prosternum. Antenna:

1st joint short and cup-shaped, 2nd narrow at base and broadly oval towards

middle ; the apex at the connection with the 3rd joint is more or less crenated

on each side of the junction ; there is a single conspicuous sense-cone at the

inner apical angle : 3rd joint distinctly constricted at base and gradually widen-

ing towards apex just before which it is broadest; 4th almost as long as 3rd and

of same shape-joints 3 to 6 almost of same length and shape : 7th joint has the

sides almost parallel and is broadly connected with the 8th ; 8th joint is a long

cone. Prothorax rhomboidal and short, the posterior margin much broader

than the anterior ; the antero-lateral angles have each a knobbed bristle almost

as losg as the head. The posterior angles rounded and each with a knobbed

bristle. Pterothorax longer than prothorax but not much broader ; sides almost

parallel. Front legs rather stouter than the hinder four. Wings narrow and

much broadened at apex, no duplicate hairs at apex of forewing. Three

knobbed bristles at base of fore-wing of almost equal length. Abdomen

elongate, sides almost parallel up to Sth segment, thence narrowing towards

tube. The segments have the usual bristles at the postero-lateral angles ; those

of the 9th as long as the tube, the setae at apex of latter slightly longer than the

tube and pointed.

Measurements of holotype : Head length -220 mm., breadth *176 mm. ;

Prothorax length *132 mm., breadth *275 mm. ; Pterothorax breadth *286 mm. ;

tube length *132 mm. ; Antennal joints in u : I 30, II 50, III 60, IV 60, V 55,

VI, 57, VII 50, VIII 35

Described from one unique specimen collected by V. Tirumal Rao on

Colocasia in the Northern Circars ; the species is named after the collector.

The species is quite different from H. ramakrishnai in many respects.

Euoplothrlps malabarica, n. sp.

Macroplerous f emale .—Length 1*65 mm. General colour light greyish brown,

base of mouth-cone, apex of fore-femora, the fore-tibiae, the bases and apices of

the four hind-tibiae and all tarsi pale yellowish ; the fore-tibia has the side;

narrowly margined with dark grey. Antennal joints with the exception of the

extreme base of the 3rd and 4th joints brown ; the latter pale whitish. The

connecting membranes between abdominal segments of a paler colour. Ocelli

with reddish pigment. Wings with very light grey infumation ; the extreme

base with greyish tinge ; the hind- wing with a central narrow light greyish

streak. Tube of a darker tinge than abdomen or thorax.

Head as broad as long, longer than prothorax. Vertex arched ; cheeks

behind eyes almost parallel imperceptibly broadening towards base where it is

broadest, the cheeks are also slightly serrated with a few very small setae.

Eyes oval, wide apart from each other and placed far forwards on the vertex ;

the post-ocular bristle is conspicuous and almost as long as the eye and

knobbed at tip. The surface of the occiput with irregular transverse striae.

Mouth-cone rather short, bluntly pointed and not reaching the middle of the

posternum. Antenna more than one-and-a-balf times as long as the head.

Prothorax shorter than head ; a short knobbed bristle at each antero-lateral

angle. Pterothorax broader than abdomen, narrowing towards base of the

latter. Wings not perceptibly constricted at middle and broader at base than

at apex. Fore-wings with 5 or 6 duplicate cilia at apex and the 3 basal bristles

knobbed and as long as the prothoracic bristles. Four legs distinctly stouter ;

femora incrassate with a conspicuous tooth at middle of inner surface and

another small but distinct denticle a little beyond it ; fore tibia at middle of

inner margin with a distinct projection bearing a bristle and a few smaller

bristles along the inner margin on each side of the projection ; the fore-tarsus

with a long tooth at inner margin near base. Abdomen longer than head and

thorax ; tube shorter than head and its apical setae pointed and longer than ihe

tube. The bristles at the postero-lateral angles of the segments more or less

bluntly pointed ; the wing retaining bristles conspicuous and sigmoid.

Meastirements of holotype female : Head length or breadth *176 mm. ; pro-

thorax, length T32 mm., breadth *242 mm ; pterothorax, breadth ’330 mm. ;

tube length ’099 mm. ; Antenna, length -308 mm. ; length of joints in u: \ 35.

II 45, III 55, IV 55, V 48, VI 43, VII 38, VIII 28,

1040 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST, SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

Male of a lighter colour and of a weaker build ; length 1'320 mm. ; in other

respects similar to female though the armature of the fore-legs is slightly

weaker.

Described from half a dozen females and two males collected by the senior

author on spikes of ‘Pepper’ ( Piper nigrum ) in Taliparamba, N. Malabar.

Was found in company with Haplothrips piclipes , Bag. Except for the dis-

tinct armature of the fore-legs which places this insect in the genus

‘ Euoplothrips it resembles H . pictipes in many respects. It is quite

different from Hood’s type of the genus E. bagnalli recorded from Australia

in 1916.

Gynaikothrips kannani, Moulton.

(Bombay N. H. Soc. Jour, xxxiii, 1929.)

Habitat : On leaf galls of Ficus retusa in Maddur, Mysore (1924).

This species was recently described by Moulton from material submitted by

Dr. Kannan of the Mysore Agricultural Department as collected on Eugenia in

Bangalore. The senior author had collected a solitary specimen of this insect

in 1924 and, for want of further material, kept it with his unworked lot ; on

comparison with the description of kannani recently, it was found to agree with

the latter. The species appears to be very close to G. moult oni described by

the senior author in his Memoir.

The genus Gynaikothrips is one of the commonest of the gall thrips in the

tropics and many species have been described. Those so far known from India

may be separated with the help of the following rough key : —

I. Foretarsus Unarmed

A,

B

Hind and mid tibiae wholly yellow :

i. Wings with infumation ; 7 to 10 dupli-

cate hairs to fore- wing

ii. Wings clear ; 14 to 15 duplicate hairs...

Hind and mid tibiae partly dark brown and

partly yellowish :

i. Post-ocular spine long and well deve-

loped

ii. Post- ocular spine small —

a. Front tibia bright yellow, mid

and hind tibiae dark brown

except at extreme apex

b. Front tibia yellowish brown at

base, mid and hind tibiae light

brown at basal two-thirds and

the rest yellowish

Foretarsus with a tooth

A. Head and tube comparatively longer, colour

deep brown

B. Head and the tube shorter, colour pale

greyish brown ...

Explanation of Plates.

Plate 1.

G. pallipes , Ky.

G. interlocatus , Ky.

G. chaviccz , Zim

G. moultoni, Ram.

G. kannani , Moul.

G. uzeli, Zim.

G. malabarica , Ram.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Brythrothrips asiaticus, n. sp.

Do. do.

JEolothrips pandyani do.

Do. do.

Mymarothrips garuda do.

Do. do.

.—Head and antenna?.

Right fore-wing.

Head to show antennae.

Fore-wing.

Head with antennae.

Fore-wing.

Plate II.

1. Heliothrips kadaliphila , n. sp. — Anterior region of body.

2. Do. do. Right fore-wing.

3. Dondrolhrips dzvivarna, do. Head to show setae.

4. Do. do. Right fore-wing.

5. Scolothrips asura, n. sp. (a) Head and Prothorax, (b) Antennae

(c) Fore-wing.

6. Tryphactothrips rutherfordi , B. — Fore part of body.

7. Euoplothrips malabarica , n. sp. — Fore part of body.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CALOTES VERSICOLOR

( BOULENGER ), THE COMMON BLOOD-SUCKER.

BY

J. J. Asana.

M. R. Science Institute , Gujarat College, Ahmedabad.

The writer is primarily interested in the study of the formation

and development to maturity of the reproductive or germ cells in

animals and in the study of the problem as to whether these germ

cells segregate or separate themselves off very early from other

somatic or body cells in the embryonic history of animals. As

Weismann thought, this is a problem which has a significant

bearing on the Theory of Heredity.

With that object in view, during the last five years, his efforts

have been mainly directed to studying the breeding habits, the egg-

laying period, and in obtaining accurately timed and closely graded

embryonic series in the developmental stages of this lizard, which is

fairly common in the environs of Ahmedabad. The following

observations may perhaps interest the readers of our Journal and we

hope that these will be supplemented in the course of time by the

students of Natural History in this or other part of the country.

Kelaart (1852), Gunther (1864), Murray (1884), and Boulenger

refer to this common Indian Lizard in their works, which are mainly

concerned with the identification and classification of animals. They

give none or few details regarding the habits of this lizard. So far as

the writer is aware, a more or less detailed account of the breeding

habits, the egg-laying period, the period of the incubation of the

eggs and the attainment of sexual maturity by the developing

young and the seasonal variations in the testes and ovaries has not

yet been published in this country.

For determining the generic and specific characters, colouration,

etc., the interested student may refer to the works of the writers,

above mentioned. However, we may mention in passing that these

lizards are quite harmless creatures, not difficult to capture. As

regards size, though Boulenger records the average adult size

around four and a half inches from snout to vent, some of our

adult males measure upwards of six inches from snout to vent.

Again in the first year of their life history as the young

attain sexual maturity, particularly after about four to five months’

growth, the disparity in body size between the sexes comes into

existence and is most marked in their first breeding season, the

female being decidedly smaller and slenderer in build than the male.

Though colouration is variable there are definite tracts or

patterns which always appear at the same place in the process of

colour change. Again, contrary to what Gunther says regarding

m2 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

the difference in colouration of the throat and the snout of sexually

mature and immature specimens in his work, we have observed

that the characteristic colouration of the immature specimens both

male and female, the dark brown narrow transverse bands across

the orbital region, particularly those dark brown streaks on the

lower jaw, which radiate from the ventrum of the snout to the

throat are well preserved and persist even after sexual maturity is

attained.

Calotes versicolor is found in cultivated and uncultivated fields, on

trees, shrubs, on Euphorbia hedges and in the gardens, occurring

normally throughout the year. However, these lizards are not so

commonly met with from about the middle of November till the end

of February. It is likely that in regions which are more sandy and

dry as Ahmedabad, and which are more cold in the dry season in

India, these lizards, if they do not actually hibernate, undergo a

periodic inactivity, a cold weather torpor, moving little in search of

food. The following observations made by Mr. McCann of the

Bombay Natural History Society in a neighbouring tract, Raj-

putana, may perhaps lend support to this view: ‘Calotes versicolor

is very common in Rajputana during the hot and rainy weather,

but it is conspicuously absent in the winter. I have found these

lizards during the winter months sheltering in disused chimneys,

behind cloth curtains, and even in dirty clothes baskets. When

disturbed they are comparatively slow in their movements and will

soon return to their place of shelter in spite of being disturbed

several times. On one occasion I found two in a nest composed

of tow which may have been made by squirrels, for I do not believe

that these lizards are capable of constructing a nest of their own.

In late February Calotes is once more about.’

Food

Many observations have not been made by us on its food habits

amidst natural conditions, but an examination of the contents of the

stomach of the dissected specimens frequently revealed hard or

undigested parts of beetles, large and small ants, insect larvas and

wings of butterflies. While in confinement, under laboratory con-

ditions, grown up specimens could be kept going for considerable

time on such food as bits of fresh frog-liver and fat-bodies with an

occasional grasshopper or butterfly. The former kind of food was

often forced into their mouths. But the greatest difficulty was

encountered in the direction of finding suitable food for rearing

the young which hatched from the eggs. These were kept in as

natural a condition as possible in the open, in a wire-netting box

sunk into the earth so that natural earth may form from its

bottom. Feeding them on white ants and small quantities of fresh

frog-liver and fat-bodies they were kept going for about a month ;

only three or four specimens survived a period of a month and a

half. Once they grow to be about four or five months old they

would stand confinement better, and be easier to keep on such

kind of food as mentioned above. Some specimens captured from

the wild, which we know to be three to four months old, and which

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CALOTES VERSICOLOR 1043

were reared in the laboratory on this food subsequent to their

capture, lived for a considerable time — for about six to seven months

after the date of their capture. They did not die ; they were in a

healthy condition throughout and were ultimately set free.

The Breeding Season

From the observations recorded below we may reasonably infer

that the reproductive activities and the egg-laying period of

Calotes versicolor fall within a definite, well-marked part of the

year. It does not start earlier than about the first or second week

of May, and it ends about the first or second week of September.

Observations on the periodic variations in the growth, size and

appearance of the organs of reproduction, both testes and ovaries,

and the microscopical examination of these organs, enabling one to

determine at which stage ripe and mature germ cells appear in

them are perhaps the best criteria to determine the onset and the

end of the breeding season.

Seasonal Variation in the Gonads

During the middle of the breeding season, from June to August,

the testes are deep pink in colour and the shape of a regularly

formed seed of ground-nut, about 17 mm. long and 9 mm. wide.

From about the third or fourth week of September they begin to

decrease in size. The decrease is invariable and constant. By the

last of October the testes are reduced to half the maximum size,

about 8 mm. long and 4 mm. in cross section. In December and

January they look remarkably small as compared with their size

at the height of the breeding season. By the last of January they

measure not more than 2'5 mm. long and about 05 in thickness.

This decline is most remarkable and striking. But they start

increasing in size in February. During the whole of February and

first two weeks of March the increase is slow. In April there is

considerable activity and they seem to progress rapidly. But the

most remarkable increase takes place between the third week of

April and the first half of May. They reach their maximum size

by the last of June. The microscopical examination of the sections

of the testes reveals the fact that this externally visible remarkable

increase in the growth and the activity of the gonad, particularly

during the third and fourth week of April and the first two weeks

of May, is consequent upon an internal activity. We find that

from this stage onwards an enormous number of ripe, matured

spermatozoa are being produced internally in the tubules of the

testes, heralding the onset of the breeding season.

The ovaries showed the same seasonal variation in size and form,

with this difference that they are so much reduced in December and

January that they could scarcely be identified as being present at

all. Again the ovary, as it begins to grow on the approach of the

breeding season, seems to grow more steadily and to increase

Without that sudden spurt so characteristic of the testes. In March

1044 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL LUST. SOCIETY , Vo/. XXXIV

the eggs in the growing ovaries look like small white pearls.

Yolk deposition in the eggs begins in April. At this time they look

yellow in colour. By the last week of ■ May a fully-matured egg

measures in the ovary from 10 to 12 mm. in length and from

5 to 7 mm. in thickness, and some eggs have the characteristic

oblong shape even in the ovary.

The Egg-laying Period : — In our locality, the majority of females

lay eggs during June, July and ^August, though the farthest limits

for the egg-laying period one would like to put on the strength of all

the observations one has made would be from about the third

week of May to the second week of September. That these are

probably the farthest limits is, borne out by the fact above stated,

that the organs of reproduction, both male and female, are not

ready for functioning earlier than May and their activity declines

in the third or fourth week of September.

However, the earliest specimen of a gravid female secured from

the field was on June 25; though, this does not preclude the

possibility of obtaining from the field such gravid females earlier in

the breeding season if they are intensively searched for. In this

female, when her abdomen was opened on the day she was secured,

there were six, fully developed, large, shelled-eggs in a row, antero-

posteriorly, in each oviduct on either side of the body. These she

would have laid in ordinary course within a week at the outset.

Moreover, the above-stated observation, that the most of the

egg-laying is done in June, July and August of the breeding season

is also supported by our experience of collecting naturally laid

clutches of eggs in the field. In the course of three or four

breeding seasons the majority of the egg-nests were collected within

a period lying between the second week of July and the last week

of August.

The Incubation Period for the eggs : — From the observations

and experiments detailed below one may reasonably infer, that in

nature the young of Calotes hatch out of the eggs on the comple-

tion of a period of incubation lasting over six or six weeks

and a half after the eggs have been deposited in earth by the

mother.

In nature the eggs are laid in moist earth in a hole six to seven

inches deep and may contain from eleven to twenty-three eggs=

Kelaart observed five as the minimum. While eight is the

maximum according to Kelaart; Gunther records sixteen. Another

observation also of these authors we are unable to corroborate.

These authors record that the eggs of this lizard have been found

also from the hollows in trees. In over four years of collecting

we have not once obtained eggs from such places. The eggs are

not glued together and lie separately in the nest.

That in the course of a breeding season one female would lay

more than one batch of eggs is probable. It is also probable that

normally more than twelve eggs do not go to form a clutch laid

at one time, though in two or three gravid lizards we operated

upon in the breeding season, there were in each oviduct on

either side of the body ten to eleven eggs in a row antero-

posteriorly. All of these were large, fully-developed eggs ready to

be laid, looking about the same as freshly laid eggs.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CALOTES VERSICOLOR 1045

The shell of a newly laid egg is pure white, soft and leathery.

The egg is ovoid in shape about 10 to 11 mm. long- and from

4 to 5 mm. broad. The size increases as the embryo grows inside,

the most rapid increase in the size of the egg taking place from

the fourth to the eighteenth day of incubation. Then it does not

increase appreciably. But about three days before hatching, it

shows a slight additional increase in length and breadth.

Gravid females were watched and in several cases the eggs were

collected soon after they were deposited. In other cases, where the

females were not actually seen, though the collected clutches of

eggs looked similar to those freshly laid, we had little difficulty in

finding out before how long the eggs had been deposited. One

or two eggs from such a clutch would be opened and the state

of the embryo inside compared with that inside a freshly laid egg

previously known. In the course of three or four breeding seasons

a fairly large number of such clutches of eggs collected from the

field were brought to the laboratory, always covered in moist earth,

never exposed, and incubated in a manner we shall presently

describe.

Another expedient was also adopted. Gravid females were

caught alive and brought to the laboratory. They were not

chloroformed ; their abdomens were cut open. Having exposed the

oviducts, ripe, shelled eggs were quickly detached from the walls of

the oviduct and as quickly embedded in moist, sandy earth kept

ready in small boxes.

These eggs as well as the eggs naturally laid and collected from

outside, all carefully timed and labelled, were left embedded in

ordinary soil. Moist rather sandy earth was used, three to six inches

deep in ordinary wooden boxes. These boxes were left on the

window sills of the laboratory room exposed throughout to diffused

sun light entering the room through large, glass-pane windows.

Every twenty-four hours, in the early stages, enough water was

sprinkled on the earth containing the eggs to keep it moist. At

regular intervals, 12, 24, 48, 72 hours, one or two eggs were opened

and the required stages of the embryos fixed. On all cases, without

a single exception, embryos were perfectly fresh and active with

pulsating heart and deep red, healthy blood. In the course of

three or four breeding seasons not once have we seen an egg giving

an embryo anyway decompsed or disorganized, unhealthy or

shrunken. Nor have we seen any difference in the development and

subsequent behaviour between the eggs naturally laid and collected

from the wild and those derived from the oviducts of the females

operated upon in the laboratory. Many series of eggs were left

undisturbed to hatch out ; and in all cases at the expected time on

the completion of the incubation period there emerged plump,

bealthy-looking young from all those eggs incubated in the

laboratory in the manner described above. The majority of the

eggs that have been thus treated in our laboratory hatched after a

period not less than 42 nor more than 45 days.

A day or two before hatching, at one end of the egg there appears

a small dark patch on the now dirty-white shell, 3 mm. in diameter.

At the time of hatching this spot tears in the middle with three or

four radiating slits which, however, do not extend much beyond

1046 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

this slightly darkened area. First emerges the snout then the

head. In about half an hour from the appearance of the tear, the

young is free from the shell.

The period of attaining Sexual Maturity after hatching : — By

prolonged observations and carefully controlled experiments we have

determined that amidst natural conditions the young of Calotes

become sexually mature nine to twelve months after they emerge

from the eggs. In other words, the young that are hatched at the

close of a particular breeding season become parents and lay eggs

in the succeeding breeding season.

Taking the smallness of size as a reliable criterion of sexual

immaturity we began collecting from the field at the close of a

breeding season the smallest-sized individuals every fortnight or at

shorter intervals. Of course, it was assumed that the smallest-

sized individuals were the products of the eggs hatched in that

breeding season. Thus a series of all small-sized individuals from

October to May was obtained. The organs of reproduction of these

small-sized individuals were examined as these were collected from

time to time, and these organs were compared with those of large,

undoubtedly matured individuals more than one year old. From

October to about the end of February little or no difference was

noted in the size, growth and activity of the gonads of both kinds

of individuals large, undoubted adults, and the small-sized

individuals regarded as sexually immature. But on the approach

of the breeding season, March, April and May, there was the same

characteristic sudden growth and activity in the gonads of the

smallest-sized individuals as in those of the larger ones. Though

the external body size of the two groups of individuals differed, there

was little difference in the growing dimensions of their ovaries and

testes.

In order to test the validity of this hypothesis and confirm the

observations already made, the following expedient was adopted.

A large number of freshly laid eggs, including* one or two series

derived from the oviducts of the operated, gravid females, was

incubated in the laboratory as before. Fifty to sixty young Calotes

thus hatched in the laboratory were set free in the college compound

and in a neighbouring field. This plan was devised with a view

to finding out whether the specimens thus set free, would grow

amidst natural conditions, attain sexual maturity and could be

recovered as sexually matured individuals in the succeeding

breeding season. In order to mark these young ones, so that the

same specimens may subsequently be recognized when captured

from the field on the approach of and during the succeeding

breeding* season we amputated their toes. Some young had the

innermost toes of both their anterior limbs cut off with proper

antiseptic precautions. Other specimens were deprived of their

outermost toes of each of the hind-limbs. In other individuals

other toes were cut off. In this way the young specimens, which

had hatched in our laboratory a few hours before, were variously

marked ; their records were kept in a note book and they were set

free during August and September last year.

The experiment has been successful. Though an intensive search

has not been made to recover all or most of these marked specimens

the Natural history of calotes versicolor io4?

left off last August and September, so far we have recovered five

of these. All have grown to a large size. The mutilated toes are

not regenerated ; they are missing*. It so happens that each of

these five specimens is a representative of each of the five series

differently marked. One has the innermost toe of both its anterior-

limb missing, while in an other specimen the outer toes of the hind-

limbs are wanting. The third one had been deprived of the outer-

most toes of its right hind-limb, and it is not there. The gonads of

all are large, fully-developed and matured.

The most convincing example, however, is a grown up, gravid

female. In each of her two oviducts there are fully-matured, large,

shelled, white eggs ready to be laid. As recorded in our notes, she

is one of a series of young ones that hatched in the laboratory

between 7 p.m. of September 5, and 9 a.m. of September 8, 1929.

When recovered from the college compound and killed at 4 p.m.

on July 11, 1930, she was about ten months and three to six days

old.

This leaves no doubt that the young of Calotes versicolor attain

sexual maturity nine to twelve months after they have emerged

from the eggs. The young that have hatched in a particular

breeding season grow to be parents and lay eggs in the succeeding

breeding season.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kelaart, E. F. ... Prodromus Faunce Zelancice, being

contributions to the Zoology of

Ceylon, 1852.

Gunther, A. ... The Reptiles of British India. Ray

Society Memoir, London, 1864.

Murray. The Vertebrate Zoology of Sind.

London and Bombay, 1884.

Boulenger G. A. The Fauna of British India , including

Ceylon and Burma. Vol. Reptilia

and Batrachia.

Simkins and Asana ..... Observations on Calotes versicolor ..

Tourn. Tennessee. Acad. Sci. Vol. 5,

No, 2,

EDITORIAL.

As this is the first number of the Journal to be published in

1931, we naturally think of the prospects before the Society in

1931. How will they compare with 1930 and what does the future

hold out ?

Economy in working and reduction in expenditure rather than

increase in (taxation) subscription should be our aim just as we

should like it to be the aim of Government, but on making out the

budget for 1931, we were horrified to find that we were faced with

an increase in salaries of some Rs. 5,000 over the amount paid in

1930. Enquiry showed that the amount in question did not mean

any increase in the salaries our staff had been drawing but that we

had no kind friends in sight at the moment who would employ

members of our staff in Field work as they did in 1930, when

Mr. A. S. Vernay, engaged Mr. La Personne for 4 months and

Mr. Baptista for 7 months — Eastern Ghat Expedition. The

American Museum of Natural History engaged Messrs. McCann,

Sawardekar and Gilbert for two months.

We have the “ Field ” in view.

Survey of the Deccan.

The Eastern Ghat Scientific Survey has had to terminate its

activities owing to want of funds but the work accomplished has

been of great value. Mr. Whistler, writing of the Bird collections,

says “ I have worked partly through all the Survey specimens con-

tained in the first volume of the Fauna and with most of them one

comes up against the fact that we know nothing about the Deccan

proper. In mapping out the distribution of even the commonest

birds their distribution is obscured by our absolute ignorance of this

area ”.

Mr. La Personne, who was collecting in the Eastern Ghats and

looks after the Society’s bird collection, tells us “ I have been

through the Society’s collections and cannot find a single specimen

from the High Tableland between the Eastern and Western Ghats.

For the first Natural History Society in Asia this is lamentable”.

He is against destructive criticism and so puts before us a plan by

which our ignorance of the avifauna and mammalian fauna of the

Deccan can be remedied. He appeals to every member to sub-

scribe Rs. 5 (or more!) to the “Deccan Survey Fund”. By this

means, our knowledge of the Fauna of India will be increased and

the Society’s payments from ordinary revenue on account of salaries

decreased. We shall not employ extra men and we hope for con-

siderable assistance from H.E.H. The Nizam’s Government.

The Journal

We are economizing as tegards the number of Journals we are

having printed, though this may prove bad policy in years to come

and will not effect an appreciable reduction in cost, We find it

difficult otherwise to reduce expenditure on the Journal. It is what

makes the Society attractive and its work known to most of our

members. We are giving more coloured plates, more black and

EDITORIAL

1049

white illustrations and more popular papers than ever before. We

must do so if we are to attract new members and so minimize the

continuous drain of members who resign either because they retire

on pension or because the present financial situation has hit them

hard. The value of the Journal as an advertising medium is indi-

cated in a letter received from a member who says “ I write to

thank you and the Society very much for the advertisement. All

the volumes have been purchased.”

Membership.

In 1930 we received from ordinary members of the Society

Rs. 2,000 less in subscriptions than in 1929. Will members come

to our help and do their utmost to bring in new members? We are

a Mutual Society, we have no agents paid a commission to get new

members. We have no Endowments as some old established

Societies have. True we have investments, but these represent our

liabilities to Life Members and our reserves for publications.

Bequests.

We hate to lose members by resignation — we hate still more to

lose old friends through death, but we see several Societies draw

the attention of their members to a Form of Bequest and we there-

fore for the first time publish a Form of Bequest which we hope may

be of use several years hence, but not in 1931.

XlIUSTRATED CHARTS OF COMMON INDIAN BlRDS.

We would draw the special attention of members to the

advertisement on the cover of this Journal relative to our latest

publication — Coloured Charts illustrating no less than 210 of the

Commoner Indian Birds. The charts have been designed primarily

for the use of schools but they will also be of great utility in Clubs

and Institutes and Officers’ Messes and, until we are able to make

further use of the blocks, of use to individual members. We are

offering these charts to members at the same price as we are

supplying Schools and Colleges — that is at the cost price to the

Society.

We write “ until we are able to make further use of the blocks”.

The production by the Society’s own artists of these coloured illus-

trations was intended to serve two purposes. First, to supply at cost

price charts for instiuctional purposes in Schools and other Institu-

tions and then, when the sale of the charts had paid for the cost of

the blocks, for the use of those blocks free of cost, except for the

cost of printing, in connection with a book on the Common Birds of

India which the Society would issue on the lines of the Book of

Birds published by the Geographical Society of America.

We have not given vernacular names of the birds illustrated on

the charts. Vernacular names vary so greatly that it must be left

almost to the School children themselves to give vernacular names.

It will be interesting to see if they distinguish between different

species. The charts, of course, do not give written descriptions

and there is little doubt that the publication of these charts wiil

stimulate the demand for a book which gives not only numerous

1050 Journal , Bombay natural hist, society , w. xxxiv

illustrations but also, in lion-scientific language, descriptions of the

birds and their habits. Hitherto, the cost of a book containing 210

coloured and accurate illustrations would have been prohibitive, but

if we realize from the sale of these charts the money expended on

them we shall be able to issue such a book, the MS. of which is

already in preparation, at a cost of about Rs. 10.

Some of the illustrations in the charts have already been put to

use in a book, as 44 of them were selected to illustrate a book

written by Messrs. Baker and . Inglis on the Birds of Madras and

published by the Madras Government. It is a pity that the book

Was published before the results of the Society’s Survey of the

Eastern Ghats were made known and that criticisms which had

appeared in our Journal of the various volumes of the 2nd Edition

of the Fauna of British India , Birds , which the authors have adopted

for their guidance, have not been made use of. We are glad, how-

ever, that our Society has been able to help in the publication.

The Indian Game Bird Volumes.

A good many of our members are now in possession of the

third volume of Stuart Baker’s excellent series on the Game Birds

of hidia and we are glad to say that the publication of the 3rd

volume has stimulated the demand for the first two. Certainly the

terms offered to members for the purchase of the three volumes are

such as to make it worth while becoming a member of the Society

merely to obtain such splendid books on such favourable terms.

The publication of the 3rd volume has however done more. It has

caused the printers to ask “ What about the publication of the fourth

volume, that dealing with the Partridges and Quails ? These are of

far more interest to the average member in India than the Pheasants”.

Partridges and Quails so to speak are, like the poor, always with us

and as we like to be able to distinguish between the worthy and

unworthy -of the poor, So we want to know something definite and

helpful about the Partridge and the Quail wTe are likely to shoot

and eat.

The members themselves must give the answer to the publishers.

We must be able to pay the publishers for the first three volumes

and make a little profit for the author before we start on another

venture which means a change in investment from Government

Securities to books which either do not bring in a return or are

eaten by termites !

We hope shortly to publish Capt. Bates’ book on Bird Life in

hidia as the replies to the prospectus issued, have been sufficiently

favourable to warrant publication.

In the next issue of the Journal we shall publish a note by

Mr. W. S. Millard on the foundation of the Society. We are sorry

to have had to omit from this number Father Blatter and

Mr. Millard’s serial article on Some Beautiful Indian Trees , but the

coloured plates will not arrive from England in time for this

Journal. We have also been compelled to omit Mr. Whistler’s

interesting serial on the “ Study of Indian Birds ”. The MS. arrived

too late for inclusion in this number.

THE TOXICITY OF THE VENOMS OF INDIAN

SCORPIONS

Progress of the Society’s Investigation

Scorpion Venom

Number of Weight of dry Venom

Pharmacological Laboratory,

Parel, Bombay. J- F> CALLS.

September 17, 1930.

13

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.

I.— WANTED BEARS ! ! !

It has been suggested to me that an article on Indian Bears — on

the lines of the articles on the Tigers, Panthers and Lions already

published in this Journal, might prove interesting to Indian Sports-

men and Naturalists. Since I should like to make the account as

complete as possible, I venture to appeal to the kindness of the

members of the Society for help in various particulars.

In the first place, the British Museum has hardly any specimens of

the Himalayan Red Bear ; and skins and skulls of both sexes from

various localities are very much needed to show its variations with

age, sex, season, altitude and locality. It is not even known

whether this bear is merely a local race of the European Brown Bear

or a distinct species.

Of the Himalayan Black Bear and the common Sloth Bear of

Peninsular India, specimens would also be acceptable. There is

probably much to be learnt about the local variation in these two

widely ranging species. It was not until recently, indeed, that the

examination of a skull of the Sloth Bear — presented by H.H. The

Maharajah of Gauripur — convinced me of the existence of this

species in Assam.

From the Shan States a race of the Brown Bear has also been

recorded ; but of this practically nothing is known except a single

skull.

Even of the little Malayan Bear, examples are badly needed,

especially from Tenasserim, Burma and farther to the north in the

eastern Himalayas and Assam ; and confirmation of its reported

occurrence at Darjiling would be interesting.

I should be most grateful for the donation or loan to the British

Museum of any specimens of Indian Bears or for any information,

regarding their overlap in range, with which sportsmen could supply

me.

British Museum (Nat. Hist.), - R, I. POCOCK.

London, S. W. 7.

II.— ON THE FOOD OF THE VAMPIRE BAT

(LYRODERMA LYRA).

One night last month, while staying at the Residency, Rajkot,

I was on my way upstairs to dress for dinner, when my attention

was attracted by something unusual in the appearance of one of a

pair of bats hanging from the ceiling above the staircase. Looking

closer, I found that, suspended from the mouth of the bat which

Jield it by the head, was a fair-sized lizard !

MISCELLANEOUS notes

1053

I watched to see how the bat would tackle a meal of this kind.

The method was soon apparent. Never letting- go his hold of his

prey he scrunched and scrunched away until the head was reduced

to a condition which made it possible for him either to begin to

swallow his prey as a pulpy whole or to detach and swallow a

portion. Whichever it was, the progress of that lizard into the

bat’s interior continued very slowly, but steadily.

Here I had to go and dress as speedily as might be. Returning

after twenty minutes, I found that the meal had advanced as far as

the forelegs ; the forefeet of the lizard were only just visible, the rest

of the body and hind legs still hanging down. I could not

unfortunately see the performance through as I was dining out and

had to go. But I invited the attention of others of the house party

who afterwards informed me that, at the end of dinner three-

quarters of an hour later, the tip of the lizard’s tail alone was still

visible.

On my return about midnight, the bats were still there, engaged

in bowing to each other rather after the manner of an inverted

Punch and Judy. On the staircase below, I found one foot and

half the head, sole remains of the victim, but sufficient to enable me

to identify it as a common house gecko, quite a large specimen.

Apparently the whole of the gecko, with the exception of these two

fragments, had been consumed.

I may mention that while the meal was going on— a gruesome

performance — the second bat made several attempts to obtain a

share but was not allowed a look-in. All it succeeded in doing was

to force its mate to fly with its prey to a different position on the

ceiling.

The bat was of medium size, white below and with large ears.

I suppose Lyroderma lyra, which is known to capture small birds,

but I have never heard of its preying on a lizard. Aitken, however,

in Tribes on my Frontier seems to imply that it will catch and devour

mice and frogs.

[The Indian Vampire Bat ( Lyroderma lyra) — we have a second

species, the Malay Vampire Bat ( Megaderma spasma ) — appears

to have a comprehensive diet which includes insects, smaller

bats and frogs ; even the remains of a fish have been found among

the litter of bones left by a colony living among the rafters of a

bungalow. The dentition, of these bats is indicative of a carnivorous

rather than an insectivorous diet. Though named Vampire bats,

they have no connection with the true Vampire or blood-sucking

bats of which there are two genera confined to South America.

One of these, Desmodus rufa, is armed with large canine and sharp

canine-like incisor teeth designed for attack. The bore of the bat’s

gullet is so small that nothing but liquid food will pass down it while

its stomach, in form, is scarcely distinguishable from the intestine.

Bhavnagar,

September, 1930.

A. H. E. MOSSE,

Lieut. -Colonel, I. A.

Eds.]

1054 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL LUST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

III.— THE STRIPE-NECKED MUNGOOSE

(HERPESTES VITTICOLLIS).

Sometime ago the Hon. Secretary asked me for red Mungooses.

I forward the skin and skeleton of one. The beast was killed on

September 18, 1930, by my dogs on the banks of a small thickly-

bushed stream in the Kundahs at an elevation of 7,500', my

attention being drawn to its capture by its loud cries. After the

tussle I found the coats of all three dogs reeking with a musky scent

which persisted for some time in spite of their rolling in the water,

presumably from the mungoose’s urine. It was an old male with

very worn teeth, and the largest I have ever seen. The bare patch

of skin round the arms is curious. Measurements are as follows : —

Tip of nose to base of tail (measured straight) ... 20J"

Tail (excluding hairs at tip) ... ... ... 13J"

Girth behind the shoulder ... ... ... ... 12"

Girth of neck ... ... ... ... ... 8"

Colour of eye (after death) yellow orange.

Walmer, Lovedale E. G. PHYTHIAN ADAMS,

Nilgiris, S. India, Major , I. A. (Retd.)

September SO, 1930.

[The Stripe-necked Mungoose is the largest of Asiatic Mungooses.

Little is known of its habits. Much may be done by readers of this

Journal in recording notes on even quite common Indian animals

about which we really know so little. Notes on their particular

haunts, their food and methods of obtaining it, breeding habits,

behaviour, etc., if recorded in these pages will gradually build up

the information which is wanted. Major Phythian Adams’ note

reveals a possible method of defence in this Mungoose. The action

may not have been voluntary but it is a type of behaviour which is

popularly associated with the Wild Dog to which Mr. Morris

refers in a following note. Lt.-Col. Frere’s note on the breeding

habits o;f a Common Mungoose which lived in a semi-domesticated

condition in his bungalow is an instance of the value of recording

observations. It gives authentic information on the breeding habits

of a common and widely distributed animal in India about which

nothing was known. Eds.]

IV.— THE INDIAN WILD DOG ( CUON DUKHUNENSIS).

I was interested to see recently at Messrs. Theobald Bros’

premises in Mysore two full-grown wild dogs — a dog and a bitch —

and to notice that both were quite tame, although displaying

nervousness at first on the approach of a stranger. On my approach,

one of them uttered that peculiar chattering noise which wild dogs

often make when suddenly startled : the other went into a corner,

with its tail between its legs and proceeded to urinate over it.

There was however no indication that this action was due to

anything but nervousness, nor did the dog’s urine give out any

offensive odour, contrary to the widely spread belief among jungle

tribes that a wild dog will blind its pursuer in this way. The dogs

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1055

were remarkably free from any smell, as also was their breath.

I think Mr. Theobald informed me that he fed them twice a day —

a meal of bread and milk and one of meat — though of this I am not

sure. The dogs had a curious habit of pulling things to pieces when

free — not excepting leaves and stalks of ornamental plants in flower

pots, etc. It would be interesting to learn the maximum number

of cubs (pups) that have been found in a wild dog’s litter.. I believe

there is a case on record of five having been found.

Honnametti Estate, R. C. MORRIS.

Attikan P.O.,

Via Mysore,

S. India,

October 3, 1930.

r Robinhood in an article in the Pioneer which was reprinted in

our Journal, Vol. x, p. 127, mentions taking six pups in a wild

dog’s litter. Blanford states that ‘there are sometimes six or more

in a litter. ’ Hodgson places the usual number as between two and

four. The breeding season is given as between January and March.

Prof. H. Littledale ( Journ . Bom. Nat. Hist Soc., Vol vii, p. 494)

records the taking of pups in April and May. Further data as

to the breeding season is required. Nothing accurate is known

as regards the period of gestation, which is believed to be about

two months. Eds.]

V. — MEASUREMENTS OF A LARGE INDIAN WOLF

(CAN IS PALLIPES).

I am directed by the Heir-Apparent of Dewas Senior to forward

to you the following particulars for the use of your Journal which

I trust will be of interest to you.

On July 30, 1930, the Heir-Apparent shot a very fine specimen

of a male wolf near Umadi in Jath State. .It measured 4 ft.

10 inches from the tip of its nose to the tip of the tail and was 2 ft.

4 inches high at the shoulder. The biggest wolf recorded in the

Indian Field Shikar Book is 4 ft. 6\ inches long. Hence the wolf

shot by the Heir-Apparent is the biggest yet recorded in India.

The pair of the above, a fine female, measuring 4 ft. 5 inches long

from nose to the tip of tail and 2 ft. 1| inches high at the

shoulder, was shot at the same time by Meh. Y. D. Ghorpade,

Jahagirdar of Madbhavi.

Kholapur, R. Y. CHAV AN,

September 11^ , 1930. Private Secretary to the Heir-

Apparent of Dewas Sr.

VI.— COURAGE AND COWARDICE OF THE HYAENA

The interesting accounts of the pluck and cowardice of hyaenas

in your Journal, Vol. xxxiv, No. 2, reminds me of two occasions,

which may be of interest,

1056 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY. Vol. XXXIV

The first was an instance of cowardice. A very big- hyaena came

along- to where I had a small goat tied up in a narrow nullah, in the

hopes of enticing- the local panther. For half an hour, or there-

abouts, I watched the hyaena trying- to pluck up the courage to

demolish the goat. He repeatedly started a rush, but always pulled

up before reaching the goat, which very pluckily faced the hyaena,

with head down. Eventually, I frightened away the hyaena and, as

the panther never materialized, I am glad to say the plucky little

goat got its freedom.

The second is an instance where a hyaena not only started to eat

a fresh tiger kill, but actually dragged the carcase away ; how far

it would have taken it I don’t know as, thinking it was a tiger, in

poor moonlight, I shot the beast. Very shortly afterwards I heard

the steps of what sounded like the tiger which went round and round

the kill, out of sight, and then made off.

On more than one occasion have I seen hyaenas eat a tiger or

panther kill. I was rather led to believe at one time that when

a hyaena came and ate a tiger or panther kill, it was a sign that

the owner of the carcase would not turn up, but it seems by no

means to be the case.

Fort Lockhart, N.W.F.P., C. W. SANDERS,

September 12, 1930 Major.

VII.— MEASUREMENTS OF BIG GAME.

Brown Himalayan Bear (Urusus isabellinus) ; old female.

Shingoshigar, September 1, 1930.

Length over curves ... ... ... 60"

Girth (chest) ... ... ... ... 40"

Height at shoulder ... ... ... ... 27"

Black Himalayan Bear ( Selenarctos tibetanus ) ; big male.

Pir Panjal, October 16, 1930.

Length over curves ... ... ... 70/;

Girth (chest) ... ... ... ... 47f"

,, (neck) * ... ... ... ... 35"

,, (head in front of ears over big jaw muscles) ... 30 "

Height at shoulder ... ... ... ... 27J"

Tibetan Antelope ( Pantholops hodgsoni).

Ning Rhi, Changchamo, July 7, 1930.

Horns ... ... ... ... ... 33 J"

Height at shoulder ... ... ... ... 32

Girth (chest) ... ... ... ... 33^"

,, (base of neck) ... ... ... ... 17"

,, (throat) ... ... ... ... 13

Srinagar, C. H. STOCKLEY,

October, 1930 Lt.-Col.

VIII.— DRUMMING SOUND MADE BY LEOPARDS.

In the numerous articles and books on big game shooting I have

seen, I have not heard any mention of a curious sound that a

leopard often makes as he, or she, lies near the kill but is fog

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1057

suspicious to venture in. This is a beating1 on the ground — like

the stamp made by a rabbit at home outside his burrow. It is done

with the tail I fancy though I have not actually seen it done.

The Burmese know it well and tell me it is done by a sharp blow

with the tail which is rigid at the time — the under surface of the

tail hitting the ground, not the end of the tail but the basal half of

it. A single blow is usually given and is so characteristic that once

heard will not be forgotten; after an interval of perhaps 4-10 minutes

it will be repeated if the leopard is still there. On such occasions

1 have not been successful — it is a bad omen — and no doubt the

leopard is gazing up at the machan !

I should be interested to hear more about this if someone will tell

us, and also if the Tiger or the Lion does the same.

Ha'ka, Chin Hills, T. R. LIVESEY.

July t 1980.

IX.— MALFORMATION IN SKULL OF A THAR

(. HERMITRAGUS JEMLAICUS).

( With photograph )

The accompanying photograph shows the skulls of two Thar which

I shot recently in Pangie, N. Chamba within half a mile of each other.

After removing the mask and meat from the skull on the left,

I was surprised to find a large indentation running from between

the base of the right horn and eye diagonally across the middle of

the forehead to the left eve.

ABNORMAL HORNS OF SAMBUR. BEHIND IS THE HEAD OF THE ‘ PIGMY ’

BROW-ANTLERED DEER REFERRED TO IN THE NEXT NOTE.

I saw these abnormal horns in the house of Colonel A. L. Bacon,

at Mogok, and took the accompanying photograph of them which I

1058 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL NIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

The' indentation, measures 2 inches across the widest part and in

the middle the surface of the bone is depressed to the extent of

half an inch below the normal contour. The difference can be seen

by comparing the two skulls in the photograph. No trace of

fracture of the skull is apparent and there is no corresponding bulge

or exostosis. The distance from the front of the brain cavity to the

‘foramen magnum’ in the malformed skull is 4’5 inches, whereas

that in the other skull is 5 inches.

It is clear that whatever accident may have caused this

malformation it must have occurred when the animal was very

young or perhaps even in the foetal stage. The resulting pressure

on the brain, one would have thought, would have either stunted

growth or intelligence ; yet it carried a good average pair of horns

and was considerably larger in body than the other Thar whose horns

were slightly longer, while during the stalk the animal certainly

displayed no lack of intelligence with regard to its personal safety.

Hodson’s Horse, R. K. M. BATTYE,

Kohat, Lieut.

N.W.F.P.

X.— ABNORMAL HORNS OF SAMBUR

(■ CERVUS UNICOLOR).

( With a photo)

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1059

send, with Colonel Bacon’s permission, for reproduction in the

Journal.

The sambur head was found by a cartman when looking- for his

strayed bullocks in the jungles of the Mogok Forest Division, Upper

Burma.

The measurements are : —

Right horn — 37^ inches long, 15J inches in girth. Points

practically normal.

Left horn — 27 inches long, 17J inches in girth. Seven points.

The horns must be abnormally heavy. I was unable to weigh

them. This stag may have died a natural death, or have been killed

by a tiger. As the body of the animal was not examined, it can only

be conjectured that there was some injury to the generative organs.

Coonoor, R. w. BURTON,

August, 1930. Lieut. -Colonel,

Indian Army

(Retired).

XI.— A VARIETY OF THE THAMIN OR BROW-ANTLERED

DEER ( RUCERVUS THAMIN).

The thamin was shot in Lower Burma, below Prome. It is

known locally (neighbourhood of village Shwedaung, which can be

got at by motor from Prome) as the ‘Shwe’, or Golden Thamin. It

is, Colonel Bacon says, a distinct type thereabouts, and is a much

smaller animal than the normal brow-antlered deer, being only

somewhat larger than a barking deer. The villagers say they are

scarce, and only found in the low country.

The measurements of the horns in the photograph, published

with the preceding note on the sambur, are : —

Main horn — 12f inches in length.

Brow tine— 5|: inches in length.

The horns are perfect in shape and proportion, and of the normal

type of the brow-antlered deer of the same part of Burma, but in

diminutive form.

It would be very interesting if a member of the Society would

make an opportunity to collect the skin and skeleton of one of these

diminutive stags for examination at the Society’s Museum, as

there is no mention of a sub-species of thamin in any scientific

work on the mammals of Burmai

I have just seen, in the house of a friend here, the diminutive horns

of a chital stag. It was shot in the United Provinces. The animal

was of full size and in no way dwarfed. The skull is as large as

that of a 37-inch stag.

Coonoor, R. W. BURTON,

August, 1930. Lieut. -Colonel,

Indian Army

(Retired).

[Two sub-species of Thamin are recognized from Burma.

R. thamin thamin of which the type locality is Pegu and R. thamin

bfucei from the Ruby Mines, Burma. The distinction between the

two races is based on the character of the antlers. Eds.]

1060 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

XII. -SWAMP-DEER ( RUCERVUS DUVAUCELLI)

HEAD WITH NINETEEN POINTS.

( With a photo)

In December last, in the Kheri District, I shot a gond with

nineteen points. I should be obliged if you would kindly let me

know if this is a record as regards the number of points.

I have made enquiries, but I have not up-to-date heard of one with

more than 17 points. The head in question is the centre one in the

enclosed photograph. All 19 points can be counted easily although

those against my ‘shorts’ do not show up quite so well as the others.

Police Training School, R. POWELL,

Moradabad, U.P., Indian Police Service.

July 1} 1930.

[The late Rt. Hon’ble E. S. Montague had a Swamp-Deer head

with 11 + 9 points. Like Mr. Powell’s, it was shot in the Kheri

District. The record head measures and has 8 + 5 points.

Swamp-Deer display considerably variation in their horns. There

are two distinct types. In one, the horns are not unlike those of a

sambur and as limited in the number of points. The second type

has spreading antlers whose tines throw off a number of branches.

Between these two types all intermediary stages are found. Eds.]

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1061

XIII.— THE OCCURRENCE OF THE GREY HYPOCOLIUS

(HYPO CO LIUS AMPELINUS) IN NORTH KONKAN.

On November 14 (1930), I shot a male specimen of Hypocolius

ampelinns at Kihim, Kolaba District. This bird, whose distribution

is Persia, and which is found also in Bushire, Fao and other places

on the shores of the Persian Gulf, seems never to have been recorded

within Indian limits save (once?) as a very rare straggler on the

Sind-Baluchistan border.

Its occurrence in the Konkan seems extraordinary. The

specimen was solitary. While it is possible that it is an escaped

cage-bird, its perfect plumage certainly bears no traces of recent

captivity.

The bird was first seen amongst the bare thorny branches of a

fallen Babool tree near a tidal creek, whence it once flew out to the

ground a short distance away after an insect ( ?) exactly in the

manner of a shrike, and returned to its perch. It appeared tame

and fearless, allowing me to approach within a few feet as it sat

fluffed out and low down on a branch.

A little later when I returned with the gun, it was still in the

neighbourhood in a thick tangle of Lantana bushes, on the berries

of which it was busy feeding in company with Sturnia malabarica

and Turdus m. nigropileus. The stomach and intestines exclusively

contained Lantana berries ; 33 seeds were removed including some

on the point of being excreted. Testes very small. Wing 98 mm. ;

bill 15 mm. ; tarsus 22 mm. Upper mandible horny-black, lower

flesh colour with dark tip; legs, feet and claws brownish flesh

colour. Iris brown.

Kihim, SALIM A. ALL

Kolaba District,

November 20, 1930.

XIV.— COURTSHIP OF THE SCARLET MINIVET

(. PERICROCOTUS SPECIOSUS).

The Scarlet Minivet is extremely common in the Naga Hills and

may be seen moving about in large parties among the branches of

low trees. On one occasion, about the end of February, I observed

a pair of these birds hopping about in the branches as though they

were courting. Of a sudden, I noticed the female fly off and go

high up into the air; a second later, the male gave chase and before

long caught her up and seized hold of the tip of her tail with his

bill and in this attitude both of them came whorling down like

a ‘plane spinning’. Before reaching the earth the male released

the female and both returned to the tree where they had been.

Here they once more went through a series of hops on a branch

&nd then, of a sudden, the female launched out into the air again

1062 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

to be pursued by the male and the same antics, were repeated.

When launching- out into the air the female gave a feeble whistle,

but the descent was always silent.

Bombay Natural History Society, C. McCANN.

6, Apollo Street,

October , 1930

XV. — DESCRIPTION OF AND NOTES ON THE FEMALE

CHESTNUT-MANTLED KOKLAS ( PUCRASIA M.

CASTANEA) FROM CLIITRAL

We are greatly indebted to Lt. J. A. S. Roper for the above-

mentioned specimen received in August, 1930, from Kila Drosh and

also for his interesting notes on this bird.

Description. — The female of P. m. castanea differs from the

female of P. m. macrolopha in its general paler tone.

The whole head is greyish-brown with crescentic bars and centres

of feather buff ; the crest with broad buff centres. Supercilium

well defined creamy buff, flecked with grey above the eye. The

feathers of the upper back are not so dark as in P. m. macrolopha ,

and are broadly tipped with grey, paling towards the lower back

and rump. The general colour of the tail is blackish-brown, not

rufous buff as in P. m. macrolopha ; the central tail feathers are

greyish-brown.

The following are Lt. J. A. S. Roper’s Notes on the species :

Distribution. — ‘Mainly in Kafiristan’, writes Lt. J. A. S. Roper;

‘but is found in the southern nullahs of Chitral which lie to the

west of the Kunar river. It may spread across the river on the

south-western portion of the Hindu Rai Range but this is doubtful.

3,000 — 7,000' in winter and 7,000 — 10,000' in summer.’

Nidification. — ‘Eggs are laid during May. The nesting site is

usually placed on a ledge on some difficult piece of cliff towards

the top of a nullah’.

Habits. — ‘It is usually found singly during' winter on the sides

of nullahs. It lies very close, but if put up flies strongly. The*

call, uttered usually in the mornings, is a knk-uruk-unik very

much resembling the call of the jungle-fowl but with a hint of the

black partridge. It is particularly noisy during March and April

(presumably just previous to the mating season)’.

Fulton also records, ( J.B.N.H.S. , Vol. xvi, p. 61) the striking

resemblance of the call to that of the jungle-cock.

Bombay Nat. Hist. Society, V. S. LA PERSONNE.

October, 1930.

XVI. — CASUALTIES AMONG THE EGGS AND YOUNG

OF SMALL BIRDS.

Every egg collector in India must, at one time or another, have

been struck by the all-too-frequent disappearance of eggs and young

from nests he has had under observation. The enormous extent of

the damage which is in a great measure due to lizards, snakes,

predatory birds and the common or garden ‘ Boy’, and to a variety

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1063

of natural causes besides, is perhaps not generally realized. In

some cases the destruction may naturally be less than in others, but

with many species including some of our commonest, it is so great

that one wonders how the birds are able to hold their own in the

matter of numbers notwithstanding.

I give below a summary of several nests that I had the oppor-

tunity of keeping under more or less continuous observation during

the monsoon, which conveys some indication of the appalling de-

struction that goes on in these parts.

Bombay Babbler. Turdoides somervillei.

22 August. Nest on Mango graft, 12 ft. from ground. Two

eggs.

29 August. Snake climbed tree and devoured eggs. Nest

deserted.

lora. ^githina tiphia.

Nest deserted, probably owing to continual

harassment from a pair of Oiocompsa

nesting hard by.

1061 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol . XXXI Y

Nest No. I. 28 Aug.

1 Sept.

2 „

4 „

Nest No. 5. i ,,

4 „

14 Sept.

NeA No. 6. 4 ,,

14 „

Completed nest in Cactus hedge, 3 ft. No

eggs.

2 eggs.

3 eggs.

Nest empty and deserted.

Completed nest in Cactus hedge in Paddy

field, 6 ft. No eggs.

2 eggs.

Nest empty, ‘ roughed up ’ and rain-sodden.

Nest nearing completion on Casuarina

branch, 8 ft.

No traces of nest. Evidently blown away

by heavy intervening storm.

Southern Red=whiskered Bulbul. Otocompsa emeria fuscicaudata.

Nest No. 1. 4 May.

Nest No. 2 . 3 May.

8

9

10

23

28

>>

Nest No. 3. 15 Aug.

18

Nest No. I. 18

20

21

22

24

26

Nest No. 5. 27

1 Sept.

2 „

29 Aug.

30 „

4 Sept.

Nest in Casuarina sapling near a bungalow,

6 ft., containing 2 chicks about 4 days

old.

Both chicks left nest safely on or about 13

May.

A pair commenced building in palm-leaf

wall of inhabited hut, inside, 4 ft.

1 egg.

2 eggs.

3 eggs.

1 egg hatched ; 2nd egg hatched at noon.

At 3 p.m. Both chicks and 3rd (addled ?)

egg had vanished.

A pair completing nest in pollarded Olean-

der, 5 ft.

Nest completed. No eggs.

Later, nest deserted ; reason unknown.

Nest nearing completion in karonda bush

intermixed with Cactus and Lantana,

3 ft.

1 egg.

2 eggs.

3 eggs.

Still 3 eggs.

Nest empty and ‘ roughed up \ Work of

boy as evidenced by footprints in mud.

A pair commenced nest in pollarded Guava

tree, 6 ft.

6-30 a m. 1 egg ; 11 a.m. 2 eggs.

8-30 a.m. 3 eggs.

A female Koel (Eudynamis scolopaceus') clung

to side of nest and swallowed up all eggs

two after another. Nest deserted.

Nest just being completed in Lantana bush,

3 ft.

i egg.

3 eggs.

Nest No. 6.

MISCELLANEOUS notes

1055

JOBS JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HlSf. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXI V

Nest No. 5.

Ned No. 6.

helpless on the ground under the nest,

and was put back.

8 Nov. When nest was visited, 2 chicks fluttered

out with difficulty and flew out unsteadily

for a few yards. Their subsequent fate

is unknown.

White^backed Mania. Uroloncha striata.

Nest No. 1. 12 Aug.

15 „

16 „

17 „

19 „

20 „

21 „

4 Sept.

5 „

20/21 „

Nest No. 2. 9 Oct.

19 „

24 „

25 „

A pair commenced building in Quisqualis

arch near bungalow, 7 ft. Both birds

working.

Nest completed ; no eggs at 10 a.m.

1 egg.

2 eggs.

3 eggs.

4 eggs.

5 eggs.

4 blind naked chicks ; 1 unhatched egg

Bird brooding.

At 8 a.m. unhatched chick also out.

Nest torn open ; all chicks gone. Parents

hopping about nervously near nest.

Completed nest in pollarded Guava tree,

4 ft. Globe placed on the cup of an old

Bulbul’s nest. Contains 4 eggs. Both

parents brooding at night.

7 eggs.

1 chick, 6 eggs.

Nest torn open on one side ; contents mis-

sing !

Purple-rumped Suabird. Leptocoma zeylonica.

Nest No. /. 12 July

21 „

23 „

A pair building on outer twig of small tree,

7 ft.

Nest completed. No eggs.

2 eggs.

miscellaneous notes

M7

30 July

Nest No. 2. 31 ,,

8 Aug’.

11 „

21 „

26 „

27 „

11 Sept.

Nest No. 3. 13 Aug.

16 „

18 „

20 „

Nest No. 4. 20 ,,

29

13 Sept.

Nest No. 5. 21 Aug.

Nest No. 6. 21 ,,

Nest No. 7. 13 Oct.

23 ,,

Nest torn open at side. Empty egg-shells

found lying under nest with beak-holes.

Work of Crow Pheasant ?

A pair (most probably same as No. 1)

commenced building on a Kot ( Feronia

elephajitum ) branch, 8 ft.

Nest completed.

2 eggs.

Still 2 eggs. O. K.

At 8 a.m. 1 egg had hatched.

At 8 a.m. 2nd egg had also hatched.

Both chicks left nest safely at 8-30 A.M.

Nest under construction on twig overhang-

ing hedge of a Paddy field, 4 ft.

Nest completed. No eggs.

1 egg.

Nest * roughed up ’ and lying in a mass on

the ground. Near it, in the soft mud of

the flooded field were found 2 eggs

intact.

Completed nest on Babool tree, 7 ft. No

eggs.

2 eggs.

2 blind and naked chicks.

Subsequent fate of this nest is unknown.

Completed nest in hedge dividing inundated

Paddy fields.

Entrance and interior badly ‘ roughed up.’

Nest was deserted. 2 eggs discovered

embedded in lining.

Completed nest in Babool tree, 8 ft. Was

‘ roughed up ’ and on the ground under-

neath were found remains of a fresh

egg.

Completed nest on Ber {Zizy pints') twig,

7 ft/

Nest pulled to tatters, probably by Crow

Pheasant. 1 egg gone, the other on the

point of hatching, lying on ground with

remains of nest.

Kihim (Kolaba District),

2 0th November 1930 .

SALIM A. ALL

XVII.— ‘THE ORIGIN OF MIMICRY IN CUCKOO EGGS’

Inspired by the interesting egg-substitution experiments made by

my friend Dr. Bernard Rensch of the University Zoological Museum,;

Berlin, in an attempt tq tackle the , problem- of the. origin of mimicry

14

1068 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HlST . SOCIETY , Eh/. XX XIV

in the eggs of the European Cuckoo ( Cuculus canorus),1 I com-

menced investigations on similar lines in the monsoon this year.

Although my observations this season were confined only to six

nests, I am publishing the results in the hope that other members

of the Society who have opportunities, may be tempted to conduct

similar experiments. Dr. Rensch is one of those who believe that

similarity between Cuckoo eggs and those of its various hosts is

brought about not by some mysterious or conscious ability on the

part of the former to lay eggs ‘to order’, so to say, approximating

in colour and markings to those of the host, nor by the alleged

intelligence of the parasite to fly about from nest to nest carrying its

own egg in its bill, comparing it with the clutches of its various hosts

and depositing it amongst the eggs that bear closest resemblance

to its own ! He believes indeed that all the discrimination and

selection is exercised exclusively by the hosts. Only such cuckoo

eggs as approximate in appearance to those of the hosts succeed

in being accepted, while those that are obviously strange are either

cast out or not incubated at all (i.e. the nests are deserted). This

manner of selection has evolved distinct groups amongst the

cuckoos, (each group laying a distinct type of egg) who from

generation to generation resort for egg-laying only to the nests of

such species as they themselves were fostered by. The selection

exercised by the hosts, which destroy all eggs of strange appear-

ance, ultimately tends to the ‘survival of the fittest’ ; in other words

it conduces to perfecting the resemblance between the eggs of the

parasite and those of its host.

Experiment I

The Indian Wren- Warbler ( Prinia inornata)

20. viii. 30 : Nest with one egg. At 10 a.m., added 1 egg of

Furple-rumped Sunbird ( Leptocoma zeylonica). Withdrew some

distance and watched through field glasses. At 10.5 a bird came

and entered nest. A few seconds later it flew off. Returned again

in a few minutes, entered nest and left 3 or 4 seconds later. Did

not seem perturbed.

21. viii.- 30 : At 9.30 a.m. nest contained 2 eggs of Prinia and

1 Leptocoma.

24. viii. 30 : At 9 a.m. nest contained 4 Prinia eggs. Leptocoma

egg gone !

26. viii. 30 : Nest contains 4 Pirinia eggs. Birds brooding

Result : Leptocoma egg accepted for first (2 or 3?) days, but

discarded subsequently. Bird continued to brood

its own clutch till nest destroyed by grass-cutters

a few days later.

Experiment II

Indian Wren-Warbler ( Prinia inornata )

20. viii. 30 : Nest with 1 egg. Removed egg and substituted it

by one of Red-whiskered Bulbul (Otocompsa emeria) not only quite

1 B. Rensch, Zur Entstehung der Mimicry der Kuckuckseier, Jour. f.

Ornithologie 72, 1924, pp. 461-724 and

Ornithologische Monatsberichfe, xxxiii, 6, November 6, 1925.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1069

different in colour, but also nearly twice as large. Withdrew and

watched. Owner came and peeped into nest; withdrew its head and

looked around. Entered nest and remained within for 10 seconds.

Flew off some distance to a bush. Returned and re-entered, but

left again after about 10 seconds. Looked somewhat perturbed. I

walked up to nest and found Bulbul egg intact.

21. viii. 30 : At 8.45 a.m. nest contained 1 Otocompsa egg and

1 Prinia egg. Added 1 egg of Sunbird ( Leptocoma zeylonica). Nest

now held 1 Otocompsa, 1 Prinia and 1 Leptocoma eggs. Total 3.

After introducing Leptocoma egg I withdrew to a distance and

watched. One of the owners of nest came, peeped in, withdrew its

head and had a good look round as if to discover the mischief-

maker. Flew away but returned half a minute later with fine strip

of grass and entered nest. From movements of nests it was

apparent that repairs were being done. I returned to the nest a

quarter of an hour later ; disturbed one of the owners off. All 3

eggs safe. Owners had apparently accepted the strange eggs.

24. viii. 30 : At 9.30 a.m. both Otocompsa and Leptocoma

eggs had been ejected. The former was found lying on the ground

immediately under the nest with a beak hole on either side. The

nest now contained 3 legitimate Prinia eggs.

26. viii. 30 : Owners not seen in vicinity of nest. Apparently

deserted.

30. viii. 30 : Nest has been deserted.

Result : Otocompsa egg substituted for one of her own was

first accepted by Prinia. Leptocoma egg added

after one more of her own had been laid, also

accepted.

Both strange eggs were ejected on completion

(or immediately before?) of own full clutch.

Prinia deserted nest on completion of her clutch.

Experiment III

Indian Wren- Warbler ( Prinia inornata )

20. viii. 30 : Half-built nest. Under construction; both birds

working. Placed fresh Prinia egg from another nest in cup. Both

owners visited nest, put their heads inside, one after the other, and

flew off again to fetch further material.

21. viii. 30 : At 8 a.m. construction progressing. Prinia egg

gone ! Inserted 1 Leptocoma egg into incomplete empty cup, and

withdrew a short distance. Both birds came and resumed work.

In a few seconds the male (later seen warbling from a neighbouring

bush) entered the cup and came out with the Leptocoma egg in its

bill. He flew off with this and dropped it in the adjacent flooded

paddy field, about 10 yards from nest.

23. viii. 30 : Nest complete. Contained 1 Prinia egg.

26. viii. 30 : Nest contained 4 Prinia eggs.

14. ix. 30 : 4 chicks ready to leave nest.

Result : Promptly discarded egg, both belonging to its own

species and another, when placed in nest before

its completion and prior to laying of its own.

Did not desert nest, but brought up its family.

1070 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL NIST SOCIETY , XXXIV

Experiment IV

Red-whiskered Bulbul ( Otoconipsa emerid)

20. viii. 30 : Nest with 1 egg*. Removed egg and substituted

1 of Leptocorna zeylonica instead. Visited nest after 15 minutes.

Leptocoma egg gone ! Either swallowed up (?) or removed to some

distance, as it was not found on the ground under nest. One of the

owners was flushed off empty nest on second visit.

21. viii. 30 : At 9 a.m. nest contained 1 fresh Otoconipsa egg.

22. viii. 30 : At 11 a.m. 2 eggs.

24. viii. 30 : Still 2 eggs. Bird brooding.

26. viii. 30 : Nest ‘roughed up’. Both eggs gone !

Result : Otocompsa promptly rejected egg of different size

and colour when substituted for the only one of

her own in nest.

Experiments V & VI

Red-whiskered Bulbul ( Otocompsa emerid)

2. ix. 30 : Nest containing 3 eggs. Added 1 similarly coloured

and marked egg of Molpastes hcemorrhous. Total 4. Owner

returned a few minutes later, looked surprisedly into overcrowded

nest and seemed to hesitate a little. Soon got in and sat on all

4 eggs. She was uncomfortable at first and shifted and fidgeted

about, but got settled ultimately.

5. ix. 30 : Bird on all 4 eggs till 5 p.m. A female Koel

( Eudynamis scolopaceus ) arrived at nest and swallowed up all

4 eggs in as many seconds. Before I could realize almost what was

happening, she was off. I rushed out and shot the robber.

Dissection showed that 3 of the eggs were smashed, the fourth

being intact. This was carefully extracted, and replaced in Bulbul’s

nest, but the birds deserted, and the egg lay unattended all night.

6. ix. 30: At 9. a.m. removed above egg to another Otocompsa

nest about a mile distant, which already contained 3 eggs (clutch

completed on September 1). I added this egg to the clutch, making

total 4. Three minutes later, owner returned. Looked into nest,

and resumed position on eggs !

13. ix. 30 : 1 egg of legitimate clutch hatched, evidently this

morning. Other 3 eggs, including one from Koel’s stomach —

distinguishable by larger size and more purple blotching — intact.

Bird sitting.

15. ix. 30 : At 9 a.m. nest still contained 1 chick, 3 eggs.

22. ix. 30 : Nest empty ! Chick and eggs have disappeared in

the interval.

Result : Otocompsa accepted egg added to her full clutch,

similarly coloured but belonging to different

species. Second Otocompsa also accepted addi-

tion to her full clutch.

1 was most anxious to see the result of the adventurous egg

rescued from the Koel’s stomach. Unfortunately before anything

could happen, it went the way most eggs and chicks in the country-

side seem to go !

Kihim (Kolaba Dist.), SALIM A. ALL

October 2B, 1930 . • -

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1071

XVIII.— NOTES ON THE PIED CRESTED CUCKOO

( CLAMATOR JACOBINUS ) IN ALIBAG TALUKA

(KOLABA DISTRICT).

With reference to Mr. H. Whistler’s article in Vol. xxxiv (pp. 27-

39) of the Journal , drawing attention to the unsatisfactory state of

our knowledge concerning the movements of the Pied Crested Cuckoo

(Clamator jacobinus) and appealing for contributions, I give below

notes from my diary relating to this bird in the country where I have

had occasion to observe it this season.

2Jf May. — Heard for the first time this season. A pair seen; fairly

quiet.

11 June. — Shot three specimens in rapid succession, all from the

same tree. At first there were only two birds on the tree, but the

third arrived immediately the first fell. Dissection showed as

follows :

No. 1. — Male. Testes undeveloped. Lumps of fat surrounding

stomach. Contents: one soft caterpillar about 1" long; a large

quantity of caterpillar hairs ; two hard brown fragments of some

beetle.

No. 2. — Male. Testes undeveloped. Left somewhat larger than

right. No fat around stomach. Contents : remains of one

large cricket ; large quantity of Orthoptera remains. The stomach

was so tightly packed and hard, that prior to dissection it seemed as

if there was an egg inside ready for laying !

No. 3. — Male. Left testis slight, right undeveloped. Much fat

surrounding stomach. Contents : Remains of flying ants and small

grasshoppers. Also one leathery greenish berry (?) of the size and

shape of a paddy-grain containing two tiny seeds. (Later these

were sown, but without result.)

It is significant that all the three birds proved to be males with

their organs as yet showing no tendency to breed.

16 August. — A pair observed in copula. The female w&s

swallowing a large green hairy caterpillar during the act.

26 August. — A great commotion was caused among a r sisterhood *

of Bombay Babblers ( Turdoides somervillei) by the visit of a pair of

Clamator to a nest containing two eggs. The cuckoos were calling

loudly and were doubtless intent on cuck-olding the Babbler. The

bird sitting on the eggs gave the alarm and left the nest to chase

the intruders away. The rest of the ' sisterhood , feeding at a

distance promptly rallied to the summons. There was much

swearing and noise as the flock pursued the cuckoos from tree to

tree and finally drove them away. The cuckoos kept calling lustily

throughout the operations. The nest was examined immediately

afterwards to ascertain whether the cuckoos had succeeded in their

mission, but was found to contain only the two original Babbler

eggs. The Babbler is an exceedingly close sitter and one wonders

how Clamator ever gets a chance of foisting her eggs in the nest.

Presumably, it must happen at times that the ' sisterhood ’ is out of

call, and while the attendant bird gives chase to one of the cuckoos

that have approached its nest, his mate slips in and deposits her

1072 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXIV

29 August. — Shot a specimen going about from tree to tree,

obviously in search of a nest to lay in. Her oviduct contained a com-

plete egg. The shell was soft and leathery, but had a pale blue tinge.

25 and 26 September. — A pair flying about noisily from tree to

tree among paddy fields. The call is piu, piu, pee-pee-piu, pee-pee -

piu — rather plaintive.

29 September. — Heard calling. Later, a pair seen following each

other from tree to tree, calling loudly.

The last record for the season I have is October 15, by which date

the birds had become distinctly scarce. They were quite common

throughout the foregoing period, perhaps most plentiful between

June 15 and the latter half of August. The specimen shot on

October 15 was solitary and apparently juvenile. Male. Testes

very small. Upper plumage dull dusky black; underparts strongly

suffused with fulvous. Stomach contained two pieces of quartz and

a couple of brown hairy caterpillars.

Since the above date, the birds seem to have completely vanished.

Kihim (Kolaba Dist.), SALIM A. ALL

October 29, 1930.

[Writing subsequently Mr. Ali mentions that two single birds

were seen on the 10th November which were doubtless young of the

season. Upper parts in both sooty black ; lower much suffused with

fulvous. Eds.]

XIX.— BIRDS OBSERVED IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

OF RANIKHET.

The following observations cover the period April 30 to June 11.

As no collecting was done, sub-specific identifications are not

attempted.

Ranikhet is not a very high Hill-station. 'The bungalow in

which the writer was staying is about the highest, and is only

6,200 ft. above sea-level. Most of the following observations were

made between 5,500 and 6,500.

The hills are, for the most part, covered with forest, the chief

trees being Cheer Pine, Himalayan Oak, and Rhododendron. In

addition to these, Deodar, Cypress, and Horse-Chestnut are also

fairly common. The forest on the northern slopes is a good deal

more open, and with less undergrowth than on the southern slopes.

There is a certain amount of cultivation, particularly the Government

Gardens below Chaubattia, and also a good deal of ground covered

with coarse growth which was evidently under cultivation once,

but which appears to have been left untouched for many years. The

following birds were observed :

Corvus coronoides Gould. The Jungle-Crow.

This is the common crow of Ranikhet, and is found everywhere

except in the thickest forest. A nest containing fully-fledged young

was found about fifty feet up a pine on the edge of a clearing

on May 22.

Corvus splendens Vieill. The House-Crow.

Only seen two or three times, always in the station itself,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1073

Urocissa melanocephala (Lath.). The Red-billed Blue Magpie.

Very numerous wherever "there are trees. Appears to breed in

May. A pair were very busy picking up sticks below the British

Military Hospital on May 4.

Garrulus bispecularis Vigors. The Himalayan Jay.

Seen occasionally, generally in pairs.

Garruilus lanceolatus Vigors. The Black-throated Jay.

Very numerous. At the beginning of May this species was

generally seen in small parties up to about six in number. After

the middle of the month, however, they were almost invariably

seen in pairs.

Parus major Linn. The Grey Tit.

Seen occasionally, sometimes alone and sometimes in mixed

flocks with other species of tits. A family of young birds which

could not have left the nest more than a few days was seen on

May 10.

Parus monticolus Vigors. The Green-backed Tit.

The commonest Tit at Ranikhet. A brood of young left their

nest on April 30.

Maclolophus xanthogenys (Vigors.) The Yellow-cheeked Tit.

Small parties seen occasionally.

Aigithaliscus concinnus Gould. The Red-headed Tit.

Numerous ; usually occurring in large flocks. These, flocks are

occasionally mixed with other species, but are more often homo-

geneous. The species which seems most frequently to mix with

them is Zosterops palebrosa. They are particularly partial to wild

raspberries.

Sitta frontalis Horsf. The Velvet-fronted Nuthatch.

A party of three or four in a mixed flock of Tits was seen in thin

forest about 6,300 ft. above sea level on May 28th.

Garrulax albogularis (Gould). The White-throated Laughing-Thrush.

A fairly large flock was to be seen almost daily in fairly thick

forest by the path to the Dhobi Ghat on the northern slope of

Chaubattia. It was seen nowhere else.

Trochalopterum lineatum ( V igors). The Streaked Laughing-Thrush.

. Very numerous. A nest containing half-fledged young found

eighteen inches from the ground in oak-scrub by the side of a main

road on May 14,

Pomatorhinus erythrogenys Vigors. The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar Babbler.

Seen occasionally in a thickly wooded Nullah rather below

6,000 ft.

Leioptila capistrata (Vigors). The Black-headed Sibia.

A pair seen behaving as if they had a nest near on the edge of

forest on May 9,

1074 JOURNAL , BOMBA Y NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , W. XXX IV

Microscelis psaroides (Vigors), The Black Bulbul.

Fairly numerous in forest. Not seen within the station, or on

open or cultivated ground.

Molpastes cafer (Gmel.) The Red=vented Bulbul.

Fairly numerous by the road up to Ranikhet below 4,500 ft.

Above that height only seen once, a small flock on open ground

about 6,300 ft. on May 9.

Molpastes leucogenys (Gray). The White=cheeked Bulbul.

Fairly numerous within the station and on rough ground which

has gone out of cultivation. At the beginning of May this species

was generally seen in pairs ; from the end of May onwards in family

parties or small flocks.

Certhia himalayana Vigors. The Himalayan Tree=Creeper.

Very numerous, generally in pairs, both in gardens and forest;

Saxicola caprata bicolor (Sykes). The Indian Bush=Chat.

Numerous on open ground below 5 500 ft., particularly in the

rough scrub below the pipe-line. By their behaviour they were

evidently breeding, and a nest which appeared to belong to this

species was found ready for eggs on June 7.

Saxicola torquata (Linn). The Stone-Chat.

Found on the same ground as the last species, but not in such

great numbers. It also appeared to be breeding.

Oreicola ferrea (Gray). The Dark Gray Bush=Chat.

One seen in the station May 5. No other record.

Enicurus maculatus Vigors. The Spotted Forktail.

One seen on a stream below Ranikhet May 10, and one at Siunr,

about ten miles away, May 19. - Height in each case about 5,500 ft,

Chaimarrhornis leucocephala (Vigors). The White=capped Redstart.

One seen on a stream crossing the Kathgodam— Ranikhet road,

about 4,000 ft., Apr. 30.

Copsychus saularis (Linn). The Dhayal or Magpie=Rohin.

Male and female seen two or three times near the Ranikhet

Military Hospital in May.

Turdus boulboul (Lath). The Gray= winged Blackbird.

Very numerous, particularly near streams. The ‘ Fauna ’ (second

edition) Vol. II, p. 132 says ‘ It sings very little except in the early

mornings.’ During (the whole time I was in Ranikhet, its voice

was to be heard near every stream from daylight till about 9 a.m.

and from 4 p.m. to dark. A broken egg which evidently belonged

to this species was picked up on a path on May 3. In June these

birds became very pugnacious, and seemed to be fighting amongst

themselves whenever seen.

Arceuthornis viscivorus (Linn). The MissebThrush.

Fairly numerous in forest above 6000 ft. throughout May and

June, Young birds were seen leaving a nest in an oak about 6?200 ft,

on May 19,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1075

Oreocinda dauma (Lath). The Small-billed Mountain-Thrush.

One seen in the station about 6,000 ft., May 25

Monticola cinclorhyncha (Vigors). The Blue-headed Rock-Thrush.

Very common on open ground and in light forest. Many more

males than females seen. A young bird which could not have left

the nest more than a day or two seen June 6.

Monticola solitaria (P. L. S. Muller). The Blue Rock-Thrush.

One female seen below Ranikhet, about 5,000 ft., June 11. No

other record.

Myiophoneus temminckii Vigors. The Himalayan Whistling-Thrush.

Seen on every stream which contained water above 2,300 ft.

between Kathgodam and Ranikhet.

Cyornis tricolor (Hodgs). The Slaty=blue Flycatcher.

One seen near the top of Chaubattia, about 7,000 ft., May 11.

Cyornis superciliaris (Jerdon). The White-browed Blue Flycatcher.

Fairly numerous in the earlier part of May, but much less so

towards the end of the month and in June.

Stoparola melanops (Vigors). The Verditer Flycatcher.

Fairly numerous, and appeared to be breeding.

Alseonax Iatirostris (Raffl). The Brown Flycatcher.

Occasionally seen, generally in the station.

Heinipus picatus (Sykes). The Pied Shrike.

One seen in Govt. Gardens, Chaubattia, June 4. No other record,

Pericrocotus brevirostris (Vigors). The Short-billed Minivet.

Common wherever there are trees. In May this species was

almost always met with in pairs. From the beginning of June

they were generally in small flocks.

Dicrurus macrocercus (Vieill). The Black Drongo or King-Crow.

Fairly numerous.

Dicrurus Ieucophaeus (Vieill). The Ashy Drongo.

Numerous wherever there are trees. A pair had a nest about

twelve feet from the ground in a pine tree in the compound of the

house in which I was staying. The young birds left the nest

on June 8. While the young birds were still in the nest, the old

birds were seen to attack and drive away Crows, Kites, Mynahs,

Scavenger Vultures, and a Red-legged Falconet.

Seicercus xanthoschistus (Hodgs). The Grey-headed Flycatcher-Warbler.

Very common. A brood of young which could not have left the

nest earlier than that day were seen at Siuni on May 18. From

that day on, young birds were seen everywhere,

,1076 JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Oriolus oriolus (Linn.). The Golden Oriole.

One seen in the grounds of the, Ranikhet Military Hospital, May 3,

No other record.

Acridotheres tristls (Linn.). The Common Mynah.

Common and breeding. Nests containing young found from May

18 onwards, and a nest containing eggs on June 7. The latter was

in a hole in an oak ; all the rest In buildings.

£Uhiopsar fuscus (Wagl.). The Jungle-Mynah.

One seen in scrub below the pipe-line about 5,700 ft., May 23

No other record. * - ■ -

Gymnoris xanthocollis (Burton). The Yellow=throated Sparrow.

Several seen in gardens on May 1, but none seen after that date

Passer domesticus (Linn.). The House=Sparrow.

Fairly numerous in the bazaar, not often seen elsewhere.

Passer rutilans (Temm.). The Cinnamon Tree=Sparrow.

Very numerous, both round houses and in the more open forest.

They were busy building at the beginning of May, and some were

seen carrying nesting materials as late as the second week in June.

There were three nests under the eaves of the house in which I

was staying. One brood hatched out on June 6.

Delichon urbica (Linn.). The House-Martin.

One seen June 2. No other record.

Hirundo daurica Linn. The Striated Swallow.

Numbers of these Swallows were to be seen daily below the pipe-

line, particularly over a stream running through scrub and amongst

rocks. I searched the rocks carefully, and found the remains of

several old nests on the under-surface of some of the larger over-

hanging rocks, but no sign of new work.

c.y „■ .-I'j/dC' i

Zosterops palebrosa (Temm.). The White-eye.

Very common in pairs and :S.mall flocks. The flocks were

occasionally mixed with tits, but were generally homogeneous.

Picus squamatus Vigors. The Scaly-bellied Green Woodpecker.

Numerous. A nest containnig young found May 5th. A pair of

Mynahs appeared to be trying to enter the hole, and were vigorously

repelled by one of the woodpeckers.

Picus vittatus V ieill. The Himalayan Scaly-bellied Woodpecker.

Occasionally seen.

Dryobates himalayensis (Jard. and Selby.). The Himalayan Pied Wood-

pecker. . . . ~ . lv. /. y J

Fairly numerous. One seen excavating a nesting-hole in a dead

pine May 10. This species has a curious habit in the early mornings

of rubbing its bill on a branch with the motion of a man sharpening

a scythe. If seemed possible that this was its method of cleaning

its bill, and was part of its morning toilet. ,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1077

Dryobates auriceps (Vigors). The Brown»fronted Pied Woodpecker.

Quite the commonest Woodpecker at Ranikhet. Family parties

were commonly seen from the end of May.

Leiopicus mahrattensis (Lath.). The Yellow=fronted Pied Woodpecker.

An adult was seen on an oak picking insects out of the bark and

feeding a young bird clinging to the trunk below her on June 6.

Megalaima virens (Bodd.). The Great Himalayan Barbet.

Numerous and noisy.

Cuculus canorus (Linn.). The Common Cuckoo.

Numerous, particularly on open ground below 6,000 ft. Some

individuals began to give the broken call (‘ Cuck-cuckoo) on May

23, but others continued in full call till I left on June 11. As in

England the interval between the two notes of the Cuckoo’s call

varies slightly, but whereas the variation in England is generally

only between a major third and a minor third, the variation at Rani-

khet was between a minor third and a major second, and

occasionally even less than that.

Cuculus optatus Gould. The Himalayan Cuckoo.

Calling very vigorously till the end of May. After the end of

the month it was less frequently heard, and the call seemed weaker.

Cuculus micropterus Gould. The Indian Cuckoo.

Very numerous, calling throughout the period spent at Ranikhet.

It generally begins to call before it is light, and frequently keeps up

its call till after dark. The commonly accepted rendering of its

call is ‘ Kaiplial pakka \ but the rendering given to it by British

soldiers stationed in the hills, ‘ Lost my rifle is equally good.

Eudynamis scolopaceus (Linn.). The Koel.

Occasionally heard calling, generally below the military hospital.

Psittacula schisticeps (Hodgs,). The Slaty=headed Parroquet.

One seen in forest May 14. No other record.

Upupa epops Linn. The Hoopoe.

Numerous. Nests containing young found on May 7 and 9.

Micropus melba (Linn.). The Alpine Swift.

One seen May 10 about 6,200 ft. No other record.

Micropus affinis (Gray). The Indian House=Swift.

Three seen together May 23. No other record.

Otus spilocephalus (Blyth). The Spotted Scops Owl.

Heard at night from April 30 to June 10, but more commonly

before the end of May than after.

Glaucidium brodiei (Burton). The Collared Pigmy Owlet.

One seen May 10. No other record.

Sarcogyps calvus (Scop.). The Black Vulture,

Fairly frequently seep.

1078 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Gyps himalayensis Hume. The Himalayan Griffon.

Occasionally seen, never near houses.

Gyps indicus (Scop.). The Long-billed Vulture.

Occasionally seen.

Pseudogyps bengalensis (Gmelin). The Indian White-backed Vulture.

Occasionally seen.

Neophron percnopterus (Linn.). The Scavenger Vulture.

Common.

Gypaetus barbatus (Linn.). The Lammergeyer.

Very numerous over every type of country, feeding largely from

offal in the station itself. A nest was found containing a young bird

nearly ready to fly on a cliff below the pipe-line on May 23. The

eyrie seemed to have been used for some years, and the ground

near was littered thickly with fragments of bone.

Cerchneis tinnunculus Linn. The Kestrel.

Fairly numerous, particularly away from heavy forest. A pair

of these birds had a nest on a rock above the pipe-line, where they

were feeding a well-grown young bird on May 9 and 10. The old

birds appeared to be tempting the young one to exert itself, as

they always brought food to the end of the ledge on which the nest

was situated farthest from the nest itself. The young bird ran along

the ledge to its parents on their arrival, and retired again to the

nest when they left. After May 10th, and up to the end of the first

week in June, the young bird was being fed in trees and on other

ledges of rock, not infrequently flying after its parents and calling

shrilly for food.

Microhierax coerulescens (Linn.). The Red-legged Falconet.

One seen several times about 6,200 ft. On June 2 he was bold

enough to perch in the tree in the compound of the bungalow in

which I was staying where a pair of Ashy Drongos had their nest.

Both Drongos attacked him, and drove him off, pursuing him a good

deal further than was their usual custom.

Aquila chrysaetos (Linn.). The Golden Eagle.

One seen May 8. No other record.

Milvus migrans (Bodd.). The Pariah Kite.

Not very numerous.

Astur badius (Gmelin). The Shikra.

Occasionally seen on rough ground below 6,000 ft.

Sphenocercus sphenurus (Vigors). The Kokla Green Pigeon.

Fairly numerous in more open forest, generally in twos or

threes.

Streptopelia orientalis (Lath.). The Rufous Turtle-Dove.

Numerous.

Streptopelia chinensis (Scop.). The Spotted Dove,

Very numerous,

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1079

Streptopelia senegaleasis (Lina.). The Little Brown Dove.

One seen at Siuni on May 19. Occasionally seen near Ranikhet

after that date.

Streptopelia decaocto (Frivalszky). The Indian Ring=Dove.

Fairly numerous. A pair had just completed a nest on Aug. 17

(when I revisited Ranikhet for two days), and the hen was on the

nest and appeared to be in the act of laying when I left.

Gennaeus hamiltoni (Griff.). The White=crested Kalij.

A pair seen on May 21, and on two or three subsequent occasions.

They were always seen in pairs, and always in the more open type

of forest.

Francolinus francolinus (Linn.). The Black Partridge.

One bird was always calling vigorously in the early morning, and

sometimes in the evening, in thick, low scrub below the pipe-line,

from May 28, onwards. On one occasion my dogs flushed a cock

from the spot where he was always to be heard, but on no occasion

did I see a hen.

Lobivanellus indicus (Boddaert). The Red=wattled Lapwing.

A pair at Siuni on May 19 appeared to be breeding from their

behaviour. No other record.

F. S. BRIGGS.

XX.— HOVERING FLIGHT OF BIRDS AND NO WIND.

The flight of birds has always been of great interest to me, but

it is a behaviour involving great diversity and complexity of method.

Each species of bird has its 'own distinctive methods, resulting in

highly characteristic wing-movements, trajectories and velocities.

Some birds are eminently superb gliders on motionless wing when

they choose, as our hawks, eagles and buzzards. Others dash along

with the directness of an arrow like '.the ducks and geese, fanning

the -air 'with tremendous’ 'persistehceand energy. '

I was much interested in the entertaining discussion of Major

R. W. Hingston, ‘Effect of wind on the flight of birds’, Journal of

the Bombay Natural History Society, Vol. xxxiii, No. 4, 1929,

pp. 992-994. A comment, however, is needed here, bearing on his

discussion, ‘Effect of Wind on Hovering Flight’. 'While it may be

true, as he states, that many birds as the kestrels, kingfishers and

terns, take advantage of wind to perform their hovering activities,

one of our American birds, the Ruby-throated Elumming Bird quite

refutes the concept that birds which poise need wind. Major

Hingston’s statement that ‘No bird can employ its wings for the

purpose of just raising itself vertically; there must always be some

forward pushing element in the strokes’, caught my attention

especially, and our little Eastern ruby-throat at once came to mind.

During the summer of 1930, I spent much time with these gay

visitors in my garden , studying more critically their behaviour in

flight. As a result of these observations, I feel that I can confirm

my earlier opinions with some confidence.

lOSO JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISt. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

I feel that we must recognize two types of hovering birds, those

that may depend to a greater or less degree upon wind to help

sustain their poise, and those that can hold themselves stationary

in the air in a motionless poise of the body that must ever excite

the utmost admiration. The great, distinctive, strictly New World

humming bird family, indigenous to the Americas alone, exemplifies

the latter behaviour. It may be a more or less specialized feature

of the flight of these living gems, — it is probably more or less a

family trait, — Since a flower-prober must often find it necessary to

suspend itself in mid-air to delve into far-flung suspended blossoms.

However this may be, I can speak alone for the diminutive ruby-

throat of the eastern United States. I have often been within arm’s

length of its presence before my tiger lilies and Bee Balm (' Monarda

didyma ), watching intently its marvellous grace as it literally hung

its body in mid-air on invisible, whirring wings.

No wind is needed to perform its aerial evolutions before the

flowers it visits. In truth a wind is disconcerting to it at times,

tending to break the beautiful equilibrium of its motionless poise.

On the calmest days its superb poise is seen, a perfect organic gem

entering, receding, swerving, moving upward and downward in its

systematic search from flower to flower. Let me state here that this

marvellous flyer can elevate itself vertically as far as it chooses,

drop slowly to lower levels with perfect ease as if floating in the

atmosphere, even move backwards some distance away from a

flower as it withdraws its bill and advances to another. All the while

it moves its wings with such rapidity that only a glinting whirr is

seen where its wings should be. How the tiny thing does all this,

I cannot say, but in some manner the forward push of its wing-

strokes is a component somehow neutralized even if it exists at all,

and the bird remains stationary as long as it chooses as easily as

some of the hover flies. I have seen them in their play with each

other magnify all these capacities of movement, vertically, forwards,

backwards. Furthermore, I saw one evening a flying behaviour on

its part that I had never before witnessed. I had been inclined to

feel that rapidity of wing-beat must be a fixed feature of its flight,

but on this particular evening it zoomed over a high rose hedge, and

holding its wings outstretched in a strangely quiescent position for

a humming bird, glided down past me like a tiny emerald airplane

and away, fast losing altitude as it went, perhaps intentionally,

perhaps from necessity.

I doubt if we know much yet about the flight of many birds,

notably among these the humming birds. I am inclined to believe

they have an almost gyroscopic power of lifting and lowering their

poising bodies with their swift-beating wings. Surely they can

reverse the forward-pulling component of their strokes and push

themselves smoothly backwards, or oscillate in the air like a living

pendulum. It would be no simple matter to analyze the humming-

bird’s wing movements, but I am inclined to believe the stroke and

twist of the wings may be such as to do away at times with the

usual forward component, allowing an exercise alone of the lifting,

vertical component. Who knows what the gyratory twistings of

these tiny wings may actually be at such times? To say the least in

order to manipulate their play and strokes, their speed and positions

Miscellaneous notes io&i

with such nicety as to hold the body motionless in mid-air demands

a marvellous control of the wing's, a marvellous sensitivity of

balancing forces and a most refined adjustment of the stroke, its

power, speed, direction, to establish such a perfect equilibrium with

the downward pulling forces of gravitation — and all in spite of wind.

Washington, D.C., H. A. ALLARD,

June, 1930. U. S. Department of Agriculture.

XXL— PELICANS AND TURTLES.

On the afternoon of September 4, 1930, two Pelicans were found

with Turtles hanging from their beaks in the Aquatic Birds’ Pond

in the Victoria Gardens. They were trying to swallow them. Each

of the turtles weighed 9} lbs, with a carapace 9-J inches long and

about 8 \ inches wide. Quite a mouthful even for a Pelican !

As soon as the keeper noticed this incident he drove the birds out

of the pond and when they were on the lawn they immediately

disgorged their victims. One of the Pelicans in the act got injuries

to the pouch caused by the claws of the turtle with the result that

there was a lacerated wound about 4 to 5 inches in length. The

wound was dressed and treated with antiseptic and about 8 stitches

were put in. The Pelican was in no way incapacitated from

feeding. The wound healed up within a month, and the Pelican

is now in the pond with others as happy as ever.

Victoria Gardens, D. S. LAUD,

Bombay, Supdt., Municipal .Gardens.

October 31, 1930.

XXII— LITTLE INDIAN GREBES OR DABCHICKS

(PODICEPS ALBIPENNIS) MOBBING A SNAKE.

The other day, while out for a walk with my wife on the bund

of a local tank, the following incident was observed which may be

of interest.

A snake started to swim across' the tank and was followed by

a dabchick. The snake was very uneasy as the dabchick was

obviously trying to attack it, and several times turned and went

for the bird who, however, easily evaded it. This fracas attracted

other dabchicks and the snake made for a .small island ; the

dabchicks, six in all, following, turned him off the island and he

again had to swim for it, harrassed by the birds whom he frequently

turned and tried to attack. The dabchicks, however, stuck to him

and saw him off the tank. The snake was obviously not a water-

snake or he would have dived and avoided these attacks

We were not near enough to identify the snake but I fancy it must

have been a Dhaman (Zamenis mucosus) as these are very ' common

about the tanks at Hyderabad. The dabchicks cannot have been

1082 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXlV

nesting, as this tank is dry in the hot weather and has only partially

filled in since the monsoon started, so that cannot account for the

aggressiveness of these birds.

[The behaviour of the dabchicks in the water is not infrequently

witnessed among birds on land when a number of different birds

combine to harass and mob a snake which they have discovered.

They obviously sense the presence of a common enemy. Strangely

enough, birds do not usually display fear of snakes. We have seen

a hen calmly feeding on grain in a python’s cage. She took not the

slightest notice of the huge snake coiled a few feet away from her.

A crow, on the other hand — and the crow is the most intelligent

of birds — showed the acutest realization of the danger. Much has

been written and believed about the hypnotic influence the snake is

supposed to wield over its intended prey. It is mostly curiosity

which impels an animal to remain in the presence of its attacker.

It watches the slow approach of the aggressor, the slow movement

of the head or the quivering of the tail. The same influence may

be exerted by the movement of the human hand. Eds.]

XXIII.— CANNIBALISM IN THE INDIAN COBRA

Last November we got two vigorous, full-sized cobras ( Naia

tripudians) fresh from the jungle, with their fangs and poison glands

intact, and kept them in one of our snake cages. Cobras usually

remain nervous in captivity, and it was necessary, therefore, to

provide them with some dried-up straw, so that they might hide

themselves from unwelcome molestations-

One morning, over a fortnight after the cobras were brought to

us, an alarm broke out that one of them was missing. There was

no possible way of escape, the cage being as reliable as ever. On

examination we found the girth of the remaining snake a little

bigger than usual, and it looked probable that the fellow was guilty

of cannibalism. We were right too ! About twelve or fifteen days

after, the suspect defecated the remains of its unhappy comrade,

and there was no mistaking them.

I do not know, whether the cannibalistic tendency of the cobra

has been mentioned before, but even after last year’s episode I have

seen cases proving it in captivity at least. Four days back I saw

one of our encaged cobras gripping a harmless snake, the Red Earth

Boa ( Eryx conicus ), in its mouth. The latter in its turn coiled

tightly round the aggressor’s head and struggled violently. When

our laboratory assistant separated them from each other, the cobra

got so excited that it caught hold of the head of another cobra, and

we had to separate them also. In the night, however, the Eryx

served to gratify the cobra’s appetite — a loss, which we felt a great

deal, as this was our only living specimen of the Red Earth Boa. I ‘

Secunderabad,

June Uf, 1930.

C. C. HICKIE,

Lt.-Col.j

3rd / 16th Rajputana Rifles.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1083

do not suggest that cobras eat one another normally, in nature ; that

may or may not be the case. But I have certainly seen examples of

cannibalism in this species in the artificial conditions of captivity.

St. John’s College, BENI CHARAN MAHENDRA,

Agra, Lecturer in Zoology.

August 30, 1930.

[Cannibalism is not an infrequent, trait among- snakes. The

ophiophagus or snake-eating habits of the Hamadryads and the

Kraits is well known. In Vol. xvi, p. 395 of the Journal, Mr. W. S.

Millard, then Hon. Secretary of the Society, gives several instances,

among them, that of a black and a yellow cobra. Both cobras tried

to make a meal of the same frog with the result that the black cobra

swallowed both the frog and the yellow cobra. Swallower and

swallowed were about the same size.

Various instances of cannibalism among snakes are also recorded

by Col. Wall. ( Journ . B.N.H.S. , Vol. xxv, p. 524.) Our most

classic instance is however that of two Pythons — a large and a

small one, who shared a cage in the Society’s museum.

They commenced a meal one at the head and the other at the tail

of a black partridge. The smaller snake, while feeding, was partly

coiled in the folds of a red blanket. The big python went steadily

on. The presence of a rival did not disturb him. He swallowed the

partridge and his brother python and the red blanket! Eds.]

XXIV.— UNUSUAL SIZE ATTAINED BY THE COMMON

KRAIT ( BUNGARUS CAERULEUS)

With regard to our recent correspondence on the subject of

kraits, you may be interested to hear that I had one brought to my

office yesterday which was 5 ft. 8-| inches long. It was carefully

measured by myself, assisted by Major T. E. B. Beatty,

R. A. M. C. (S. M. O. here) and Khan Bahadur Mohamed Umar

(Vice-President of the Cantonment Board). We tried to have it

skinned ; it was already a bit smelly and I did not want to gas you

again ! But unfortunately our local skinner, who is quite good at

Mugger, was completely baffled by the thin skin of the krait. There

is not the slightest doubt that the snake was of the same species as

the one I sent you before. It had the same markings and the same

enlarged row of scales down the centre of the back and the same

formation in the scales of the lower lip, leaving no shadow of doubt

as regards its identity.

Cantonment Authority’s Office, F. J. RIMELL,

Fyzabad, Captain,

July 26, 1930. 3 /7th Rajputana

Regiment.

[This is certainly the largest common krait we have ever heard

of. Several instances of kraits well over 4 ft. have been recorded,

15

1084 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Capt. Rimell sent us one measuring 4 ft. 7J" a few weeks before

he wrote us about the present species. It was a good example of

vigorous growth but easily beaten by his present record which is

well-nigh 6 ft. in length. Eds.]

XXV.— AN UNUSUALLY LARGE SHAW’S RAT SNAKE

(ZAMENIS FASCIOLATUS).

A snake was seen in the first week of January this year on the

steps of the shop of Messrs Cursetjee and Sons, Camp, Ahmednagar,

by Mr. Walsh, acting Garrison Engineer, about 7-30 p.m. He hit

it with a stone when the snake at once erected itself and flattened

out its fore-body, apparently looking like the hood of a cobra. The

snake was killed with a stick afterwards and it bled profusely. It

was sent to the Indian Military Hospital, Ahmednagar, where it was

bottled and seen by me the following week. The snake looked

superficially very much like a cobra. It was brownish-black in

colour but it had not got the third supralabial shield touching the

eye and the nasal shield, nor had it the cuneate shield between the

fourth and fifth infralabials. It had no fangs and it had a distinct

row of small teeth on the side of the upper maxilla.

The snake was identified as Zamenis fasciolatus or Shaw’s Rat-

Snake. It is rather an unusually big specimen in length and girth.

Col. Wall mentions in his book Snakes of Ceylon that the largest

one he had examined was 4 ft. 2J inches whilst Mr. D’Abreu had

acquired one specimen at Nagpur which measured 4 ft. 5 inches.

This specimen at Ahmednagar measured 4 ft. 8 inches and its

maximum girth was 5 inches. Boulenger, however, mentions that

Zamenis fasciolatus may grow to 8 ft. 5 inches. ( Fauna of British

India and Dependencies).

Wall states its subcaudals to be 73-92. The subcaudals in this

specimen were only 61 and the tail does not appear shortened or

cut off. The specimen was sent to the Curator of the Bombay

Natural History Society’s Museum.

It may interest your readers to know that the word ‘Dhaman’ or

‘Dhamin’ as applied to rat-snakes is a Hindi word and is probably

derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Daman’ (the pronounciation of the

‘d’ is dental and not lingual, which means ‘a rope’. The word

Dhaman is also a Sanskrit wTord but it means a ‘dwelling or an

abode’. The dental ‘d’ of ‘Daman’ is apparently colloquially

changed into dental ‘dh’ as the proper Sanskrit word Dhaman does

not mean a rope. The ordinary rat-snake ( Zamenis mucosus ),

which is a very common snake, looks very much like a rope. When

irritated it vibrates its tail violently, the tail looking like a wriggling

rope.

Ahmednagar, K. G. GHARPUREY,

October 7, 1930, Lieut. -Col., I.M.S.,

Civil Surgeon, Ahmednagar.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1085

XXVI.— SNAKES OF NASIK.

I was Civil Surgeon at Nasik for about ten months from January

25, 1929, to November 20, 1929. As it appeared from the general

climatic conditions and situation of Nasik that it should be one of

the ‘snakey’ places in the Deccan, I put up a notice at the Royal

Western India Golf Club, Nasik, and also at the Indian Clubs in the

town and the Municipal Office that any snakes killed should be sent

to me for identification. The Medical Officers in charge of

dispensaries in the District were also similarly instructed. The

response was fairly good as during this period 101 snakes were

brought to or seen by me. They were mostly identified by me and

some were identified by the Bombay Natural History Society. The

snakes were from Nasik, Nasik Road (Distillery compound, Central

prison, etc.), and from some few places in the district.

They were the following : —

Naia tripudians. — 20 in number. The majority of these were

seen and killed during the day, showing that the Cobra is as a rule

diurnal in its habits. One live Cobra was brought with its mouth

sewed up. That some snake catchers do this is evident from the

real snake story published in the Illustrated Times of India Weekly

of July 20, 1930. Stitches on one side of the mouth were removed

and it was found that the fang on that side was intact.

The longest cobra was 5' 3".

Baby Cobras were seen on July 27, 1929, July 29, 1929 and

July 30, 1929 in the Golf Club compound and two other bungalows

near it on the same side of the road, indicating they were from the

same breed. These hatchlings were 8|// long. This indicates that

these cobras were hatched from one brood in the last week of July.

Ly codon aulicus. — 11. Nearly all of these were seen and killed at

night, showing it is usually a nocturnal snake. One female, killed

on March 3, 1929, had 8 eggs with medium development.

Zamenis mucosas. — 13. This is essentially a diurnal snake, as

all were seen and killed during the day. The longest was 7 ' 8" .

Dipsadomorphous trigonatus. — 11 specimens. This snake was

seen during the day but usually prefers to be out at night, as

whenever exact information about those who were sent to me was

available, they were all killed at night.

Macropisthodon plumbicolor. — 9. This green snake is a common

snake about the Golf Links. A small baby one 8 " long, was seen on

July 28, 1929. This was probably hatched during the last week in

)u,y-

Coluber Helena. — 5.

Tropidonotus stolatus. — 2.

Tropidonotus piscator. — 2.

Zamenis gracilis. — 1.

Oligodon subgriseus. — 2.

Oligodon arnensis.- — 3.

Polydontophis subpunctatus . — 1 .

Bungarus candidus. — The Common Krait is essentially a night

snake, as all were seen at night.

Callophis trimaculatus . — 2 specimens of this small Coral snnke

were seen,

1086 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

Daboia russelli. — 5. Longest was 4/ 6".

Echis carinata. — 3. All these were seen bottled in Barnes’

School, Deolali.

Python molurus. — 1. This was sent alive from Peint and

measured 8 feet,

Eryx conicus. — 4.

Typhlops brahminus. — 1. This was also seen bottled in Barnes’

School, Deolali.

So out of 101 snakes 32 were highly poisonous (Cobras, Kraits,

Russell’s Vipers and Echis).

Ahmednagar, K. G. GHARPUREY,

August 5, 1930 . Lt.-CoL, I.M.S.

XXVII— OCCURRENCE OF CHARASIA DORSALIS

OUTSIDE THE MYSORE PLATEAU.

In part 2, Vol. xxxiii, p. 454, H. Jouguet states that fCharasia

dorsalis does not seem to be distributed outside the Mysore Plateau’.

I may state that specimens of this lizard were taken by me in a

ruined temple near the Travellers’ Bungalow at Gingee in the

S. Arcot District of this (Madras) Presidency in the year 1920.

S. G. MANAVALA RAMANUJAN.

Presidency College,

Madras,

August 15, 1930.

XXVIII.— SOME MEASUREMENTS OF THE ESTUARY

CROCODILE ( CROCODILUS POROSUS) FROM SARAWAK.

In the last number of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History

Society (Vol. XXXIV, p. 584) attention is drawn to the lack of

measurements of the Estuarine Crocodile and the following will

therefore be of interest : —

MISCELLANEOUS notes

i087

\m JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXX 1 1'

No. 26 had part of tail missing.

,, 36 had about 60 eggs.

Nos. 5, 6, 8 & 19 had a number of rounded pebbles in stomach.

No. 20 had remains of a small crab in stomach.

,, 11 had stomach crammed with vegetable matter and fruits.

The Crocodiles came from the tidal portions of the Sadong,

Samarahan, Kuching and Lundu Rivers in Western Sarawak;

measurements were made on fresh specimens, Head length from

tip of snout to posterior border of Parietal, Tail length from tip to

centre of outer opening of cloaca.

From the above measurements it may be deduced that the

Estuarine Crocodile is, irrespective of sex, usually a little more than

seven times as long as its own head ; assuming therefore that this

growth rate applies to even the largest specimens, a skull thirty-nine

inches long would belong to a twenty-three foot beast and thirty

foot * Crocs ’ — like thirty foot Pythons — have still to be measured,

at any rate in these parts.

Twenty eight inches is the longest Museum skull here, indicating

a total length of only about seventeen feet.

Sarawak Museum, E. BANKS,

K aching Sarawak, Curator .

October 1 , 1930 .

XXIX.— THE WAYS OF FISHING SHIKARIS.

Though shikaris vary in character and personality, they all have

one thing in common, namely, the desire to get all they can out of

you. They are shameless beggars and will ask for clothes, food,

money, etc., in the most bare-faced way. Apart from this universal

failing, many of them are very good company and keen sportsmen.

A great deal depends on one’s shikari. If you take a dislike to

your shikari he will ruin all your pleasure. Everything he does will

annoy you, he will get on your nerves, and his very presence will

irritate you. It is much better to have an inefficient shikari whom

you like than an efficient one whom you dislike.

I remember, Aziza, at Ivoolgam in Kashmir; he was a cute boy

and very capable, but he was not a sportsman and took little interest

in what you were doing. Whenever I got into a fish, Aziza would be

jure to be looking in the opposite direction. This used to make me

furious, especially when, through looking round to see what he was

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1089

doing, I lost a good fish. He also annoyed me by constantly

badgering me to change my flies. I think his object in this was

the theft of a few flies, because he would prepare a cast for me

while I was fishing, and I foolishly let him have my fly box to select

from.

He was by way of showing me the best places in the river, but

when at length I got fed up with him and took matters into my

own hands, and explored for myself, I found he had been keeping

the best places hidden from me. I have found this with other

Kashmir shikaris, and it is always best to explore the whole of the

river oneself.

Shikaris are not a particularly clean class, especially as regards

their clothes. A man I had in the United Provinces always had such

a strong smell of some very unpleasant kind of smoke exuding from

his clothes that I could not bear him near me. He would come

to me during the week and ask what river I proposed fishing on the

coming Sunday. If the river happened to be some distance away

he would say it was no use going so far unless I first made sure that

there were fish about. This of course meant his railway fare there

and back, and I know he never went near the place. Should I select

a place near at hand then eight annas would be required for ata

with which to ground-bait it the day before. These were his

methods of making a little beyond his pay.

Samdhu, in all other respects an excellent Kashmir shikari, had

an annoying habit whenever one caught a fish over the average, of

saying ‘that’s a baksheesh wala\

I believe that when a son is born to a ruling prince, it is the

custom for that prince to distribute alms in token of his good

fortune. I conclude the line of thought adopted by shikaris runs

in some such channel. Otherwise I can see no reason why your

shikari should be rewarded because you happen to. catch a fish

above the average. However, any excuse seems good enough for

demanding ‘ baksheesh’ .

I once had a shikari who was so frightened of the river that

nothing would make him go into the water beyond his ankles.

Very different to this man was one I had on the Mai river in Poonch.

He would swim across the river with my tackle box and rod on his

head.

Ahmadu was a born poacher and tried to make you fish for trout

with frogs, however he was frightfully keen, and you can forgive a

lot when a man is really keen.

There are hardly any shikaris in India who know how to use a

landing net properly, though quite a fair number of them know how

to tie on a fly.

Most shikaris size up their employers pretty quickly and soon

know those they can take advantage of and those they cannot.

One rather boring trait that most shikaris have is that of

recounting to you what bahadurs other sahibs were who have

employed them. Smith sahib caught a record fish, Jones sahib had

a beautiful rod, Robinson sahib was a wonderful fisherman and

caught more than anyone else, Jenkins sahib was obviously rich, and

so on, until you get the impression that the only person devoid of

any virtue is yourself.

mo JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

After listening to some shikaris I have had a very humble opinion

of myself. I have felt that unless I gave my shikari a tip, equivalent

at least to a month’s pay, I should be considered very mean,

because (according to the shikari) Thompson sahib had been so

pleased with him that he had showered money and presents on

him. How I hated the very sound of Thompson sahib’s name !

A shikari loves to tell you that he taught such-an-such a sahib

all he knows about fishing, and the most ignorant of them are ready

to give you advice.

Shikaris vary tremendously, not only in their knowledge of

fishing but in their capabilities. I have had some men who would

shin up a tree in no time and recover my fly from some inaccessible

branch, and who would leap from boulder to boulder in the midst

of rapids, in order to release my hook from a rock or sunken piece

of wood. Some men will dive to the bottom of the river to recover

a spoon that has got caught in something. But I have had others

who were quite incapable of climbing a tree and who were frightened

of the water.

One of the best and most charming shikaris I ever had was old

Rahima. Like all shikaris he had his failings. He had a way of

telling you how kind other sahibs had been to him in giving him

clothes, and money to buy a new shikara, the cost of a licence, etc.,

etc., and he left no doubt in your mind that he expected

similar kindness from you. He informed you that should you be so

fortunate as to catch the first mahseer of the season, you would be

expected to stand all the shikaris in his village a dinner, such was

the custom, he said.

Should the day happen to be a cold one, he would shiver and

mumble about his lack of warm clothes, yet in spite of all the

‘kindness’ he received I never saw him wear anything but his dirty

old choga.

In spite of his mania for extracting money, etc., from you one

could not help loving him. He had the most charming manners

and an endless fund of conversation. He could tell you of many

interesting fishing experiences, and not a little scandal concerning

various sahibs who had been in Kashmir during the last fifty years.

He would while away hour after hour telling you these things as

well as the folk-lore of Kashmir, and this, in spite of the fact that

his knowledge of English was nil and his Urdu was very limited.

I can look back on many pleasant hours spent in his company

and, like most of the shikaris in Sopore to-day, 1 have to thank

Rahima for much of the knowledge I have acquired in the art of

angling.

He was so thoroughly efficient that he gave one a feeling of great

confidence. One knew it was impossible to have a better shikari,

and if you did lose a fish it would be through no fault of his. He

never forgot to test your line or traces before you commenced to

fish, and he always hung your line up to dry at the end of the day.

To see the quiet way in which he would lift a 40-lb. Mahseer out

of the water was an education. He never got in a panic and always

knew what to do and when to do it, and more important still, never

failed to do it.

Miscellaneous notes

1091

On one occasion when I had a big* mahseer on, my reel jammed.

As quick as lightning- Rahima cut my line and joined it to the line

on my spare rod, and all was well.

Fie always knew the best spots to fish in, and the necessary

weight and length of line were calculated to a nicety. A chef at

Claridge’s could not have been more particular in the matter of

weights and measures than Rahima was.

Although he was generally to be seen curled up at the end of his

shikar a, from which precarious perch he issued his orders with as

much dignity and force as the captain of an Atlantic Liner, he was

as active as most men of half his age. Fie would think nothing of

towing his shikara twenty or thirty miles in the day, and I have

seen him wade through deep rivers with one of my servants on his

shoulders.

He had more pluck than the average Kashmiri and did not lose

his head in a storm as most of the boatmen did. On one occasion,

when there was a strong breeze blowing up-stream, which knocked

up quite a ‘sea’, I rigged up a sail in my shikara. None of the

boatmen would come out with me, but old Rahima did not fail

me though he regailed me all the time with an account of two fool-

hardy young sahibs, whose graves I could see at Baramulla, who

were drowned doing this self-same thing.

If I was out by myself in my shikara and a storm came on,

Rahima would always turn up in his little shikara to see if I

required assistance.

Like all Kashmiris, he had a wonderful memory. He could tell

me the various years I had been in Kashmir and where I had come

from each time. He could tell me, years afterwards, how much I

had paid for my rods, etc. He remembered the names of hundreds

of Englishmen who had employed him, and could tell me the names

of their regiments and stations. In fact he was a living Army

List. He had his favourite sahibs and was very faithful to them.

I suppose there must be a man like Hardy in Heaven, who

manufactures perfect fishing rods for elect anglers, and I expect

Rahima is now catching enormous mahseer in realms where there is

no night. He died a few years ago. Without angling there could

be no Heaven for Rahima.

I have fished with all sorts of shikaris in different parts of India,

but never have I enjoyed such good company as I did with Rahima

nor have_I found a keener or better man at his job.

If, when I join the great majority, I am found worthy of reward,

I feel sure that reward will take the form of a good river with

Rahima for my shikari.

C/6 Grindlay & Co., A. E. MAHON,

Bombay, Colonel.

June, 19 SO,

XXX.— A LEAF-MINING MOTH.

On a Sunday morning, about three weeks ago, while in a

garden two miles outside Bhuj, my attention was drawn to

a tree — Pongamia glabra — of which there were many there.

1092 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vot. XXXtV

Pongamia is known locally by the name of Kciranj. It is an ever-

green, pretty, shady, tree as a rule. The leaves of these particular

trees in the garden, were simply studded over with round or

irregularly round, white spots, which on closer examination proved

to be blisters of the epidermis. They varied from one-eighth to half

or five-eighth inch in diameter and contained imprisoned air, as on

pricking with a pin they collapsed and became flat and wrinkled,

the air in them having escaped. With the flattening of the blisters,

I could see a small oval seed-like protuberance on a part of the leaf

surface, not necessarily central. It led me to cut open the blister

and separate the thin epidermis, under which I noticed the raw

chlorophyll surface like the base of an indolent ulcer in men and

animals. On the green surface, in almost every case, I saw a tiny,

minute worm, like a maggot, wriggling actively, or moving like

a caterpillar. Naturally it led me to conclude that it was the larva

of some insect. I opened nearly 100 blisters and in almost

every case, I found a larva. I never saw more than one larva in any

of the blisters, of which there were two, three, four to six on the

surface of each leaf, which looked as if it was stricken with

smallpox. Unfortunately I had no magnifying lens or any other

means to examine the larvae more closely. I therefore contented

myself with taking with me a dozen or so of the infected leaves and

put them all under a bell-jar to watch further developments.

Unfortunately I had to go out of the station for a week, leaving

the leaves under a glass. On my return I pricked some of the

blisters and found to my surprise that while the larvae in a few

instances had grown much bigger, in others they had formed a

cocoon round themselves and become fixed to the chlorophyll

surface . One could see the white glossy slik of the cocoon even

with the naked eye. I mounted on glass slides a few of the larvae

for microscopic examination and study of their anatomy and left the

others for further and fuller development. Two or three days after,

I started re-examining the blisters and to my delight and expectation

I found the crysalis stage completed in some, and about to complete

in others. I lifted them and put them under the microscope. Oh,

the wonderful sight they presented ! One could see the antennae,

the maxillae, the mouth, gullet, thorax, the three pairs of legs and

nine abdominal segments, ending in semilunar last section; the

moniliform antennae contained nearly forty or more joints one on

either side, the large black paired eyes and, lastly the two pairs of

wings — all in brown colour. Two days after, I examined the bell-jar

from outside and noticed six insects, fully developed, very active

and hopping on their legs or flying about on their wings, which under

the microscope showed to be stained in black at intervals. They

looked very picturesque. Like the wings of the moths and

butterflies, they left a coating of their glossy and silky material on

the fingers or on the glass slide. All the specimens of the full-

grown individuals which I examined, on September 9, 1930, were

alike in colour and every other detail — all brown. To-day, on

September 10, I saw a few individuals, which were as active as those

seen before but they were black instead of brown. I had taken good

care to see that no outside insects could get inside the bell-jar.

I was therefore not a little surprised to see these fresh arrivals in

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1093

black garments ! They were very active and were frisking all over

the inside of the glass. It was difficult to catch them alive for fear

of their flying away and escaping. I therefore introduced a little

chloroform in the bell-jar and within a few minutes two of them

dropped unconscious on the paper at the bottom of the bell-jar.

I picked them up on a platinum loop dipped in cedar oil, mounted

them on a slide and examined them under the microscope. The

bodies were one mass of black. One could see the antennae which

were moniliform, but not so long as those of the brown individuals.

In one case they were branched at three or four joints. The

branches were also moniliform. This black variety was smaller than

its brown fellows and had two blisters at the anal end. Probably

they were females as opposed to the brown ones which were males

or it may be vice versa.

I am not an entomologist and am, therefore, not able to identify

them and to know their properties, favourable or otherwise to man.

To their host they are distinctly harmful. One could imagine the

evil effect of having thousands of pustules or scabs (with an animal

parasite in each) on the person of a human being, child or adult.

They destroyed the chlorophyll. With the destruction of chlorophyll,

the growth of the tree and its economic value are bound to suffer.

I have no doubt the forest experts have noticed this pest, identified

it and have found means for its destruction.

Pongamia is a very useful and pretty tree. Rev. Nairne describes

it as the commonest and the handsomest tree in India. Economi-

cally it is an important tree as its seeds give a very useful oil.

The parasite is, I think, a species of moth and has a selective

property. It attacks Pongamia alone in preference to others as far

as I could see. Hence the neighbourhood of this otherwise hand-

some and pretty tree — is not to be desired near human dwellings.

For, even if it does not give rise to any disease — it is no doubt a

nuisance to have an army of moths hovering about your face,

specially on the lighted dinner or writing table.

[Dr. Tambe forwarded specimens of the larvae, pupae and imagoes

to the Society. They were submitted to Dr. Hem Singh Pruthi,

Zoological Survey of India but they were in too damaged a condition

to be of any use in ascribing them to any particular genus. The

larvae of several Tineid Moths mine leaves. These leaf-miners are

amongst the smallest of plant-eating animals, most of them find

both substance and shelter within the confines of a single leaf, often

within a small portion of a leaf, between its upper and its nether

epidermis. Their food is the thin stratum of green tissue outspread

in a seam between two worthless adjacent strata and the insects

get it and dig it out for their food. This is why they are called

leaf-miners. They are all larvae of various insects, of Moths, Fleas,

Beetles and Sandflies. Some of them make winding galleries on the

leaf. Others excavate broader chambers covered with silk in which

they transform into a pupa and finally emerge as fully-developed

insects. Eds.]

Kutch,

June, 1930.

M.A., B. SC. , L.M. & S.,

Chief Medical Officer.

G. R. TAMBE,

1094 JO URN A L , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

XXXI.— SPECIFIC IDENTITY OF THE BUTTERFLIES

( TERIAS VENATA AND T. LYETA ).

In Vol. xxiii, Part 3 of the Journal , I published a note giving-

reasons for my belief that the two butterflies above mentioned were

seasonal variations of a single species. Mr. Bell agreed with me

as to the probability but the evidence was not conclusive. I am now

in a position to state that I have definitely proved my belief to be

correct.

Last year I was at home on leave, therefore unable to make any

further breeding experiments. This year I took up the matter

again. I had observed that, in this district, venata, common from

the end of June onwards, began to be replaced by Ice t a about the

middle of September and by the end of that month had disappeared,

while Iceta had become abundant. In August, therefore, I planted

some specimens of the local food-plant, Cassia pumila, in pots.

Over the plants I erected cages of mosquito-netting and in these,

on August 28, I placed half-a-dozen captured females of venata,

Supplying them with sugar and water, and kept the cages in the

sunshine.

Fortune was on my side for, in the next two days, two of the

ladies obliged by depositing eggs, about twenty in number. I then

had to be absent from home for a week but, on my return, found

about a dozen larvae, three or four days old, on the plants.

A day later there was a tragedy. Ants discovered the pots and,

in one night, destroyed all the larvae except three ! Fortunately

these three survived to attain the pupal stage, one three days later

than the other two. On September 19 from two of these pupae

emerged two male butterflies but, to my great disappointment,

undoubtedly venata, although one had markings on the underside

approximating to Iceta.

A single hope remained and by him I was justified for, on

September 23, my last pupa produced what I considered an

indubitable male. Iceta ! He was not a very typical specimen how-

ever, in, that, while the apex of the fore-wing was correctly

acuminate, the ground colour of the hind-wing underside was a pure

yellow instead of the more usual yellowish-buff or buff-yellow ; its

markings too, though typical Iceta in form, were dusky blackish

instead of reddish. This is a variety which I do not find mentioned

by Bingham in the Fauna but it occurs regularly, though not

numerous, in this district in September. It sometimes has a tiny

black patch on tornus of fore-wing. In colouration it is distinctly

intermediate between typical Iceta and venata. The shape of the

fore-wing also, though nearer to Iceta, has a slight tendency to

bonvexity of the outer margin. If, however, it had to be assigned to

one form or the other, I should have no hesitation in labelling it

Iceta.

This single specimen of an intermediate type may not be

considered to afford adequate proof of my case. But this was not

the end of my experiment. When I found that my hopes of a

successful issue were dependent on a single pupa, I determined to

try again. I had left it rather late, Iceta was already abundant; of

venata males, I only came across three ; but at last, when almost

despairing, I captured, on September 22, a single rather elderly

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1095

venata female. Her figure however indicated that she had not

disposed of all her eggs, so I was not without hope and gave her

a trial. To my joy, the next two days she laid quite a number of

eggs.

To cut the story short, the survivors of the resultant larvae and

pupae produced, between October 11 and 14, eleven butterflies. But

once again those fiends, the black ants, interfered to try and upset

my plans ! I was now away from home in the district and had not

made the position of my breeding cages ant-proof. The result was

that the ants attacked and cut to pieces, or badly damaged, five of

the eleven butterflies when freshly emerged and helpless ! However,

some were unharmed and I found myself in the end with seven

specimens fit for study.

These seven were divided as follows : —

(a) 2 venata.

(b) 2 Iceta, hind-wing underside yellow.

(c) 2 Iceta, ,, ,, yellowish-buff.

(d) 1 Iceta, ,, ,, creamy-buff.

Of these, the last three correspond to Bingham’s wet-season form

except that the irroration on the hind-wing underside is composed of

blackish not rust-coloured scales. On the wing in September, ( d ) is

the commonest form, but the rust colour is increasingly in evidence

in October. Of the two venata, both resembled the early females of

June in the contraction of the black border of the hind-wing upper-

side, but one was of the typical dusky type while the other

approximated to Iceta form ( b ). It is also noticeable that the shape

of the fore-wing in ( b ) is nearer to venata than in (c) and (d).

The differences in these insects of a single brood, all bred under

the same conditions, present an interesting problem. That there

would have been any specimens at all of venata had the larvae and

pupae lived entirely out of doors .under natural conditions I do not

believe. Tentatively I put forward the suggestion that light may

be one of the factors in the seasonal change of form. The months

of July and August are ordinarily much more cloudy than

September : after the first day or two, larvae had no sunshine

at all.

However this may be, the specific identity of venata and Iceta is

definitely proved : Iceta is a seasonal variation of venata, with

occasional intermediate forms. Or should it be the other way

round? I do not know which name is entitled to claim priority.

Bhavnagar, A. H. E. MOSSE,

October, 1930. Lt. -Colonel, I. A.

XXXII.— THE GRASSHOPPER ( ISOPERA ' PEDUNCULATA)

AS A MIMIC OF THE BLACK ANT (C. COMPRESSUS).

' If Mr. McAtee will be so good as to sit for ten seconds at the

exit of a termite’s nest when swarming and count the number of

termites destroyed by birds, he will find that the number probably

approaches 100. If he will then sit for ten minutes outside an Indian

Black ant’s nesf in the same swarming condition and take the

1096 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

trouble to make a similar calculation of workers he will certainly

find that the number is nil.

That is the difficult way of learning about nature, but it will teach

him a far truer and deeper lesson than will all the literature in all

the world.

He will learn at least the strict truth of my assertion that worker

ants of the species Camponotns compressus are rarely taken hy

birds.

October , 1930. R. W. G. HINGSTON.

(See Maj. Hingston’s Note on the above subject, Vol. xxxiv,

No. 1, p. 170 and Mr, McAtee’s Note, Vol. xxxiv, p. 591).

XXXIII.— A LIVE BEETLE IN THE EXTERNAL AUDITORY

On June 20, 1930, a strong well-built man was brought to the

Civil Hospital by his friends, who stated that an insect had got into

his left ear. The patient was shouting and writhing with pain;

he was quite unable to keep still for a moment and was administering

vigorous slaps with his hand to the side of his face in a vain attempt

to relieve his pain. There was a little fresh blood about the orifice

of the ear, but it was obviously impossible to make any further

examination without the aid of an anaesthetic. Chloroform was

therefore administered and a careful examination showed the

external auditory meatus to be occupied by a shiny green body,

which I thought might possibly prove to be the ordinary blister-fly.

A small piece of cotton wool was saturated with chloroform and

inserted over the posterior end of the insect and held in the meatus

for two or three minutes with the idea of killing the intruder before

attempting its extraction. This measure was indicated because of

the presence of blood at the orifice of the ear, which I thought was

most likely to be due to the insect having attached itself to the

delicate drum of the ear.

Syringing was ineffectual as the insect was tightly-wedged in the

deep part of the ear. It was, however, easily removed by gentle

traction with a pair of forceps. The ear-drum was then carefully

examined and on its posterior segment were seen two small

superficial punctures of its surface, which presumably represented

the damage inflicted by the jaws of the beetle.

The beetle was removed intact, it was green in colour and

measured three-fourths of an inch long and five-eighth inch in its

widest part ; on its green wings were numerous white spots.

[The beetle submitted to us for identification is Protactia

■alb o guttata , Family Melolonthidce , sub-family Cetonince , Eds.]

MEATUS OF THE HUMAN EAR.

Nasik,

June, 1930.

A.G. TRESIDDER,

c.i.e., Lt.-Col., I.M.S.,

Civil Surgeon.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1097

XXXIV.— THE EFFECTS OF THE BITE OF A CENTIPEDE

(SCOLOPENDRA SP.).

While sitting- one evening on the Worli seaface I was suddenly

aware of a severe stinging- sensation just near my armpit. Beyond

rubbing the spot I did not pay much attention to it for a few

moments, but shortly the irritation became more severe and I felt

as though I had been stung by a Jelly-fish. The irritation spread

from the spot at which I first felt it, over part of the arm and a small

portion of the chest. This led me to investigate matters further. On

commencing operations I discovered a centipede leak out of the

sleeve of my shirt — here was the source of the trouble. On

examination of the spot I found two distinct punctures about a

quarter of an inch apart, not unlike the punctures made by the

fangs of a poisonous snake, where the beast had bitten me. .The

seat of each puncture was red. The redness continued for about

four days at these points. At the time when I received the bite, a

slight local inflammation spread round the punctures themselves

for a couple of inches or a little more. By the next morning this

inflammation had disappeared. The stinging sensation lasted for

about half an hour and then gradually died down ; it was by no

means beyond endurance. Nothing was applied. No pain was

experienced in the sympathetic glands under the arm.

C. McCANN.

XXXV.— A CENTIPEDE AFTER ITS MOULT

(SCOLOPENDRA SP.).

One day one of the assistants brought in a centipede which had

just cast its skin. The species, which under ordinary circumstances

is a metallic bluish black, was at this time quite pink. The whole

animal was quite limp and could be handled freely, though it

showed its resentment. It did not attempt to bite and was unable

to walk away — all the parts being quite soft. Even the two front

feet which are converted into the ‘fangs’ were quite soft and useless

for their purpose. This shows that the creature at this time is quite

helpless and unable to defend itself. In a few hours it slowly

regained its activity and was able to move about. Up to this time

the legs were too weak to carry the body.

Bombay Natural History Society, C. McCANN.

6, Apollo Street, Bombay,

September 15, 1930.

XXXVI.— SOME NOTES ON THE FLOWERING OF

BAMBOOS.

In April I received the following letter from Mr. G. C. Robinson,

Dy. Conservator of Forests, in North Malabar.

‘I have been reading your articles in the Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.

Journal on Bamboo flowering. The following details may be of

1098 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXIV

interest to you regarding the Nilambur forests of South Malabar,

which I believe are those probably referred to. by Brandis when he

makes his very precise assertion as to years of flowering in S.

Malabar.

Mr. A. Wimbush, I.F.S., now Conservator of Forests, who was

District Forest Officer, Nilambur, for about four years from 1910,

states in the Madras Forest Pocket Book, that flowering (of B.

arundinacea ) occurred in Chatomborai Block in 1907. Mr. R.

Bourne, I.F.S. (retired), who was D.F.O. 1914-1918, states in his

Working Plan for those forests that ‘the bamboo (i. e. , B.

arundinacea) in the division commenced to flower sporadically in

1911. In recent years it has flowered in Edacode in 1911, in

Chatomborai in 1911 and 1912, in New Amarampalam, Nellicutta,

and Karumpoya from 1912 up to the present time (i.e., about 1919),

and in Pukode and Kanakuth in 1918. It has hardly flowered in

Paunengode, very little in Walluvasseri, and very little along the

banks of the main river.’

‘I succeeded Mr. Bourne in 1919 (January) (after three years off

and on, in the Division) and had five years experience of the Division

up to August 1924, during which period intensive flowering occurred

in Walluvasseri and Paunengode and sporadic flowering continued in

some of the other parts mentioned above, but along the river banks

it had hardly occurred at all by the time I left.

‘Mr. R. S. Browne, I.F.S., has recently prepared a revised

Working Plan, after several years experience in the Division. In

it he makes no mention of any further flowering.

‘The general impression to be obtained from the above is, I think,

that flowering does not occur gregariously in one, or even three

years, over a vast area. I believe many of the occasions recorded in

your article may probably have been isolated visits by the. person

who records them, and who is ignorant of what has happened in

years before and after his visit.

‘You quote Troup as reporting B. arundinacea as beginning to

flower in the Wynaad (my present division) in 1912 and this spread-

ing southwards to Kollegal and Coimbatore where it ended in 1915.

I have been for five years in Coorg, the division immediately north

of Wynaad, 1925-1930. Flowering was occurring in the plateau

parts in 1916, 1917, 1918 I have been told, and has been and is

still occurring in the low country parts of Coorg during and since

my period of service there, working slowly northwards I would say.

‘Incidentally as regards Ochlandra I am interested to see you say

it is one of those that flower but do not die. I have only once in

fifteen years service seen any Ochlandra in flower (either rlieedii or

travancorica I believe) and that was about fifteen months ago in

Coorg, at an elevation about 4,000 or 4,500 ft. The jungle people

told me it would flower over wide areas in 1930 or 1931. What

I saw was a small patch. I arranged for collections of flowers and

seed, to be sent to Parker, as my subordinates told me there are

six species or more.

‘Lastly, the compound of my present bungalow was formed about

1885 as a Botanical garden. Exotic bamboos (believed to be

either Dendrocalamus giganteus or Brandisii) were introduced at

about that date, and there is reason to believe they never have

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1099

flowered yet. I am quoting from a Working Plan now in the Press,

prepared by J. Coode, I.C.S. These bamboos are of great height

and girth.’

In September 1930 I received a note from Mr. E. Little of the

Government House Gardens :

‘ Dentrocalamus giganteus has just flowered and seeded in the

Empress Gardens, Poona. On the parent plant almost all the stems

flowered and are now dead. I think there are two stems still with

leaves. On one side of the plant the rhizomes are sending up new

shoots. Another plant separated from the parent plant many years

ago produced some flowers on some of the stems but quite a number

of stems are in full leaf now and will not die this year I think.’

E. BLATTER.

XXXVII.— ON THE FLOWERING OF BAMBOOS.

I have been reading with great interest Father Blatter ’s articles

on the Flowering of Bamboos especially as regards the connection

between the flowering of the bamboos and famine.

In the Assam Hills, at any rate, there is a very close connection

between the flowering of the bamboos and famine. In the Lushai

Hills District, both Lushais and Lakhers recognize that Bamboos

flower at regular intervals, seed and die down and that after the

seeding of the bamboos, famine invariably follows, the cause of the

famine being millions of rats which appear suddenly and devour

both the standing crops and the grain in the granaries. Having

devoured all they can find, the rats die presumably of starvation.

Both Lushais and Lakhers when they want to fix an approximate

date, say, ‘it happened before or after the last famine or the last

famine but one’, as the case may be. Lushais recognize two kinds of

famine, the Maotam which occurs after the flowering of Melocanna

bambusoides (Mao) and the thingtam which occurs after the

flowering of the Ronal (Dendro calamus Hookeri) and the Rothing

(Bnmbusa tulda Roxb.). The Maotam is much more severe than

the thingtan, presumably because Melocanna bambusoides is the

commonest bamboo in the hills and seems all to flower at one time,

while Dendrocalamus Hookeri and Bambua tulda Roxb. seem to

flower over a period of four or five years and induce severe scarcity

rather than famine. In each case the famine is caused by a

plague of rats which devour the crops. Lakhers only recognize one

famine, the Maotam or, as they call it, the Mawta. They say that

the period between two Mawta’ s is about fifty years and that during

this interval a bamboo called rongal in Lushai and rangia in Lakher

( Cephalostachyum capitatum) flowers. The seeding of ( Cephalo -

s tacky um capitatum ), is called by the Lakhers lanongaten.. The

seed of this bamboo does not seem to induce a plague of rats and

the period of its seeding is generally a period of very good crops.

Both tribes have tales of monstrous rats which appear during a

famine, some being half rat and half caterpillar and some half rat

and half jungle-fowl. A reference to the rat famine which occurred

in 1864 will be found at p. 38 of Lewin’s Wild Races of South

16

1100 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. XXXlV

Eastern India. However the fact that in the Assam Hills famines

after flowering of the bamboos are caused by a plague of rats is

incontrovertible and well established.

The last Maotam in the Lushai Hills occurred in 1911-12 after

the flowering of the Melocanna bambusoides. The country was

absolutely devastated by millions of rats which swept right over the

District devouring everything that lay in their path. I was not in

the Lushai Hills at this time but Government had to give out large

sums in loans as the people were absolutely destitute and it fell to me

to collect the amounts due in repayment of the loan some years

later. The Maotam before that, was, I think, in 1864 or thereabouts

while the Lushai Hills were still unadministered and hundreds of

Lushais are said to have died of famine. A very old Lakher Chief

who was said to have been between 100 and 120 when he died, is

said to have passed through three Maotams due to the flowering of

Melocanna bambusoides and two periods of prosperity ( lanongaten )

during which C ephalostachyum capitatum flowered.

During the years 1924-28, when I was in the Lushai Hills,

Dendrocalamus Hookeri and Bambusa tulda were both flowering all

over the District throughout this period. Rats increased greatly

and in spite of large numbers being killed, there was serious scarcity

in many villages in 1929. This scarcity, however, did not approach

in severity the famine of 1911-12, probably because the flowering

taking place over a period of years instead of at one fell swoop, rats

did not increase so suddenly as in 1911-12.

In January 1926 I found C ephalostachyum capitatum flowering

near Sairep in the Lunglet district and curiously enough the

Lakher villages in the south-east of the district were hardly at all

affected by the scarcity in 1929 which was felt in other parts of the

district.

In the Garo Hills in 1920-21 there was scarcity in part of the

District owing to , a plague of rats ensuing after the flowering of

some bamboo, of what species I do not know, as at the time I did

not enquire. Last cold weather 1929-30 I found the following

kinds of bamboo flowering sporadically in the Garo hills ; —

I have sent specimens for identification and if they are of any

interest I can let you know what they are, in due course. All three

were only flowering sporadically and in different parts of the district.

When I left the district in April there were no signs of any impending

famine and no noticeable increase in the number of rats. Probably

rats increase and cause famine only when bamboos flower gregari-

ously over large areas as occurred iri the Lushai hills in 1910-11 and

in or about 1864.

Though I have only personal experience of the Lushai hills, and

Garo hill districts, I think I am correct in saying that famines

due to the depredations of rats follow on the flowering of the

bamboos in jnher Assam hill districts. If I recollect rightly there

was such a famine in the North Caehar hills in 1^914 or thereabouts

(1) Bambusa tulda?

(2) Melocanna bambusoides.

(3)

Garo name Lushai name.

Wajarah. Rothing.

Watre. Mao.

Wanok. Phulrua.

Miscellaneous notes

noi

and I believe, though I cannot vouch for it, that similar famines

occur in parts of the Naga hills.

When the bamboos flower, Lushais carefully avoid jhuming the

areas in which flowering has taken place as, if these areas are

jhumed, the young bamboo seedlings get destroyed and the bamboos

die out.

It would be of great interest to know the exact connection between

the flowering of the bamboo and the increase in the rat population.

The flowering of Melocanna bambasoides appears to induce a vast

and comparatively sudden increase, while during the flowering

period of Dendro calamus Hookeri and B ambus a tulda the increase

appears to be more gradual. From 1924-1928 bordered all villages

to kill rats regularly and to make monthly returns of the numbers

killed. 1 have not got the figures here, but they showed that there

was actually a very large increase in the number of rats throughout

the district. The^ Lushai theory is that a diet of Bamboo seeds

makes the rats phenomenally prolific and that having disposed of

the bamboo seeds they then attack the crops. Is this possible?

Another theory is that on the seeding of the bamboo, rats swarm to

the area where the seeding has taken place, from all over the hills.

If this is so, how do the rats get to know about it? In 1911-12, I

have been told by both Lushais and Europeans that rats were going

about over the hills in serried masses. How did they increase as

quickly they appear to have done?

If the connection between the flowering of the bamboo and the

increase in the rat population can be solved and a means ; of

preventing an increase in rats devised, a great benefit will be

conferred on many hill tribes.

12, Howell Road,

Exeter, England,

October 8, 1930.

XXXVIII.— THE FERN-PALM.

( With a photo)

The male plant of Cycas circinalis, Linn, was in flower in the

Victoria Gardens. The flower in the male plant resembles a cone

and is situated at the apex of the stem, surrounded by the leaves.

It is one of the handsomest specimens in the Gardens particularly

when in flower, which appeared during the monsoon from July to

September.

Cycas circinalis or Fern-Palm is a palm-like tree with cylindrical

trunk and a crown of glossy, fern-like, stiff but gracefully curved

pinnate leaves. It is indigenous to the Malabar Country, and South

India, where it attains a great size, the trunk being 10 to 15 ft.

bearing a noble crown of leaves 8 to 12 ft. in length. Most of the

species of Cycas are arborescent, having a trunk marked with rings

of growth and with scars of fallen petioles. The trunk is usually

simple and columnar and is elongated by a terminal bud. The

pinnate leaves form a beautiful terminal crown like that of a

Palm or Tree Fern.

N. E. PARRY,

LOTS:.

il02 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXlV

Cycas are among- the most ornamental plants of tropical and sub-

tropical gardens. They are often designated ‘Sago palms’ although

they have nothing in

common with a palm

except the general habit

of growth. The beauti-

ful, glossy leaves are

used for decoration.

The Cycadacece are

of very great interest

to the Botanist, because

they occupy a place

intermediate between

Phanerogams (the

flowering plants) and

the Cryptogams, viz.,

ferns, mosses, etc.

There are various

species of Cycas culti-

vated in the garden,

e.g. , Cycas Rumphii,

Miq. another indigenous

species ; Cycas medica,

R. Br. is an introduction

from Australia; Cycas

revoluta, Thumb, is a

native of China and

Japan and Cycas sia-

mensis, Miq. from

Burma, Siam and

Cochin China.

The cone of the Cycas

circinalis was sent to

the Herbarium of the

Section of Botany of the Royal Institute of Science, Bombay.

Municipal Gardens, D. S. LAUD,

Bombay, g.b.v.c., f.r.h.s., f.z.s.,

October, 1930 Superintendent.

XXXIX.— AN ABNORMAL FRUIT OF DIPTEROCARPUS

TUBERCULATUS, ROXB.

The normal fruit has two wings and the fruiting tube is produced

into five sharp knobs. The abnormal carried three wings of the same

size with six knobs on the pericarp. The abnormal fruit was 1’68

grams heavier than the normal one. It was longer than the ordinary

fruit by TO mm. and 2 ’5 mm. along the transverse and longitudinal

axes respectively.

The material was collected from Prorne Road, Rangoon. Out of

fifty specimens, three were abnormal. The Burmese name for the

tree is Eng.

July 2, 1930. L. P. KHANNA, m.Sc., f.i.s*.,

Rangoon University, Rangoon .

PROCEEDINGS OF THE MEETING HELD ON 27TH

NOVEMBER 1930.

A meeting of the Members of the Bombay Natural History Society and their

friends was held at the Prince of Wales Museum on Thursday, the 27th Novem-

ber at 6 p. m. Mr. H. A. W. Brent presided.

The Honorary Secretary, Sir Reginald Spence, Kt., announced the election

of the following 15 new members, since the last meeting held on the 28th

August 1930 : —

The Honorary Secretary, Northern Shan States Club, Lashio, Burma ;

Mr. Oscar Keip, Bombay ; Mr. Robert Popper, Bombay ; Mr. Peter P. Pazze,

Bombay ; Mr. F. H. Cole, Sukkur, Sind ; Mr. E. J. Van Ingen, Ootacamund ;

Mr. A.V. Oldfield, Bombay; Major C. Davenport, O.B.E., R.A.V.C., Bombay;

Mr. C.B. Rubie, Karachi ; Capt. G.N. de la Farque, Delhi ; Mr. D. Davidson,

Lampang, Siam ; Capt. D. R. Smith, Mount Abu ; Capt. Krishna Lai,

Indore; Mr. G. H. Emerson, I.C.S., Hoshiarpur, Punjab ; and Mrs. M. Car-

rington Turner, Almora, U.P.

Sir Reginald Spence, Honorary Secretary of the Society, in opening the

proceedings referred to the nomination by H. E. the Governor of Mr. Prater,

the Society’s Curator to a seat on the Legislative Council. He was of opinion

that it was a tribute to the good work Mr. Prater had done and he felt that his

appointment to the Council was also in the interests of the Society. He asked

those present to join with him in congratulating Mr. Prater.

Mr. Prater then gave his lecture on ‘Communism in Nature’ as expressed in

the social life of animals. He developed his theme in an outline of the life of

the Termite — a class of insects popularly referred to as White Ants. Termites

are no more ants than a beetle is a butterfly. They are insects of a totally

different order. A habit, common in most termites, of feeding on wood

and of living in its cavities explains many features in the social life of these

insects. It is probably responsible for their way of feeding each other on

regurgitated food, their loss of colour, their loss of eyesight and the thinness

of their skins. They look almost like grubs. Their weak and defenceless

character has led to the development of various contrivances for encountering

their enemies. The hereditary foes of the Termites are the Ants. Between

them there has been waged a war which has continued unabated for millions

of years. The whole system of nest architecture from its origin in rude exposed

shelters, in open galleries in the wood or in borings in the ground to the

elaborate moundsin which the higher tribes of termites live to-day has been

gradually evolved as a direct response to the need of protecting the termite

communities from the attacks/ of their ancient enemies the ants. Perhaps

their crowning achievement was the cultivation of mushroom gardens within

their walled fortresses. These gardens take the form of brown, spongy masses

which are enclosed in specially prepared chambers within their mounds. The

gardens supply food to the young termites and also to the parents of the

colony. The lecturer referred to the division of labour in these termite colonies.

In each colony of higher termites it was possible to find 5 types of individuals

— each fundamentally different in structure, each incapable of performing any

function but its own. These were the Queen and King— the parents of the

colony, their children were divided into two castes — workers and soldiers. At

certain seasons winged individuals were produced whose function was to found

new colonies. The king and queen did not govern the colony. They were

kept prisoners in a cell where they were fed by the workers and guarded by

their soldier children. They had one duty, the production and fertilization of

millions of eggs. The workers were children of the king and queen who did

not complete their development. They were blind in most species; they never

grew wings and their reproductive organs were undeveloped. They were

sterile. They had but one instinct— to work for the good of the community

They provided food, looked after the queen and her young. They built,

enlarged and repaired the nest. The defence of the community was the duty

of the soldiers. They carried powerful jaws and other weapons for their task .

2104 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXXI V

They provided guards, organized the defence in case of attack and gave their

lives instinctively in the defence of the community. Like the workers, they were

blind, like them sexless ; war and not love was their destiny.

Winged termites representing fully developed and fully sexed individuals were

produced at certain seasons. Their duty was the foundation of new colonies.

This was effected by a swarming flight called the marriage flight. The young

males and females leave the nest in a body and the few that survive the

general massacre that ensues — the majority of them fall victims to a host

of birds, reptiles and other creatures which prey upon them — these live to found

new colonies.

The lecturer then described the process of development of a new colony and

the way in which the termite’s mound was built.

In drawing his conclusions Mr. Prater dwelt on, the frightful sacrifice Nature

demanded from the individuals in an insect society in order that the race may

survive. This was taxation in its most terrible form. She condemned the

majority of the population to sterility, denied them the power of mating and

reproduction — Those whom she endowed with the privilege— the majority

of these she condemned to a premature death. And those that survived— they

were condemned to life-long imprisonment within the confines of a nartow cell,

They lost their liberty, they were unable even to fend for themselves, they had

but one duty — ceaseless child-birth. And what of their children— the toiling

millions, deprived of the elementary privileges of the creature, sexless and blind, .

they were condemned to a life of incessant drudgery and toil, for which they

received their share of food. This and nothing more. In the social life of

these insects the principles of communism were developed to the letter. Each

individual carries out its appointed task and receives its alloted share of

the common produce. There was no friction, no dissension, no differentiated

scale of wages. All, including the King and Queen, were automatons — cogs

in the communal machine of which every individual was a mechanical unit.

As insects were deprived of reasoning power, of enterprise and ambition, the

system of government suited their needs perfectly. Could it be applied to

Modern Man ? Could we be reduced to the deadening level of automats ?

Brains would always differentiate and even in the most ideal of Communistic

States there would be individuals sharp enough to get their extra

percentage. The system could only be applied by the subversion of one of

Nature’s universal laws. The survival of the fittest. The set order of Nature

precluded the possibility of things which are unequal being reduced to the

level of the least common denominator.

The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the lecturer.

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Sir Reginald Spence for the Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay

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